My "Nephew" Oliver. . .

So in an odd twist of fate, I have a nephew named Oliver, I wanted to call him Petrol but his mother won't let me. I decided to call him "itchy butt" after meeting him. He's always itching his butt across the hardwood floor! It's actually funny to watch him do that when he's excited. He can't choose between playing with you or rubbing his bottom so he tries to do both at the same time which ends up pretty comical.

I'll likely end up getting him a rawhide bone to gnaw on or something, or maybe get him a chew toy. Heck what do I know, I'm not a pet owner~ No gift cards for him though....has to be something he really enjoys, preferably something that teaches him bad habits so it'll give his parents headaches.. Muwaa haa haa. Just kidding.

The Christmas the piggy bank went on a diet. . .

Oh oh oh no! It's that time of year again. The end of the year where all my hard earned money is no where to be found. I tell myself over and over again that I should save so that "next year" I can get something nice for my family. Ha ha ha. Okay, I'm a spoiled brat! I get spoiled upon by mother, older sister and especially Daddy!! I never have money to spend on them 'cause of my expensive habits and hobbies. *Urgh* the price of eating good and loving to read~ Books are so expensive these days! why oh why oh whhyy? Right, so let ssseeee, for my Brother-in-law it's a book. I always get him a book. I don't know why, just something I've done for a while now.

As for mother, ohy it's hard to buy the woman something she's ooo I think I know what I'll get her!!!

Then we run into the lady who's reading this blog currently (the sister). . . what to get her? I donno, likely something she's asked for. Or a gift card. It always safer to get her a gift card.

My friends? (in a Brain style voice) Same thing I do every year. And for my older cousin who's been sticking with me through the ups and downs of my work life and diet, something she's asked for also. As you readers can tell. I'm not really one for surprises and original gifts. I'm very bad at them, since I myself have very quirky interest and tastes I try to force myself not to buy weird things I find interesting or cool for others. They tend to look at me funny and ask "why" or "where did her parents go wrong with this child?" Alright, maybe not the second one out loud, but you know they want to...

Oh yes, just a reminder to the readers, just because I enjoy anime and manga, it does not mean I wish to get it for Christmas or Birthdays! And stop making me sound like an Otaku to other people! Yes, my knowledge is extensive on the subject that's only because it's being compared to folks around us.

If you'll notice (by mind-reading) my wishlist tends to run in the lines of books. Regular books. English books. Non-picture books. Yes I'm talking about Romance, paranormal romance, mystery, romantic suspense! Only 1 person has EVER bought me a book I wanted (that's got nothing to do with cooking)... It was a wonderful and totally appreciated book, THANKS JP! Heh, a man going out buying a historical romance, ha ha ha! They're usually the funniest when it has to do with models on covers. They're the stereotypical half naked guy with a woman swooning around him.

Okay, back to the subject of presents. My sister's usually really good at throwing in something cool. Once she gave me this ChocoCat pillow, LOVE IT~ I used it to the point now it's flat.... This year I'm hoping for. . . erm... Well, actually I don't have anything particularly in mind for this year's present. Everything I want is kind of out of budget, and I'm at the point in my life where nothing is really lacking in the necessity department. (new undergarments would be good but I can get those myself) I guess my Christmas wish this year will have to be. . . peace on earth? (like that's going to happen! >_<; How many years and how many people greater than I have been wishing for this?? And has it happen yet? I didn't think so.)

To a more realistic wish: . . . . . . . can't think of one

Maui Turkey

For this Thanksgiving holiday, since I was the only one of the family member left on the lower 48s I decided to hop on over to Maui to celebrate turkey day with my sister's family on Maui. The flight was 7am, thus our taxi van was scheduled to pick us up at 4:30am. LAX is definitely one of those airports you want to be early for, sometimes you end up waiting for a long time at the terminal and curse yourself for not sleeping in that extra 1/2 hr and other times you thank your lucky star you had the foresight to be early because of the endless lines. This was a mixture of both.

Luckily my brother-in-law had found a ticket for my sister so that we were on the same flight, it was a full flight so I was somewhat amazed he found it so late. My sister was able to catch a hour of nap before having to wake up and finish prepping. I skipped my evening shower and slept for 3 hrs, I figured I'd want to shower after I get to Maui anyhow. It's something I always need to do after flying for long periods of time, SHOWER!!! All those icky germs ewwww...

Okay, so the flight itself was relatively uneventful other than our seats would not recline due to the fact that we were in a window exit isle (or someone was really bored and broke all of the recline buttons for the row). I slept on the window while my sister slept on my arm...owww numbness.

Right, so we arrived and I was able to meet my "nephew". A bundle of overjoyed and somewhat smelly puppy. Showered and hung around and before you knew it, DINNER! Yey Turkey! We went to my sister's in-law's farm for the supper. It was a festive event, so much yummy food. There was nothing that I didn't like~ Had myself 2 1/2 servings *GRIN*

Couldn't put any dessert in though, who needs dessert anyhow. I know I know! Who in their right minds could pass up dessert?!? Well I CAN! I rather eat real food! Plus during supper there was a dish "sweet potatoes (or was that yam) and apple" it was very good. Almost like a dessert dish so I didn't need my 3 varieties of pie.

mmmMMMMMmmm my sister's mother-in-law is a brilliant cook. So yummy, and the gravy?!? UNBELIEVABLE! It was just perfecto!

