Tiramisu Cupcakes

So I was supposed to write this yesterday.... But I got so tired that I kind of just conceded to what my body needed and took a nap right after I got home from work...

Let me start off by saying that I haven't baked for a LONG time —especially cupcakes. I had a few bouts of making Tiramisu here and there but that's different. Anyway, I finally had reason to bake (ya I know, it's a bit pathetic that I need a reason to), as a few of my coworkers have been nagging me saying, "Melody, when are you ever going to bake something for us?!" So I did. The Vietnamese payroll lady at my work asked if I could make Tiramisu cupcakes and I granted her request, even though I haven't made anything but Tiramisu lately (she was so overjoyed when she saw them). Cupcakes are different though, that's for sure.

As an enthusiastic baker, I tend to modify the ingredients a little here and there to optimize the taste to my liking, or just be a little healthier. Or at least try to, haha. So below is a modification of the original recipe from my cupcake bible (*ahem* basically the cupcake recipe book from Martha Stewart).

Mind you, I ended up making enough batter for 24 cupcakes and not 18, so if you want to cross-reference onto the original recipe and add in some of my recommendations, feel free to do that also!

CUPCAKE BASE

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• ½ cup milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract*
• 3½ tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4 whole eggs + 4 egg yolks
• 2 cups sugar

For the next part of the recipe, I actually kind of read the recipe wrong and yielded WAYYYY too much syrup for my own liking. I ended up using only half of what I made, so I would definitely lessen what I have listed here.

COFFEE-MARSALA SYRUP

• 1 cup of boiling water
• ½ cup of espresso powder
• 15 ml of marsala*
• ½ cup of sugar

MASCARPONE FROSTING
• 1¼ cup whipped cream
• 300 mg mascarpone cheese*
• ¾ cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• cocoa powder for sprinkling afterwards

As per my recommendations? That is what that asterisk is for :)

2 tsp. vanilla extract* — The original recipe called for vanilla beans to be used, but either the ones sold at Bulk Barn are not the kind I should be buying/they suck, or the beans essentially don't bring out much flavour, causing me to reconsider to opt for vanilla extract instead. I actually used only 1 teaspoon, and after test tasting my own cupcake while at work, I think two would've enhanced the flavour a bit more.

15 ml of marsala* — I don't know about you, but I favor coffee tasting Tiramisu over the alcoholic prominent kind. Yes, the alcoholic prominent kind is probably more "authentically Italian" but I've always kind of disliked the taste of alcohol anyway. I also added less marsala than was suggested in the original recipe because I was catering to work people, and I didn't want to feel like I was drugging them or anything >.<

300 mg mascarpone cheese* — Honestly, I added more cheese than suggested partially because it was kind of awkward to leave less than 100 mg sitting in the tub that I bought, waiting to be used next time (but requiring me to buy more cheese because 100 mg is not enough to satiate a sufficient batch of whatever I'd be making) and I thought, "Hey, more fancy cheese the better right?". Plus, it helps that a coworker really liked the icing!

My overall thoughts? It seems that the general consensus enjoyed my cupcakes (or maybe they were just being nice??) and after eating one myself, they didn't turn out half bad.

P.S. In the original recipe, they say to brush on the coffee-marsala syrup until you run out. I'd say that's about right, but if you want a better idea of a good amount, I'd say about 4-5 layers to really bring that coffee taste out :)

Design Inspiration: Neo Mam Studios (Infographic)

In light of my visual research looking into countless different infographics on the web, I came across this one that I thought was quite nifty.



Click here to see what I mean :)

I appreciate well done websites, so this interactive infographic already has extra brownie points from me. It shows that the people at Neo Mam Studios understand the trending features that happen in the virtual sphere of web design, as well as informing the audience in an engaging and informative manner about why infographics have become so prevalent in today's society.

How Ironic

... that when you're looking for (work) opportunities, it feels like forever till you actually land a decent one, but when you're not looking for (work/freelance) opportunities, you have multiple cases pouncing on you...


Or maybe I'm just one case of murphy's law (designer edition)? LOL designer edition... ugh I gotta stop laughing at lame jokes...

