The first 5 randomly selected chopsticks winners who entered by the deadline are:

Lilly, Mel J., DD, Geremy, and Sonya!

I’m impressed that no one rated themselves below a 5 and several said 10. I’d rate myself at a 9—I’m not confident that I could get the last grain of rice like Sonya. And proper technique, what’s that? Seriously.

Winners, please email me (contact at asianaisle dot com) your addresses as soon as possible. And happy usin’—which I mean in a 100% legal way.

I’d like to help you stuff your stocking. Oh yes, I would. With a pair of these festive chopsticks adorned with red, green, and gold fans from the Japanese supermarket.

To enter this giveaway, please answer this question: One a scale of 1 to 10, what is your chopsticks-usage proficiency?

Here is a rough scale:

1: Fork, please.

5: When I eat with chopsticks, some food goes into my mouth and some goes onto my lap. BUT AT LEAST SOME MAKES IT INTO MY MOUTH!

10: If Yan can use, so can I!

The giveaway will run until midnight PST this Friday. Five winners will be randomly selected and announced the next morning, this Saturday.

These Japanese socks are as bizarre to me as reader Lian telling me she has yet to see snow live.

She’s also informed me she owns a pair of Japanese socks. Oh, the things I learn about you dear readers…love it.

(These socks are from the bookstore inside inside the Japanese supermarket. And yes, I got asked to put away my camera! Four times inside this facility at large, now.)

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You wouldn’t want inside my head most of the time. Sure, food accounts for about 95% of my thoughts. And the other 5%? Well, it usually comprises wondering why can’t I be an heiress, where’s the perfect dress to go with my new fall boots, and if I had a magical power, I would so make delicious food instantly appear in front of me. Hmm, maybe I need to increase my food-thoughts percentage.

Anyway, my point. It is that you will need to get inside my head to know what Ultra-Durable Clothes Pin For Lingerie, which I picked up at the Japanese dollar store, has to do with the second Taiwanese restaurant I visited. And I’m just going to apologize in advance that you need this peek inside my brain, and that I’m going to offend people, some photos down, who love a certain Taiwanese staple.

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