若要人似我﹐隨非兩個我

I learned a new Chinese quote today. You can't expect everyone to think like you and act like you. It's reality. Therefore, show tolerance. Everyone's different. Everyone's unique.

WALL-E

SQ and I went on a movie date to watch "WALL-E." It's Pixar's newest animated film about 2 robots, WALL-E and EVE. I don't want to give the story away, so all I will say is that the plot is really original, imaginative, and intriguing. It's one of Pixar's best films. There isn't a lot of dialogue in the film because the robots didn't talk, but only made sounds that resemble words. But you can follow the storyline. Kids will love it for the comedy and cuteness, and adults will appreciate the key messages the creators want to raise. It's a great movie - highly recommend it!

Honey Ginger Chicken

My mom passed along this recipe to me:
Ingredients:

• 6 Chicken Drumsticks (or about 20 Chicken Wings)
• 1 TBSP Ginger Juice
• 2 TBSP Soy Sauce
• 1 TBSP Sugar
• 1 TBSP Honey
• 1 TBSP Rice Wine
  

Directions:

• Squeeze Ginger Juice out of Ginger
• Marinate Chicken with Ginger Juice, preferably for 1/2 hour
• Cook Chicken until done & golden brown
• Take cooked chicken out and dab with towels to rid of excess oil
• Mix Soy sauce, Sugar, Honey and Rice wine in a bowl
• Put mixture into pan to heat
• Add in Chicken
• Turn Heat to Medium Low
• Heat until sauce is reduced and is thoroughly mixed with chicken
• ENJOY!!
  

Another Birthday dinner @ Piazza Pellegrini

I met up with my coworker from Hong Kong and she treated SQ and me to an Italian dinner at Piazza Pellegrini. This restaurant is located on Columbus Ave, in the heart of North Beach. Since it was a Wednesday night, we didn't have to wait for a table. We ordered a Pizza Margharita to share as appetitizer. The crust is very thin and it was pretty good. There were 6 generous pieces. However, the entrees were disappointing. Here are some of the entrees we ordered:

Fusilli con Pollo

Fettuccine with shrimp and peas, in a chardonnay saffron sauce

Angel Hair pasta with cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil

I must say that the food wasn't all that great. Very typical Italian, nothing extraordinary. None of us were wow'ed by our dishes. The food was a bit on the bland side - because I ended up having to sprinkle some salt over mine to get a little more taste out of it. Given our disappointment with our entrees, we didn't hand around for dessert.

Besides the food, we had a great time hanging out.

Birthday Dinner @ Chouchou

SQ and I enjoyed a nice and quiet birthday dinner yesterday. We dined at this lovely French bistro called ChouChou (pronounced Shoo-Shoo) in the Forest Hill area. It is a small quaint restaurant almost in the middle of nowhere but definitely worth trekking to. I ran across this place through a recommendation from a co-worker and it was a great restaurant indeed!! Service was great and the food ... it was Yum-Yum excellent! SQ ordered the prix fixe menu that came with a selection of appetitizers, entrees and dessert - all for only $25.95. He chose the Frisee aux Lardons (Frisee salad with poached egg and pancetta as appetitizer and I got the Sauteed escargots with garlic, butter, and puff pastry. Both were delicious. Sorry we both got so excited about the food that we forgot to take pictures of our appetitizers!

For entrees, I ordered the duck confit - shredded duck nestled inside the lightest, tastiest, thinniest fingerling potatoes I've ever had. Simply deleeessh!! SQ ordered the mussels with the side of shoestring fries. Mann, that bowl must have had 50+ mussels in there... they definitely didn't go cheap on the portions even though the mussels were part of the Prix Fixe menu. The broth that came with the mussels was excellent.

Then came the dessert. By this time, I was too full to have any - but since SQ's order came with dessert, we picked the Mixed fruit tart to share.

And mann o mann....I practically ate 1/2 of this tart even though my tummy was about to explode. It was soooo good!! The crust was thin and sugar-coated, which provided a great balance with the fruits. Excellent!! The dessert was my favorite even though I liked everything else too. I would definitely recommend this place if you are looking for a non-pretendious French bistro that gives you all the things you're looking for - service, price, and great food!!

