So I was in Sur La Table today looking for a graduation gift idea. I know I know-- kitchen stuff don't really have much to do w/ graduation, but my friend just got her PhD, and will be moving across the country to start a teaching position in August. She won't have a new house or anything, (which is probably the more appropriate time to get kitchen stuff-- or if/when she gets married), but nonetheless, she is starting anew.
I actually intended to get her a nice pepper mill (since everyone should have a pepper grinder), but then my eyes started wandering over to the cheese section, the cool silicone baking mats. . . I ended up spending a good hour in the store trying to figure out what would be useful to her.
Which then got me thinking about my favorite or most-utilized kitchen gadgets and appliances. Stuff I cannot live without. So here goes a list of my favorite kitchen tools in no particular order.
1. Microplane grater-it grates Parmesan cheese, chocolate, nutmeg; it zests citrus. . . I think this is probably my favorite kitchen gadget. So versatile, so elegantly simple, and so useful! I mean, it grates three of my favorite food groups. :)
(this isn't a "must have", but if you are going to get a microplane, then you must also get whole nutmegs, so you can grate it over oatmeal, hot cocoa, steamed soy milk, over sweet potatoes, pancakes, sauteed spinach, soups. . . once you go whole, you will never go back to that powdered stuff again, but I digress. . .)
2. Wine opener my roommate got me from Germany-I don't actually use this frequently enough, but I am really fond of this thing and will probably cry if I ever lose it, since I have not been able to find anything similar in the U.S., much to my annoyance. If I ever go to Germany, I will buy 10 of these things. I just love the simple design. Mine has a plastic end, which I could part with, but the rest of it is stainless steel. There is a t-shaped lever on top w/ a nose-like thing that you point down to turn the screw into the cork. Once the screw is deep enough in the cork, the nose-like thing at the top catches on the protruding edge, and automatically gets tipped up, at which point, the screw now starts to travel upward till the cork can't go any further. Every time I use it, I marvel at the engineering and design of this thing.
3. Pepper mill- everyone who is serious about food should have a fresh pepper grinder, imbo. I personally sprinkle freshly ground pepper on almost everything. Well, ok, not ice cream or cake, but I've put it in pies, sprinkle it on certain fruits, use it in vinaigrettes, and pretty much use it to season almost everything that is made on a stove (sautes, stir fries, soups, omelets, sauces, pasta, curry, etc.) and most savory things that come out of an oven. The fresh stuff tastes worlds apart from the pre-ground stuff that you find in the spice section. One of these days, I will upgrade to one of these wooden ones that has 3 or 4 different sizes of grind, but my acrylic one works just as splendidly for now.
4. Immersion blender-this is another thing that everyone should have. Make sure you get one that comes with a chopper and whisk attachment. I am partial to my microplane, but I use this thing several times a week for chopping, pureeing, mincing. . . pretty much everything.
In fact, I used it so much that my original immersion blender, a Braun, broke. Twice. After that, I got myself a Cuisinart, which seems to be doing fine for now. Here are the many things you can do w/ an immersion blender:
-beat egg whites so you can make meringues and souffles
-make tapenade
-make hummus
-make baba ghanoush
-finely chop nuts
-finely or coarsely chop lots of things
-make smoothies
-froth milk
-puree soups
-make breadcrumbs
5. A really good chef's knife- you do not need an 11-piece knife set, but what you do need is one good chef's knife. You can eventually add on other types and sizes of knives, but if you get just one knife, get a chef's knife and make sure it is a J.A. Henkels or Wustof. If you take good care of it, you will have it for life. Forget the $39.99 knife sets they sell at Target. I'm not trying to bash Target, but they sell the kinds of knives that are too dull to cut tomatoes or leave you with a string of onion dominoes, b/c they are too dull to fully pierce the papery onion skin.
6. (if you have 5, then you will want this--) knife sharpener to sharpen #5. Though actually, according to Patita, you can sharpen knives on the back of a ceramic bowl as well.
7. Silicone spatulas-another kitchen tool that gets frequent use in this apartment. They are especially useful for baking, but I use it for sauteeing, mixing, serving, cutting, as well as for many other things.
After all that time spent at Sur La Table, I ended up getting my friend a pepper mill after all.
