Zooey Cupcake

Cat ladies, I totally understand you now.

Hey Cupcakes, meet my kitty Zooey! Zooey was abandoned by her mom in my backyard late May/early June and we've been taking care of her since. My parents didn't want to commit to her so up until two weeks ago, she sort of just lived in the backyard. BUT my parents finally caved in as the weather is getting cooler and Zooey got her first shot last week!

Zooey is a hit in the fam. My mom who use to say she hates pets because they are dirty now LOVES Zooey. I mean, she holds Zooey like a baby all the time and even carries her to the mailbox to get mail O_O. I just don't understand women sometimes.

Zooey slept on my bed for the first couple of nights but I might've squished/kicked her in my sleep so she doesn't sleep on my bed anymore :( Damn her bed is nicer than mine! She's also shedding her baby fur so you can see the new hair is darker and less full from her head to just below the neck.

Just look at that adorable face! She likes to hide between the crevasses of my bed. Here she's trying to figure out what I'm doing with the camera. *snaps pic* Also, the eyes dilate at night which makes them humongous! Gaahhh I just wanna squish her.

revisiting Shanghai (part 2)

Now that summer is over and I'm no longer slaving away at two jobs, the life story of Helen Cakes resumes.

p.s you'll be seeing my green utility jacket a lot 'cause it's the lightest thing to carry around! I had to pack light because three-quarter of the things I brought to and back from China weren't even mine! Damn those Chinese people who wants everything foreign. I kid you not, the security at the airport made me open my grandma's carry-on and what she thought was probably crystal meth turned out to be two bottles of SEA SALT from Costco. The security guard and I shared the same are you kidding me, salt? face and I wanted to smack my face right there and then.

Anyway, Al and I visited the Shanghai zoo! Here are some highlights.

The lazy tiger. I did not pay the ¥40 just to see a damn tiger lying around! Growl damn it!!!

As expected, lots of Chinglish signs in China! But don't worry, there won't be any animal injury with lazy tigers like the one in the picture above ;) p.s the sign is really saying: caution, animal may cause injury to humans.

This sign definitely made up for it though. You press the button near the pelvis area of the tiger and "pee" shoots out from the butt hole. You can see it faintly in this photo.

Here's the thing that really pissed me off. There were signs that said DO NOT FEED ANIMALS, yet these fucking Chinese people were still throwing food at the bear, hence why the bear was sitting and looking up trying to catch food.

I'll end the post on a lighter note. When I laugh hysterically, I inhale (as I was told) so I sound like a seal. Al thought it would be hilarious for me to take a photo by this seal sticker; so I did, and I posed for it! arrr arrr arrrrrrrr

revisiting Shanghai (part 1)

Hello Cupcakes! I'm starting a mini series of my recent trip to Shanghai!

Cakester here was born on a hot summer morning in Shanghai. Last time I visited China was in the summer of 2002 (10 years ago!). So as a university grad present, my parents paid for my round trip airfare to Shanghai. I stayed for four weeks because I had to be back for my convocation. Al visited for 2 weeks and it was his first time in China!

This is our first stop, Qibao (七寶) - full name: Qibao ancient town (old street is where we went). It's one of the popular tourist attractions in Shanghai because of its bridges, old structural buildings, and of course street food.

main gate

As you can see from this very first picture of Shanghai, nobody follows the traffic signals! If you have ever experienced uncivilized Chinese people in western countries, wait until you visit the home country. :o

looking down from top of bridge

We went on a Sunday so the place was PACKED. It was so packed that you'd want China to keep the one child policy.

an alleyway

One reason Shanghai is so populated is that people from rural areas all want to come to the big city. Kids nowadays can't even speak the Shanghai dialect anymore! Everything is in Mandarin. Cakester is a true Shanghai girl 'cause she can speak Shanghainese.

La Cakester

I leave you with this awesome scenery picture of Qibao. I couldn't have looked more asian *sigh*

18 ways of having fun

Why hello readers. A few things have happened since I last blogged. In short, I graduated university, I vaca-ed in China for a month, and I developed PGS (post graduation syndrome). I'm sure many can relate. Anyway, the above picture is yours truly playing mini-golf (for the first time!). Al surprised me with a trip to the golf course and not to my surprise, I lost lol. I'll get him next time.

There's no excuse

the set up
I love free bf-labour

OCAD University's 97th Annual Graduate Exhibition

Thursday, May 3, 6:30 to 11 p.m.
Friday, May 4, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 5, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 6, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

All are welcome, especially if yo drop by Rm 668 you can leave me a note and take my business card. It's a bittersweet goodbye to undergrad.

You can do no wrong

*SQUEAL* PUPPY TIME!

