Cooked Whole Orange

My voice is not getting any better and i need it back at least 80% before I can go for my audition tomorrow night, so I have decided to try out my 契媽's remedy: cooked whole orange.

1. Boil an entire orange (peel and all) for 10 minutes.
2. Pour the water out, cut the orange in half.
3. Bake in 350F for 15 minutes
4. Eat all of it.

Sounds fun eh? It's baking right now. I'll see how it goes...

update: 苦到阿媽都唔認得

充實

Spent 3 hours at SFU library today to study for LSAT with the Powerscore LSAT Logic Games Bible (SOOO incredibly helpful! I just might manage to gain a few more points in that section...). 高妹 and I were studying on the 6th floor and apparently SFU library doesn't have A/C!! I was disappointed at first but thankfully they had all the windows open and it was quite breezy after all.

Had dinner at this wonderful place called Wilbur and Sebastian at Austin x Mariner today (where Thrifty Foods is). Great comfort food and incredibly full by the end of it all.

I won't mind continual unemployment if all my days spent jobless could be like this.

Laziness, beef, pork and "voice-capability crises"...

i don't know what's wrong with me.

Lots of times in my everyday life, things would happen to me or I would see something or a thought would come up in my mind and I'll go "hey! I should record that down in my blog tonight" but when I go home I just forget about it or (worse yet) remember it but just be too lazy to type it out here. The result is that 1. I forget most of what happens to me and 2. This blog is stranded for weeks at times.

Anyways...

I've managed to gone one full week (minus Sunday) without pork or beef to celebrate Lent. Frankly, I am quite proud of myself because it is a very difficult feat for a foodie like me (esp. tonight when my mom made my all time favourite 鹹蛋豬肉) but I've managed thus far. I do get really hungry at night since some meals I just eat vegetables and rice but other than that, I've been okay. Just a bit more over a month to go...

Another thing that's been bugging me for the past week is my singing. As a general rule, I try to avoid listening any recordings of my own singing (unless I'm part of a choir in which case I won't be able to hear my own voice) because, honestly, I hate my singing and if i can avoid listening to it I won't suffer from an voice-capability crisis like I am right now. Really I am not even exaggerating or being cocky. On Sunday as I sat there and listened to my own voice I can barely kept a straight face because it was like torture. I simply cannot stand it and I felt sorry for everyone else in the room who has to endure 3 minutes of this (for lack of a better word) crap. And I am quite convinced that it was not the song (actually the song itself was great) because this is not the first time I've heard my sing and thought to myself "Wow 3 years of training and so much money for this bs?" (not that my teachers were, in any way, bs because they are awesome singers)

Which begs the question, are you actually good at something if you yourself don't think that you are?

Julie & Julia

This movie just gave me the most exciting/bizarre/impractical idea:

Maybe I should go into cooking school after I finish this May and do something I absolutely love - cooking and eating.

Chinese white food (not white Chinese food)

Went to Joe's Atlantic Grill (near church) for breakfast today. Excellent hash and eggs benedict. Turns out the cook (maybe even the owner?) was a Mandarin speaking Chinese. Never underestimate the ability of Chinese people to cook white.

Joint Birthday Dinner 2009

For our annual joint all-out birthday dinner this year, 鄭少 and I decided to go back to the Cannery. If you're looking for great seafood, great service, lovely ambiance, a great view of the Port of Vancouver, and have a bit of money to spare, you should totally check this place out. Unfortunately, it's also closing down after the Olympics (their location is right at the Port of Vancouver and after the Olympics, they won't be able to renew their rent). So if you haven't been to this Vancouver establishment of 38 years before, do go take a look before it becomes history!

As for me, I've already made reservations to go back in less than two weeks for a Sunday brunch. =)

Today we ordered Lobster Bisque and Grilled Mussels for appetizers, Salmon & Mahi Mahi Duo and Salmon Wellington for entrees, and Creme Brulee and White Chocolate & Blood Orange Cheesecake as dessert.







Two other things of note: 1. We saw Princess and the Frog too. I am glad that Disney "went back to its roots" but honestly, the story isn't that great especially compared to the really great ones recently (i.e. Wall.E, Up!, Nemo, etc.) 2. I have finally busted out my last resort to fight really dry and cracked up winter face skin - the big tub of Vaseline.

The Start of Christmas

Finally one semi-sunny day after weeks of rain and disgusting-ness; I can finally wear flats instead of boots to school and wear a long coat, not a waterproof jacket. Next week is already the last week of term 1 (so quick!). I promise I will not skip a single class.

