Michellencarrom ~fashion is passing but style is forever~

月曜日, 1月 07, 2008

Some pictures from New Year Day!

Happy New Year yah! 1 week has passed in 2008, and it's been a zooming exhilarting start for moi!

Firstly, on New Year Day itself, I visited Little Tokyo which had 4 spots of celebration. Really, it was not my idea to (1) go to Pasadena for the annual Rose Parade or (2) Stay home to watch the Rose Parade. Guess it's something like Chingay, with floats parading around... Heck. Little Tokyo was nice, I was looking forward to eating some Oshogatsu stuff like MOCHI and watching MOCHITSUKI! :) Bleah.... yes I am suaku, I havent seen Mochitsuki before. Btw Mochitsuki is the act/ritual of hitting Mochi many times. I've always wanted to taste how that Mochi would taste. Well, I finally had the chance! HOnestly, it wasn't fantastic. And I suspect it's because the Mochi was hit by audiences (who crowded round the Mochi master) and not everyone hit hard enough. Some how, if you hit CORRECTLY, (ie, mannaka - in the middle) and HARDLY, it will sound different, compared to if you use only a whiff of your energy.

Anyhow, the Anzuki beans stole the show. I think I am falling in love with RED BEANS. Gosh... I have Red bean Tang Yuan, Red Bean MOchi Ice cream, Red Bean paste, Red bean soup, Red Beans in my house right now. All waiting to be DEVOURED by me. Oh sorry for the digression. Here are some pictures from Mochitsuki!

Hitting the Mochi, and preparing the Mochi to be hit. I think these rice cooker looking pots are actually special pots for making mochi. Because the Mochi was actually bouncing in the pots, and if you observe closely, there is no lid, unlike a rice cooker. In fact, the reason why I drew this conclusion is because I've seen Marukai (Japanese Supermarket) or Mitsuwa (Japanese Supermarket) advertise these pots. "Mochi Making Pots". Whoa. How specific.

And after queueing up, like those people you see in the background, you get a box of MOchi for $5. It actually comes with 3 flavours- Red Bean, Peanuts and Radish. But Ka Meng (my friend, who's also Accounting Mgr USA) wanted a Red BEan on her own. (And actually me too...) haha. So I choose Radish to be the other topping. Well, you guys know I'm not a big fan of PEANUTS... hahaha. The Radish turned out WEIRD. cuz it's savoury, while the red bean, I must emphasise again, is HEAVENLY.

Anyway! Enough of Red Bean Mochi, we waited 1 hr for lunch at Curry House,

which had a branch on 2nd floor Weller Court. Well, it was my first time trying, and the stupid guy actually said 15 mins wait, and that was why we waited from 1pm. But we waited till 2pm, and by the time we finished, it was 3pm!!! Sigh... the program at Weller Court was already over! (but not that I'm very interested)... I purposely choose this Shrimp plus Omelette over the normal CUrry sets cuz I thought it will make a better picture. ANd true enough... look...

Hehe... Ok lah, it's an angle problem. See how ANGLES make a picture different! Ka Meng said her beef curry tasted good, but too bad I've abstained from beef. THe corn soup tasted really good though. :)

After lunch, we wandered to Japanese Village cuz the program there was supposed to end at 5pm. THere was a center stage, and pretty much that. Some how, we walked along one of the streets, and we were brought to a small alley leading to a Buddhist Temple. Well, it was a Japanese tradition of visiting the temple on the first day of New Year. ACtually, some chinese (buddhists/taoists) do it too. Now I recall news reports on CHinese New Year day - every year, there's bound to have some news at the Waterloo Street Temple - about devotees wanted to offer their first joss sticks. Anyhow, the Japanese practise Buddhism in a different way, and they don't offer joss sticks. We queued up too - actually it was me who wanted to queue up to offer some prayers, and be blessed - cuz since it was the new year. To wish for a better year ahead, and better health and of course, *something else* hehehee :P. I then bought 2 Jaapanese Omamori - which is like amulet. One for my brother, 2 for myself. oh so greedy. ONe for something general, and another specific which I decline to tell anyone. But well, Ka Meng knows. ANYWAY. I saw this arrow-like omamori. A lot of people were holding it - it was in an envelop. nd in the temple, there was a box that held "OLD OMAMORI". I deduce that you're supposed to hang this arrow like omamori for a year, and then return it. I don't think I am able to return this next year, so I didn't buy the arrow.

Wah... I talk so much about praying

And some photos from performances at Japanese Village Plaza and Weller Court.

Btw, having said so much, just want to de-muddle you. Yes, I was in Los Angeles, and not Tokyo or not Japan. Hahaha.

P/s: Now you know why I like Los Angeles so much!!!!!!!!!

ラベル: everyday life, Los Angeles

1/07/2008 03:03:00 午前

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|| LITTLE WONDERS ~ lyrics ||

let it go, let it roll right off your shoulder
don’t you know the hardest part is over
let it in, let your clarity define you
in the end we will only just remember how it feels

our lives are made in these small hours
these little wonders, these twists & turns of fate
time falls away, but these small hours,
these small hours still remain

let it slide, let your troubles fall behind you
let it shine until you feel it all around you
and i don’t mind
if it’s me you need to turn to
we’ll get by,
it’s the heart that really matters in the end

our lives are made in these small hours
these little wonders, these twists & turns of fate
time falls away, but these small hours,
these small hours still remain

all of my regret will wash away some how
but i can not forget
the way i feel right now

in these small hours
these little wonders
these twists & turns of fate
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away but these small hours
these small hours, still remain,
still remain
these little wonders
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away
but these small hours
these little wonders still remain

自己紹介

月曜日, 1月 07, 2008

Some pictures from New Year Day!

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