decisions, decisions

My mom just told me that I have one last chance to fly the airline she worked for – I have to buy my ticket by the end of September, but I can use the ticket to travel anywhere the airline flies until the end of April.

As always the ticket is standby, but it’s a pretty hefty discount – when outrageous fuel surcharges cost more than the price of the actual round-trip international flight, it’s nothing to sneeze at!

So…where should I go?

Filed under: Uncategorized

yes, yes they are

Yesterday I made a day trip out to Westwood (because it’s *that* far away that I had to make it a “day trip”). I had to go to the student health center. Before that though, I dropped by my old work-study to shoot the breeze with my old supervisor. Later on I walked with her to the food place at the north end of campus, and as we were walking through the school I remarked that it was nice to be back on campus again.

My supervisor was like, “Are things really that bad that you’re happy to be here!?”

Okay, so apparently things are not going so well at my former place of employment/school, but hey, I enjoyed being a Bruin! I enjoyed being in school and being able to put off living for awhile.

Now that I’m out of school and faced with having to find work, things are pretty horrible. So yeah.

Whatever. Anyway, I finished my day trip with a visit to Westside Pavilion (to watch “Tell No One,” a brilliant French adaptation of a Harlen Coben thriller that was nevertheless quite Hollywood-y, with callbacks to films like “Vertigo” and “Mystic River,” at the recently-redone Landmark theater that serves alcohol and has reserved seating, with full-on leather chairs and loveseats!).

Then I went to the Westfield behemoth at Century City to pick up more Molto coffee pods for our Simplehuman machine.

I have to say that both those malls, despite being malls, are quite pleasant! Either is miles better than the Grove.

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at the supermarket: wasabi peas

Cheryl got me hooked on these. They’re like those peas that sometimes come in those Japanese savory snack bags, you know, with the differently-shaped rice crackers that are sometimes wrapped in nori, and that taste sort of umami-ish with just a hint of, like, mirin, or something.

Well, the peas *look* the same as those. But wasabi peas are covered in wasabi powder (who’da thunk?). When you first pop them in your mouth you don’t really notice anything, so you pop a few more in your mouth, enjoying the mild burn on your tongue.

And then, a few seconds later, comes that rush of heat that overpowers your nose and climbs roaring all the way up your septum, nearly burning off your adenoids and conveniently clearing any sinus problems you might have had.

The lingering aftertaste, though, brings back that umami-ish flavor; there’s also that fun texture, with the translucent skin of the peas that crackles when you bite through, and the sturdy pea underneath, all of which induce you to shove your hand back into the bag for more, until they’re all gone.

Yeah, and you can even get them at Trader Joes! =)

Filed under: food , food, peas, wasabi

double take

First headline in my google reader this morning: “China wins early gold after big opening.”

First headine when i refresh for newer stories: “China’s winning start dulled by murder.”

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