you know you’re getting old when…

1. you develop an internal alarm clock that wakes you up before 7am everyday.

2. you’d rather listen to kost 103.5 rather than power and sing scream eye of the tiger like it’s no one’s business.

3. you crave to bake on the weekends.

just to reaffirm how i constantly feel, i did all three of these things today. even sing eye of the tiger. way to go, em. i can almost feel my joints tightening up. i decided to make a rice cake in celebration of chinese new years but instead of making a traditional 年糕 i decided to bake a matcha mochi cake. it was also an excuse to visit the local japanese market, mitsuwa, and see the jolly japanese ladies that work there. they’re so cute! happy chinese new years everyone!! may your year be filled with happiness and love.

super easy recipe:

Matcha Mochi Cake
1 lb glutinous rice flour (equivalent to about 3.5-4 cups depending on the type of flour. the french weigh out their ingredients. and they make the best macarons so we should trust their technique)
2 tblspn matcha powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups milk
2 cups sugar (i used 1.5 cause i don’t like it too sweet)
3 eggs, beaten

preheat oven to 350 degrees. combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix until consistent. grease a pan or two, depending on the size, pour the mixture in, then bake for an hour or until you poke the center with a toothpick and it comes out clean. let cool before you cut it! next time i want to pizzazz it up and put some red bean in it. mmmmmmm. the star of the cake – matcha!!! it’s a great antioxidant.

he was not a man of many words, but always held a striking presence. he was my idol – smart, generous, kind. my grandpa passed away early yesterday morning and though devastated, i know he lived his 90 years vicariously. it gives me a sense of happiness that he’s at peace and of course, he will live on forever in my heart. he was traditional and didn’t express his emotions as we americans do. whenever i would go to taipei to visit him, i’d hug and kiss him. he didn’t get that much from any of his grandchildren, let alone my grandma. however, looking past the slightly uncomfortable and rigid expression, i could tell he loved it when i did that.

here’s to a humble celebration of his time here on earth. the last photo was just a month ago.

who knew steam mopping the floor could be so exhilarating? part of me thinks it disinfects my soul more than it does the floors. from last week’s emo post til now, ive taken the first step every therapist wants their client to aim for – acknowledging i have been in a funk. now i just need to snap out of it!

last night, dozer stared at me looking mighty bewildered. if i could guess, he’s thinking im crazy for running around the house like a mad woman, cleaning my ass off. vacuum, steam mop, laundry, dishes, bed linens… oh my, what a glorious night!

later on, dozer was doing what he does best – dozing off – and looked too cute to ignore. i tried practicing manual focus. failed on that last one…then i got distracted by my flowers on the coffee table.

h-eye!

i’m truly sorry, dear blog! i’ve neglected you. please forgive me…it’s a new year and a new me, so get ready for some awesome photos. tiff and i have some exciting shoots and weddings booked for 2012 and we’re in the works of a new website redesign that i can’t wait to share.

i hate excuses but in my defense, much has happened these past couple months. i’ve been on a roller coaster ride of emotions that took me to both low and high places. my father was diagnosed with infective endocarditis  after doing some dental work. his supposedly qualified dentist failed to prescribe antibiotics after a tooth extraction so bacteria was able to make its way into his heart valves and do some major damage. after a couple months, he took his yearly trip to taiwan where he felt uneasy and was admitted into the hospital for emergency open heart surgery. thankfully, taiwan healthcare is extremely efficient, thorough, and suffice it to say much cheaper than healthcare in the states. my brother and i rushed to taipei to see our parents and spent almost 3 weeks there. our visit was a surprise. as soon as we landed at midnight, we went straight to the hospital where he was sleeping. he woke but didn’t have his glasses on so we had to move our faces literally 6 inches away from him until his eyes could focus and once he made our faces, his eyes widened with pure joy. it was, hands down, the highlight of my trip.

the 4 of us together is a rarity so the presence of everyone in one small hospital room day after day was extremely comforting and personally, very emotional. i witnessed my mom care for my dad in ways i thought were long lost in their relationship. i bonded with my brother. i cherished my dad. to think i was even just a tiny bit closer to losing him was overwhelming and reasserted what we all already know but constantly brush off…that life is delicate and needs to be appreciated.

leaving taipei was difficult. i fought back tears the last 2 days knowing i wouldn’t see my mom for years but am super thankful i got the chance to go.