Next time: essential things you should have in your pantry.
(Peppercorns, whole nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, maldon sea salt, olives, soup stock. . .)
15 June 2007
09 June 2007
Asking awkward questions
So I am supposed to go on a info-seeking mission to the East Bay at some point to find out if a certain guy is engaged. I guess I could just ask him point-blank, but the problem is that I don't really know him too well. Oh, and he's one of these formal, reserved, east coast types. He is also one of these serious eldest child types. (Note: I am not mocking these types. I can caricature these two types, b/c technically, I'm one of these types as well, except that I occasionally need to be frivolous as well.) In other words, he is the very sort of person that I'd have a difficult time extracting this information out of.
This could happen one of two ways:
1) The "subtle" way-- probably the method that my friend prefers, but I can see myself spending hours at this pizza joint in Oakland, half paying attention to his conversation, and half trying to find an angle to subtly work this whole engagement thing into this conversation. Hmm. What would be likely to get him to open up about his personal life and fiancees or lack thereof to someone who has hung out with him maybe all but two or three times? Maybe I need to conjure up an imaginary fiance of mine. I'll tell him that I'm engaged, and then hopefully, he'll say, "me too", or not. Oh wait. Scratch that. I don't have a ring that could even remotely pass for an engagement ring. . .. NM. :-P
Thus, I think then, I'll go with method #2:
2) The "ask point-blank" way-- I'm usually not a "point blank" asking type of person, especially if I were interested in this particular guy. However, in certain situations, and with certain people, I can be very point blank to the point of probably being rude.
For example, I once saw $120 per spoon spoons from Tiffany listed on someone's registry. I mean, wth. Granted, I know it is a registry and you are supposed to request things you wouldn't buy for yourself, but I was looking for something appropriate to give to a "sort-of-but-not-close friend" level, and I think the cheapest option were these $120 Tiffany spoons. Ok, I'm majorly digressing, b/c this $120 spoon thing really baffles me, but do people a) suddenly take up an interest in $120 per utensil place settings just b/c they are getting married? Or b) do people have these wish list of things they want-but-will-hold-out-till-they-get-married? B/c although I might upgrade from my el cheapo Ikea silverware, I don't think I will ever suddenly want $120 spoons just b/c I am getting married. But on the second possibility, again, I understand to an extent about people holding back on buying things like the cuisinart big mixer thing. But what if you don't end up getting married? I mean, if there is a $120 spoon that you really want, why don't you just get it instead of waiting for the big day?
Anyway, So I called my friend, the groom who had probably nothing to do with this registry and asked-- "So you're like 45 or so. The average life expectancy is about 87, so we'll tack on a few years and make it 90, which means that you've finished living half of your life already. And right now, you are using what sort of spoons? Oh. Mismatched from good will? Yeah, me too. So tell me. What is the rationale behind you at your halfway point in life suddenly deciding that you have to get $120 spoons. I mean, if you were going to get maximum use out of them, then shouldn't you have bought them way earlier? Or do you suddenly at 45 have a newfound appreciation for high-end spoons?" We have the sort of relationship I can get away with asking such blunt questions, b/c that is how I think we first met.
But back to Mr. eldest child/east-coast reserved type. I'm not sure how point blank I can be with him. Mr.-$120 spoon can roll with the punches and take my line of questioning/uncouthness. I'm not sure about Mr. is-he-engaged. Will he be taken aback? Get flustered? Get mad?
Since I am not asking this information for myself, but rather on behalf of someone else, I feel less inhibited. All the same, I still probably need to find a nice segue into, "so, are you engaged?" As I was telling my friend, if it were left up to me, this is how the conversation would transpire:
(Setting: hip-ish restaurant in the east bay. We are almost done eating our main meal. Actually, we could have just finished ordering appetizers, but somehow, I think, just in case this doesn't go over too well, I will save it till we are both almost done with the meal. Mr. possibly-engaged is updating me about his summer plans.)
Mr. Possibly-engaged: ". . .so I really want to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro w/o the help of Sherpas. I've been doing some conditioning and training, etc. and have been keeping myself busy."
moi: "Wow. I just did my big travel thing a month ago, so probably this summer, I will stay put. Maybe date around a little. Look for a new job. Elope. Speaking of eloping, are you engaged?"
