mokinations

Composing compost

2011-07-01T14:42:00.004-05:00

I am trying to grow worms, or more like, make compost. We have the chicken wire structures for leaves in the backyard, but we haven't harvested any compost yet. The leaves are from last fall but admittedly we left them scattered about the yard throughout the winter and didn't gather them for composting until this spring. So we wait.

But today, as I was expanding the garden beds (still need to get large stones or some other edging material), I found a bunch of worms. I have the general idea that our yard is really unhealthy so I'm surprised that there's actual life! Ever since my friend shared her compost setup with me, I've wanted to try the same thing. So I made a mini version of http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/easywormbin.htm using those rectangular plastic takeout containers. I only put in maybe 5 worms with the hope that they'll reproduce and if things don't quite work out, I won't be responsible for a major worm massacre. I also don't want to undo the good work that these worms have been doing outside. Hopefully I don't commit worm-cide or track unwanted pests with this but we'll see how it goes.

Royal Service

2011-04-30T15:19:00.004-05:00

I watched parts of the royal wedding yesterday, mostly recapped through news features. While people focused on the bride's dress, how beautiful the wedding was, the many different parts of it, the important people that attended, I was focused on the groom's attire. I thought he looked a bit ridiculous but then a news feature talked about how he was wearing his armed services uniform and he will actually continue to work in the force for the first two years of their newlywed life together. Now, here is the prince of Wales, 3rd in line to the throne, proudly serving his country for just 40,000 pounds ($65,000) a year. Prince Harry, a partyer, is also in the armed services and he actually served in Afghanistan until the tabloids found out and made it unsafe for him to serve.

Why is it different in the U.S., where it seems like anyone of any importance to the media does all they can to avoid serving? Celebrities, congressmen and their families, sports figures -- few serve. It is the poor and the "ordinary" people in middle America who often serve. In New York City, it seems to me that the recruiting centers are often in impoverished neighborhoods and people have to be "bribed" with a free education to get people to serve. Is it because the "royalty" in the U.S. -- the Hollywood celebrities -- are all imported from Canada?

Speaking of our "royalty", and red carpet events, the UK just outdoes us completely. Talk about class and elegance. Hollywood celebrities and their celebrations just do not compare.

Sew fun!

2008-12-31T12:58:00.005-05:00

An under-appreciated and oft-overlooked skill is sewing. I wish that I had the option to learn to sew in addition to the introductory cooking lessons in junior high home economics. Luckily, I learned to hand sew during arts and crafts in sixth grade (with some tips from my mother) but I never had the privilege of learning to sew on a machine. A few months ago, after much debate and research, and just a few borrowed experiences on my MIL's machine, I bought myself a sewing machine. Out of the box, it was/is so fun to see things come together within hours. I still have much to learn, but I love that the machine sews faster, neater, better, and more variety of stitches than I could ever achieve by hand.

Singer® Touch & Sew (TM) 7462 Electronic Sewing Machine

Recently, rather than dreaming up projects and trying to execute them with scribbled calculations and diagrams, I started to follow the Sewing for Dummies book. I was previously just using it as a reference guide because the projects seem dated and a bit quirky (some pictures remind me of tacky flea market sells). But within the dated projects and mostly black and white instructions, there are a lot of tips, tricks, and basic sewing knowledge to be had. I am slowly cobbling together sewing skills!

Even though things still don't come out perfectly, it is much easier (with better results) to follow step-by-step instructions than to do things my way (at least for now, while I don't have much experience). And I would've never imagined how much goes into getting good results (like the need for ironing before turning a piece inside out). Now the next step is to move somewhere where I can have a sewing room -- constantly moving things onto and off the dining table is getting old.

Eggs-citing

2008-12-19T17:35:00.003-05:00

My friend passed on a recipe from Chinese Feasts and Festivals (a Cookbook) since I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to make my own Salted Preserved Eggs after receiving a pair from my aunt-in-law.

Salted Preserved Eggs
1 cup (300g) coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon peppercorns
6 cups (1 1/2 liters) water
2 tablespoons rice wine
10 duck or chicken eggs, cleaned

1) Combine salt, peppercorns, water, rice wine in a large pot. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly until salt has dissolved (about 5 min). Remove and set aside to cool
2) When cool, pour brine into a clean, non-metallic jar (a glass, ceramic or earthenware jar). Carefully lower the eggs into the brine, making sure the eggs are totally immersed. Cover the jar and leave at room temperature for 30 days.
3) After 30 days, the salted preserved eggs are ready to be used. Remove the eggs from the jar and dry on a rack. Store the dried eggs in a cool, dry place.

After I got the email from my friend, I immediately rushed to make this. It has been almost 2 weeks and the brine (possibly the eggs too) has changed slightly in color. The brine is also cloudy. I'm worried because there is some sediment that has settled to the bottom of the jar. I wonder if it's related to my halving the recipe (wasn't sure if I'd like it, and Dear doesn't like this, so I just made 5). Guess I won't know until another 2 weeks.

Happy anniversary!

2008-09-13T01:02:00.001-05:00

It's been a year and two weeks (been too busy to blog) when a cadaver and I became one: I received its tendon for my left ACL. A year and two weeks ago (give or take a few days), I was in pain, sweating in bed or on the couch with my leg wrapped up in a bandage and forced to move and bend while strapped into a knee bending machine. When not in the machine, I had the brace that took as much time to put on as it did to get dressed. I remember the pain and torture of physical therapy over the past 12 months: being electrocuted to jump start my muscles moving, making a first full revolution on the bike, getting used to putting weight on the injured leg, having my leg forcefully bent to the point of tears, and then all the strength training that made me probably the fittest I've ever been. Throughout the year, I regret not taking pictures of the progression of my knee, from being swollen, atrophied, and stitched-up to having some of the stitches removed, to the swelling decreasing gradually, and then the strengthening.
The one year mark was when I was supposed to stop my thrice-weekly exercises, but in reality I haven't been doing them since my vacation two months ago. I haven't really noticed much difference, but I don't think things will ever be the way they were before the injury. I've come to accept that some days my knee will feel weak, or sore, or achy. I've also accepted that I may never be able to fully kneel and that I can't live my life completely inconsiderate of my injury and rehabilitation. For instance, if I want to go skiing or skating, I really should prep by doing my exercises six weeks prior. I am also much more conscious of my shoes now. Or I am at least conscious of the effect of my shoes -- I still wear "bad" shoes because you really can't just wear sneakers every day and I have yet to find comfortable, supportive shoes that are not sneakers or ugly.

But I am glad that I have the reconstructed ACL because most of the time I don't feel it or think about it. I do wonder, though, if I didn't get injured, would I have a better Wii Fit score, or would I have a better center of balance instead of shifting my weight to the right so much (a flaw that the Wii balance board has pointed out to me)? Or was I always like that, and maybe that's why I got hurt?

Sharp as a razor

2008-09-12T22:16:00.002-05:00

My current obsession is my new (and first) Global chef's knife. I've never bought my own knife but I finally decided that you need the right tools for the right job and rather than buying lots of mediocre and inexpensive knives (something Dear has a penchant for), I'll just invest in a few good ones. I spent an inordinate amount of time testing out knives at Sur La Table and questioning the very knowledgeable salesperson. The Global felt very comfortable in my hands and I love how light it is. It is also cheaper than the Shun (my runner up) and the Wusthof, which is also nice, but not as comfortable for me as the Japanese knives.

So far my first "fancy" knife foray has been amazing. I now understand what Alton Brown means when he says you can cut faster depending on what your cutting surface is. I always thought that didn't apply to me because I am slow anyway, but when I used our plastic board (because it fits in the dishwasher), I felt like the board was working against me. I can't wait to try on the composite board.

I have to say that I loved shopping at Sur La Table also. It is to cooking what B&H is to photography. I love that I can get a good chunk of my research done in one place in person, rather than searching through the Internet reading anonymous reviews for which you can't read into whether or not they contain falsities. It is also great to be able to test things out in person too.

The salesperson reiterated a lot of what I've read/heard/watched on TV about knives, but I did learn some new things:
- You need to hone your knife with the steel specific to your knife. Since different companies use different alloys to create their knives, you can't use a steel from another company because that steel will be of a substance complementary to its own knives, which could be damaging/too abrasive to another alloy.
- Global knives are recommended to be honed only with ceramic. There is the option to get the ceramic steel for the same price as the knife, or as the salesperson suggested, to get a Japanese sharpener for half the price and just use the second wheel for honing.
- The harsh chemicals and high temperatures of the dishwasher could alter the chemical composition of knives, hence you should only hand-wash knives.
- The electric knife sharpeners (such as from Chef's Choice, which I had contemplated buying for Dear) can NOT be used with Japanese knives because the angle of the blade is so different between European and Japanese knives. It would be like sticking a different-shaped pencil into a pencil sharpener.
- The salesperson recommended storing knives with magnets because they allow knives to fully air dry and also keep them within easy reach.

On a somewhat related note, I have noticed more fallibility with Alton Brown lately (though he's still one of my favorite food information sources). His knife line with Shun is not all that. I don't see a real need for such a high-angled handle, even if you have large knuckles. Plus it looks weird. And I recently tried out his recipe for vanilla ice cream, which is quite good but still needs tweaking. I find it almost diabetic-coma-inducingly sweet. From the sound of this post, it seems like I'm cooking more. But, I'm really not. I do think I am more inclined to though....

Hawaii recap

2008-08-23T17:03:00.006-05:00

A while ago, I wrote an outline of my Hawaii/LA experience before the memories got too mucked up in my mind. I was hoping to flesh out everything, but I think an outline with pictures is good enough. I'm still trying to decide on which photo service to go with (any suggestions on that are welcome!) so that I can post all the pictures.

Day 1

Fly to LA and meet up with Dear's cousin for lunch and short tour

Eat at Cholo's (Mexican food)

start with fresh tortilla chips (still warm!) and cool guac

sweet corn tamales

Dear has chicken chimichangas

Tour Venice and other parts of LA by the shore

Dear's cousin goes back to work and we sit in airport for a few hours to wait for next flight
Land in Honolulu dead tired b/c awake for 24 hours (surprised and disappointed by the humidity that hits you as you walk out of the airport)
Take Robert's Hawaii shuttle to hotel
Stay in Executive Suite (got upgraded for some reason) of Hilton Prince Kuhio in Waikiki but hardly get to enjoy it because we check out less than 24 hours later
Take shuttle to airport and driver asks if we're on honeymoon -- we say yes :)

Day 2

Have haupia (coconut)-flavored cream puff at Beard Papa's for breakfast
Take bus to Chinatown for $2 per person, each way
Look for good dim sum and settle on Golden Palace Seafood Restaurant (disappointing but seemingly larger portions than in NYC)
Buy bag of fresh lychees (so sweet and juicy, with a small pit)
Fly to Kona on Hawaiian Air
Pick up rental car and on way to hotel, eat at Denny's because everything else is closed (10pm)
Try moco loco (Hawaiian specialty of hamburger patty and egg on top of rice, covered in gravy) -- surprisingly good
Check into Kona Tiki Hotel

Honolulu's Chinatown

Fresh, juicy lychees that we enjoyed on our lanai (patio) in Kona

Day 3

Have fresh papaya, banana, pineapple for breakfast at the hotel; POG (passionfruit, orange, guava) juice
Visit farmer's market up the road
Buy sweet, crisp mountain plums, green apple bananas (that never ripen), lillikoi (aka passionfruit)

Plums are rare in Hawaii because they need frost, hence they only grow on the mountain
Plums were about the size of large cherries

Dear suckered into buying sandals b/c the ones he brought from NYC feel loosey-goosey
Go to Wal-mart to get snacks, beverages
Visit Costco and have lunch there; they offer coffee smoothie but regretfully we do not try
Drive past lava rock terrain on way to Hapuna white sand beach
Dinner at Big Island Grill for dinner

Big bowl of saimin (ramen-like noodles) with shrimp tempura (lots of thick batter)

Dear has mixed plate of fried seafood; comes with potato salad and rice

Walk around touristy parts of Kona
Snack: Scandinavian Shave Ice with macadamia nut ice cream

White coral graffiti against black lava background of North Kona Coast

White sand of Hapuna Beach

Day 4 (July 4)

Visit Puuhonua O Honaunau NP

See sea turtles and explore tide pools in lava rock
Park exhibit is a bit boring but scenery is nice
Eat lunch bought from KTA supermarket at picnic area overlooking ocean

Fried chicken with Spam musubi

Attend luau -- big disappointment because felt like a very touristy, historically inaccurate dinner show
Tried poi (taro paste), lau lau (meat wrapped in ti leaf), kalua (Hawaiian roast) pig, poke (marinated, raw fish) for first time
Drive to old airport to watch fireworks in the rain (bummer for the convertible)

View from Puuhonua O Honaunau

Firethrower at commercialized luau

Day 5

Drive to Hilo, passing Waimea, cowboy country, and scenic mountain passes
Explore Hilo Farmer's Market

Buy fresh, cheap lychees and sweet, juicy mangos with little fiber and small pit

Search for recommended sushi restaurant and shave ice place but everything closed for July 4 long weekend
Exchange cars at airport because trunk won't close
Settle for local lunch place recommended by guide: 1lb. beef and pork lau lau -- stuffed!
Find Two Ladies Kitchen by accident and get freshly-made mochi with traditional fillings like red bean and also non-traditional fillings like chocolate, peanut butter, and candy
Pick up dinner from KTA supermarket

Eel over rice

Dear has seaweed salad and something I don't remember

Drive to Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station, up steep, desolate road with moon-like terrain on either side
Mountain is probably 20 degrees cooler than ground level and we put on long pants, jacket, socks, closed toe shoes

I put on additional 2 layers of long sleeves and still feel a bit cold

We eat part of our dinner with the convertible's top down as the sun sets
I fall asleep during astronomer's presentation but wake up in time to get a piece of a meteorite he found
We wait for sky to darken to stargaze -- we see Jupiter and the moon through the telescope
Drive down dark (unlit but for moon), windy, steep road down the mountain in low gear but brakes still overheat
Drive unlit, windy 2-lane Saddle Road back to Kona

Soft mochi from Two Ladies Kitchen

View of top of clouds from Mauna Kea at 9000 ft

Day 6

Head to Volcano NP
Stop at Tex Drive-In for malasadas (very light, filled donut-like treats) and buy lunch to go
Eat lunch at Akaka Falls SP in convertible

pineapple burger
Dear has shrimp burger

Short walk to Akaka Falls, take pictures and head out
Pass through Hilo with a quick drive by the shave ice place, with no luck
Arrive at Volcano NP and attempt to hike Kilauea caldera before noxious gases make us head back

Ranger Joe teaches about Ohia trees and ferns
Ranger's monitor goes off and we feel burn of sulphuric acid in our lungs

Drive to lava flow about 1hr away
See town covered in lava
Wait for hours to watch glow of lava flowing down the mountain and gushing into the ocean
Leave right after dusk and walk over lava rock in dark
Sight to see line of flashlights of people leaving behind you
Traffic jam to leave and only place left to eat when we return to Kona is Denny's

Malasadas from Tex Drive-In

Akaka Falls
Waiting for dusk on hardened lava trail

Watching lava flow at dusk

Day 7

Do laundry at grungy-looking place down the road but get a good bit of reading done
Eat lunch from Ba Le (Vietnamese) by hotel's pool

pork sandwich
special sandwich w/ pate

Snorkel with SeaQuest tours by Captain Cook's monument

great guide taught a lot about history of the island and showed us a lot of neat stuff
hard-bottomed raft -- really fun to go at fast speed and to see gorgeous scenery by water
see spinner dolphins (about the size of a dog!)

Visit marketplace in Keahou and try shave ice there -- friendly woman gives it to us for free because we're last one there
At sunset, light 7 tiki torches at Kona Tiki hotel while Dear blows on conch shell
Dinner at Huggo's (expensive and not that great)

Following tradition, I light tiki torches after Dear blows conch shell

Day 8

Visit Kona Joe coffee farm, where they grow coffee on trellises like grapes for wine
Eat lunch at L&L Hawaiian Barbecue (local chain)

lau lau w/ kalua (delish but couldn't finish huge portions)
Dear disappointed by bbq sampler mix plate because he was expecting Southern U.S. bbq, not Asian bbq

Visit Hamakua Macadamia Nut Factory (a bit lame, but got to crack a few nuts and bought nuts)
Finish souvenir shopping and even stop by a sewing store to get recommendations on sewing machines
Dinner at Kenichi in Keahou disappointing and way overpriced; realize you don't go to the Big Island for food
Get dessert from KTA

Day 9

Fly back to Oahu very early in the morning
Surprised how many birthday messages I get -- maybe I should always travel on my birthday! :D
Deja vu: take shuttle to Waikiki; drop off luggage at hotel
Walk to Eggs N' Things for brunch

Mozzarella omelette with side of pancakes
Variety of syrup: pineapple, coconut, boysenberry, maple
Dear has eggs and hash; declares best meal he's had so far in Hawaii

Try surfing in Waikiki
Dinner at Sansei

Omakase menu was delicious from beginning to end
White tuna sashimi and a half-price roll
Service was stupendous: waiter not intrusive but very attentive, had recommendations like he really knew the menu
Only regret: not that hungry after the huge brunch

Various pancake syrups at Eggs N' Things, plus salsa for hash

Resting in the waters of Waikiki -- surfing is hard work! (I am in red)

Day 10

Take bus to Pearl Harbor (takes forever, but just $2)

Do self-guided audio tour while waiting
Run into Dear's co-worker on his honeymoon

Take long bus ride back to hotel
Walk to Waiola Shave Ice (yummy goodness that makes my mouth water as I think of it)

3 flavors: lillikoi, melona, mango(?) with condensed milk on top

Dinner at Hakone

Australian Kobe beef
fresh AYCE sushi

Day 11

Finish fruit from farmers' markets for breakfast, except for unripened bananas
Lunch from Me Bar-Becue

bimimbop
Dear has beef ribs, I think; he likes the pickles

Flight to LA delayed; 3 remaining plums and bunch of bananas confiscated
Arrive in LA and it is actually cool and a jacket would've been nice
Pick up ghetto rental car
Dinner at McDonald's in San Gabriel :(

Started second box of mochi from Two Ladies (small, candy-like and unfilled) while waiting in airport

Day 12

Meet up with Dear's cousin again for dim sum at huge restaurant in San Gabriel
Target stop to get drinks
Attend friend's Wedding

Day 13

Lunch from In N' Out Burger: each get Double Double, and share strawberry milkshake and fries

Everything is made to order, so it's very fresh and yummy
To boot, it's pretty inexpensive
Fries could use a double-fry

Return to heat and humidity of NYC
Dinner at Georgia Diner (options limited at 1am, but at least there are options past 10pm!)

Numbers

2008-08-04T22:13:00.001-05:00

It's been TWO months since I've written anything. That's what happens when you're on TWO softball teams, go on a TWO-week vacation, followed by a TWO-night trip to Cape May, go to TWO weddings (with TWO more to go), and overall get bogged down with the TWO busiest months of the year at work. So instead of the fancy post about Hawaii that I imagined this would be, I will blog/brag about my health report.

After TWO years of not seeing a regular doctor for an "annual" physical, I finally went to the health center at work since I got a letter about qualifying for a free one. And I'm glad to say that even after eating massive amounts of seafood and bacon (my two favorite food groups), everything is normal. I can continue eating with reckless abandon! But I suspect that like everyone and everything else, unhealthful eating will eventually catch up to me, just probably slower than average people. I have a theory (that I don't know how to prove) that I actually age slower than most people. I am always mistaken for being younger than I actually am, once in a while even passing for high school age. At the age of 25, I felt like I finally turned 18. I felt like I was 16 for the longest time, except when I was actually 16 (I felt like I was maybe 12). Right now, I feel like I just turned 25.

To quote Monk, It is both a blessing and a curse.

Recent firsts

2008-05-09T21:55:00.006-05:00

Hanami at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. Truly one of the treasures of NYC, the garden is so peaceful and refreshing -- every time I walk into the garden, through the gates and away from the grimy, noisy city streets, I feel a calm settle into me. And when it's cherry blossom time, it is especially gorgeous (albeit more crowded than usual). We strolled through rows of the pink blooms, so fresh and vibrant against the green of the leaves. To walk amongst the trees and be surrounded by delicate pink petals above and to the side of you, and to watch the bloom-laden branches sway with gentle breezes, to catch some petals that flutter past you as they settle towards the grass -- I can't think of a more beautiful way to spend a crisp Saturday morning. A few steps over were also some fragrant lilacs and hyacinths, in swaths of purple and lavender. Overall, spring at the BBG is just awesome. And to get there, I was reminded of the wonderful architecture and classy history of Brooklyn, my favorite borough. We drove past wide streets with brownstones on either side and past the Brooklyn Museum with its own cherry trees out front.

