taiwan

I've been reading through the archives of Take One Thing Off, a most excellent perfume blog, and found a really good explanation of different rose oils in this review. FYI future self.

It also occurred to me that, in the extremely unlikely scenario that I become incredibly wealthy in the near (or far) future, or even just reach FIRE, I would learn perfumery or start a perfume brand. As an aside, my friends always said that I would open a tea house in this hypothetical scenario, but that never felt right to me. But back to my eventual perfume creations, they would be Chinese themed, and my starting collection would be the 四君子 of orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, and plum. Then I would do some soliflorals of common traditional chinese flowers like osamanthus, peach blossom, and especially of peony. Some abstract themed series can include ceramics and ink painting. There would also be a tea series, cause goddam the current tea perfumes that I've sampled (which to be fair isn't that many) don't smell anything like the tea itself, and is always just green tea, or black tea.

sheen

On my first day at the new office, while waiting in line to get the building badge, I saw the girl in front of me wearing two nice bracelets. That kicked off a 3 night search for a bracelet that is:

• rigid, aka a bangle
• silver in appearance so white gold is fine too
• has a design that resonates with me
• from a brand that I can identify with
• is affordable 

I'm not that familiar with jewelry, so the first night was pretty fruitless as I racked my brains for which stores / brands to search for. I scrolled though every page of big retailer / department store's bracelet category with a filter for silver/white gold. Then I started looking at "high" jewelry on the second night, and that's when I found this:

It's perfect in every criteria...except affordability. The 33k price tag was a bit of a shock, but as I continued browsing I realized that jewelry is just irrationally expensive. But this is also so perfect is every other way that nothing I found afterwards sparked any joy.

Finally on the third night I found this:

Finally a contender that checks off every criteria, although it being affordable means it's also just silver plated. I may or may not actually purchase it, since I got immense satisfaction by just finding it. 

polo

2 凉拌 dishes plus this week's meal prep:

蒜泥白肉 / spicy pork with garlic 

poached chicken with ginger and scallions

I think poaching meat is one of the most forgiving ways to achieve a juicy texture. The key is low heat (barely simmering water) and checking with a thermometer. It's easier if you take the meat out and rest it in cold water, but I tend to just turn off the heat a little earlier and let the meat cool in its broth.

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Grain salad with farro, black lentils, sweet potato and a squash of some kind

I went with a Chinese flavour dressing (sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce) and felt kinda of awkward pairing it with a super non-Chinese dish. It taste good enough. What I really nailed is the texture of both of the farro and lentil. For the farro, I soaked it in boiling water for about 2 hours (since I forgot to soak it in the morning before work, opps), and checked for doneness pretty frequently. Lentils I just boiled and checked frequently.

sam

Newest shoe lust:

The color is amazing *u* Here's hoping that this is an unpopular model and it goes on sale.

deco

If you take away the heat, Tyler really is pas mal.

Taken within the same hour, edited for different mood.

masala

(part 4)
part 5 of the lucky scent sample review, we are nearing the end!

Floris A Rose For...
Oof a true rose that is a little dark, maybe there is a woody base note in there? It is also jammy, but not a true jammy rose like Parterre’s. It’s very balanced, there’s a gradient of a fresher rose note on top, then a jammy rose middle, and then that darker wood base in each sniff. This seems like an occasion or evening scent. Turns out there is oud, sandalwood and cedar (seems to be the most popular woods eh), and incense (I do get the impression now). Will do a side by side comparison with Sohan, but overall I’m not that fond of the rose-oud combo. Performance is good tho, can very strongly smell it from my neck. The scent is also linear, I don't perceive any changes a couple of hours in.

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Perris Monte Carlo Rose de Taif
Woah, out of all of the rose perfumes that I've sampled so far, this one smells the closest to the pure Bulgarian rose oil that I had a chance to smell. There's also a slight citrus-y fresh component to it, which is very uplifting and brings some loft to the rose. There's also a subtle sweetness that I surprisingly like. I see why this got so much praise, it's like a fresh rose (fresh as in still alive) but with more dimensions. This is def tied with Parterre's rose for my favourite, with this as a lighter rose and the Parterre as a heavier rose. There’s not much change to the scent throughout the day, it stays the wonderful rose it is. Interesting that I never got any of the spice notes tho. The performance is pretty good, lasted the entire day and could almost steadily smell it from arms length away. Onto the full bottle list it goes!

