I was nominated by Method of My Melody for this award and I personally don’t know where it came from. I do know it’s some sort of a blog tagging game, and I’m glad to answer the questions she had. This is like a virtual talk show (in my opinion), and you know what they miss out on talk shows? Food! I enjoy catching up with people over breakfast, lunch, dinner, or afternoon tea. So I’m answering this while munching on pastries I just baked. 🙂

What was your favorite vacation and what makes it your favorite? I’ve been on a lot of vacations so it’s hard to pick just one. My favorite solo trip would be exploring Vietnam by eating my way through Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh and taking the train to different cities. Vietnam is one of the countries I plan to head back to because I really enjoyed the food and it’s pretty affordable to stay longer too. My favorite trip with friends was the autumn trip we took to Seoul, South Korea. It’s technically not my first foreign trip with friends but I enjoyed it because South Korea has always been one of the places in my bucket list (in fact, C & I will be heading to Seoul this winter). The friends I went with are fun too, and Korean cuisine is superb. My favorite vacation with C was last year’s anniversary trip to Tokyo, Japan! It still tops my favorite trips even if Japan wasn’t really something I initially thought I wanted to go to. But stuffing myself with sushi and onigiri are enough reason to go back (and we are going back next year!).

What is your favorite food? I don’t have a specific dish that’s my favorite but I can eat potatoes (in different forms) every day!

Where do you see yourself in ten years? I’ll be 35 by then, so I hopefully already live in my own house and have covered so much more ground traveling. I do hope we’re already financially ready to have a kid or two by then, too. 🙂

Married, kids, job, etc? I am not yet married and no children in sight within the next few years. 🙂 I work as a Senior Business Analyst for a multinational company. I rarely talk about my job in detail because I don’t really think it’s that interesting. It’s mostly made up of a lot of meetings, documentation, and making sure everything is on track.

What are your hobbies? My hobby is trying out new things. Haha! I enjoy checking out workshops that seem interesting and learning new things.

If you could have any job in the world what would it be? Totally an ice cream taster. Or a bed tester – so I can sleep at work and use the rest of my time doing whatever I want.

What is the thing you are most proud of? This is something I ask myself a lot, too. Whenever I get self-doubt, I feel like I have done nothing to be proud of. Good thing I have a great support system who reminds me that I do have things to be proud of. 🙂

If there is a quote that defines your outlook on life, what would it be? I don’t have one. I think a quote being appealing to anyone is dependent on their current state of mind, and I find that I can relate to different quotes in different times.

What did you do yesterday? (Or…what is a typical day for you?) I work from home most of the time, so I don’t really go out much during the weekdays unless there are errands I need to run or friends I’m meeting up with. I boot up my work laptop at 8 PM, and have an 11/12 hour shift since the company I work for have 45-hour, 4-day work weeks. I’ve been working the night shift since December 2015 and have only gotten 4 weeks worth of working the day shift since then. (A week last year, and three weeks last February) My sleep gets so messed up every time I take some time off because it’s just like jet lag minus the plane ride and passport stamps.

What is the worst injury/illness you have sustained? If so, how? I’ve never really had any major injury, but the worst illness to date is getting a mysterious bout of hives early this year. My only known allergy is on a specific brand of kid’s cologne that gave me crazy rashes every single time I used it when I was a kid, but I have no dietary restrictions. I spent the entirety of February trying to survive on vegetables and no preservatives because the doctor wasn’t sure what caused it.

Do you have any pets? Yes! I have one dog I adopted when she was a puppy. Her name is Roxeebelle and I call her ‘Rox’ or ‘Roxee B’. Her estimated time of birth is October 2009 (according to the vet) and I found her December 2009. She likes chicken-flavored treats the best. She’s old now and I’m afraid that we only have a few years left with her. Just thinking about it is making me teary-eyed but that’s the reality of it. 😦

What is your favorite season? The only seasons in this country are hot or hotter. It’s supposedly rainy season now, but it’s hot and sunny. Too hot and too sunny. It also sometimes rains heavily during the summer.. And it’s still hot even when it happens. Air conditioning is one of the best inventions to ever reach the shores of this place.

Now that you’ve come this far, here’s a photo of this yummy batch of brownies I made last night. Not gonna lie, the reason why this is the only photo of it was due to the sister and I proceeding to eat this straight from the pan (after spending the night constantly opening the fridge to check if it was ready). I’ve never had much luck with making an actual cheesecake. I’m always afraid of overcooking it that I always end up taking it out too early and no amount of chilling ever made the center cook. I’ve had better luck with cheesecake in cupcake form or mixed with any other medium. I also have no shame in using boxed mixes when I want a quick snack. And this was no exception because I had a box of Duncan Hines Fudge Brownies in stock at home. I was confused whether to make grilled cheese sandwiches or bake the brownies, that I had the brilliant idea of combining the two. I only realized how I would be scrambling to look for another snack after baking because with the cheesecake ‘layer’, the brownies weren’t ready for immediate consumption. *facepalm*

One day, I’ll be successful in make an actual cheesecake. But right now, this works for me and my appetite! 🙂