Prunus 'Kanzan,' one of the most showy cherry blossoms; view more from our BBG visit on this Flickr photostream

Crawfish etouffee, alligator. I had never had Cajun food before and crawfish (never had that before either) was a good introduction. The texture is like a cross between lobster and shrimp, with a little bite to it. Alligator I was not so crazy about. Or maybe it was just the preparation of it -- I mostly tasted batter.

All-you-can-eat blue crabs in Delaware. We usually drive through this tiny state on the way to other destinations, but I think we've found enough reason to stay: outlet shopping, nearby beaches, and succulent, sweet crab. There's just something about the spices in Old Bay that remind me of the ocean and when mixed with the warm, sweet crab meat, I am in ecstasy.

5 Borough Bike Tour on a tandem bicycle, as a marshall. The 42 miles were grueling for my poor, out-of-shape self and there were times I really wanted to call it quits. But I stuck through it all, fighting crowds of cyclists entering picturesque Central Park, crossing over the Queensborough Bridge, avoiding the bumpy potholes of the FDR Drive and DUMBO, pushing over the long steep incline of the Verrazano, into Staten Island and onto the ferry. I really appreciated the downhills for the first time (I'm usually scared of losing control going downhill and often ride the brakes -- so bad, I know!) when I could stand on the pedals and give my butt a break from the skinny, hard seat. The worse parts, surprisingly, were the relatively flat stretches -- it was a difficult for me to keep up pace and there is no break for the butt. There's even something about going uphill (vigorous pumping of the legs?) that relieves your gluteals from the hard seat. I was also glad for the few long breaks when we had to walking the bikes because of bottlenecks or other traffic issues. It was also interesting to ride a tandem -- once you get used to the balance issues, it's kinda fun, especially when you're biking with someone who has way more experience and expertise. I wish I could say that I learned how to properly shift gears and steer through traffic from him, but I forgot most of it already. :(

Elote (Mexican corn). I've always wanted to try this but never knew where I could buy this delicious grilled, buttered, cheese and spice-coated comestible.

Inner workings of a recording studio. It was cool to see how a voiceover is produced, all the audio equipment and how it's used, and to sit in a soundproofed room. I also think doing freelance voiceover work is a good, fun side gig.

Conflicting funerals from both sides of your family means that you shouldn't send a wreath to one side. I don't understand the logic of this at all, and which side is ignored. In this case, we were told not to send for my yee paw's funeral because Dear's grandmother passed away too. Also, my mother told us to forget Mother's Day this year because of the passing. Weirdness....

The good earth

2008-04-16T20:18:00.003-05:00

This weekend yielded some surprising food finds. On Saturday, we stopped by a new Asian market somewhere between Bayside and Flushing. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary in terms of Asian markets, but this time I decided to finally try this form of mushroom that I've seen before but never actually bought. Unfortunately I have no idea what it is called but next time I will take a pic before I eat it! It is about 5-6 inches long and looks like mostly stalk growing into a mini cap. It reminds me a bit of squash in terms of size and shape. There were also organic enoki mushrooms, which we bought, with the idea of making a mushroom ragu with pasta sometime during the week (which we did and was delicious and quick).

On Sunday, we happened to be in Flushing again and decided to just pick up some roast pork for dinner. On the way back to the car, I saw a woman by a vegetable stand on the sidewalk. She had set out ceramic plates piled with produce in front of each box of her goods. What really piqued my interest was that she was selling purple mini-potatoes. She also had regular Yukon golds, onions, and a bunch of brightly-colored sweet bell(?) peppers. But we just needed potatoes and the purple ones looked very enticing. In exchange for just $1, she poured the plate of potatoes (felt like about a pound) into a bag and then scooped up another plateful in anticipation of the next customer. Who would have thunk that there would be an old Chinese woman selling fresh purple potatoes in the middle of bustling Flushing? Buying fresh seasonal produce, passing by delicate blooms on my walk to the subway station -- I am loving Spring!

The race card

2008-03-18T21:14:00.004-05:00

I consider myself a pretty typical young, urban professional but I guess all my social circles are at least 25% minority (primarily Asian), so it's a bit of a shock to be around non-minority, mainstream Caucasian yuppies. It's neither good nor bad, but just different, and definitely a sign of being quite sheltered (even in multicultural NYC -- maybe it's too multicultural?).

Random current design idea roiling in my head: sliding doors with barn-type hardware.

Time and time again

2008-03-16T17:03:00.003-05:00

For all the things that I claim that I don't have time for, I sure do spend a lot of time doing seemingly unproductive things. One of the biggest time sucks is social networking, though I fully advocate the use of these for all the benefits of them.

So what else have I been doing for the past month? Researching/debating/pondering storage solutions, ranges, refrigerators, "honeymoon" options. I also have this weird hankering to drive. I was in someone's car (female Asian, of course) that just inspired me to get behind the wheel (if she can drive, I can -- I wouldn't take my eyes off the road to talk to anyone).

I'm glad that we finally settled on a range (GE Profile with warming drawer) and it works so beautifully! Now that we have a working oven again, I'm planning on baking lots of things : cookies, tres leches cake, no-knead bread variations.... If I only had time! :P

Super Giant Fat Tuesday

2008-02-05T21:27:00.000-05:00

It's a big week. Today was the primary election in New York. It was also the ticker tape parade for the world champion Giants (the first football game that I actually sat through). And don't forget that it is also Mardi Gras, before the start of Lent, which is also Chinese New Year Eve. I have not participated/prepared for any of these activities. *sigh* And I anticipate being busy the rest of the week (and not for these activities, unfortunately) so happy rat year!

Breakfast of champions

2008-01-17T18:43:00.000-05:00

Breakfast is probably my second-most favorite meal of the day because its many sweet offerings are as close to dessert (my most favorite meal!) as you can get. Of course, I enjoy the savory offerings of breakfast as well (bacon... mmmm... eggs... mmm...) but that's for another post. Breakfast also intrigues me because it's a very efficient meal -- relatively short yet filling and it needs to be quick and easy to prepare and eat in order to fit into my daily schedule (with exceptions for occasional weekends). When Dear returned, he mentioned that he used to have a bowl of oatmeal daily while away. But I stopped having oatmeal because all the convenient versions of it (packets with more sugar than oats or instant one-minute variety cooked in the microwave because I can't stand making it at the stove) were just nasty and/or a bother. Then I thought about using either a slow cooker (still haven't cracked that one open yet) or a rice cooker. Googling it turned up lots of recipes that I wanted to try.

They are basically the same -- throw oats, a liquid, dash of salt, optional dried fruits or nuts, and a flavoring if you'd like, into the cooker and press on. Whenever the cooker shuts off or turns to "warm", you have piping hot, smooth and creamy oatmeal. The trick is to figure out the ratio of liquid to oats. RealSimple says "add a little less milk or water than you would for stovetop cooking (and some chopped nuts and dried fruit if you want)." I ended up taking bits of several recipes but mostly followed this from Cuisinart:

2 cups (Rice Cooker) rolled oats(not quick cooking)
3 cups ~~(standard liquid measure) water~~ (according to measurement on inside of rice cooker bowl) liquid, which was a combination of apple juice and water
~~1 teaspoon ground cinnamon~~1 stick cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
~~3 tablespoons raisins~~ used handful of golden raisins and cherries for following serving two days later in the microwave, since I didn't have any at the time

Insert bowl in ~~Cuisinart®~~ Rice Cooker/Steamer. Place oatmeal, water, cinnamon and salt in bowl; stir. ~~Sprinkle raisins over top.~~ Cover and turn on; cooking time will be ~~about 12 to 18 minutes~~ as long as your rice cooker deems necessary -- mine was maybe 30 minutes? When unit switches to Warm, Cinnamon ~~Raisin~~ Apple Oatmeal is ready to serve, or it may be kept on Warm. Stir before serving. Serve hot as is, or sprinkle with a sweetener such as brown sugar, honey or maple syrup. A dollop of yogurt (plain or vanilla) or milk to taste may be added.

Note: Other dried fruits may be substituted for the raisins. Try dried cherries, cranberries or blueberries,slivered dried apricots or plums or chopped dried apples.

Note 2: Leftovers can be refrigerated and microwaved (with the addition of some extra liquid) during the rest of the week. I added some water and milk, stirred it up, dropped in dried fruit, and microwaved for 3 minutes (stirring once between). The second time around it didn't taste as apple-y, and it wasn't very sweet, but the dried fruit was a great addition. The next time I have leftovers I want to cut them into squares and pan-fry them in some butter and see what happens.

TECHNICALITIES
Our ricecooker is a generic 10 cup version with a non-stick bowl (if you have an old rice cooker, you may have use some non-stick spray on the inside of the bowl). I'm also not sure if this works with smaller ricecookers which may bubble over, from what I've read. I've also read about the amazing results from the "porridge" setting on Zojirushi Fuzzy Logic cookers but the results are great with our simple one button cooker that I don't feel the need to buy a new one nor would I want to spend so much for one.

My next try is Irish oats, aka steel cut. I think it's chewier, which Dear would probably like because he thinks this version is mushy. And because they need to be soaked, I can put everything in the rice cooker the night before and set the timer to start an hour before I get up (so that I don't need to wait around, like I did this time).

Next stop: last century

2007-12-30T17:23:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure of riding on an old-time train (more like a few old subway cars from various eras linked together) today. It was the last weekend that the MTA would be running this special train for the year (it ran on the "V" line, which is on my way home anyway) and I'm glad that I got to experience it, even though it took a while to wait for it.

There were three types of cars. The signs said they all originated in the 1920s and were in service until the 1970s but they all had a very different look and feel. The first car I walked into was very dim, with yellowish lightbulbs and rattan-like seats. The walls were a greenish olive and the seats were configured in "L" shapes, much like the trains today (not the long benches on either side).

The second type of car that I walked through was similar to the first in dimness but had red vinyl-like seats. The third car was very bright, with fluorescent lights, blue and yellow designs painted onto the floor, and rattan-like seats. The walls were monochromatic gray and blueish-gray, like the newest trains on the "L" and "N" lines. I overheard someone say that this train was gutted and re-done as a prototype for something and so, is most unique.

I think every car had fans screwed into the ceiling for those hot and humid NY summers. Every car also had ads from through the ages (fifth anniversary of UN, admonishments against spitting, 200th? anniversary of Columbia University, Campell's passing off their foodstuffs as from chefs when now they are viewed as machine-processed canned food). The TA ads back then (like about spitting) were as cheesy as today's (I think they are inspired by these old ones) but back then it didn't seem so cheesy.

Some observations:
- The cars all smelled. It didn't stink of bums or greasy food like modern subway cars often do -- it was like a smell of diesel mixed with some burning rubber.
- Some people were afraid to board the train. I guess they didn't see the posters about this special train and thought they were in some strange world, traveling back in time.
- For every person who was surprised (pleasantly or not) about this old-time train, there was a person who purposely waited around for it. There were more than a few train buffs (some wearing subway/train-related clothes) spewing off trivia.
- Lots of people were taking pictures (some with disposable cameras, obviously not as prepared as those who planned for the train, with SLRs or video cameras).
- Some people got really into it, dressing up in old-time clothes. I don't know if they planned it or not, but people were taking pictures of them, as if they were models. Interestingly, I found it difficult to tell the woman was wearing period clothes because wearing vintage clothes and platform peep-toe shoes are in fashion now. Her hairstyle was a bit old-fashioned but there were no dead giveaways, as with the man who wore a bowler hat, suit with wide tie, and had a handlebar mustache.
- There are a lot of of weirdos who enjoy trains. Aside from the geeks that you might mistake for sci-fi nuts, there are some real wackjobs. I couldn't tell if they just really enjoyed trains or had a screw loose: guys who imitate the conductor by reciting all the stops and connections at each stop and make the sound of the closing door chimes; people that refer to trains by their model numbers; people who mutter train facts (or is it fiction?) with a stoned look; people who got really, er, passionate about certain trains not being in the lineup; or a certain person who would act like a regular geek but every once in a while exclaim "Stay away from the dictator!" If we were on a normal everyday subway car, I would have avoided all eye contact for fear that they would lash out in violence.
- There were moments when the train passed through a section of track and the lights would blink or go out completely. I had forgotten that that used to happen. Do trains still do that?
- The seats, though softer, were not very comfortable. For one, they were a lot narrower so that it could only fit 1.5 butts in the two-seater. There was also a lot less legroom in the corner of the "L" seats. One guy sat in the seat perpendicular to me with the typical macho position of legs spread out wide (I hate it when people feel like they have to do this to prove something) and I had no room whatsoever. The smaller seats did make the car did seem more spacious. The seats are also straight-backed and flat-seated (the slight curve in today's seats make a huge difference). The seats also felt flimsier. When people plopped down in the seats behind, I felt it move. It makes me think that even though today's subway interiors are so ugly, it is a lot more comfortable (but is it worth the $76, soon to be more, per month?!).

Belated merry Christmas

2007-12-27T16:13:00.000-05:00

Christmas has come and gone and I barely feel it. This year has felt holiday-less to me. First, it was too warm to even think about and when it did get colder, I was inundated with commercials rather than Christmas carols. There were weekly/daily emails for Black Friday deals (nothing good enough for me to take part in), free shipping, express shipping, last minute shipping, last minute express shipping, and then the not-too-late for gift cards. I thought there was also a lot of emphasis on holiday entertaining this year too, from buying fancy clothes, to preparing sumptuous feasts (does anyone really throw holiday parties when everyone is harried with all the other aspects, like shopping, etc.?).

From Thanksgiving on, there were glimpses of Christmas cheer beginning to settle in (when it snowed for the first time this season and it looked like a wintry postcard of New York with the snow falling onto the Christmas trees being sold in the street or when I finally decided to line up all the colorful Christmas cards we received this year) but that warm fuzzy feeling just didn't stick around for me.

This Christmas, needless to say, had been very different without Dear around. I was unmotivated to shop since I knew we wouldn't see all the relatives until next year and we wouldn't have those big gatherings with lots of hub bub (boo hoo!). Even more different is that I didn't plan to be around for Christmas either (until JetBlue decided to be the arses that they are and cancelled my flight, causing me to fly out in the darkness of Christmas morning). And it was very different to be driving around in an unfamiliar (albeit beautiful) city (Savannah, an hour from the compound that Dear is staying at) on a rainy night to make it to one of the two restaurants open in the entire city on Christmas night. And to experience the "Southern hospitality" of said city while vacationing for a short while was different as well. But no matter how different (good to start new traditions, not that we ever really had any to begin with), it was just good to see Dear again. He has just 8 more sessions to survive before he's back home! With New Year's and graduation, that brings him back in about two weeks. Yay! (Zoiks, I gotta clean up the apartment!)

I visited the campus/compound that Dear is at and it is seriously just a step above prison. It was as if they got a huge vacant field and then thought, "We need a classroom and some offices" so someone took a bunch of cinder block and dropped it in boring rectangles or they took bunches of trailers and connected them together. Everything is beige or gray (even the grass is beige). Dear's drab room has a chintzy curtain that looks like it was on deep discount that even a fleatrap motel rejected. The front door is scuffed and has visible handprints on it (is it so difficult to put on a new coat of glossy paint?). I can't imagine there being worse rooms than Dear's (but there are).

Moving on from the ugly and depressing horror that is the compound, upcoming, I'll provide a brief overview of our trip to Savannah.

Ode to Oxi

2007-12-17T23:03:00.000-05:00

I swore off the white powder long ago
But with dirt the enemy and stains the foe,
I knew that I had to try the new cleanser Oxi Clean.
It's all over TV, in commercials I know that you've seen.

And indeed, at first try some whites did look whiter.
But hark! Its true strength is as a stain fighter.
There were new stains: food, blood, makeup, and sweat
And even those I thought had already set --
But the Oxi gently lifts all and washes away.
If only it could keep new stains at bay!

I scrubbed and I rubbed one stain of ink
Ready to bid the shirt good bye
So it was with amazement I did blink
That Oxi worked with nary a sigh
Oh my dear Oxi
You sure are foxy!

This rhyme is getting old
So just let it be told:
For bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry
Use Oxi, it really is extraordinary!

Jaws

2007-12-10T23:30:00.000-05:00

I am just a bucket of ailments lately. This weekend I couldn't open my jaw (again) and it seriously cut down on my food intake. With my small bites, I felt full by the time I finished half a plate a food. (With my laziness to cook, I am truly withering away!) The big mystery is how I got to such a state. The quack dentist I go to kept asking me if I had recent wisdom teeth work done (yeah, like three years ago!). He prescribed a muscle relaxant and said he couldn't do much else. Another dentist at the office, who checked my nightguard for proper fit, wondered if maybe I clench my teeth and mentioned the possibility of TMJ*, which would require the help of a specialist. I then went to see the doctor and he said I had the classic signs of TMJ (pain at the joint, inability to open the mouth wide). He guessed that the cause was stress (very likely) and that sitting hunched over a desk/computer screen would cause my upper body to tense up, even my jaw to possibly clench (I noticed some signs of this when working on a project launch). He prescribed an anti-inflammatory and said sometimes physical therapy can help. So I asked my p/t about this -- all three of the staff said it sounds like TMJ (they were eavesdropping plus I am such a fascinating patient). The head p/t was most helpful of all. He said most cases you can take an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory (no need to spend $10 on prescription meds) and since the joint is so shallow, you can just rub an ice cube over the joint and the surrounding area, though ultrasound and shock therapy (which I get for my knee) may help too. He simply iced my jaw and it felt 100x better! Why couldn't the other medical professionals tell me something so simple like this?! The p/t's explanation was that in your jaw joint there is a disc that sometimes moves out of position when you bite on something hard or open your mouth really wide to eat something like an apple, or even to yawn. Bingo! The first time this happened, I was yawning like crazy. So he said to prevent yourself from yawning too wide, just touch your tongue to the top of your mouth (again, really simple and effective). Besides icing, avoiding chewy foods like bagels should help too. Worst case scenario: if I'm not able to open my mouth wide after a while, he could force it, which sounds awful and makes me feel like fingers down a chalkboard at the mere thought of that happening.

So, what have I learned through all this? I'm gonna try to stress less at work, avoid hard and chewy foods (I've always preferred soft foods like soup, yogurt and congee anyway), try to sit properly at my desk, and avoid dentists at all costs.

*TMJ: really TMJ dysfunction, as TMJ is the name of the joint

Congee comfort

2007-12-06T22:42:00.000-05:00

After a brief morning cycle through the neighborhood this past weekend (chilly but refreshing), I used some leftover rice and made a pot of congee for a very satisfying and warm brunch. For those unfamiliar with this Chinese dish, it is a guilt-free version of risotto. You can make plain congee (like I did) with just water, or you can flavor it with stock or other ingredients that you add either in the beginning, or when serving. The thickening is done purely through the starch of the rice (no cream or butter, as with risotto).

I made the plain version without even salt or oil because I knew that I would be using the homemade preserved salted eggs from my aunt-in-law. I never thought a warm, heaping bowl of thick, creamy white rice could be so comforting on a cold fall day. But the eggs were the star of the show. The egg white was really concentrated and salty, the texture like gelatin, while the yolk was a bit grainy but very rich. The yolk was the color of gold. One egg was enough for a giant bowl of congee. If only I had the recipe for the salted eggs (even my MIL doesn't know it)! In the middle of the week, I finished the rest of the congee and egg for dinner. It wasn't as good the second time around because I overcooked the egg, hence the sulfurized yolk in the picture (I don't think the refrigeration helped either). I also threw in some leftover chicken hearts at the end (unfortunately also heated a little too long). Chicken hearts and egg -- what a way to make congee more of a guilty pleasure. :)

Martha Martha Martha -- NOT!

