Looking forward to 2020!

This is a rather late new year post, but we spent Christmas and New Year in Russia this year and we have just gotten back from this amazing trip. The more I travelled, the more I feel the need to travel more as there are just too much I haven’t seen!

In 2019, we went to Iceland, Faroe Islands, Quebec in Canada and last but not least, Russia (And I have a lot to catch up on for the blog). It is not always possible to travel as much as we would like to due to work, family, etc., but we are trying very hard to make things happen! We have aggressive travel plan for 2020 and we can’t wait for our next trip!

Bye Bye 2017, Hello 2018.

I cannot believe it is 2018 already. Happy New Year and best of luck to everyone!

End-of-year post is always the hardest for me because I have to think back what I have done or not done in the past year. Did I achieve what I wanted? Is there anything I wish I would have done? Any regrets? All tough questions. But I am proud to say I did the best I could in 2017.

This year has passed by in a blink. I still remember writing the 2016 post last year, thinking that I had a great travel year and 2017 is going to be a tough year to follow due to numerous uncertainties. Although I did not travel as much as I did in 2016, it might have been the most eventful year in my life so far. I got married to Guai Lo, managed to graduate and get my PhD, and found my first real-world job! Everything went so smoothly that I could not ask for a better year. Although I did not travel as much this year, I have accomplished a lot of my personal milestones, and it is time to say goodbye to the awesome 2017. In 2018, I hope to travel as much as my time would allow and see the world as much as I still can. I am writing this at the end of our Austria trip here in Vienna, which means blog posts coming up soon!! I can’t wait to start 2018 by sharing this amazing impromptu trip that we had with everyone! Frohes Neues Jahr!!

The end of a journey or the beginning or a new one

Today is my last day as a graduate student at UCLA. The feeling is surreal. Sometimes, when you are at a place for so long, it is hard to imagine that you are finally leaving. To be perfectly honest, I cannot say that I enjoyed my graduate career as much as others enjoyed theirs, but I have definitely learned a lot and have grown more than I realized. I think I can say this confidently that I would not change any of it. I have developed great friendships that would last, and I have acquired various skills that would be useful for the rest of my life. So, the answer is no. I do not regret going into graduate school and I do not regret spending my last 5 years here. 

I am sure you guys all heard of the butterfly effect. Life is all about decisions. One decision leads to another, and to another. You never know what would happen if you actually made another choice in any point of your life. I made a decision to come to the States for my college education, and I cannot imagine how different my life would have been for the past 10 years if I chose to stay in Hong Kong. I would not have accomplished what I accomplished, and I would not have met the people I met. I would not have seen and experienced the world as much as I have. I would probably not have a PhD. I would probably not have met my husband. I might even be a completely different person. Coming to the States all by myself at the age of 18 changed me, and I like who I have become. I was timid and lacked self-confidence. When I was in secondary school (like middle school and high school in the US), I was always quiet and anti-social. The teachers thought I was a bad student. The classmates thought I was weird. Nobody liked me. I don't even think I liked myself. It is really hard to imagine that I have become an assertive, strong and independent person. Obtaining a PhD is certainly a big accomplishment, but my biggest achievement is becoming the strong individual I always wanted myself to be. I am truly proud of that.

This journey has ended, but another begins. I got a job offer in a boutique life sciences consulting firm as an associate, and I am very excited to start this new path. I am not entirely sure where this new path is going to lead me, but I cannot wait to find out.

30th Birthday Celebration Part II

After celebrating my birthday with a nice meal at Chi Spacca, here's part II of my 30th birthday celebration - Skydiving! I decided it would be a good idea to pay a couple hundred bucks to jump out of a plane at 13000 feet with a stranger (whom my life depends on) for the adrenaline rush. Obviously, since I am writing this post, I am alive.

I honestly thought I would be more nervous and scared than I was, but I guess the thought that the tandem instructor would have to die with me helped. Just kidding. Before the jump, I got a chance to talk to the tandem instructors, and they make 9 - 16 jumps per day like it's nothing. So, they are obviously very experienced and that really made me feel better. Below are some of the pictures they took of me during the whole skydiving experience, from getting on to the plane to landing.

Getting on to the plane and up to 13000 feet

Once we reached 13000 feet, we jumped one by one, and there was really no time to look out of the plane and get nervous. 

In the sky

It was a lot colder than I thought and it was a little hard to breathe while freefalling. Besides that, it was AWESOME! In my head, I was like this is what it feels like to be a bird! Got an amazing eagle view of Santa Barbara and the coast. 

Landing

It went by a lot quicker than I thought and the landing was smooth! I was slightly dizzy because we had to steer to the designated landing area, and that involved a lot of turning. Now the question is: will I do it again? It is a pricey activity, so I won't be doing that every week. However, if the opportunity presents itself in the future, I would totally go for it.

Bring it on 2017!

Happy New Year everyone. This year passed by so quickly that I am not quite ready for 2017. 2016 has been good to me. I have done more travelling this year than any other year, and I enjoyed every single trip I took. First time seeing the aurora, first time going to Europe, first time travelling alone, a lot of my first-times happened this year. However, there is still so much I haven't seen and haven't done.

