Chinese New Year Celebration @ Blue House

This year we made Chinese New Year dinner at the blue house again, but with a much more intimate party. With 7 peeps and Emil, we had Fat Choi Ho Si (traditional Chinese New Year dish that wishes for getting rich and good things happening), chicken and veggie stir fry noodles, year cake (traditional Chinese New Year dish that wishes for growing taller/ achieving more every year), Susan bought cha siu and siu yuk and OP made egg tarts for dessert.

Dinner was delicious and we had a great time chatting away about relationships. Susan and Peter also got to meet Emil for the first time.

Hula & Emil

It wasn’t easy to get a group picture where most people look fairly normal. At least this one it looks like Ani is very, very happy.

The Dinner Party

It was a good evening of celebration. I still miss celebrating new year in Hong Kong though. One of these years I’d make the trip…

Cold Remedy

or perhaps I should say, more specifically, cough remedy?

I had a cold last week and had really bad coughs. I’d get one cough, which triggers a full on cough attack that runs for a whole minute and sounds like my lungs would come out. Even the chef at Island Soul Caribbean Cuisine came out with a special made ginger honey drink personally.

Hanging out in an Indian household (namely, my boyfriend, his brother, and his brother’s girlfriend, whom, like me, hangs out there), I realized that (perhaps) every Indian kid gets fed this special cough remedy when they were growing up. Turns out they all know of a drink that combines honey, black pepper, turmeric and water (correct proportion unknown).

The one they made for me had… 1/3 a mug of honey, a pour-ful/ bottom of mug visible layer of black pepper, unknown amount of turmeric, and topped off with hot water. It was impossibly spicy and I felt like I drank as much as I could but the mug was still full at the end of the night (because I kept topping it off with more water).

But it did gave me my voice back the morning after!

Karma

I believe in karma, travel karma and karma in life (mostly believing in the good parts).

I believe in being nice to people, doing good whenever possible, and hoping that would build karma in my bank which would be useful if catastrophe were to be upon me in the future. I guess that’s the paranoia in me.

Travel karma, on the other hand, I leave behind to look forward to what others leave for me. You know, the zip lock bags and salt and pepper in some rented house/ condos? Sometimes house owners don’t equip the house with any seasoning/ oil/ zip locks (and they don’t tell you), the karma comes in the last renters leaving behind useful materials so you don’t have to rush out after sunset for the nearest grocery store 20 miles out. Not to mention (which I personally find irritating) that any newly purchased stuff is unlikely to make it on the plane back, meaning you only get to use 1% before throwing it in the trash.

The world has a karma balance also on a daily basis. Even if you have been very nice and doing lots of good deeds for a long time (like always paying your bills on time), sometimes you just get a day where you still only win some (like getting your car fixed for free because the mechanic is so nice) and lose some (like getting ticketed for an accident that you did a lot to avoid).

Like my boyfriend always say to me, because I’m such a sulk whenever things don’t go my way, “You fall down so that you can get up again.”

The bottom line is, do good and be nice whenever you can.

FIUTS CulturalFest – Travel the world in a day

CulturalFest is a great opportunity to be entertained, exposed to world culture and interact with students from around the world, all while supporting UW students and a long standing non-profit. CulturalFest is a collaboration of FIUTS (Foundation for International Understanding Through Students) and student leaders at the University of Washington (“FIUTS Student Board” )

CulturalFest is a day-long celebration of the diversity and vitality that international students bring to our region. CulturalFest features more than 30 interactive display booths produced by University of Washington students from countries around the world and a special performance night of global music and dance. CulturalFest is produced by the FIUTS Student Board, a student leadership initiative of FIUTS, the Foundation for International Understanding Through Students.