2007-12-02T19:37:00.000-05:00

I used to worship Martha Stewart -- her magazine has/had? tons of creative (yet not tacky) crafts, she demonstrated lots of delicious recipes on TV and she has tons of tips for every aspect of life (how to clean, cook, decorate, fix things). I was excited to pore over her Weddings magazine and website for advice on my wedding way before marriage was even in the picture. It also helped that she went to my alma mater (who else could boast that the "domestic diva" lived in the same, albeit probably more nicely adorned, dorm rooms?). Even after the whole jail thing and the Kmart fiasco (I always disagreed about her whoring out her name to such a cheap store), I stuck by Martha, looking forward to her TV segments or turning to her website for creative ideas. I even watched some of the horrid Apprentice episodes (but promptly stopped after realizing that the show wouldn't showcase anything really crafty).

Now Martha has a new show that's shown on Fine Living each night. How upset I am about it. Besides the stale content (a lot of it is compilations from her past shows -- I think she and her staff have run out of ideas), there are also a lot of ridiculous things that don't apply to most normal people who don't live in the lap of luxury (the episode with the raising of various breeds of chickens comes to mind -- I hope that she at least makes them into a good meal once in a while). But what peeves me the most is her excessive marketing of her products on her show, effectually becoming an hour-long infomercial on some days. In one particular lackluster episode, she answered questions from the audience because I'm sure no one would have wanted to trek out to the studio just to watch a few recorded sessions on a giant TV (I guess they couldn't get all the "star chefs" to come in at the same time). Anyway, one audience member's question was about cleaning her Le Creuset cookware. First of all, I'm not sure Martha actually listened to the question because she kept talking gibberish (or maybe she needed someone on her staff to quickly Google "how to clean enameled cast iron cookware" and to then type it onto the teleprompter for Martha to read and seem somewhat knowledgeable). Somewhere in this monologue she had to push her line of enameled cast iron pots sold at Macy's (if you didn't already know since that's mentioned in every episode). As if her incessant marketing wasn't enough, when she finally got around to answering the question, she talked about cleaning the inside of the pot whereas the question was about cleaning the outside of the pot. After she got clarification about the question, she chided the young woman for boiling over her food before realizing that it wouldn't be good for PR and had to throw in, "But that's OK" a little too late as the woman was probably already embarassed to the heavens. In the end I'm not sure Martha even answered the question fully but jabbered on some more to fill in the time because she really couldn't handle being put on the spot any more. That excerpt just epitomizes almost all that is wrong with her show and her endeavors nowadays.

In desperation I will still probably watch her show if there is nothing else on and if I need a good laugh to catch her at these moments when her character slips into her true snotty self, but I just have to publicly denounce my fandom and tear up my homemade Martha fan club hand-embroidered badge if I had ever been crazy enough to make one.

The heat... must get out of the kitchen!

2007-11-21T21:45:00.000-05:00

I've discovered that I have a penchant for burning things. In less than 5 days, I've burned two towels and a bunch of onions. Today's pyrotechnics were most dramatic. I was seasoning the cast iron pot that I use to make bread and I tipped the pot to spread the oil but forgot about the paper towel in my hand, which caught fire unbeknownst to me. I smelled burning paper and soon realized I was holding flaming paper in my hand! I didn't know where to throw the paper since the sink was full of crap (plus, what if I missed and it landed on the very flammable drying rack?), so I tossed it onto the floor (thank goodness for those super floor tiles, which did not display any burn marks). I then sprayed it down with water but the kitchen continued to smell like ash for hours afterward (until I cooked dinner, a little underdone to try to turn the tide on my recent endeavors).

Even though I didn't go to work this week, it has been uneventful in the culinary-sense since I haven't cooked much. I think I'm bored of it now. Last week did me in with three fully-cooked, balanced meals (not all tasty, but each had vegetable, starch, and meat), with enough to bring for lunch. I've mostly been re-purposing leftovers and relied much on bacon and cheese sandwiches, as well as noodle soup. The good part is that I'm cleaning up the fridge. If Dear wasn't coming back tonight(!), I'd attempt to finish off old chicken by making pot pie.

With more time on my hands (not once did I check work email!), I find myself just as lazy. I haven't cooked much, watched entirely too much TV, and yet still haven't "had time" to write much or even to really clean (I think I need professional help in that department). I did finally finish (or just gave up on) painting four doors! It took about four coats of paint and in some areas there are major blemishes but hopefully it will remain in the dark mostly and no one will notice. Just one extremely ugly door left and two OK ones. I have some more vacation time to use up in December so maybe I'll finish them then because not having any work to do and just veg-ing out on the couch feels so wasteful (I've cleaned a little but also watched a LOT of TV!). Though if I can get all the painting done maybe I can finish all the knitting projects I've started on, or maybe organize some closets, or clean up the zillion little pockets of mess that I have piled up in random places in the apartment.

As for my knee, I'm happy to say that I only have to go to p/t 2x a week (with a bunch of exercises to do at home) and I'm loving the extra hour of sleep that I get each week. However, it is getting quite boring and I can't wait until I can stop altogether. I'm already thinking of practicing for next softball season, but I don't know if that is safe yet.

My scarlet letters

2007-11-08T22:30:00.000-05:00

A-C-L. I went to the company's health center for a massive headache today and I had to fill out a bunch of forms before I would be treated. Most of the time, I breeze through those forms because everything is "No" or "N/A" but I now had to fill in the question asking about past surgeries. And when the nurse was looking over the forms and asking for specifics about certain things, I don't know how my ACL reconstruction is related to having a headache, but she had a bunch of questions about that. The same thing happened when I went to see a new gyn last week. No relevance to the check-up at all, but there were questions about the ACL. The injury has just become my identity.

A co-worker broke her foot and had crutches. When I was talking to her in the elevator, people asked if the crutches were mine or hers. When I had to wear my big bad brace, people on the street instantly knew it was for the ACL (though it's used for other knee injuries) and they stopped to ask about it and/or tell me their, or their friend's, experience with it. And now, when I fill out those new patient forms, I have to be asked about it. Maybe this will teach me to not doctor-hop and just stick with one.

But at least all my outward signs of being a cripple are gone (no more struggling to carry things with a crutch under each arm, no more spending at least an extra 20+ minutes each day to fiddle with the brace to get it off and on). Or is that such a good thing? I don't know why, but as I slowly make my way down subway stairs, people that speed past me always stop just long enough to turn around and give me a look. I don't know if it's a look of pity or just frustration to find out what exactly is making me walk so slow since you can't tell really why I need to grip the grimy banister and slowly edge my way down the stairs. So I was stunned that someone once actually stopped to ask me if I needed help walking down to the subway (I gratefully declined -- what can he do, build me an escalator?). And a few days ago someone rushed down first and held the doors for me. There is some humanity left in NY!

From the desk of Dear, via me

2007-11-07T19:08:00.001-05:00

I've been trying to convince Dear to start a blog since his experiences sound so interesting but he barely has enough time to talk to me each night. :( I thought I'd ghostwrite for him but it's difficult to know what to say in his place and what he wants to share, so here are some snippets:
- the training is for 10 weeks in GA; yes it is hot there (probably warm to most ppl, but he finds anything above 50 to be hot)
- he only has one day off per week (but he is coming back for Thanksgiving!); I'm not sure how we're going to work out Christmas and New Year's.
- he actually has exams and tests, as if it were school again
- like college, his living situation is a room with a bed and desk and a little private bathroom (I have yet to see pictures); there is no hi-speed Internet connection in his room though
- food is cafeteria-style and from the sound of it, I think I would starve
- to get around "campus" people buy cheap bikes from Wal-Mart and sell it to the incoming group when they leave
- there is a "graduation" at the end
- there are (free!) laundry facilities on the premises
- there are issued uniforms (polo shirt and blue pants)
- I'm not quite sure how the mail system works, but I think each week a person is assigned to pick up mail for the class and is responsible for distributing it

With the suffering that Dear is going through, I feel a bit guilty that I'm eating gourmet food (had a delicious sandwich of prosciutto and fresh mozarella on fresh homemade bread today), surfing the Internet whenever and wherever I want from the comfort of my abode, watching TV without having to worry about studying, etc. But at the same time it has been tough trying to figure out how and what to cook, since Dear always took care of that. I am learning a lot and I hope this experience will equip me better for helping out with some of the cooking when Dear returns. I still need recipes though -- I have no idea what to do for next week!

Cooking sans Dear

2007-10-31T17:41:00.000-05:00

There's no doubt that I'm pretty spoiled. I hardly ever cook, and just when I started to get interested in it, I married to an alpha cook. So one of the most difficult things in dealing with Dear's absence is actually having to do that thing with the stove/oven. The first week of being Dear-less, I was mostly living like a college student. I stretched leftovers very thin, eating the same thing or some permutation of it, every other day so that I wouldn't tire of any one thing. Not one meal was close to being balanced and I felt hungry soon after eating. The fanciest meal I cooked was quesadillas, and noodle soup has been a staple. Our fridge hasn't been this empty since we moved in. But through all the desperate times, I told myself that I would eat out just one weeknight each week. So far I have stayed true to that.

This week I'm trying to live like a recent college graduate. So far I've had a scrumptious steak with roasted squash and an OK tilapia papillote. Today I walked to Ctown to buy some fruits and vegetables on my lunch break (thank goodness for Ctown and its proximity b/c the stores within walking distance of where I live suck). I haven't yet worked out what to do with the broccoli and green beans that I bought, but some meals that I'm thinking of preparing:
- oven-baked ribs
- pasta
- grilled cheese sandwich with bacon(!) and apple
- Hainanese chicken (or at least a poached chicken)
- porkchops
- roasted tomatoes with broccoli rabe

If you have any recipe suggestions, please pass it along!

Don't cry for me Argentina

2007-10-26T19:14:00.000-05:00

I've been too busy to post about the weekend and here we are at the next weekend already. Well, it was a tear-filled weekend, first with the passing of Dear's uncle and then Dear's departure. Dear left somewhat early on Sunday morning and began his long drive to GA. Because of this, he couldn't attend his uncle's burial (even though he really wanted to) and I went in his stead. The uncle lived a very full (and long) life and he was a good man. Because he was a WWII vet and was to be buried at the VA cemetery, his burial was on Monday (friggin' civil servants don't work on weekends). I have never been to a veteran's funeral and it was a sobering and beautiful experience. The ceremony was very moving and I felt very honored to have known him in the short time that I did and to be able to pay final respects.

My in-laws and I started out very early in the morning since it was a very long drive (almost to the end of Long Island). The ride felt much longer for me since I had to sit next to a bothersome old lady from church who couldn't keep her mouth shut for one second. Thankfully I fell asleep halfway there and when I woke up, we had arrived. It took a while for all the cars to get there, but eventually we were ready and everyone drove to a stone shelter hidden behind trees and down a short, scenic walkway. It was a very serene place and everyone (except the bothersome woman from church who was yammering away on her cellphone) instantly fell silent as soon as we walked into the area.

Inside the shelter, the casket was flanked on either side by two female army officers in their dress uniform. A row of folding chairs with covers made of Astroturf faced the casket and the immediate family was directed to take these seats. Once everyone filed into the shelter (and the woman finally had the sense to end her conversation), taps began to play (I assume this was a recording since I didn't see anyone with brass instruments around). The two officers brought their hands up to their brow in a salute and a few people brought their hands to their chest in a pledge. At some point the two officers turned to face the casket and with their white gloves, grasped the flag covering the casket. They lifted the flag up in unison and brought it together length-wise almost end to end. They did this one more time before walking away from the casket and towards the crowd. The officers continued to hold the flag at chest-height, while the one on the right began to fold the flag. She took one corner and folded it diagonally to form a triangle at one end, then folded it horizontally, then diagonally the other way until there was less than 2 feet separating her from the other officer. For each fold, she ran her hand against the fabric to pull it tight and form a crease before moving on. The other officer, holding the end with the stars then tucked her end into the pocket that was formed by the other officer's folding. Each movement was precise and deliberate, motions exaggerated to emphasize each fold. Their bright white gloves against the vivid red and blue was captivating to watch. Still, at times I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if one of them lost their grip and the flag fluttered to the ground. But I couldn't dwell on this thought as the officer on the right then handed the flag to the other officer and that officer marched toward the green chairs. She stopped in front of the widow, bent down, and gave a speech that began something like, "Ma'am, as a show of appreciation to your husband for his service to our country, please accept this symbol...." I lost it about here and was reminded of how so many have bravely fought for our country. After the officer finished, she handed the flag over and Dear's aunt held the flag against her body (its final folded size is pretty big, covering almost her entire torso). The two officers then marched away, out of the shelter, and into the trees. After a hymn, Bible reading, and two prayers, everyone took their turn laying a flower on the casket. When the ceremony was over, everyone went back to the cars to drive to the actual burial site. There was some commotion as someone noticed that there was a lychee tree growing amongst all the greenery.

We waited a while by the administration office and people started to exclaim that since it was around noon, everyone was on their lunch break and we'd have to wait even longer. Some took this as a bathroom opportunity but just as I started to stretch out my legs, everything was ready and there was a scramble to get back to the cars. We drove by many fields and all the old folk had to comment on how some of the fields don't have standing headstones and just have the plaque in the ground. Dear's aunt and cousins made sure to choose an area with standing headstones. Unlike other cemeteries, where there are all shapes and sizes of headstones, everyone at the VA cemetery has the same exact one -- a slab of white marble with a curve at the top and simple etching of the name, dates, and religious symbol on the front. There is also a number etched into the back of each one, the meaning of which I still don't understand. The uniformity is nice and to see the rows and rows of white stones lined up is breathtaking. The old folk also liked this a lot and many made comments and/or caressed the stones as if to test them out. The spot chosen by Dear's aunt is especially nice, next to a big tree with a bench and also by a spigot. I think there is some feng shui belief associated with choosing certain burial spots, which I find interesting, since as Christians, do you really care where your physical body is rotting away at on Earth? When everything was finally done and we were back in Queens, it was already 3pm. Dear had already arrived in GA and was settling in to his room and such.

It has been less than a week without Dear, but I've already had many inquiries into how I'm handling daily chores like cooking and cleaning and I've even had offers for me to stay over. I don't know, do people just think I'm that incapable? More on how I'm holding up in a later post. It's been a crazy long day/week.

Bend it like R______n

2007-10-03T18:48:00.000-05:00

My biggest hurdle right now is bending my leg beyond 90 degrees. I have just enough strength to be able to walk without a brace and crutch most of the time (though I feel wobbly sometimes). Every day I do killer bending exercises which make my knee and thigh feel like I have early arthritis coupled with a burning sensation. Since I can't reach the minimum 120 degrees with ease at week 5, the p/t had to force it the other day. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, since I had prepped myself throughout the week, unlike the previous week where I felt tears squeezing out of my eyes just as he squeezed my leg. I had to flail my upper body just to distract myself and I remember slapping the table in defeat like those judo/taekwondo wusses do. :D This time wasn't as bad but was still bad enough that the receptionist said my face clearly showed my pain. But I think it was just the little push that I needed since it is difficult to force pain on myself and Dear can't bring himself to do it either.

In other suffering news, I am finding it more and more difficult trying to put a wardrobe together. I have to wear sneakers and I covet all the shoes, flip flops, boots and sandals that I see on other ppl's feet as I mostly look at the floor to make sure I don't step on uneven ground. It is good to finally be able to wear pants though, now that I don't have to wear the ridiculously large leg brace (I was afraid I'd have to go buy more skirts). But somedays I just give up on being publicly presentable (I really need to go shopping and to get a haircut!) and carry my crutch around as an accessory/excuse.

Baby steps

2007-09-16T20:47:00.000-05:00

I took 3 steps all on my own today (no brace, no crutch)! It was quite by accident -- I finished one set of exercises and I wanted to do the next set by the coffee table. Without thinking, I just walked and I didn't realize what happened until afterwards. Woo hoo! I'm also starting to gain more flexibility in the knee (I can bend to 90 degrees with minimal effort and beyond 100, if forced) and more strength in my leg muscles (my quads feel less like flan and more like a medium steak). I think my progress is related to having the stitches removed. The stitches were so tight that almost every movement I made pulled and pinched that part of my flesh.

So it has been a huge relief to not have the stitches, though getting them removed was not exactly a fun experience. I must be super-sensitive because it actually hurt when the nurse was plucking at the stitches to cut them out. What's worse was that one of them got stuck and she kept tugging at it. The doctor even came in to help, to no avail. In the end, it was just a little piece stuck and she gave me a pair of tweezers to pluck it out at home. I still can't bring myself to go prodding around my knee though. The doctor, however, thinks everything looks great (minimal swelling, small scars, tendon rock solid) so I am glad.

I still can't decide whether or not I think my doctor is so great that I would recommend him. But when I was waiting in the doctor's office, a few patients raved about how great he is. (They are seeing him for knee replacements, which sounds like a horrifying experience -- 100 times worse than a simple ACL reconstruction -- so TAKE CARE OF YOUR KNEES!!) My physical therapist (who is truly great) also tells me that every patient of my doctor that he sees turns out great. The P/T aide was also very impressed by how clean my knee is (whereas I still think it's gross-looking); he said he's seen knees still bruised with ugly scars by week 3. But I am still doubtful.

My next goal: to walk more freely this week (be it sans brace or going on just one crutch) in public. I am also eager/intimidated by the idea of taking the subway to work tomorrow (I've been spoiled by Dear chauffeuring me around for the past 3 weeks) but I really want to be able to.

The days after

2007-09-06T18:15:00.000-05:00

The day after the surgery, I was awoken by the doorbell at 8 in the morning. Some guy had come to deliver a medieval-looking thing, called a Constant Passive Motion (CPM) machine. I say this machine is medieval in that it is a pure torture device. After your leg is strapped in, the machine moves and bends your knee according to the degree that you set. My doctor orders it to begin at 60 and to increment it each time I use it (which is at least 2 hours, 2x a day). Imagine all that inner scar tissue being ripped with each motion.

I am somewhat surprised about all the surgery-related people that have called me (and I was going to give a fake contact number :D). One of the nurses from the hospital called me the following day to make sure I was feeling OK, as did the doctor's secretary. In a groggy state, I made a follow-up appointment thinking that I wouldn't feel well enough to even see him in 2 weeks but now I think I will be ready. A doctor/PA also called me two days after to ask how I was doing; he told me I could cut my Vicodin pills in half if I wanted a less potent dose.

Two days after surgery, I also had to start physical therapy again. I was half an hour late because it took me probably an hour to shower and change, 15 minutes to finally make it downstairs to the car, and another 15 minutes to make it up the three steps leading to the PT office. I was in so much pain the therapist was afraid to touch me. It didn't help that my brace has super Velcro that takes forever to unlatch. I think going so soon after the surgery was pretty useless. The appointment 2 days after that was much more fruitful.

Now that the pain has subsided, I am able to do more exercises on my own. Today I was able to do some leg lifts without pulling up my leg with my arms! It was slow and a bit painful, but I was finally able to! I think it was partially psychological because you just know there will be some pain. To push me along, the therapist had shocked my muscles at the last session to force them to contract. It hurt like crazy (kinda like when I had acupuncture and the guy increased the frequency) and actually made me scream out in pain. But I have to get going on this! I looked at the prescription of activities given to the P/T for me to do and it looks like I'm behind! Some people are able to walk without crutches and/or brace by day 14 but I don't think that I can achieve that in just 4 days.

I am very eager to have the stitches removed next Wednesday though. I feel some of them pulling when I do certain motions and sometimes it itches a lot. And looking at the stiff, black threads all knotted up in my flesh when I'm changing the dressing is freaky. I would take a picture, but I'll spare you the grossness.

Operation: knee

2007-08-30T11:15:00.000-05:00

The anesthesia fully wore off yesterday and I tasted the full-fledged pain for the first time. Now that the pain has settled a bit (or I'm just getting used to it), I can describe what brought me to this state.

SIGNS OF FOREBODING

I was slightly late getting to the hospital due to traffic so I didn't have much time to be nervous. But when the the registration receptionist wished me "Good luck" after she set up my file and payment, it started to sink in. That was nice of her, but it really wasn't very confidence-inspiring for me to hear, as if things could go wrong very easily with my procedure. Then when I was inside, the registration nurse asked me a bunch of questions and asked me if I wanted to sign the form for healthcare proxy (including a question about DNR) -- another non-inspiring moment as I waited nervously for my procedure to begin. I don't think I've ever been so nervous before, not for the SATs, not for interviews, not even when speaking in public.