Disneyland. . . again

• Sister's Birthday
• Present: Disneyland ticket
• Arrived: 10am
• Had Fun
• Saw many characters
• Rode many rides
• Finding Nemo Submarine ride line too long
• Saw fireworks - Ooooo
• Fake snow made from foam - yuck
• Had a Turkey Leg - messy
  
• Home around 12:15am
• Called Dad - hi Dad
• Cranky Tappy having to fix new microphone
• Too tired to fix webcam (funky colouring)
• Shower
• Bed
  

Well Darn. . .

It was a darn good thing I came to the conclusion that this was a trial run for me. And that I was going to end it early, because last night I finally caved. A few days ahead of schedule but heck, at least I wasn't giving into the cravings. It was just that my aunt offered me 水餃 for supper when I dropped by and it sounded really really darn good. If I had been alone I would have taken off then skin and ate just the center to fall into the guidelines of phase 1, but that would be very impolite and not as yummy. :)

So, there ends my diet run. 6lbs in 10 days. Not bad. I think I'll take a look at phase 2 and see if I can at least try to keep in touch with the SBD's lifestyle until I do it again on Janurary 2nd. Also planning on taking advantage of all the sales the Gyms promote around the holidays season to join up with one. I'll start on an easy workout routine until I get my stamina back for working out. Lets see if any of the stuff that my high school coaches taught us regarding working out actually stuck in my brain. The only thing I can remember is that "No Pain No Gain" is a buncha crapola. If you're in pain that means your doing something wrong buddy~ Pain and burn are two different things.

I guess one of the good things that came out of this trial run is that a: I don't crave junk food as much (leave my diet soda alone it doesn't count as junk), b: I've gotten used to eating breakfast.

Phase 1: Day . . . 2 more after this

Thoughts: I'm so weak that I can't finish out 14 days. I really chose a bad time to start this diet. So I thought it over seriously (while I was in the shower). I'm going to do this all over again at the beginning of the new year. My new year resolution (my first resolution) is to Seriously do the SBD and incorporate a light workout into my routine. Don't ask what I'm going to do for my workout, I freakin' don't know yet! I was in the shower for Pi's sake! I'll count this experiment as a test run. It wasn't so bad. I think if I truly applied myself to it I can make it and get good results.

Worries: Dang, my apartment is still a mess. At least I vacuumed the carpet. Double Dang! I have to remember to talk with parental units regarding the purchase of my over priced ticket to go home for the holidays. Is $450 worth it?

ひとひら

Humm... had me another session with the computer last night. This time something a little more light hearted. Hitohira is about a girl who had a great stage voice but is very shy and gets flustered easy so it's not often projected. Girl gets stressed into joining a Drama Club and the story evolves from there. Nothing great about this story, very predictable. Nothing bad about this anime either. It was very nicely drawn, no one under dressed or totally disproportioned. None of the over told story line of all the females love the same guy, good grief I refused to see ANOTHER story that has that plot line. Like I said, the story does not hold great surprises. It's mainly about growth and changes that one must make through out the hel- I mean ... erm.. "place" we call high school and growing to become someone we want to be. No supernatural powers (other than when we get to hear her "real voice" then it's funny as heck 'cause it so does not fit her image).

Would I recommend this? Only to the right target audience, which is none of the people who know about this blog and is currently reading it. You people are only interested in "COOL" ones. *sigh* embraced the life of the Otaku already!

Ergo Proxy

Had myself a marathon Sunday night. I spent the whole afternoon and well into the evening watching Ergo Proxy, all 26 episodes of it. Had it on my hard drive for a while now, was deciding if it's worth saving or chuck it. I remember being excited when I first saw the preview, it was going rock I could tell. The heroin for some odd reason kept on reminding me of Amy Lee of Evanescence from the one video I saw back in college when they were really popular: dark hair, pale skin and heavy eye makeup.

Okay, so it was slow going, a 24 minute episode seemed like watching a 45 minute episode of Bones. Long but it keeps you engaged. There was so many information to process. Then 1/2 way through the series which was dark broody and full of unknown it was as if they did a 180 and change directors or something. The style still fit, but did the guy get a personality change? It was lighter, easier to watch and not to heavy. It's like walking through a swamp in the beginning where the water is icky and the humidity gets you down, but then as if the swamp opened up to the ocean, suddenly it was easier to walk and the humidity doesn't kill ya. I'm not saying it turned Shojo or sho-comi all of the sudden, but it was different.

Anyhow, all I can say about the anime was, it's different. Good anime over all, CHEEEZY and rushed ending. I felt like a whole episode was missing towards the end where they returned to the Dome, whops no more spoilers from here. Oh, love her outfits, the kiddie suit, but his orange work suit looks like he's wearing a diaper! (please don't let that be the fashion trend of the future) If you enjoy a very well animated anime you'll enjoy this one.
That's my take on Ergo Proxy. Oh, I saved it.

Phase 1: Day . . .

Thoughts: I think I'm done with this diet. I can't even remember what day it is. Anyhow, I've put a stop date for Phase 1 and it's a little short of the 14 day marker. It's going to be Thursday the 15th and there ain't ANYTHING anyone can do about it!

Worries: I wonder if that Almond Joy is still good. It's been sitting there opened all this time. Better throw it out. Dang it, I spend too much money at Whole Foods again.