This year’s FIUTS CulturalFest is going to be extra awesome for the following reasons:

• It will be in Meany Hall, one of the region’s premier performance facilities.
  In the past few years the performance had been in the Ethnic Cultural Theater which holds very little audience. Each year the tickets are sold out in advance and people line up outside that evening hoping to sneak in for a peek. With a much bigger venue this year, not only can we accommodate more audience, the performers (such as the Husky Wushu Team) also have a much bigger stage to perform on.
• There will be a pre-show VIP reception, which includes appetizers and beverages, a silent auction, and access to exhibit booths.
  In the past, exhibitions are only available during the day (11 am – 1 pm) so many can’t attend (and can’t bring their children) because of conflicted work hours.
  The VIP reception provides an exclusive opportunity to preview the country booths in the evening before the performance, bid on unique silent auction items (such as canvas paintings of Hong Kong, accommodation and travel consulting for Bali, and exquisite Turkish tea sets) donated from supporters all over the world, and meet the performers while supporting UW students. Reception tickets also include admission and priority seating for evening performances!
• Tickets are available ONLINE!
  You can now buy tickets not just in person at the FIUTS office, but more conveniently, online! What can be better than that? * I’m super excited about this improvement *

CulturalFest will be on February 10 2011. Artist Reception & Silent Auction is 5:30-7:30pm, followed by Cultural Music and Dance Performance 7:30-9:30pm.

Buy tickets now!
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/browse.html?keywords=culturalfest

More information:
http://www.fiuts.org/educationoutreach/culturalfest.html

CulturalFest is sponsored by Team Diva, Zipcar, STA Travel, and the University of Washington Department of Global Health

Why support FIUTS?
FIUTS has done great work for over 60 years. I learned a lot as a student facilitator during the Fall International Orientations and as a Student Board member. I have also gained valuable insights and opportunity to help new students as a Homestay host.

Macaroni & Cheese Challenge

Ever since I was introduced to Mac & Cheese during my freshmen year in college, I have been obsessed. To me, mac & cheese has always came in a box. Initially it came in a plastic bowl where you just add hot water.

My friends gave me a Costco size 15-box Kraft mac & cheese housewarming gift just over a year ago when I moved into my new apartment. It was definitely a step up as stove-top cooking and milk and butter are required.

One of my birthday presents this year is a recipe book called “Now Eat This!: 150 of America’s Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories” which was purchased mainly because it contained a recipe for mac & cheese from scratch.

I gave the recipe a try as my contribution to our Thanksgiving dinner (butter and milk are replaced by an onion & garlic puree), but it came out real dry and doesn’t taste much of (if at all like) Mac & Cheese. I was very disappointed

Meanwhile, I have been following the blog of Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman for a while. I came across her cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks at Barnes & Nobles and found that she had a recipe for mac & cheese (“hmmm country recipe for M&C, how could it go wrong?” ). So I came back to her website and searched for the recipe online (I decided I won’t get a new cookbook until I have gone through the 2 that I got for my birthday).

I think I’m going to give these two a try some time:

Basic: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/04/macaroni-cheese/

With Panko: http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/2010/08/a-tasty-recipe-mac-and-cheese-and-panko/

hmmmmm mac & cheese

Beecher’s also have totally awesome mac & cheese (just thinking of it makes me want to walk over to Pike Place Market for a bite, at 3 pm)

http://www.beechershandmadecheese.com/shop_frozensides_macncheese.html

Dear Rain City

To anybody who hasn’t lived in Seattle, this would probably seem like a strange thing to say, but I think the rain has grew on me.

This weekend is another one of those rainy muggy ones (after a week long of dry, sunny-ish weather). Sitting at home, doing some personal work, reading anything online, magazines, books, I came to like the almost constant heavy rain outside. After living in the Pacific Northwest for 5 years, I have learned to be content staying home (instead of running out to the great outdoors every minute available) and do things that I don’t have time for during the work week: listen to music on my pandora station, read anything online that comes to mind (so far this morning I’ve read about Kim Jong Un and Red Hot Chili Pepper), listen to the heavy rain… I think it helps that over the years I have become equipped with the appropriate rain gears, so I wouldn’t mind going out either.