MY VULNERABLE STATE

I was not dressed to impress in hospital-issued floppy mismatched robes (one with the opening in back and another on top of that with the opening in front) that were about eight sizes too big for me. And since I hadn't eaten or imbibed in over 12 hours I probably had hunger breath and dry mouth. A PA, anesthesiologist, and resident/fellow (is there a difference?) came to talk to me, almost repeating the same thing over and over. None of them seemed to appreciate my sarcasm (or maybe I just wasn't very funny). The PA didn't seem very friendly either but he did draw a crooked arrow pointing to my left knee to prevent future lawsuits (I had to sign a statement that they made a mark). The fellow was helpful though -- I finally understood the entire procedure and he added the doctor's initials above the arrow to make it clearer what the doctor had to do: They would make several small incisions on either side of the knee cap and replace my torn ACL with the graft of a cadaver's achille's tendon. They would then screw it in place with titanium screws, which may or may not set off metal detectors in airports (yes, I asked).

When I finally walked into the OR (the last normal walking I would do in a long while), I had to remove the outer robe, leaving me exposed to the cold air. My inner robe was held up by the fellow as I hopped onto the tall skinny table in the center of the room. The table had two swiveling arms at the side and laying there with my arms outstretched felt like I was about to be crucified in a walk-in freezer. Thankfully a nurse brought me a warm blanket and I tried to convince myself that I was just getting a spa treatment.

Before they would put me under, we had to wait for the doctor to finish up his other procedure and come say hello to me. (The nurses claimed the doctor would talk to me before the procedure; he has a bunch of peons to do his bidding while he just shows up for the main task.) Finally the doctor strutted in, asked me how I was doing, signed something on the door, and walked out. The anesthesiologist had already stuck an IV in my wrist and when the doctor was ready to begin, he injected something into the tube. Within seconds I thought the huge lights overhead looked fuzzy (like when you use the blur filter in Photoshop). I don't remember anything else until slowly waking up in the recovery room and hearing hospitalspeak.

I tried to enunciate my need for my glasses as three female voices bent over me. I heard my doctor say something about it going great as he patted me on the shoulder and asked how I was doing. I managed a "tired." Then someone came and took x-rays of my leg. I remember Dear walking into the room and then leaving shortly after, leaving me to rest.

My mouth and throat were really dry and I asked for apple juice. I downed two cups like they were nothing. (Little did I know that those cups would lead to my doom later.) The nurse then talked me into coherence. Everything was going hunky dory (except for a slight throbbing in my knee) until a doctor (or was it the PA or another resident?) came over with the x-rays. He pulled the nurse aside, said something to her, and then walked over to me. He said that the doctor would have to come back and look at the x-rays because something looked weird to him. He reminded me of a sleazy car salesman who isn't telling you the whole truth and was evasive when I asked him questions. Great! And I thought I was doing really well because everyone around me was getting nauseous and needed extra meds while I was already being rolled to the discharge area.

Apparently peeing is a sign that you can go home and I really needed to go so they wheeled me into the bathroom, picked me up and planted me on the throne. It was a relief! However I would not get to go home. Another patient of my doctor (her procedure was after mine -- I remember seeing her in the admitting area) was also brought over and she relieved herself shortly after me. Unlike me, however, she got ready to go home while I waited. She got her crutches lesson, her belongings from her locker, her street clothes, and she was put into a wheelchair.

An hour after they told me that my doctor was turning back and was in the Lincoln tunnel and would arrive in 15 minutes, he finally showed up. He told the other patient that everything with her procedure went great but since I have such a tiny bone they had to use a shorter screw. This led to instability or something so that things were misaligned, whereas the other woman got a 30mm screw and hers is perfect. So he would have to go back in and insert what I understand to be the medical equivalent of a wall anchor that you use when hanging heavy objects in drywall or plaster. Meanwhile the other patient was saying goodbye, thanking the nurses, and wishing me luck.

What's worse was that I wouldn't be put under since I had those cups of juice (in the event that I would aspirate, whatever that means). Instead I would get an epidural, what I originally wanted but everyone told me the state of coma was better (including the first anesthesiologist). The second anesthesiologist seemed sleazy to me and it irked me to no end when he tried to convince me that the epidural was the better way to go instead of telling me the truth that it was my only option since I had had something to drink. He kept saying they would "take good care of me." If I had known what I know now and if I wasn't in a weakened state, I would have argued because in fact, the epidural is horrible. Besides the thought of a giant needle being inserted into your spine, it was just weird to not be able to feel your lower body. I was also shivering like mad (an effect of the anesthesia the nurse said) despite several blankets being piled on me.

THE SECOND TIME AROUND

I was told to sit up and hug a pillow so that the anesthesiologist could inject his torture. The needle didn't feel like much but as he injected, I felt a sharp twinge in my leg traveling through all the branches of the nerves in my leg and then total numbness. Soon after my legs felt like they were floating and then like they were disembodied. As uncomfortable as I was, at least I got to witness part of the procedure.

My doctor came in, talked some jive about the anesthesiologist being the best out there (yeah right, I think he pumped way too much crap into me) and told someone to get him the scrub nurse. (Yes, there is actually a nurse whose job is to put the outer scrubs on the doctor.) He also tried to butter me up by saying that I have good bones (no idea what that means). The table was raised and the doctor had some weird mitt-like paper object which he held my foot with. I had no idea he was even holding my foot until I saw my foot raised in the air. I appreciated that he was narrating his steps: he was painting iodine all over my toes and then down my foot and leg to prevent infection, just as he had done before, he said. The other two doctors that were there came over to help. Then the two helper doctors attached a sheet to these poles on either side of me to block my view. The doctor said I wouldn't want to watch anyway but I said I wouldn't mind. He ignored me and went on. :(

I heard him tell one of the other doctors to remove this stitch and that stitch. He asked me if I felt anything and thankfully the answer was no. The anesthesiologist came over and said he'd talk to me to keep me distracted or something. Of all things to talk about he asked if I was married and when I was going to have kids because "you have to have kids shortly after getting married." My favorite topic of all! Oh another reason to be put under!!

When he finally left me alone, I heard the doctor ask for a certain drill (I would be really interested in what kind of drills and drill bits he uses) and I heard the familiar whirring sound. Some other inaudible tasks later and then I heard him ask someone to wash up the area and close me up so that "we can all go home." He popped behind the sheet and said he'd go find Dear and tell him everything was done. Minutes later he came back, told me Dear must've stepped out, and then he was gone. When the other doctor was done closing me up, three people lifted me by the sheet under me and put me on a stretcher. I saw a giant blood-like stain where my hip had been and deduced that it was just iodine. Then the unbelievable discomfort began.

I was shivering; I moved my hand to my side and found a nice warm spot. It turned out to be my leg but I couldn't feel it at all! Nurses asked if I could wiggle my toes. I told my feet to move but couldn't tell if they were moving. Then I felt really warm and thirsty. I asked if I could have something to drink but since I had no lower body sensation, I could only have ice chips. The ice didn't help my thirst much and instead upset my stomach. It got progressively worse and started to feel like menstrual cramps times 100. I wanted to roll myself into a ball but couldn't move my legs. The nurse told me to take deep breaths and breathe out slowly. I also started to feel pain in my lower back. The nurse propped some pillows under me so that I was sorta laying on my side but it didn't help. I bent my good leg up and it felt better, but not completely. No matter what I did, I couldn't find a comfortable position and the pain in my stomach was only getting worse. The deep breathing helped a little but not enough. I asked for ginger ale in the hopes that I would burp out the gas (what everyone thought was the cause of my stomach pain) but the more I drank, the more it hurt. I thought the coldness was irritating my stomach so I asked for tea. It also made it worse and I thought it was the caffeine causing irritation. So I asked for room temperature ginger ale. I also got some saltines but they were so dry that I had to drink something in order to not choke, leading to more pain. I got Maalox and some anti-nausea medication. Finally, they convinced me to move to the chair and they wheeled me over to the other side of the room. In transporting me, they jiggled some burps out of me, but as soon as I was laying down again, the pain started.

Hours later, I still couldn't feel my lower body and since I had to pee in order to leave, I knew I would be in for the long haul since I couldn't even feel my bladder. With my cramps I was irritable to the nurses and I had a vision of what I would be like when I'm old and in a nursing home. I slowly started to get feeling in my feet and could push back on the nurse's hand so I got my crutches lesson. When I stood up and took a few steps, I felt wetness down my leg and I realized that my bladder was working on its own. Good thing the whole floor was empty and only the nurses witnessed my incontinence (I was too grouchy to be embarassed at the time). I lost balance and they wheeled the blasted chair (I think the deep recline of the chair contributed to my discomfort) over to me to transport me to the porcelain throne again but by then I was done. I insisted on sitting there for a while though, because sitting upright felt so much better. Hours later, I started to feel urges to pee. That, coupled with some practice on the crutches, led me to release more gas (both orally and anally, haha!). Finally, around three o'clock in the morning (only one nurse remained and she turned off most of the lights on the floor already), I drank some tea to wet my mouth and had some bites of a muffin since I hadn't really eaten in over 24 hours. I struggled to change into my street clothes, got put into a wheelchair, and finally left the hospital. I was put into the back seat of the car so that I could keep my leg elevated. When we got close to home, I felt a similar cramping as before in my lower abdomen but now realized that it was my full bladder talking to me. (Even if I had realized this earlier, I don't think I would have been able to control my bladder to release the liquid.) Dear went upstairs to get his rolling office chair so that I wouldn't have to struggle with the crutches while still partially numb and we made it just in time for me to pee for 5 minutes straight. Each time I thought I was done, the liquid would continue to accumulate, and I kept going. This also happened several times throughout the night.

LESSONS TO LEARN

Petite people are built differently! The anesthesiologist shouldn't have given me such a high dosage because it really shouldn't take me more than 24 hours to fully regain feeling in my lower body (I continued to have labored peeing throughout the following day). And the doctor, I guess, never really worked with people of my size because I wouldn't have had to go in twice if he got it right the first time (I'm still debating whether or not he's a good enough doctor for me to recommend him). Now on to recovery....

In sickness and in health

2007-08-28T10:28:00.000-05:00

As if there were any doubt, I have to reiterate that I have the best-est Dear in the world (beware, this is a mushy post). Let me count the ways:

He dropped me off at the hospital early yesterday morning, rushed home to finish the laundry, and then came back out to the City to pick me up.

He then waited hours with me (until 3am to be exact) until I was ready to leave the hospital (more on why it took so long in another post), foregoing dinner and sleep.

He made jokes about the pink kidney bean-shaped bedpan when I felt nauseous enough to throw up (but didn't).

He supplied me with a walkie talkie so that he can answer my every beck and call, including helping me pee, preparing meals, helping me change, helping me exercise, putting on my leg brace, and semi-arranging the flowers my co-workers sent me.

He set up a laptop by the bed so that I can do work (and blog, of course). He also set up the TV in case I get bored otherwise.

He slept on the couch so that I would have maximum room sleeping and wouldn't be disturbed.

He picked up my narcotics early this morning.

Tomorrow he will drive me to my physical therapy appointment in the city.

Queen of Queens

2007-08-22T21:27:00.000-05:00

If I had my druthers, Queens would not be my borough of choice to live in, though it isn't as bad as that borough (we all know which I'm referring to, of course), and being in FH (probably the only area I would dare to call home in Queens) somewhat makes up for it. But two things that Queens has got a step up on above other parts of the city: good ethnic food and the highest rate of circulation in the public library. I'm not so sure the second thing is exactly positive, but through my rose-colored coke bottle glasses, I'm going to say that I'm proud that people are READING. (Of course I'm sure it's those darn DVDs that people are really borrowing, but I can hope.)

In terms of ethnic food, we've recently had several tastes of so-called "premium" fried chicken, Korean style. It is fried chicken like I've never had before -- extra crispy, yet still juicy, no breading, and lots of different seasonings. Since I can barely handle heat, the ones I've tried are a combination of sweet, garlicky, and a bunch of other unidentifiable (but good) flavors. I recommend Kyo Chon, which seems to be a chain that's popping up all over the place, hands down over Unidentified Flying Chicken (UFC). My hope is to venture into NJ, where I've heard their Korean fried chicken is even better!

FoHi fo' real

2007-08-10T18:05:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to post pics of an especially inspiring apartment recently (or not so recently) featured on apartment therapy. The most interesting part -- this designer lives in Forest Hills too.

Commonly called a "landing strip" on AT, we also have this in our apartment entryway. I am still looking for a mirror though, and our little shelf needs some tidying up.

When we were home-hunting, we often saw apartments with built-in shelves that are only deep enough to display objects, not actually store stuff. I really like this idea of converting that space into one large display that frames a vase (or some other large object, rather than a bunch of tchotkes). If you look carefully enough, the vase sits on a bed of little stones, which I think is a great detail!

Speaking of conversion, I LOVE this idea of making the front hallway closet into a little office. I think it's enclosed enough to keep you away from distractions, yet just roomy enough to work. I would do well to learn at least a little of her storage/organization solutions (I am quite dissatisfied with our office).

I also like how the galley kitchen is a breakfast bar but also serves as an entertaining bar when viewed from the living room.

Another lesson to learn: combining dining space into the living room.

And what a great way to use the hallway -- a dressing space.

The bedroom reminds me a lot of a hotel room (not sure if that's good or bad), especially with the console table used as a nightstand/writing desk. But as with hotel rooms, I like how the space is compact, combining several functions for the room as a whole (sleeping/lounging/sitting areas), as well as for each piece of furniture.

One of the sitting areas -- Note how the floors are stained darker. Many apartments (including ours) have that blond-colored wood and I've always wanted darker floors.

I want to do this, but I am looking for a long dresser to go with the mirror we have.

Interestingly, one of the complaints/critiques about this apartment that many people pointed out is that it looks too much like a catalog. But is that such a bad thing? I don't want to see a "lived-in" space b/c that often just means it's cluttered.

* * *

While I have my FH pride, I'll say that we tried the somewhat famous Nick's pizza last night. I called in our order for pick-up, which was a good thing, since there were a few groups outside waiting even though it was 9:30 on a weeknight. I was worried that not eating the pizza right away would cause the crust to get soggy, but surprisingly, it didn't. I think the secret to that is slightly charring the bottom, which I'm not crazy about. I do like the thin crust and the plentiful toppings (big hunks of fresh cheese too), all for less than $20 for a large pie (enough to feed at least 3 adults). The fresh basil gave it a nice flavor too. And I think it was even better when I heated it up for lunch today. The prosciutto flavor really sunk in and wasn't too salty. How does this compare to my favorite all-time pizza ever? Nick's is good, but it doesn't beat Totonno's (it's also elevated in my eyes for being in my old 'hood in Brooklyn *sniff*). I *heart* Totonno's, even if their decor is cheesy (think disposable cups even when you eat in), it''s a bit overpriced, and it's crazy far.

Therapies

2007-07-31T20:41:00.000-05:00

My upper left leg feels like a big hunk of fresh mozzarella. While I would normally be happy about having so much cheese in my possession, it is not such a happy state of affairs. After just one month of hardly using my left leg, my leg has atrophied before my very eyes, without me even noticing it until yesterday, when the PT poked and prodded me, pointing it out. So begins my road to strength and full motion, before I'm smacked down again, strung with a graft and immobile for another few weeks, inactive for a few months.
My first session of PT was more strenous than I thought and I felt self-conscious about being watched for so long. It ended with electrotherapy, similar to the acupuncture, but without needles, and hence quite relaxing. But I'm not looking forward to continuing -- with two sessions per week, this is going to be very time-consuming and expensive! :(

Walking on sunshine

2007-07-27T22:28:00.000-05:00

A huge weight lifted from me: Orthopedist said it was OK to put weight on my leg and that I should fully bend/straighten my knee when walking. So I did a whole bunch of walking (and spending) today (not the best weather for walking, but I'll take it). All those weeks of pent up walking and being chained to three positions (sitting, limping, leaning on one leg) vanished as I ran half a bazillion errands. I better enjoy this freedom while it lasts, since I'll soon be on crutches for a while. Instead of the usual graft from a cadaver, I am hoping I get a bionic knee.

Sidenote #1: Going to the orthopedist reminded me a lot of going to the dentist. I started off with multiple x-rays that the technician made with this thing that he swung around to get various views of my leg. I wonder if the surgery will be just like getting my wisdom teeth removed (a process I kinda enjoyed).

Sidenote #2: I can walk without a cane but still pretty slow. It's frustrating to see people speed up after getting around me and I'm even more embarassed that they don't understand that I have a real reason for being slow (I don't like lollygaggers either!). I liked how the cane at least made people feel guilty about not offering me a seat on the subway (even if they still didn't ultimately give me a seat). Now I can't even illicit that guilt out of them. :T

Woe is me

2007-07-15T17:33:00.000-05:00

My life has not been the same since last Wednesday. I called about my MRI results and I've been depressed ever since. Like the jock that I am (ha ha), I tore my ACL (that's the anterior cruciate ligament, to you non-jock types). The report said the ligament is completely torn and the general doc said that I will need surgery. Now I just need to find someone who can fix me up like new. (The orthopedic surgeon the general doc recommended moved, wasting my entire summer Friday.) It's such a slow process....

I am so tired of hobbling around with a cane. Using the cane so much has put strain on my wrists, ankles, and other knee. I hate not being able to get from place to place, running errands, doing household work without either help from others or pain. I see people running around, jumping, bending down, rushing down stairs and I long to do the same. I feel like everyone is whizzing by me while my life is at a standstill (or a slow limp, at best). When I struggle down the infinite subway stairs, I think about sliding down the banister as I did in elementary school before I realize that I would have no way of stopping myself at the bottom other than crashing onto the dirty platform floor. *sigh* It particularly sucks that there are many opportunities to do lots of activities (biking, swimming, walking) now that it is summer.

But one little positive with my slowing down, is how I notice/appreciate things a little more. Some observations:
- I'm able to hone my sarcasm with the stories I tell of how I get hurt. Only one person believed I am crippled because of my wrestling with Dear. Now what else I can make up?
- I've only had one person (a youngish, married male) give up a seat for me on the subway. He got off two stops after, so it wasn't a big deal for him but at least he got up, unlike the myriad others who've taken no notice of my injury. But I guess it's also fair to add in that most of the time I have a seat anyway because I take the local train close to the last stop.

Just like a day at the spa

2007-07-06T18:18:00.000-05:00

Except there's harsh flourescent lighting and it's unbearably cold. And instead of a plush robe you get a flimsy gown that doesn't close right, leaving you exposed to the cold, sanitized surroundings.Oh and you're stuffed into this giant plastic tube that makes weird hammering and vibrating noises instead of some soft music playing in the background. (I still managed to drift to sleep though.) Such was my experience getting an MRI today. At least there was no pain involved (I just had to stay very still and at times I thought I felt weird static sensations across my leg and as if my blood was pulsating down my leg). I get results in three days....

Hello furniture!

2007-07-05T18:43:00.000-05:00

This July 4th holiday was such a ruse -- barely enough time to relax before it was time to go back to work again. :( But it was a well-needed break. Dear and some friends finally moved some old furniture into our apartment and it is a marked difference to live with furniture versus without (even if that furniture is not the prettiest thing out there). I thought it would be a huge thing to finally get a dresser, to not have to live out of a suitcase and some shopping bags, but I don't notice much difference, just that my clothes are in a different place higher above the ground. (Maybe I just need to get more clothes? I feel like I wear the same things over and over again and now I know it's probably not because I can't find things.)

The big difference is in the living room. We got a hand-me-down table and chairs from Dear's aunt and I had remembered it to be quite ugly but for some reason or another Dear was guilted into taking the set. It's not as ugly as I recall (though we won't be winning any interior design awards with it either) but it will do until I find the table I want that is right for the space. The surprising thing though, is that after some organizing, I feel really comfortable sitting at the table. (Maybe that's why dining chairs are built a certain height to fit a table, unlike slouchy camping chairs paired with a folding conference table.)

We also switched the position of the sofa and it opens up the space so that it's actually welcoming. When I walked into the living room this morning, and again after coming home, I felt happy being there, enjoying the space, instead of wanting to block out my surroundings by turning on the TV.

how the living room is currently arranged

We left a pathway for the movers to deliver the credenza we ordered but I kinda like the wide open space so I would want to leave like this afterwards too but it's so crowded by the dining table.

possibility A

Once the movers are done, I was thinking of moving the recliner over to the other side but I'm not sure whether or not that will make the space feel closed again.

possiblity B

The recliner is quite bothersome (even though it is pretty comfortable)!

