new year... new boots

happy belated chinese new year! it's the year of the earth ox this year. and next year is my year. the year of the tiger. metal tiger to be specific. i am a wood tiger, which turns out, is the strongest wood animal. chinese new year starts on valentine's day next year. sounds like it will be a romantic year...

there are so many different components in chinese astrology. you have your animal (12 total). then you have your element (5 total). you also have your yin and yang forms. there are the categories of 4 trines. and you have your inner and secret animals. finally (i think?), you have either a power or romance sign. according to wikipedia, i am a wood tiger (yang) in the 3rd trine and one of the power signs. which is disappointing because i thought i'd be a romantic sign. oh well... my inner animal is a water pig. my secret animal is the ox. this part gets confusing. see the link for more details.

in celebration of the new lunar year, i got myself a new pair of boots. well, not really. it's just an excuse for shopping. i wasn't planning to get them but at 70% off and in my size, i couldn't say no.

if these look a little familiar to you, that's because i have a pair of jcrew boots that are a tiny bit similar. the buckle is at the top as opposed to the ankle. and these have a 3 ½" heel. the jcrew ones are at about 2 ½". the leather on this pair is smooth and soft while the jcrew pair has rugged leather in a darker shade of brown. and most importantly, they were half as much as the jcrew ones! ok, i'm done making excuses!

happy chinese new year!!

tonight was the grand opening of the new xanh restaurant now located at 110 castro in downtown mt. view.
this year is the year of the brown rat. i think it's the earth rat. as it was the 7th in china earlier today, many celebrate the new year tonight. as i am celebrating the new year with my family this weekend, i choose to start my celebration at the new xanh. the picture on the left is the lounge. there is a wall of water on rocks. it's really cool. they now have a full bar with specialty drinks. i hope to become a cocktail waitress here. when it gets warmer.
there are 6 new plates. we had three of them and one of the two new desserts. they now have vietnamese desserts. they also have pho on their menu, as an appetizer. everything was delicious, as always. i was there on monday (two nights ago in my purple dress below) and what a difference! while both places are very hip and trendy, this new place allows for more space between tables and is at a grand scale of hip & trendy. bathrooms always say a lot about how i feel about a restaurant. i remember nice bathrooms. and their bathrooms are totally awesome, except their locks. they are a little tricky...

the year of the fire pig

according to chineseastrology.com, here is my overview:

For Tigers, your "ching qi" (sexual energy) is at it's peak this year as your soulmate, the Pig, surrounds you with an atmosphere of love and indulgence. Matters are felt primarily in the realm of the physical this year as your life palace of "unions" is highlighted. You'll desire to stay closer to home this year and redecorating your abode would be enjoyable and uplifting. Appeal is the name of your game this year and in both personal relations and at work, others are powerfully drawn toward you. This passion poses some danger and yet, such delightful opportunity. Magnetism aside, avoid confrontations with Monkeys and Snakes.

they also mention that this year is best for tigers! i'm very curious to see why. in addition, this year is a good year for sagittarians as well. so my luck is doubled this year. which makes me very very excited!!

it's funny they say i should avoid confrontations with monkeys because ted is one and i'm happy to avoid him altogether!

happy lunar new year everyone!!

last day of lunar year celebration

tonight i went to dinner with my great friend betty and her mom, along with her mom's friends to celebrate the last day of the lunar new year. we had lots of delicious chinese dishes and humorous conversations in mandarin and broken english. right now, i am soooo full.

earlier today, i had a nice chat with a friend in germany. it was really nice chatting and hearing his voice. he's hoping to come out for a visit next month. and we've decided to meet up for dinner and take a drive. it's something i'm really looking forward to. matthias, thanks for being such a sweetheart...

another new year's celebration...

sunday marked the year of the dog. it was a day full of fun and celebration. i spent mot of the day shopping in the city. we went to h&m and zara. and loads of money was spent, thankfully not entirely by me. then we went out to eat at this unlikely restaurant. with all the neon and cheesiness on the outside, you would never know that it was great. and we were there until they closed! they even lit up some firecrackers for us! yay!

on the new year, there are things that you are not supposed to do such as cleaning and other miscellaneous chores. you're not supposed to cut your hair, nails or anything else from your body. you're not supposed to cook either. so what are people supposed to do for eating? go out. actually, i think what usually happens is having leftovers from the new year's eve dinner the night before. of which i'd spent with my family. my mom cooked up a feast full of foods that are good luck. one other thing i didn't know about, you should have a person who is of fortunate virtue to be the first person to walk through your front door. so, we had trang's friend's mom do it. apparently, she's very lucky. and luckily for me, she walked through my apartment too. here's looking forward to a great new year!