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12 more days till i get my sanity back.

breathe. breathe. breathe.

comfort food.

i've been stressing A LOT lately. so what's my cure? eating.







too bad i gave this up for Lent!!! major sacrifice on my part, ya'll. you don't know how hard this is. you don't knowwwwwww.

*(pics from Gluttony Is a Bliss)

Restaurant Review: La Victoria Taqueria in San Jose

(here's my first restaurant review that i handed in. i had fun with this, maybe too much fun. you'll see how much i exaggerate).
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In the heart of downtown San Jose on East San Carlos Street just located across from San Jose State University, an old townhouse with flashing neon signs gain attention as people are seen overflowing the area. A crowded line of about 20 individuals stand in anticipation with their mouths salivating while another crowd stand near the entrance flooding out the front door and seeping off the front steps towards the sidewalk.

It may look like an overpopulated college party, but it isn't. It's just a typical day for those who choose to eat at La Victoria Taqueria, or “La Vics” as locals like to call it.

With a menu equipped with quesadillas, burritos, tacos, and enchiladas all under $8, La Vics poses itself as a generic Mexican restaurant. But when it's time to slap sauce onto the quesadilla, La Vics is anything but generic. Their infamous “Orange Sauce” adds a twist to their common menu.

The taste of a beef quesadilla accented with the flourishing zest of Orange Sauce slightly burn taste buds to satisfaction. While the sauce is spicy, it doesn't set your mouth on fire. Instead, the touch of the sauce on the tip of your tongue keeps you yearning for more. As you continue to drench your quesadilla in a sea of orange, you realize your meal is covered in sauce. Within each bite, a drip of sauce leaks through your fingers causing a mountain of used napkins to pile onto your table as you finish. Then the feeling of a self-satisfied belly rushes through as you can't help but wonder: “What's in this sauce?”

The Orange Sauce has such a unique taste to it that it's difficult to distinguish the mix of ingredients used to create such a phenomenon. Most of the people who have tried the sauce don't even know what it's in it, as the owners like to keep it a family secret.

This family secret is kept so tightly secured that the restaurant's waitresses act as security guards since there have been history of Orange Sauce thefts in the past. During busy nights, waitresses will be patrolling customers' tables like a vulture on its prey. If there's a full equipped bottle of Orange Sauce on an empty table, the waitress snatches it and places it behind a glass until a new customer sits at that table. Supposedly, the waitresses at La Vics don't allow customers to grab their own sauce when eating at the restaurant for fear of stolen bottles, unless a customer chooses to buy their own.

The sauce has created such a stir in San Jose that bottles of orange sauce are being sold separately for $6 to prevent customers from taking the table sauces home. It's even become such as issue that the restaurant has installed cameras to keep an eye on the sauce throughout the day.

Many have fallen in love with how universal the sauce can be. In fact, most customers arrive not caring about what they order just as long as they can have a taste of the infamous Orange Sauce. This sauce can work on any type of food, not just Mexican food. It can be poured on fries, burgers, hot dogs, and pizza – pretty much anything you would want to add flavor to. It's a lifesaver for bland and boring meals.

Which poses the question: “Is La Vics really that good or is it just the sauce?” In this case, I believe the sauce makes the meal. Without the sauce, La Vics wouldn't survive. The sauce is delicious. San Jose residents are lucky to have such a unique flavor in their city.

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should i yelp this?

Okay, I'll review it but just so you know... I like everything.

i'm taking this journalism III class called, "Arts Reporting & Reviewing" where my journalistic values are twisted into criticism formulated by my own choice of words. for once i don't have to write beats about public safety officers on segways or about the overcrowding of USF anymore, i get to be free. i get to be creative. i get to play on words and steer away from news columns. i get to write about something i've always wanted to try my hand at. i get to review art in a very critical manner.

now i took this class because 1) it's required in my minor, 2) i wanted to write under a different style, and 3) i wanted to write about something different; something that would be a column instead of a full-on hard news article.

but i'm slowly realizing that i have a harder time writing reviews than articles. it may seem ironic, since reviews are basically just you writing you're own opinion on something. whereas, an article requires research, reliable sources, and investigation. for some reason though, i find accumulating a clear opinion in my case is difficult for me. i'm a pretty chill but indecisive individual so maybe that's why it's so hard for me to write critically?

in the class we've already done a restaurant review in which i talked about La Victoria Taqueria a.k.a. "La Vics." i had a lot of fun with that review, but it took me forever to start it. i don't know why. although, it was definitely more interesting and entertaining to write with more adjectives than straight facts, i still had a difficult time figuring out what i could make of the restaurant or how i could illustrate it to my reader.