The Triplets

Not many people realize that I actually have a set of nephews/niece who are triplets. They are my husband's brother's kids. They were born in July 2005 and will be THREE years old in a couple of months! They were born weighing less than 4 pounds each, and a 2-1/2 months from full term. They stayed in the hospital for a few months until they were big enough to breathe on their own. Now, they are healthy toddlers who loves to take pictures & run around making a mess. They are a handful (literally!)

Their names from left to right: Albert, Alex, and Alisa (in that birth order too!). Obviously, they are not identical triplets, but faternal triplets. They look different from each other and definitely have their own personality as well!!

Can you guess who is the naughtiest one?

Greenest Cities in the U.S.

San Francisco got voted #2 as the greenest city by Popular Science. Portland, Oregon was #1.

The rankings were based on:

Electricity - cities score points for drawing their energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, hydroelectric power, etc.

Transportation - points go to cities whose commuters take public transportation or carpool

Green living - cities earn points for the number of buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, as well as devoting areas for green space, such as parks and nature preserves

Recycling and green perspective - measures how comprehensive a city's recycling program is and how important its citizens consider environmental issues.

Hopefully, as we continue to build awareness, San Francisco will get the #1 spot next year!

Haute Couture

During our World wide Fashion team meeting, my collegue based in Paris came in to do a presentation on Brands. She explained how difficult it is for a true luxury brand to balance between (1) maintaining the brand's image and heritage, and (2) renewing itself to evolve with modern times so it can always be fresh and set the trend. A brand is always constantly looking for ways to connect to the customers with their own uniqueness which won the hearts and following of these customers in the first place.

She did a case study on Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton. It was a great presentation and intrigued me to further research on what these brands are all about. I ran across a BBC documentary on the internet named "The Secret World of Haute Couture." Haute Couture, according to Wikipedia, is a French for "high sewing" or "high dressmaking," and refers to the creative of exclusive custom-fitted fashions. Apparently, there is a group of very very rich women who would make it a seasonal event to attend all the fashion shows by the most famous designers and then purchase that special piece. It will be only one produced in the world, custom-fitted to the buyer, of course. A blouse will normally costs $10,000 and a dress can $300,000 or upwards to $1 Million. Now, this is CRAZY!! Anyways, the BBC documentary is really interesting and worth a view if you have time.

Not branded!

Most often times than not, I feel that I'm working in the wrong industry. My Company is a retailer that only sells high-end products and nothing less. And when I say high-end products, I mean luxury goods that common folks could only aspire to buy but couldn't afford...brand names like Christian Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hermes, Prada, and the list goes on and on. I am surrounded by brand names left and right, where a nice handbag costs at least $700, and a really nice one more than $3,000.

We recently sold a diamond-studded Hermes bag for $84,000 to a Black cardmember. Yes, it is crazy. Why would anyone spend so much for a handbag? Or a jacket? A watch for that matter? Well, obviously, someone understands why. They are our customers. They appreciate the brand names. I, on the other extreme end of the spectrum, am just a low-key gal who is (in present tense) never into brand names... I love simplicity and quite frankly, a good deal. I don't understand luxury. I don't understand brand names. To me, the handbags are just an item, a SKU on the selling reports, and nothing more.

In fact, I don't even register what is "expensive" anymore. The other day, my collegue showed me a cute Chloe Lizard Paddington handbag and told me that the bag retails for $2,500. And my first response, "Only? Wow, what a deal!" In real life, I would NEVER imagine myself buying a $2,500 bag. But yet, I think at work, $2,500 seems like nothing. Money is no object. This dual reaction separates the "real me" and the "me at work." I find it odd... It's not reality.