Phase 1: Day 6-8

Thoughts: Saturday I wonder if I am going into hibernation mode. It happens once in a while during the fall/winter season. Don't know why but the littlest thing makes me want to crawl back into bed and sleep. Heck I fell asleep reading a book during the afternoon, which rarely happens. I woke up same time as usually and it wasn't as if it was so cold that I wanted to stay in bed. I was wide awake but just the thought of cooking or doing anything more straining than reading in bed made me go back to bed. When I woke again it was noon and I made my meal, then I putter around the rooms and goof off on the computer. I look at my bed and boom! I'm on it snuggled up with a good book and the next thing I remember was NOT remembering anything I read the last 10 minutes. Giving in to what my body was telling my brain I went to sleep. Next thing I know, my sister woke me up >_<; with a phone call. Dang I have GOT to learn to turn those things off! Why do people call at the weirdest time? After the discovery of dong fun was (we think) allowed, off I went to make uber yummy soup and noodle~. I'm hoping that it's allowed because it's a) filling b) easy c) yummy~ Of course it also creates this bad habit of just eating it and nothing else, which make it very lacking on the nutrition department.
Sunday was a repeat of Saturday, except for my conscience kicked in regarding the need for nutrition. So, I made little side salads with good stuff on it.

Worries: What am I going to eat for Monday's lunch?!?! grrr, this meal plan doesn't really allot for left-overs. Also, I'm noticing that my body is rejecting a lot of foods. I love eggs, in all shapes and forms, however that omelet was like a repeat of my roasted chicken in which I ended up spitting out. After a few bites of the omelet the body was rebelling. But there wasn't any issue with hardboiled. Hummm....

Homemade:
Tuna salad
1 pouch of Tuna Light
1 tbsp of dill pickle relish
2 tbsp of reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 cup chopped celery

Turkey broth/stock
turkey bones with bit of meat left on it
zucchini & cucumber slices

Phase 1: Day 5 of 14

Thoughts: my mind seems to be on pause today. . . mmmm turkey YUM! And here I thought I had to wait till Thanksgiving. Oh bless Whole Foods~ They even write all their ingredients out.

Worries: erm...yeah...

Motto to live tomorrow by:
Bobby McFerrin
"Don't worry be happy
In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy......"

Phase 1: Day 4 of 14

Thoughts: hum...I should go jogging. I want to go jogging, but I don't have an iPod or any music player with me. Dang, I should get one. Oh waite, I'm poor again. Okay, jogging is out. Food went down pretty good today so YAY!

Worries: Good grief I hope the neighbors hurry up and turn off their fan. Industrial fans are freakin' noisy especially at night! How long does it take to dry up a mini flooded apartment? Should they have sent notices up that they were going to be leaving that stupid fan on? *sigh* at least they turn it down during the night (at 11pm) so it not as low as it can be.

Phase 1: day 3 of 14

Thoughts: . . . I wonder what would happen if I went up to the drive through of Burger King and asked for a whopper without the buns. Humm....

Worries: the nausea I'm getting towards food isn't a good sign. I mean if I hadn't eaten much all day shouldn't I be tempted to eat everything and love the smell of the food court like I usually am? Instead, I was ready to upchuck when I walked through my favorite food court. I was worried was to whether or not I will be able to keep my food down.

Funnies: Ordering Nabe Udon without the Udon noodles was fun~ The waitress looked at me for conformation 3 times even though she heard me perfectly the 1st time and repeated verbatim what I said. I think she was just trying to process it in her head. Then she asked perhaps I would like rice to substitute thinking that I just might not like noodles, when I shook my head she gave a somewhat exasperated look. We laughed over it though. She was nice but you can tell that she was like "狂気であるか。" Tee hee hee. . . and the cook in the back just shrugged when she called out the order, heh I'm sure they've had taken stranger orders.

Phase 1: Day 2 of 14

Thoughts: that one piece of left over almond joy is calling my name. It's saying "you know you're craving me, just eat and not let me go to waste."

Worries: Last night I bought a Rosemary/garlic roasted chicken (not my usual, I like BBQ flavor but was worried about the sugars in it) from Albertsons, actually went to pick up cauliflower and chicken breasts then got sidetracked thinking it's so much easier to pick up food already prepared than it is for me to go get uncooked ones and have to go to ANOTHER store to pick up a grill/griddle. While the cauliflower soup was cooking away I prepped the chicken, I know legs and thighs are out so I took a bite of the chicken breast. I don't know what is is about it, or maybe it was my stomach being very unsettled from the steak at lunch, but I took a bite and started chewing then after about 6 chews I had to spit it out. I couldn't swallow it for the life of me. I don't know what happened, but it was not a pleasant sensation. Closed the chicken back up and threw it in the fridge. Had my soup while doing laundry and thought about maybe Vegetarianism isn't all that bad, I was able to stomach the soup, the cauliflower I was able to swallow (barely). *sigh* Guess I'll just have to wait a see what tomorrow bring.

Phase 1: day 1 of 14

Thought: daylight savings. . . now when exactly was I suppose to change clocks again? 2am today or 2 am tomorrow. . . all my alarm clocks are digitally set to receive time from a tower source, dang it...WHAT TIME IS IT? Oh look, my computer's updated itself. ACK! my cellphone and spiffy clock isn't updating!

Worries: I hope my cell phone updates itself soon, or else I might be early to work tomorrow (Me like sleep!)

Disney Summary

Went to Disneyland with old college friend:
It was windy, crowded and fun.

Went to Downtown Disney for Supper:
Outside was smoky, loud was inside, food was yummy, I was tired.

Where's Lucy when you need her?

