平價地中海美食 Gaby's

自從不再需要去學校之後就懶得大老遠開車到東邊(East LA, aka San Gabriel, Alhambra area)
遠離便宜好吃的中國菜
我開始尋覓西邊平價好吃的地方

Gaby's 是個我家走路10分鐘可以到(耶又省了汽油錢) 的地中海餐廳
主菜是各種kabab (有雞牛豬魚) 或是 肉或海鮮排或條
餐前有免費的pita, 每道主餐也都有附沙拉
主菜大約9~13元左右, 包含稅跟小費一人大概$15 可以搞定
所以在沒收入的時期這是我和朋友聚餐的最佳選擇
(美國真的貴, 在台灣$500 可以吃五星級飯店的buffet 下午茶了....>_< 在這居然是平價美食的價錢...sigh...)

大學足球季開跑

VS

Yay! Tomorrow I'm going to the 1st game in the season. It was embarrassing that I didn't get football at all until the last game in last season. (Yes... the unfortunate one. USC lost to UCLA.) That was the last game in my 2 year student life in USC. Now I've become an alum and I'm very excited about going to the game, although I have to pay so much more for a game. ^_^

找工作的詐騙集團

人有欲望跟恐懼
所以有詐騙集團的存在

早期流行的金光黨
利用的是人們的貪念
而前陣子台灣猖獗的詐騙情節
用的則是人們害怕親人受傷害的恐懼

當很多人都想得到某種東西卻無法得到的時候
詐騙集團就會出現, 來滿足人的欲望想像
騙人中樂透的不稀奇
但我居然接到騙人去工作的

現在我傾向不直接接起陌生來電
因為若是徵才公司的話我可以爭取多一點時間準備好再回電
話說前天早上我看到陌生的來自亞利桑那州的號碼索性不接
但聽留言的時候居然是我完全聽不懂的印度英文
好啦....我承認我對於印度英文並不擅長, 但以一般印度同學的腔調來說我至少可以懂個85%
這個我真的只聽懂了<10%, 聽到了 resume, 大致聽出是跟找工作有關的
但甚麼公司甚麼職位都聽不清楚
心裡想著反正我沒申請任何在亞利桑那州的工作也沒甚麼興趣搬去那裏工作
在加上就算我回電我也聽不懂他講的話, 就決定不回電話了

沒想到過了約一小時
一個後面兩個號碼不同, 也是來自亞歷桑納的號碼又來電
我仍然故意不接
這次換成另一個印度男子留言, 稍微好一點
但我已經開始覺得他們應該是外包到印度的電話行銷中心
當天下午又有另一個相近號碼的另一個人留言
雖然我不知道他們能從我身上騙到甚麼
但總有點好氣又好笑的感覺

好笑的是我心裡第一件想到的居然是...
唉他們cold call 名單沒分配好不夠專業
還有最近在看的書Tipping Point...想到原來申請的工作多到一種程度, 各行各業甚至連詐騙集團都會找上妳

好氣的是電話號碼被某個求職網站洩漏
不過算了啦反正也沒甚麼可以讓人騙的沒有真得很氣就是了

Cha Cha Cha - Silver Lake

Cha Cha Cha is a Caribbean restaurant chain. I've been to the one in SF and the one in West Hollywood for dinner. They have great Tapas menu and also serve great Sangaria. Now I found it was also a great place to go for a relaxing & exoctic weekend brunch! The seafood omelet is my fav!

Complimentary Bread


Chilaquiles: Scrambled eggs with tortillas, guacamole, crème fraiche & tomatillo salsa


Tortilla Marbella: Seafood omelet with scallions & mushrooms

Manhattan Beach Sunset

Bike riding has become my Sunday routine. It rained a little bit this aftenoon, so we left a little bit later than usual. Because of that, I got to catch the beautiful sunset at Manhattan Beach.

Feel-good Things Lately

1. Biking: Loving beach side bike riding in south bay!
2. Walking: Actually the only walk I've been doing is probably from my place to the gym. I used to walk a lot when I live in Taipei. Walking makes me feel alive, feel that I'm closer to the world.
3. Knowing that I'm following my workout routine
4. Cooking with friends: Welcome to Palms Kitchen!
5. Learning American pop culture: Ha... well actually by just watching E! & MTV channel and listening to a lot of American pop music

sick

I've been sick for the past week. I haven't caught a cold for so long that I can't even remember when was the last time i was sick. Also, unlike this time, i would normally recover in 2~3 days. What happened to me?

Maybe the reason was the same as why Meredith almost died. She could swim but almost drowned because she lost her will of living for just a second.

Am I gradually losing my hope of succeeding?
How could I find back my confidence and optimism?

The research on the popular cafes - Toast

I am working on a project that I have to find out the places with the longest wait and dig out the reasons why they are so popular.

Need your inputs & comments!
- Please tell me the most popular/crowded cafes you've ever been.
- Please comment on the reasons I list out if you've also been to these places. ^_^

I'll start with Toast.
1) the hip of the crowd (I think this is the single most important reason.)
2) the good looking waiters & waitresses
3) its location (this contributes to #1, but also the painful parking situation.)
4) its menu (it serves burgers, quesadillas, wraps, and soups, other than the regular brunch/breakfast menu in other places)
5) its hour (it opens until 10pm, much longer than most of the cafes.)

Baking

In Grey's Anatomy, Izzie couldn't stop baking muffins when Denny died. When she stopped baking, she was recovered and ready to face the real life.

I can't remeber when was my last time baking. 6 years ago maybe? I made very tasty and looking-good oat cookies. I can't remember why I started baking either. But I remember I enjoyed the time hanging in the kitchen with Mom and I loved the smell of baking.

Today, I just started baking again. I made waffles. I baked alone in the kitchen.(not as fun as baking in the Kitchen at home with Mom) I am not trying to hide from the real life. I'm doing so to try to learn about the reasons why some waffles are good and some are not.

Here comes my first waffle. Okay, I was wrong. I shouldn't have been lazy and bought the baking mix from Trader Joe's. The waffle tasted not bad, and it was quick and easy to make. But it won't be easy for me to adjust the ingredients and flavors.