Mr. Possibly-engaged: "shemme?"
moi: "Oh, I'm not propositioning you or anything. I'm just idly curious." (Actually, I am not really idly curious at all, but I'm asking this on behalf of a friend. I actually really don't care if you are engaged or not, other than whether the outcome will make my friend happy. I want her to be happy, so in this sense, I guess I indirectly care. However, since I can't actually tell you this, I'm feigning idle curiosity.)
Does anyone have a less overt way of asking someone if they are engaged? I mean, with females, it's a bit more obvious, but w/ guys. . . they don't go around sporting engagement rings. (They really should though. Sometimes this is very critical information.)
This could happen one of two ways:
1) The "subtle" way-- probably the method that my friend prefers, but I can see myself spending hours at this pizza joint in Oakland, half paying attention to his conversation, and half trying to find an angle to subtly work this whole engagement thing into this conversation. Hmm. What would be likely to get him to open up about his personal life and fiancees or lack thereof to someone who has hung out with him maybe all but two or three times? Maybe I need to conjure up an imaginary fiance of mine. I'll tell him that I'm engaged, and then hopefully, he'll say, "me too", or not. Oh wait. Scratch that. I don't have a ring that could even remotely pass for an engagement ring. . .. NM. :-P
Thus, I think then, I'll go with method #2:
2) The "ask point-blank" way-- I'm usually not a "point blank" asking type of person, especially if I were interested in this particular guy. However, in certain situations, and with certain people, I can be very point blank to the point of probably being rude.
For example, I once saw $120 per spoon spoons from Tiffany listed on someone's registry. I mean, wth. Granted, I know it is a registry and you are supposed to request things you wouldn't buy for yourself, but I was looking for something appropriate to give to a "sort-of-but-not-close friend" level, and I think the cheapest option were these $120 Tiffany spoons. Ok, I'm majorly digressing, b/c this $120 spoon thing really baffles me, but do people a) suddenly take up an interest in $120 per utensil place settings just b/c they are getting married? Or b) do people have these wish list of things they want-but-will-hold-out-till-they-get-married? B/c although I might upgrade from my el cheapo Ikea silverware, I don't think I will ever suddenly want $120 spoons just b/c I am getting married. But on the second possibility, again, I understand to an extent about people holding back on buying things like the cuisinart big mixer thing. But what if you don't end up getting married? I mean, if there is a $120 spoon that you really want, why don't you just get it instead of waiting for the big day?
Anyway, So I called my friend, the groom who had probably nothing to do with this registry and asked-- "So you're like 45 or so. The average life expectancy is about 87, so we'll tack on a few years and make it 90, which means that you've finished living half of your life already. And right now, you are using what sort of spoons? Oh. Mismatched from good will? Yeah, me too. So tell me. What is the rationale behind you at your halfway point in life suddenly deciding that you have to get $120 spoons. I mean, if you were going to get maximum use out of them, then shouldn't you have bought them way earlier? Or do you suddenly at 45 have a newfound appreciation for high-end spoons?" We have the sort of relationship I can get away with asking such blunt questions, b/c that is how I think we first met.
But back to Mr. eldest child/east-coast reserved type. I'm not sure how point blank I can be with him. Mr.-$120 spoon can roll with the punches and take my line of questioning/uncouthness. I'm not sure about Mr. is-he-engaged. Will he be taken aback? Get flustered? Get mad?
Since I am not asking this information for myself, but rather on behalf of someone else, I feel less inhibited. All the same, I still probably need to find a nice segue into, "so, are you engaged?" As I was telling my friend, if it were left up to me, this is how the conversation would transpire:
(Setting: hip-ish restaurant in the east bay. We are almost done eating our main meal. Actually, we could have just finished ordering appetizers, but somehow, I think, just in case this doesn't go over too well, I will save it till we are both almost done with the meal. Mr. possibly-engaged is updating me about his summer plans.)
Mr. Possibly-engaged: ". . .so I really want to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro w/o the help of Sherpas. I've been doing some conditioning and training, etc. and have been keeping myself busy."
moi: "Wow. I just did my big travel thing a month ago, so probably this summer, I will stay put. Maybe date around a little. Look for a new job. Elope. Speaking of eloping, are you engaged?"
