Sneaky Sichuan Noodles

I went to see the pandas in the morning, cause there are only like maybe 2,000 left and I figured now's a good time to see them.

They're pretty awesome: they just hang out eating all day, a lot of the time not bothering to even sit up to get the food in their mouth. Sounds kind of like me on an off-day.

When I got back to Chengdu from the Panda Reserve, I was starved, so I went out to find some amazing food.

Trader Joe's, how much do I love you? Let me count the ways...

When I first moved to New York, I almost started crying because of the price of food in this city. I remember that, after my first trip to my local Gristedes, I considered (for a few brief seconsds) moving away from the city because I couldn't imagine myself getting by on those prices.

It was a few days after that that I made my first trip (or should I say journey) to Trader Joe's in the city. Trader Joe's is a grocery store chain that sells only its own brand of food. The fresh produce is always great quality, the prepared (frozen, canned, dried) food is always made from solid ingredients (none of that processed stuff), a lot of the food is organic, the staff there is always friendly, and on top of all of this, the prices are great. I used to do almost all my shopping at Trader Joe's when I lived in Boston, but there's only one of them in Manhattan, in Union Square, which isn't exactly right down the block.

Quiche

A few weeks ago, I was out at a clounge (a club/lounge), and I started talking to a few Britsh guys. Here's how meeting new people usually goes for me:

Me: Hey.
Them: Hey.
Me: I'm Natalya
Them: Hey Natalya, I'm George, where are you from?
(It's weird, absolutely EVERYONE I meet is named George. Such a coincidence)
Me: [pause] I always end up telling my life's story whenever anybody asks me this. Basically, I was born in Virginia, but I grew up in Norway.
Them (Or George, apparently): NORWAY, really?
Me: Yup, yup, Norway.
Them: Wow.
Me: Yup.

I basically blow their minds.