Had the opportunity today to take a brief excursion into Metrotown after having dinner with Irene at the Cactus Club across the street. Took 10 minutes to find a parking spot, no wonder Christmas shopping is so stressful for everyone. The mall was so crowded and it was so Christmasy. I really hope I have time to leisurely shop somewhere for Christmas presents soon but I guess this will have to wait till at least after Dec 21st...that's when my last exam is (UBC finds a way to screw me over annually).

For starters though, I got my first Christmas present done today (and I even gave it to the person already). Every year, my family would go through a draw where we draw out each other's name. With the name, we buy a Christmas present for that person (so, like Secret Santa). This year, I got my mom. Just so happened that I found out Karen got dad so we secretly did a deal where we would buy tickets to go see 張偉文 for them. Dad almost got the tickets but he didn't want to spare 38$/ticket to go watch. Finally, we used Benny's credit card to get the tickets for them via ticketmaster and it wasn't even the $38 ones, we got them the $89 ones. Hopefully they'll have a great time.

Last week, I started writing down everything I spend on. In a matter of a week, I spent $200...half to my ridiculous Rogers bill ($90, I didn't know that they started charging for RECEIVED text too) and the other half on other 'student neccesities' like food and Starbucks. It's sad that I can easily spend that much money in a week whereas my dad 不捨得 to spend $38 to see a singer that he really wants to see. I really should reign in my spending. I think for starters, I should stop drinking starbucks and bring my own tea. Secondly, I should stop eating bought food and pack my own snacks. I already bring packed lunch to UBC daily (my mom packs my lunch) but, for anyone that knows me, I am always hungry so I always end up buying a chocolate bar at the vending machine or a cookie from Blue Chips. I should pack my own food...healthier food too. Stuff like crackers and apples.

Simple Pleasures

Simple pleasures of today:

1. Earl Grey - My affair with Earl Grey began during my first year of UBC when I was introduced to London Fog at Starbucks. Then when I went to China earlier this year, my mom packed me a can of Earl Grey to bring with me (I know, why would anyone bring tea to China? But I'm glad she did pack it). And from then on, I just went solo with EG - no milk, no syrup, no sugar, nothing. And now, in my final year of UBC, Earl Grey is my daily campanion to all my 9am/9:30am classes to wake me up and to keep me warm (I bring it in my trusty Japanese thermos that keeps water piping hot even after 2 hours). Last week, my mom came home from work with an ENTIRE plastic bag of Earl Grey teabags from work (my mom's job offers wonderful benefits like no other: free spices for any cooking/baking needs, organic raisins/craisins, fair-trade chocolate bars, nutrition bars, health foods...)

2. Cadbury Fruits 'n' Nuts chocolate bar - this one's quite self explanatory. And yes, the cadbury commercial with the 2 kids with popping eyebrows worked.

3. For some reason, it feels very Christmas-y today.

Currently listening: The Wild One (Hot Blood) - Shorty Rogers and His Orchestra

The Real Tidbits of Life

I really should be more diligent about blogging. How can I ever remember all the things that happen in daily life if I fail to write them down? Perhaps this blog isn't meant to remember all the big things that happen (since if they're that big, I can probably remember them with my own brain) but the smaller tidbits that are important to me today but might as well go un-noticed or become insignificant in the future.

So here it goes.

Yesterday, the doctor told me that the "lump" in my left ovary was but a figment of the ultrasound's imagination and the MRI has proven that I am as normal as normal can be (at least my ovaries are). Phew. Thank God for giving me my health and reminding me that I should never take it for granted. But the doc did say that I should be careful about my spine as it appears to be slightly worse than an average 20-year old spine should be. Okay, time to exercise more.

The status of my diet (day 5?). Ultimate fail. I actually ordered deep fried wontons as "dinner" today after I did a 2 hour stint at Gourmet (Ben took a day off to go see Jay-Z and Elaine was worried that it might be busy, hence I dropped by). How am I going to get the perfect body by my grad pic in less than two weeks?

This Sunday, I have to 領詩. I think I've done it so many times that I no longer am that nervous as I was before. I really should still stay on my toes though. It's too big of a responsibility to 求其.