Mr. Possibly-engaged: "shemme?"
moi: "Oh, I'm not propositioning you or anything. I'm just idly curious." (Actually, I am not really idly curious at all, but I'm asking this on behalf of a friend. I actually really don't care if you are engaged or not, other than whether the outcome will make my friend happy. I want her to be happy, so in this sense, I guess I indirectly care. However, since I can't actually tell you this, I'm feigning idle curiosity.)
Does anyone have a less overt way of asking someone if they are engaged? I mean, with females, it's a bit more obvious, but w/ guys. . . they don't go around sporting engagement rings. (They really should though. Sometimes this is very critical information.)
01 June 2007
We can all use a little music in our lives
I'm having one of these trying weeks. I'm forgetting to attend meetings and inadvertently scheduling 2 lunches on the same day, b/c I forgot that I already scheduled a prior lunch! It probably doesn't help that I've had some after-work commitment/event every day this week. That, coupled with the week starting on a Tuesday rather than a Monday, has made me feel off-kilter this entire week. Even my bedtimes are off-kilter (as one may surmise from the very late time of this posting).
In the midst of such a week, my Congan drum instructor emailed me a very moving email with a very timely, inspiring quote which made my day and moreover, made me smile. It is on the subject of why (music teachers) teach music:
"We teach music: not because we expect you to major in muisic, not because we expect you to play or sing all your life, not so you can relax, not so you can have fun but so you will be: human, recognize beauty, sensitive, closer to an infinite beyond this world, have something to cling to, have more love, compassion, gentleness, goodness - in short, MORE LIFE! Of what value will it be to make a prosperous living unless you know how to live? "
I'm currently listening to one of Mozart's piano sonatas--the andante movement. I should really be in bed, but I'm already feeling much better and can feel the tension slowly melt away. I need this right now.
Thank you to people like my Congan drum instructor for providing me with small bouts of inspiration and beauty when I need it and showing me the right way to live--how to be a better human--how to not get bogged down in minor things and live more fully.
We can all use a little music in our lives, but we all need a Congan drum instructor in our lives as well. . ..
In the midst of such a week, my Congan drum instructor emailed me a very moving email with a very timely, inspiring quote which made my day and moreover, made me smile. It is on the subject of why (music teachers) teach music:
"We teach music: not because we expect you to major in muisic, not because we expect you to play or sing all your life, not so you can relax, not so you can have fun but so you will be: human, recognize beauty, sensitive, closer to an infinite beyond this world, have something to cling to, have more love, compassion, gentleness, goodness - in short, MORE LIFE! Of what value will it be to make a prosperous living unless you know how to live? "
I'm currently listening to one of Mozart's piano sonatas--the andante movement. I should really be in bed, but I'm already feeling much better and can feel the tension slowly melt away. I need this right now.
Thank you to people like my Congan drum instructor for providing me with small bouts of inspiration and beauty when I need it and showing me the right way to live--how to be a better human--how to not get bogged down in minor things and live more fully.
We can all use a little music in our lives, but we all need a Congan drum instructor in our lives as well. . ..
24 May 2007
Cookies, cookies and more cookies
22 May 2007
Ode to Tea Eggs
This weekend, I made tea eggs with Patita.
Although I cook semi-regularly, I can't remember the last time I've boiled an egg, much less attempt to make tea eggs. In fact, I actually did not know that to boil eggs, one has to put them in the water while the water is still cold.
We threw--er, gently placed--the eggs in cold water and started to boil them. I feel like boiling eggs should be a very simple straigthforward process, but I managed to crack some eggs before the eggs were fully boiled. (Since the recipe called for cracking the eggs anyway, I hailed this as a time-saving measure, rather than regard it as a sign of my incompetence and inability to perform the simple task of boiling eggs.)
At this point, we decided to just throw in the tea bags and some random and not-so-random collections of spices. Pretty soon, Patita's whole kitchen filled with the delicous aroma of mystery spices--a wonderful melange of cardamon, Sechuan peppers, star anise, black tea, bay leaves, peppercorns and other fabulous flavors. We let the concoction brew for several hours, while we sat around like old Chinese ladies and made jiaozi and talked about travels.
