Cupcakin

Okay so I'm on a culinary quest to try out all the cupcake places in san diego. First up: BabyCakes in hillcrest.

Oj and I came in today and its such a cute place. Open patio, rooms that open up to the outdoors, tons of tables and comfy chairs and couches, a wine bar, a fireplace, crystal chandelier, and free wi-fi for customers.

And now on to the cupcakes. There were maybe 6 choices when we came in: mocha, choc raspberry, vanilla rasberry, choc peanut butter, black forest and pomegrante. I came in looking for a red velvet, but settled on the pomegrante after the sales assoc swore it was good. But I figure what the heck bc where else am I going to get a pomegrante cupcake? Oj gets the vanilla raspberry. Apparently they also have red velvet, and blood orange-- which was our sales guys favorite. That's definitely unique.

My cupcake was a good size and very moist. I usually shun frosting but this cupcake had the perfect amount and its not too sweet and not at all thick to the point of being overwhelming. I thought the cupcake would be somewhat tart but it wasn't at all. A blend of green tea, pomegrante and raspberry tea, it was surprisingly mild in flavor. I actually didn't pick up too much on any of these flavors.

Ojs was a good moist vanilla cupcake with raspberry filling. Both came with a carmel and what I think was white choc drizzle on the plate.

The verdict: love the place, cupcakes are moist and not sickening sweet (which I can appreciate), the regular cupcakes are good but not extraordinary, and I'm holding out on tasting the blood orange before commenting if their special varieties are something special.

In a Waiting Room

I am waiting on a letter that never seems to get here. I want it to be filled with good news, but I am, as always, carefully guarded and doubtful. Whats with this letter you ask? Its contents will determine the course of my summer plans, and whether I stick around san diego taking another 8 weeks of summer school... or not. As it is, I cant do a thing until this letter arrives, which is supposed to get here by april 15th. I shouldnt be surprised that I havent received it yet, as I'll probably get it the morning of the 15th. I know that I'm not going into very much detail at the moment, but I don't like saying things aloud for fear of getting my hopes up and being disappointed later on. In the meantime, I'm just waiting.

I absolutely love the travel channel show, Dhani Tackles the Globe--on on mondays @ 9pm. Basically Dhani, an american football player, travels to different countries to play the sports/games of that country. Theres only been a few episodes so far (switzerland, england, singapore), but Dhani is my new crush. He's funny and charismatic and even has is own line of bow-ties. I mean, come on, he's practically begging me to stalk him. I just smile and smile when I watch him. Of course, this only means that I have been bitten by the travel bug again, and really want to go to south east asia, even being as poor as I am. I don't even know when I could go because my future is so uncertain. grad school? work? community college? san diego? san francisco? chicago? seattle? So again, I have to wait. 

Playing this waiting game sucks, because life is too short to watch opportunities go by! I have to admit that at the moment I am being brutally forced to make choices about my future that are uncomfortable but necessary. I'm so tired of being in one place, of doing the same thing, day in and day out. I need a change, quickly, but I fear that wont happen for a while yet. unfortunately. 

A Modern Barrel Man?

If your filipino then this will be extremely funny to you. if not, then I hope you can still appreciate this story.

Oj and I finally went to the Pinkberry in CM to get some green tea yogurt with mochi and kiwi--best combo everrrr! and while waiting for these delicious concoctions, we check out their rather interesting display of retail items. Amongst the candy colored and eccentric toys--or what at first seem like toys but turn out to be everything from salt and pepper shakers on a stick, to toothpick holders--I found a modern barrel man.

Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with 

the barrel man, he is best explained in pictures:

On the outside, he looks like a regular wooden man in a barrel.
But take him out of the barrel, and you get this:
Thats right, a naked man at...um, attention. Now, I have no idea where this originated, or why they are so prominent in the subculture of the philippines, but they are. they're as recognizable as the overized fork and spoon that hang in the dinning rooms in filipino households.

Anyway, look at what I found at Pinkberry:




Thats right, a plastic barrel man. He hangs out in his little white cup and you take him out and bam! I couldn't believe it!! I looked at the description of it, and its supposed to be a cotton ball holder. are you kidding me? Why ever, is there a need for that...that... there for a cotton ball holder? Oh my, what is the world coming to?

LoVE is.

