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.

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.

Blog Discovery – Zenhabits

I reached out through Google search for something interesting to read and found Zenhabits. I like the overall concept/ idea and find the latest post nice, but it didn’t hit a nerve right then.

On the other hand, I looked through the archives (nice layout, by the way, very easy to scan) and found The Absolute Beginner’s Guide To Starting A Small Online Business which I think is very inspiring for all the future Entrepreneurs out there (including myself and my friend).

Here’s a snipet copied from Leo Babauta’s post (Thank you for the inspiration):

Tip #3: Ask For Help
If you’re a bit introverted like me you might be shy about asking for help.
Don’t let that be a barrier to your success.
In other words, feel the fear and do it anyway.

It is very in all aspects in life. Take a risk, ask someone for advice. Worst that could happen is you didn’t get any useful advice. Nonetheless, at least you showed some initiative for something you cared about. Who knows? That person might be able to reach into his/ her network and find someone who could give you pointers!

To read the rest of the article, go here: http://zenhabits.net/small-online-business

Is it safe to visit

After seeing today’s Bing home page picture of the day, (and since I am clueless when it comes to geography) I went to check out the country’s wiki page. It seems like a country with lots of history and culture and I thought it would be pretty interesting to visit.

Macedonia - Bing Homepage 8.25.2010

But given the country also sounded like it went through some pretty unstable times, I thought I’d do my research before deciding that I’d want to visit. That’s when I have discovered this pretty cool website – Is it safe to visit. The website pulls in “data about the safety rating of each country from the U.S. Department of State, Canadian Foreign Affairs Department, Australia Smart Traveler, and New Zealand Safe Travel. We then compare the ratings and assign each rating a number grade in terms of severity. We then average the rating numbers together to give an average as to the current safety rating for that country, which is the rating that appears at that appears at the top of the page.” (quoted from “How it Works” section in http://isitsafetovisit.com/about/us)

Personally, as I’m Canadian, I like that they include a link to the travel report from the Canadian Foreign Affairs Department (like this one for Macedonia), which gives specific details about the reasoning for the ratings and what to watch out for, etc.

Meanwhile, since the rating is “elevated risk” (and “Exercise high degree of caution” by Canada), I’d probably postpone my travel plans till a later day.

Cuddly Wabbits

I can stare at this all day…

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.

Rowing in Hong Kong!

On Tuesday I finally got a call from the Hong Kong China Rowing Association that there’s a club going out on Wedneday whom I can tag along with. It was very exciting that I got a chance to row just in time before my return to Seattle.

I went out with the Shatin Baptist group of 6. From the very beginning I was noticing the difference between rowing in Hong Kong and in Seattle.

#1 – Salt water rowing: Shing Mun River leads straight into open ocean, so we rowed in salt water in Hong Kong. That implies a few other discoveries:

#2 – TIDES! When one of the guys gave me the prep talk before we took off, low tide was one of the things he asked me to pay attention to. The dock is a few steps below land into the river; and a few extra steps lower when it’s low tide. The exposed steps are covered in moss and may be slippery. The shallow river also means we need to stay further away from shore to avoid damaging the boat.

#3 – STEPS! It’s my first time going down steps from the boat house to a dock. This is just new to me and requires a bit of maneuvering both for taking down oars and boat.

#4 – Side way dock – to launch by having someone push your oars out instead of walking down the dock and paddling away. That was interesting.

#5 – 18 km practice – 2 km down the river, 7 km out to a beach; round trip.

#6 – midway stop in the 18 km practice – NOODLES! lol it’s so typical of all the outdoor activities I’ve been had in Hong Kong. Be it hiking, biking or rowing, there’s always a midway stop for delicious noodles. It’s awesome (although I didn’t have any because I didn’t have my wallet with me; I got a coke on somebody else though).

#7 – Washing equipment – because we were rowing in salt (and very dirty) water, the boats and oars have to be washed with soap and rinsed through.

They were really nice for taking me in for a field trip. It was fun to row with those easy-going folks. I pledged that if they visit Seattle I’ll hook them up with PRC for a try.