Three days later, I cracked open one to eat for dinner. They turned out absolutely beautifully, replete with the cracked design.
But after soaking in our mystery broth for three days, they still tasted kindof bland. Thus, I stood in my kitchen, hovering over our masterpiece, torn between choosing aesthetics over taste. However, after taking my requisite photo as evidence of aforementioned lovely cracked design motif,
I decided that taste won out in the end and placed them back in the broth after cracking them open. Thus tomorrow, I shall look forward to eating some no-longer-aesthetic-but-(hopefully)-boldly-flavored tea eggs.
Although I cook semi-regularly, I can't remember the last time I've boiled an egg, much less attempt to make tea eggs. In fact, I actually did not know that to boil eggs, one has to put them in the water while the water is still cold.
We threw--er, gently placed--the eggs in cold water and started to boil them. I feel like boiling eggs should be a very simple straigthforward process, but I managed to crack some eggs before the eggs were fully boiled. (Since the recipe called for cracking the eggs anyway, I hailed this as a time-saving measure, rather than regard it as a sign of my incompetence and inability to perform the simple task of boiling eggs.)
At this point, we decided to just throw in the tea bags and some random and not-so-random collections of spices. Pretty soon, Patita's whole kitchen filled with the delicous aroma of mystery spices--a wonderful melange of cardamon, Sechuan peppers, star anise, black tea, bay leaves, peppercorns and other fabulous flavors. We let the concoction brew for several hours, while we sat around like old Chinese ladies and made jiaozi and talked about travels.
Three days later, I cracked open one to eat for dinner. They turned out absolutely beautifully, replete with the cracked design.
But after soaking in our mystery broth for three days, they still tasted kindof bland. Thus, I stood in my kitchen, hovering over our masterpiece, torn between choosing aesthetics over taste. However, after taking my requisite photo as evidence of aforementioned lovely cracked design motif,
I decided that taste won out in the end and placed them back in the broth after cracking them open. Thus tomorrow, I shall look forward to eating some no-longer-aesthetic-but-(hopefully)-boldly-flavored tea eggs.
20 May 2007
Frivolous and substantive friendships
Most of the times, I probably come off as being serious and reserved-- probably that East Coast in me. Or maybe that Asian/Japanese in me, though I am so atypically Japanese (as my Japanese friends would say), that I'm going to blame it on my East Coast upbringing. I cherish being able to have substantive conversation with my friends. However, I also need my time to be frivolous, which is probably not a side of me that many people see. Or maybe I am flattering myself into thinking I'm more serious than I actually am. . .
It's like you get into these certain modes with certain people and then to a certain extent, people sort of expect you to carry on in your expected persona mode. Like at work, for example, to certain people, I am gay.
This isn't exactly schizophrenic, nor am I being disingenuous (well, except perhaps at work), but with person A, I might be more sarcastic, while w/ person B, I might be more serious, etc. etc. But in general, probably my serious to frivolous ratio is about 4:1 or something like that (if one can quantify such things).
However, with certain people, this ratio is closer to a 1:1 ratio.
Sagacious Broccoli is one such person who seems to bring out my frivolous side, but without stifling my contemplative/serious side. With her, I can be both frivolous one minute, and have a substantive conversation with her the next. Or better yet, sometimes the conversation is seemingly absurdly silly, but we are talking about very serious things--like satellite friendships and surrogate or imaginary boyfriends and criteria for lifetime partners (being able to speak Chinese is on my list, for example, even though I barely speak a word of Chinese. :-P) and jet-lagged pee. I mean, with whom else can I have a meaningful conversation about jet-lagged pee?
For two short days, I got to spend time with her and see how she lives it up in one of the world's largest cities. She took me all across town--to her favorite shops, hutongs, street food stands, and to fabulously grand restos that serve yummy worm-like things that aren't really worms and fantastic faux smoked chicken. (She even tried to take me bar hopping the day I flew in from Saigon on an allegedly direct flight at 3:40 a.m.!) In the 36 or so plus hours I spent with her, we spent a lot of time talking and catching up about our respective lives, thoughts, dreams, etc., and even more time giggling and being our silly selves.