Mildred's Temple Kitchen

Good food and good company is the best way I could sum up my time at Mildred's Temple Kitchen.

I'll admit that during my search for a suitable brunch place downtown, I was secretly hoping to try either Rose & Sons or Easy Breakfast, but I heard from a coworker that the pancakes from MTK were pretty good, so I thought, "Why not?" Besides, a 73% rating on Urbanspoon isn't shabby either, and I knew my friend Jody was fiending for some pancakes.

I do not regret the choice I made.

I've never been to the little area known as West Elm/Liberty Village, so even upon arriving there, it was a refreshing sight to see:

It was a cute little plaza/street of shops in an aesthetic that somewhat resembled that of the Distillery District, though not exactly either. It had a slight upperclass feel (not as overwhelming as Yorkville though) due to the modern style of certain shops, and it just seemed like a really chic place to be at. 

MTK had a small patio section outside, and lovely branding throughout their window decals and collateral.

I loved that they managed to incorporate chartreuse without being too drab, and the place had a sleek, minimalistic, modern style accompanied by its industrial looking base. Light flooded throughout the restaurant, and you just get this fresh yet down-to-earth feeling when you first enter the premises. 

Now onto the food...

Jody obviously ordered Mrs. Biedorhof's Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes. And what a sight that was when her dish first arrived! It looked so enticing to try that I was more than happy to try some when Jody couldn't finish the rest.

What can I say? They do live up to the hype. Their pancakes, despite their thick and blubbery appearance, were actually quite soft, light and fluffy. Dipping it in the fallen whipped cream and blueberries made the taste that much better, and it almost had me wishing I had ordered this instead.

That's not to say that I wasn't happy with my personal choice either. I ordered Veda's Choice, which consisted of poached eggs, Béarnaise sauce and my choice of smoked salmon sandwiched by a flaky croissant and some fresh leafy greens on the side. I liked that the croissant wasn't so flaky that it came apart so easily (that's my primary reason for preferring just a baked soft dough croissant as opposed to a baked flaky one), and the combination of the ingredients together... I can't even. The smoked salmon added just the right amount of savouriness without being too salty, and anytime there's well done poached eggs, I am one happy camper.  

At first, I was a bit perplexed by the greens at the side; I focused so much on the deliciousness that was the croissant that I wasn't quite sure if the greens were just a decorative element or if I was actually supposed to consume them. I didn't want to waste it either, so I gave it a try — it was a bit branchy and kind of awkward to eat at times, yet that didn't bother me too much. I thought that maybe they just kind of placed it there without any garnishing or sauce. I was wrong. The greens had a little oompf to their taste with the help of some subtle sweet-and-sour vinegar like sauce, which was nice. Not too overpowering that it felt disgusting (like that feeling of having too much sauce on your salad), but not too little that you wouldn't notice it at all. 

Mafalda ordered The MTK Burger (tomato relish, crispy tobacco onions, burger patty, served with fresh fries on the side), seeing that she loves burgers and couldn't resist. To be fair, she had a hard time deciding that maybe she should go out of her comfort zone and try The Manhandler instead. I was going to offer to get the latter so that she could try some, but I wasn't quite feeling steak today. It felt a little heavy for a brunch meal, even if we had our brunch super late at 2 pm :P In the end, she was really happy with her burger choice, going so far as to proclaim her love for its taste and joking that she would come back every weekend just for this little number :P She really appreciated the fact that MTK makes their burger buns fresh, and she enjoyed the special white dipping sauce on the side.

She also ordered their watermelon lemonade that I had the pleasure of getting a sip of. Freshly made, not too sour and not too sickly sweet in a cute mason jar, I wouldn't have minded in ordering one myself. 

Here are all our meals combined in one lovely photo :)

While I was pretty late, my two friends endured a length 45 + minute wait since I stupidly did not make reservations. They told me that service while waiting wasn't the greatest, but our waitress who helped us seemed to have redeemed MTK's reputation and restored positive spirits in my two friends. Our waitress was really friendly, smiling and joking intermittently, even asking where I got my backpack at one point! She even made recommendations that weren't asked for, such as the extra hot sauce for Mafalda's meal, which I thought was pretty nice of her. 