While talking with my cousin who lives only a few hundred miles away online to complain about work life in general. I thought of something that occurred a few weeks ago while driving to the bookstore on my way home from work. As always the streets were a little crowded with commuters who are impatient to get home. With the traffic lights not working in my favor I found myself oddly in a surreal mood as I waited at the red light watching the sun set ahead of my horizon. A statement popped into my head “I think I’m attracted to women”.

Okay, those who’s really hung around me may have noticed that I often look at women and found them to be an “attractive” individual. I’ve had male friends in high school who were not afraid or embarrassed to talk about females because they knew I could look at it with an objective eyes and understand what they’re talking about and aren’t shy about agreeing or disagreeing with their views. Then again, that’s not to say I want to start a tango on the Egyptian cotton with them. Just that I’ve always found certain parts on some females attractive. Sometimes it maybe the arm, or the hand, her legs. Whatever it maybe, I find them graceful, flawless, pretty. I’m appreciating it, not leering at it.

I had once been asked out by a female while in high school, I didn’t immediately reject her. Since I didn’t know that many people who’s been in my situation before, I went in search of the most frank of friends I had at the time. whom I once made a comment that he went through girls like he went through socks, player he may be, but he’s always been open minded an honest about things with me. He listened, thought, and came up with a question: “Can you imagine [sleeping with] another woman?”. (7 letter word that started with F) At that time, I was able to say, NO! and thus ended that episode of my life. Heh, 1^st person that asked me out, and it was a female.

I’ve never really reflected on why I said “no” to his question. I never minded about homosexuality, it was one of those subjects that I’ve always though “so what? It’s their business not mine. It does not hurt anyone.”

I don’t understand how a country who’s greatest claim is “freedom” can be so, narrow-minded when it comes to homosexuality. What is wrong with 2 people of the same gender wanting to marry one another? Is it really hurting anyone? Oh good grief, don’t give me that argument about people who only want the benefits and tax breaks, do you SERIOUSLY think that is not ALREADY happening? That Fake marriages don’t already exist? Pull your head out from under the ground and get over your thinly veiled religious high horse.

Okay, getting off my soap box, back to the original thought: Perhaps I’m more than just looking at women because of appreciation of beauty.

I now sit here, thinking of these question “am I homosexual?” to which I answer “no I am not”. Then “am I heterosexual?” and the answer is “I believe so”, last but not least “am I bisexual?” for that answer . . . I’m still thinking about it.

A decade after my friend pose the question to me, I can safely say that when I say “no” back then, I was truly saying “no” to ANY sexual activities with ANYONE. I did not feel mentally prepared for those actions at that age. Had he pose that question to me about the guy I’ve had an unhealthy crush on back then, I would have honestly said “no” also. Heck, to be truthful if he pose that question to me today about any person I would still say “no”. I have a mental preparedness of an 12 year old when it comes to relationships. I believe it may have come from something that occurred in my early childhood that has stunted my growth in that department, I call it “growing up”.

So, I talked about it with my sister after I got home from the bookstore that night. Her only comments were along the lines that I have strange thoughts while I drive. I think she’s getting used to my randomness. I used to have friends nearby with whom I dumped whatever question popped into my mind example: what is a baby’s umbilical cord attached to? How is the placenta “attached” inside the woman? Oh, here’s a note on that, don’t ask a male student engineer those questions even if his mother is a doctor.

As I was saying about my older sister, she’s quickly becoming my sounding board. I knew there was a reason why she’s #1 on my speed dial. I believe she’s slowly coming to terms with her fate, about a month ago I woke her up with an early phone call asking “how can ice exist in space which has no oxygen?”

I tend to gain questions as I peruse through the various news papers and articles online. I was kind enough to wait until 6:30 her time. Aren’t I a nice sister? She told me just the week prior to that incident, 6am is the time she gets up to begin preparing for the day, I did wait for ½ an hour more. P.S. I got my answer from her husband who doesn’t mind having such an odd question thrown at him before he’s even seen the sun. It’s my job to keep his mind fresh and him on his toes! Well, that’s what he gets for having an odd-ball sister-in-law such as myself I guess. If I’d thought about this long enough I would have arrived at the answer myself, eventually. It’s always nice to have someone guide you the right way so it’s not stuck on the mind all day eh?

Hum….lost my train of thoughts again. Darn it. Oh RIGHT! After my conversation that night with my sister who pretty much went off into another topic and didn’t comment much on my statement, I forgotten about it. Until last night, a thought triggered my memory about the subject and I briefly mentioned it to the above mentioned engineer in the form of: recently I’ve been questioning my “orientation”. I couldn’t put the word sexual cause the filter programs in WoW would have blocked that, plus I’m sure he was smart enough to know what I meant. After a long silence from his end he just asked if I’ve met some cute girl or cute boy recently. Instances like this reminds me of the importance of having good friends with open minds. My reply to him was that I’ve been living the life of an Agoraphobic/Demophobic. Which will lead us to a future discussion: am I becoming an Anthropophobic?

I end this entry with: I’m no longer sure what my orientation is. When I find someone with whom I want to tango with, I will known then.

PS this is just a blog of random thoughts, not an essay to turn into class, I do my best when it comes to spelling. However, punctuations and grammar? The rules that govern them never stuck so don't complain, just move past it.

My foot's asleep and I got an bite on my arm. . .