I don't know why, but she seems to be able to bring out that side of me more than most of my other friends. (I mean, if only she knew how serious I usually purport to be!) Maybe we are not really that funny, but when the two of us get together, we find humor in the most mundane things, all without the aid of any mind-altering drugs or stimulants.
Not counting the time I spent with her in Hanoi, it had been about 8+ months since I've last seen her, but it was like we could pick up from where we left off when we last saw each other.
I sometimes worry about the inevitable process of drifting apart from friends that I'm currently very close with, especially when they move far far away, as Sagacious Broccoli did. To a certain extent, as we grow older, as we move from one place to the next, as our life situations change, and as we ourselves change and evolve, perhaps this is unavoidable, and I accept--and sometimes embrace--this. On the other hand, as was the case with Sagacious Broccoli, some friendships seem to elude such passage of time and evolution.
Which is not to say that in forty years, when we are both nearing retirement and the new "fifty", both of us may not have changed so much that we may no longer have a silly-yet-meaningful friendship. (Actually, I am not sure this sentence made sense. The basic structure of the sentence should be: ". . .which is not to say that we won't change in forty years. . .")
But in the meantime, here's to frivolous and substantive friendships. May they live on into my old age. . . (or until I've perhaps matured a bit.)
It's like you get into these certain modes with certain people and then to a certain extent, people sort of expect you to carry on in your expected persona mode. Like at work, for example, to certain people, I am gay.
This isn't exactly schizophrenic, nor am I being disingenuous (well, except perhaps at work), but with person A, I might be more sarcastic, while w/ person B, I might be more serious, etc. etc. But in general, probably my serious to frivolous ratio is about 4:1 or something like that (if one can quantify such things).
However, with certain people, this ratio is closer to a 1:1 ratio.
Sagacious Broccoli is one such person who seems to bring out my frivolous side, but without stifling my contemplative/serious side. With her, I can be both frivolous one minute, and have a substantive conversation with her the next. Or better yet, sometimes the conversation is seemingly absurdly silly, but we are talking about very serious things--like satellite friendships and surrogate or imaginary boyfriends and criteria for lifetime partners (being able to speak Chinese is on my list, for example, even though I barely speak a word of Chinese. :-P) and jet-lagged pee. I mean, with whom else can I have a meaningful conversation about jet-lagged pee?
For two short days, I got to spend time with her and see how she lives it up in one of the world's largest cities. She took me all across town--to her favorite shops, hutongs, street food stands, and to fabulously grand restos that serve yummy worm-like things that aren't really worms and fantastic faux smoked chicken. (She even tried to take me bar hopping the day I flew in from Saigon on an allegedly direct flight at 3:40 a.m.!) In the 36 or so plus hours I spent with her, we spent a lot of time talking and catching up about our respective lives, thoughts, dreams, etc., and even more time giggling and being our silly selves.
I don't know why, but she seems to be able to bring out that side of me more than most of my other friends. (I mean, if only she knew how serious I usually purport to be!) Maybe we are not really that funny, but when the two of us get together, we find humor in the most mundane things, all without the aid of any mind-altering drugs or stimulants.
Not counting the time I spent with her in Hanoi, it had been about 8+ months since I've last seen her, but it was like we could pick up from where we left off when we last saw each other.
I sometimes worry about the inevitable process of drifting apart from friends that I'm currently very close with, especially when they move far far away, as Sagacious Broccoli did. To a certain extent, as we grow older, as we move from one place to the next, as our life situations change, and as we ourselves change and evolve, perhaps this is unavoidable, and I accept--and sometimes embrace--this. On the other hand, as was the case with Sagacious Broccoli, some friendships seem to elude such passage of time and evolution.
Which is not to say that in forty years, when we are both nearing retirement and the new "fifty", both of us may not have changed so much that we may no longer have a silly-yet-meaningful friendship. (Actually, I am not sure this sentence made sense. The basic structure of the sentence should be: ". . .which is not to say that we won't change in forty years. . .")
But in the meantime, here's to frivolous and substantive friendships. May they live on into my old age. . . (or until I've perhaps matured a bit.)
