Seattle’s Best Eats

For those who don’t know me, I love to try out new restaurants + hole in the wall places for food. With Seattle only being a couple of hours away, it’s always a convenient + cheap weekend getaway destination. My friend’s sister used to live in Seattle and she has HIGHLY recommended the following places:

1) Fort. St. George in the International Village close to downtown Seattle. They serve Japanese comfort food: Japanese curry, Fried Spicy Chicken, croquette, etc.

We had the croquette, spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Garlic Mayo; Japanses Curry with hamburger meat. Simple ideas but really delicious! I gonna try making this at home:

2) Molly Moon’s Homemade Icecream in Capitol Hill. Look at how beautiful their store is. Everything from the counter tops to chairs and tables are made from birch. They serve traditional homemade icecream, which reminds me of Bi-Rite in San Francisco. I liked their icecream, but found it a little too sweet. Hence I still prefer Bi-Rite and would love to go back to San Francisco for that :) mmmmmmmm nevertheless, Molly Moon satisfied my sweet tooth and their portions were huge.

I wish I bought these ice-cream flavoured lip balms home. Look at the cute packaging.

This is a single scoop. see what I am talking about in terms of portions?

3) Tacos El Asaderos

This has got to be my favourite food spot in Seattle, authentic Mexican food and not to mention the experience of eating in a beat up bus/ truck with a kitchen and stools. It was COOL!

We ordered tacos, ceviche and a burrito to share. All made with fresh ingredients + authentic taste. I would love to go back..like RIGHT NOW.

xoxo,

Fi

City of Love

Ahhh PARIS, the city of love.

Every girl's fantasy city.

The Chanel bags, the Eiffel Tower, the baguettes, what's not to love?

The rain sure didn't stop the tourists from wanting to get their portraits done from local Parisian Artists.

The crowd enjoying a little musical entertainment while overlooking the city of Paris.

Arrived in Paris on the day of their National holiday. I patiently waited for the annual fireworks to start. This was as close as I got....

A little taste of the French National Holiday Fireworks......

View of the Eiffel Tower from my river cruise....

Shopping on the famous Champs-Élysées. I passed by Louis Vuitton, and wow! look at the line up!

Paris was definitely a fascinating city, great views, beautiful architecture, and even yummier food. However, as a first time visitor to Paris, I did not feel very welcomed by its people. Some Parisians were genuinely nice, however many were not very friendly. Many refused to speak English and were very snobby. Perhaps it's my fault, I should have remembered most of my French from high school ( big regret!).

Tourists can easily be taken advantage of by cab drivers too. One too many shopping bags, and you become an easy target on the streets or in the cab. If we did not have a local traveling with us, we would have been scammed easily by one cab driver who insisted on over charging our cab fare because of our extra "luggages" (our shopping bags). However, another cab driver we later met was more than friendly, and when we offered extra for his services, he even refused! We took comfort in knowing that there were still nice people around.

I don't know if it was generally over crowded during summer months, because of the national holiday, but the city was extremely dirty when I was visiting. Everything looked so beautiful above eye level, but when you looked down, there was always garbage everywhere. There were also no public washrooms in Paris, so many times walking through the subway or the streets it would reek of pee. Not exactly a Paris delight.

All in all it was quite an unforgettable experience. I would still love to revisit France and explore the country more. There is always so much to see and too little time/or too little money! lol

- City of Angels -

It's been two weeks since we, the girls of Raw Diamond came back from a fun filled weekend in L.A. Spent a whole lotta money, made plenty o' good memories, and gained a hefty 10 lbs.! Totally worth the $$ airfare to sunny Los Angeles, California.

Highlights:

• experiencing thee most amaaazzzzinnggg Ban Xeos for the very first time
• laughing till our tummies hurt and some of us farted (lol)
• visiting shady late night massage parlors for as little as $9.99!!!
• realizing how sketchy some parts of LA can be, namely Venice Beach and Santee Alley. There were couple instances where we had to put our cameras away in fear of being robbed. *cringes*
• LA clubs closing earlier than Vancouver clubs. Heh, who knew...

As many times as some of us have been to LA, it's safe to say that LA never gets old.
Until next time, beautiful palm trees and shady camera-staring latinos.

Prettiest Girls by Pharrell, from Despicable Me. Catchy.

I love the Minions!!! SO CUTE I COULD DIE!!

Summer in Japan

I'm currently on a trip visiting different countries in Asia.
First Stop: JAPAN!

Japan is one of my favorite-est places to shop... I have always felt that Japan is an extremely fashion forward country.

The Japanese aren't afraid to wear whatever they want. No one judges anyone, and no matter how "weird" you think you look, there will always be someone who is dressed much crazier than you.

It's funny, because the country itself is still very traditional in a lot of ways, but in terms of fashion they are way ahead in many respects.

I often purchase clothes from Japan, only to see it come into style more than a year later in the Americas.

The trouble with buying clothes in Japan is, I mostly buy jackets, tops and accessories. I RARELY find pants or skirts etc, which fit me, because Japanese girls are tiny! Something that fits like a dress on them becomes a shirt on me. (ok, maybe im exaggerating a bit) But yea... I'm a giant...

Before I come to Japan, I always buy ViVi Magazine, which is a fashion magazine for 20-somethings. It features all the latest fashions, and lists the stores where you can buy them... plus the ViVi models are very cute, so they definitely help to up the appeal of the clothes...

Some recent fashions from the mag.....

Must haves right now:

• LACE! Lots of it, lace vests, lace shirts, lace rompers etc
• Wedges of all shapes and sizes!
• Anything Bohemian
  
• Floral prints
• Rompers, short and long
• Decorated vests or vests made from different materials
  
• Straw hats in all different shapes and colors
• Long flowy dresses

I can go on and on...

Great places I have been shopping at in Tokyo are Shinjuku, Harajuku and Shibuya.
But obviously, these places don't do Japan justice at all. There are TONS of places in Japan one can just go and get lost in... I plan to do more exploring in the future.. I just need a partner in crime *hint hint*

Another thing I absolutely LOVE about Japan is their endless supply of cosmetics. I always feel like a kid in a candy shop when I visit their cosmetic stores.

They have all these colorful palettes in these cute little boxes that tells you where to use each color. I could spend all day there...
I see many girls go to these stores and they actually put on a full face of make-up from the samples and then leave.... ummm hardly sanitary but yea... whatever makes you happy =D


Anyways, if you visit Asia, be sure to hit up Japan for a few days, definitely worth the visit!!!!


soo where to next.....
Sherry