有精神玩無精神返工

其實基本上返工都是一件超悶的事情。看看一些永遠都看不懂的文件，上網，翻譯，edit, 開眼睡覺, 發呆，等放lunch, 等吃自備的茶點...etc. so far 最緊張刺激就是星期二的時候樓上火燭 (但是恐怖的就是完全聼不到警鐘...)。 最後在樓下hea了差不多兩個小時才可以回到辦公室...老細請飲茶. haha

雖然星期一至五都要返九至五, 但是還可以拿一點點的時間來吃喝玩樂 （第一日認識我麽？)

上星期六三號風毬我和鄭少就去了海洋公園 to take a look at the pandas who i swear consume more than they can work off, some pretty fat goldfish, plastic hippos, dolphins and Chinese guys dressed up as cavemen from the Ice Age. 三號風毬 guaranteed that we didn't have to deal with the immense crowds that are a signature of Hong Kong. On the other hand, it also meant that all the amusement park rides and the cablecars were closed down.　在海洋公園最喜歡的就是熊貓舘...大大話話去了五次。原因就是熊貓舘的溫度永遠保持在17度左右而外面就三十三度. pretty self explanatory why Benny and I loved to see the pandas so much.



星期天去了“香港老字號" 太平館 (first "Western" restaurant to be established in Guangzhou, since 1860s) and had the original 瑞士雞翼, a souffle the size of a massive air-filled muffin and other items. 因爲這家茶餐廳比較高級，you can see Karen and my dad trying to eat their 瑞士雞翼 with their forks and knives here.



Today 鄭少 and I went to see Harry Potter 6 (i LOVE emma watson) at Elements. Then went to 澳洲牛奶公司 to eat some yummy 燉奶.


Some things to look forward to...
1. 星期五去廣州...land of great food!
2. 再下星期五去澳門
3. Cheryl's coming to HK!!

Currently listening: 散 - 莫文蔚

and somehow, I'm in Shanghai again.

A final little relax trip until finals hit in two weeks. To my credit, I brought my notes and textbook too so that I can study. And I actually DID study today. Went to Xintiandi on the 109 route bus (a mere 2RMB my friends) and bought an iced coffee (25RMB) and two croissants (11RMB each) and sat down to study, outdoors in the brilliant sun, surrounded by little chirping sparrows trying to eat some of my crumbs, for 2 hours.

The cafe that I was at is called Paul and comes directly from Paris. In fact, the last time I was there, the two Americans that I happened to found myself in a conversation with told me that the croissants in the Shanghai Paul were exactly the same as the ones they had in the Paris Paul. And honestly, the croissants were heavenly. Before, on my "best croissants" list, T&T croissants came in number 1 (it's sad when the best croissants I had were from a Chinese supermarket in Vancouver) but now, they're definitely Paul. I might consider buying half a dozen to bring with me when I leave Shanghai...

Currently listening: 小步舞曲 - 陳綺貞

肥妹日記

I've heard that one of the best ways for diet-ers to lose weight is to keep a "food diary": a diary of what they have eaten that day.

Although I don't have a scale in my dorm here at UNNC (could be a blessing or a curse), I can fairly accurately say that I've probably gained around 7-10lbs in the past 2 months. I have noticed that my arms no longer look like hot dog sausages but rather more like German sausages (the really fat plumpy kind). My "abs" no longer lead straight down to the beginning of my jeans but rather, form a little hill that then dips into the valley known as my jeans. My cheek bones have long disappeared beneath my cheeks and my face is almost a complete circle.

For the sake of myself and my clothes, I guess I best start a small food diary, if not for losing weight, then for at least watching out for what I eat and having a healthy lifestyle.

Food Diary
Breakfast: 2 small packaged chocolate-cream filled cakes
Lunch: Peanut butter and jam sandwich, apple, small wedge of cheese
Snack: 3 千層餅s
Dinner: Rice, 豆腐燒肉, 青豆玉米, 番茄湯
夜宵: 1/2 黑米飯團

Doesn't seem that bad right...?

茄子與我

樣唔靚但味超正 - 怪味茄子

Here are some interesting facts that you might not have known about our dear friend, the eggplant:

• It originated from India and Sri Lanka
• Before cooking it, you must soak it in salty water for a bit to remove some of the bitterness from its seeds.
  
