excess verbiage

Chinese New Year is early this year, for some reason, on January 26. It's the year of the ox, which happens to be my sister's year. And yes, she's a big ol' stubborn animal like that too. But anyway, my dad has reminded all of us of some things we need to take care of before the actual new year's day. I guess in Chinese culture, it's all about making sure you start the year clean and fresh, ready to welcome the good luck.

So while we were out last night at a family birthday dinner, he mandated that we get our houses in order and make sure everything is clean BEFORE new year's day. Because if you do it on the actual day, then you're symbolically "sweeping away" your good luck.

He also told my brother and my nephew to go get haircuts before Monday as well. Can't start the year looking like a right mess, and again, with the cutting away of good luck. I don't know if I believe this stuff, but on the off-chance that it could be true, then I may as well do it. It never hurts to clean up (especially in my case), and I do think it's time for a haircut, so I'd better try to get that done this weekend too. I need all the luck I can get!

I'm trying to think of what else I need to do before Monday. Guess I'll go research that and will update if I find anything new.

Update.

Found this article on food that'll bring good luck. I knew about most of those.

We all lie about something at some point or other. Sometimes it's to protect the truth, sometimes it's to protect ourselves or others, and sometimes, we just do for no real reason. The problem with lies is that it can easily spiral out of control, as you then have to continue lying to keep up the charade. I'm in the middle of an ongoing one right now. It's exhausting. Sometimes I think about coming clean with the person, but then I snap out of it and realize that it's honestly just easier to stick with it. Or is it? The truth shall set you free, though, right? I don't know sometimes. Things aren't always black and white, as we all know. I prefer not to lie when possible, but once in a while, it's the lesser of two evils, so I do it. Not sure how much longer I can keep this one up though. It's definitely a bit of a weight on my shoulders.

Reading through Gwyneth's favourites in New York, I was surprised to see a couple of places on there that I thought would be too low-brow or common for her. But then again, that's the great thing about New York - a total mix of everything and everyone at a given time. So here's what I like there - and yeah, this is more of a tourist's view of New York City, as I've only been a few times in my life.

The Affinia 50 Hotel - I stayed here last summer and it kicked ass. I loved it. It's a boutique hotel with great service, and it's gorgeous. Very modern and clean and the location is in Midtown East, very close to the posh 5th Avenue shops.

**Keep in mind that NYC hotels are super expensive - there's no getting around that. Going with a few people will definitely help to split the cost of the room, but I'm at the age where I actually want to stay in a nice hotel, so I'll save up that extra money. Even the crappy hotels are expensive, so you may as well save a little more and get something nice!

Taim - home of the best falafel I've ever had in my life. Gwyneth mentioned this too, which I was surprised about. But this is definitely worth the effort to find it. Very tricky to find in the east village, I think. Every falafel I've had since then has not compared, not in the least. Get the one with harissa on it!

Mandoo Bar - Korean dumpling restaurant. You can watch them make it in the front of the restaurant through the glass window. It's near that Manhattan Mall, on the street that seems to be like a Koreatown or something. Yummy dumplings!

Gray's Papaya - 24 hour hot dog stand where you can get 2 hot dogs and a papaya smoothie for $3.50. Great hot dogs and what's more satisfying late at night than a cheap, tasty meal like that?!

Yum Yum 3 - on one block, there are 3 Thai restaurants that are all owned by the same people. Each has a slightly different feel than the other, but the food is awesome at all of them. I had this crispy duck that was sooo good.

The UN - classic tourist stop, but for some reason, I absolutely loved it. There's something very exciting and positive about that place. I don't know what it is, but I would definitely go there again for that tour. Random fact: the UN is not part of the United States. It's in its own special zone with its own postal code.

Metropolitan Museum - I'm not normally big on museums, but this place is fantastic. They have a day where you "pay as you wish". The cashiers will say to you, "the fee is such-and-such, is that okay?" -- and I made the mistake at another museum of saying, "um, okay." But I figured out later than you can say, "Actually, I'm going to pay $5." And they can't say anything about it. They're just trying to get people to pay full price, but they're asking your permission to charge you full amount - so just tell them no and pay what you want. Don't get guilt-tripped!

Grand Central Station - I love the inside architecture of this place, and the hustle and bustle is great for people-watching. Fantastic gourmet food court downstairs too.