If misery loves company, does sleeplessness seek companionship? So my friend couldn't sleep last night, what does he do? He starts text messaging me. First question: "U awake?" hmm...well I was but now I'm not thanks to the alert I have on my phone! Another reminder for me to get a real alarm clock. One of these days my cell phone alarm may fail me (more than likely that I forget to charge it and it runs out of battery) and I'll have no one to blame but myself. *urgh* I promised myself when I signed up for a cell phone plan in May that I would NOT get attached to the little annoying devices. It was so easy to break the habit of carrying it everywhere when I turned my phone off a few years ago. I'm wondering if it is alright to go without owning a phone.

I wouldn't mind not owning a phone. I mean I have the internet, it provides me with a phone when I need it. If not, I can always go down the street to use the pay-phone. Hum, actually I don't know if that's true anymore. Pay-phones are not as easy to spot as they used to be. However, I believe that gas stations still tend to have them right? Alas, I don't think it's possible to live in the City without one though. Think of all the forms that you fill out for a membership at something as simple as the Public Library. I have to give a phone number and it had to be local. Okay, I don't know from what ERA that procedure was established, but I know of many people who chose not to own a land line and just use their cell phone as their primary number. Not only that, people MOVE but we tend to KEEP our cell phone number. Due to the fact that "long distance number" does not really exist in the cellular industry or it usually mean Out of Country calls and a WHOLE HECK of a lot of people has a cellular plan, yeah keeping that 925 number or a 610 number while living in a 310 area is not that big a of deal any longer! I STILL LIVE HERE DUDE!!! I even brought in 2 utility bills to prove that I live in the local area. MY TAX DOLLARS are going to THIS library man, if my utility companies will allow for my 208 phone number WHY AREN'T YOU!?!? Not trying to be bitter, but it is a little annoying don't cha think? (PS I ended up using my work number ~Yikes~)

160 pages and counting. . .

Oh the joy of cutting paper. On the positive note I didn't give myself any paper cute today (that I'm aware of), not so positive note, the mysterious gash on my forearm from yesterday is still faintly present. I still do not know how I got that cut.

Anyhow, after cutting 160 pages worth of manuals, I still have 50+ more to go then I get to look forward to 110 tomorrow. *urgh*


So a friend of mine is stopping buy on his way down to San Diego to start his new assignment. He took a few days driving down from the north. And I REALLY mean North as in near the Canadian boarder, not the north of Cali. If he makes in on time we're expected to have Mexican at this restaurant I found near my place. Really though, can anything compare to El Mercado? I didn't think so. Oh the birthday parties we had....okay so we OD'd at El Mercado that school year, but we had great times!

Abandoned

So I was looking through my Weekly Planner this morning, due to the unusual schedualing and activites I've had the last week, I haven't really had the chance to sit down with it and look at what's happening soon.

I just realized that my sister and brother-in-law are leaving this Friday! All my family will be in Asia except for me! *tear* I feel so abandoned. So to the sister who's leaving me behind I present you THIS:

I'm becoming a Television Junkie!

Watched a new show last night while munching on my Costco Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets. Yum yum~ The show was called Pushing Daisies. It was humorous, very fast paced and entertaining at the same time. I can’t imagine this show going long term but then again I’ve only seen 1 whole episode so who am I to judge correct?

I wished that the American television series would adopt the Asian style of shows, where a show is usually One season long. You got your beginning and your ending, all without having to beat a subject to death. If it’s great maybe you’ll do a second season or at MOST a third season. But no, they just like to milk it for all it’s worth and eventually fall out of favor. Example: ER, holy SMUCK! That show is STILL ON?!?!?! But then again you get great shows like CSI or L&O who’s story line and the way they’re told often allow there to be something new every time. I think it has to do with the fact that they’re not so engrossed in the relationships of the characters and such. But still, the Asian format often “leaves them wanting more”, which I think is great, annoys me when I’m on the ‘wanting more’ part but I still believe it’s great how I’m not disappointed in how long they dragged things out and how bored I eventually become.

Anyhow, I digress….so about this Pushing Daisies show starring Anna Friel and Lee Pace. I must say Anna Freil is sort of pretty, very cheerful character she portrays and fits her character well as if she’s just ready to burst out with something unexpected and you’re on the edge of your seat just wondering what she’ll do next. Lee Pace also did a wonderful job in his role as the Pie Maker/Necromancer. Okay, horrible word to be using in a light hearted comedy ‘necromancer’ but heck, that’s what he does!

The show has very witty dialogue which I hope they don’t ever lose that. “Quirky” that’s the word I’m looking for. As to what the show is about. There’s a great line that Friel’s character said to Pace and for the life of me I can’t find it anywhere on the net, so you’ll just have to wait until I watch it again or find it to fill you in. But here’s another great dialogue that occurs in the story:

"Ned: I asked you not to use the word "zombie," it's disrespectful. Stumbling around squawking for brains, that's not how they do. And undead? Nobody wants to be un-anything. Why begin a statement with a negative? That's like saying "I don't disagree." Just say you agree.
Emerson: Are you comfortable with "living dead"?
Ned: You're either living or you're dead. When you're living, you're alive. When you're dead, that's what you are. But when you're dead and you're not, you're alive again. Can't we say "alive again"? Doesn't that sound nice?
Emerson: Sounds like you're narcoleptic.
Ned: I suffer from a sudden and uncontrollable type of deep sleep?
Emerson: What's the other one?
Ned: Necrophiliac.
Emerson: Words that sound alike get mixed up in my head.”

