Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Juicer!!


This was highly recommended by a co-worker, supposedly turns veggies into dust so fine that it comes out of the shoot...



However, what I truly want to blow my money on is this one. It's seriously blowing money away, but look at how majestic it is :) http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41N5B1SJ5TL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Spicy Beef Jerky


I have way too many open tabs, time to bookmark here so I can close the tabs :).
I've been craving Chinese spicy beef jerky (麻辣牛肉干), and this recipe looks excellent.
Yeah it's in Chinese, use google translate.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Perfect cookware??

It started with wanting to get some non-stick stir fry pans that can take a beating and won't die on me after a year or two. As it turns out, all Teflon cookware fade after 5 years no matter how expensive they are. So I started looking for good alternatives.
The first thing that came to mind are the ever-so-popular-in-Asia marble cookware. However, there's little health information about them. I did hear that they last longer than Teflon, which is good. The ones in the pictures below are sold here. Or something cheaper like this one.
I also heard about Mauviel, that makes beautiful copper cookware that heats evenly. The stainless steel lined ones do stick but they also supposedly make tin lined cookware that don't stick. However, tin supposedly might cause heavy metal poisoning, so even though tin being the original none-stick surface and is PTFE free, it's not necessarily safe.
Then there's Beka, a Belgian cookware manufacture, who makes nano-ceramic coating that's more resistant to high heat and more durable. But according to this article, it's questionable whether nano particles are more toxic or not.
Which brought me to the conclusion that maybe I should just buy a cast iron pan, season the heck out of it and call it a day. Supposedly once the patina develops, it's as stick resistant as a non-stick pan. How promising.
Then these that also require seasoning, which seems to get really great reviews as well. Although the seasoned look on these don't look particularly pleasant.

Man, so many choices yet none is perfect.



Friday, March 25, 2011

Argh, these rain boots are prettier

http://www.colehaan.com/colehaan/catalog/product.jsp?catId=100&productId=396177&productGroup=396178

Argh, I just saw these online today, these rainboots are prettier than the ones I ended up buying....I haven't gotten around to try them yet, but they look really nice.

Instead, I bought the Rah Rah Rain Boot by Dirty Laundry, which look like these
They are not bad, but only works well with casual clothes and not good for dressing up Friday night :(. http://www.endless.com/dp/B003TIYGE6/ref=asc_df_B003TIYGE61396424?tag=endlesscj-20&creative=395033&linkCode=asn&creativeASIN=B003TIYGE6 I bought mine for 39.95 through ShoeDazzle's one day sale. They are out of my sizes elsewhere.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Get Your Water Flowing!


One of the best things I've ever gotten for myself is this device
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=16883581 (note that I posted the bed bath and beyond link because with the 20% coupon they offer, it's the cheapest deal)
I don't think I would ever floss on a regular basis if it's not for this "oral irrigator", yes, that's what these water jet floss things are called, as if I'm growing farm crops in between my teeth. Despite the stupid name, it's extremely convenient, fast, and does an excellent job knocking out food scrap in between my teeth. Note that I didn't floss before this, and after I started using it, my oral hygienist was happy with the improvements.
I liked water flossing so much that I just ordered this one
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-EW-DJ10-A-Oral-Irrigator/dp/B0027LSEPS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300295855&sr=8-1 for when I travel out of town. I'll update on how I like it when it arrives.
Also, to improve my brushing, I purchased http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Sonicare-FlexCare-Rechargeable-Toothbrush/dp/B002CVTVVY/ref=sr_1_3?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1300296144&sr=1-3 which works extremely well. My advice? Get it on ebay. They hand out samples to dentists that end up on ebay for a lot cheaper.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Rain Boots Search


I want a good pair of rain boots to defend me from the endless San Francisco rain. So far it's been a failed search :(. I'd like to find something that looks like real boots but serves as rain boots anyways, something close to the Banana Republic rain boot in the picture. The Banana Republic rain boots are really uncomfortable though, unfortunately. The calves are too small and shoes are too narrow. Too bad :(.

I'll post pictures here if I finally find a good pair :).

Saturday, March 5, 2011

I totally have that somewhere!