we also just finished a movie review on Woody Allen's film: "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." now i'm not a movie buff at all. shit, one of my favorite movies is the 80's flick: "Ferris Buellers Day Off," just because... just because i enjoyed it. anyway, i watched the Woody Allen film with no previous knowledge about the movie or the director, i just went in there blind and open-minded. which in turn kind of killed me because after the end of the movie, i wrote a rather honorable review on the movie when my classmates absolutely HATED it. they said it was one of Allen's worse work yet and that the story and the characters were too fake and complicated.

wtf?! were we watching the same movie? then again, i probably have a different mindset then all of my classmates. then again, i don't watch a lot of movies and it doesn't take much to please me. (then again, i streamed the video online free of charge the night it was due, haha)it's hard for me to NOT be entertained. i can pretty much watch anything as long as it's not horrible. and i didn't think this movie was horrible. but apparently, i'm the only one who thought that. so as i sat in class wondering what my grade will be on this review, i also wondered if i'm doing this all wrong? or if art can really be reviewed critically?

it's difficult to grasp the concept of art and to compose your own opinions on it. everyone has their own definition on what art essentially is. our own perceptions on different kinds of art are so general and unique, who's to say who is right in this case? the difficulty and variation of art interpretation in this class is giving me a hard time. i'm already not so much an opinionated person, so to review a movie for me is like watching tv at night. it's just on, unless i find something interesting about what's on screen. it's just for entertainment and i hate to criticize it.

gawd, i love this class haha, it's got me trippin over what i like and don't like. as difficult as it is for me to formulate my thoughts, this class has got me writing. i definitely can't wait till we move on to reviewing concerts and spoken word artists - subjects more along my steez. maybe then i'll have a better grasp on what i'm writing about.

so please if you want me to review a movie, let's just say i'll probably say i liked it when you didn't. and hated it when you did. which might just be the beauty of my reviews.

Shaqawockeez.

Shaq's special entrance with the Jabbawockeez at the NBA All-Star Game 2009.



gotta admit the big has pretty smooth moves. he's like large jello. but too bad the mask doesn't fit his face. hahaha

yo, president.

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

- President Barack Obama

CNN.com (More photos)

like everyone else in this country, i'm curious about our new President. so while i was diggin for info on CNN the other day, my friend showed me this album the folks at CNN & TIME magazine made that displayed pictures of Obama during his college years. after surfing through at a few pictures, i started to think: "wow, this is our president?" this image of the college boy smoking a stog in a fedora hat is our president. cool beans.

Sharks gear for the Sharks fan.

so Jayson showed me this cool hat from Gold Coin. i like it, i wouldn't mind sporting these at the Shark tank. it definitely fits into my Sharks attire anyway.



when i get my first paycheck, i'll cash this baby in!

let the overwhelming begin.

“Just remember, the same as a spectacular Vogue magazine, remember that no matter how close you follow the jumps: Continued on page whatever. No matter how careful you are, there's going to be the sense you missed something, the collapsed feeling under your skin that you didn't experience it all. There's that fallen heart feeling that you rushed right through the moments where you should've been paying attention. Well, get used to that feeling. That's how your whole life will feel some day. This is all practice. None of this matters. We're just warming up.”

- Chuck Palahniuk

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Spring semester starts in approximately 3 days and i'm trippin. ever since one of my classes got cancelled, i've been on the lookout to see which classes would open up. the program i'm in right now is packed. all the classes i could take for my major are all closed and the only way to get into them would be to show up on the first day of class with luck on my side or to personally email the teacher begging them to let me in.

i did neither.

instead, i talked to my advisor of the department letting him know i was pretty screwed for this semester cause i was really hoping to take that class. and now that it was cancelled, my units are messed up. but he reassured me that i have absolutely nothing to worry about, that he'd do the best he could to enroll me in one of the closed classes. so after much deliberation and discussion, he chose a class for me. he looked straight into my eyes and said, "i think you're ready. i'm gonna sign you up for this honors seminar. i'm emailing the teacher right now."

the only thing that went through my mind was "um, i guess?"

it's a little intimidating considering the word "honors" is plastered in front of the course title. i mean, i've taken honors + AP courses before, but c'mon that was high school. so to take one in college? shit can't be easy. i imagine it to be filled with 20 page papers, 4 hours of discussion, and documentary films i have to analyze and somehow create within only weeks of research. it's intimidating... especially since i spoke to the teacher through email. she sent me a personal email in regards to the class telling me she's happy to have me with an attachment of the letter she sent to students who were already enrolled in the class. and i figure after reading that letter, this class seemed like an "invitation only" seminar. meaning, i assume she chose these students to be in her class. she hand-picked them for whatever reason.

