newfound privileges

Forward we go in our search for the best drinks in Austin! Cuattro's definitely isn't on the list though. lol. I ordered the West Campus Cooler and although it looked pretty (it had a beach on the bottom! No clue what it was though), it definitely did not taste good. Reminded me of a drink I had at my 21st celebration. I'm thinking it's the rasberry alcohol that I don't like (flavored rum perhaps?). But they definitely serve the best tacos I've ever had in my entire life. Dead serious. The cilantro in the Paula's Pork Verde tacos gives it a completely new life. Add on top of that a hint of fresh lime and your taste buds are going bonkers. Originally, I was gonna order the Tuna taco. I wavered though at the title "Tuna," thinking that it'd be canned tuna. But no, this was maguro tuna that was used, perfectly seared and a beautiful red color. They also had a jalapeno ranch sauce that complemented the fish beautifully and avocado. My only complaint? The portion was waay too small!

Ugh...I really need to remember to keep my camera with me at all times. Meanwhile, some more eye candy :)

OOH YEAH BABY~

Finally, this day has come! *tear* I never thought it would. *sniff sniff* Time warp in 1....

2..........



3!





Ugh...sry for the bad pics. I had too much faith in my little sister. And sadly the ones I took by myself were better. lol. So anyways, the other day I was going through my closet looking for new clothes to wear to work instead of jeans (which I had been doing everyday and was getting very boring.) I found some new clothes that I never could wear because they were supposed to be "motivating" pieces. By some sudden enlightenment, I decided to try it on and what a wonderful surprise! ^_^

I feel empowered now :) Bring 'em on, boys :D

Camping!

Wow, I underestimated my little Nikon. I'm actually quite pleased with some of these pictures :)

So, we actually went camping. I don't know how we did it, but somehow we did. Man does it feel good to be back with civilization. It's actually quite a nice park because it's so close to Houston, yet so far! Subtracting mosquitoes and 100 degree heat from the picture, it was quite enjoyable to experience nature. It really reminded me of Dr. Seuss and his crazy made-up characters; except they weren't made-up! While exploring the lakes and other sites, from nowhere loud and shrill laughter would pop up. The whole time I was thinking, "Who the hell is laughing at us?!" I guess even the birds there found Asians going camping to be an amusing idea. lol. Also, no matter how you try to dress them up, alligators can never be cute. Sorry guys. And boy are raccoons greedy! Trying to snag my food before me, tchh.

At the Park there was also an observatory to see the stars. I must say, I have yet to experience such a starry night! It was beautiful...and I got to see Jupiter and its moons! It feels so weird that what I saw was light that happened, like, ten to the tenth million years ago. It existed practically when dinosaurs were around. Does that mean all the sunlight that we see now was from ten to the tenth million years ago? What a distorted reality. So much for "the present."


Reminder to self: Paint tomorrow.

rainbows

Today was a pretty bad day at work. I couldn't do anything right, was hungry, and my eyes hurt from staring at die (microchips). But seeing the rainbow cheered me up quite a bit :) Only sad that I didn't have my camera at hand to catch the moment. boo.

2ne1

Anyway, a follow up to the 2ne1 festivities. In loving memory of my life before turning 2ne1 and a commemoration of what is to-be. In no particular order.

21 Things To Do Before I Turn 31 (Originally published 8/12/2009)

1. Travel to Japan, Korea, and China.  (Accomplished in 2011, 2012)
2. Read through 唐詩三百首 in its entirety. Better yet, memorize at least 25.
3. Buy Daddy his dream car.
4. Get married.
5. Pay for a family vacation to Europe.
6. Be completely fluent in Korean.
7. Be completely fluent in Japanese.
8. Be able to afford a Miu Miu without chopping off an arm and a leg. (Semi-accomplished 2012; bought my Mulberry Alexa)
9. Sew a piece of clothing that I would wear.
10. Maintain weight at 115.
11. Maintain flexibility.
12. Learn at least one form of ballroom dance in entirety.
13. Find a career I like.
14. See real snow. (Accomplished in 2012 in Prague)
15. Go to a Shinhwa concert.
16. Find and realize my destiny and leave my Hello Kitty stamp on the Earth. YES, Hello Kitty lover Tiffany Chang was here! Maybe then can I overcome my fear of being forgotten.
17. Get over my phobia of large scale social events (aka learn how to network). GaHH...*shrinks into a corner* I get scared even at the thought of this!
18. Be bold, and confidence will naturally come.
19. Make one of my fortune cookie fortunes come true.
20. Stay passionate!
21. Be TiFF.

To change or not to change, that 'tis the question. While trying to think of 21 things to add to the list (yes, sad, it took me 3 whole days to come up with 21 things to add) I definitely felt this dilemma. Usually I only go through this crisis around New Year's haha. While I do want to change myself for the better, I realized that, you know, I DO love myself for who I am, despite my flaws. Call me narcisstic or whatever, but since I like myself, why change? But then again, I still feel unsatisfied with my life. Hence, the list. Hopefully, ten years from now, I'll love myself even more and grow to be an even more loveable tiff ^______^ Aja aja fighting, Tiffany Chang!

downtown fun

August 11th is definitely one of the longest days I've had in a long, long while. As the saying goes, save the best for last! And with my personality, the ending always has to have an oomph, right?