Lowell High School Drama Class

On Sunday, SQ and I went to support Lowell High School's drama class's production of Les Miserables. It was weird stepping foot on my alma mater after so many years. I think I haven't never back to Lowell since I graduated, which is eh-em, 15 years ago! Although I only walked around the auditorium area, much of it was what I last remembered it to be. For example, the murals on the auditorium (aka Carol Channing Theater) were exactly the same. In fact, some of the paintings are still so vivid in my head. I remembered it. It was so odd - a feeling hard to describe. The courtyard is still the same - the same old benches - and same concrete walkway from the cafeteria to the library (where all the performances/events were held). Mann, it brought back a lot of memories...not good nor bad memories -- just the time spent there.

I was actually quite impressed with the Les Mis production! For a non-professional production, the set was nicely done. Majority of the students sang and acted beautifully -- and it was a 3 hour show!!! The orchestra also performed well! There were no shortcuts whatsoever. I thought it was excellent...and really have to give these students a big kudos for a job well done! Sunday was the last show (they did 4 total). The lower section of the auditorium was entirely filled. The upper section was empty. So my initial guess is that there must be more than 1,000 people. Tickets were only $10, so I guess it was worth the money - and a great way to show some support. At least these students are doing something positive.

Thai Massage

I went with my sisters to a Thai massage place this Saturday. We went to Suchada Thai Massage on King St. between 7th and 8th in San Francisco. It's a small, quaint place, but nicely decorated and clean. 1 hour traditional massages were only $60! What a deal! Compared to some of the other massages I've been to, $60 is really a good price.

I had my first Thai massage in Thailand, and I loved it. The good thing about Thai massages is that they don't use oils - but rather, the masseuse concentrates on pressure points and moving your body through the art of Yoga stretches. It is actually very comfortable...I especially like the hand and feet massages! They are the best!!

Lee Kum Kee Sauces

People often assume that because my husband is a better cook than I, he cooks. The truth is that I cook 4 days of the week. Once a week we go back to my parents' place and during the weekends, we go out to eat. In fact, my husband rarely cooks.
I am not a good cook, but I am able to put decent, edible meals on the table. I admit, a lot of times, I cheat. I take short cuts. I only do stir-frys and use prepared sauces. Thank goodness for prepared sauces!! In our world filled with long work days, I have no shame in using prepared sauces! One of my all time favorite is Lee Kum Kee's "Sauce for Fried Cod Fillet." It's a dark, soy-based sweet sauce. It is excellent for a lot of meats, but I like to use it with Sea Bass. It is super-easy!

After cleaning up the sea bass (I like to remove the skin & scales), lightly salt the fillet. Pan-fried in low heat until done. Remove sea bass onto a plate. Heat up the LKK sauce & add in green onions. Pour sauce over sea bass. And OMG! You have the BEST-tasting sea bass ever! It's delicious and the good news is that it NEVER fails! Better news is that you don't have to worry about how much sauce to use. The pouch is enough for 1 meal. No measuring at all!! All that convenience for only 89 cents. Genius!

P.S. I'll share more cheats later on!

Wild Parrots in San Francisco?

Since his new job is near Levi's Plaza, SQ told me that he "finally" saw the parrots today. I said "what are you talking about?" Apparently, even though I considered myself a San Francisco native, I didn't know that there are wild parrots living on Telegraph Hill in SF. I wikipedia'ed it and surely, there is a flock of Red-masked parakeets proved to be living there. They are probably descendants from escaped or released pets as this breed is originally from Peru or Educador. In fact, this homeless failed musician named Mark Bittner who fed and documented the parrots for over 6 years became an overnight hero, writer, and the subject of a documentary called "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2005)." Interesting. Very interesting. Everday, I learn something new about this beautiful city I live in.

Macau

SQ and I took the ferry to Macau from Hong Kong China City in Kowloon. We got deluxe seats since the economy class seats were sold out. Upon arriving in Macau, we decided to hire a pedicab (aka a trishaw). The man pedaled to the more famous landmarks of Macau. We stopped by a few of them to take pictures. We visited the new Lisboa Casino, the Macau Tower, A-Ma Temple, and the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral just to name a few. New Lisboa Casino


The facade of St. Paul's Cathedral

There is something about Macau that I don't like. The air is polluted. The City is divided into the rich Stanley Ho family and everyone else. The casinos remind me of a cross between of Reno and Atlantic City. It tries too hard to be like Vegas, but just lacks the grandeur. We didn't get to go to the Venetian in Cotai - there may be our miss since I heard it is very upscale and huge. The gamblers there are very "mainland Chinese" so the atmosphere in these casinos comes with the throat clearing and the constant spitting. That never ceases to exist.


