嘉群's "Make up" banquet

Grandmother and all the family in Taiwan

Grandfather's 80's birthday celebration

It was great visiting family in Taiwan, especially my grandparents. This is us celebrating grandpa's 80th birthday (later in the summer)

Princess for Half a Day

I took half a day off. Work was getting too stressful plus I wanted to go have afternoon tea at the Plaza Hotel before it closes for renovation. Since it's too crowded on the weekend to get afternoon tea sitting, they told us the best time is on a weekday.

It was wonderful. The whole experience. We even saw Isaac Mizrahi joining what appears to be a bridal shower.

Sad to see the sofa go

After unsuccessfully trying to find another home for our old sofa because it would not fit in our 30 wide door house, we face the fact that the only fate it has is to be disposed. (You would not believe how picky salvation army is about the condition it needs to be in)

Disposing it seems like a logical decision. I left home late enough to see the sanitation worker take it away. I can't believe that the garbage trucks are so powerful. It ate up the sofa. As I watch it, I realized that I was feeling a strange emotion. I was feeling sad. Not to the degree of having to give up Guinness (that felt like tearing my heart out) but I was sad. Sad that it's completely detroyed. Not usable anymore.

It made me wish I hadn't been so lazy and made more effort finding it a home. Perhaps through craigslist. It made me regret that I did not spend more effort trying...

Reservation

Am I took picky?

I ask him to make reservation to Blue Ribbon Sushi because I always do that kind of little things and I am sick of not being appreciated. Some site points out they don't take reservation. I think it's safer to call restaurant to make sure (because sites could have error). He called and they confirm indeed they don't take reservation. And he proceeds to hang up. In my mind it was clear it would be useful information to know when the restaurant starts to fill up so perhaps we can go before that (since they don't take reservation). But gathering that information doesn't occur to him.

That bothers me. I know it's a small thing and it really doesn't matter because he can call back again to ask (which he had to).

But that train of thinking extends to everything he does and that is what bothers me. How can i trust him to be looking out for details that could make a big difference when I am in the delivery room and too pre-occupied to pay attention myself? Or if I am too sick and leave the children in his care?

Perhaps he's like that because he was not trained to pay attention to detail. My growing up required me to learn that faster. He's never had to learn that. He's just too provided for and too lucky in life.

I know people say "don't sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff". But the truth of matter is, I think small stuff tells you a lot about a person. Small stuff is what makes a successful (not necessarily in material achievement way) people different than ordinary people.

Egg and Butter

Noel's solution to any cooking is egg and butter. Whatever he cooks (mostly pasta or steak), he thinks adding egg or butter will make it better. I know egg and butter are essential ingredients for a lot of cooking and baking, but I just get really annoyed that he thinks it's the only thing to enhance any flavor. Because if he keeps on thinking like this, it will lead him to poor health and quick death! Plus if you only cook with egg and butter, you'll only be tasting egg and butter and not the other wonderful flavors. There are so much more flavors that can be added to cooking. I cook three mushcroom risotto last night. I used enoki, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms. Used some white wine and freshly grated parmesan cheese. The flavor was wonderful.

Too Rich In Some Ways

No, I can't buy everything my heart desires, but I am too rich in some aspects.

The planning around what food to eat in my house is all about what we should eat up before it goes bad or before it's been around too long.

I thank God for that.

Chinatown Great Advanture

I had a wonderful time shopping in chinatown last Sunday. Normally I just go there for meals with friends and maybe get some stuff from the bakery. On Sunday I went there for food shopping. I wanted to explore the places locals shop. Try to see where I can get the freshest produce, meat and seafood for the best price. It was a great experience. Althought most people don't speak manderin, I was able to find some merchants and customers that do and willing to answer my ignorant questions. I try to learn how the locals pick out fresh produce. In a seafood store, I saw two buckets of squids. Similar size. One bucket marked $1 per pound. The other marked $2.30 per pound. I asked a customer what's the difference between the bucket? He first replies that the difference is if you are rich you can buy from the more expensive bucket. He did not say it sarcastically. He said it with a tone that accepts those facts of life. He does proceed to explain to me the difference in the squid color. The cheaper bucket's squid has more red color. The pricier ones are whiter.

