The Life of San Jose

Hey everyone~

It's been a while since I've written a post and so I would like to apologize for my inconsistency. I'll try harder to be more intune with my posts so that you guys know what's up. However, I would like to give props to Bunny for keeping up with the posts with a lot of interesting movies and books. As you all may have seen, we have decided to change our pseudonym from Mellon to Bunny and from Rawr to Bear after long consideration and administrative discussions.

So today's post is going to be very interesting because I had the pleasure of visiting Nor Cal around the San Jose area.

This was one of the views I had as I was coming up north from Los Angeles. It was really amazing and just serene.

Soon after, I was able to enjoy the nice environment of a park called the Memorial Park in Cupertino. This park apparently hold a lot of festivals and a Diwali Festival of Lights was happening while I was there. It was actually pretty cool and this park was definitely the best parks I've ever been to. Then shortly I was able to eat Hawaiian BBQ nearby, but I couldn't get any pictures of it sadly. However, all I can say is that the macaroni salad was bomb! It is one of the places I really want to revisit again and eat some BBQ.

Afterwards, I was able to enjoy the Festival and got a dessert called Fallooda (I think that's how it is spelled), which was a rose flavored ice cream drink. The taste was really good but inside the drink there were some sort of noodle strings in the drink, which honestly I could've done without. Then after we were able to go to Honeyberry and try some buns. Let me tell you if heaven was made out of buns they would use these to make heaven.

This is what it's called and it's a very humble store. Apparently, there are two or maybe even more stores that are open for business. However, this store is part of the original Honeyberry chain and it was just so, so delicious.

This was roti bun and it was just so good. I love the insides because it's just so soft like clouds.

This one was the butter bun and even though it's a little bit more expensive, I feel as though it was worth the money. It's so good there is a buttery coating inside and it's just mouth-watering

After we came here, we were able to go get a toffee flavored coffee, which was very refreshing. Soon after, I checked in my hotel and relaxed. Then it was time for dinner and we went to a Vietnamese restaurant to try something than Pho. I forget the name of the dish but let me tell you that not only is this dish tasty but way filling. It's pretty much only vegetables but after a few bites in, you magically become full.

This was the restaurant we went to

This was the mountain of vegetables, filled with lettuce, basil, cilantro, and other good stuff

We separated the vegetables, and as you can see we also get fish sauce

This is what it looks like~ The outside is some sort of crispy, fried substance

Inside, there are a lot of meat and bean sprouts

This was the aftermath of the dinner... so, filling!

After such a dinner, I slept and the next morning I was in for a surprise because I was taken to a great dim sum place near Milpitas. Honestly, if you never had dim sum... you are leading a very sad life... GO GET SOME! For people who do not know how dim sum works, you sit down on a table and instead of ordering from a menu, you have waiters/waitresses walking around with carts and you pick the ones you want to eat from the cart. They then tabulate what you get onto a card, which you turn in at the end of you meal to determine your check.

This was probably the shrimp dim sum

This one was definitely one of my favorites. It was so good that I ordered extras to take home!

This was probably the scallop dim sum


This one is like a sesame bum with beans inside and also some sticky rice to the side~


This one was my favorite of all the dishes I had and it's just so good and tasty. Don't worry the sauce around the dim sum isn't soy sauce and yes you do eat it like that. The texture is so soft and it just melts in your mouth! Sooo GOOD!!

Other dim sum items

In the end, my trip up north was one of the best vacations I've ever been on. I couldn't have asked for more and it was just blessing experience to try so many new things with all of them turning out great. I hope to visit again soon because I just had a great time here~ Go visit if you have the time!

Tofu also came with me to keep me company, and as you can see he also had a great time relaxing :]

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."

- George Bernard Shaw

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

I have finally finished this book which I started a while ago.

I enjoyed The Joy Luck Club and The Hundred Secret Senses, both by Amy Tan, so when an article said that Lisa See is the next Amy Tan, I had to read her work.

I realized that there will be a movie based on this novel. Since I never like watching the movie first before reading the original book, it was my intention to finish the book before the movie was released. It seems like the movie did not do quite well in the box office. Regardless, I plan on watching the movie sooner or later.


The book's main theme is the friendship between two Chinese women in 19th century. Mainly due to the setting of the novel, it contains vast amount of cultural tradition, customs and idealism in 19th century China. Growing up in relatively traditional Asian family, I was able to comprehend many of the idealism and traditions. However, many non-Asian-culture-friendly readers may not understand certain aspects or tilt their head about eccentric customs. What all readers should understand, in my opinion, is that most Asian tradition is based on spiritual symbolism and patriarchal lineage.

The book mostly deals with women tradition and stories. One of those that Lisa See chose to elaborate was the foot binding. The book describes that based on the size and the shape of the bound foot, women can achieve happy life or can be thrown into a pit of misery. The process of foot binding requires breaking bones in each foot to shape them into small, beautiful and perfect "golden lilies." The smaller your bound feet are, the better family you will marry into for better status and life. Based on the book, main characters, Lily and Snow Flower's feet were perfect in shape and size to ensure their happiness.

In case you wonder, like I did, what bound feet looks like or how small they become, I add a picture.

When I visited Hong Kong when I was very young, I remember seeing a small pair of shoes of display in a museum. Please, correct me if I am wrong, but those shoes were to be put on young girls to prevent their feet from growing any bigger. The reason as written on the description panel was that it was to prevent any young women from running away either from their future husband or family. Lisa See repeatedly states throughout the book that women are worthless and is considered nothing more than bearers of children.


Another women tradition mentioned and utilized is nu shu, women's secret writing. In the author's note, Lisa See explains her study and journey to discover and understand the words and songs women used to express themselves. Women in "ancient" China did not have much right to meddle with the "outside realm of men" and were expected to sit in upstairs chambers quietly. Since they were not allowed to be educated or learn "men's writing," women invented women's secret writing, nu shu, to be kept hidden from men's knowledge. It is this nu shu that Snow Flower and Lily write on their secret fan, symbol of their everlasting friendship.


Besides unusual traditions and customs, the journey of two laotong, or old sames, continues, for better or worse, as their lives goes on, changes and comes to an end.


To be honest, I could not hold my tears toward the end of the novel and I believe it is because I saw myself in Lily and Snow Flower. We need and aspire someone to love and someone who will love us unconditionally. Maybe you will find a piece of yourself in Lily or Snow Flower.



Well, now the wait for the movie to be released on DVD!! :]

"When a girl, obey your father; when a wife, obey your husband; when a widow, obey your son. But my mother-in-law taught me another axiom one day, when she was aggravated with her husband: "Obey, obey, obey, then do what you want.""

- From Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See -