More accu-torture

2007-07-02T19:07:00.000-05:00

Sunday was the worst treatment yet: the vibrations were very strong and instead of the soothing numbness at the end, there were spastic intervals of irregular vibrating current, as if there were power surges going through the building every so often. :_( The acunpuncturist also mentioned that while my tendon is healing (I certainly feel that too), he is not certain what's going on with my knee (which feels as stiff as before) and if I'm not better by the next appointment, I may have to get an MRI. All this time I thought Chinese medicine was a safe alternative (I hate taking drugs, etc.) but in the end even centuries-old therapy has to rely on Western technology. What did they do before the MRI?

Crab attack!

2007-06-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

We bought blue-craw crabs this weekend (2 dozen mediums for $8!) while out on Long Island.

Dear deciding which crab to clean next

We (more like Dear, who are we kidding?) sorta stopped up the sink so that the crabs could have one last swim. They were kinda cute crawling all over each other and flipping themselves over. We thought (for about a minute) about keeping some as pets.

This guy (yes, they were all male crabs) lost his claw but you could see a new one growing (left side of photo); check out the ferociousness of his full-sized claw! After seeing that the claws could re-generate, I toyed again with the idea of keeping a few as pets and ripping out their claws once in a while. :D Too bad the claw meat is not the most delicious part of the blue crab....

Cleaned crabs -- do they know what lies in store for them?

I moved too slow to capture a pic of the crabs in the steaming pot, but it basically looks like the above. One ornery fellow managed to jump out of the wok, onto the floor. Not sure if that killed him or not but he snapped his claw off. I quickly picked him up, rinsed him off and threw him in. Dear put chopped scallions and julienned ginger on top -- very simple. In just a few minutes, we were ready to eat!

Yummy!

I laid down newspaper on the table for easy clean up (no, we did not eat off the newspapers, as we saw is the custom in Maryland).

Tools of the trade

Since we got home late, we didn't start eating until 9 or so. It took about 3 hours to finish up but that meat was so sweet, juicy, and delicious! Dear realized that he has an upcoming appointment for bloodwork and was concerned about his cholestrol so he just ate a few and removed all the meat from the rest of the crabs so that he could make crab cakes! Poor Dear -- it took him forever to take out what amounts to less than a pound of lump crab meat. :( After a while, the mallet (for the claws) was causing too much noise so Dear switched to a nutcracker, which I think is a more effective method anyway. It was much harder to save the claw meat so I ended up eating about 12 of those at the end!

When cleaning up, I pondered saving the steaming liquid where all the juices from the crab had dripped down into, but refrained. That liquid must be so good though! I wonder if the liquid is more salvageable from a crab boil? I'd like to try that next but Dear is all about the steaming. :T

Pins and needles

2007-06-25T17:56:00.000-05:00

You know you're getting old when things snap, crackle, and pop when you do something simple like attempt to catch a ball and turn quickly to toss it to someone else. After landing somewhat weirdly on my left foot, I felt my knee lock for every few steps that I walked but not much pain (yet). I iced it as quickly as I could, but after sleeping through the night, I still had trouble walking (not sure if that was because I was afraid to put weight on the leg, which would cause the knee to lock, or because there were spurts of pain depending on the position I stood in). We went to get a cane from my in-laws so that I wouldn't have to put weight on my leg -- I was so worried that I had torn a ligament or meniscus (Google is hypochondria's worst enemy!). Then I went to the acupuncturist (a first for me) this afternoon.

His office is in one of those old tenement-like buildings in Ctown and it was quite interesting to walk/limp up those three flights of stairs. Unlike other doctor's offices in Ctown in similarly old and narrow buildings, this one had no markings at all on the outside and I thought it was all residential apartments. Upstairs, the first thing you see when you walk through the door is an old sink by the window, then some chairs and couches throughout the kitchen-like room. You would have no clue that this is a doctor's office except if you look carefully, a few certificates and doctor's credentials are hung up in the corner.

The old dude, which Dear has seen for various ankle twists and a knee injury, didn't try to be friendly at all, even though I was there with my FIL, who can be quite friendly and was trying to turn on the charm. My terrible Chinese was an embarassment, which I think added to his condescension towards me, and I ended up having to explain myself in English. I'm not sure he fully understood though (he has a certificate from a SUNY so he must know enough English, right?). He started to press various parts of my knee which caused no reaction at all. Then he pushed one of his fingers into the back of my knee, right above the calf, and it started to hurt like crazy, but not enough for me to scream out instinctively. After a few more squeezes, he said he'd know for certain once I lay down. He walked through curtains and I almost lost him, not knowing where the curtains opened. A few more squeezes while I lay on my back, and then face down and he determined that I had twisted/pulled a tendon so that it is very inflamed. He disappeared for a few minutes and when he came back, I was so scared of the impending pain. He first swabbed some iodine on my calf and then stuck a needle somewhere. Then another and another (five total, I think). All I felt were pinpricks and miniscule sore points where the needles were. I thought I'd be safe from pain until he attached a bunch of wires to the ends of the needles, turned a few knobs on this old-looking machine and flipped a switch. The first set of exercises?/massage?/electrocutions? was a vibrating sensation and it hurt at times, but not too terribly. It felt like the moment right before a cramp would start where any slight movement could cause the entire muscle to cramp up, but prolonged over a 30-minute timeframe. This made me very afraid to relax my leg and I'm surprised my flip flops didn't just slide off my feet. At times, I also felt undulations of warmth around my legs (I didn't notice he had moved a heat lamp right over my leg). The warmth, coupled with the classical music being pumped from somewhere caused me to drift into sleep, despite the weird tingling in my leg and the loud talking in the other room. But my relaxation was disturbed by the acupuncturist coming back and switching the nodes to what he described as a numbness mode (I think the needles started to move in circular motions instead of hammering up and down). This was a new level of discomfort/pain/weirdness but I quickly got used to it. Before I could drift again, the treatment was over. Everything was removed and my leg felt stiffer in the calf, but freer to bend at the knee. Now, as I sit, the muscle just feels very tired and sore, like I need to stretch it, but I'm afraid to. And I have another treatment Thursday. Hope I'll be healed to non-limping by this weekend! (I also wonder whether an orthopedist's treatment would be more effective?)

Bored meeting

2007-06-13T21:47:00.000-05:00

I rushed home today to attend the annual (and my first ever) co-op board meeting. Not many people gathered in this dingy room in the basement (it'd be perfect to make that into a gym) while this man droned on about the financials. I want to say that it was a waste of time and that I now know to not attend in the future (so boring and all polite talk to keep people somewhat satisfied that they won't move out) but I'm afraid I'd miss something important if I didn't show up.

What was truly a waste of time was the time described on the agenda as "new business." People went off on complaints that the corporation really can't do much about -- noise. Maybe we're lucky to have relatively quiet neighbors, but gimme a break, you live in an apartment building, there is going to be noise. You really don't need to dwell on the issue for longer than 10 minutes. This one woman, though, kept going on, unsatisfied with each suggestion. The management will check the above apartment for the proper carpeting... but what if...? She was told to keep documentation of the noise to make a strong case in court... but how much documentation is enough? Keep a log, write letters, bring in neighbors/super/doorman to be witnesses.... But she wasn't interested in "winning a court case"... ad infinitum.

Then there was a quick, unorganized vote for the new board. When trying to give a description of their work, they did not make the work seem appealing -- they described how they've been deciding between carpet samples for the past several months. In the end, I made an uninformed decision (no one described their qualifications and we were choosing 4 members out of a pool of 5 -- not much choice). It kinda pisses me off about this democracy thing b/c I'm not sure it works. And is there a reason why co-ops are so prevalent in NYC and nowhere else throughout the U.S.? I think it's all a scam. Either that, or liberal NYers just have nothing better to do than to create extra bureaucracy, even where they live. Maybe it's both.

Foiled once again!

2007-06-09T14:06:00.000-05:00

I really wanted to finish sanding the doors today, but I got lazy/distracted (yes, I finished painting the hallway, however shoddy it came out). To fend off the whines we'll likely hear about wedding pictures come Father's Day, I turned on the computer to do some uploading and editing. After running into some issues, I started to surf (oh, how I've fallen behind on my regular reading!) and here I am blogging about nothing. I am due a blog on Fallingwater and more fascinating topics, but I've only had time to update the Pittsburgh posting with pictures. My perpetual to-do list (perhaps the list would disappear if I actually did these tasks):
- sand, then paint doors
- create parent wedding albums
- clean/organize
- hang shelves

* * *

Kung fu or writing? I'm trying to decide whether I should take a kung fu class (need the exercise) or a writing class. The woodworking class I was going to take is cancelled :( so I now have time/money to pursue other interests. But which one? Help me decide!

Just one wall left!

2007-06-04T22:39:00.000-05:00

And six doors and a whole bunch of trim. Three of the doors have been sanded, three more to go before I slap on the first coat of paint. I am worried about the doors since I'm painting them a light (almost white) color and they are currently blue with bright red panels. I am also not looking forward to sanding (am I ever?). I am so sick of sanding that I started to skip the in-between sanding.

My driving motivation: finish before the heat really starts. I couldn't get anything done the last few days because it was so hot and humid. I was so afraid of things not getting done in time that I left work on time today just so that I could take advantage of the cooler weather. But now I am so tired and I still have a wall left to do. :( There once was a time when I thought we would get a fixer-upper and fix it up exactly the way we wanted it by ourselves. If I can't even finish painting, how could I even think to do that?

City of Pitts

2007-05-22T19:38:00.000-05:00

Pittsburgh -- don't go unless you have to (I was there for my bro-out-law's graduation). No offense to Pittsburgh readers, but it's called Pittsburgh for a reason -- it's the pits, an entire burgh of pits. I think it may very well be the worst city I've ever visited, probably on par with Staten Island (another wannabe city). I know I am very NYC-centric, but Pittsburgh is really terrible. We were bored with it after a day, everything was closed by 9pm, and it was desolate even when light out. There was plenty of traffic though to slow us down and to remind us that this is a terrible place to live/visit. One thing I will give it is the nice old buildings (the new ones are nothing much). My bro-out-law's 2 bedroom pre-war apartment, with tall ceilings, three fireplaces, and great moulding, takes up half the floor and would probably be beyond the millions if found in Manhattan (or it would be subdivided into at least 2 separate apartments and still be pretty expensive). It, however, like most everything else in Pittsburgh, is in sad shape and in dire need of some fixing up (the bathroom and kitchen were grimy and would do well with some new cabinets and new flooring).

Since we were in the city for the graduation, I thought we could make it into a nice little trip. But every guide that I consulted didn't offer anything truly interesting: zoo (not a fan of animals locked up in cages for my entertainment), conservatory (seen one plant, seen them all), Andy Warhol Museum (closed on Monday, the day we had free, not that I particularly enjoy his work and can you really beat the MOMA's modern art collection?), the Duquesne Incline (huge disappointment -- see below). So surely I thought there would be some good food to redeem this sorry town.

It's a sign when what you're known for is a sandwich (basically bar food) whose signature is a pile of fries (albeit hand-cut) and vinegar coleslaw thrown on top of the meat of your choice. Granted, the sandwich was not bad (but it's very hard to not have me smile after eating BACON!), I just really didn't need to travel so far for a sandwich that I can make myself (plain white bread!).

Bacon sandwich with Pittsburgh Steelers' stadium in background.

As for the incline, it seemed pretty interesting when I read about it, but when we got there, it was basically just an old outdoor elevator. On our way up, I was so scared because it felt like we were floating in mid-space -- only one end of the car is attached to the wire and with your back to it, you don't see anything but the buildings below. It didn't help that I really needed to use the bathroom (we were trying to get rid of our beverages before we boarded the plane, lest it cause trouble on the airport security line) and the cranky man who sold us the tickets said there'd be bathrooms at the top so I was anticipating quick relief. However, he lied! There was not much at the top besides a few display cases of old paraphernalia, a souvenir shop and a viewing platform. We walked around a bit but it was mostly just residential, with a few bars. The place was vastly empty so there was no way to sneak into the bathroom. In the end, I kept my urges at bay and twenty minutes later, we were back at the bottom of the hill. *yawn* I imagine it would be a more interesting ride at night, with all the city lights, but nothing really spectacular during the day.
Pretty nice-looking structure from the outside (note the old, wooden tracks of the incline, much like the Cyclone in Brooklyn, but far less exciting).

View from the (bathroom-less top) -- click to enlarge.

But the entire weekend was not a waste. I finished reading The Kite Runner (mostly while in the airport), I got to sleep for many hours, and the highlight of it all: Fallingwater. That little sidetrip was so wondrous and awe-inspiring that it deserves a post of its own.

On mothering

2007-05-15T21:28:00.000-05:00

I am the worst daughter-(out-law) there is. Instead of celebrating my mother this past Sunday, I asked her to help me sand/paint. That didn't happen because she overslept (or did she fake it just to get out of it, like so many others have?). But worse yet, after having a preemptive Mother's Day dim sum brunch on Saturday, I went food shopping with her, where she gave me the list of things I should do as a daughter-in-law (it was a very long shopping outing!):

Treat my out-laws as my parents... Boy, what would she think if she knew that I refer to them as out-laws, let alone not calling them "mom and dad" (which I still have major issues with and which she really wants me to do). Don't get me wrong, they are nice, kind people, but I see my *occasional* annoyance at them as being as familiar with them as I can get, like when a child will yell back at his mother but if someone says something bad about her, he'll get defensive and say 'Don't talk to my mother like that!'
Visit my out-laws at least once a week... This seems nearly impossible to me -- there are just 2 days in the weekend, TV to watch during the week (haha, j/k on that one), butt-loads of things to clean each week after returning home from work, plus cooking, etc. We barely have time to do all these things, how can we fit this in? And does that mean never visiting my parents lest we miss the weekly visit to the out-laws?
Bring over fruit when visiting my out-laws... Completely outlandish, especially since I haven't done this in such a long time it would be weird to start up again. Plus I was once chastised for buying bad fruit and now when we try, there is this big to-do about how we shouldn't have, how they have so much fruit already, and the fruit is pushed back and forth for at least 15 minutes total that it's easier to just accept the fruit they got us. I know I'm breaking the Chinese code of being super-polite but we have to stop the insanity!
Help my out-laws with chores around the house... Like the fruit thing, I tried in the past but it just doesn't work. I once washed the dishes while my MIL was on the phone (the only way that I could do so) and afterwards there were exclamations of things being done wrong and in the wrong place.

But according to my mother, if I do these things, they will think "What a great daughter-in-law I have." Fat chance, they probably hate me already. Sometimes being Chinese is too restricting -- there are too many expectations and enough guilt to coat _____ (fill in blank here, I can't think of a way to finish the metaphor -- the back of a spoon? a couple of macaroons?). And being American, I get the "visit your in-laws once a month but call them every so often" from magazines like "The Nest." Don't they know Chinese people (or at least I do) have issues communicating? I can't imagine picking up the phone and calling.

Anyway, while also at this dim sum gathering, we got our first face-to-face, older generation, "Go have children, produce grandchildren for your parents" thing. As if! I don't think we ever really got the "When are you going to get married" thing from the older generation even though we dated for over 6 years, but 6 months into marriage, we get this crap. Is the sole purpose of marriage to have children? Why is there so much interest in having grandchildren -- to see that the family is not dying out? What peeves me most about the incident was that I hadn't met the woman until 5 minutes before she audaciously questioned Dear. Troubling also is how my MIL shook her head and made a face when the stranger said 'grandchildren,' as if she didn't want any (or am I reading too much into it?).

Quick poll: how often do you visit your in-laws?

No-Knead bread, try 2

2007-05-07T22:05:00.000-05:00

I stayed up late last night to make some more bread.

9:18AM, Sunday: I mix the flour, yeast, and water in a bowl (notice the sun streaming through the kitchen so bright and early).

10:23 PM: After doing some housework, going to service, playing some softball, and eating dinner, I return home to my dough. (Notice the lack of natural light at this hour, even though there are so many hours of daylight now.)

10:33 PM: I punch down the dough, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rest.

10:51 PM: The dough has rested and I attempt to form it into a ball. However, the dough is too wet for my novice hands to handle. I barely fold it over onto itself but I think the idea is to stretch out the dough without breaking all the air pockets, which I think I was more successful doing than last time. Because of this inability to fold the dough over, there is hardly a crease in the final product (see below).

12:36 AM, Monday: The second rise -- the dough expanded slightly beyond the Silpat (have I mentioned how I love that thing?!). I'm not sure if this is because I didn't quite form it into a ball or because the dough really got a chance to rise this time (unlike attempt #1).

1:12 AM: The bread was thrown (rather sloppily) into the heated cast iron pot and covered a half hour earlier (I didn't get a picture at this point because I was afraid of losing the heat from the oven). Here it is with the cover removed to brown it. (Dear's modified ragu sauce is cooking beside it.)

1:30 AM: Finished product right out of the oven -- like I said, the dough was thrown in too sloppily and the pot was too hot to handle to clean up the dough on the edges. Unfortunately, it was too late to have fresh bread and I also had issues getting the loaf out (more on that later) so I left it in the pot overnight. The truly foolish thing I did was cover the pot so the next day all the condensation from the trapped heat moistened the crust. :(

10:32 PM: Bread wrapped in plastic after a few slices were taken for a simple sandwich. (Yeah, I know, we have a lot of clutter in the kitchen.)

This bread attempt came out a lot airy-er (see the giant air pockets above) and the inside is nice and soft and moist (but not like Wonder Bread-moist). I think I can get back the crustiness that I so desire by popping it back in the oven.

Some thoughts:
* This cast iron pot needs more seasoning so that the bread can be released more easily when done. Parts of the bread stuck to the bottom of the pot and there are little black specks on the bread's bottom as well. Hey, we all need a little iron right? :P j/k, I've had to cut/scrape/eat around those lovely bits of crust, losing even more of my favorite part. Other than the slight sticking, I like using this pot more than the enameled cast iron because it produces a higher loaf (much like what you would find in the store) and I don't have to worry about the pot handle being able to withstand the high temperature.
* Even though this bread takes little effort, it still takes quite a bit of time. I'm not sure if this is exactly worth it, but worth doing once in a while for fresh bread.
* I used different flour and yeast this time. I'm not sure if this contributed to better results but the Fleischman's yeast did not have as strong of a yeasty odor as the other one I used (forgot the name of that one and I can't find that unfinished packet). The King Arthur flour feels more fine to me than the generic store brand one. Again, not sure that makes a difference.
*I wonder if my dough is still too wet at the point of making it into a ball.
* I'd like to try using some whole wheat or multi-grain flour for a more healthful option next time. In the far off future, I'd also like to try adding some herbs, nuts, or olives.

Unrelated note: I had some Indian food on Friday and that has cured my Indian cravings at least for a while. More on that if I have time later this week.

Hodge podge

2007-05-07T22:04:00.000-05:00

Nora Ephron in this Sunday's NY Times Magazine: "Any catastrophe is good material for a writer."

I bought a bunch of used books this weekend (most women can't help themselves when clothes-shopping; Dear can't help himself around pens and kitchenware; I can't help myself around books!). I am looking forward to reading Kite Runner soon.

There is so much to read -- I want to cancel our weekend NY Times. I also have airline miles that are expiring so I ended up getting magazine subscriptions. "Blueprint" is proving to be an interesting read while Lucky magazine is the worst thing out there. It is basically a magazine of advertisements. They recommend so many things to buy each month I really don't know how people don't end up feeling overwhelmed. In just one feature, there are at least 3 different recommendations for a certain color blush -- how is that helpful to anyone (they don't rank which one is best, etc.)?

My mother asked me if I started writing yet, whether I'll be working on material for children or adults. She also was surprised that I don't make my living writing but that I work with websites instead. She wondered whether that was complicated and whether I have the skills for it (I've only been working with websites since I was in college more than seven years ago).

25 really is your body's peak. I never thought I'd get to the day where I realize that it takes me longer to heal from semi-strenuous activity (and longer to complete that activity, at that).

On ironing

2007-05-03T19:07:00.000-05:00

An odious household chore (though there are worse ones out there) is ironing. The vast majority of my clothes don't need ironing (especially now that I'm working in a casual environment) but shoo-wee, almost all of Dear's work clothes need ironing. Despite my pleas for him to get wrinkle-free shirts, his closet of wrinkle-full shirts persists. So any way to make the chore go by faster or easier helps.

