Kat's 9 Lives

Is it worth it?  I went to this cute little Hawaiian shop in San Mateo a few days ago and saw that they have Hershey Kisses with Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts inside.  Immediately I wanted to buy it and try it out as I LOVE macadamia nuts and the whole idea is so cute! One bag is so ridiculously expensive and everyone convinced me not to pick a bag up.  I thought that I would try to find it online and see if I can buy it for a little cheaper.  After a bit of research, I couldn't find any price cheaper and just decided to shell out the dough for the bag of goodies.

This small bag of Hershey kisses is $6.69! I would be fine with this price if it was actually good, but it was a big let down.  There was BARELY any macadamia nuts there =*(.  I should have just bought the Mauna Loa chocolate covered macadamia nuts as their chocolate is tasty and you get a great chunk of yummy macadamia nuts.  For those who would be tempted, I spent the money and can tell you that it's not really worth it and just use the money to buy the regular chocolate covered macadamia nuts that you can find in most supermarkets or Costco and you will get more bang for the buck.  Still, I am glad to have tried it out to satisfy my own curiosity.

A quick peek into my adventures in Europe this year.  We started off in Paris, France and went to Barcelona, Spain to Seville, Spain and back to Paris, France in just under 2 weeks.  Yes, Ms. Lin Guide and I are crazy travelers that fill our calendars to the brim full of yummy food.  O=)
I had a few goals on my trip to Europe this time.  First and foremost is to eat as much foie gras as I can because California is retarded for banning foie gras.  Second, I LOVE jamón ibérico.  My goal was to stuff my belly full of this yummy cured meat whenever I can in Spain!
Mercat de La Boqueria in Barcelona is incomparable and definitely on the to do list for anyone.  Visa Signature named it one of the top places to visit before you die.  It definitely should be on your bucket list if you have never been! I was trying to find a similar place in Seville and found the Mercado de Triana.  It's a much smaller gathering of vendors, but still worth a visit.  We went later in the day so many of the shops were already closed, but I was able to find the beautiful glistening giant legs of jamón ibérico!
It does help that I speak some Spanish and the guy there was very friendly.  He kept only speaking to me in Spanish and I was so nervous about conjugating my verbs! lol His in-laws actually live in San Diego and he spoke English very well.
I only bought 100 grams of my favorite jamón ibérico de bellota, which is where the pig only eats acorns.  The meat is more tender and sweeter in my opinion.  I wanted the two top brands.  Of course this can be arguable, but as many know that my palette is quite costly and picky.  Still, ANY jamón ibérico in Spain is delicious compared to what you can get in the US.
The two brands I wanted were Cinco Jotas (5J) and Joselito.  For those who are in the know, most top restaurants serve these brands and needless to say that it may cost an arm and a leg! The only good part is that getting it in Spain is probably the best price you will get since it comes from there.  Sadly they only had fresh cut jamón ibérico for the Cinco Jotas and none for the Joselito.  They did have the Joselitos sealed.
I think only 200 grams of meat cost 34 euros, which is quite expensive but totally worth it and much cheaper than what you pay in the US! If you ever go, definitely speak with people there as they are friendly and I think because the guy was very interested to know where I was from and that I spoke Spanish, he cut more slices for me! ^_-
When he was slicing, we gave him the hungry puppy-dog eyes look and he gave both Ms. Lin Guide and I a piece to sample.  YUM! I love Spain!
The vision of all the jamón ibérico hanging from wall to wall still haunts my dreams! **drool drool**

Jamonería Jose Luis Romero
Plaza Altozano, Mercado de Triana, Módulo 58 Sevilla, 41010 Seville, Spain
+34 954 34 35 22

I know that everyone must be sick of seeing Miley Cyrus on my website as I was, but due to a family tragedy... I just left my poor website as is.  During the difficult time, I did find some comfort and laughs by watching silly YouTube videos.  O=)

My favorite one was Bart Baker's Parody with innovative lyrics.  Ms. Lin Guide's favorite line is that Miley is too dirty for Ron Jeremy.  Ain't that the truth!
This other video is just the song playing in the background.  I guess the new popular thing is to see the people's reaction and it is funny paired with the video.  Both are just fun to watch to numb the brain.