And lastly, the washroom at MTK is an unique experience all its own. 

Like the rest of the decor, their washroom was well furnished, modern and mostly white. What's interesting to note is that there is only ONE washroom, shared by both genders. I have never been to a co-ed public washroom ever. The idea is a little bizarre, and the fact that it is so clean boggles my mind (no offence). Another bizarre thing about MTK's washroom is that instead of say, the usual elevator music that you would usually hear at a restaurant, they were playing audio that sounded like it belonged in an airline flight. Somewhere inbetween I heard something about Air France, which confused me a lot. I thought I was in a washroom, not in an airplane? Ya, that was a little odd. 

All in all, I had a splendid time at Mildred's Temple Kitchen, of which I was already really happy to see my previous coworkers, to share laughs and news between the three of us. It was almost as if I had never really left them in the first place, and I truly missed their humour, their expressions/reactions and their personalities in general. They give me faith that not all my female friendships have failed, and seeing them after what feels like a long time definitely brightens my mood regardless. Here's to more food adventures, chilling, whatever to come!

Il Mulino

From the get go, I was pretty excited by the idea of finally going to a place that had a Summerlicious menu. I heard about this event since last year, and I would see my friends post photos of their experience at Canoe, (or some other place) with fancy delicious food while I somehow never got around to it :( Plus, for some places, it was pretty expensive, even if it was a set menu.

I was kind of out of the loop when the decision was made amongst my group of friends (the same group that I went to Chit Chat Play with) to go to Il Mulino, so I kind of just went along with it. I didn't know where it was, I didn't know that it was apparently one of Drake's favourite restaurants, or anything about it really, until I actually had their food.

It was a rainy night when my friends and I had arrived, and Il Mulino was not the place to wear your tattered hoodie and sweatpants to. It has been a long while since I actually dressed up for a night out to eat, which added to my anticipation to their food even more (#tooshytotakeselfies, haha). 

This is one of those times that I again, didn't really take a picture of the decor (I got too engrossed in listening to the topic of superstition at our dinner table). It was rather simple and elegant, with somewhat dim lighting and a singular large archway to divide the spaces of the place (i.e. an archway between the reception area and the dining area). A bit of a waste of space, considering that the restaurant is not that big to begin. *shrugs* Oh well. At first glance, Il Mulino was deceivingly bigger than its' real size; this was especially so with the archway to the side of the reception area appearing to have a secondary dining area when it was really a large mirror. 

We started off with crunchy bread as appetizer. It was seasoned with rosemary and had a slightly sweet taste to it due to the seasoning they used (I have no idea what it is though). 

I was a little wary at first when I initially spotted the Steamed Mussels, Fresh Basil and Scallions option in the Summerlicious menu online. I loved the idea of mussels, it's just that the word spicy jumped out to me like a sore thumb. 

Me and spicy usually don't mix well. The only time I had deliberately decided to order something spicy on my own free will was when I had sinus congestion and I wanted the Spicy Chicken Bento box at Seoul House to alleviate that. My face was sweating like mad in the time that I was eating, but it worked.

Anyways, I kind of had a #yolo moment when I ordered this starter dish, and surprisingly, it wasn't bad at all, even with the sprinkle of additional black pepper. My face wasn't sweating and the spiciness never accumulated in my mouth or throat like I feared it would. In actuality, it was hardly spicy at all (did I just one up in spice tolerance?! ... Maybe that's just my wishful thinking, haha) so I was able to thoroughly enjoy it without having to retreat to my glass of water every few seconds. The mussels were a little small in size to my initial dismay, however the extra basil and scallions satiated my stomach enough that I was ready for my main dish. 

It's funny because out of the five of us, three of us ordered almost the exact same thing (with dessert being the only differentiating factor). 