Overall thoughts: not impressed. Been there, done that. Time to move on.

Elements Mall in Hong Kong

My friend/co-worker, Sylvia brought SQ and me to check out Elements Mall when we were in Hong Kong. I was thoroughly impressed! This mall was built in conjunction with the MTR Company. The MTR Kowloon station is connected to the mall. It is, by far, one of the most luxurious malls I have seen. The mall has the most prestiguous brand lineup such as Prada, Gucci, Cartier, you name it. They even have an IWC boutique! Impressive! Of course, SQ, being the Architect he is, even noticed that the building materials were first class. This mall puts our little SF Center to shame. The mall itself is gigantic - separately into 5 wings : Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. They have beautiful sculptures representing these 5 elements. Sorry, I didn't take these pictures... courtesy of Wikipedia.com

Wood
Water
Fire

"Village" as I sound, even the restrooms were impressive! They are all nice, clean, and big! They have a cleaning lady inside to make sure the amenities are well stocked. And as you step outside between the Mens & Womens restrooms, there is a comfy seating area filled with newpapers & magazines AND an automated shoe-shine machine. How great is that?!

My favorite store though is a hip grocery store called ThreeSixty. They have a good selection of everything - including cooked food to go. They even have a booth specialized in selling bottled "leung cha." What a novel idea! Love it, love it, love it! Everything about this mall fascinates me although I must say that it's really meant for rich folks. Everything is the on pricier side, but it's definitely worth the time & the mile of window shopping!

Today I struggled to get out of bed to go to work. I feel very sluggish every weekday and dread going to the office to see what awaits me. Only when I think about when I will resign from this job, a smile lits up on my face. I know, it's quite pathetic. I look at the calendar today to figure out when is the best day to resign. I do want to stay to finish up the last round of orders, which is due May 23. So, late May. Close to my birthday... it will be my birthday present then. 8 years with this company...fast coming to an end (?).

SQ started his first day at the new company today. He said he spent the entire day reading through the employee handbook. Not much excitement. I told him he should be careful what he wish for. It's slow now, but enjoy it while it lasts... wait until all the work gets piled up and then, there would be no room to be bored.

Give It Back!

Japan is a land of vending machines. You can get almost EVERYTHING via a machine (Yes, even underwear!). It's all about "DIY and self-serve" as much as possible. Even in temples, there is a self-serve fortune-telling booth. It's not a hi-tech machine, but it is definitely do-it-yourself. Here are the basic instructions:

1. Pay 100 Yen into the slot
2. Pick up the steel container and shake it (eyes closed optional)
3. A long narrow wooden stick will come out naturally
4. Read the number written on the stick
5. Find the same number written on the one of the many drawers
6. Pick up your paper fortune
   

Ok, I tried it, and I got like the WORST fortune ever!! It said something like, "None of your wishes will come true. You will suffer in bad health. Your marriage will end in divorce." I mean I was literally DOOMED forever. But NO FEAR!! According to Japanese customs/traditions/legends, you can give your bad fortune back to the Gods! Simply tie the bad fortune on the wire shelves (to the right) and your bad fortune will be dissolved. Whewww! Thank goodness I am not cursed forever!!

Geisha Spotting

Having read "Memoirs of a Geisha," I have always been fascinated by this mysterious ancient Japanese profession. So, here we are in Japan, in Kyoto, in the Gion 祇園 district, on Hanamachi (花街)...why wouldn't we go spot some geishas out? Our tour guide told us that "real" geishas don't pose for pictures. They just go from one appointment to another, and is usually very fast doing so.