as soon as i got back to the states, there were tons of things to take care of. it felt never ending. on a positive note, i closed escrow on a condo in pasadena!!! now the fun begins to slightly remodel it and get it rented. my plans were to move in but due to my dad’s condition, i’m staying put for now so i can take care of him. perhaps this will turn out to be better on an investing standpoint.

not only have i neglected the blog and my readers, my 5d is also screaming at me to use him (his name is chauncey, btw). it’ll be refreshing to get back into shooting again. since this is starting to become more of an emo diary entry than a blog post, the least i can do is leave you with some photos, courtesy of my iphone. that is…if you even read this far. tl;dr. sidenote…i’ve subconsciously known this but after selecting images, it’s confirmed – 80% of my iphone photos are of dozer….

happy 2012 everyone!!!!

i’ve come to realize, redesigning a house, let alone a single room, is not a simple feat. after some frustration, sweat, and even blood (damn you, nail!), i’m finally almost done with my room. there are several small features left like re-paining the trim/closet and getting some bright yellow curtains but other than that, i’m super happy with the results thus far. assembling furniture, particularly ikea furniture, is incredibly tiring. painting….is incredibly tiring. hell, i’m just freakin’ tired.

i chose a pale gray with a dark gray accent wall to make the room appear a bit larger. i also installed some wall shelves to store my weird knick knacks. hope you like!

WARNING: the messiness in the “before” photos really represent how anxious i felt everyday because i kept wanting to just finish this damned project. i can now almost fully relax and enjoy the new space.

BEFORE:

dozer’s mid-jumping-onto-the-bed shot

the 4,346 pieces to the ikea dresser FINALLY assembled

AFTER:

hi, dozer! <3

i like to waste spend my time browsing the internet for weird little trinkets because i keep telling myself it’d look good in my newly decorated room one day. so yeah that project has been going on for…..a few months now and after all the splinters and sweat from putting together all the furniture, it kind of came to a halt. i think it’s time to get motivated now, being that it’s the new year and all. all i need to do is pick out a paint color (leaning towards smokey gray) and put up the new curtains/shelves/art/rug.

i couldn’t complete this project without a canvas of dozer so i finally got one made. it might seem weird i chose this image where he looks absolutely annoyed of me but i chose it because of that. for those who have not met dozer, he’s a sly one that revolves his whole world around food. he constantly glances on each table in the house just to see if he’s able to lay his paws on food we accidentally left behind. he’s been successful one too many times. i don’t even want to think about that one time he ate a whole chocolate cake….

so my beloved friend cynn took the photo below and prior to, we had been feeding the dogs treats. as you can see in dozer’s eyes…all he wants are more of those damn good chicken strips. it’s funny…it’s his essence. and that’s why i love him.

duh nuh duh nuh duh nuh duh nuh BATMANNNNNNNNNNNN!!

we hit up the carlsbad caverns on day 4 and boy oh boy oh boy, what an experience! my eyes adjusted to the darkness and my ears could hear the water drip slowly from the stalactites.  i felt like batman..er, batgirl. sadly, i’d forgotten my flashes so i was really limited as to what i could capture but it was still an amazing site to see. to think, these caverns have been here millions and millions of years and each stalactite and stalagmite is formed by the minerals in dripping water. stunning.

king’s palace room

this really shocked me. these little nipply things are actually stalactites 79 years old. now, you can imagine how many years old those huge ones are. IN-SANE.

HUGE ASS STALAGMITE in the hall of giants. 0.O how is this even possible…

the descent into earth’s core

it’s been 16 years since the 4 of us have traveled outside of LA together. we all agreed on a trip to texas and new mexico to visit the white sands desert and carlsbad caverns.  i will cherish those 6 days forever…come to think of it, i don’t know when the next time we’ll all be able to travel together will be. we hiked all 3 trails of the white sands desert and came up with some fun photo adventures along the way.  the color tones consisted of pretty much one hue so i had to spice things up some how. towards the end, i decided to take my boots off to feel the cold, gritty sand against my bare feet. my girly excuse? i wanted some au naturale exfoliation. then followed the fam and i couldn’t help but capture that moment with a shot of our imprints. ahh…it’s only been a week since but i already miss it.

obviously, i am most evolved

<3

who’s who?

setup a last minute makeshift photo area at the london hotel in west hollywood to celebrate the beginning of 2011. HAPPY NEW YEAR urrbody!