I was really looking forward to my main dish. Lobster and Linguini? YES PLEASE! After my disappointment with Glow and more disappointment in the fact that I haven't had Lobster Poutine from Rock Lobster yet, I was excited to have a sufficient amount of lobster in a dish. I was not disappointed at all. Il Mulino's Linguini with Lobster & Sun Dried Tomatoes left me delighted and content. There was a good amount of lobster (just the fact that I was able to stick my fork into a scone-sized chunk of lobster got me grinning with glee inside!) and it wasn't too salty; the sauce clung to the linguini well and the pasta itself was a quality that I approve of. The flower on the top was a nice touch. Additionally, the portion size of the main course didn't leave me too hungry or too full, so I'd say it was a good size. 

Plus, this is a set menu, so I definitely need to leave room for dessert!

The sign of a happy camper, haha.

My boyfriend ordered their Grilled Stirloin Steak with a Sautéed Wild Mushroom Marsala Sauce in medium. I was so focused on my own dish that I forgot to ask him how he found his dish :/ It looked good though!

My friend who sat across from me (who ordered almost exactly the same things as I did) ordered Tiramisu as his dessert. After having made my own Tiramisu/tasting my mom's Tiramisu for a generous amount of times this year, I was curious. I've had cheap/okay Tiramisu from I don't even know where a long time ago, and I probably had decent tiramisu at some point in my life, so what about legit Tiramisu at an Italian restaurant? 

(I think I never actually ordered tiramisu from some of the Italian places I've been to because I'm partially lactose intolerant and I was afraid of retreating to the washroom afterwards...) 

I snagged a small bite out of his out of bold curiosity. It was soft to the taste as I expected, fluffy even. The only difference between the kind I made and this one was that the alcoholic taste/presence was much more prominent. It wasn't even the coffee taste that I immediately pointed out; that was the funny part. I personally prefer the tiramisu to have a stronger coffee taste rather than an alcoholic one (for lack of better words). To each of their own I guess?

Finally, this is the dessert I ordered — Gelato Fresco's Chocolate Lindt Ice Cream. As much as I enjoy Tiramisu, I cannot pass on Chocolate Lindt Ice Cream. As you've probably noticed by now, I am a sucker for chocolate, whether that be ice cream, the chocolate itself or whatever. Again, I was not disappointed. This has got to be one of the smoothest chocolate ice creams I have had the chance to consume, the other one a faint distant memory that seems to vaguely escape my mind. I kind of wish I could just get a whole tub of this and share at home, knowing that my father is a huge ice cream fan. Then again, he would probably just eat 90% of the tub without me knowing...

Either way, I am pleased with my first Summerlicious experience. It's a little pricey compared to the average meal, but you're essentially paying for quality, ambiance and the idea of a good food adventure. 

Satiated/Never have I...

I couldn't come up with a better title at the moment, sorry. It almost sounds like one of JT's songs back in the day — i.e. Lovestoned/I Think She Knows :P

I can definitely say that my stomach certainly feels satiated from this weekend's events, and so was my mood for the most part (I can't wait to process the photos and write about them!).


If my stomach had a face, it would be this, LOL.

Sure, there was that whack zombie apocalypse/futuristic sentinels dream (according to the dream dictionary online, dreaming about zombies could signify that you're stressed from forces outside of your control... which is probably that ideal deadline a co-worker of mine has set up for this Tuesday for those catalog translations.... *sigh* ...On another note, how did I manage to dream this shit without waking up in a cold sweat and screaming?! I absolutely hate/am scared of horror movies in real life and dread with every ounce of my being when I get dragged to one) or my really stupid misshaps getting to Mildred's Temple Kitchen today, and that odd encounter on my way back home today (I will elaborate on that later), but otherwise, I'm pretty chipper at the moment... I think. Maybe content would be a better word. I didn't quite get to spend the weekend to myself, but it was with good food and good company, so that should be okay.

As for the "Never Have I" part...

I know I joke around with friends quite a bit and say there are too many doppelgangers of me, but I've never had a stranger approach me and actually mistaken me for someone else.

