Swimming with the fishes ~ Dashi Panda

Hiya dudes! This is going to be a very random blog entry about many different topics. So... hang on! :D

So the weekend before reading week, a group of well-do-ers dropped off food at Whispers Cafe at the library. According to Sean, they just yelled "Free Food!," left piles upon piles of sweets, and left. Elaine and I saw Sean manning a table of goodies and thought he was actually selling them, haha :)

Anna popped into the scene, because Sean had contacted her via phone telling about the sweets :3 Elaine and Anna tried a bit of the quick bread (butter rum, cinnamon roll, and pumpkin cream cheese varieties), cookies (oatmeal raisin, white macadamia, peanut butter, chocolate chip, M&M), triple chocolate bundt cake, and brownie muffins. There were even chocolate and vanilla cupcakes! :D

Elaine, Sean, and Josh amid a sweet feast!

I wrapped some in aluminum foil and took it home to share with Debra. Then I had a thick slice of triple chocolate bundt cake for lunch! Nom nom nom, sooo good!~

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You know how I was excited about getting my hair cut? Well, I got it!~~ Lookie, lookie! Short hair is so much easier to manage ^_^

Except that I didn't, and my hair is so long... and I cannot wait to get a haircut this break! But doesn't it really look like I have short hair? I took a picture, because when I saw myself in the mirror, I had to double check and see if the rest of my hair was there! It was hiding in the back and covered by my TSO hoodie :P

As a distraction from studying, I decided to take a virtual adventure in Taiwan! *so sad that I can't go winter break* >_<'' But I looked up the train station in the city my grandma lives in and "walked" to her home. Then I saw it!

Grandma lives on this street ^^

A closer look.. and see the woman sweeping the floor? That's my grandma! <3 Haha, it seems that she was outside while the Goggle maps team was snapping away pictures. :) I can't wait to go back to Taiwan this summer... and I'll be taking Connie with me! Omg omg omg *excited to the max!*

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Okay, back to St. Louis *zoink*. As a way to exercise and de-stress, Tuesday was a swimming day with David, Shannon, and Hong-bo (errr, sorry for spelling!). We were expecting Alan and Brian, but they didn't show up and missed out on a beastly performance! David's dynamics professor, Professor Jennings, showed up and tried to find a lane to swim in. Since Hong-bo was in the restroom, David was saving the lane for him. But Hong-bo was getting dressed because he felt light-headed. We were waiting for him to do a relay (guys vs. girls!). When David checked into the restroom for him and told us later, the professor overheard and told him he'd like to take Hong-bo's place! The professor swam without goggles and was SOOO FAST @__@ And his strokes were uber powerful... like a whale. Except in a good way. Okay, so like a shark? Haha ^__^''

We swam the relays from the walls with David and Shannon racing a 25yd before Jennings and I pushed off from the other side to do a 50yd. Then the other two would swim to the finish. The professor beat me both times ._. Haha, I bet even if I was in shape, he would have been a tough competitor! I felt very humbled and slowwwww @_@ But the relays were fun! It was especially awesome just swimming sets with everyone. Swimming by yourself is kind of saddening-- I swim random sets I make up, but I don't have the motivation to follow them. But with everyone else, it feels like I'm actually in a swimming practice! Yay!~

Afterwards, we decided to go eat at a restaurant on Olive called "Jia Xiang" 家乡. They specialize in Shanghai cuisine, but I don't know what that is, so... >_> yeah. It's right by CZ, but I've never eaten there. It's also a small space, even smaller than CZ, and you walk through the kitchen to use the restroom. The owner lady is pretty nice, which I like. It's like they're not just down to business but also sort of a home-y feel. Does that even make sense? ^^

When asked if we could read Chinese, we were looked at one another and said "very little." She went Okay! And gave us the Chinese menu. Haha! We were having a great time deciphering what each line meant, and then when I asked what the restaurant's best dish was, she pointed to a chicken dish. Since it was already 2pm, the four of us ordered 4 dishes for a "light" lunch. Is that really light?!

While waiting for our food, the four of us played around with my camera, and then our food was out in no time! Prepare yourself for many strange photos~~ :)

Shannon, me, David, and Hong-bo!

This is our 1-2-3-4 picture, but I just realized David failed on his part, haha!

Okay, this one's better (even if I only have half a face :P)

Girly pic!~ ^___^

... when told to make our most attractive faces. Hmm. ;)

:D I like this one a lot ^^v

Time for the guys! Can't remember if David was sneezing/yawning or making a face XD

It was so gooood ^__^

Veggies <3

Cute picture of Shannon! :D

Notice how in all the pictures Hong-bo always has such a lovely face, haha~

Out lunch consisted of some type of chicken pieces, the battered pork, tofu strips with pork, and eggplant <3 This meal was good enough to want to come back again later to try new dishes. ^^

Durr.. so full!

Jia Xiang (家乡）

8237 Olive Blvd
Saint Louis, MO 63130

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Then about 3 hours later, I joined Elaine, Debra, and David for dinner at Wong’s Wok on the Loop. It’s been more than half a year since I last came, probably with everyone else or with Anna whenwe dropped Debra off at dance practice!

Elaine was craving beef noodle soup, so that’s what she ordered~ I ended up ordering pepper steak for Debra, because she couldn’t decide on what to get. David and I both ordered the tofu and tender beef rice dish, because we were both craving tofu.

Wong’s Wok was so busy around dinner time that all the seats were filled, and the patrons that came in later had to order to go. I also saw quite a few WashU students like Cassie, Ze-yang, Stella, Brian, and Qian. The service was pretty quick, and they gave me sooooo much rice! *nom!* I really enjoyed the tofu ^^

Elaine's big bowl of beef noodle soup!

David and I both ordered this one!

Debra inspecting Elaine's food, haha~

Elaine added tons of chili condiment stuff into her soup and was like, "Oh my god, so hot!" *waves hand in front of mouth* "... but so good!" Haha, so sadistic :P

After a day of swimming and mass eating of good food, I went home, did some work (barely any!), and fell into a deep sleep. –o– Zzz

Wong's Wok

565 Melville Ave
St Louis, MO 63130

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After I woke up, it was work time! On Wednesday, I didn’t leave the apartment at all and basically sat at my desk the whole day and studied. I was definitely feeling under the weather.. My head was dizzy and my throat was swollen x_x Great for not getting sick until finals week~ Although maybe I should be thankful?

I had my TSO hoodie on and, occasionally, a scarf on even with the little heater in my room on high setting. So cold @_@ When Anna talked to me the first time since I was losing my voice, she said I sounded "even more childish than normal." Haha! Do I usually sound childish? .___.''