Row Marathon around Mercer Island

Ole, Hugo, Elizabeth and I signed up for a marathon row around Mercer Island yesterday (Aug 29, 2010). The below course map is a rough drawing of what we were originally going to do:

Around Mercer Island - Course Map

we ended up not going around Mercer Island because of the windy weather and, thus, very choppy water.
Ole has captured most of our course with his iPhone app. Here are the google maps showing the distance we have traveled and the rate we have traveled at:
The first 2.86 km: http://tiny.cc/6zbf3
The following 18km: http://tiny.cc/mlbgn
The last 11km data was lost (possibly due to data overload)

Our quad launched at 6 am from Pocock Rowing Center (PRC). We traveled our first 2860 meter through Montlake cut into Union Bay, waited for the launch and another boat to catch up, then proceeded to Lake Washington and through 520. It was quickly determined that the condition was too rough so we backed into the North side of 520, and traveled along 520 to the end.

From there, we rowed to the Ballard Locks, then rowed back out through the ship canal down to South Lake Union, docking back at PRC at the end of our 3-hour row.

The long distance session was challenging both physically and mentally. It was very exciting that we have pulled through as a crew in the less than ideal water and weather condition (not to mention I was drenched wet like I went for a swim from the wakes, which kept me pretty uncomfortably cold throughout).

Nonetheless, I enjoyed pushing our limits in distance and time, and traveling to new places. Bringing food and water as well as tapes (for fingers) were new to me. We didn’t even think of bringing a sponge to the boat (which turned out to be tremendously useful for bailing). Now I know what to do on a long distance row! Next time would probably bring some gloves too (Peter recommended gardening gloves, Ani brought up golf gloves would be a good fit as well). I thought it would have been nice to have one of those quick dry towel to keep my hands and oar handles dry and reduce friction.

Next time we should practice more (than just 1 session on the day before) and challenge ourselves to a real marathon.

Will add a picture of our lovely crew soon.

Ice Cream Pie Recipe Trial

Saw this recipe for ice cream pie a couple days back in Ice Cream Pie? Um, Yes Please! . After receiving approval from friends, I decided to give it a try last night, for desert at a BBQ tonight. I don’t have most of the stuff that the recipe asks for, so I ended up buying a bunch of new ingredients (and therefore, having a bunch of stuff that I don’t usually use, for better or worse).

Per the recipe, you’ll need:

• 3 Tablespoon Butter
• 2 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 1/4 cup + 6 Tablespoon Karo syrup
• 2 1/2 cup Rice Krispies
• 1/2 cup Peanut Butter
• 1/2 cup Ice Cream Fudge Topping
• 6 Tablespoon Karo Syrup
• 1 Quart of Ice Cream

*except for brown sugar, I needed to buy everything else.

• I use butter only when I bake (oatmeal raisin) cookies
• I’ve never used corn syrup, and have no idea how I’m gonna finish the rest of the bottle unless I repeat this recipe
• I don’t usually eat rice krispies (or any other cereals, for that matter)
• I don’t usually eat peanut butter (esp not the creamy ones for bread spread); boyfriend doesn’t approve the recipe due to the presence of this ingredient…
• I never use ice cream fudge topping, whether I’m home or outside…

Leah also suggested use of a 9 inch round cake pan. I used my 8×8 square pan and it worked too, and ended up piling on 1.5 quart of ice cream to fill the pan (figures the more the merrier) :p

I’m not a whiz in the kitchen, so this turned out to be surprisingly easy and fool-proof. We’ll see tonight if it gets the nod from the BBQ party.