First time walking Rufus (or any dog for that matter). He is a silly 12-week old Golden Retriever pup. His red rocket grosses me out when he gets too excited *Helen covers eyes* Thumbs up for no poopers! Yay!

Happy Everyday.

No! No! No! No!No!

February 14th is not the day to spoil your significant other with "love"; you do that everyday – as if it's your last day. To me, love is when we work together to beat a video game that I was never able to beat as a child. Love is when you give me piggyback rides because my feet hurt from wearing heels at work. Love is when you sing my name to a random song playing in the background.

Love is when we talk about our future together.

This year I will:

Current Songs: Michael Jackson


Me at Salad King
- continue to be a goofball
- try new cuisine
- bake lots of goodies!
Happy New Year to all my Cupcakes ^_^ I wish you all sweetness in 2012!

Treat or treat?

My emo pumpkin

Boo! Halloween is probably one of my least favourite holidays but this year I did something I haven't done in many many MANY years: PUMPKIN CARVING! Had I known ahead of time, I probably would've sketched out something but I decided to go with an emo pumpkin on the spot as you can see.

Emo pumpkin in the dark

We lit up the candles before it got dark :) Looks really "spooky" doesn't it.

This is Al's Movember inspired pumpkin. (yay to charity but eww to moustache).

Yo. I'm back.

I tried out a new Viet place last year near school (and blogged about it here). I said I would return to try something new.. and I finally did (2 months ago lol)! On Dundas, East of University

I like how this place is always so clean :)

I opted for Pad Thai; the rest were ordered by my friends.

I've been M.I.A for the past 2 months BUT I have been collecting blog material!!! You'll be seeing lots of posts from me in the upcoming weeks! p.s I have been reading all your blogs but just haven't had the time to comment/reply yet D= I'll get to it a.s.a.p

A Dilly of a Pickle.

60-hour work weeks are over!!! What better way to celebrate than with food?! No surprise here right?

Honey Black Tea with Tapioca + Buttered Toast
I was wearing a lace dress for camp's Staff Appreciation Night. I left early to have a late night snack at Go for Tea haha. Al said since I was so dressed up that night, he'd dress up too so we can both look fancy for bubble tea LOL, go figure. I apologize for the graininess of this picture (didn't want to turn on flash). But here ya go, my first Go for Tea (dine-in) experience.

The other day, we picked up a couple of things at the mall and had a late lunch at Pickle Barrel.


Grilled Salmon with Maple Syrup & Mixed Nut Sauce
Grilled salmon fillet with toasted mixed nut pieces and maple syrup glaze served with Napa lettuce, red peppers and snow peas in a sesame dressing.

I love maple syrup on pancakes... but who knew it would be orgasmic on salmon?! "Twas yummy to the tummy. Not a fan of the warm veggies though (yuck).


Spanish Paella
Flavoured rice, mussels, black tiger shrimp, chicken, bell peppers, sausage, plum tomatoes, onions, zucchini, carrots, and mushrooms.

This was just alright, definitely not as yummy as the salmon. I think the mix of mussels, shrimp, sausage and chicken threw me off. Too much meat and seafood in one dish. Guess Paella isn't really my thing. Oh wellz.


40th anniversary ruby red velvet cake mini dessert.
I thought this was a cake.. but really it was an 80% cream cheese and 20% cake sort of thing - and I loved it - enough said.

So we needed the bill after indulging in our desert but our waiter was nowhere in sight for 20 minutes!!! The place wasn't even busy since it was like 4 O'clock. I was pretty fed up.

Me: Dare me to not tip?
Al: Yup.
Me: Ok.

So when another waitress finally walked by, we asked for our bill and what do you know? Our waiter returned but didn't even bother coming to our table to check up on us! Our time is valuable thank you very much. End of rant~

We can do whatever, be whoever we like.

Ever since August had begun, my energy level just went downhill =( Mainly because I haven't been going to bed at 10pm like I usually do lol But omg, only two more weeks of camp left! It's gonna be a bittersweet goodbye D=

Minnie Mouse
Every Wednesday is a themed day at camp and everyone is encourage to dress up! This is probably my most successful one hehe. One of my campers let me wear her gloves. I seriously want a pair now! Do they sell these at the Disney store? (or perhaps this calls for a trip down to Florida! haha)


Boredom
Lol, drawing on another staff's knee on a moving school bus XD Fun times fun times.