and me? am i just the lucky girl who got in because they "think" i can handle it? i may be trippin and overlooking this, but i'm feeling the overwhelming rush come at me already.

don't get me wrong though, i feel extremely honored to be able to take the class. i feel great that they have so much confidence in me to take the class, that they put that kind of trust in me. i feel priveleged. but i also feel the challenge ahead of me. i feel like i have to step it up and step outside of my box in order to pass this class -- in order to prove myself. pretty sure i know the folks enrolled are out of my league and are probably the classmates i've already had who intimidate the hell out of me. ugh. but fck it, right? it's about time i suck it up and speak up. #$%^&*#@!!!!

and yep, Barrio's coming up too, i figure this semester is gonna be a killer. fkn' kill me. i have just 3 more days... and my freedom is over for awhile.

good riddance.

if i could i'd wear this $h!t everyday.

it's that time of season again and i need new gear...






i've had the same jacket and pants since i first started boarding and that was 4 seasons ago. i need a change. maybe a little more color?





yep, burton is going crazy with their designs now. color overload!!!

Oh, It Is Love - Hellogoodbye

got cupcakes on my shirt.

yes, Johnny Cupcakes has just added to my obsession.


(photos from johnnycupcakes.com)

the story behind this vintage-bakery clothing shop is pretty neat. the owner basically just turned an on-going joke into a multi-million dollar limited edition clothing/accessories line by taking a chance. from the website it says, he just took his nickname "johnny cupcakes" and began playing with it. so much so that eventually he found a cool design for it and ran with it. eventually folks began to notice these cupcake shirts and wanted a piece of it. then finally in 2005, he opened up his own shop in Boston (still keeping in mind that he still wanted to play on his on-going joke) so he decorated his whole store and made it look like a bakery. there's a vintage fridge, old-looking ovens, and even hidden vanilla air freshners around his story to make it look, feel, and smell like a real bakery. the boxes that the shirts come in also come in little bakery boxes too.




(photos from johnnycupcakes.com)

cool huh? i just think the whole concept behind his shop and his shirts are so cute. it seriously just feeds my growing love for cupcakes even more. who would've known though that an inside joke w/ friends could actually turn into a money maker? i want me some cupcakes!

(more about the story here)



p.s. there's a Johnny Cupcakes on the West Coast now. YEE! for all you SoCal folks, there's one on Melrose. lucky beezies! i fucking forgot to go there!

p.s.s. for the city kids, Johnny Cupcakes is in SF! go to blondies, eat a pizza with him. hahaha

Tweet, tweet.

as a journalism student in a Media Studies department, my professors are always egging us onto try new and different media sources (online specifically) to better enhance our skills for the real world. considering that now, newspapers are declining and everyone owns a blog nowadays, it's difficult to get a job or even be the first person to leak out juicy news. with that in mind, my Media Studies and journalism professors keep introducing us these new technologies and networking sites that are supposed to put us "ahead of the game" for a job. so during fall semester of last year, i took this special topics class called, "Intro to New Media" that was pretty much an experimental class made to explore internet's evolution in networking, streaming, blogging, and media altogther. i took it with a professor who was very much interested in the internet world and its enhancements. we learned studied about the effects of the media world today in collaboration with the world wide web and looked into specific sites such as Digg, which was a bookmarking/networking site (much like an interactive RSS feed), Current tv, a do-it-yourself video posting/channel site, and Twitter.com, a site i just recently joined.

Twitter is basically another networking site that allows you in on what your friends are doing when they're on or off the internet. it's that in-between time kind of update. as Baleria says, "it's like indirectly talking to someone" and updating them about what you're up to. in more simplier terms, it's just like a facebook status update, but having only that and no wall posts and picture tagging. that's pretty much the gist of it.

all my professors are using it. my journalism professor who's probably in his mid 50's loves it. he considers this a good networking site for journalists but we'll see.

join now and be my friend! haha

p.s. i promise to update about LA soon. i just gotta get back to the city to get my usb chord!

off the map.

here's a quickie for ya, don't worry i am alive.

ever since Winter Break started, i've been all over the place. i knew i was going to move houses, but i didn't know it was going to affect my location so much. and i definitely didn't know most places i'd be going to would be without internet so that explains my lack of updates. i've been absent for awhile, i apologize.

but right now i'm staying at my bro's in San Jose, so i'm sure i'll get to update more tonight. till then, here's a list of where i've been within the past 2 and a half weeks non-stop.

San Jose
North Highlands
San Francisco
Los Angeles
San Francisco
North Highlands
San Jose

i hate being on the move, seirously. i'm just lucky we haven't tried out-of-state yet. thank gawd.