Banzai Brighton and moar goodies

Sad news; the Banzai 99 cent plus in Brighton Beach seems to be closing and most of their *cheap* stuff is getting sold out. Some of the items there are more discounted than usual so you should go visit! But among the coughdustcollectingcough items there, I found an awesome suribachi! (Traditional Japanese mortar) It was only $.99 and the sides are a bit lower compared to the traditional suribachi. Sadly, it didn't come with a surikogi (pestle). I went to MUJI last month and saw separately sold suribachi and surikogi for about $9 each and that's just a rip-off. I went to Sunrise Mart last friday and found a suribachi for $6 and was planning to buy it. But I'm happy with the one I have now, and will buy the cleaning brush from Pearl River Mart in SoHo; $1. Yes... I'm such a money-minded loser.
















On Christmas, my mum told me to bake something and we were kinda short on butter. I dug in my bookmarks and found a recipe from Lovescool for Green Tea Sweets. With my new gingerbread man cookie cutter, I cut out two gingerbread man-shaped cookies and with the rest of the cookie dough, made leaf-shaped cookies. Oddly, I didn't think my family would like it much, but I got a lot of praise and the kiddies were running around the house with cookies in their mouths. YAY. I would've loved to make gingerbread cookies, but the spices are damn pricey and I'm too lazy to buy molasses, ground ginger, and all that other stuff. Maybe next year, along with a gingerbread house. Thank god for the $4 matcha bags at Sunrise Mart.















On Friday, I finally bought a candy thermometer from that shop in Little Italy to make marshmallows. That's right. MARSHMALLOWS. Those sweet, white lumps of airy goodness made its way into my home and I plan to never buy the Jet-Puffed and even the Krasdale stuff again. It was a lot of work to cut them to pieces with a knife (when I should've used the scissor) then cover and remove excess confectioner's sugar from each and every marshmallow. They were a bit larger, but they're very satisfying, so I cut them a bit smaller to portion out. mm.. :9















Next up: Mushi Manju with homemade shiro-an!

Happy Christmas!

Wishlist

A wishlist of things I want, but may never get this year.
★　Rilakkuma bag: a b
☆　Black Rockinghorse shoes: ★ b
☆　ロリタ: MFTjskblack AaTPring darkgreyjsk(#2)+parasol Putublack
★　Lucky Pack: Strapya Supsystem AngelicP Putumayo
☆　Waffle maker: a b
★　お弁当: にこパンチ　たまご　ドリーム　kit
☆　Books: a b c ★ e
☆　Cake pans: bundt, springform, madeleine, square

☆　Silpat: ★ b
☆　Taiyaki mold: a
☆　Takoyaki hot plate: a

pre-christmas sandwich bento and meringues

I was up pretty late making peppermint meringues and they didn't turn out the way they should've... oh well. The taste was exceptional, though I'm never gonna add candy canes to meringues again.
















Hehe.. A croissant sandwich with the gingerbreadman-shaped meringue + vanilla ice cream + butter crunchers cookies = best lunch at school ever. I was so sugar high on Friday and DIBO (chorus) had us sing and gave us free snacks; I grabbed the 100 calorie packs XD.

NYAF '07

^___^ I've been anticipating this meetup since summer and I really have to thank Amber for arranging everything and helping me order my clothes. I got a lot of good comments and I've gotten to know more people. I had such strange meals; kinako with toast for breakfast, belgian waffles for lunch. *drool* The waffles were yummy. coughbaconandpancakescough But uh.. yea.. I never thought being at an anime convention would be so awkward. So wish I had bought the G&L Bible before the boystyle model did (o__o forgot her name) and that copy of La Vie en Rose. The Tokyopop lolita models were really nice, but what was up with the swing and the wedding arch?
Azumi looks gorgeous. I obviously cannot pose for pictures well @__@

a beard?

I am so full of fail =___=
But anyways, I'm gonna be going to NY Anime Festival tomorrow in loli (yesss) and prancing around in it for a day... then sneaking back home in jeans and goods from the Dealer's Room. <3
I'll post photos from the con when I come back, if I'm not too lazy.