Some singer took it for his music video for his mediocre song. I can’t find the original so this will have to do.

-EDIT- Here is the original! Yay!

Totally cried in the theatre and so did all the old people in the audience. At the panel after the showing, many people asked the director how he came up with the story how his parents felt… He said his mom asked why there was no mom in the story. hah!

This is similar to the Japanese short, La Maison en Petits Cubes (The House of Small Cubes) which won the Oscar in 2009.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX0Dvtvev1E

I think I like the art of The House of Small Cubes better.

Frozen for 24 hours and now it's ready to make pops!

Outer shell is starting to freeze. To make filled popsicles, you suck out the juice with a straw and then pour in a different liquid. Ingenious!

I made these this afternoon. Black cherry iced tea with fresh lemon juice and a lemon slice frozen on the side. Frozen lemon mmmMmm.

It was so hot today that these were a perfect gift. It was an early present but it was just in time for the nice warm weekend.

There is something so beautiful about the science of food. We do it at least three times a day but we never really think about it. The photography itself is so yummy!

For more info, visit their website.

Yummers

I added the cucumber slices for some color. It’s all about presentation! The noodles are also twirled into circles.

My first time making poached eggs. I love semi firm yolks with viscous yolk inside.

The dipping sauce. I didn’t have green onions so I put in julienne slices of cucumber. Cut by self because I don’t have a julienne slicer. I should probably invest in one.

This is his “eeeeeee” face. Excuse the mess…we’re in the process of moving.

Pick up…

And dip!

It was very refreshing and satisfying. It’s different from what I’ve been normally cooking. This isn’t something you can have everyday, though, because it’s easy to get sick of.

Anyhow, the best soumen I’ve had was in Kibune, Japan. It’s a special, kind, called nagashi soumen which means “flowing noodles.” After researching around, I discovered that I had to go to Kibune for its atmosphere. The area is very cool, even in the summer, and heavily forested with bamboos and trees. It is unique because the river runs through the strip of inns and restaurants which are built over the river and small waterfalls.

The restaurant we went to was called Hirobun

Here is a video that sums it up pretty quickly.

The train ride is about 30 minutes. We were lucky enough to get the new train with wide windows and seats that face outwards.

A a 30 minute walk from the station, we finally arrived to Kibune. There are several restaurants built over the river. Most of them have the expensive set meals.

A nice lady advertising her own restaurant pointed out how much longer we would have to walk to reach Hirobun. We felt bad. Most of the restaurants are split to two floors since the river flows downward with waterfalls.

The bottom floor. The top floor has low tables for the big set meals

Anticipating epicness

We wait for the waitress to set up before being seated there.

The nagashi soumen meal comes with a poached egg. Looooove.

After us, some Taiwanese people came down to eat as well. There are two tracks the noodles go on, and two sets of bamboo. There was also a Japanese woman who sat to the right of us. She took noodles from the top track and we took noodles from the bottom. The chef in the hut sends down the small bundles of soumen one at a time in spurts. For instances “one soumen, second soumen, one soumen in other track, wait…….one soume, second soumen, one soumen in other track, wait……” It gives you time to eat before you ready your chopsticks again.

The last noodle is flavored with ume to make it pink. That way, you know it’s over so you don’t sit there waiting for more noodles, variable interval style.

I totally recommend going to this place if you’re not afraid to get lost. Otherwise, be prepared to stare at train schedules and figure out platforms very carefully! I think it was totally worth it.

This is the view from my picnic table.

Cheesing. I got the yummiest cheese ever from Whole Foods. Manchego El Trigal 12 Months aged. It’s a very flavorful and hard cheese. That’s grape juice kids! I love cheesing and grape juicing.

Other picnicers.

Dude with a funny mustache.

View from where I was. Pretty close to the back. You can still hear very well though.

People brought their lightsabers. John Williams played Harry Potter music for the first hour. It was narrated by…the actress who was the flight instructor I think. They performed the music of while Aunt Marge is blowing up, Fawkes, and other notable character themes. The second half of the concert consisted of a short medley of many famous movie themes: Casablanca, Doctor Zhivago, Jaws, Star Wars, The Natural, Gone with the Wind, Titanic, and other I can’t think of… Then they performed music from Catch Me If You Can, and then Casablanca, and then Superman. During Superman they showed clips of Superman movies, old and new, and also Batman clips, old and new. It was  a little weird to put in Batman clips, when the music was just Superman, but it was nice to see all the actors who had played Batman. Val Kilmer <3.

Lights during Superman

After Superman, they made like it was the end of the concert. Whaaaaaaat?! So everyone was clapping and about 5 seconds after John Williams had walked off the stage, he walked right back on to play…the Star Wars theme! Yaaaay. It would have been super weird for all those Star Wars people who had dressed up and brought their props if he didn’t conduct it!

Then he walked off and on again to play ET. The background colors were blue at first…but right near the end, the rainbow colors slowly started stretching across from the left. It was a reeeeally cool effect.

Then he walked off and on again to play the Imperial March.

Lightsaber bobbing to the music. I zipped up my stormtrooper jacket. I made an observation that only people who sat more in the middle and back brought their lightsabers. It was weird to see a sea of light up sticks (yes, light up sticks!) in the middle and around us…and then a sea of dark in the front.

Then he walked off and on.

And did nothing.

And walked off with the symphony. Such a tease! Many people yelled for Indy. Alas, it did not happen.

Aside from the staked parking, which I had never done before, the experience was really wonderful. Long live music!

So, here the clip from The OC. 1:25 if you’re impatient.

And here is the digital short spoof…veeeery funny.

And here is the Jason Derulo song, “Whatcha Say”

And the original original song, “Hide and Seek”

If I ever get shot, I want this clip to be playing as I slowly fall to the floor. I’ll keep it on my cellphone.

What?!?! What?!?! I don’t need it but it’s sooooo pretty. <: ( I’d bust out a bowl of water and dip the remote in just to use it! Because I can! And it’s pretty!

I’ve been waiting for this for more than a year. It’s finally 50% off! Go shopping!

I just had to drop in and post about this though…

http://www.sonyericsson.com/bluetoothwatch/default.asp?lc=en&cc=us

I want one! Can they make it a little tinier for my small wrist?

The first floor has a small bedroom in the middle. Bathroom is on the bottom floor.

The second floor is interesting. There is another bedroom in the middle with open space on both sides of the room. Imagine living in a room where your two sides are open to the first floor. Open up a window, “hello down there! Can you bring up a coffee?” Maybe even install a pulley system with a basket to transfer food and other items (I had a friend in middle school who did actually do that with her parents. Her parents amused her. How nice!) The second floor also contains the tv. The interesting part is that the second floor bedroom and the second floor itself have their own set of stairs. The bedroom stairs led up to another private room on the third floor that has its own private balcony. The stairs on the second floor lead to a balcony that guests can enter and use. Pretty nifty! I’d love to have my own private space. So exclusive!

In the pictures, the balcony on the left is private (for painting and meditating), the one on the right is public. There is a bookcase and a lounge chair!

For sure, the person that gets the second floor bedroom should pay more rent.

The decor is really asian. Bamboo, sliding floors, paper lanterns, and asian art on the walls.

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