SPOTLIGHT: @FLORA
👯 Just Dance (the game), 👗 Fashion related Nintendo DS games, 🍓 Artificial strawberry flavour/scent, and more.
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This is entry #2 of a series where we highlight PI.FYI users.
Flora Tam (@flora on PI.FYI) is a graphic design student who may actually become a ceramist instead. She’s a fan favorite on the app, and with 414 recommendations, she’s also among the most prolific posters. She also tells me that a passion of hers is “typing really very fast” and that she collects zines, stickers, cds, knick knacks, and a wide array of lip balms. Lucky for us, Flora is here to tell us what she’s into.
Without further ado
🍓 Artificial strawberry flavoured/scented anything
And I mean anything! …particularly in the snack realm, but not limited to lip balms, markers, toiletries, fragrances, etc. Asian goods are incredibly good at nailing this just-about but not-quite accurate flavour/scent profile… It's just so comforting and nostalgic!
My all-time favourites: Strawberry Pocky, Meltykiss, Garden Brand Cream Wafers, L’Oreal Kids Shampoo with the eye on the bottle, Softlips Hello Kitty Cube Lip Balm from too many years ago that I still keep around… but most recently, Strawberry Shortcake Kit Kats!
👯 Just Dance (the game) at the function
My best friend and I have made it a tradition to put on youtube videos of prerecorded Just Dance gameplay at our holiday-specific friend gatherings (after we’re all a little tipsy and nice and full of food) when the activity part of the night arrives. Ideally, you’d have the whole Wii setup including the sensor and the heavy Wiimotes strapped on your wrist (to prevent an accidental toss which breaks the tv) but sometimes you have to make do with what you’ve got…
The automatic must-plays for us are, of course, Rasputin by Boney M and The Ketchup Song (Asereje) by Las Ketchup (arguably the most fun duet in Just Dance franchise history…) Not to mention, it’s a very effective workout, but after eating a shit ton of carbs + drinking, it's kind of difficult to interpret the next moves and execute them… nonetheless, highly recommend doing this at your next function!
🥨 Getting the snack mix to appreciate the one(s) you like more
Variety is the spice of life… how am I supposed to truly appreciate the taste and beauty of the pretzel (no judgment please…) when there is only pretzel to be had? I need the other snacks in the mix so I can either 1) search and dig for all the pretzels that exist in the bag or 2) consume the other bits and bites and at some point, be met with a small, silent satisfaction when my hand inevitably blind reaches for the next unassuming pretzel… in the meantime, the other snacks can occupy my tastebuds…
👗 Fashion related Nintendo DS games (under the safety of your covers at night)
Okay, of course Nintendogs, Mario Kart, etc. are classics but what do you know about America’s Next Top Model on the Nintendo DS??? That, and Jojo’s Fashion Show took up such a big chunk of my DS playtime as a kid – I remember it all too well… my pink DS Lite, the R4 cartridge with all my favourite games installed on it, the jank file pathing that my uncle never cleaned up showing up on the Super Mario themed homescreen which would only greet me when the cartridge would work, the bright ass screen that was never low enough to be suitable in the dark (maybe I didn’t know how to change it as a kid?) and the volume that even at its lowest was not quiet enough to have on in the silence of my bedroom at night…
Side note: I also specifically remember the first or at least the most memorable save file I had, the main enemy I had in game was named Kimberly and so I did not have the best outlook on subsequent, real-life Kimberlys that I met later on in life. (Apologies if that is your name I am sure you are lovely!)
🍚 A 2:1 rice to meat / veg ratio
I have always been more carb-leaning when it comes to the balance of a dish’s carbs to meat/veg ratio, let’s say, approximately 2:1? When it comes to a good rice-based dish, the rice is everything, I mean of course it is, how could it not be?
If the ratio is 1:1 I find that I long for more rice in each bite!!! I simply need more of it, especially if it's done really well (each granule is separate from each other, each granule perfectly crisp and toasted all around – if in a fried dish type situation…) All to say, appreciate the rice as much as you appreciate the accompanying meat or veg that’s supposedly the “star” of the show… it is merely nothing without the mighty grain to anchor it…!
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