And the funny thing is, his reasoning was because I dressed like the girl he knew. Um, okay. I didn't realize what I wore would make that much of a difference o_o

And to make things even more awkward, he inspected the ring I wore on my index finger more intently than I had anticipated, and I don't know, it's not like I would reach and hold a stranger's hand briefly to inspect their jewelry... so I just went right back to editing my photos on my phone to avoid any more unpredicted physical contact, awkward close proximity eye-to-eye contact or grilling questions. I was so relieved when he got off the next subway station... *phew*

It's the end of the week, the end of the week, it's....

Wongfu Weekends!

Hahah I wish. I still have yet to meet those three extraordinarily talented individuals. *sigh* One day, one day.

Anyway, it is Friday, and not only is it something to look forward to because I don't have to scramble around my room to wear something work appropriate, but this weekend looks promising. Not that last weekend was any bad either, it's just that when I have a Summerlicious dinner to look forward to and possibly brunch with two friends (the closest co-workers I've had from my previous work) that I miss dearly, I can't help but smile at what's to come.

In the meantime, I shall share a couple of things I found inspirational, of which the first one is today's Google sketch. If you haven't seen it already, you should. It's a tribute to Nelson Mandela made from a series of illustrations. And I know that everyone knows at least a bit about him, but his words that were animated in this tribute were powerful and uplifting, reminding everyone that they should have the right to live peacefully, no matter what race they are. The animations were well paced, and the movement of the typography enticed me to keep clicking on the next button. It certainly leaves a good feeling to start the day with you know?

As for the second piece of inspiration, it comes in the form of this video:


I used to think Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines was done in absolutely poor taste, especially when I tend to associate the man with Miley Cyrus'  highly inappropriate performance for whatever award show it was that they were in. This video however, shed in some new light that isn't so bad. It also resonates with me because I tend to be a grammar Nazi, so I die every time I see a literary offense made. The worst would be the kinds that shouldn't even be made, the kind that is rudimentary spelling and grammar. It's not to say that I don't commit any "word crimes" at all; I just tend to be extra critical in nature because English wasn't my primary language, and I knew that I always had difficulty with tenses back in school. If there was someone who was even more grammar Nazi than I was and was willing to help me improve, I'd gladly accept their advice.

In the meantime, just enjoy the video, and hope you'll have a great weekend also :)

I can't wait till lunch time

I might just resort to hibernating in the car. Why do I do this to myself? Staying at an obviously ill planned gathering till the most of what I can make of it, and then get home at 11, and not sleeping till 45 minutes later. I should've just dipped/not gone at all...

on the bright side, I have half of a boneless chicken wing (in honey garlic sauce might I add) wrap for breakfast from last night...

Chit Chat Play

This past Saturday, I spent the day with a group of friends/boyfriend all the way in Markham for a board game café. The first time I went, it was a triple date with Markham friends and because we didn't have anything planned after dim sum lunch, one of the guys suggested this place.

I remember the first time upon arriving, I was thinking, "Wtf, where is this café?? All I see is a giant mosque/church/ whatever religious building that was, and the rest are townhouses. Dafuq?" But when you think about it, it's a pretty smart idea. It goes back to my last year in university working on a thesis project for workshop class — I was researching the idea of third places (I might have mentioned this in a previous blog post... I don't quite remember) and one of the things Ray Oldenburg pointed out was that third places should be easy to get to in a neighbourhood. That's why theatres and pubs were within walking distance in Europe, whereas here in North America, most of the time, you would have to drive to get to those kinds of places. And with Chit Chat Play being smack dab in a residential maze, I kind of envy the people that live there and can walk to the café anytime they like.

Another unique aspect is the game selection you can find there. I mean, yes, both Snakes and Lattes and Castle have an abundance of games in their library and I probably haven't heard of 90% of the games either, but I get this feeling that 80% of the games at Chit Chat Play, you wouldn't find in either of the other two places that I just mentioned. At least, that's how I feel. Maybe I should mission to downtown one day for the sole reason of cross comparison of these three cafés, lol.

Anyway, one of the games I was introduced to my first time there, was a fun board game called Survive that I would recommend if you want a new board game to try...