————Trial Verdict—————
Friends enjoyed it (although the pieces were cut a bit too big, so they probably all got a sugar rush). I personally didn’t like the gooey crust too much, and the peanut butter/ chocolate fudge was a bit too thick, so the dollop just slide right off the top of the ice cream *whooop*. Next time I’ll try another recipe with graham crust (like this one) which should be less gooey. Probably just use the fudge alone instead of mixing it with something else… I don’t know what it’d take, but I’d rather the topping drizzles. And perhaps something less sugar intensive.
——————————————-

Meanwhile, since I have all these rice krispies left and no prospect of eating it like cereal, I’m considering making the “Original Treats” . Very tempting bad goodness…

But now I’d have to buy marshmallows…which I don’t usually eat.

Awesome Visit to Canada

GOSH! where do I begin? The beginning it is!

Rahul and Sarah was planning a 4th of July extended 9-day trip to Banff & Jasper. Shameek and Ani and I (and eventually Melanie) decided to tag along. Sarah flew in from DC so Rahul picked her up in Vancouver. We all arrive separately at the Banff Lake Louise campground for a 3-day stay, and another 4 days in Jasper (Wapiti campground). Ani and I packed everything into his car, including tent, sleeping bags and mats, OP’s stove, large amount of cooking/ eating utensils and instant food and seasonings. The weather was expected to be cold and rainy during the 4th of July weekend, then sunny for the next 5 days of our trip, so we packed in layers.

So glad I brought my woolen hat, if only I had my gloves too for Lake Agnes. I should get a new jacket more suitable for hiking. My current jacket is great for keeping warm at the beginning of the hike, but doesn’t breathe, so my arms get sweaty wet quickly as I warm up on a hike. The problem is, if I were on the move AND the weather is cold, it’s not very comfortable to keep the jacket on OR off.

My crappy hand-me-down sleeping bag from you-know-who still works for the most part as long as I dress very warm underneath. I also got my very own sleeping mat this time (L) which worked quite well also (as opposed to the bare ground camping I’ve been used to), it kept me off the rocky ground and insulated me from the wet and cold.

July 2
Boyfriend swooped me away from the office downtown around 3:20pm and we began our journey/ drive up to Kamloops through the Blaine crossing. It took me a good minute before I realize the Canadian custom doesn’t care why I’m coming in and what my plans were (they were questioning Ani a bit, but overall surprisingly easy). We arrived Kamloops after 9 pm at Ramada Inn and had dinner at an Irish restaurant where waiters were Scottish quilts and posters sell Dos Equis; menu items include beef teriyaki and cajun chicken with fettuccine (which turns out to be completely bland).

July 3rd
We departed Kamloops for Lake Louise (Banff) in the morning and arrived after a 5-hour+ drive at 3 pm. The gang was already there. Our first order of business was to set up camp/ tent, then we caught up with the folks at Lake Morraine and Valley of the Ten Peaks. It was windy and cold, Ani and I quickly went around the lake on the flat trail and went back to campground for dinner. Turned out nobody did grocery and there is only 1 little one in a village nearby. Luckily my wonderful boyfriend brought a few steaks and a pack of sausages. During the first half of this trip I was still mostly sick so I had to stay medicated for longer than I originally planned. Coughing at night definitely didn’t help…

Lake Morraine

July 4th
The weather wasn’t all that great (and Sarah got sick the night before) so we went into Banff town for the visitor center and grocery. After lunch at the food court, we went to Tunnel Mountain for a 2-3 hour hike, and Johnston Canyon for another 2-3 hour hike (Mel and Shameek continued onto Ink pots which turned out only so-so while we slowly returned to the parking lot and campsite). It drizzled a bit that day and evening but wasn’t too bad.