• Its seeds are bitter because they contain nicotinoid alkaloids
• And because it contains nicodinoid alkaloids, that makes it a close relative of tobacco
• In fact, it is richer in nicotine than any other edible plant (a whopping 0.01mg/100g)
• However, it still doesn't have enough nicotine to be considered as a form of secondhand smoking.
• 20lbs of eggplant = amount of nicotine in one cigarette (in case you ever wanted to smoke eggplants or something)

For the past few days, I've spent some time considering my options after I grad UBC/what I can do/what I should do/what my passion is. I've come up with two general conclusions (hopefully not mutually exclusive):

1. I've always had fears over things that I think I cannot achieve (not getting my IB diploma, not getting into my dream University, getting kicked outa first year BComm, not getting into IR, not getting certain jobs or positions, and now, not being able to fulfill my aspirations). However, I've realized that, most of the time, with the help of God and the support of my loved ones, I've always managed to somehow make it. And even the times that I didn't (i.e. getting into my dream University), God have always had arranged something better for me. So, why worry?
   
2. Thanks to a certain someone's new tattoo, I've been reminded that "fortune favours the brave". You don't know how lucky you can get until you try (I sound like I'm promoting a casino or something).

That's all life talk for now. This weekend is 清明節. 　如無意外，會去紹興拜訪魯迅，喝點紹酒，看看這個魚米之鄉. (the hometown of fish and rice, what a cool name).


Currently listening: 如果愛－方大同

天降假期

Great News #1: Suddenly found out that I have an (almost) one week long break next week. Time for a much awaited vacation to soak up some beautiful weather, Chinese culture, great food and fun. Heading out to Shanghai this Saturday for Cheer's concert then I have until Thursday to vacation and travel.

Great News #2: I am officially hired for a summer internship this July in Hong Kong for a law firm. 終於可以試試做中環 OL 的滋味...like 同事三分親.

Great News #3: Canteen 早餐 menu 上的神秘"黑米粥", 原來就是我最喜歡吃的"黑糯米糖水"!　More motivation to wake up earlier in the mornings to head out to the canteen to catch breakfast．其實 canteen 的 open hours 都很不方便．Breakfast is served from 6:30-8:30 (救命，誰那麽早起床？), lunch is 11:30 - 1:30 and dinner is 4:30 - 6:30 (I don't know who eats dinner at 4:30). 三點三明明就是下午茶的時候，難道過了一個多小時又可以再吃嗎？ I asked my local friend why they served dinner so early and she said "我們跟你香港人不一樣, 沒有下午茶所以晚餐要吃早一點吧." And it wasn't until two weeks ago that I realized 寧波沒有茶樓. 原來"飲茶"真的是廣東人的專利. But Guangdong is only actually two provinces away. China is just too diverse.

Currently listening: 架勢堂

Glory to the God on High

Today she very clearly demonstrated to around 20 of us the One she will be following. Her gesture also made me learn a lesson: although I've never seen it done in a bathtub, I'm sure it's just as sacred, powerful and meaningful as someone doing it in the Jordan River itself.

Hallelujah, to the Lord of Heaven and Earth!

Another lesson that I, unfortunately, had to re-learned today is that the reason why God sometimes doesn't talk to us is because, frankly, even if He did, we wouldn't be listening or paying attention anyways. But if, like the young Samuel, we start to realize that God is indeed speaking to us and are willing to say "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening", God will definitely reveal Himself to us through His Word, just as what He did for Samuel.


昨天去了 Walmart (yes they have a huge one here) 就買了一個迷你"盆菜". 晚上跟一些本地的學生享受了一頓很溫暖的晚餐 in the school canteen.

Currently listening: God of Wonders - Third Day & Caedmon's Call (although I am a worship leader, I must admit that I'm usually not a huge fan of praise music probably because they usually sound about the same for me, esp. the Chinese ones. But occasionally I do get the one or two with lyrics that really touch me and this song is one of them.)

Americanism

I never thought that the words "splurge" and "MacDonald's" could possibly appear in the same sentence but this is exactly what happened today. I splurged on MacDonald's. My double-cheeseburger meal (with medium fries and medium pop) costed a total of 16.5RMB. Of course, this is absolutely nothing when converted to Canadian (comes to under $3 CDN) but when you consider that...

• 豬肉包 at the canteen during breakfast = 0.7RMB
• 珍珠奶茶 at the tea shop on campus = 2.5RMB
• 紅燒牛肉面 = 12RMB
• 8 packs of 康師傅即食面 = 10RMB
• a loaf of white bread = 5.5RMB
• 街邊小販炒麵　for 2 = 4RMB
• 寧波特色湯圓 = 5RMB
• average lunch at canteen = 6RMB
  

...then the cheeseburger, medium fries and medium Fanta was very expensive.