At first glance, those familiar with Catan would probably think this is similar to it. Using hexagon tiles aside, these two games don't have much in common. Well... maybe with the exception of the possibility of ruining friendships (except Survive would probably have a stronger impact). Seriously though, this is a pretty fun game. Basically, you want to get your little people off the central island and into either of the islands in the four corners of the game board. Along the way, you have opportunities to force other players into temporary or permanent alliances with you and/or sabotage them to reduce their chances of winning. And for some of the friends I have, just the ability to sabotage other people's plans in a board game makes their day completely *coughcough*

Sadly, I failed as a photographer both times I was there, as I didn't really take pictures of other board games or more of the interior. What I can tell you though, is that, again, unlike S&L and Castle, CCP doesn't really offer food. They offer gelato, which is pretty nifty, but you would most certainly need to leave to aid your stomach if dinner time was nearing. Another thing about CCP is that they offer mostly tea and coffee. And when I say tea, I mean the variety isn't English tea, green tea or black tea. I mean flavors such as Peach Oolong, Raspberry Green Tea, White Gingseng Detox, etc, etc. They are serious about their tea, which is something I greatly appreciate. When they first serve the tea, they provide you with a tea cup, a separate transparent teapot (you can see what the ingredients are inside) and a timer.

"What? Why does that even matter?"

They provide a timer with a time set for you so that when it beeps at zero, that would be the optimal time to pour out your tea and drink it. They know how long it takes for the ingredients to steep properly, giving the best potential of taste. That's awesome!

 I mean, ya, they could have just steeped it themselves (then again, they don't have a huge counter so having all those tea cups and teapots may cause problems) and there would be less of a hassle for the visitors/players to find room when they're preoccupied by their board games, but *shrugs* it's still a cool experience, and that's what makes CCP all the more different right?

Granted, I'm not much of a coffee drinker so I can't tell you how good their coffee is, sorry :P

Oh and one final thing — the board games there are at a pretty reasonable price, if you're looking to start your board game collection. My jaw dropped when I discovered that you could buy Catan (the basic original set) for only $29.95, not including tax. When I was at Chapters or Snakes and Lattes, that same game was $49.95. You essentially save $20. And sure, I could buy Catan on Amazon for the same price, but I would also have to account for shipping, so in conclusion, buying it at CCP was a good choice.

I know I went this past weekend, but I would be excited to go again just to try out more board games I have not heard about, especially when I have a friend who frequents there and could tell me some nifty recommendations :P

Designer Quirk #1: Pressing the Spacebar in applications other than the Adobe Creative Suite

You know sometimes, you get so used to using the hand tool to move around when you're zoomed in at more than 100% that you forget this feature only applies to Adobe products. I am guilty of stupidly pressing the spacebar in preview or other applications such as Publisher, only to have the picture/file scroll to the bottom, or a ding sound and an annoying pop-up to remind me of what an idiotic thing I just did.

Finding a bruise you weren't aware of

How I appear at work

And how I (and innately my taste buds) feel from consuming the goodies my friend gave me from Paris:

World Cup PT 3

I was supposed to write this blog post yesterday, but considering that it was an anomaly compared to my "sit-at-desk-and-grind-away-on-design-related-tasks-on-the-computer", I didn't quite know how much time I had for myself... 

5th and 6th

My attempts at being productive have not proven to be successful today. Maybe getting this last stretch of lack of motivation by doing something semi-productive (aka a weekend blog post) may remedy this?

Aside from the usuals of badminton on Friday nights and Sunday mornings, I've been on a gluttonousness roll this weekend. Or least, it kind of feels like it. My homeslice's birthday has just passed this week, so I treated him to his favorite frozen yogurt for the time being before scrambling around trying to find a used FIFA 14 game for him, errr I mean before his actual birthday celebration plans in the near future (which I can't wait for.... I feel like such a little kid hearing the prospects of that day!!!) 