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Bruno Fazzolari Vetiverissimo
I can only describe the opening as a fresh vetiver, although I've never smelled the fresh aspect of it before, so I guess this fragrance does live up to its aspirations of exploring all facets of vetiver. The opening is both fresh and transparent, more substantial than a veil, maybe moreso like vellum? Actually it's more like a watery transparency. I don't get any spice notes so far, but it's not too much of a stretch to say that it has floral aspects. This is as feminine of a vetiver as I've smelled. This is also what I excepted Commodity’s vetiver to smell like, with its promise of peony :( The scent stayed a floral and fresh vetiver the whole 8 hours, and only projects moderately. This is from swiping via the sample vial wand, would be interested in getting a full bottle.

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Papillon Artisan Parfums Angelique
This is the perfume equivalent of salted cheese foam green high mountain oolong tea. Very first impression is creamy, super creamy, well it's actually sweetened cream. Then there's some savoury aspect of it, and then some florals. Both the savoury and the floral comes off stronger from dabbing rather than swiping the sample containers wand. I am quite impressed right off the bat, I see why this brand is highly regarded. The scent does have low projection, and has not changed since I've applied it about 4 hours ago. 

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Keiko Mecherie Ume
The opening immediately evokes a winter scene to me, appropriate since ume is a winter flower. It's sweet, floral, powdery and most importantly plush. Like a thick velvet that you can sink into. The projection of this fragrance is great, I can constantly smell it from arms length away, and this is from swiping/dabbing rather than a spray. It's surprising that I am liking this sweet floral, mostly because it doesn't feel heavy or sticky despite the impression of a plush texture. Now that I think of it more, the texture is some impossibly combination of light and plush. Maybe like a dense foam? Those really good face wash that lather up a super dense and cushy foam. So far I don't get any of the spice notes, and am not sure if I get the plum and woody notes either. Those notes never popped up during the entire time (8-10hrs). Overall while I like the scent, especially the texture near the beginning, but I'll skip out on a full bottle since I'm not overly into sweet florals.

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Keiko Mecherie Makassar
The opening is very clean and slightly woody, with a hint of a sweet powdery flower. It smells like toiletries provided at classic high end hotels. I didn't detect much change afterwards, as the scent is barely discernible on me and didn't last more than a few hours. Hard pass.

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Neela Veremeire Niral
The opening is full of spices, an Indian spice blend. I actually find it quite 闷, maybe because of the musk from the ambrette seed? After a couple of minutes that all goes away and a sweet powdery candy (like those pastel coloured sugar candies) comes in, with a floral aftertaste. Although applied more strongly (dab instead of swiping the wand), the spices remain strong but the floral aftertaste still comes in. After about 3 hours the spice finally fades into the powdery candy. I suppose the floral undertone to all this is vaguely rose like, I was hoping for a stronger rose note tho. The projection is moderate, and longevity is quite good. It's also the most expensive out of my samples, at $6 for 0.7ml oof. Will pass. 

puff

I'm simultaneously dreading the end of summer (well Dallas was a blast of full-on summer) but also sooo ready for colder weather clothing and food, whoo duality!

I pulled 10 saved images from my Pinterest in anticipation of F/W and grouped them into 6 themes to provide some guidance for how I want to dress in the upcoming season.