First 5 Days in Hong Kong

Day 1
Left Seattle for a 2-week visit home last Thursday afternoon. After 20 hours of traveling (with some layover + 1 hour delay in Narita, Tokyo), I finally got home after midnight (Friday). Kicked off the vacation with a 20km cycling trip to and from Tai Po and Wu Kai Sha. We biked along Shing Mun River, where there are a couple of boat houses for rowing as well as dragon boating and canoeing, kayaking. Swung by offices to see if there’s an opportunity for a drop-in row. Left some contact info and haven’t heard quite yet. Probably won’t get a chance; they seem to be quite a closed community and requires memberships, etc to be involved. Had lunch at a road side restaurant: got dim sum and beef stir fry noodles and started to head back. Thighs were super sore that evening; in lots of pain when we went out for dinner at a fancy modern Vietnamese restaurant called Rice Paper and browsed around shops in the mall (ordered transition lenses for Uv protection). Applied lots of Ben Gay and went to bed early.
Day 2
Mostly recovered on Sunday. Visited ancestor’s grave Sunday morning before heading to dim sum lunch with Ki suk suk and family at Yau Yat Chuen. Went home for rest afterwards and went out again for dinner @ Harbor City’s Habitu, a fancy Italian restaurant by the (not very romantic) pier. Then met up with Elaine and Dawn for drinks (white wine) at Spasso, a fancy lounge resturant with outdoor seating. Talked lots till 11:30 when they are closing, and decided to head over to Dawn’s to chat through the night. Caught up on some junk food from the convenience store as well. Slept for 2 hours at 5 am and had breakfast with Dawn before heading home Monday morning.
Day 3
Monday morning went with Mom to her new gym for an Easy step class; quite hilarious. the instructor was awesomely energetic and funny. The class was fun even though neither me nor my mom could quite follow all the steps and the turns plus enthusiastic poses. Definitely sweated out.
A visit to Hong Kong in April is definitely quite a change than ones during December/ x’mas. Not only is it warmer (from 10 – 15 degree celcius, to 20+), it’s also much much more humid (98% humidity) which makes it all the more (to put dramatically) suffocating. Perhaps also due to the humidity and warm weather, it also seems a lot more smoggy. It’s been almost always gray sky because of the smog. Lots of smokers every where; didn’t help that it’s also a more populated city. It’s more comfortable when we were out cycling, with nice breeze and fresher air.
Went to a shanghai restaurant (a chain with branches all over Asia called Jade something…) for lunch after gym. Then mom took off to get Susan’s watches fixed while I stayed in TST for some browsing (or as I call it, ‘re-discovering’ the city). Didn’t really buy anything (other than a few small things from Muji); lots of shops with lots of little knic knacs, nothing too interesting to buy. Mostly just go into tiny shopping complexes and spin up the stairs, window shop through each level and spin back out. Cosmetic stores (and consumer electronics, and just about anywhere else) are constantly packed with tourists from mainland China. Apparently they like to come to Hong Kong and stock up as the RMB (Chinese currency) is now more worthy than HK$ :’( (RMB$1 = HK$0.8) A bit turned off by the crowd (and thus lack of service staff attention) so didn’t really stay any where mostly). Totally crashed in bed before dinner and blurred through my first home cooked dinner before some more sleep right after. roasted pork and sai yeung choi soup were delicious *sleepy eyes*
Day 4
Tuesday went to gym again for ‘stretch it out’ with mom. Kinda lame. Yoga class with lots of people who ache even from sitting, before putting leg over head. Lunch at Arirong, our favorite old time Korean restaurant. Checked out digital cameras, sales at Fortress (electronic store) recommends Olympus stylus 7040 for my all weather-proof and panoramic function requirement. HK$2200 for the 5x optical zoom version; $300 – $400 more for the 7x one. Seems a bit expensive especially I’m probably taking dad’s ‘spare’ camera, Fujifilm Finepix s1000 fd, but it’s too bulky for every day use. So, still thinking. Got my new lenses and went off to more rediscovering in Yau Ma Tei/ Mong Kok with mom. Didn’t really get to take time looking at things as mom has never been to those little shopping complexes filled with teenagers and not very comfortable. Got lots of fruits along the way. Headed off home soon to get ready for running class in Kowloon Bay at 7 pm.
Running class turns out to be a lot of fun. Did an 800m warm up run around the tracks with mom, then followed the basic class for posture practices. Then mom accompanied me for the time trial for 400m, 800m, 1000m. Following mom’s pace helped me finished them all comfortably at approx. 60% effort. Time is probably not great but I’m glad I didn’t keel over and not finish 1000m. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it’d be and group/ class running turned out to be quite fun as there are others to chat with and cheer on. Fridays they would practice long runs on streets. I wouldn’t go to any both because I’d die if I try and because we’re off to Taipei this Friday and I’ll be back in Seattle the next. May go back for another Tuesday track run next week Home cooked meal around 10 pm. Hot soup was awesome.
Day 5
Mom’s taking kung kung to his doctor’s appointment and speech therapy today so I get some time off from daily exercises and will be heading off to CWB in the afternoon with Dawn. Hopefully would get to buy some pretty clothes or what not. More home cooked meal in the evening.