Eh. What could I do? I was having an intense craving for greasy, disgusting, American food even though I'm in the midst of this wonderful, fresh, delicious Chinese food.

Must've been my North American side revolting against all this Chinese-ness after 2 weeks. Thank God for globalization.

Currently listening: Paranoid Android (Live) - Brad Mehldau

哇...怎麽我今天去了那麽多地方....

"千古功臣" 張學良第一幽禁地




"四名第一山" 雪竇寺 (there was a 50+ metres tall buddha but we didn't go in because it'd cost another 60 RMB)



蔣介石故居 - 妙高臺 (the rock that I'm sitting on was, according to the guide, Chiang Kai Shek's favourite rock)




千仗巗: really tall waterfall with it's name written on the rocks besides it in red (if you look carefully, you can see it in this picture) +　王安石紀念碑



蔣介石母親的墳墓 (聽説這個位置的風水是超好的)




同學家經營的農莊: people rent this place to take vacations or even get married (hence the "wedding carriage" that I'm sitting in in the picture). At the ranch, there was a man-made river that you can canoe in, tons of chickens and ducks (even peacocks and turkeys), vegetable farms and greenhouse strawberries to be picked (the strawberry grower commanded us that we must eat the strawberries without washing them - they were REALLY sweet.)



We ended the day by having TWO dinners - an outdoor barbecue followed by a traditional Chinese farmer's feast. Don't let the word "farmer" mislead you because it was NOT meager or just simply veggies. There were at least 20 dishes (I kid you not) ranging from pig's trottle, turtles, seaweed, more 湯圓 and grass. All cooked by one woman. For more than 20 people. Pretty crazy stuff I say.


Happy Birthday, Jasper!
祝你每一天都是健康，快樂，笑著過.
Thank you for planning this wonderful trip for us today.

currently listening: 太美麗 - 陶喆

寧波....好好吃!

A local friend finally took me to try some authentic Ningbo local food today. Tried a number of things including an, apparently, very famous local ingredient known as 小黃魚 (literal translation: little yellow fish). It was in soup and the soup tasted very delicious. The only bad thing was that the 小黃魚 had little tiny bones in it that kept getting stuck in my teeth. On top of that we had other dishes like eel slices (pictured below) which, as gross as it sounds, had a very good texture and was great with plain rice. Not pictured are the funny-looking clams (cooked with onion and ginger), 糖醋排骨 (really good tasting sweet and sour pork), and this really stinky dish called 臭冬瓜 (there were also 豆干 in it too). Trust me, it seriously stank so badly that I could not eat it.


Afterwards, we went to, as my friend explained it, the 旺角 of 寧波, 鼓樓. Basically, the "shopping district" is a few alley ways behind a gate. It was a funny looking gatebecause, as you can see in the photo, it is a Chinese-styled building (taken straight out of a 古裝劇) but on top is a Western-style clocktower. Inside the architecture is still very Chinese-y. Unfortunately, it was really cold and wet today, hence most of the merchants were closed.


Lastly, 去寧波, 怎麽可以不吃湯圓呢? Surprisingly, it took quite a bit of work before we found "real" 湯圓. My friend tells me that lots of restaurants tend to buy frozen ones and just simply reheat them for their customers. In the end, we found a 大排擋 place with real handmade 湯圓. There were 3 types to choose from (my friend made sure I tried all three). Two were 酒釀小丸子 (one with eggs and the other with black bean) and one 豬油湯圓 with 黑芝麻 filling and 桂花 on top which made the whole thing very very fragrant (unfortunately, I did not realize there was 豬油 inside until I finished the 3rd one). 這些湯圓跟超級市場買的當然有很大的分別. The filling is very smooth (I think it's the 豬油 that makes it that smooth) and the rice flour around it is very sticky and soft. Even though I'm not a big 湯圓 fan, I still ate more than what I would usually eat. The 湯圓 was very big but, according to my friend, they used to be even bigger and a bowl could only hold 3 湯圓 at one time because they were that big!


And just to round it off, I thought I'd share the most Chinese-y McDonald's I've seen in my life:


currently listening: 林民龍 (At17 Mix) - 麥浚龍

我的生活範圍

For those of you who haven't seen my room here at UNNC, this is how it looks:


The teaching and administrative buildings look like this:


我親手下廚的晚餐:

蒜茸炒白菜 + 煎貢丸蝦丸 + 白飯 (白飯是買的)

yummy!

currently listening: 架勢堂