18 April 2007
My identity--a hot commodity
My identity must be a hot commodity, b/c someone keeps wanting it. This is the *second* time that it has been unwittingly taken from me. I'm failing to comprehend why the heck someone keeps wanting it, but it's really annoying. Well, ok, it's probably all of that money I have in my bank that my identity gives these people free access to.
Right on the heels of--well, almost right on the heels of--heading out of town, I get a call from my bank asking me if I've authorized a second wire to China. Um, excuse me. Did you say second? I never remember authorizing a first one, and certainly not for half of my savings amount. I won't bore you with the details of what transpired afterwards, but let's just say that a)someone out there has all of my information (or enough to manage to fool the bank to wire large sums of money) including how to forge my signature; b)I had to close out all of my accounts w/ my bank and completely reopen everything, which means new checks, new ATM card, re-setting up automatic deposits and payments, etc.--all of which I cannot do instantaneously, and much to my grave annoyance, c) I cannot use my debit card, withdraw money, pay bills or write checks for a short while. Grr.
I am really quite flummoxed about how this happened. A second time. No, not the second wire to China that I authorized, but the second time someone tried to pass as me and take out money from my account. I thought I became more vigilant about guarding my data, shredding stuff, being careful, etc., but evidently, not enough. I wish I had more time to devote my full attention to this matter.
Next time, I hope to write about something much more interesting.
Right on the heels of--well, almost right on the heels of--heading out of town, I get a call from my bank asking me if I've authorized a second wire to China. Um, excuse me. Did you say second? I never remember authorizing a first one, and certainly not for half of my savings amount. I won't bore you with the details of what transpired afterwards, but let's just say that a)someone out there has all of my information (or enough to manage to fool the bank to wire large sums of money) including how to forge my signature; b)I had to close out all of my accounts w/ my bank and completely reopen everything, which means new checks, new ATM card, re-setting up automatic deposits and payments, etc.--all of which I cannot do instantaneously, and much to my grave annoyance, c) I cannot use my debit card, withdraw money, pay bills or write checks for a short while. Grr.
I am really quite flummoxed about how this happened. A second time. No, not the second wire to China that I authorized, but the second time someone tried to pass as me and take out money from my account. I thought I became more vigilant about guarding my data, shredding stuff, being careful, etc., but evidently, not enough. I wish I had more time to devote my full attention to this matter.
Next time, I hope to write about something much more interesting.
01 April 2007
Posting hiatus
Gosh. I haven't posted to this blog in ages. Just an interim post to say that I haven't totally disappeared from the scene. I've just been occupied with other stuff, I guess. . . like trying to figure out whether to go back for more school, doing the zillions of exercises I need to do as part of my PT regimen, planning my trip to China/Vietnam, etc. . .
But one of these days, I shall post more frequently.
But one of these days, I shall post more frequently.
03 February 2007
Modifying dance shoes--a stupid idea
Given my frequent dancing of late, I decided to invest in more supportive dance shoes than the ones I currently own. I went to the nomadic shoe store, and found the almost-perfect pair--except that it had taps. Since they fit so comfortably, and comfortable shoes are hard to come by, I decided not to be stalled by some taps and bought them, figuring I could remove the taps at home.
I thought it would be as simple as unscrewing the screws, but unbeknownst to me, in addition to being screwed tightly on, the taps were crazy-glued to some plastic thing, which was sewed onto and glued to the leather surface I was ultimately trying to get at. Thus, I spent an undisclosed ridiculous amount of time yesterday and this morning unscrewing (which was the easiest part), unraveling string, prying plastic off of leather, and finally, attempting to chisel away at some rubbery non-stick thing with an exacto knife.
Perhaps the exacto knife blade becoming undone should've been an indication that this was probably more hassle than it was worth, but I continued to chisel away. . . until I accidentally gouged myself in the knee. Luckily, it wasn't a deep cut, but ouch.
I decided at this point that I should perhaps stop. Actually, to be honest, I can't remember if I stopped because of that, or because I wanted to go running (yes, with a gouged knee. . .).
The moral of the story? If you need regular ballroom dance shoes, don't get tap shoes and think you'll simply modify it, b/c it's not that simple.