Bryant Park - they show free movies outside, and it's just super cool to sit there and watch it outdoors like that.

Century 21 - it's like a high-end Ross, and it is awwwwesome. Their shoe department is even in a separate building because it's so big! It's madness in there every single day - like permanant Black Friday or something. I don't know how those employees deal with it, but bless 'em!

Ever since I saw this mentioned on Dlisted, I've been obsessed with it. hehe. Upon first glance, I was grossed out and horrified at the thought of a french fry-coated hot dog on a stick. But now, the more I look at it, the more I think it'd be pretty damn delicious! lol. I like hot dogs. I like french fries. Why not put them together?! It's not really any worse than a corn dog, if you think about it. I wonder if they make one coated in tater tots? Some sriracha on top would be wicked.

Found this site where it originated from - apparently these lovely dogs on a stick are from South Korea, where they also wrap them in bacon, seaweed and other things. Thank you South Koreans!

Favourite band of late. This is a performance from Later With Jools Holland.

A while back, I tried out a Japanese ramen house in New York, and that was it - I was a convert. From that moment on, I would never again eat that instant ramen crap that we see all over the place. I actually haven't eaten a lot of it over the past few years anyway, but I definitely won't be doing it at all anymore. I just can't. Once you've had fresh, proper ramen, complete with a broth that's been boiling for 24 hours, and loaded up with melt-in-your-mouth slices of pork and an array of veggies, you honestly can't go back.

So I did a little snooping around on the chowhound messageboards to see if we had any of those ramen houses in Vancouver. And indeed we do - not many, but there are a few that are always mentioned. So like any good foodie, I went and tried them all: Kintaro, Benkei, Motomachi Shokudo, and the newest one, Menya Noodles. The first three are all within steps of each other, around Robson and Denman. From what I've read, and from what I've tried personally, I agree with what most people say, that these are the best in the city and that it basically comes down to personal preference as to which you like most. I don't have any photos of the food, but I'll make it my mission to get those and update when I have them.

Kintaro: It's tiny, cramped, and the lack of ambiance is the ambiance. This is not a place you go to if you want to relax or enjoy a zen-like atmosphere. It's loud, hectic, and people are in and out in a half hour, and that's the way it should be. Because people are there for one reason and one reason only - the food. This was my favourite of the top 3 recommended places. It's heaven in a bowl. The noodles have a good amount of springiness to them, though I could even do with a bit more firmness. I usually get the shio ramen, which is a pork and sea salt soup broth, that comes with two slices of pork, a hard boiled egg, bean sprouts and green onions (I tell them to scrap the green onions - blech). You can add other items for an extra charge. This time, I added corn. Yum!

You also choose a light, medium, or rich broth (how fatty do you want your soup), and choose between lean or fatty pork. I tend to do the light soup and fatty pork. It's against every natural inclination to get the fatty pork, but trust me, you will die, it's so good. People get the gyozas, but I tried it and find it to be a waste of time. Nothing special. Frozen dumplings. Meh. Besides, for about $7.25, you get a huge bowl of food, and you really don't need anything else. So after tax and tip, it's less than $10. SO good.

Benkei Ramen: My second favourite. I found their noodles to be not as good as Kintaro's, but again, it's personal preference. Their shio ramen soup broth was a bit too thick and rich for me, although the flavour was there. But I tried the shoyu ramen (pork broth with soy sauce) and it was lighter, which I liked. Their pork was also good and I liked that I could add spinach to the ramen. I'm not a huge fan of bamboo shoots, which all the bowls seem to have in them, so I usuallly add spinach or nori or corn. It's a better atmosphere than Kintaro, and I'll usuallly go here if Kintaro's lineup is too long.

Motomachi Shokudo: Also owned by the Kintaro people, it's their organic fancy-shmancy version of ramen, for those who think that atmosphere and space design is as important as the food itself. Organic chicken-based broth, and organic veggies like Japanese angelhair leek replace bean sprouts, and the pork and chicken are lean. The noodles are the same as Kintaro's, so I like that. And the broth is tasty, and definitely lighter, but in a good way. Sometimes you just don't feel like a heavy bowl of meaty-tasting soup. The best part is the medium-boiled organic egg. It's cooked perfectly, with a gooey yolk. Costwise, it's about $1-2 more than the other place, but it's organic, healthier, and definitely a beautiful space.