Font is Gujarati MT, and I'm sorry to the image creators for not providing credit

Themes:

1. Wear more of my hats...when/how I've not yet worked out. Toronto's environment is really not conducive to floppy hat wearing
2. Wear more of my midi skirts in the narrow window of late summer / early autumn. I struggle with which tops to pair with my orange-red silk skirt and to a lesser extent my navy jacquard skirt since I don't like the look of a non-dressy top material 
3. Not really seasonal, but I'll be back working in an office setting (goodbye glorious days of wfh) so a couple of office inspo is appropriate. 
4. A lighter color palette for the colder weather. I've slowly been injecting some pastel pinks and lavender into my SS wardrobe, but FW is still primarily dark colours. Not likely to make progress on this for the upcoming season since it involves buying new (expensive) pieces.
5. Focus on accessories with interesting texture, aka croc emboss all the way. I think my clothes are generally at a point of very diminished returns, so I could think more about accessories. My scarves have ample room for upgrade, and my bags even more so. But bags are very big ticket items, and so far I've not loved a croc bag enough to justify the price considering other financial goals. Another area where I do not expect progress in the upcoming season. 
6. Furry / plush statement pieces. I still think of the HOPE furry coat that I found around this time last year...so I think a super huggable coat is on my list for this winter. It's probably more practical to go with a teddy coat, maybe one in a rich medium brown that will pair nicely with black. Especially if there is a hood *u* However it's tricky buying such a voluminous outerwear since I'm not that tall. 

An update on my 10 slot shopping list for 2019, I've since bought 2 more pieces to bring my total to 7. I bought a bandeau top from Aerie and a Mickey&Minnie tee from Uniqlo. Currently the remaining 3 slots are looking like a sweater dress, a teddy coat, and another pair of trousers or a pleated midi skirt depending on how frequently I can wear my other midi skirts. 

sphere

can't kill the creature that you made

I am likely dying in the Dallas sun when this goes live, so have a week of music filler posts.

cold concrete on my back

I've been hearing his other song, Jesus in LA, at a loooot places recently. Glad he is getting popular :)

fox

Let's take a moment to appreciate the beautiful chisel toe on these Foster & Son ready-to-wear shoes. If only they made women ;o;

The almond toe on a penny loafer is beautiful too

Victoria Sponge v2

I made too much strawberry jam and basil infused cream, so here's a even bigger victoria sponge (8"):

The real benefits of making a bigger cake is having enough batter (double the previous cake's quantity) that it mixes well in the mixing bowl. The cake turned out lighter in texture because of the better aeration when creaming butter and sugar, and also I upped the baking powder. I also learned my lesson and not put the whipped cream in the middle. It could be better if I had diced up the strawberries leftover from decorating the top and sandwiched it with the jam, but that requires more planning...or just more strawberries.

braised pork

I think I behave more like concrete compared to steel?

Victoria Sponge

August's cake of the month: victorian sponge

I followed the classic ratio of the same weight of eggs (in shell), flour, sugar, and butter. This batch (6") was made with 2 eggs, and I used a heaping teaspoon of baking powder. I think I could up the leavening a little since the cake is still quite substantial, and also because my baking powder is quite old and have reduced leavening capabilities. There is also a dash of vanilla extract in the batter.

I made strawberry jam from fresh strawberries, and eyeballed the sugar (also to taste, since the strawberries weren't very sweet) and added a squeeze of lemon juice. It took a while for the jam to reduce to the right consistency, I stopped cooking it as soon as it could leave dry streaks in the pot. While the jammy strawberry flavour works well with the cake as its quite a rich and buttery batter, I'll try using fresh macerated strawberry in the next iteration.

One mistake is using freshly whipped cream as a filling. It got squeezed out between the cake layers when cutting the cake. Something with more strength, like a buttercream of some sort, would be better. However I do like the fresh and light taste of whipped cream compared to buttercream, so maybe I'll just have the jam in the middle and have the cream on the top. This time the cream was infused with basil, which pairs wonderfully with strawberry. I found this flavour pairing through Eric's ice cream.

Overall I'd say this is a success, as it is quite a bit better than most victoria sponges you can buy in UK, and at least on par with the good ones sold there. Also a very simple cake to make (and decorate).

Fuji C200

Shooting film is fun! I see how people are into this now.

Much thanks to Eddie for lending the camera and film (plus processing and scanning), as well as modelling and words of encouragement.