I thought it would be as simple as unscrewing the screws, but unbeknownst to me, in addition to being screwed tightly on, the taps were crazy-glued to some plastic thing, which was sewed onto and glued to the leather surface I was ultimately trying to get at. Thus, I spent an undisclosed ridiculous amount of time yesterday and this morning unscrewing (which was the easiest part), unraveling string, prying plastic off of leather, and finally, attempting to chisel away at some rubbery non-stick thing with an exacto knife.
Perhaps the exacto knife blade becoming undone should've been an indication that this was probably more hassle than it was worth, but I continued to chisel away. . . until I accidentally gouged myself in the knee. Luckily, it wasn't a deep cut, but ouch.
I decided at this point that I should perhaps stop. Actually, to be honest, I can't remember if I stopped because of that, or because I wanted to go running (yes, with a gouged knee. . .).
The moral of the story? If you need regular ballroom dance shoes, don't get tap shoes and think you'll simply modify it, b/c it's not that simple.
Assuaging my Banh Xeo cravings, finally.
Today, I dragged my friend Patita and her SO down to San Jose to get Banh Xeo w/ me. Actually, "drag" is perhaps not accurate, since she came along willingly.
I had these once in LA, but have not been able to find them in any Vietnamese restaurant here. Thus, when my friend told me that I can get these crepes at Grand Century Mall, I was very excited. However, that was months ago, and hence, I have been craving them for quite a while now.
So today, I finally found a willing subject to go try these with me.
None of us had ever been to Grand Century Mall before. The interior is a hidden (mostly) Vietnamese shopping mecca. In fact, I think we were the only non-Vietnamese/Chinese in the entire mall.
There was only one stall that sold Banh Xeo--and only one kind at that--so I was a bit nervous about the lack of options. I also wondered whether I might have over-hyped these crepes in my head and thus might be disappointed by the real thing. What if I dragged my friends down all this way, and it turned out to be a very mediocre food experience? I/we waited with nervous anticipation. However, when the food finally came, I took one bite and I was in Banh Xeo bliss.
I can't remember if the ones I had in LA were better, (they seemed to have more stuff in them than the ones we got today) but the dining experience was every bit as good as I had hoped.
It's actually a very simple dish-- a thin crepe with shrimp, pork (which I asked to have removed), mung beans, bean sprouts, wrapped with lettuce and various herbs, and dipped in a tangy/spicy sauce. . .. But the combination of these various elements is uncommonly good. My friends seemed to like theirs as well.
After we assuaged our banh xeo cravings, Patita and B tried some intriguing Vietnamese dessert drink, while I stuck to the more pedestrian grass jelly tea. They both seemed to like their drink, so perhaps I will try it the next time I visit this place.
I had these once in LA, but have not been able to find them in any Vietnamese restaurant here. Thus, when my friend told me that I can get these crepes at Grand Century Mall, I was very excited. However, that was months ago, and hence, I have been craving them for quite a while now.
So today, I finally found a willing subject to go try these with me.
None of us had ever been to Grand Century Mall before. The interior is a hidden (mostly) Vietnamese shopping mecca. In fact, I think we were the only non-Vietnamese/Chinese in the entire mall.
There was only one stall that sold Banh Xeo--and only one kind at that--so I was a bit nervous about the lack of options. I also wondered whether I might have over-hyped these crepes in my head and thus might be disappointed by the real thing. What if I dragged my friends down all this way, and it turned out to be a very mediocre food experience? I/we waited with nervous anticipation. However, when the food finally came, I took one bite and I was in Banh Xeo bliss.
I can't remember if the ones I had in LA were better, (they seemed to have more stuff in them than the ones we got today) but the dining experience was every bit as good as I had hoped.
It's actually a very simple dish-- a thin crepe with shrimp, pork (which I asked to have removed), mung beans, bean sprouts, wrapped with lettuce and various herbs, and dipped in a tangy/spicy sauce. . .. But the combination of these various elements is uncommonly good. My friends seemed to like theirs as well.
After we assuaged our banh xeo cravings, Patita and B tried some intriguing Vietnamese dessert drink, while I stuck to the more pedestrian grass jelly tea. They both seemed to like their drink, so perhaps I will try it the next time I visit this place.
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