Movie Review: Julie and Julia

I finished the movie Julie and Julia today. I LOVED it. Very interesting storyline.

Quick summary: The story is about a woman named Julie, who decides to start a goal- making all of Julia Child’s recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking within 365 days. She blogs about it too. The story goes back and forth between Julie’s time (modern day) and Julia’s time (back in the day) where it shows how she developed her cooking skills.

This movie makes me want to cook and read Julia Child’s recipe book. The only thing that bugged me in the movie was Julia Child’s (Meryl Streep) voice. >.> I hate how it was so exaggerated, but I suppose that defines Child’s character. Specifics I liked about the movie were that the storyline was really well showed. I could see the development in the characters throughout the movie.  l love the passion that Childs showed towards cooking and how optimistic she seemed. I think Julia Child would be someone I really want to know. Now…GO WATCH THIS MOVIE.

What Mulan Should Sound Like

You all remember that old Disney movie, Mulan? (if you haven’t seen it, you should really check it out)

This is what Mulan really sounds like.

Chinese Delicacy: Pig

poor pig, doesn’t know what’s coming to him

A few months ago, I realized, Chinese people (maybe all Asians do) eat ALL part of a pig. I mean, you name the part, they eat it. So, here’s a list along with a picture

Pig Ear: The center is crunchy, but the sides are gelatinous.

Roast Pig: The skin is so crunchy, kind of like chips. The meat is nice and oily =w=

Pig Large Intestine: The outside is a bit crunchy, but the inside is so soft and squishy. Goes well with sweet and sour sauce (Try it with 麵線 too)

Pig hoof: Whole thing is squishy (besides the bone) and oh so oily and greasy. The only part I dislike about this is the skin, because sometimes it’s a bit hairy…

Pig liver: Soft all around. It has a pretty peculiar taste… not sure if everyone would enjoy it.

Pig Kidney: Chewy. Also has a peculiar taste I can’t really describe. Actually, pig kidney has less flavor than the liver. However, if you ever order them both on the same plate and you can’t tell them apart, the kidney has cut marks in it (as shown in the picture)

Fun fact: In Chinese beliefs, after a woman gives birth, they eat a lot of pig kidney to restore lost blood.

Pig Blood: Soft and Chewy. Kind of like Tofu/Jello, but I prefer this over Jello

Pig Blood: Looks kind of like pig liver right? But, this is definitely chewier.

Pig Tongue: If I remember correctly, this is pretty chewy.

This is all I can think of right now. Impressed? Horrified? Haha, but I really recommend the Roasted Pig, Pig Intestine, liver, kidney, and heart

Enjoy!

Crappy CD Case

I went to the Dollar Tree and bought 3 CD cases. They were so weird…

This is what it looks like- Hard plastic case, and some CD cases inside

But, unlike normal CD cases I usually see, you insert the CD from, the outside? sketchy

Same thing on both sides.

So yeah, just a little heads up on what you’ll be purchasing if you do buy CD cases from there. One of the cases was broken too on the hinge. Well, I guess you can’t expect much out of Dollar Tree. Plus, for me, I won’t be using them much…just need them to hold my CDs.

Doodling Mashimaro

I went to the library today, and borrowed a book called Adventures in Cartooning. It’s a really cute and funny book even though it’s meant for elementary school kids. Basically, it teaches you how to make a comic, except it teaches you in a story/comic way.

So, I attempted to draw Mashimaro (my favorite character)…

My doodle

Mashimaro

Here’s the book incase you do want to check it out!

My Awesome Lunch :D

Today, our family friend, Uncle Henry, treated my family to lunch at Tatsu Sushi. It was such a good lunch, I just have to share…

This is Sake (Salmon) and Hamachi (Yellowtail) toro (stomach)
The toro is generally considered one of the best parts of a fish, and is usually the most priciest
(no wonder it was extremely good!!!!! Uncle Henry ordered two plates= $30– It’s like eating gold)

Tempura!!
I don’t know how this restaurant does it, but their tempura is so different from many other Japanese restaurants I try. The color is different too… the one at this restaurant is a golden yellow

Oh, did I mention? This restaurant gives the LARGEST portions of everything. For example, they give out the largest pieces of sashimi I’ve ever seen. Same goes for the tempura as well as all the sushi in the store. The only dish decent sized is probably the nigiri.

Monkfish Kani (liver)

Fun fact: Did you know the monkfish is an ugly fish?
Anyways, rare occasion they had this dish. (It’s not even on the menu). This was the first time I’ve tried fish liver and I must say, I definitely recommend trying it if you have the chance. It has a very peculiar taste. ;]

Tako (Octopus) Nigiri

Uncle Henry complained how hard it was to chew the octopus x-x; So, the waiter went back in and had the chef re-slice the tako so it was thinner

Kani (Crab) Sushi

Mar’s Roll: Soft-Shell crab with Albacore Tuna on top. They also had avocado as a filling

Shark attack on the amaebi (sweet shrimp)!!!

It’s Finding Nemo all over again!!

Well that’s it! Such a filling lunch- we even had leftovers! I love Tatsu Sushi!!! You can find them in Walnut Creek, CA. Such a special restaurant. Despite being a bit pricey (our grand total was about $171), it’s well worth it.

Review: You’ve Got Mail

Ahh, remember the time when we had dial-up connection on our computers? Well, that’s when this movie took place. I remember I probably watched this tons of times when I was younger, since they showed it on the airplane many times as well. It never appealed to me before though, or made sense, I mean, come on, I was still a kid that watched cartoons. o.O

Quick Summary: The story is about 2 people, Joe Fox and Kathleen, who met each other in an online chatroom They hit it off, and start emailing each other. In email, both people seem like best friends– even lovers. What the 2 people don’t know is that they’re real life business rivals.

Thoughts: This movie kind of reminded me of the chinese movie, 向左走向右走 (Walk to the Left, Walk to the Right). That whole movie was about coincidences, which there was a lot of that towards the end of You’ve Got Mail (Except that Joe Fox kind of created the coincidences himself…) Overall, I thought this was creative – Who ever thought of creating a movie about a love story over the internet? It really caught my attention, since, if a movie isn’t good (imo), I tend to pause a lot, multitask, etc. But You’ve Got Mail really kept me waiting to see what happens next.

You should check it out! (Plus, it has Tom Hanks (Castaway, Forrest Gump) and Meg Ryan (When Harry Met Sally…)

Star Jar

This is the progress of my Star Jar The jar was originally a nori jar.

Top view

Side View

I make the stars while I’m watching anime or movies on my computer.

^.^ How long will it take me to fill the whole jar?? How many more packs of star paper would i need???