A last farewell.

Walking around this city for the last time, I decided to take pictures of my favorite spots around town. There are many I miss but I don't think its possible to capture everything that Hong Kong was for me in a tiny 4GB memcard.

There are pics of where Steve & I got our engagement ring too.  Its not Tiffany's but its harder to buy a ring there!

And these are a few places where I first fell in love with HK.

And a bit of amazing.

And home.

From a small fishing town south of HK Island, Feb 2009.

A bundle of herbs in a blender does wonders

Since I have been grinding Oz's food for him,  I have realized that my blender is quite extraordinary in what it can handle.  So I decided to make some of my own Pesto Pasta with leftover chicken that I shredded, and a bundle of herb that picked from the back about 2-3 days ago.

1)  I started by combining Sweet Basil, Mint, Bell Peppers, Tomatoes.  U used a knife to cut some of it up in chunks and picked the stems off from the herbs.  

2)  In the meantime, boil some pasta.  Shred some chicken.

3)  Run blender with garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper.  Add melted butter to pesto sauce when done.  Do all this moderately and increase amount of spices and such as you like.

4)  Dump your pasta out.  Do not rinse your pasta, try to pop it right into a big bowl right after so you have some of the moisture still on there.

5)  Combine the pesto, shredded chicken. Voila.  Bon Apetit.

I had the pasta with some bitter melon soup.  Perfect for a rainy afternoon.  After I ate, I napped for 5 hours.  I have philosophy HW to do, which means that i will be up very late tonight. :(

269

...because I am still very happy...

L'amour est bleu

Tình yêu là màu xanh (L'amour est bleu)

Our family would jump into a big 16-seater-van in the early 90s to voyage up to a mountain city called Dalat in the southern region of Viet Nam. On the whole way, the speakers would blast with this track or different ballads from Ngoc Lan, a beautiful tri-lingual Vietnamese chanteuse.  Family roadtrips.  

This is the track...

Stacking.

I was cleaning out my kitchen cupboards today. We are in the process of renovating the kitchen. Dishware, piles and piles of them stacked on top of each other, none really matching nor fitting because they are so odd and different.


As a kid, I was very envious when I went to other homes and the hostesses pull out the matching plates. I always wished that we had the kind of household where the glasses match the salad bowl. I hated seeing the meals I slaved for hours for being served in plastic rice bowls.


In the last couple of years, when I have moved to a new place I would buy an entire new set of coordinating wares to fit my aesthetic needs. Pieces that I pick up here and there, trying to make a matching set for when I get a chance to host.


And then at the end of every leasing cycle, I would bring them all home. One by one, they get go through a cycle of "survivals of the fittest." What now is left, are the best of them. Mixed and matched, none really stacking on top of each other. As a group, they would not form a beautiful table setting like the ones in Bon Apetit. Individually, each is like a portal down memory lane.  


A square red one with little birds on them; I made stuffed tomatoes lunch during fall break with Tina in 2007. A plastic green plate that I shared garlic steak with my cousin during her first year in St. Louis while watching TLC. Then the small blue rimmed rice ceramic bowls that I cooked vegetarian soup for my grandmother's alter in middle school.

Cluttersome and random as they are. I can't stop adding to them. I can't bear to break or toss a single one out. Therefore, they stay on my counter. They're my stack.

Scorecards.

Music makes this post less dull...
I was talking to a friend most recently and we started talking about dating. My rating system for guys was brought up. Since I am Supply Chain guy, I believe in performance metrics and scorecards to standardize processes. ;) Its hard when you meet a lot of boys in your life. And when you're a romantic like I am, you think there is one perfect guy that you should end up with. A lot doesn't "feel right" even though they are wonderfully terrific men. I guest this was my way of justifying my floozy ways. If you are facing similar situations, which I bet a lot of you are, take out note cards & pencil ladies/gents. This takes a few try until you find the right set of standardization for you.

The rules:

- Make them up as you go but try to think in points.

- This is a better way to be shallow than to judge based on looks alone. Now you get to be critical about everything. :D

- Only have 10 basic point metrics. Too much and it makes it unfair. Unless there is something absolutely amazing that they show right from the start, like playing the piano is the middle of empty concert hall.

- These are my point metrics.

1. Smarts = 2 points

2. Funny = 2 points

3. Kind = 1 points

4. Looks = 2 points

5. Tall = 1 point

6. Successful = 1 point

7. Family = 1 points

8. Humble/Down to earth = 3 points

9. Picky eater = -2 points

10. Smelled bad = -2 points

If my date is good looking but is a picky eater, he is still at -1 until he show other qualities that would make up for it.

A lot of 8s & 9 will come in and out of your life. But when the first guy that gets to a 10... you just stop tallying. The negative points are suddenly positive.

Its a few months before Valentine 2010. So go out, share a few glasses of wine and do some basic math. Arithmetically happy, I wish you luck and precision. Have a good weekend.

A Few Nooks of my Life

Pre-"This Christmas"

I have started thinking about this year's holiday. As the summer cools down and the cold is settling in, the first set of sweaters are coming out. I can see the bottom of the buck full of Reds and Greens, thick and warm. Looks like this year, the first of maybe many years to come, I wont need these chunky blankets. Feeling guilty about abandoning my family, I am spending my holidays in a small island introducing a possible tradition to a few additions of my family. I hear its 100 days away. The spirit is here early this year.