'Tis the Season of Television

I watched my 2 hours a week television last night. I'm getting better, I was able to sit through 2 hours without moving in and out of the room. The two shows were Bones and House. I have a thing for 1 word titled shows apparently. I must say that I'm disappointed in Bones this season thus far. Not only with it's somewhat shoddy ending scenes (the character were OBVIOUSLY in a studio and the background was added in, "blue screen" as we used to call it). Not only that, the story-lines are not as good as it used to be. Now it's more focused on character relationships, it used to be about scientific-babble and cool discovery and suspenseful twists. Now all the OTHER stuff gets in the way of that. What DOES look good for the show is that they might have a long running mystery of who the older cannibal is from this season's opener case. It has always disappointed me that they never revisited the "Grave Digger". The two character were nearly BURIED to death and yeah, they didn't do a follow up? Not even a brief mention? Life goes on? HELLO? Okay, but that's just me.

Onwards to House. I've seen House off and on now and then, I thought it might be nice to actually sit through an episode last night so I did. I didn't even channel surf! And if you ever watched television with me you'd know I'm a total surfer, the instant it gets dull or commercial, I flip away. (Sad to say, I did split my time between shows during Bones because it was that dull) However, I didn't even think to turn away (other than on commercials), I love this new batch of students that House has to weed through his methods, their characters, I hope his previous "team" doesn't get involved TOO much. I want to see him pick a "new" team. (PS I thought the his dealing with character of Number 6 or was he 9 was great! And the old doctor, I hope he sticks around) Ha, no spoilers here!

Botanical Garden

Mother came for a visit this weekend. Well, she's technically still here cooking up a storm in the tiny kitchen in my flat. I thought to take today and tomorrow off to hang out with her but thought better of it and only took off tomorrow. I'm trying to think ahead where I have to take 2 days off at Thanksgiving. Wouldn't want to have the General Manager on my case about taking so many days off every month. I love it when mother visits though, she makes really yummy food and I tend to get healthier during the short term she's around and when I eat the stuff she's cooked for later. Then I go back into my bad eating habits. *sigh*

Anyhow, so over the weekend we went shopping, watched the President's Cup on NBC, and also visited the local Botanical Garden which happens to have a Orchid show going on. So we visited. The sun was so bright I thought I was going to explode from the headache it was giving me. Working all day in an office then going straight home and only coming out at night has it's disadvantages when relatives come to visit. They expect you to do things in normal daytime hours and actually be outside. Oh the terror~

Seriously, the last time I spent time in the sun was during my drive down to San Diego which was SEVERAL months ago and I was mostly in a car. Thus the little jaunt in the sun was nearly the end of me.

Flattened Vein

There's just something about blood draw that somehow tend to create this block in my memory. It's a very specific block that prevents me from remembering to drink plenty of water before you go visit your local friendly nurse. I guess I've just always associated fasting with, NOTHING SHALL PASS THROUGH THE MOUTH other than words. I do well with remembering not to eat anything 12 hours prior just to be safe I tend brush my teeth 14 hours before and since I'm the lazy bum that I am, I don't eat after I brush my teeth. A) it tastes weird B) To re-brush takes to much effort. But at the same time I tend to forget to drink water...urgh...

So I started my day with sleeping in, yey! 1 extra hours goes a long way, the lab doesn't open until 9am and it really isn't worth for me to go into work for 15 minutes before I have to head back out again. So I arrive at the labs fashionably late (I do love my sleep) and found 3 other ladies there, the other 2 looks done and was waiting on the 3rd. Wow, the nurses were NOT having an easy time finding her vain, apparently the lady had not been drinking any liquid for the last century. They had to call in another more experienced nurse. The lady was not plump like me, she was thin so it was easy to see her vain, but getting the needle to GET to the vain was a whole separate issue, it was too flat. By the time I had arrived it looks like they've already been at it for a while. Lets just say 1/2 hour later I was still waiting for my turn. Finally 10 minutes after when I had originally planned to be at work by, it was my turn. I go to the back chamber, sit on the lovely chair while they clean up from the previous occupant. It looks like confetti littered the room, NYC's New Year Party in there. The nurse was a little, shall we say, frazzled, she was ready to just get my blood and get it over with. One minor problem I pointed out to her, "Erm, do you know what I'm being tested for." This stopped her for a moment, and you could see it in her expression "Oh yeah, I should check huh." She's young.

So for those who are not as familiar with the whole blood draw thing as I am, being the frequent visitor I'm turning out to be, I shall explain why I made a note of this in my blog. For blood works it's not as simple as stick a needle in and draw blood into some random test tube and send to lab, no no no... All those movies where they just randomly pull blood into a convenient tube of some poor hapless victim and can learn all these nifty things from just that is not ENTIRELY true. If you've ever seen the test tubes at the doctors office/nurse's kits where they have colourful and sometimes stripped patterned tube tops, they actually serve a purpose other than aesthetics like the cute and cuddly patterns on nurse outfits. Each colour or pattern represents how each tube has been tempered. Another reason why when you're doing blood works they may take several different vials. Thus for me, I had 3 tubes and 2 of them were this nifty orange/black tiger stripped one. I wonder if they can make them like when you go to 回転寿司, those conveyor belt sushi restaurants, where once you're done they just count yup the different coloured/style of plates to get your totally bill. It's easier to figure out pricing on my side that way. However, it won't work 'cause there's just too many types of tests out there and some uses the same type of tubes.

