Lashed out onTop Chef !

That’s it! I walked out of the competition. I was one of the last 2 chefs battling it out on the TV show called Top Chef.

For our last competition, the 2 of us were given two other chefs to assist us on our very last mission. Unfortunately, one of the assistants I was given completely sabotaged my work. Without consulting me, he decided that I didn’t have enough veggie in my menu so he pureed some vegetables and added it to the plate right before I was about to hand them to the judges.

Of course I refused to send it out to the judges, so I bowed down and accepted defeat instead by walking out. I am frustrated, angry, and most especially disappointed! I am so disappointed that I woke up from that dream! Yes, a dream - that is all.

Darn…lol I must’ve been pureeing so much veggie for my daughter that it now erupted in my dream. And although this didn't beat my last good dream, I must say that it was quite awesome rubbing elbows with Padma and them peeps...

Any awesome dreams for you lately?

In Good Company

I love that new show Lipstick Jungle for many reasons. First, because I loved Sex And The City – hoping that it will have the same vibe. Secondly, because I’ve swooned over Andrew McCarthy since I first saw him in Pretty in Pink and Mannequin and now he's back (80s movies – brings back so much good memories). And third, because I was really happy to see that there is finally a main lead character of an Asian person (ok partly - Lindsay Price is half Korean) on prime time television which doesn’t happen very often.

And although most parts in the storyline can really only happen on TV, one of the major reason I love Lipstick Jungle and Sex And The City is because of the camaraderie they have as a core group of girlfriends. I love how each one of the characters is so different with each other and yet they all love and respect each other and I think this resonates a lot of what I have in my life.

I can’t imagine not having my best gal pals. I have a core group of friends whom I really consider as family. This is a group of girlfriends whom I would trust with anything. Yes anything! I feel truly lucky because of this. We are always there in the background ready to jump in (when needed) to keep each other standing strong most especially on those toughest and most trying days. I’m quoting myself on what I wrote about my friends a long time ago.

“Time and time again we have gone through major life changes. Some were bitter trials, and some were triumphant moments...and every single one of them I have shared with these ladies (some in their physical presence and some thru loving phone calls).

I can't possibly imagine having to grow old without them because I want them there to admire how my brown-colored orthopedic shoes compliment my nude-colored knee-highs. I have plans in comparing denture paste while guffawing over the comedy of it. And I have hopes in a couple of walking cane duels just to have the obligatory kiss and make-up over and over again. It will be too unfair if we all don't get to be there together for the next 20-30-40-50 years. I mean how could a senior discount at our nearby breakfast diner be so fun without having to be there for each other?”

So although we can’t be just like the women in Lipstick Jungle that can take the time to run for a quickie with a lover, and a coffee with the girls all in one lunch hour (as if we have the time) and still manage to run a major magazine empire, I know all my gal pals are as eager in planning and looking forward to our next weekend get-a-way that we all needed so badly. But until then, let me live it vicariously through Wendy, Nico, and Victory. And for those who haven't had a chance to see it yet, check out the 2 minute pilot replay of the show. You may just get hooked like me.

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Cross-posted @ ChicagoMomsBlog.com

Thank You Hakia !

I'm going to Blogher Conference '08 in San Francisco! Woohooo! My newest excitement is probably something that only another blogger will understand. But the most important part of this news is that HAKIA (the new super-power search engine) is fully sponsoring me to Blogher and I'm still pinching myself everyday to see if I'm just dreaming. Well, I'm not dreaming ---- all this is real! Hakia is making me feel like a rock star and I am feeling all the love. Airfare, hotel, and conference fee all taken care of Hakia! Now, how cool is that! Thank you so much Hakia!

Now I don't love Hakia just because they are about to be bigger than any search engine out there, but I would like to introduce to you the person who is responsible for this generous sponsorship. Ms. Melek Pulatkonak, the Chief Operating Officer of Hakia ( whom I have spoken to and even met last year in the blogher convention '07) is the admirable woman that I am talking about. First of all, it is quite amazing to meet and have spoken to such an intelligent woman who is a COO of the company, but she happens to be all about empowering women and quite familiar with us bloggers and that is definitely a big plus in my book. I am by far the luckiest person to have been granted an opportunity to be part of her Hakia family just even for the week of the convention.

About Hakia:

"Hakia is a semantic search engine that brings relevant results based on concept match rather than keyword match or popularity ranking."

Now, doesn't that make more sense? I have to tell you that after using it for some time now, it is clearly a much better search engine than the 2 other big ones out there. But don't take my word for it, go and check it out. Because I know that you will find Hakia as amazing!

Here are a couple of things to start within Hakia.com:

- Check out what a Hakia Scoopbar is all about!

- Join the h club and see what fun varieties are in store.

- Meet Others "who asked the same query" -- is a new social networking service that connects people through their common search queries. And it is easy to use too. It basically prompts you to join in (if you want) on a conversation over the same topic you were searching on.

I'll keep you guys in touch with more Hakia news later on...so for the mean time --- what are you waiting for? Go Hakia now and search happily!