When looking for an iron to buy, lots of people raved about Rowenta models. One person claimed that it made ironing a pleasure. This I had to see for myself. I chose the Rowenta Focus DZ5080 because it was on sale and the extra-pointy tip seemed to be a useful feature. For days I was actually excited to iron (this is related to my giddiness to start playing with any new toy but the iron is not bad either). We didn't yet have an ironing board (more on that later) so I actually brought my shiny new toy over to the out-laws'.The experience was not as mind-blowing as I thought for several reasons, the main one being that I was living in fear that I would electrocute myself -- the only available outlet at the time (without having to lug the ironing board upstairs) was one of those non-polarized ones that just couldn't hold on to the iron's plug and it hung loosely when standing still and jiggled out of place as I proceeded to iron. (Yikes, see, chores can be hazardous!) So when we finally got the heavy-duty ironing board from Target (I don't know what makes it heavy-duty -- do people need to iron weighty garments?) I was semi-psyched to iron again. Unfortunately that eagerness has died with each ironing task (definitely not a life-altering, nor pleasurable experience -- maybe I just need a maid? :P) though it does make ironing go by a little easier. (Watching TV while ironing helps too :P). My thoughts on the Rowenta Focus, in easy-to-read bullet form:
- The water compartment is pretty sizable (I can iron at least one shirt with one fill) and I like that it closes to prevent spillage.
- I like the handy thin little canister used to fill the water compartment for steam.
- I like the pointy tip (great for getting in between buttons or into corners).
- The stainless steel soleplate has been good so far (no scorch marks).
- I didn't really notice the advantage to having all those extra steam holes on the soleplate but the logic of it works for me (more holes=more steam).
- It is heavy (both a plus and minus). I notice the heaviness less as I use it more often but I think it also helps with getting rid of creases (I have used light irons before and they just suck, plain and simple).
- This no-drip thing really is a fallacy (water and holes -- it's gotta leak sometime), though this iron drips a lot less than other ones that I've used before.
- There are just 3 temperature settings and I never know which one to use for synthetics or blends.
- I'm not sure if there's much difference/use to the three lights that tell you whether the iron is too hot (red), not heated up enough (yellow), or just right (green) but it's cool to have.

Now my other issue -- I need to find a handy place to store both the ironing board and iron. This will require some closet re-arranging (way down on my to-do list).

Taxes are taxing

2007-05-01T22:13:00.000-05:00

I finally recovered from tax season to blog about it. It was the first time that we had to file taxes together and our styles of organization (or lack thereof) really showed through. I knew about (and have experienced firsthand) the squabbles/discussions newlyweds get into about chores (check), time spent with family (check), finances (check) but it didn't register with me about which filing status to use and more importantly, that you have to really coordinate to get this onerous task done. It didn't help that we had all sorts of statements and attachments (the co-op was a further complication that we're not familiar with). When all was said and done, our federal return was probably 50 pages thick altogether (state was only about 20 pages) and the checks we had to write were enough to pay for a kid's education in the third world. :(

This year was also different because I usually do my taxes manually (that tradition started years ago with a challenge to myself since I suck at math but it turned out to be quite interesting and educational) but Dear likes to use a program and we opted to go that route since we have all these complicated issues. TaxCut was pretty easy to use and I can see it being very useful if you use it every year (it compares and uses the previous year's info). I also liked how it compares all the different methods of filing (whether to itemize or not, whether to file separately or together) but it also got confusing at times since I entered in my info first thinking that I would go back later to adjust some things but there is no function that I know of to keep track of things that I wanted to return to. There were also times that I wish I could see what the IRS really wanted b/c I don't think I needed to fill out all those forms (TaxCut has this function but it's not very user-friendly). I also didn't like that all the pertinent info was not transferred to the state return and we had to enter all that again. But enough of my complaints, I just wanted to warn newlyweds that you should really set aside time to do taxes together (don't wait until the week before -- see story below) or just get a really good accountant that you can trust (not my preference since I haven't found one yet and I'm not sure it's worth paying so much more for anyway; plus I feel like you really own your fiscal situation instead of being clueless about it).

So as if it weren't apparent enough, it's never good to procrastinate! Here's my tax procrastination anecdote: with the two moves in the past few months, plus the wedding and apt. renovations (leaving me in a more disoriented state than usual), and the gathering of important financial documents for the mortgage while switching jobs, I have no idea where my packet of 2005 tax forms are. I usually have one folder that holds all this information but when I searched the usual spot in my parents' house I had every year but 2005. So I reasoned that it must be at my out-laws' since that's where we were living while applying for the mortgage. I thought it was in one of my bags there but couldn't find it. I then thought my backup copy on my computer would suffice. It did, until I realized that I needed the state forms as well. Unlike the federal forms, NYS' fillable PDFs do not save the information so all I had on my computer was a blank IT-201. So what did I do at 1am on April 16 after I thought the hard part was over? I started filling out the 2005 IT-201 from scratch. I was so frustrated that I saved an image of the form that I filled out, just in case. From there, I could fill in that one field needed for this year's return. grrr! Next year I'm hoping things will be less complicated (or we'll at least get used to it) and maybe I'll get organized in time. *sigh*

Color update

2007-05-01T21:34:00.000-05:00

I painted the first coat of a lovely gray in our little entry way. I can't wait to finish the second coat and then begin on the trim. I am hoping that the white trim will really make the gray pop. Funny how the colors I agonized the most over I like least and the ones that I was pretty nonchalant about I enjoy the most.

Some things to do:
- find a color for the main entrance door (I am leaning towards a glossy, primary blue)
- paint the hallway doors (after sanding them down, which looks daunting, with all the curves, ridges, and crevices)
- paint the hallway the same lovely gray as the entry way (I wish I discovered the gray earlier b/c I think I would have used it more throughout)
- get a runner (I saw an interesting idea in Blueprint magazine about connecting several small area rugs together -- I am toying with this idea)

It's a sign!

2007-04-21T10:36:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my mother told me, out of the blue, to write stuff so that I can make money (yeah, very random). She said I must make it interesting so that other people will want to read it. If only it were so easy.

Homemade bread

2007-04-15T22:32:00.000-05:00

I had been eager to try this famous no-knead bread that I first read about in Mark Bittman's weekly column in the NY Times, and now that I've tried it, I want to do it again! In the past, the idea of taking my frustrations out by punching dough seemed like a glamorous idea until I got tired of doing that halfway through. So I was very interested in this method where you just mix yeast, flour, and water together, let it sit for 12-18 hours, shape it, then let it rise again for 2 hours, then throw into a very hot, covered pan for less than an hour.

The results were pretty good (very crusty, with soft insides) but I think I need to practice it some more before I can say I mastered it. For one thing, I made a huge mess when I was trying to prepare the dough for the second rise. It was so sticky that I couldn't shape it at all and I think I handled it so much that it knocked some of the air out of it, leading to denser bread than I would have liked.

But overall, great bread (especially for a first try) for relatively little effort and extremely low cost. The leftovers were great toasted too. I sliced it thinly and topped it with some Japanese eggplant and minced meat from Deluxe in Ctown (courtesy of the 'rents) and it was like a fusion Asian bruschetta -- yummy!!

Needless to say, I would definitely try this recipe again and you can too:

No-Knead Bread
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1-1/2 hours plus 14 to 20 hours' rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1-1/4 tsp salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1-5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a a cotton towel (not terry cloth) [I used a Silpat instead] with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is OK. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Yield: One 1-1/2 pound loaf.
Recipe courtesy of The New York Times

Some things to keep in mind for next time -- I used a 7 qt. enamel cast iron pot, which led to a fairly flat and wide loaf. I would like to try our cast iron Dutch oven next (I think it is 5 qt. or so) so that I can get a higher loaf. Also, with the non-enamel cast iron pot, I don't have to worry about the handle being able to stand the high temperature. With the enamel pot, I had to unscrew the handle and substitute a metal cabinet door knob instead, which was a bit of a precarious situation (think scorching hot metal twirling and flapping around as you try to lift a heavy cover).

Groceries

2007-04-03T22:53:00.000-05:00

OK, so we're probably the only New Yorkers who've never tried FreshDirect before. I have a thing about it being environmentally unsound (every little thing packed neatly in cardboard boxes with lots of packing material to protect it from damage). But with my laziness, I probably would have gone that route long ago if Dear didn't have a thing about touching the food before he buys it. I think he also enjoys food shopping, seeing all the things in person, thinking of the meal possibilities, comparing items. And checking out the weekly ads for each market (Stop N-Shop, Pathmark, Waldbaums, Key Food) is like a sport for him. Like his parents, they spend hours looking at each ad, circling items of interest (even if they have little intention of buying the item). When we were dating, he'd seem distracted on the phone and I'd ask him what he was doing. His response: I'm reading [with the unspoken implication of "I'm really reading the fine print found in the ads"]. And of course, every supermarket ad whore knows that the markets in Manhattan have different items in their circular than the ones in the outer boroughs so somehow or other his father would go to the Pathmark near his workplace to pick one up every week. This obsessive behavior leads his mother to tease his father by calling the ads "his girlfriend" since he spends so much time with these printed materials. Not that she is removed from this obsession. Every Saturday morning used to be this uninterrupted time of "relaxation" where the ads would be passed from one family member to the next. I admit, I too fell victim to this on occasion (it's a great time suck, much like surfing the 'Net) but I usually only look through the ones for stores that I know I will visit and I also prefer the more organized and pretty circulars (such as Target). (Un)fortunately, this activity has slowed a little since our building absconds all the delivered ads before tenants can get to them (they think it looks uncivilized or some snobby thing like that). So Dear has had to resort to viewing the ads online, even though "it's just not the same." I prefer this method better though since he's forced to make a list and I don't have to shuffle through all the pages to remember what to get.

Anyway, this post has totally not turned out the way I thought because I really wanted to find out options for carrying groceries (not a worry for you FreshDirect folks). We recently decided to do the environment a favor by bringing along a few canvas bags with us (plus we have overflowing bags of plastic bags and don't need anymore). I think it works out pretty well except for when we have really heavy stuff (or we forget the bags at home). It is especially a pain to get from the car to the apartment. Things can get really heavy and so we also got an old granny cart (that is one piece of equipment that badly needs a re-design) which helps a lot. Unfortunately, even this so-called heavy-duty cart can't stand up to our burdens and it's on its last wheel, so to speak. We also had this portable folding hand truck that didn't last very long:
So, short of getting delivery or a donkey (not that pets are allowed), do we have any other options? How do you transport your groceries?

The half-anniversary

2007-04-03T20:38:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's almost been six months since we got married. We were reminded of this because the 10% off completion certificate from where we registered (Crate & Barrel, which mostly sucks for gift registries) expires at the 6-month mark. Well 6 months more or less because for some reason they decided to make the certificate expire 2 days before the full 6 months. So we went to C&B this past weekend and to our surprise, they let us return something we got for cash instead of giving us a gift card. We opted for the check since we still wouldn't have been able to get the item we really wanted, even with all the other gift cards we got. So C&B doesn't suck that much....

Frying fries

2007-04-02T20:55:00.000-05:00

One big cooking production that I don't mind as much is making fries from scratch. A few weeks ago, we needed to use up the big bag of potatoes we bought and that were beginning to sprout, so I peeled them all (skinning a knuckle and fingernail in the process), Dear cut them into strips, and we fried everything in a cast iron pot.

Cut potatoes, draining before the fry

Potatoes in the oil, with a splatter screen over them to help with cleanup afterwards.

After the first fry, potatoes we put them on racks to drain the oil.

When fries drained, we transferred them to a bowl to cool down.

Fries, after the second fry

We fried the fries a second time to give them crispness (first fry was to cook the potatoes through). Then we sprinkled garlic salt over them -- so good! My mouth waters to think about it now.

Complete meal: fries, steak, and corn

Creativity overload

2007-03-31T23:18:00.000-05:00

From the intranet's daily quote:
My future starts when I wake up every morning... Every day I find something creative to do with my life. — Miles Davis

And so, I'm looking for creative stuff to do. I am thinking of taking a woodworking class. I am also hoping to write more. And ideas for the apartment keep jamming my brain. Things I want to work on:
- storage in bathroom
- closet organization in the bedroom
- entryway

This past week I've done nothing but paint. I'm not thrilled with how the last wall came out (hence no pictures) though the trim in the foyer was surprisingly fast. That area is still a mess though. I am hoping to clean it up in the coming week and maybe another area will be considered 'done.'

Orange + food

2007-03-21T23:04:00.000-05:00

Colors for the dining area charette bin (no, I still can't decide):

Matt's chef table from tonight's episode of "Top Design"

(Photo from This Old House)

(Photo from IKEA)

I miss Brooklyn

2007-03-20T14:13:00.000-05:00

I was struck with Brooklyn-longing today after being reminded that it is the week to Dine In Brooklyn, Brooklyn's restaurant week. It shows that there are enough good restaurants in Brooklyn to garner enough publicity that they can do this for 4 years running. *sigh* When will there be this breadth of options in Queens? Or when will someone tell me about the secret dining options in Queens so that I can actually be able to go somewhere to eat a good meal besides having Chinese food in Flushing?

Saving coupon$

2007-03-20T13:22:00.000-05:00

It has been a glorious day of relaxation, minor organization, and just general vegging out. I could really get used to this life of houswifery and I can totally see why people become hermits (with the heat at a comfortable temp., sun streaming in through the windows -- why would you ever want to leave the apartment?).

But not everything has been sloth and play. I've been looking for a way to use up the hundreds of paint chips that I've gathered and I thought I'd make a coupon organizer. Yes, I love to clip coupons but I love even more to use the coupons! But I've never had a good system for organizing the coupons and I end up frantically searching for the one that I need while waiting on line at the market. So I created something, which still has some kinks in it, but should do for now:

OUTSIDE of coupon holder

INSIDE of coupon holder

I want to say that I had a lot of forethought and designated appropriate colors for each section, such as cool blues for "frozen foods" but I really didn't.

Gulp, tomorrow is my first day at the new job!

2007-03-19T22:50:00.000-05:00

Today I finally finished the second coat of paint in the alcove. Just when I thought I was done painting that area and we could move some furniture over, I realize that the moulding also needs to be painted. GRRRRR!! Who, in their right minds, would ever paint trim to be any other color other than white or off-white?! If the previous tenant had left it white-ish like she did with the living room, I'd be done by now!!
And for moulding, you have to really clean up/sand all the little nooks, otherwise the paint pools up in all those little details (as it already has) and it loses its profile. So not looking forward to this part. :(

[SIDENOTE: If you are interested, that unique-looking ladder was made by Dear's grandfather -- isn't that cool? It's a bit heavy, but I am proud to be able to use something he has made with his own hands, without the help of power tools. I've heard he was really good with his hands and I would have liked to meet him.]

Progress on alcove, or how to remove wallpaper

2007-03-17T16:42:00.000-05:00

I took Wednesday off and actually got some work on the apartment done. I am so unmotivated now, it is a struggle which I can't stand more, the mess of things unfinished or the labor involved to finish. Right now, I'm "working" on the little alcove area next to the living room. I dread even thinking about painting the hallway and doors (more funky colors to cover up!).

On Wednesday, I had some help with the sanding (which I detest more than the painting) and then I painted the first coat. Now I have just one coat left (after another light sanding of course, grrr)! Here is the progression:

BEFORE: flowery, paisley-like wallpaper and yes, the baseboard moulding really was painted yellow and green.

A few moons ago, I tested a small area to see whether fabric softener really would loosen the paper and it did! Then I stopped working in this area to finish the bedroom, which we would need so that we could sleep comfortably.

Here's another view of this area, where you can see the confluence of colors that the previous tenant lived with. I am too embarassed to show the other side right now, where there are even more colors.

So the first order of business, after struggling to remove the somewhat plasticky paper was to score it. I got this round thingy with rolling wheels underneath that pierced the paper with lots of little holes without damaging the wall behind the paper. Then I sprayed a whole lot of fabric softener, letting it soak in.

And the sheets became easy to pull down. I think the tiny holes really helped.

Sometimes a few bits and pieces were left behind because I didn't let that area fully soak. I just re-sprayed, waited a few minutes, and then scraped with a scraper.

Dear helped by removing the picture hooks with a pair of pliers.

The last piece!

The holes in the wall, patched up and sanded.

After all the wallpaper was removed, I washed all the walls with TSP, a blue liquid that really cleans your walls and leaves it feeling slightly rough, ready to primed. I thought it necessary to use TSP to make sure all the glue from the paper was completely gone. After washing with TSP, it is necessary to rinse it off thoroughly.

The walls finally primed!

I took the extra step of priming with an oil-based primer so that if there were any glue residue (wallpaper glue is water-based) the oil would block it (since oil and water don't mix).

On a sidenote, I think it will be OK to keep the light fixture here (just need to straighten it out a little). At first, with the busy twirls of the wallpaper matching the curves on the fixture, I thought it was just too much going on in such a small space. Now, I think the curves are a good complement to the plain walls.

Today, I proceeded to lightly sand the walls and then apply the second coat. Unfortunately, I ran out of paint so I only finished a wall. When will this ever be done? I can't wait to roll up the dropcloth in this area because we keep tripping on it and it is so ugly!

Two Asian-inspired dinners

2007-03-15T11:31:00.001-05:00

This past week I cooked two full meals (perhaps my first in the apartment, if you don't count scrambled eggs or pouring a bowl of cereal for breakfast). First I made a coconut shrimp soup off the "Everyday Food" site. I left out the red pepper flakes because I can't take the heat and used whatever noodles I found in the pantry since we don't have angel hair pasta and I figured Asian noodles would fit in better with all the Asian flavors happening anyway. I also forgot to get cornstarch so it was a bit loose but I think it turned out fine.

I was hesitant about adding all the ginger and garlic (not that there is much) b/c when I cooked with those aromatics in the past those flavors would be so overwhelming to me. However, this time I microplaned the ginger (instead of mincing with a knife, which would result in chunks due to my lack of knife skills) and it melted into the soup without being overwhelming at all. In fact, it provided just enough ginger flavor that was offset by the sweet carrots and rich coconut milk.

The recipe is quite simple and with practice I think I can get it down to less than one hour before dinner is ready and served. Since it was a recipe for 4 servings, I didn't add in all the shrimp (plus I got real tired of peeling all of them!) and I put in just enough noodles for one meal. I figured that I could just add in fresh shrimp and noodles for a meal later in the week. Unfortunately, I foolishly put the rest of the shrimp in the freezer and it was too late to defrost in time for the next dinner. So I had to resort to my old stir fry.

I was turned off to stir fry because I was/am just so bored by it but this time I had no choice. However, with the powerburner that we have on the stove plus the professional Chinese wok that Dear picked up from a restaurant supply store, I think it came out OK. (I am half-kidding about the wok b/c I think it is the heat that makes all the difference) I microplaned the ginger again but slightly overcooked the pork. The Chinese broccoli came out just right though (that vegetable is really growing on me -- I love the crisp stems). Thankfully this was just a meal for me (gotta finish it before Dear returns from his business trip, lest I be embarassed!).

So for future reference, here's the recipe for the shrimp soup:

Coconut Shrimp Soup
Serving: Serves 4

Ingredients
* 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/4 to 1/2 Teaspoon red-pepper flakes
* 1 Pound (6 to 8 medium) carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced
* 1 can (13.5 ounces) coconut milk
* 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
* 4 Ounces angel hair pasta
* 1 1/2 Pounds large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed
* 1/4 Cup freshly squeezed lime juice
* Coarse salt
* 4 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large (3-quart) saucepan over medium-low heat. Add ginger, garlic, and pepper flakes; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add carrots, coconut milk, and 3 cups water. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water until smooth; add to pot. Bring to a boil.
2. Break pasta in half; add to pot. Return to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until pasta is al dente and carrots are just tender, 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Add shrimp; stir until opaque, about 1 minute. Remove pot from heat, and stir in lime juice; season with salt. Ladle into serving bowls, and garnish with scallions.

Eating out vs. in

2007-03-08T22:41:00.000-05:00

Today Dear posed the question of whether or not it's worth it to eat in. My argument is that it's definitely cheaper but is it really? With the time it takes to cook and then clean up* afterwards, we're finally able to relax around 10-11ish pm, which means that if you want to get anything done, you've got at most, an hour before you should really go to bed (provided that you get 7-8 hours sleep). Either we're doing something wrong (too elaborate of a meal or too stringent cleaning standards) or there's a better way. Or maybe I require too much sleep?! What are we doing wrong?!