I am just blown away by how much cheaper and how much fresher goods are. Even my friends that shop at chinatown and flushing says chinatown is better. I will definitely try to work chinatown shopping in to my schedule in the future.

My hand writing

I really don't like my hand writing. It's not ugly or unlegible but I really don't like it.

It's not pretty.

Even when I write really slow and pay a lot of attention, my hand writing is still only bearable. I hate that. When I look at it, I don't feel any prettiness to absort. I can do that with Noel's hand writing and with Anita's (my cousin). Noel's writing is very engineering -ish. That's how his father taught him. He doesn't think it looks nice but I think it's so beautiful..from it's uniformity and such. Anita's hand writing is also uniform in an artistic way that I keep every single mail (a thank you card and a 2005 holiday greeting card) she send as bookmark. I just love it so much.

I wish I can write like that. But I guess I already know that I can't be creative or artistic with my hands. They just can't create beautiful things that makes people stop their in track and take a minute to admire..

At least I pride myself in the ability to appreciate beauty when I encounter it.

Can't get over the attitude of Old Russian Women

I still can't put it out of my mind. I don't know why but I find yesterday's lunch experience very upsetting.

I went to the pantry to heat up my lunch. This russian woman that sits next to me (who is not very nice) got there just steps before me. Her russian friends where there already but still putting their lunches together. So they let her heat up her food first. They almost did not finish putting their lunch together toward the end her lunch heating up. Upon finishing, they block the whole microwave area and put all of their lunches in (total of three lunch boxes). Now I know it was obviously to them that I was waiting for the microwave because I made it very obvious for them. I was holding my small little lunch box and standing very close to the microwave. It would have been very nice of them to let me heat my food up first. It's a very small box and it would only take less then 2 minutes. That did not happen. But what bothers me is that they were not even courteous enough to let me know that it will take a long time to heat up their food. I guess that's what I would have done because that's being considerate. They put the maxinum time of 5 minutes. I couldn't believe they could be so inconsiderate to just do that without saying a word especially with me waiting obviously and patiently. Now some people I know stopped by the pantry to get water and I spoke with them a few words. They took this opportunity to increate the time another 5 minutes!!! Can you believe it? They did not feel bad at all to let me wait over 10 minutes without saying anything, showing any courtesy, nothing!! This just bothers me so much!

I do know some russian women that are very nice but very few. Overall I really have a very bad opinion of the older russian women. They seem all the same. They cannot extend their friendliness toward people other then their kind. This point bothers me a lot. I like to know why.

It's all relative...

Reading Shakespeare used to feel hard, but after trying to read Faust (still in the middle of it), reading Shakespeare is so easy now.

Reading Guns, Germs and Steels makes reading other non-text science books easier too..

Still took more then three weeks to read that special holiday edition of Economist. But I really enjoyed it. I'll get better some day..

Now just need to find something that makes reading Faust and Guns, Gems and Steels easier...

Kitchen Is Almost Done

It's almost done. I am so excited the fact that I have an oven again. I haven't been able to cook with the oven since Grenfell street apartment. I will cook all the yummy stuff I miss and some new stuff too.

Two additional thoughts came to mind as the kitchen comes to completion.

Be wary of contractors. All contractors. Julian is not a bad person. He runs a business and his business is to make money. I know he is charging us more than it really needs to cost. I was fine with it because I believe he will take care of the details and managing for us. But he did a poor job at it. I understand he has many jobs and some of them are very large scale that costs more and requires more of his attention, but I don'to think that justifies him not managing this job. If he couldn't spare attention else where, don't take this job. At some point he was having Noel do his jobs (contacting the cabinet maker, etc). The list goes on and on. I thought he had more integrity then that. I expected him to have the work ethic I and people I work with have. But I was wrong. He did not give me the feeling that he was looking out for my interest. I assume we would get that from the extra we gave him. That was a wrong assumption I will not make again. Lessons learned. Looking forward to not have to deal with him agian.

Second, I love the new kitchen. I am not crazy about the cabinet but I love the fact it's new. I can't wait to use it to the fullest. Which also creates another fear for me. I am afraid I will less likely want to move. Hating the kitchen makes moving more urgent. But now it's not the case. Still, I would like to move to park slope so the commute to the city is closer.