This outfit is so damn cute!! The best part, I think I can totally pull it off since I have a bunch of pieces somewhere that look similar to the ones in the pictures :). Just gotta get that hat somewhere and I'm all set :D.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Chinese Hawthorn Tree 山楂树

This is one of those I'm Chinese and I'm addicted to stuff that I can't find in the US things. I LOVE Chinese Hawthorn Berries. Chinese Hawthorn Berry Kabob is a stable snack for Chinese kids and I grew up with it. The fresh berries are not available in the US, which has been a really big annoyance for me for years. Now I have some outdoor space, I'm thinking that I can plant one myself. Instead of waiting for 4 years for it to flower and fruit, I found a website that sells the semi-grownup tree. Well, we have to wait until spring for it to be available, but hey, at least I know I can get it somewhere :).
Here's the medicinal effect of Chinese Hawthorn Berries, it's good for high blood pressure (lowers blood pressure). If you don't like eating the fruit, you can dry them up and make tea with it too, which also tastes excellent :).

Finally, Shu Shu Clean!! 超电水


Alright, so I was in Tokyo walking around Tokyu Hands and got sucked into a demonstration by a Japanese sales man for this cleaning product 超电水 (translated to "Super Electric Water"), and the English name is apparently Clean Shu Shu (so cute). The demo looked something like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqg5myRtkdM&feature=related. The product looked amazingly effective (of course it cut the grease right off the old kitchen vent fan since it was a demo!), but the most convincing part is that after all that, the guy sprayed it into his own mouth--it's supposedly completely healthy and chemical free. I did some research online later and found that alkaline ionized water (which is what this product is, relatively stable alkaline ionized water with an expiration date of about 6 months) is an amazingly effective cleaning agent and disinfectant and it's chemical free! Well luckily, I bought a bottle and smuggled it back from Japan, and it had been really great in the kitchen and it saved my cat pee stained rug--yes it removed dried up cat urine like a miracle with no odor left behind--much better than Nature's Miracle. Oh yeah, in Tokyo Hands, this random clueless white tourist girl handed her metal watch to see if the watch demo is for real, the towel came off disgustingly yellow and black--worse than the original demo watch, and she turned beet red, lol.
Well to make a long story longer, I used up my bottle and can't find more in the US. After a lot of research, I realized that they sell it in Taiwan, and I E-Mailed the Taiwanese branch company to see where I can buy this product in the US. Apparently it's has a name change (PH12.6) and an uglier bottle in the US, but you can buy the same thing here http://www.ph12-6.com/store/. Talking about shady looking and no marketing...
Well, time to restock on Clean Shu Shu!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Reverse Osmosis System


Stumbleupon brought me to this site http://waterlife.nfb.ca/ which really started me thinking that maybe we should get a reverse osmosis system under our sink for better quality water. After a lot of research, the Watts Premier Zero Waste Revers Osmosis System seems decent, even though the longevity of it is questionable (the low reviews all site problems after 1-2 years). I'm also going to look into Waste Maid Pro-6 System when I get around to it, and look at the lower cost Watts Premier 3 Stage System, and maybe more features like this one with "ultra violet disinfection" (that could very well be not that useful though). Overall, the criteria is good quality water, less waste (usually takes 4-5 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon, which is such a huge waste) and longevity. I'm also going to see if the Point-to-Use Instant Hot Water System is going to work with the RO setup so eventually I can get instant filtered hot and cold water at my sink thus free up some counter space. Yay for kitchen gadgets!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Perfect Travel Pillow?


Seems like I'll be flying a lot in the upcoming months, and I got sick of my leaky travel pillow, time to get a new one.

This one
or this one


Kinda in the mood the venture out for something different like the Travel Rest, but I'm somewhat wary of it leaking in the future, as that's how my last one died, granted that the last one was from Daiso (Japanese dollar store). I think I'll give Travel Rest a shot just to try something different.

According to the review, there are many ways to configure this pillow. It doesn't work too well with international flights if you want to attach it to the seat, though you can wear it on yourself like a shoulder bag. This one review says "All in all, if you like the neck pillows then you probably don't need this. But, if you are a side sleeper, want a larger surface area, or like to hold on to something when sleeping, then you should definitely check this out." I'm a side sleeper and always hold a pillow when sleeping, so this sounds pretty convincing to me. I think it's a buy, what do you think?