*Note that the dishwasher is the greatest thing known to man because I can't imagine if I had to wash ALL those other dishes, what time I'd be able to go to bed. Prior to this year, I've always washed dishes by hand (my parents have never owned a dishwasher). I sometimes find washing dishes soothing (though I've always hated cleaning big pots and pans) but after having to clean up after Dear cooks (he actually sets up a mise en place most of the time), I've come to see it as more of a chore. :(

Bedroom floor

2007-03-01T00:10:00.000-05:00

I know it's going to be anti-climactic to post about the floor before the walls, but I can't find the pictures of the walls before they were painted. So here's a rundown of part B of our very first apartment project (part A being the walls):
BEFORE: the ugly, dark green carpet after wallpaper removal (hence the scraps of paper on the edges) and after painting (hence the dropcloth).

Big blob of paint that I spilled.

I cut/tore the carpet up in strips with a utility knife to reveal a pretty hefty carpet pad beneath. I then tied the carpet up with twine pilfered from Ikea. :P Interesting to see the wear pattern from the previous owner on the carpet pad (mostly leading from entrance to around the bed).

Another view of the room (from windows towards closets).

Close-up of the roll of carpet. Notice how I tied it like it was a pork loin, which gave it some nice handles to carry down to the dumping area.

I then proceeded to rip up the carpet pad using the same process as for the carpet. This time I had to be more careful so as to not damage the wood floors underneath.

Floor (mostly) revealed!

Voila! I love how the floors are warm and honey-colored, without too much shine. I am hoping that my preference for non-shiny floors will not lead to extensive damage to the wood, especially after seeing the wear from the previous tenant.

Rolled up carpet and padding

In the next two pictures you can see the pad remnants stuck to the staples. I didn't mind the little pieces because they helped me see where the staples were when I was removing them. I pulled up each individual one with needle-nose pliers while wearing only flip flops (my choice of footwear is not recommended!). It was kinda fun and went by pretty quickly.
You can see the thickness of the high quality pad that the previous tenant had used. Though the thick padding is easy on the feet and absorbs noise pretty well (we had to get used to the creaks afterwards), it made opening and closing the doors quite difficult. It also covered up about half the baseboard moulding which made the moulding look really dinky.

I repeated all the steps above (except for the pad removal) inside the closet as well. While inside the closet, I noticed the smell of old cigarettes, which grossed me out. I eventually washed the walls with TSP, which works miracles, and got rid of the smell completely. It also made the walls feel really clean. When all the painting is done in the main areas and we've moved in a lot of our other furniture, I would eventually like to redesign the closets to make for more efficient use of that space.

Anyway, we were in a rush to finish the bedroom because we had scheduled the bed to be delivered that week. I took a day off from work for the delivery of our sofa and chair and finished painting the last coat on the last wall, just as the furniture was delivered. I then was able to finish the floors as a surprise for Dear, who returned that night from a business trip.

Undoubtedly, the floors have been my favorite project so far. Satisfying results in a relatively quick timeframe. And destruction is always more fun than construction. :)

Browns and oranges

2007-02-28T21:11:00.000-05:00

Dear always makes fun of me for being indecisive about color choices. He thinks that I test him by making him choose amongst several colors, then showing him another bunch of colors with his first choice mixed in to see if he picks the same exact one. I swear that they are all different colors but in looking at my last post, I can see why some would view me as crazy. Some of those colors look exactly the same!

So here are the colors, matched as closely as possible to web colors through colorcharts.org:

Which color do you like?

The living/dining room's slow transformation

2007-02-27T22:13:00.000-05:00

The original wall color -- an old-ladyish dusty rose

At this point the walls were slightly roughed up with 150 grit sandpaper so there was dark pink dust everywhere -- eegh!

View of other end of room, with walls primed

First coat of paint (yes, there's really color there)

The color came out a lot lighter and more yellow than I expected. Everyone kept saying that you should find a color you like, then move up one shade lighter on the color chip thingy because it comes out darker in real life. Well phooey on them because I would have preferred something darker and if you hold the chip up against the wall, it blends in perfectly. It's just hard to gauge how it will look until the entire space is covered. And every little thing affects it, from lighting to furniture, etc. but I'm OK with it (for now). One thing the majority was right about is testing out colors in the room, at various times of day, on a white background. I didn't really have a white background to work with and the color ended up being less beige and more like cream.

Second coat, with potential accent wall left unpainted

I think it's a bit easier to see the color next to the currently white wall. Or maybe it's that the second coat of paint really did make a difference. Speaking of second coats, this color is so light that it was really difficult to see where I had already painted. Such are the perils of painting....

Choosing (or trying to) a color for the accent wall

If it's not already obvious, I have no idea what I'm doing, if this is even the right wall to accent, whether or not any of the color choices clash with the existing window treatment (b/c we're not likely changing those custom-made blinds), and whether these colors will clash with the furniture or other stuff. The idea is to put the dining table in front of this wall and I was thinking of a warm color to cozy up this side of the room and I had also read that warm colors make you feel welcome and induce you to eat more (i.e. feel more comfortable). That said, can you help me choose a color?!

The previous tenant

2007-02-26T20:24:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, we finally discovered that there is another laundry room on our side of the building (don't get me started on our laundry woes -- I'll have to expound on them some other time). When the doorman was showing it to us, it was fascinating to see rows of doors that once were (maybe still are) apartments but are now considered illegal because they are in the basement. The doors were right next to each other, with a little mailbox next to each one, so I can't imagine there being much room inside each. Back when the rooms/apts were occupied, it must've been like tenement living, complete with the bathroom down the hall. Even more interesting was some of the gossip/history that the doorman, and later the super too, dished out.

SOME HISTORY
We bought the apartment from a recently widowed woman who had somewhat of an eccentric taste, and you could tell she was very particular about lots of things. She was also high-strung and extremely talkative and she always had nothing but praises for both the super and the doorman. However, they apparently disliked her and her husband b/c they were "crazy." Both the super and the doorman said they would be annoyed by her and were so happy when she moved out. We knew she was particular, but I didn't know that she threw a fit when there was a minor leak in the kitchen and some of her cabinets got wet -- the management company ended up giving her $20,000 to fix everything. She also gave the super her new, expensive microwave/convection oven b/c it was the wrong color.

But the doorman and super weren't the only people that were annoyed by her. The woman was in a rush to sell so that she could move elsewhere. We were surprised that once our offer was accepted we had the board interview within a few days. Normally it takes weeks, even months, but she so annoyed the management company (I think she called them everyday) that everything moved along very quickly.

HER LIES
The woman told us numerous times that her strong and healthy husband died suddenly from cancer that had already metastatized throughout his body; doctors discovered it one day when his blood tests came back suspicious but they had no clue otherwise. She didn't mention that he used to smoke packs of cigarettes in one day. They also had the vice of tipping back the bottle one too many times, as the super would find jugs and bottles of wine and liquor in the recyclables bin.

I was also under the impression that she and her husband were very much in love (she recalled stories of how they met back in high school and she broke down crying at the closing when she saw his signature) however they were also on the verge of divorce before he suddenly died. The super told us the story of how her husband once went crazy looking for her but he didn't have the keys to the apartment so he wanted the super to break down the door. Instead, the super climbed onto the fire escape and saw her inside the apartment, going about her business -- she was mad at her husband for something and had locked him out. I also found it a bit odd that as a grandmother, she never once mentioned her granddaughter. She did seem quite fond of her only daughter though. Turns out that her daughter blamed her for her father's death.

It's so fascinating to see the other side of things, another perspective, how things are never as they seem. But in this case, it's also sad. I feel sorry for this woman, who built up defense mechanisms (like denial) b/c everyone secretly (maybe not all so secretly) dislikes her. And everyone dislikes her probably b/c she is anal retentive about everything. I want to know what happened that was so bad in her marriage that they would want a divorce after growing old together (he was a lawyer, she worked from home -- was there an affair going on somewhere? Was it mutual -- she still seemed to love him?) I want to know what happened with her daughter that they would practically hate each other. And in her moving to another state, was it just grief that she was running from? Things are never as they seem. What other stories are people hiding?

Valentine's dinner redux

2007-02-21T23:41:00.000-05:00

There are many things wrong with the above picture (why is there a spoon instead of a fork, why so much rice, hardly any presentation to the food, messy 'table') but the taste was anything but wrong. Add to the things that are wrong with the picture the fact that it is actually mostly leftovers that I heated up for myself when Dear was working late the other day, but it was still some good eating.

As I blogged about previously, Dear made me bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin and scallops for that pagan holiday and while the second iteration of it in the convection oven wasn't as good, I was able to snap a picture for remembrance's sake.

Good bye bigfatchinesewedding

2007-02-20T10:09:00.000-05:00

I've "graduated" from engaged-and-wedding-planning to newlywed-and-living status. Gone are the days of frantic research on vendors for that one BIG day of your life, hello to the world of making your home by finding ways to beautify it, all while trying to manage your time, money, and energy amongst work and play.

It ain't easy

2007-02-15T16:42:00.000-05:00

This homemaking stuff is hard! I don't know how people manage to work, cook, clean, eat, sleep, and still manage to have some leisure time. Because right now, I do at least 2 of those aforementioned activities on the subway (sleep, read somewhat leisurely, and sometimes eat). Thankfully, Dear is there to do most of the cooking while I labor away at the apartment. It's moving along very slowly and it's obvious that things won't be ready in time for Chinese New Year. :( I now see why people need to hire maids to help clean, or nannies to take care of their children.

SIDENOTE: I remember a while ago, not having much to do (I was screaming boredom at the humdrum-ness of my life), and then all of a sudden, I had a wedding to plan, and now an apartment to make home, and no time to relax. Where was the busy-ness back then?!

Latest memorable meals: shrimp and pasta in a lemon and butter sauce and for V-day (aka pagan holiday) bacon-wrapped pork tenderloins and scallops. The pork, as the name suggests, is very tender and wrapping the bacon (my favorite all-time food!) made it taste like a big hunk o' tender bacon. I was in bacon heaven!

Woo hoo! No shoveling!

2007-02-14T16:54:00.000-05:00

There are many advantages and disadvantages to apartment living. A wonderful advantage is all this warmth (apartment buildings are notoriously wasteful with the heat, lest someone complains). While Dear finds it excessively warm, I'm enjoying being able to feel my fingers and toes, and not wearing 3 layers of clothes. It's also great to be able to have the windows open while we're painting so that we don't die of fumes or frostbite in this weather.

I love not having to mow the lawn, shovel snow, de-ice the sidewalk (and worry that there will be morons hoping to sue you for slippage), clean the yard, paint the fence and door, pay for water. Another advantage is being able to throw out the trash in just a few steps, while in your loungewear, and be warm, without braving the elements outside.

But it's not all hunky dory. I hate being woken up at 7:30am on Saturday mornings because the kid in the adjoining apartment loves to run relay races with his 8 (not so imaginary) friends back and forth for his morning workout. And it's hard to get used to our upstairs neighbor blaring his TV or occasionally dropping something. I had also forgotten about the ickiness of vermin that is, very often, out of your control because no matter what you do, if your neighbors aren't as diligent as you, they will find a way. Thank goodness for exterminators, but I still don't feel safe without wiping down the entire stove (including the burner grates) and countertops after cooking. What I miss most about living in a house is now having to go all the way downstairs to do laundry, and the associated fear of whether or not someone else will mess with your clothes. There is also the inconvenience of lugging everything, including the laundry detergent, quarters, fabric softener, not to mention your clothes.

Which is better -- apartment or house? Given my laziness, I'd choose apartment living. Right now, I also have no desire to have so much property to take care of.

Venzuelan and Vietnamese

2007-01-29T16:21:00.000-05:00

With fixing up the apartment and slowly moving things over, we've had a lot of takeout lately. We always manage to get tied up somehow or another doing something and before you know it, it is too late to cook. We don't have the usual options of pizza (Dear is not a fan of cheese) and fast food (I hate McDonald's, Wendy's, BK, White Castle) so we've had to seek alternatives.

One night we tried Mama's Empanadas.* There is one by Queens Center (closest to us), as well as one in Manhattan and another somewhere else in Queens. It was around 9 at night and we decided to go there on a whim (I suddenly remembered the review I read in the NY Times months ago and I had been meaning to try it but we never had the chance to be in the neighborhood) so the 40 varieties was totally overwhelming to me. The cashier's impatient, nonchalant attitude did not help either. But in the end, the $9.50 meal for two was worth it and I would totally go back (if not to try all the flavors). So I got the following while Dear waited in a No Parking zone (parking is very scarce in that area): ground beef (in both the flour and corn versions), chicken (in both the flour and corn), pork, Cubano (ham, cheese, & pork), and a dessert one with maduro (ripe plaintains -- yummy!!) and cheese. The corn ones were the best (very crunchy outside and reminded me of an arepa) and I loved the dessert one. Service was pretty quick for fresh-out-of-the-fryolator-goodness and the price is right: each empanada was either $1 or $1.50 (we didn't get the fancy lobster or seafood ones, which cost more). After a short drive back to our apartment, the empanadas were still crisp and not at all soggy. Unlike the ones that I first had in Venezuela, these were also not overly greasy (some varieties also have a baked version for those more health conscious), though they were quite a bit smaller.
*an empanada is a portable snack made of pastry and filled with all sorts of cooked meats and even sweet fillings (most people are familiar with it through Argentina, but I learned of it through Venezuela; I am not sure where the owners of Mama's are from); similar to a large dumpling in Asian cooking or a small calzone in Italian cuisine; comparisons may also be made to the Jamaican patty or a turnover

When we sat down to tuck in, I was worried that we would have no idea which empanada was which (would I be surprised with eating a dessert one before a savory one?) but each little patty was in its own appropriately labeled paper packet and the guy was able to distinguish which was which by matching up the pattern of holes in the side with a diagram on the wall. Nifty!! (I first saw this in Venezuela -- guess the "technology" was able to make it here as well.) Next time I'd like to give their meals and batidas a try.

Along with all the trips to the Home Depot we've also revisited Pho Bang in Flushing. Ever since the one near Chatham Square in Ctown closed, we've not had proper Vietnamese food. I was actually getting a bit tired of it but with the months-long hiatus, the wonderfully complex flavors of the bowls of Pho were renewed for me. I love how they package their takeout so that you could experience it as best you can from home -- they separate out the meat, noodles, mint, basil, lemons, and bean sprouts so that they don't get soggy or overcooked. One of the nights Dear also ordered the spring rolls and when I opened the bag of herbs that they provided -- whew, was it refreshing! But my favorite so far has been the beef stew with French bread, perfect for a cold day. Even though the bread was not as crusty as I would like (probably because it was steaming inside the plastic bag it was put in -- this, they did not package well), it was still very good for sopping up the thick, lemongrassy stew. The bread was very soft and airy on the inside and had a buttery taste to it, so it was no surprise that the bread was finished before the stew. Not that the stew was not worth noting, because it certainly is with its big tender chunks of beef, carrot, and tendon (parts of the gelatinous tendon melts into the stew as it cooks to thicken it). I was stuffed (probably b/c of the bread) when I still had half a bowl left so I brought the leftovers for lunch the next day. Paired with half a French baguette from Au Bon Pain, it was perfect! The warm bread was crusty and flaky on the outside, soft on the inside. I could have just eaten the bread soaked in the stew and had the meat as a side dish, it was that good! Shoo wee!

New Year's Resolutions

2007-01-29T16:09:00.000-05:00

I am off to a slow start this year. Today, on Monday, January 29 (a full 29 days into the new year), I resolve to read the Bible chronologially in one year. I got the idea from Back to the Bible and I like the idea of reading the Good Book in the order that things happened b/c I would always get confused about the order of events (and I like order! despite the entropic way of things in my life). The online guide is meant to be used by visiting the site daily but I decided to create a little paper version so that I can read on the train. Oh, did I mention that I endeavor to read the King James version?

Another slow start is my knitting. Never mind the half-finished mitten I began last year, I finally cracked open Dear's little Christmas gift to me: the 2007 Knitting Calendar, with a pattern a day. I probably won't do most of the patterns but at least it will be a handy desk calendar. And perhaps it will help with Hope for New York's knitting project to knit hats and scarves for the needy.

Will I have time to do all this, plus fix up the apartment (my goal is to be in time for Chinese New Year)? Ha!

Floor planning

2007-01-29T15:09:00.000-05:00

HGTV's furniture and room planner helped create:
Not sure if our living/dining room really will be laid out like this (don't have the exact dimensions of all our (future and current) furniture but it is much better to think about than the mess of boxes and painting and wallpaper removal supplies we currently have scattered everywhere.

A modern room and wallpaper removal

2006-12-21T14:03:00.000-05:00

I came across the Kreiss site today and just loved the look of this room: cool, clean, comfortable. It's called the Libra collection and surprisingly has materials that I wouldn't normally consider, like marble (always thought that too high-end shi-shi for my taste) and wrought iron. But I like how bright and light the room is, with several accent colors and the contrast with dark materials. I've always liked the look of a white room with dark floors -- it just looks so spacious and airy (I guess tall ceilings also help in this instance).

And I really like this chair:

for the low price of $2575. It looks so comfy, yet has clean lines and looks solid. Hoping to find a close replication for much less.

Meanwhile, I'm looking into wallpaper removal options for the apartment:

a step-by-step primer, from This Old House
video and instructions on what to do when someone has painted over the wallpaper, from an episode on Ask This Old House that I saw on PBS
step-by-step, from Zinnser (using their products, of course)
information on stripping and how to paint afterwards, from This Old House
and lastly, I've heard about spraying the paper with fabric softener mixed with hot water

One of the articles mentioned that you should use an oil-based primer after removing all the paper and glues because the water in water-based paints might reactivate some of the glues. But can you use water-based paint over oil-based primer?

Good quote to keep in mind

2006-12-15T17:22:00.000-05:00

The perfect is the enemy of the good. -- Voltaire

Mattress purchase: Goldilocks

2006-12-11T22:15:00.000-05:00

I once avidly watched the PBS attempt at reality TV where they got a bunch of people to "travel back in time" to re-live the colonial experience. I remember there was a guy who was delegated to a servant position and he worked so hard to make a comfortable bed for his master. I think he stuffed straw and goose feathers into a large white sack and out came a mattress. When the master and his family had had enough of the "New World" they packed up and left. Before a new leader would arrive, the servant was able to use his previous master's bed, which was a huge improvement over sleeping on the floor, even if it was a little moldy, and he was so grateful.

Alas, if we could only go back to those simpler times (at least in our head). Now if you want a new mattress, you must decide amongst a billion and one different things. There are pillowtops, wrapped coils, reinforced sides, foam sides, solid foam mattresses, height and size to consider. And within each, there are thirteen other decisions to make -- soft pillowtop or firm? Memory foam? Medium firm, firm, or lumbar support? Locked grid? Number of coils? Silk, wool, polyester, or combination fabric? Box spring or not? You have to compare amongst brands Sealy, Simmons, Posturepedic. And don't forget price. For queen size mattresses, we've come across anything from $300 to $1700. To make matters more difficult, every retailer has different models so you can never be sure you're comparing the same thing. Even Bloomingdales and Macy's have different models, even though they're owned by the same parent company. A saleswoman said that if you comparison-shop for mattresses that are about the same in price (about $50-100 difference), with similar coil counts, you can guess that maybe the two mattresses are the same thing. The only way you can really be sure is if you try each one out, in all the positions that you usually sleep (back, side, stomach), to find the right one for you.

The other night we went to Macy's and bounced around from one mattress to the other. Yep, we're finally looking into getting a new bed, something my mother urged me to do before we got married so that we could start 'afresh,' as part of that impractical Chinese tradition.

We passed up a sale at Macy's because it was our first experience and we thought we needed to check out more than what's available at one store. I was also looking for closeouts that supposedly are marked down significantly for new stock, where they change little things like fabric.

Our next stop, many weeks later, was Sears, which advertised mattresses for $300. The place was terrible and I didn't even want to really shop there -- there were kids lounging and bouncing around on a few beds at a time, some mattresses were gated off, there were footprints on some mattresses, and absolutely no one approached us to help.