Upper Fall, Johnston Canynon

July 5th
The most strenuous hiking day (after that day Ani’s knee got hurt so we stopped most hiking activities). The 4 of us went up to Lake Agnes, Big Beehive and all the way to Plain of the Six Glaciers (so pretty!). It was a 5-hour round trip with lots of elevation gain. For the most part I was a pretty happy hiker. I realized I ascended at a much quicker rate than the other 3 (who were struggling up hill as much as they were downhill). After a long way up we reached Lake Agnes, which was pretty cool and gave a good sense of accomplishment, but also freezing cold!!! It was insanely windy and the glacial water temp didn’t help. We stopped at the tea house for a cup of hot tea and to layer on a bit (Shameek was the most prepared, with hat, jacket and gloves) and for a bathroom stop. Apparently horses help carry ingredients to the tea house (and for some reason they also go even further up the mountain), so 50% of the trail was littered with horse poop which stunk really bad.

Lunch at Lake Agnes

We then continue along Lake Agnes and up on the mountain to Big Beehive, which gave a nice aerial view of Lake Louise and a gazebo for rest at the view point. The last climb up to Plain of Six Glacier is perhaps the most strenuous. By then we were already pretty tired, and the elevation is higher than before. Right at the tea house (where the trail continues to the look out), we ran into Rahul and Sarah (who later felt sick again and eventually have to leave camp early to stay in Banff for better rest instead). From there on we saw quite a bit of wild life, some goats far away on the hill side, marmots and porcupines along the way. The bit past the official lookout was a ridge to a scramble. it was quite difficult (mostly requiring concentration and a little more determination to get to the better view point).

Plain of Six Glacier

July 6
We were all up for a slow and relaxing day as we migrate from our campground in Banff (Lake Louise) to the one in Jasper (Wapiti). We got some hot coffee and breakfast from the bakery in the little village in Banff and recommendations from the visitor center for view points/ mini hikes on the way to Jasper. We drove on the Icefield Parkway. The lakes are numerous and all beautiful. I have a hard time recognizing them in pictures by their names… Columbia Icefield was also on the way, and we took the tour to take a walk on the icefield!

Columbia Icefield

July 7 & 8
Wednesday and Thursday kind of all blurred together for me; they were both mellow days. Minimal to no hiking. We went up the Whistler mountain by tram. It’s a 7-minute ride up 2km of elevation (they also have a hiking trail that starts from the bottom), where you can begin a 1-2 hour hike to the summit (where the trail ends). More experienced hikers can choose to go beyond the end of trail and out to the ridge, etc. The view is magnificent as the Whistler is one of the taller mountains in the area, and it’s surrounded by others in the Canadian Rockies. Despite the overcast, we were still able to see Mt. Robson, the tallest mountain in the Rockies, far far away in the background. Ani’s knees were hurting real bad going up and down hill/ stairs, so we took it slowly and enjoyed the view.

Mt Robson in the background

Since there weren’t much flat hikes we could do, we visited the various lakes in the Jasper town area (Lake Annette, Medicine Lake, Lake Maligne, etc). Meanwhile, Shameek and Melanie went off to conquer the Sulphur Skyline trail. It’s a strenuous 4-5 hour hike which starts from the Miette Hot Springs. We met up with them in the evening at the hot springs. The hot springs (pools) are well maintained with facilities and have a cheap admission rate. We moved between the 4 different temperature pools (mostly the really hot and really cold pools) and get our muscles relaxed and my swollen bug bite deflated.

July 9
We had a very enjoyable Friday morning chilling by the Maligne Lake while Shameek and Melanie canoe-dled. The morning sun was warm, and we had coffee and tourist watching on the deck at the lake side cafeteria.

Shameek and Melanie Canoeing in Maligne Lake

After meeting up with Rahul and Sarah for lunch in Jasper, we took off for Merritt, on our way back to Vancouver. Merritt seemed to be an even smaller town than Kamloops. We arrived in the evening, had dinner, games and some beer, slept and took off in the morning.

July 10
We arrived in Vancouver after 1pm, checked into our hotel, and went straight to Saravanaa Bhavern for a delicious South Indian (vegetarian) buffet (weekends only). BEST BUFFETT EVER. Wish we could have stayed longer and ate more but the buffett closes at 3pm (although there’s not really any room left). I wish they’d come to my backyard and make me dosas.