Kids: is that permanent?
Me: YES! It's a tattoo.
Kids: but that's a pen.
Me: well it's a permanent pen *smiles*
Kids: *confused*
Me: Ok it's washable.
Kids: *relief*


Claymation Slide
Being at camp these past weeks made me realize that I missed out a lot as a kid. Why didn't my parents send me to camp? All those summers I just sat at home and watched t.v., wasted. :( But luckily, while I only worked half days these past couple of days, I was able to crash other camps and relive my childhood! I will share my creations in a future post :) As for now, I need to sit back and relax the rest of my Sunday.

Next time I'll be braver, I'll be my own savior

WARNING: side effects upon reading this blog post may include: excessive droolage, extreme hunger and immediate gravitation toward food.

Here is my fantastilicious fine dining experience at Cafe Nicole during Summerlicious!


Cafe Nicole
They had "patio" seating.. but it was literally on the sidewalk, an inch away from the street. As much as it was a nice day out... we sat inside. It was also the night of Taylor Swift's concert in Toronto and thus making my way through crazy fan girls downtown was quite aggravating. You know you got crazy fans across the globe T.S.!!! No hate though.


Wine
My friend Peez convinced me to get wine X_X This is about all the alcohol I can drink in one sitting without having difficulties to walk afterwards lol. Ehhh... I'd take beer over wine any day.


Bread and butter


My Appetizer
Sun Dried Cranberries, Candied Pecans, Goat’s Cheese and Hand Picked Field Greens tossed in Maple balsamic Vinaigrette. One word: fantastic.


Peez' Appetizer
Moules & Frites with a choice of Herb de Province White Wine Cream Sauce or a Zesty Tomato Basil Sauce. The musscles were delicious too! I Didn't have amy of the fries though. Anyone else agree that this is a weird combo?!


My Main Course
Chicken Kiev with Lemon Dill Sauce, Sautéed Belgian Endives & Garlic Whipped Potatoes. This was really good too! The chicken was slightly stuffed too. Can you tell I love sour food? Haha.


Peez' Main Course
Pan Seared Trout with Toasted Pecan Brown Butter, Rapini and Apricot Couscous. I think Peez said it was delicious too. Yay!


Dessert
We both got the Mini White Chocolate and Raspberry Crème Brule. It was minuscule damnit :( I need one that's 3x the size ya know? Dessert should be the most important course of a meal =p My sweet tooth was satisfied though.

Good food makes Cakester happy ^_^

I can't promise to solve all your problems, but I can promise you won't have to face them alone.

A Cakester rule: Never turn down good food with good people!

Hello my lovely cupcakes!! Although I'm consumed by work at the moment, I have not failed you guys at obtaining material for my blog =p You are currently reading another Cakester classic: FOOD POST!

Here is Outing #1 with Al at Restoran Malaysia.


Roti Canai
You break the roti into smaller pieces and dip it in the curry sauce.I thought it was an interesting concept since it was my first time hehe.


Hockien Mee / Kuala Lumpur Style
This was a huge plate (dinner size)


Pad Thai
Can't go wrong with Pad Thai... yum!


Here is Outing #2 with Al at Taka Sushi House.


Hand Rolls (Avocado, Spicy Salmon, Spicy Butter Fish)
J.Al helped me with the presentation of this one. Yay for wonderful helpers!

Yam Tempura Roll, Chicken Teriyaki Roll
Does it bother anyone that one of the bottom right Teriyaki roll doesn't have as much sauce as the other ones? I mean, if you're gonna put sauce on it... why stop at 5 right? (I'm OCD like that.)

Sushi: Salmon, Tuna, Butter Fish, Shrimp, Tofu Pocket, Egg

Beef Rib, Chicken Teriyaki, Yakishrimp

That is all, for now. Kthx.

I'm superwoman.

You know you love your jobs when you've had a 62-hour work week and you're not hating on life.


podium
First week of camp went well.. a little bumpy on Monday when I nearly lost my voice but the rest of the week turned out better than expected. I'm still getting use to having my name called every 20 seconds though (not an exaggeration). I don't blame them; I have to take them to the washroom even if they are like 14 years old (camp rule). Camp is keen on supervision which is a pain in the butt especially when you need to stay in ratio and feel like you are short-staffed.


Miss. Helen
YES teaching is a very rewarding career (I can finally validate this saying myself now!). Unfortunately, I don't see myself teaching in the future but kudos to those who do! Appreciate your teachers, professors and mentors!


Flower.
The same boy who drew the picture of me also gave me this yellow flower during lunch time and my heart just melted. It was definitely the highlight of my week. I actually don't like real flowers but his gesture made me want to give him the biggest bear hug ever... except no hugging is allowed at camp *sigh* (only side hugs). He even asked me if I'll be returning to camp next year to teach again! Wohoo!

Looking forward to my day off this Sunday after 13 consecutive days of work ^_^ Meanwhile, I shall pass out on my bed for 8 hours. Good night =D