The next day, we went to Sleepy's. I wanted to check out what these so-called "mattress professionals" had to offer. Unlike at Sears, we got a lot of attention from the lone salesman, who asked us a series of questions like, what kind of bed do you like, when was the last time you bought a mattress, what size you want. Since we weren't sure what we liked, he had us try a firm and a medium firm. He made us take off our coats and lay fully on the mattress. I immediately disliked the firm and liked the medium firm a lot. Dear felt the opposite, but he also thinks he can sleep standing up. After seeing our preferences, the salesperson made us try a few more, amongst different brands, all without pillowtop so that we could get a real feel for what we liked. We even tried the Tempurpedic foam mattress, which was like a better version of the memory foam pad I once had. Supposedly lots of arthritic people like the Tempurpedic because there is no pressure on any part of your body. In the end, we settled on this insanely expensive medium firm mattress (the first one that I tried). However, we really didn't want to spend that much money on one thing, and I really didn't have a good feeling about the salesman. Even though he really helped us narrow down our choices (it is so overwhelming otherwise, where every mattress begins to feel exactly as the previous one did), I thought he was a bit sleazy. He had a typical sales pitch -- you missed the biggest sale of the year, but if you put down a deposit today, you can get that sale price, which is essentially a free boxspring and free delivery. He also kept telling us whatever we wanted to hear -- when we were trying the bed with reinforced steel sides, he said that it's the best one out there, especially when compared to the one with the foam sides, which could sag. But when we really liked the foam-sided one, he said having foam vs. the steel wired one was about the same. All that could have been fine and dandy, but when I asked him about closeout mattresses, he lied and said that they don't carry closeouts because they just ship it back to the manufacturer. I suspect that the mattresses in the back are the closeouts, which is why he kept us in the front. The guy was also full of lies -- he said he was the manager and so he was able to authorize the special price but he supposedly rotates among 15 stores so he may not be there the following day. Of course, he was there the next night when Dear went to cancel the order and get our deposit back. It was kinda sad to see him in that dead-end job though, trying to sell stuff that people only buy once every 10 years or so.

Back at Macy's, it was an entirely different experience, about halfway between the Sleepy's and Sears. The salesperson didn't really pay much attention to us and mostly let us experience the mattresses for ourselves and relied on us to ask him the questions. Most of the beds there have pillowtops, which makes it very difficult to compare with the one we had picked out at Sleepy's, but we settled on one that we liked last time. This time it was also on closeout, plus it was "Friends and Family" coupon day and we could save even more with the opening of a charge card, which I did. The mattress came out to be quite inexpensive and we could cut the price even more if we decide against the frame ($100) or the boxspring. We also made the cut-off to qualify for free delivery -- could it get any better?

All in all, I think there are great deals to be had at Macy's. I would stay away from Sears entirely, and I think going to Sleepy's helps you to narrow down what you like. You just have to be careful of the pushy salesperson. We also checked out the mattresses available through Costco, but we decided that it's too difficult to choose based on a description -- we needed to feel it in person.

Some pointers when shopping for a mattress:

Test each one out. Be sure to wear comfortable clothes (take off your coat, relax) and lay in the position that you usually sleep in (on your side, back, stomach, etc.). Try to lay on each one for a while so that you get a good feel. If you have trouble remembering what a previous one felt like, go try it again.
Compare, compare, compare! What I liked about the Sleepy's experience was that the salesperson first made us choose which one we liked among two types. Then he asked us to pick a favorite among a few, and then compare the favorite to other ones so that it is almost like having a control in a science experiment.
Ask about closeouts, which should be plentiful especially at the end of the year. If the person steers you away from these discounted mattresses, you know he's not the most honest person out there.
Once you've found a mattress that you like, if you feel you could find it cheaper, check out other places. Take note of the characteristics that you liked, the price, and any other specifics that you can so that you have the fairest comparison amongst various stores.
In the end, despite all the hype about any one particular characteristic (you may not care for one that has more coils than another), I think everything depends on whichever one you feel most comfortable with.

You spend a third of your life sleeping, and a mattress lasts about ten years, so it pays to put quite a bit of thought into what could be a big investment.

Once we've had the mattress for a while, I will have to see whether the salespeople are correct, and we do indeed no longer have to flip the mattress every few months.

Go bare!

2006-12-08T19:39:00.000-05:00

Ever since I started using BareMinerals makeup, I can't help but rave about how great it is! It meets all the requirements I've ever wanted/needed in makeup: it's easy to apply (takes 5 minutes a day); comfortable (the minerals don't make my skin feel extra oily or like there's a layer of stuff sitting on my face -- I sometimes even forget that I'm wearing it); and it evens out my complexion, even concealing red spots and blemishes.

I tried out the Starter Kit, which includes the 2 foundations in Medium and Medium Beige, the Skin Rev-er Upper, Warmth All-Over Face Color, Mineral Veil, and 3 brushes. I use the Kabuki brush to apply the foundation for heavier coverage, then the concealer brush for those red spots (i.e. pimples and scars), then the All-Over brush to apply the Mineral Veil, which is like a finishing powder. After some use, I came to see that the Warmth thing does nothing for me (actually it doesn't look right on me) so I can cut out that step. I'm a bit torn, though, on which foundation is right for me (I may even need to combine the Medium with a Light b/c I think I'm in between).

But overall, I love this product. If you don't like the hassle of putting on makeup and you don't like the feeling of wearing makeup, you gotta try BareMinerals!

Holiday campaign of note

2006-12-05T13:02:00.000-05:00

'Tis the season for much commerce and all the campaigns that go with them. I thought I'd share one that really impressed one. I don't think it's a new one (a few years running) but it's so well thought out who would blame them for bringing it back?

American Express' "My Wishlist" campaign at first glance appears to be a just selling a bunch of cool stuff for a hugely discounted price (most notably a luxury car for $5000). But it is actually a multi-tiered campaign to not only sell stuff but also has the benefit of getting people to sign up for the credit card (only Amex members can buy the products). The highly covetable incentives (or is it merchandise?) are offered for just a limited time, three times a day for 2 weeks or so. There is a different item for each of the days during the time period. If you fail to be one of the three "winners" for the top-tier items at each of the designated time slots, you can always buy "featured products" at anytime as gifts for yourself or your friends and family.

The breakdown, on the Amex site

To add to this clever campaign, is the wonderful Flash presentation. For example, when browsing through the featured products that you can buy at any time, a mouseover produces a virtual flip up to reveal what the discount is for that particular vendor.
There is also a handy little feature to remind yourself of when the "prize(s)" that you want will be open for purchase. To extend the marketing, there is of course, the usual email-a-friend and also mobile phone reminders.
The only weak spot, which may or may not be Amex's fault, is the unclear images for some of the featured product vendors. Some company logos are so small and/or blurry that it is almost indecipherable.

Mexican night

2006-12-05T09:51:00.000-05:00

The other day Dear made dinner for the BS group -- it was a big production, but I think it turned out quite well. He began by rubbing the pieces of chicken (that he de-boned himself, of course) the previous night with Goya's Adobo. Ever since I tried the chicken burrito from Chipotle, I've fallen into salivating love with that Spanish flavor and it's so much easier to get the seasoning than it is to make from scratch. He also cleaned up strips of skirt steak the night before but he didn't season it until right before grilling. On the day of, he grilled the chicken and beef while I helped him saute the onions and peppers. We also heated up the tortillas in the oven, along with some tortilla chips. When things were done grilling and cooking, Dear wrapped everything up in foil and kept it warm in the oven.

For the tortilla chips, we got a jar of the "Deli Style" medium salsa from Costco. It was chunky, a bit spicy, pretty fresh-tasting, and almost tasted like homemade. Good thing we didn't spend too much time to make it from scratch. The cool salsa was a great complement to the warm chips.

The chicken and beef had a great smokiness, though I think the Adobo flavor has died down some since we first bought it about a year ago. They were still good and juicy though. Along with the shredded cheese and warm tortilla (all we were missing was sour cream!), we had some good eating. I had three and was clamoring for more but there was none left. :(

Falafel and French food

2006-11-27T14:46:00.000-05:00

Given my carnivorean tastes and dislike for beans, I just had my first falafel sandwich today. I had heard good things about the balls of ground up chickpeas at a place close to work on Broadway (think it's called Broadway Cafe) so I went there. The guy behind the counter constructed the sandwich by first cutting an end off of a pita to open it. Then he threw in 3 falafel balls (they look like browned meat balls) and put it through the commercial toaster oven. When the sandwich came out, he drizzled some loose tan-colored sauce (tahini) over it, then piled on a chunky salad of cucumbers, green bell peppers, and tomatoes and he finished it off with more of the tahini on top. Somewhere along the line he added hommus too.

There was a lot of salad to get through at the top (I usually dislike raw vegetables), but the tahini and the crisp pita bread made it easy. Then I got to the falafel. With all the spices and density of the packed ground chickpeas, it was quite enjoyable. The tahini (though a bit bitter on its own) made everything a bit creamy, kinda like adding mayo to sandwiches. Towards the bottom of the sandwich, I think I got the full experience of what everything should taste like: each bite had some pita, falafel, salad, and tahini, where the salad cooled down the spices in the falafel, and the wet tahini held everything together yet juxtaposed the crispiness of the pita well. All in all, I'd have this again and IF I was forced to be a vegetarian, this would make it on my menu (next to the vegetarian duck). Speaking of which, I've not had meat all day!

But chew on this, my other food story! Last Wednesday, since we were let out early from work for Thanksgiving, I had a long leisurely lunch on the LES at Lucien. It is a charming little French bistro on 1st & 1st, complete with French waiters and a table of patrons taking a very loooooong lunch (actually it seemed like they were just on the aperitif part of the meal b/c I didn't see them have anything but wine). They also decorated the place "very French" -- the waitress explained that they like to decorate with eggs when we inquired about the odd (stationary) ferris wheel-like rack on the counter that held over a dozen eggs on display, like a bunch of egg cups combined. But I digress -- the food was worth writing home (or to the public at large) about.

I ordered a bouillabaise, my standby, since I just love seafood. If only I had brought my camera, since the presentation was so nice. Besides the usual shrimp, clams, mussels, and white fish (probably cod) arrayed around the plate, there was a half lobster in the middle of the dish. As the waiter brought it out, all we could see were the antenna and part of the head, little did we know there'd be a body attached! All the seafood was well-cooked (nothing overdone) and to dip their fresh, crusty bread in the soup was quite tasty. It was a bit of a bother to have to disassemble a lobster sitting in reddish liquid when you're wearing a white dress shirt, but they made it easier by cracking the claw in all the strategic places (but still keeping everything intact for presentation purposes) and also providing a lobster fork and a bowl to discard all the other shells. I think the bouillabaise could have used some more flavor from the sea (besides salt) -- it definitely wasn't very complex and full-bodied to me. But thank goodness for the dessert, the real piece de resistance (isn't it always?).

Before I get to the end of the meal, though, I'll add that my companion had the duck, which was also presented beautifully -- it had height and sat on a bed of wine infused beets and some spinach. I didn't taste it though, so I hardly remember anything else about it except that my companion really liked it too. And while we were enjoying our respective dishes and conversing, the owner/manager came over to us (he was sitting on the table with the loungers) and asked how we liked our meal. I thought he was just an over-friendly Frenchman, or perhaps jovial from the wine, but then he asked if he could buy us a glass of wine. We turned him down (being the polite Asians that we are) and proceeded to eat. Later on, someone else from the table approached us and asked if we'd like a drink -- he'd pour it right from their table. But we just couldn't but instead, tried to get dessert out of him, which he just laughed about. Oh well, we tried.

But good thing that didn't deter us from ordering dessert. We got the apple tarte tatin with cinnamon ice cream. I'm not one for cooked apples, so I wasn't expecting much. I'm also not a huge fan of cinnamon but the melting ice cream next to the hot apples infused just the right amount of spice, while adding a smooth creaminess from the ice cream, much like a good dollop of whipped cream would have provided. The apples were sliced very thinly so that it wasn't mushy at all; the layers of it added a bit of crunch and fresh apple-ness but were also cooked to just melt in the mouth after a few bites. The absolute best part of it all was the thin, caramelized sugar coating on top, with the same crunch and crackling of the sugar between your teeth as with a creme brulee top (also on their menu). Ooooh, was it good!

LUCIEN: B

Birthday wording

2006-11-21T15:47:00.000-05:00

Been thinking of how to do FIL's 70th birthday invitation. Here's some stuff for the charrette bin....

Age is opportunity no less than youth itself. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. --John Barrymore

Grow old with me! The best is yet to be. --Robert Browning

To be 70 years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old. --Oliver Wendell Holmes

Youth has no age. --Pablo Picasso

You are cordially invited to attend
a YEAR Birthday Party
for NAME
DAY
TIME
LOCATION
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE

You are cordially invited to attend
a YEAR Birthday Party
honoring NAME
DAY
TIME
LOCATION
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE

Please join us for a
Birthday Banquet
in honor of
NAME'S
YEARS Birthday
DATE at TIME
LOCATION
ADDRESS
HOSTS

A Golden Birthday
Celebration
Please join us
NAMES
for a birthday party
in honor of our dear friend
NAME
who will turn AGE
on DATE
at TIME
LOCATION
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE

And here's some stuff from Mark Twain's own 70th -- dang, did ppl know how to write back then!

Paint inspiration

2006-11-20T12:26:00.000-05:00

I was surfing today and somehow came across this on the design*sponge site:I think it is a great way to transition colors from space to space and it seems pretty DIY-able. Not sure when/where to use this, or if I could even find a design that I like, but I will tuck it away for the future.

Also, I've always liked the idea of having a chalkboard wall. Here's a way to make custom colors of it. All you need to do is mix up the following:

3 teaspoons acrylic paint
1 1/2 teaspoons glazing medium (water-based)
1/2 teaspoon powder tile grout

Or from everyone's favorite Martha:
Custom Colors: How To

Start with flat-finish latex paint in any shade. For small areas, such as a door panel, mix 1 cup at a time.

Pour 1 cup of paint into a container. Add 2 tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. Mix with a paint stirrer, carefully breaking up clumps.
Apply paint with a roller or a sponge paintbrush to a primed or painted surface. Work in small sections, going over the same spot several times to ensure full, even coverage. Let dry.
Smooth area with 150-grit sandpaper, and wipe off dust.
To condition: Rub the side of a piece of chalk over entire surface. Wipe away residue with a barely damp sponge.

Mango/peach smoothie

2006-11-16T10:44:00.000-05:00

My co-worker is a vegan and she suggested this smoothie:

frozen bananas
frozen peaches or mangoes
vanilla extract
honey

For 2 ppl: add water to 4 cup line in blender and blend. I've never tried smoothies sans milk, so this will be interesting. Once we unpack everything (including our new blender/food processor), this will definitely be on the list to break in the blender. This ought to be a good breakfast item as well!

Plastic bags & more

2006-11-07T09:17:00.000-05:00

A friend forwarded me an email with these very clever advertisements. I could say something about the portrayal of women and body image, but for now I'll just say that I don't see the point of the one about strangling the old man. What could they possibly be trying to sell? Any thoughts?

Learning weekend

2006-11-06T14:05:00.000-05:00

This weekend, MIL and I sorta bonded over the sewing machine. I guess all her nitpickiness and exacting standards (to the way she wants things, not necessarily always the best way) pay off when she's teaching or trying to impart wisdom (often she'll just come across, somewhat annoyingly, as a 'know-it-all'). I don't have a sewing machine (yet!) and I've just started learning how to use one, so I really appreciated her help with hemming my jeans. I can sew by hand without many problems but the machine is a different story. Even by hand I've found hemming pants tricky (especially when you try to do the hidden seams -- no idea what that's really called) so hemming pants by machine = very daunting task (and yet not worth the $10/pair of pants at the tailor, imo). But this weekend I saw that it's not so bad, even kinda fun. I'm not sure if I can remember all the steps but I can't wait to try hemming on another pair (maybe pj pants, since there's less at stake there)!

Despite all the bonding (and there wasn't a whole lot) I still don't know what to call her.

Politics stink!

2006-11-03T17:48:00.000-05:00

I hate political season, especially when it gets down and dirty. What makes it worse is Crazy Nag at work has to bring politics into the office. I thought she'd stop after the presidential elections back in 2004 (she's a staunch Republican) when she would defend her favorite candidate to me every day. All the mudslinging from the politicians or even the comments that the mostly liberal Democrats at work would utter, she'd come up with a retort but only unleash it on me. Lucky me! And I think no matter what side you're on, you gotta admit, Bush ain't the shiniest apple in the barrel (if you watched any of the debates back then for even a brief instant you'd know) but she refused to acknowledge it by refusing to watch the debates.

I think she was pretty good last year, but today she comes up to me and rants for a while about Democrats offering flu shots to those who register for their party, how that's unethical, blah blah blah. I haven't heard about this previously so I can't say that I've made up my mind about the issue but I wish she'd just keep mum about it and let me be!! Actually I think my defense mechanism has been built to oppose her no matter what, even if I agree with her (or maybe that's the devil's advocate in me). And since that was a convenient segway for her to bring up politics, she asked her friend to bring over a political cartoon that made fun of Kerry. I think I would have found this humorous in any other context but b/c she brought it up, I reserved any show of emotion (I know, not hard for me to do) and wished her to go away.

Now, her friend is also a Republican but she doesn't push it in anyone's face. Why can't Crazy Nag do the same?! Oh the stories I could tell about this Fox News-loving woman!

NYC BBQ!

2006-06-13T22:22:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday a bunch of us went to the 4th Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party by Madison Square Park on 23rd. It was a gorgeous day (a little windy but so sunny and not too hot) to have a little picnic on the grass with jazz playing in the background. I had always wanted to go (forgetting about which weekend it's on every year) so I'm glad I was told about it last minute.

The event is actually a gathering of 10 renowned 'experts' from around the country that come to barbecue for two days. There were pitmasters from TX, MS, MO and other southern states from the bbq belt. They each charge $7 for a sampling of their food (which in retrospect, is not exactly the best bargain out there) but ppl will wait in lines to get a taste of some good 'cue.

We split up into 3 groups, each waiting on different lines so that we could most efficiently taste as many different things as possible. While deciding what to do on the Salt Lick BBQ line (TX), a woman said that she enjoyed the rib tips from Smoki O's (MO) so we headed there.

Here are the Smoki O's rib tips with baked beans. Some of the ribs had barely any meat on it (hence tips) but when it did, it was yummy! What really surprised me were the beans though. I normally hate beans, especially the baked variety but these beans were hearty, smoky, creamy and sweet (no bean flavor!). You could tell a lot of molasses and bacon went into making them.

Pulled pork shoulder from Ubon’s “Championship Choice” (MS) -- I loved this (as I generally love pulled pork) b/c it was so tender and flavorful. Their famous BBQ dipping sauce was not so great though. I thought it was overly sour and too loose. Their coleslaw was interesting though -- it was very peppery, a little sweet, and had no mayo.

And the long-awaited beef brisket and sausage from Salt Lick -- we finished eating the other two plates before they came back with the goods and they were waiting on the line before we did. So, unfortunately, I was quite full already and I couldn't enjoy it as much. But that first bite was soooo good! The smokiness (there were smoke rings) and overall flavor was very good. The sausage, quite sizeable, was alright (I'm not a big fan of sausage unless it's in small portions) and the coleslaw was just ordinary (not a fan of slaw either).

I kept smelling something like barbecued yams but couldn't locate it, much to my dismay. But still some good eating! If I had to rate everything, my favorite was the pulled pork, then the brisket, then the rib tips. I'm not sure if I'd go again next year (kinda expensive and I think my dear does 'cue better).

Baltimore Eating

2006-05-07T17:09:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we went to Baltimore, MD. Here are the culinary highlights (I forgot to take a picture of the pit leg of lamb sandwich that I had at the Sheep and Wool Festival though).

We had what is probably the BEST crab cake that I've ever had at Faidley's in Lexington Market. Lots of tender lump crab (no filler at all, just a little something to hold it together when they deep fry it) with a tinge of mustard flavor. We got 2 sides with the platter: cucumber salad (surprisingly good, very light, and refreshing) and fries. This was a good light (and late) lunch before the dinner we had at 7pm.
For dinner, we had crabs at Obrycki's in Fell's Point. We spent many hours in this restaurant. After the six of us polished off 2 dozen crabs, we ordered more food. Some ordered linguine and dessert but I stuck to just dessert (key lime pie) and some potato skins with bacon(!).

The next day, for lunch, we ate at Eat Bertha's Mussels in Fell's Point. The restaurant is in a charming building that looks as if it used to be a house, with little nooks and alcoves in unexpected places. I had the mussels with garlic butter and basil sauce and also tried the garlic butter and capers sauce.

This time around, we stayed away from eating at the Inner Harbor, which seemed to be a good move b/c we didn't spend oodles of money on little food. Thank you New York Times for sharing good places to eat at!