Liang Pi Mania

Can't get enough of liang pi! After my trip to NYC to visit the famous Xian Famous Foods, I've been on the look out for liang pi here in LA... when I went to a Tianjin restaurant, my friend recommended a Tianjin version... Hmm, it was good in its own way, but nothing like Xian liang pi... so the search continues...

Oh, we also had Si melon... so light and comfy for the stomach.

Law of Conservation of Masses

In a closed system, mass cannot be created/destroyed, although it may be rearranged in space, and changed into different types of particles.

I got my ears pierced recently so am now amassing my collection of bling blings. I spent a couple hundred dollars on diamond earrings, then got a pair of ten buck cubic zirconia ones. They cost much bless but were just as pretty, if not more, than the diamond earrings. I could not tell the difference at all. So why is it that we are willing to part ways with huge amount of our resources over some okay looking rocks when we could get something exactly the same in appearance, but that only cost 1/100th as much...if cubic zirconia was rare and diamonds were littered all over, would we pay 10K for a cubic zirconia and 10 bucks for a carat of diamond? It seems it's all in our head...

I moved to the States from China in my early teens. The common immigrant narrative would be this: I escaped oppression and found the land of the free called America... but in all honesty, America could be just as oppressive in some ways...it's like one cage replaced another, just a different type of cage...Instead of Chairman Mao, Comrades DeBeers, LV and Tiffany have brainwashed me.

Feeling kind of tired... missing the days when I was a little girl, running around with dirt smudged cheeks and wild hair, but at least I was myself, and was accepted for who I am. It felt free back then.

Books I am Reading...

Three English books and two Chinese books... being bilingual is probably one of the greatest gifts a person could have... The two Chinese books are The Story of Ah Q (by Lu Xun) and Little Reunion by Eileen Chang (author of Lust, Caution).

Country Living for Yuppies

Lately, I've been really wanting to be a peasant for some reason... so to live out my dream, I made a bento box for lunch today... all tied up in a cute little bundle.

Tada, here is what's inside... I used what I had in the fridge, blanched kale, sliced soy eggs, sliced duck gizzards, blanched white beech mushrooms and flower shaped rice cakes! Not bad, huh? For my next one, I'll have to get some colorful veggies and fruits...

USA v Canada?

Wha?!! The USA is playing against Canada for the hockey gold medal at the Olympics? How can that be? Isn't Canada our 51st province? Hehehe... K, that was a cheap shot. Go Team USA!!! Let's kick those maple leaf tushies!

Relief

I have two friends in Chile. When I heard of the earthquake there, I emailed them, and fortunately they and their little ones are all doing fine... but they are without power right now... sigh, the forces of nature...

XO Kitchen

XO Kitchen is a popular eatery in Manhattan's Chinatown... I had a major craving of Chinese food when my flight landed in NYC... so when I met up with F, we rushed straight to XO Kitchen! Wanton soup... slurp, mmmm....

Clams with garlicky breadcrumbs... hmm, not really Chinese, but still good. The clams were very tender, not chewy at all.

Stir fried turnip cake, a bit greasy, but I was hungry and tired so it was good.

XLB, not exactly authentic, as the skin was a bit too thick to be Shanghainese, actually think of it, we Shanghainese have pretty thick skins, but we'll discuss that another day...