The first place we went to I felt a bit awkward since we were just standing there and there literally was no one else. It felt really weird seeing so many bars empty considering that every time I do see them they're always jam packed. Once Julie and the sisters came though it definitely picked up and got to be as fun as I had hoped for it to be. I felt really grateful that no one was being too forceful about how many drinks I had because that just would not have been fun. Oh, what wonderful memories! By 2 AM, I had downed 5 shots (or was it 6?), probably 6 cups of water, 3 cherries, and 1/2 a pizza. Compliments to Rrrrrrrrrrrapolio's!

So after having finally experienced "bar-hopping," I've come to the conclusion that I can only stand alcohol once in a blue moon. If you go too much, it feels like it just gets old and boring and the fun of it wears off. Plus the damage you do to your body makes it not worth it. Too much is, really, not fun. Last time I felt the negative effects it has on your throat, and this time I felt how uncomfortable it makes your stomach feel. 'Twas a crazy night! A very memorable 21st :) Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with me!

back home

Wow...it's been practically a week since I've blogged! O_o Although I lasted only seven days of continuous blogging (or was it 6?) I'm still sticking with it! Since it's too hard to write everything down with pictures and stuff, this is the next best alternative. That reminds me of another thing to add to my shopping list when I go to Japan - a polaroid camera! I still really want one just because I can get pictures instantaneously and then write on them or write about them. Gives a more photo-diary kind of vibe to my entries, much like what I'm trying to imitate here.

I've found this awesome Japanese jazz band called "mouse on the keys." What a gem! Their music totally takes me back to Blue Notes in Taipei and that spontaneous feel that live Jazz performances give. Now I really want to try out The Elephant Room since it's rumored to be a good Jazz place.

Just got back from camping today and Houston. I can say (with confidence) that this was our most efficient trip to Houston. Went grocery shopping, got haircuts, bought bread, and ate out all in like a three hour time span. Still need to collect my thoughts on camping and upload pictures, so I'll wait on blogging about that. One thing I must say though, is that it feels nice to be back in modern civilization. With AC.

08.04

Ahhhh, a beautiful August day! Doesn't this picture just immediately cheer you up? :)

Whew! Worked long hours today, but it wasn't too bad; it went by pretty quickly. It's really weird though, a year or so later down the road, it's going to be me sitting in an office from 9-5 or whatever. I can definitely tell how disillusioning the white collar schedule is. How to break from the mundane? If that's gonna be my life for the next 50 or so years, I am scared.

On a brighter note, I'll be getting more money than I expected too since he wants me to work 3 days now instead of 2. Save save save! Although I don't know how well this limit shopping plan is going....somehow I'm still spending quite a bit hehe. Which reminds me I need to record my purchases today :)

08.03

Finally used a sample today that I've had for ages, so I'll just do a review here.

Missha Detoxifying Peeling Gel

I was getting kind of concerned about what exfoliator I should get after I finish the Envie De Neuf one. It's really gentle (the base is aloe) and I can feel/see the dead skin coming off of my skin, unlike the other face wash products that claim to exfoliate with their microbeads. This Missha does the exact same job at a lower cost. It has a nice, soothing fruity smell, but it doesn't look as clear as the Envie, although it applies very smoothly. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with it since it seems to do its job. Will consider purchasing in Korea :)

On the other hand, I think I have been a bit disappointed in DHC's products. With all the rave about the Deep Cleansing Oil I expected it to exfoliate like Missha & Envie while being able to see the makeup residue coming off. However, it doesn't do any of that. I do like how it takes off the Shiseido sunscreen and doesn't make my face feel so sticky and clogged. But still kinda weary of how effective it is on taking off my makeup. Then I tried the Eye Makeup Remover sample and 1) it smells gross 2) it's as liquid as water, causing half of it just spilling out, and 3) failed at removing my mascara.

Now that I'm so set on going to Japan, I've been trying very hard to limit my shopping so that I can go crazy over there. (Successfully evaded a tarte cosmetics temptation! ^_^) I kept thinking that the Maybelline eyeshadows that I bought were really crappy, but actually I liked the effect I got today when I used a smudge-y eyeliner. Perhaps I was too quick to judge :P

Money 101

哇哈哈! I'm RICH! ahahaha. Not really. I really should reconsider minoring in finance, considering my money management skills are so terrible. Seriously, people must get stupider and lazier the older they get. When I was little I used to religiously clean my room every week, keep all my receipts, and record every single penny that I spent. But now, ha ha ha......Did I really spend that much money? ^^;; Hmm...I don't think I've cleaned my room in months. Oops!

So after a random cleaning spurt, I've actually sat down and attempted to calculate how much money I've made so far, and I must say that I'm quite pleased! Although I can't really pinpoint where all of it is/went since my banking accounts still seem to be quite low. I really need to do more rigorous bookkeeping lol.

08.01

MMmmmm. Feels like my blog has been flooded with text lately, so thought I should add some eye candy to balance it out heehee. If only I had a pic of them taken by myself though. *sigh* Just two random ones that popped into my head...no bias intended haha.

Ugh. A little disappointed in myself today because I gave up on War and Peace and compromised (or more like fell into temptation) with the Sparknote version. Perhaps my brain has become rather dull after two months of abandonment, but it was very hard for me to keep up with all the characters and their relations, making the whole story very confusing. I really want to try to get to know Tolstoy though as he seems to be a very intriguing author. Actually, I really like how he builds up the characters in War and his style. But, alas, his novels are waaay too long and intimidating haha. Guess Anna Karenina will have to wait since it's equally long.

Well, finally it's August! It always feels like it's so far away, yet it's already here. Really excited about our camping trip this coming weekend too; plus Daddy will be in town. :)