Anyhow, after being thoroughly confused as to what the doctor had ordered for my blood test, the nurse sent me back to the doctor's office to ask for clarification. When I got there, the doctor's nurse just rolled her eyes and told me she'd do it herself. (THANK π) I trust her more. I made my little confession before she started, but since no one has yet to NOT find my vein I didn't think much of it. Well, she found it just fine. . . but nothing came out of it (yeah it moved on her) plus the fact that she used a freakin' HUGE needle. Okay, not as big as the ones used during blood donations, but still relatively large. Before she pulled back out she felt around and determinded, yeah my vein went into hiding. I would have also had I seen that big needle. Good to know that my veins, if not my head has good self preservation mode. Anyhow, she went off to get a smaller needle before she attempted the other arm. Not finding a good one she went right to the one on the back of the hand. Now, I wonder why can't they just START with that one? Easy to see and works just the same. . . Anyhow, this brought up another point with me. I personally don't mind needles in my arm, unless we're talkin' local anesthetics then O U C H, but once the needle goes in I'm okay. But how do drug addicts DO this? it HURTS piercing the skin, why would a none masochist do it over and over again? It was a point I brought up to the nurse and she agreed. Then again, seeing as we're both in a health clinic under our own steam and not rushed here, we obviously don't have the mindset of an addict.

Anyhow, that's my story on what I did yesterday morning before I went off to work.


,

Absent Sister. . .

Older sister...What can ya do with them? They get picky when you don't respond to their IM but they disappear on ya without a word mid conversation. They even go off to lunch without so much a "by your leave" with their husband right when you're talking with them.

Is an AWAY message so much to ask for?

Then they get picky about the colours of the font used in your blog. So what if you see bright yellow shooting stars after reading a blog for hours on end, it just adds spunk into the day, no? At least I didn't chose Hunter's Orange as a background. Now THERE'S a colour sure to burn holes into the eye.

So now, I've chose a new colour. I don't like it as much, but since all I do is write this stuff and not really read it, I'll do my best to make it easier for her to read. If she'd ONLY READ IT! ! !

火鍋

After my cousin mentioned she had Shabu Shabu for lunch last week, I got to thinking. Mmmm sounds good.....So last night, after getting sick of eating junk for lunch AND supper I took myself to Mitsuwa for some long over due HEALTHY supper. No, that image up above was NOT taken of what I ate, it was just one I found on the net for those ppl who do not know what 火鍋 or しゃぶしゃぶ is. Since this is something traditionally eaten during the wintertime with family and friends there's tons of ingredients, I made the mistake once of preparing it as we would have at home and ended up eating hotpot for 2 weeks straight (URGH talk about overdose). Curbing it down to size has been interesting.

Called up my sister for recommendations as to what to put in there veggie wise. I tend to get stuck after nappa cabbage. Gotta love these Chinese Cabbages, they go so well in so many dishes!

So being the farmer's wife that she is she totally recommended this thing she called "Hot Pot Veggie". Hum, yeah, that didn't go too well. She described them as "short and leafy". I was in the produce department of a Japanese market, I wonder if she realized how many items fit her description. Lucky for me, the Mitsuwa I frequent is a relatively small one and I zeroed in on something that looks familiar and asked her to Google the word Mizuna. Indeed it was the mysterious "hot pot veggie" my sister mentioned. Delicious vegetable that I haven't encountered outside the realm of hot pots. Very distinct flavor, my sister warns that older ones taste somewhat bitter yet she didn't exactly give a clue as to how to spot an older one. The ones there were all longer than what she described them to be so I had my worries as to if they were going to be bitter or not. I'm not a fan of bitterness the 苦瓜 that my relatives always try to feed me scares me like crazy. Luckily, these were not bitter and I ate the stem also, my sister had told me just eat the leafy part but I found no issues with the stem.

Next came the white button mushrooms, no shitake due to my price conscious self, when shitake gets thrown into a hot pot I never can tastes it's flavor anymore, thus defeating the purpose in my opinion of having shitake. Wanting mushrooms just for it's fun texture, I stuck with the inexpensive button ones. They tend to take on a slimy feel when you wash them, has anyone else noticed? Oh *gasp* did I just offend anyone with that last phrase "wash them"? Heh, reminds of an episode of Good Eats once where Alton Brown offended some fake French Chef when he said to wash them, apparently some cooking school of thought is that you're only suppose to brush off the dirt with some funny looking brush. Eh, me too lazy me wants easy me washed them is what I say to that.

To finish off the fungus family, I chose 金针菇. These suckers have a tough root bottom that totally wigges me out so I chop them off before I wash them, which causes a problem of them separating, but since I'm the only one eating it that's not too much of a problem.

As I was meandering my way through the rest of the produce isle, I happen to glance and see one of my favorite gourds ( not sure if they're really in the same family but you get the point) かぼちゃ. Let me tell ya, these little delights are NOTHING like it's American counterpart, the big orange fruits we carve during Halloween and make jack-o-lanterns or pumpkin pies out of. These babies are sweet and meaty and able to be used in SO many dishes. Only found in Asian markets, these puppies can cost a little more than your average Pumpkin, but if you get the chance, please give it a try. Yes, it's suppose to have a green skin, no it does not mean that it's under ripe.