Love is, in itself, perfect. Pure, it speaks for every hope and secret desire of the human heart, and is limited by neither circumstance, gender, race, or class. It can be anything and can mean everything. The idea of love is inherently flawless. But since it is embraced by people, who are anything but without fault, Love is rendered imperfect. it is people who corrupt love. they hope to be saved by it, to be found by it, to have it give their lives meaning, but they end up doing nothing but living with only a meager fraction of what love could be. they content themselves with this corrupted version of love, learn to hide its flaws, learn to make up for its shortcomings, learn to live with such an unsatisfying version in order not to be jaded and found wanting from this lack of love. It is something that everyone thinks they need in their lives, so they give in, give up, and learn to deal. But the secret yearnings of their hearts scream that this degraded love is not what it ought to be, what love should be, and what it ultimately should feel like. They push beneath their skin the dissatisfaction, the distaste, and fool themselves that this is exactly what they have been searching for in life. Since no one can tell you what love feels like, they convince themselves that what they feel is love and that the person they feel it for is the ONE. And for those who refuse to give in to this sort of love? They are the great dreamers, shunned for their perceived pessimism, but steadfast to the clean and untainted idea of love. they content themselves with that ideal, let themselves imagine its greatness until their breath gives underneath the pressure of their lungs. it is their hearts that skip beats, whose butterflies never leave them, who know exactly what love feels like and have no doubts or reservations that what they feel is true.

pee aye eye enn

Pain is a four letter word.

Pain reminds us of our own mortality & what it feels like to be human. Pain is to live. Pain is know that one exists.

Pain is a part of the everyday experience. It is common. It is shared commonly among people. It manifests itself in broken hearts, broken dreams, broken bones and broken souls. Pain is physical. Pain is emotional. Pain is mental. Pain is succint, it is vague. Pain stirs emotions and demands attention. It calls us to examine ourselves. What hurts us? What makes us weep? What leaves scars, both real and imagined?

And perhaps more importantly, what is our own reaction to hurt? Do we wallow? Do we despair? Do we recover? Do we internalize pain and take it was a process of a cruel and unforgiving world? Do we take it as a part of life that teaches us how to live through adversity? A life with pain is painful, but a life without it is null and void to the of pointlessness.

Pain is a four letter word.

Other Worlds & Music that Makes you Dream Something Worth Dreaming.

special features

two things:

1: I gave in a got a twitter. I know, I know, because I want people to track my every movement? hmm...

2: Today was not my average study day. I went to my favorite coffee/tea place to get some work done, which came highly recommended by a dear professor of mine, and that fact had me looking up every so often at the gathered masses in the cafe to see if he just happened to be there [stalker, I know! but some habits just die hard ;) ], and I'm not disclosing said location because hey, everyone likes to keep their own special places, well, special lol.

anyway, when I first got there, it was pretty crowded inside, and fairly nice weather outside (they have a nice outdoor seating area in the front, so I decided to take my chances outdoors. Grabbing my steaming hot cup of tea (what else?!) and my larger than life lemon poppyseed scone, I settle in amongst the empty tables and conversing somebodies. As with all frequently visited outdoor eating places, there will be birds and possibly other critters literally nipping at your heals for any dropped, or graciously delivered, bits of food. Usually, its not a probably for me, but the birds at this place are just so BOLD!! There I was, just minding me own business, and just barely cracked into the massive tome of a book I have to read for school, when a bird lands on my table, and takes a bit of my scone, even AFTER I'm shooing it away!! no seriously, he just landed on my table, took a swipe of my scone, paying me no attention, and flew away. I was left sitting there like, really?? really bird?? you freaking suck. And then! And then, said bird proceeded to sit really close by me on the railing, eyeing me for any open opporunities to do it again! I felt like I was in Alfred Hitchcocks Birds the way they were scoping me out with a devilish plan of theirs. And the funniest part was that no one else seemed to have this problem but me! Maybe the birds thought I was the weakest of the pack, and proceeded to pick me (and my scone) off.

I was fed up, I couldnt get any work done while a bird was coveting my scone, so I packed up and moved inside, luckily, to get a seat at the off to the side study room, where teenagers proceeded to make out right next to me on a couch but hey, I wasnt looking or anything;). Anyway, I just happen to be wearing some purple reeboks, purchased for a 80s hip hop themed anniversary party, when a guy comments on them while I'm getting a tea refill (cup number three btw). Surprised, and not a little shell shocked, after all, I'd been staring at a book at that point for 4 whole hours, engulfed in the Roman world of barbarians and chopin (sounds odd, but still somehow works, lol), and had only recently emerged from that world when I noticed my tea was cold. He's lucky I didn't scream out a germanic battle cry in response!! I mumble something in english that I think, and hope, was a gracious note of thanks, and leave it at that. Only later, while I'm reading away, he comes up to me and asks if he take a picture of my shoes for his blog. huh? after much teasing on my part, and I should know better than to use my humour on someone I just met (he kinda didnt know if I was kidding or not lol), the result is this:

you can read his post herr.

and, end scene.