The World of Animation

Spirited Away, How to Train Your Dragon, Howl’s Moving Castle, Toy Story, The Secret of Arrietty, Finding Nemo. They all just take you to a whole new world where fantasy and magic prevail and new doors of enchantment open up before your eyes. They leave the old world behind and take your breath away.

Poster for Studio Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle

Excuse me as I digress for a moment here. I have recently rekindled my love for another medium of art, the world of film animation.

Almost everyone has grown up with their beloved Disney animated classics. I personally adored Cinderella and The Lion King. It always gave me chills when Cinderella is being transformed from her rags to her ball gown, and when Simba is thrusted into the air to see his kingdom for the first time. I still turn back to these films when I want to bring out the child in me. I still turn to these magical animated films as a place of wonder and imagination.

Over the years, I have discovered other equally talented animation studios. I have fallen deeply in love with Pixar and Studio Ghibli. My recent rekindling with the world of animation is actually due to the movie The Secret of Arrietty by Studio Ghibli.

Scene from Spirited Away

I want to focus in on Studio Ghibli for a moment. It's a Japanese animation studio co founded by the genius Hayao Miyazaki. This studio has produced some of the most breath taking and captivating films. My personal favorite from this studio is Spirited Away. Spirited Away is the ultimate culmination of daring fights, mysterious places, and the wonder of hope. It never ceases to enrapture me how Studio Ghibli's films are able to whisk me away to fantasy worlds.

Lately, there seems to be a notion that we need 3-D and realistic CGI to be able to create new realms, but Studio Ghibli is able to accomplish this with just simple 2-D animation. Its animation is by no means realistic, but it still convinces me more than Avatar ever could, although Avatar is also an excellent film.

There are so many things that 2-D film animation can accomplish, but it seems to be a dying art medium. 

Love at First Bite

If I wrote the dictionary, I would dedicate an entire page in the "D" section for desserts. It needs that much room to be defined and described. 

Desserts can be viewed as Google's standard definition- Desserts- noun. The sweet course eaten at the end of a meal.

This definition makes me laugh. That is such an archaic way of thinking about desserts. They have evolved in such a way that they need a new definiton.

Cake Pops

Desserts- noun. Any sweet edible object that brings one joy. They can be baked, fried, frozen, boiled, or toasted. It does not matter. What matters is that the dessert makes the diner happy. They can be eaten at anytime during the day or night. Midnight dessert snacks are highly recommended.  

Allow me to elaborate on what "happy" means. Desserts should have the power to embrace you emotionally. Essentially a warm hug to your insides. So warm that it melts away the diner's mind temporarily. After all, "stressed" spelled backwards is "desserts". Desserts are a cure, an antidote. They are friends and food, completely necessary for life to go on.

There have been times where I have been completely and blissfully at peace with just myself and some cake. As sad as that image may appear, I was not sad at all. As I have said before, desserts are not just sugar and flour, they are relievers. 

Desserts captured my love at first bite. The way they linger on my tongue and then spread their warmth to my fingertips and toes has made me a believer for life, no matter what those scientists say. This is my attempt at defining my passion, though I could never do desserts justice.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Rose Shaved Snow with Strawberries and Nuts

    My current obsession at the moment is with shaved snow. No, not shaved ice. Shaved snow is a completely different and ten times more delicious then shaved ice, well at least to me. 

    Shaved snow is like the love child of ice cream, shaved ice, and frozen yogurt. It has a creamy texture, yet it is still not has heavy as ice cream. It tends to have fruitier flavors like shaved ice and it comes with options of toppings like frozen yogurt. It is quite an experience for the taste buds and one worth trying.

    My personal favorite hot spot for this treat is a shop called Snow Station in Westminster. It opened about a couple of months ago and it has already become a popular place for the young folk. It offers refreshing flavors like watermelon, mango, and lychee. But there is a green tea and rose option as well.

     The thing I find ingenious is the options of toppings. This is coming off of the frozen yogurt fad and tends to work really well with the flavors and textures of shaved snow. Snow Station has a wide variety of toppings to choose from and two toppings are included with your purchase of a plate of shaved snow. Customers can choose from fresh fruit, mochi, and cereal. My favorite combination is watermelon snow with strawberry popping boba, and rainbow jelly. Mmmmm. My mouth is just watering at the thought of it.

     The shaved snow comes in two sizes: large and normal. The normal is the perfect size for a couple on a date and the large can safely feed four people. It's quite inexpensive and delicious, a perfect combination for a good time and good eating.

Let Them Eat Cake

    To me, weddings consist of three things: the "I do's", the first dance, and the wedding cake. Call me old fashioned, but I need my wedding cake. It might just be the hopeless romantic in me speaking, but a wedding is not complete without a gorgeous, towering, three tiered, wedding cake adorned with a miniature bride and groom on top. 

    In Copage's article in the New York Times, Let Them Eat Cinnamon Buns, he speaks about couples beginning to throw out the traditional wedding cake in favor of unconventional desserts. Some of the desserts mentioned in the article that are to attempt to live up to the wedding cake are the cinnamon bun, ice cream, and (I can barely bring myself to type this) doughnuts. How can a fried ring of dough ever hold a candle to the ever so romantic wedding cake?

    The wedding cake is more than just a tower of baked deliciousness and cream, the cutting of the cake ceremony is the first bite of the couple's sweet lives together. The cutting of the cake photos just won't look the same cutting into a cinnamon bun.

    Granted, some people do not like wedding cake, but at least have a wedding cake for the sake of weddings. I know that dessert is dessert, but some desserts should not be substituted for. To me, replacing the wedding cake with doughnuts is like hunting for brightly painted snail shells at Easter. 

    Please, just let them eat cake. And if not, at least let me eat cake.