Battery Powered Life

I realized I have so many battery operated gadgets in my life. Cell phone, camera, Ipod and PDA. It's those regular recharging regiments made me realized it. Thinking of consolidate them so don't have to recharge so many things. But it's hard to combine. Each of them do one thing best but also a bit of the other functions. Sometimes I think it might not be a good idea to be so depended on electronics. What happen if there's a huge power outage? Plus last night I spent about 2+ hours trying to fix the synching problem for the pda. Does it really save me time? But this seem to be where everybody is moving toward. Maybe acceptance is the only thing to do. Maybe buying stock in battery manufacturing company is another thing to do...

Good Evening with Mom

I went to a chinese banquet holiday celebration with mom. It was a good event. It was celebration put up by a chinese chorus full of middle aged and elder chinese. These ladies first got together from their love of kareoke. Then they decided to be more serious about the singing and formed a chorus, hiring a singer teacher. Now they practice and each year you can see how the students improve. It's wonderful that these elders put their passion in to action. It's also great fun to see them enjoying themselves. Forgetting unimportant things like age, weight, look etc. They created a wonderful environment where all can express themselves and have fun.

Mom's new place

Went to visit mom's new place last night. She cooked some green beans and gave me some.

Her new house is coming along really well. I think she's had work done on every single room except for the kitchen. But it looks really nice. I am genuinely happy for her. I think it's a good start for her. Her whole attitude about life is very positive because of this new place. That in turn will help her live her life better. The fact almost everything is new motivates her clean and organize more. Which will create a more soothing living environment. She can actually pursue her interest and enjoy life a little. Maybe this marks a new beginning: A beginning where she can live a healthier live. Physically, mentally and spiritually.

Shoulda gone to work today

Should have gone to work today. Didn't really have any problem to solve but people tell me it's review time so it would look good to show more effort. But I just couldn't make it. I need time to myself. We'll see how the review comes out.

Petunia and Lily

Petunia and Lily are my favorite dogs right now. They are my friend Mark's dog and I love them.

Petunia is so trusting and loves you so much. When she sleeps, she likes to get under the blanket and pushes her body against you.

Lily is more cautious by nature because she is so tiny. She likes to lick your face a lot but she has bad breathe. She licks Petunia most and Petunia puts up with it most of the time but she gets tired sometimes.

They two adorable small package of love!

Guinness

I cannot mention love for any animal without mentioning Guinness. Guinness was my first pet. We had a cat once at my mom's house but didn't have it that long. Besides, I think I am just more of a dog person. We got Guinness from a shelter in Jersey. He was so adorable. He grabbed our attention the minute we went in and held it with him until we took him home with us. He's a beagle mix. Looks like a beagle but thinner. He did okay in the two apartments we had. He like to destroy thing so we learn to put our important stuff high up. We had to let him go when we moved to the house. The commute was much longer for us. The house had more people walking near then apartment and he would think we are coming home but get really frustrated that nobody is going to the house to play with him. He would then become more destructive then normal. It was to the point he would eat things to that hurts his digestive system. We had to give him up. We figure it was the right decision. Nothing would prepare how hard it was for us at the shelter. The minute they led Guinness away, I could not stop crying. I've never felt so bad in my life. I think if I could do it again, I would get rid of the house and find a living place closer to work to accomedate him. I miss him so much. I think I felt the first unconditional love from him.

I miss him so much...

Back Handed Compliment

It's thanksgiving holiday weekend. We went to see a movie with my mom. Noel went ahead to get the tickets and he got one for my mother too. I dont' like to have Noel pay for my mother but that's another story. Later on my mother thank Noel for getting her ticket and said that it was the first time Noel bought tickets for her. Noel says he doesn't think so. That's just so her specialty - back handed compliment. She's always doing that. The other day we went out to eat and afterwards she thanks me for not giving her grief all evening. My brother kinda told her off and ask her not to mention negative thing to ruining the evening. She tries to defend herself and saying she was just saying a nice thing. I don't know if she just can't help it herself or she just think that we are stupid and can't figure out that it's really not a compliment. I wish she would stop. That really bothers me.

Maybe she does that because she's got too much bitterness gathered up in her through out the years...

Thoughts on blog

Time has really changed. I used to write thoughts that no one would care but really important to me in my little journal. Now we have blog.