Don't believe in everything

I came across an article about useless appliances to have around the house.  One that I definitely thought was useless is an electric can opener.  Why not just do that with your own hands?  But then again, since coming to college, I've taught two friends my age how to use one of those twist-and-turn manual can openers.  o_0

Are you reading what my eyes are reading?  Rice cookers are useless appliances?!  Haha, well I guess this is geared towards the average American household ;)  One of the guys I taught how to use a can opener taught me how to boil rice in a pot.  On the contrary, after being spoiled by rice cookers, I think it's tedious to cook rice in a pot, haha~  I like rice cookers better; I put in some rice and water when I come home, and by the time I'm done settling down and cooking my protein and veggies, I've got rice!  :D  Om nom nom~

~*~

Guerrilla Street Food stops by the medical school every now and then, and I've eaten my way across the menu!

They use a tablet for credit cards.  The receipt was sent to my phone.  Pretty cool, eh? ;)

Lunch buddies ordering

Richard got his (what I think was) signature haircut changed, and it was the first thing I noticed and commented to him.  He also pointed out that he got glasses.  Haha!  My mind really registers on hair first =_=''  It took me a few seconds to realize that he used to only wear contacts :P

Richard's in line with a whole lot of other people!

Although I didn't bring my camera the time I noshed on their "adobe chicken" (suuuuper flavorful!), I added a lumpia to my "wandering pig" today for lunch.  I don't know what I was expecting from the lumpia, a Phillipines spring roll, but the skin was soft and the inside was just SOOO YUMMYYY!!  @__@  I could just taste the vegetables inside.  They were soft, but I don't know if they were already cooked or not, probably?  There was a veggie mix with peanuts encased in a soft, doughy skin.  It came with a side of sweet chili sauce, but I thought there was already so much flavor that the sauce was irrelevant :P  The "wandering pig" is just like the "flying pig," but it lacks that mysterious and creamy poached egg they dub as the "1 hour egg."  I didn't ask for the sriracha sauce to be omitted this time, and it definitely added onto the flavor.  ^^  Ahh, after I finished, I was so full!  *dies*  Next time I spot Guerrilla Street Food's truck near lab, I'm going to order 2 lumpias :D

Lumpia

Might be expensive, but oooh, so delish!

The Wandering Pig.  Slow cooked and juicy pork on top of rice, drizzled with sriracha, hoisin, and a sprinkle of green onions

After falling into a deep food coma-lethargy state for the rest of the afternoon, I went back to main campus with Dimari.  We cracked random jokes that usually come out of fourth graders.  Seriously, our corner in the lab is so goofy with the two of us talking in accents and making sound effects, while the other portion of the lab probably thinks we're weirdos XD  Anyways, we split once he went back to the dorms, and I headed towards the mail room to send something before going towards the pool for a swim.

Swimming with a banged up knee hurt a bit, but I wanted to get the most out of my time at the pool, so I just did very little breaststroke.  For some reason, doing butterfly hurt my knee more than breastroke, which doesn't make sense at all!  @_@

When I walked out, I saw Jeff near the weight room and we decided to go to scavenge for dinner.  And we ended up at Nico on the Loop!

Pretty interior *heart*

Nico is the name of the owner's nephew, whose picture is placed on the wall near the entrance.  The waitresses (no waiters to be seen) were *super dee duper* nice!  We were led to the window area of the restaurant where there were only two other tables, and the rest of the restaurant sat in a peaceful quiet.

Stalking picture of the other table?  Noooo~  just flowers ;)

Haha, manly Jeff!

The menu had all sorts of yummy dishes and descriptions, and choosing one was difficult.  But Jeff and I had looked up the menu online beforehand, and I was having a dilemma between Moroccan chicken bastilla and pappardelle, both recommended by Sauce magazine!  :P  Luckily, pappardelle wasn't available on the menu that evening, so I ordered the bastilla.

