Our goddaughter turned one-year old, this month. Happy birthday, Olivia chan!
She celebrated with her family members in Japan, where they followed the tradition of having the birthday girl step onto giant rice cakes. Another tradition is to strap a few pounds of mochi onto a one-year old's back and watch her walk around. I tell you, the Japanese know how to party.
Grill 'Em All smacked up, flipped, and rubbed down the seemingly invincible Nom Nom team on the Great Food Truck Race, last night, winning the $50,000 grand prize. I personally cheered on the Nommers (as Grill Em All referred to them) until they passed up their Truck Stop challenge in Santa Fe and had a professional butcher slice their quarter cow in Fort Worth. The other teams (most of them equally clueless and armed only with tiny knives) butchered their meat themselves.
I'll say this, team Nom Nom is hard working and very cute. Plus every very episode left me wanting a banh mi sandwich. 
Ajumma felt sad to see Spencer on the Go, the French truck team, eliminated in the finals. Considering they peddled snails and frog legs to the average joe on the street, they lasted a surprisingly long time. This might be due to their restauranteur savy and French accents. I enjoyed watching their silent member, Jesse, start a fire in seconds with his boy scout training, during the chuck wagon challenge.
If producers wanted John Travolta to play the agent chasing Paul Walker and Vin Diesel in the newest Fast and Furious movie, they should have hired him. Instead we've got Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson doing the balding man routine of shaving his head and growing a goatee. And he looks like John Travolta. I didn't think that was possible, but here we have it.
Now these are creative! I particularly like the fact they still look like cupcakes. Baked by Saucy Sprinkles.
Mini sushi cupcakes by Eggyolk. The container and green grass decoration are nice accents.
Ajumma's been driving past a 30-foot shark on interstate highway 35W for the past two years. I tell my husband that one of these mornings I hope to pull back our living room blinds and see it in our front yard.
When a large rocket recently appeared, I had to stop by Hot Sam's Furniture and Antiques to take a look.
Sub and big-ass guitar 
Cute VW bus on the beach at Hot Sam's. Note the marooned plane on the far side of the pond.
Mr. Cootie sometimes makes an appearance on the side of the highway. Yesterday he was chilling in the back woods.
Sesame balls filled with bean or lotus paste
Steamed red bean buns
Cream-filled bun sprinkled with sugar. If I were Eve, these probably would have been hanging from the tree in the garden, rather than apples.
It appears that Minnesota Vikings Defensive End, Brian Robison, vacationed in Mazatlan and got his hair braided on the beach. I remember when girls at my high school used to do this on spring break. My message to gentlemen of the majority is this: Just because you CAN put your hair into cornrows does NOT necessarily mean you should.
I'd like to shake the hand of whoever led the renovation of this 1946 bungalow in Santa Monica. The space is clean and modern, yet seems perfectly fitted to a vintage home. It's rare these days not to find orange slate covering the bathroom walls, colonial cabinets in the kitchen, and oversized Pottery Barn lighting throughout.
This 3 bedroom, 2 bath home is 1135 feet on a 1999 foot lot. It features new electrical, plumbing and a new roof. It also has inside laundry and one covered parking spot. While it includes central heat, the home has no air conditioning. This might not be a huge issue since it's near the beach. Is this beautiful property worth the asking price of $935,000? You decide.
The upper windows are a nice touch
Love this light-filled kitchen with a skylight
Stylish main bathroom, though these homeowners apparently haven't seen the Mythbusters episode examining how far toilet water travels when a toilet is flushed.
How cool are these European style sinks matched with round mirrors? A plant in the bathroom is all I ask from this space.
Ever since showering in them at several college apartments, Ajumma's hated clawfoot tubs. I dislike how you need two shower curtains to keep the water in. Plus they're just plain creepy. Add them to my phobia list, along with pregnant women.
Kal Penn visits the Joint Security Area! He's been tweeting about his visit to the Korean peninsula, which includes visiting US troops stationed around Seoul and Gyeongi province.
Like most westerners, Kal's amused by the name Pocari Sweat.
MTV premiered B.o.B. and River Cuomo's Magic video online, last night. It looks like some amateur video my cousins and I shot around our house in the 1980's, minus all the scantily clad women. Not only is it poorly acted, but B.o.B. and Rivers aren't shown dancing on beat. They should have featured child versions of Rivers and B.o.B. thrilling the masses at nursery school with a magic show. Or how about Rivers and B.o.B. hanging out, going through a wacky day in Los Angeles? I envision the two musicians running into Nicholas Cage at a sushi restaurant and the actor doing some crazy sorcerer magic on them. He could wave his hands, then suddenly Rivers would be dressed as a hip hop star with tripped out Nikes and B.o.B. turns into a nerdy rocker wearing thick black spectacles.
Tonight Ajumma was introduced to a Japanese college student named Mamoru. For some dumbass reason, I mentioned to Mamoru that he looked Korean. The student's face turned red and he said, "I'm Japanese." I told him I knew that. (It's just that he looked really Korean in a good, healthy, dating the prettiest girl at his college, kind of way.)