Update: I ended up buying this, and so far so very good. I slept really well on my domestic flights, and I can see it working well on international flights as well. It worked well for me because I'm a side sleeper, I don't know how it would work with back or belly sleepers though. Maybe I'll test it out on my husband next time we fly together.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Is Shadora as Shady as They Look?

Well, rest assured that you get what you pay for--they are not going to be top quality jewelry.

According to the review above and my own experience, when you see a diamond encrusted piece on this website, what you will get will most likely be diamond chips with studs in a lot of the slots where diamonds are suppose to be. Still, if you get small pieces (I got a key necklace with a flower shape on top similar to this one http://shadora.com/products/silver-plated-key-pendant but it has diamond chips on the flower petals, I like it), and pieces that only has one or two stones, you won't be missing that stone. Granted they are not top quality jewelry, for how often they appear on deal websites, you can often get some okay piece for not much money. I would avoid large pieces and stick with the smaller ones.

Layered Hoodie


I've always been a fan of long hoodies, they give a cute and casual feel and when implemented right can be complimenting to both skinny and rounder figures. This particular set of hoodies have some great colors, but the best part is that they also provide that catchy layered look without the extra bulk. Thumbs up :). http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=8494819760

On a side note, I also love the shoes. I'll keep an eye out for them. Let me know if you know where I can get those shoes :).

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I saw this picture in a store in China and really liked the outfit. Then I realized that this particular photo shoot with this outfit is posted on just about every other fashion blog in China. Reverse searching is hard, but I finally was able to find the sweater+hat combo online.
Looks pretty different from the pictures though...the brand is 先潮后人, and they seem to have a really big collection of Korean sweaters.
All the pictures of this outfit is here http://www.yinghuashop.cn/views.asp?hw_id=1820

The Taobao link seems to be the cheapest entry for purchase.

As for the pink skirt, this is the best substitute I could find http://www.yesstyle.com.au/en/shy-shy-pleated-skirt-pink-one-size/info.html/pid.1023787282 but it's out of stock :(.

Dried Umeboshi (dried Japanese plum)


Finally found these! You can only get these in Japan, and not even every store in Japan has them. They are really sour and has a kick to them. I'm totally addicted and I've been looking for them everywhere. I guess with a pretty big mark up, you can them them here too :).

More oxfords

These are interesting, and the girl has a really nice outfit to go with them.


These from "Taiwan Museum" (台湾馆) are super adorable. The reviews in Chinese says that the sole of the shoes are bit hard, but otherwise they are really cute shoes and the seller is very responsive. 59yuan+s&h+international shipping, still a pretty good deal.


Classy Oxfords :)

been looking for a good pair of oxfords, these have a very unique color :)

Red Patent Flats!!!


Oh these are so cute! Gracegift is the brand, a quick search on Taobao turns up lots of great results :).
I think I'll try to combine these two recipes at some point to make crunchier nuts with a smooth glaze and more flavors. Had some really good glazed roasted nuts at the Wynn buffet in Las Vegas, and I want to reproduce the flavor. According to the reviews, the first recipe is too salty, so maybe reduce the salt and not enough spices, so I'll add some ground ginger powder and Cinnamon. Should be pretty tasty :D.

http://thanksgiving.food.com/recipe/crunchy-glazed-pecans-45542
Upon further research, this recipe looks pretty good too
and the results looks more similar to the Wynn pecans...except the pecans don't look roasted. I think I'll roast the pecans first according to this link http://www.ehow.com/how_2172724_roast-pecans.html then use the recipe above to make it perfect :).

:( the search for a blender continues.


Looks like a very understated review which basically states that KitchenAid 5 speed blender came on top for the price. The Breville, despite being able to blend in both cases, comes at a price tag of $300 rather than $150.

HOWEVER
people have stated that the blender leaks after several months of usage, and that it's noisy and the base vibrates (as you can see in the video). I'm going to have to keep looking :(.

The orange blender does look cute though :(. What a shame. Maybe I should call to see if they have an improved model?