The Gion area is absolutely fascinating. It composes of 1 main street with many smaller alleys. The streets are all filled with small 2-story old Japanese teahouses. This is where the geishas entertain their guests. Apparently, fees for a geisha run about $400-500 USD for 3-4 hours or so. The geisha also has the power to say no to any appointments. Her outfit can cost over $10,000 USD. Her outfit, along with her head-dress, are indicators of how popular she is and how much she makes because these things don't come cheap.

So we were there at around 8pm - the perfect time as the geishas are usually wrapping up their duties. We were the papparazi for the night-- literally lurking in the dark to take pictures of the geishas! Remember they walk very fast from one destination to another - many times to a waiting car or taxi. And of course, our camera's flash wouldn't charge up fast enough... We will be like..."look, there's one. wait, she's gone...no, another one there..." In total, we saw over 10 geishas, but was only able to get a couple of shots. We were lucky to get this shot.



Overall, It was really really fun... but of course, to the geishas, we are probably the most annoying people EVER! What a great experience in our night of geisha-spotting!!

My Impression of Japan

Having just came back from a 9-day tour in Japan, I figured it would probably be best if I blogged on special aspects of the trip rather than describing all the what, when, and where - that would be way too boring. The first segment would be on "My Impression of Japan." I thought hard about how to best summarize my feelings about this place - took me a while, but eventually, I couldn't find better words than "Finding Perfectionism." In fact, I think their entire culture and life goal is all about being perfect.

While the Japan is globally well known to manufacture all the cool gadgets and advanced technologies, they are never the inventors of such things. The Japanese is known to "better" things, processes, and skills. They excel through improvement and enhancement, not creativity and inventiveness. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. Always try to do better.

The Japanese people not only strive to be perfect, they love perfect things. Someone told me that in Japan, people don't believe in cheap prices. Quality comes with a price. Take these fruits for example. I took these pictures in a fruit store in Ginza. These mangoes were imported but only

the finest were selected. The strawberries were home-grown, but each was hand-selected and presented in its best shape and form. So look at the prices. Yep, quality things don't come cheap. A mango for $23 USD and a crate of strawberries for $126 USD. But these fruits are the best nevertheless.

I love Japan because in my opinion, it's almost perfect. People are so polite and friendly. They bow and say hello to you even when they don't know you. They try to make you feel comfortable and welcomed. In the service industry, people don't have a sense of entitlement. They don't expect tips. They serve you because it's their job. They are courteous and follow the law. They don't talk on the phone on the trains. They don't litter and the place is beyond clean, it's tidy. People walk on the left; there is order.
But unfortunately, being perfect isn't easy. There is a lot of pressure (self and society pressure) in this country. Anything less of perfect is not acceptable. It's a hard life there in that sense...but I think the good outweighs the bad. It's still a beautiful and friendly country.

Japan - Here we come!

On Tuesday, Mar 4, SQ and I leave for JAPAN! I am super excited!! This is the longest vacation since our honeymoon 4-1/2 years ago... After the house, the wedding, the surgery, the house renovation, we are finally making time to go on this long-overdue vacation.

We are going on a 9-day Japan tour, which visits places like Toyko, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe. The tour is a bit on the expensive side...but the main reason why we took the tour instead of venturing out on our own is because we are both too damn lazy to plan the itinerary. SQ never likes to any sort of planning - because he thinks that things "just happens." YEAH RIGHT!! Me - I like to have things settled before getting there - i.e. rough itinerary, places to stay, etc. But I have just been too spoiled from traveling so much for work...because whenever I travel, everything is all taken care of for me! But now since I am traveling personally, I have to do everything myself. I seriously don't have the time and patience to research & figure out where to go, where to stay, what to do, what to eat, etc. so hence the tour. Yep, you can say that I'm buying the convenience!

After the 9 day Japan tour, we will stop over in Hong Kong for 4-1/2 days! I was in HKG for about 2 days last time for work, back in Oct 07. But SQ hasn't been there since Sept 03...it'll be nice to go back for a visit. This time, we want to stop by the Big Buddha and Macau, which we didn't get to do last time. I'm reserving 1/2 suitcase and at least 1 full day for shopping!!
Counting down...2 more days!!