Jeff ordered the lamb, and our charming waitress, Dawn, told us that two patrons that she had just served before we came ordered the same thing, "She, the bastilla.  And the lamb for him."  :P  I guess food can also be segregated by gender ;)

Housemade focaccia

Right after we made our orders, complimentary focaccia bread came!  Both of us really liked the chewiness and the slightly crusty outside.  It was dabbed in olive oil and seasoned with rosemary and basil.  Nom nom! As you can see from the picture, there are 5 pieces.  We both ate two, and then we played rock-paper-scissors for the last one, haha!  I told him I didn't want it because I was saving room for my dinner, but he insisted, so I declared a r-p-s game, 2 out of 3 wins.  Loser eats the bread.  Guess who won?  ;)  ... I did!  Mwahahaha!  Don't ever agree to bet with me because you will most likely lose.  Also, I'm 60% sure of my r-p-s skills. It's better than 50/50 XD

Case 1

Notice the change in photo quality?  :P  I gave Jeff my camera and wasn't planning to keep any of the pictures of me, until I realized I could ramble about this one!  :D  When I go out to eat, I usually think about where I'm going to sit.  If it's getting dark / night time / not near a window and very dark, then I usually sit in the less desirable seat (let others sit with people they feel comfortable talking to more, etc etc).  Whatever, I'm fine with talking to new people and I'm fine with not talking at all :)  But if the sun's up, and we're near a window, I'm going to race for the prime seat.  And guess which one that is?  :P

...  It's the one that will give me better pictures!  Hahaha!  As most people know, having a light source right behind the subject is not good.  It gives these eerie dark pictures, like the one of me reading the menu.  So I usually try sitting with my back to the window and my friends (and food!) on the opposite.  Notice how the lighting on Jeff looks much, much better?

I'm by no means a pro-photographer!  In fact, I use a point-and-shoot and will be taking my first photography class this fall (excited!).  But that's just my two-cents of wisdom, and now I'll have to fight with my friends for the window seat now that they know about the lighting thing, hahahaha  ^^b

Moroccan Chicken Bastilla (bas-ti-ah)

The bastilla is a layered casserole-like dish.  This one had layers of egg, tender/moist chicken, veggie mix, and phyllo.  Yum!  I didn't even know what to expect, other than the fact that I was excited to try something Moroccan, and the spices were new to me.  Very yummy.  Highly recommended!  The side of spinach salad had a few shavings of beets, a handful of croutons, and was tossed with a tasty oil-balsamic vinegar mix.  Niiiiice salad ^^

Seared Lamb

If you're wondering what the yellow stuff is, that's couscous!  It was mixed with small chunks of eggplant.  The flavor was subtle and it was a little on the oily side, but the lamb was delightful.  I never knew lamb could be cooked medium-rare / still pink and raw-ish, but Nico did it.  I had a piece and it took me forever to chew, haha!  But the flavor was good :)

Which one's prettier? :D

Jeff and I both really enjoyed our dishes ^^b  Although Nico is on the pricier side when compared to other restaurants on the Loop, the way the food is plated, the dining atmosphere, and the courteous and friendly waitresses are worth experiencing :D  I asked our waitress which dish was her favorite, and she replied that it was the Arctic Char, a fish dish I was eyeing when deciding what to order.  It's served on a bed of gnocchi!  Nom nom nom~  Next time!  :)

Nico

6525 Delmar Blvd

St. Louis, MO 63130

And remember my previous post about how awesome the taro froyo at Tutti Frutti was?  ... Well, it was so good that I went a day later XD  Daniel didn't go with us last time, and I was excited to reunite with the soy-based taro when he wanted to go try Tutti Frutti!!  *heart*

As with last time, there were a lot of people!  Patrons occupied all the tables out in the front, formed a line in the small interior, and even sat on the side of the road with their little bowls of frozen yogurt.  Instead of looking like hobos near the busy intersection, we decided to eat our dessert in the parking lot.

Nom!

Guess which flavor Daniel tried?  ... TAROOOOO, mwahahaha~  I think it was just because I kept talking about it for 2938293 hours, and I also got a bowl full of taro froyo ^^v  I like my froyo naked and without the toppings, and I finished my bowl in around 2 minutes XD  So yummy!  

After I finished slurping up my froyo, we talked about random stuff for a bit while we sat on one of the parking curb thingies.  Haha, so hobo-like!  I realized that froyo / ice cream / dessert is probably the only thing I can eat faster than Daniel :P

Soy-based froyo stands out :D