After that, I called it good for the "greens portion of my meal. It's been a while since I've bought fresh veggies and I was quite proud of myself for it. Couldn't wait to sink my teeth into it all, I was having a green craving. I could have left it there and called it good, but I wanted flavor in my hot pot. One of the uniqueness to hot pots is that No Two Pots are alike. The flavor of the soup which often lends its flavor to an otherwise bland veggie or fungus (the mushroom) comes from the other stuff that it's cooked with and the longer you cook the more your soup has flavor. Cheap or as we tend to say "not very good" Shabu Shabu/Hot Pot restaurants offer water to start off with. I suppose that's okay, it is the very traditional way of cooking the thing, some family may have spent a few hours cooking up a stock for it as my family used to do. However, we're short on time, we want flavor, we're only cooking for one. Let's do it the right way shall we? I welcome you all to the wonder of: Swanson's Chicken Broth! They make all kinds: Organic, Low Sodium, Beef, Low Fat. I'm telling ya, these things are TIME SAVERS! Not only do they cut down the prep time, they really add flavor! I often use it as a substitute for rice. If you're on a brown rice kick, try it. Cook your Uncle Ben Rice with this, or even your couscous.

Having solved the problem of my soup base, it was time for the meat! This adds flavor, plus it's just plain yummy. I went to a Japanese market vs. a Chinese market because of just this issue. The Japanese knows what the customer wants! Convinced, instead of just selling blocks of meat and expect their customers to slice it at home, they offer them pre-sliced for so MANY occasions. Shabu Shabu, Sukiyaki, Chinese Stir Fry, way beyond the stew or fajitas cuts they offer at western markets or having to wait in line at the butcher block in the Chinese Market. The smell and the noise not to mention having to look at so many parts just confuse me. I want the convenience of seeing a nicely packaged sliced meat with a label "Sukiyaki" or "Yaki niku" or in my case "Shabu Shabu". Back home, since there's really no major Asian Markets that does that, we have a meat slicer. Very handy things. Scary as heck having to clean, but handy.

Next came the taboo food for me. I personally don't care for it in my hot pot because I think they tend to get over cooked and all leathery, not to mention I'm allergic to them. However, SHRIMP is a must have item. I can't explain it, I dislike them but they really do add flavor. I'm not against shrimp, far from it. I love them pan fried with ginger carrots and leek, however they don't like me as much. Just this year I went to visit my uncle in China, I couldn't resist, regretted my glutenous self for 3 days. My most sever allergic reaction to date. Nothing to send me to the hospital, but I'm sure they would have if I insisted and the hospital staff would have given me something to calm my swelling, itching, and tummy aches. Swelling and aching I can handle, but the itching! WOW, it was like this major need to itch UNDER the skin which we can't do so nothing can relieve it. Even now, I dread coming in contact with them. However, I digress. I picked up a few unfrozen, but not fresh shrimps. Nothing like these beauties that's pictured. Mine was farmed in Malaysia. Just enough to flavor the soup and hopefully not KO me.

And there you have it. My Supper. All washed up, thrown in the largest pot I own and boiled away for some UBER WHOLESOME GOODNESS. Once boiled to perfection (which is basically just boiled) scoop out what you want to eat, be thankful for the invention of chopsticks, dip in some light Chinese BBQ Sauce and we're good to go. Of course, some folks like a raw egg scrambled into their sauce, I personally get wigged out so I left that portion out.

Of course, I have left overs for tonight's supper. So easy to just cut up some more veggies and throw it in there. Tonight I'll be adding tofu and some 冬粉 which literally translates as winter noodles, I've never bothered reading it's English name 'cause I always recognize them at the market on site due to it's bright pink fishnet style packaging. Once I see it and made sure it's not made ANYWHERE other than Taiwan, I'm a happy camper. My parents instilled in me the fear of China made food since I was young. Even some Taiwan brands they made sure my sister and I know if there's ever been any scare on the company's products. Of course, being me, I don't remember all these names, I just look for the ones that matches the items we had at our house. Hey, if it's in my parents kitchen the only thing I'd have to worry about is the expiration date. My parents medicine cabinet frightens me, but that's another story for another time.

中秋節

'tis time for the Mid-Autumn Festival: an evening filled with drinking hot tea, eating mooncakes made for this special occasion and watching the beautiful moon with relatives and loved ones. Or in my case, barley tea, mooncakes and looking out at a smog covered moon. My all time favorite mooncake has to be the one made of lotus and has a salted egg yolk in the middle. Yum Yum.


This looks like they're made by the Japanese, I'm not sure if they have the same festival or not, but they certainly make good pastries! (Looke like green tea flavored, I'm not a fan of green tea flavored ANYTHING other than. . . well. . . Green Tea)

Wow, 月餅 have certainly gotten more festive since I was a kid.



I don't remember much about the story behind this festival, all I remember from my childhood was that there's a Bunny on the moon who's pounding down on a bowl making something I forget. I'm sure there was actually a story behind this, but that is all I remember and I can still see the bunny on the moon to this day. And I'm not makin' this story up! Look what I found on the net:

Zero Productivity

Oh I feel so unproductive this weekend. All I've done was laundry and shopping for food. I've begun a cross stitching project as for my father's Christmas present. (>_<) it's going to take a long time at my speed. Christmas '08 more like it. Mother's coming for a visit soon. I really REALLY need to clean my flat and put some organization to the kitchen if she wants to cook in it. Right now, I know where everything (well most thing) is but it's put in such a Tappy way that no one else would think to look where I put it.

My poor sister's been wracking her brain trying to find this blog. Funny considering I begun this blog at her place. She's even read it while I was writing in it...yet she has no recollection of it.