2017 is going to be a tough year for me, with graduation, dissertation, job hunting, possibly moving, etc. So many uncertainties. But that's what makes life exciting, right? Life is an adventure and I am ready for where life might take me. Bring it on 2017.

Delayed December Post

A snapshot of the place I lived in Hong Kong.

Merry Christmas everybody! This is definitely a very delayed post because it's actually 2016 now!!! Happy New Year!! I took a three-week vacation in December, and I planned to keep up with my blog during vacation, and guess what?! It did not happen..... I am a little embarrassed about that, but at the same time, very glad that I took the time off from everything. I think I had a great break, so great that it's going to take some time for me to adjust to real life again (experiments, work out, blog, etc.). Anyways, great news is I have so much to talk about, including my Thailand trip and my family visit/food-hunting in Hong Kong.  Stay tuned!

Dating a girl who loves food

There are a million articles out there titled " xx things to know before xxxxxx" or "xxx reasons to xxxxx" or "xxx things you should do before you die", etc.... These article titles are drawing less and less attention from me because they are getting... um.... stale. It seems like people are just trying to come up with random list of stuff to write about.

Then, I came across this article about "17 Things to Know Before Dating a Girl Who Loves Food" yesterday on facebook. (This is my source of interesting articles/news nowadays) Since I love food, I was curious about what it has to say, and I found it awfully descriptive of me.....

1. She is very willing to pick out restaurants for every date.

* For me, it is to avoid a disappointing dining experience.

From Google Image (http://www.nutritionbynature.com.au)

2. If you bring her good food, this is what she will look like......(exactly like when a squirrel found nuts......picture to the right)

* For me, it definitely beats flowers.

3. The most asked question is "what are we gonna eat later?"

* There are definitely scenarios that we talk about what should we have for dinner while we are having lunch or discussing breakfast plan when we are lying in bed.

4. She will plan her travel itineraries according to what she wants to eat.

* For me, it is more about experiencing the food culture in a place. It doesn't have to be a well-picked-out restaurant, it can be anything like street food or a random restaurant I walk pass with a lot of locals.

5. If you want to live with her, you need to be prepared to save her a snack drawer.

* Well, I definitely have a spot for all my snacks, and it is never empty.

6. She always has a list of restaurant/food that she wants to try.

* And that list never gets shorter........

7. You will probably gain some weight due to all this awesome eating you are doing together.

* From my past experiences, there is no exception.

8. Her idea of an interesting read is a Yelp review.

* Indeed, I am a loyal reader.

9. She spends most of her money on food.

* Not most of it, but plenty..... you pay for what you get.....

10. Her eyes are most definitely bigger than her stomach.

* Due to the limitation of time and money, I might not go back to the same restaurant. Therefore, there are always too many things I want to try on the menu, and ended up having a lot of leftovers. I never let the food go wasted! So, I always bring them home. ^^

11. She always has food with her, you do not have to worry about getting hungry when you are with her. 

* I do have a snack drawer at home and in the office..... never gets hungry.....

12. Do not give her the chance of meeting any hot chef, she might not be able to control herself. 

* Definitely a dream come true!!!!! What a yummy package lol

13. Weekend plan: a) try out new restaurant, b) try out new recipe or c) go to farmer's market

* If we are not going on any trips, what else can we do besides eating?

14. During a fight, getting her favorite dessert might just solve the problem.

* Absolutely! How can one resist.......

15. If you do not agree with her taste of food, this might get you into a serious fight.

* There must be something wrong with his taste buds! No doubt.

16. You can always ask her where to go and what to eat.

* A lot of my friends text me when they want to know where to go eat. I often get texts like "I am in xxx area, and I want xxx cuisine, but not too expensive. Restaurant recommendation please?".

17. Besides saying "I love you", the best way to show her is to buy her food she likes. 

* Nothing says more than when I really want a piece of key lime pie, and when I get home, I found that he bought one from my favorite bakery.

Fellow foodies, how well does that describe you? Anything else you want to add?

Hello World

This is my first blog!! I am sooooo excited about this! At the same time, I really hope I can keep up the blog nicely. So, hello everyone, I am Jesmine. I live in Los Angeles. I love food, thus I love cooking too. I love travelling. I love photography (although I am not that good). I am a third year graduate student in Biochemistry PhD program. Whenever I am not in lab, I am either cooking good food, or eating good food, or going somewhere for fun. That's my life.

First thing I am going to share this weekend is.... (drum roll.....) coffee!! I just bought coffee bean from Blue Bottle Coffee! Last October, I went to San Francisco with a couple friends for the Nike Women Half Marathon (My first half marathon!). And I tried the Blue Bottle Coffee, and fell in love with it. I just found out that I can purchase the coffee bean online with no shipping fee (Or it's included in the price...?). I got the 17ft ceiling, yes, that's the name of the coffee bean, and it is pretty good. I LOVE COFFEE. I own a French press, a coffee machine, and aeropress and moka pot are on my list. Well, if one day, I become rich, a nice espresso machine is going to be an irresistible purchase. I get headache if I don't drink coffee in the morning, so I figure I have an addiction to it. Therefore, I tried to quit coffee once, but I just like it too much to give up drinking coffee. I guess I am a "coffeeholic".