I couldn't help but get myself a cup either. Clearly a sucker for frozen yogurt, haha. This time I decided to get chocolate almond, since I wanted to try all the different "specialty" flavours Yogen Fruz has. I already tried the Red Velvet and the Green Tea with Mochi flavours last time. Sooner or later, I'll probably end up having tried all the flavours :P With the previous two flavours, I feel that they were definitely meant to "wow" you in the sense that they're really obvious as specialty flavours. Chocolate almond is a bit more on the understated side because well, you already have the option of using a chocolate base for your usual frozen yogurt customization, so what's so special about this one? Aside from the obvious almond chunks (I'm kind of neutral to that... with or without it, I'm okay with the frozen yogurt), there are actually little flakes of larger chocolate pieces in the frozen yogurt, adding more chocolate goodness to the taste overall. I say this is understated because I was a bit preoccupied by the almond flakes at first (I have this weird habit of eating all the toppings first in some occasions...) and I was too rapt upon the atmosphere and the showing of the Netherlands vs. Costa Rica match on a huge screen tv at the mall (of course), that I didn't notice until well into about 1/2 of my yogurt. 

But way before treating my homeslice to frozen yogurt, I wanted to meet up with him to not only catch up, but help him plan his trip to NYC. He's been wanting to go since what seems like forever, and now that he's finally getting the chance to, I want to facilitate his planning so that he enjoys it as much as he can, and as much as I did (especially since we're both designers... y'know). We headed to the library to plan and look over crucial things, but before that, we got a glimpse of the beautiful weather and vibe of the area outside:

Ya they were streaming world cup outside too, haha. We didn't sit outside for long, since the library was open for a limited time. It wasn't until the library was closed and we were at the mall that we ended up watching the rest of the game. I know a lot of people were cheering for the Netherlands (so much that this one guy did a back flip and jumped numerous times), and while I was mostly neutral, there was an inkling inside me that cheered for the underdog. What they lacked in offense, they redeemed themselves incredibly defence wise. Navas was not only MVP in my books... the defence men I had appreciated greatly also. They knew exactly where to go to assist the goalkeeper should he be away from his usual position, and they managed to keep the ball out in such crucial moments. Now if only the national Spanish team could take some notes from them...

Sunday has been pretty serene, with badminton in the morning, a small nap awhile afterwards (I slept kind of late the night before, being "interrogated" by an old acquaintance and being yet again, too nice to tell them to "fuck off kindly because it's 1 AM and I'd actually want to catch some shut eye"), then an attempt in being productive by looking into changes I could do for my outside of work freelance project (with very little progress, unfortunately). I ended up going out to try to look for FIFA 14 at another EB games location, while also visiting a friend of mine at her shift at work. She recommended this for me to try in the afternoon...

Although I was out of luck in obtaining a copy of FIFA 14, this recommendation made my afternoon better. I usually stick to chocolate related flavours whenever I do happen to be at B31R (yes, I'm one of the weird people that actually say EVERYTHING in the name), or at least have Cookie Dough or Rocky Road. I just had something chocolate related the day before so that's why I asked for a recommendation. I didn't quite fully catch the whole name of the flavour ("______ Citrus Flavour"), and I could credit that to the illegibility of the typeface used (of course, mini designer rant right here) but that doesn't really matter. I enjoyed this sorbet quietly as I chatted with my friend intermittently, and then finished up and headed back home. It was nice to see her since I haven't seen her during badminton as of late. 

Sooo now I'm here.

I should really get around to doing other coding tweaks....

I live for casual fridays

World Cup 2014 PT 2

Yikes... I never quite got to finish my previous post because I spent too much time looking for appropriate gifs... and then I couldn't finish/formulate all my thoughts onto this blog -____-'

World Cup 2014 PT 1

Like an avid GoT (or any other captivating TV show really) fan awaiting eagerly for the premiere of the next season, I sit here during lunch at work with an emptiness in my heart that is the World Cup. I know, I know, the next match is on Friday, so it's not that far away. And yet, here I am wondering what I'm going to spend tomorrow's lunch hour doing. I could grind even more on that branding guidelines book... or perhaps I can devote some time to work on other matters of personal interest? Hm, I don't know yet.

For all the Canadians out there...

Happy Canada Day :D