Of course Ms. Lin Guide's go to favorite video is "What does the fox say?"  I have NO COMMENT towards her choice in videos lol.  Still, it is a funny and ridiculous song.  The video drills the song into my head so I have to avoid hearing it at all costs or else I will be singing the lyrics all day and making WEIRD sounds that no animal really makes! lol

Is Miley Cyrus crazy?  Is she just expressing herself?  Or is she just using this as an advertising ploy to get media attention?  Honestly, it's probably everything all rolled into one.
Apparently I am not up to date on what is happening in the crazy music world as Ms. Lin Guide had to show me the crazy MTV VMA Awards Show to let me know about the crazy stuff that Miley Cyrus has been doing.  After watching the video, it lowered any small respect I may have had for her.
Still it was amazing to see the crowd get all riled up for Miley Cyrus.  The sun was really beating down on us in this open area where no one can hide from the strong heat of the sun.  Yet, somehow the crowd was alive and began chanting, "Miley, Miley!" This really raised my energy level as well.
Miley Cyrus comes out in a tight white outfit.  She looked great and it was fine for the afternoon concert.  Fans on my Facebook page commented that she looked like she was wearing a diaper, which I thought was funny.  The costume looked fine and you can tell she worked hard for her body.  She sounded great on the open stage.
She did some of her grinding and torquing all over the stage.  I thought the back up dancers and stage were very umm interesting.  She must have been doing too much drugs when she thought of this.  There are colorful mushrooms everywhere with rainbows, flowers, and random grass hills that she will sit on... no comment.
What do you say when a person sings to inanimate objects in a colorful field? lol I think the mushrooms are a double entendre.  She sang We can't stop, Party in the USA, Look what they did to my song, and for the first time she sang Wrecking Ball... or so you think.  At night time they introduced it as the first performance ever as well.
One of the surprises for the night was Britney Spears, but don't get your hopes up as she is only doing a small introduction.  She came on at night to introduce Miley Cyrus.
 To be honest, I was a little bit impressed and thought that it was a great show in the afternoon.  I actually had more respect for her until the night concert for I Heart Radio. She sang only 3 songs and not as well plus the horrendously tasteless slutty outfit.
I try not to be mean but I have to be honest, she just seems like a cheap prostitute that you would find in a sleazy alley in Vegas.  It's true that we are in Vegas but... my eyes! She's just screaming for attention.
Imagine a white fishnet dress with BRIGHT lights shining down on her with her black pasties popping out at you like black ooze and a weird underwear underneath.  If she wore a bikini or white pasties, it wouldn't have been so classless and so hideous but like I mentioned before... she just wants the attention.  Totally lost any tiny respect I had for her and she barely sang any songs at night.  The afternoon concert at the I Heart Village was such a blast and way better.
The only thing that I thought was cute at night was her banana microphone.

For the beautiful and talented Katy Perry to come on stage, who better to introduce her than Kate Hudson.  Lots of surprising stars come out throughout the night to show their support to I Heart Radio 2013.
The decibel in the stadium rose quickly as Katy Perry took the stage.  Even though the lights were dark, everyone was anticipating what the first song she will sing.
She sang a medley of past hits and one song from her current album.  Katy Perry played to the crowd and told everyone that just because she has an album coming out does not mean she will not sing everyone's favorite classics!
There is never a dull moment with Katy Perry.  She had the knee pads on for her to dance all over the stage.  We caught a nice photo as she got down on her knees as the guitarist played away.
Don't forget the other male dancers on the stage.  Some flirty singing while sitting on the male dancer's legs.
Even though we were in Vegas, she had to pay tribute to those in California with California Gurls! She played lots of her top songs but there are just too many to choose from and too short of an evening.
I am not sure if she was paying an homage to Miley Cyrus for all the torquing with the weird costumes, hair, and dancing or if Katy Perry was making fun of it.  To be honest, I had no idea what that was about until Ms. Lin Guide showed me the video of Miley Cyrus at the MTV VMAs.
Katy Perry did a great rendition of Firework that really showed off her chops.  That song impressed me as I liked it just as must or even more than the album.  It is a very difficult song but she put all her heart and emotion to rock it out.

The fun just keeps on continuing with an all star line-up.  For those who are country fans, next up was Keith Urban.
With a guitar in his hand, Keith Urban serenaded to the crowd.  I won't lie... I did not any of the songs but the crowd did love it.  O=)
After a short break, Muse took the stage coming all the way from the UK.  The crowd went wild again.  Muse consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard.
They entertained their crowd with hits like : Uprising, Starlight, and of course Madness.  I enjoyed how they put on the electric sunglasses for madness and did up close shots with the camera while singing the song.
The eerily beats of Muse echoed throughout the stadium getting the crowd riled up and singing with them.
There were lizard people playing music instruments as the background and dancing bobble head like stars dancing to their beats.  No one can say they are boring. lol  For their final song they set the stage ablaze with pyrotechnics.  Even in the cool room, you can feel each burst of heat.
It was really fun to see the stage when they showed all the photos uploaded by people to the social media.  The twitter boards were lit up on both sides of the stage encouraging everyone to share their thoughts and photos.  People at home could join in the fun as well!