Blate! Lol.

Since they came back with a pretty great episode, I forgive them for making me wait so long.

Quick GG debrief

GG hasn't gotten me excited for a while now. I like episode 19.

Plus, Blair looked stunning in the Herve Leger dress. Not the best picture but if you've watched the scene where she leaned against Chuck to seduce him, you'd have seen how amazing the dress was on her.

Love Shuffle no more!

Ten weeks of joy have come to an end.

Let's take a moment to look back at my favourite sets on the show.

The foyer as their living room and all the random things they do there.





As well as the cafe/bar where they hang out.








Actually one of the things from the show that surprised me was the use of Eternal Flame as a recurring soundtrack. You get to hear it in every episode, I think.

Eternal Flame by The Bangles was released in 1989. By the time I heard and liked the song, it was long enough after that I thought of it as older than its actual age.

I'm not sure what it is that surprises me. Perhaps it's the vague notion that it has been used in other Japanese dramas before. Perhaps it's the fact that when I first heard it it was under 10 years old but now it's practically an adult.

GG messes with The Age of Innocence

GG ruins The Age of Innocence for me. From now on, every time I say I love the book I will have to think of Vanessa.

Bloody hell.

But I'm glad the show is back, and I love what Blair wore.

(images via here)

Also, not sure what to make of this. Amusing, I suppose, particularly if you go through some of the comments.

tomayto tomahto

I'm a tomato fiend. I like it stir fried with egg, with chilli, steamed with fish, in sandwiches, burgers, in soup, as soup, as sides, in salads, as pasta sauce, as garnish... I like ketchup too although I take way more chilli sauce and mustard. (But I don't like tomato juice much.)

Anyway whenever I go to the supermarket I get happy when I see fat, red tomatoes that look more of the beefsteak variety piled up rather than the orangey red plum tomatoes. The latter is good cooked but not so wonderful raw.

I love the typical mozarella/tomato/basil/olive oil/sea salt combination. But I got tired of buying basil because it's always too big a box and I feel this anxiety to finish them before they wilt in the fridge but really, there's only so much basil you can eat in two days on a mostly Asian diet. It's a race against time I can't win.

The other night I was craving tomato and so just did a cottage cheese/olive oil/sea salt/pepper toss. Yums.

While googling for tomato types (way too many, way too complicated) I found this tomato hate site. It's actually pretty nice-looking and dedicated - they even have recipes for tomato-less pasta and pizza sauces.

And it made me think of something. Do you remember this?



I used to watch it as a kid. Looked out for it, even. I guess something about tumbling tomatoes grinning evilly caught my fancy. I don't remember anything about it except the intro song and the sight of tomato armies rolling onto streets and people screaming. It's really funny.

Will induce hunger and wild desire to own lengths and lengths of gorgeous robes

Was about to watch Hyakumanen to Nigamushi Onna (1,000,000 Yen Girl), which stars Aoi Yu, when I thought about Osen again. Osen is one of the best Japanese dramas I've watched and it's not just because of the story. There is so much gorgeous, delectable food in there. Actually I hesitate to call them food. They look so amazing it feels like no one should bear to eat them but really, don't you just want to ravish all these fine, fine dishes?

(All following images from here.)

Not just that. As the young proprietress, Aoi Yu has an amazing wardrobe. Lots of quirky details in her wearing of the traditional kimono.

What I like most are the stuff she wears to rough it out.

Makes me feel like watching the show again. But life is too short and I can't seem to afford much time to rewatch or reread things anymore.