Saravanaa Bhavern Chefs Make Dosas In Your Backyard

Delicious lunch!

After lunch, we visited Capilano Suspension Bridge and Stanley Park. It was sunny and hot so it was nice to be outside and about. In the evening, we went to a bar with outside seating on Robson street and people watched over delicious Okanagan Spring Lager. Later on we moved to another Irish bar around Burrard and Davie for food and more beer. Good times!

July 11
World Cup Final! Spain vs. Holland! How could we miss it? We went back to the Irish bar and Shameek and Mel and Rahul already saved us a good seat in front of the tv. It was an exciting game and we were happy that Spain had won at the 2nd extra time *yay* We left after the game to head back to Seattle. Custom went relatively smoothly. Soon we were home and getting ready for going back to work on Monday.

Beautiful Seattle Weekend

Lovely lovely weather this weekend. It was super sunny and warm (high at 17 degree Celsius) on Friday. Weather continues to be beautiful through Saturday and Sunday.

Ani got Mariner’s tickets so we went after work to see them against LA Angels on Friday. Got hopelessly beat 8:0. Beer and garlic fries were good nonetheless. Slept in on Saturday; decided to go for a walk in the Olympic Sculpture Park since it was so nice out and neither of us has been there. Ended up spending the whole afternoon in the waterfront area, enjoyed some chowder and clams and mussels at Elliot Bay’s while doing some reading for our road trip to So Cal at the end of this month. Headed home and watched lots of True Blood afterward. It’s a strange strange show and Ani watches way too much TV. o we also got IMAX tickets for Ironman 2 ’cause Ani enjoyed it a lot the first time he watched it on Friday morning with co-workers. Ani’s brother wanted tickets too so I have innocently bought 4 tickets for next Wednesday (without thinking that he would be bringing a little cousin or a date… I kinda assumed it would be Ben :p).

Got up around 8 Sunday morning to get some work done for MBA applications and woke Ani up for the soccer game. Chelsea won so it’s not good for Man-U. We were going to build out the new dresser I got from Ikea last week, but turns out there’s a duplicate of the left side panel and missing 1 right side panel, so we went for a 30-minute run along Eastlake around 1 pm instead. Took an easy pace and totally beat out Ani :p It was actually really nice to have a running buddy but he didn’t like that I out-ran him. He’s determined to get back in shape and beat me. We’ll see… After run we went to Costco for some groceries and the Blue House for BBQ. It was so nice! The weather was perfect, the food was awesome (we tried out habanero with pepper jack cheese sausage from Costco yum!), and it’s been a while since we’ve all hung out (since Hula’s parents were visiting for a month and I was home for 2 weeks during then) and Nanna wasn’t all stressed out even though OP’s dad was there too. Had a good time and left around 7 pm (when sun was starting to set). Ani ended up watching true blood at home while I continue researching MBA stuff.

I was all dressed and ready to go for a row this morning but I overslept in my mini nap and woke up at 5:12 Went back to bed and woke up to heavy rain at 6. Guess I was lucky I didn’t go or I would be drenched and cold. Weather is expected to turn for the better starting tomorrow for the rest of the week. woohoo.

Meanwhile, I have decided to re-study and re-take GMAT by end of August to see if I can get to 750. I also need to find time to sit down and type out some draft essays. Today I will be meeting Gretchen and Katie from the FIUTS BoT after work to see if I can get into the Board. Hula said they’re looking for people to help with the Alumni side of things and I already had long affiliation with FIUTS so this should be good More to my resume and story to tell for MBA applications. It’s interesting to go through personal history to look for stories to tell. Sometimes things that seem so far away and minor may help make a good story (not a lie, of course). Over time, even without intentionally trying to go for a theme, I do ended up doing things I like which all falls in line.

Looking forward to my meeting (interview?) this evening, Ironman on Wednesday and my missing dresser piece in the mail later this week.