Menya Noodles: Just tried this for the first time. I don't use this word often, but it's the only word that comes to mind to describe the food - lousy. A total disappointment, and quite frankly, it does NOT deserve to be mentioned alongside the other ones. The waitress could barely speak English, which I thought was a good thing, because I was like, hmm... this place must be hardcore - for people who only speak Japanese - awesome! WRONG. It was gross, and it's an insult to ramen in general. The noodles were NOT ramen. They looked, tasted, and had the texture of chow mein noodles, for fuck's sake. I was horrified.

Also, they only seem to have two kinds of broth and I was shocked when it came and it was bland. Like, truly bland. They have this array of condiments on the table and I looked over and saw a squeeze bottle of something that they labelled "ramen sauce". I did not know what the hell was in there, but I threw that around my bowl and then it finally tasted better. But I shouldn't have to put "ramen sauce" in my soup - isn't that the chef's job to season the damn thing?

Anyway, I also didn't care for it because they topped off the noodles with these tiny sliced pink ginger type things, and some other brown strips of, I dunno, maybe they were mushrooms or something? I don't know. But the ginger overpowered the soup and all I could taste was ginger in the already gross "ramen sauce" flavoured soup. The pork that they give you was miniscule compared to the other 3 places, and the portion in general was smaller than the others. The only saving grace was the medium boiled egg. I was happy to leave that place and would never go there again. I'd rather wait half an hour in the cold and rain at Kintaro than go to this hot mess of a noodle shop. Don't waste your time or stomach space on this one!

From my personal experience, top reasons for why it sucks to be fat:

* when the top of your pants cuts into your fat roll while sitting down <-- that shit hurts
* arms never look good in tank tops
* the latest trends never look right on you
* that damn double-chin
* the inside seam of your pants gets worn out really quickly because your fat thighs rub together when walking <-- skinny people's thighs don't touch when  walking or standing
* when back fat bulges out the edges of your bra
* feeling like a cow when sharing a meal with a skinny person who gets full after two bites, while you sit there thinking what a shame it is that they're telling the waiter to take away their less-than-half-eaten plate of food
* you constantly look 3 months pregnant
* the one day you feel good about yourself, someone tells you you're obese
*hearing people refer to you as "big-boned", and honestly, being called a chub would be better

Today, the top of the pants are really cutting into my muffin-top roll of fat. Makes me feel nauseous.

That's my goal this year, to out-Goop Gwyneth Paltrow. If she can slap together random lists about stuff she likes, post it, and feel like she's being creative, well then damn it, so can I! As I've mentioned before, talking out of my ass is something I'm good at, so this shouldn't be a problem. heh

So forget Goop, I've got Shmoop. LOL. First post coming soon.... MY favourite places to eat and shop at in NYC!

Was having a discussion with someone about the different cultural preferences regarding foods to avoid during pregnancy. We'd heard different things from various people, and one of the things mentioned was a Chinese old wives' tale that says to avoid bananas during pregnancy. I'm Chinese but I'd never heard of that one. Though, my family's not terribly big on following those sorts of things, so maybe I'm just out of the loop.

Anyway, I looked up some information about it, and in terms of Chinese culture, there's definitely a different belief system towards food. Reading through it, it's something that I actually have heard of before. I'd just never known what the terms for it were in English. (It's funny, I don't really even speak much Chinese, but there are certain phrases that I only understand in Chinese - like, there's no real translation for it in English. Anyhoo...) But the best description I read is this - food is basically one of two categories: yin and yang. Yin is negative energy and yang is positive. You need both in balance to be in good health. Too much of one or the other is bad.

Yin represents "cold" foods - and this doesn't translate to mean uncooked foods, or the temperature of the food. Again, I don't know the translation. But to me, the Chinese term means foods that are sort of, I dunno, refreshing and cooling. From this reference: Foods belonging to the yin (also known as "cold" food) are bitter melon, winter melon, Chinese green, mustard green, water crest, Napa cabbage, bean sprout, soybean, mung bean, tulip, water chestnut, cilantro, oranges, watermelon, bananas, coconut, cucumber, beer, pop, ice cream, ice chips, grass jelly, clams, and oysters. These foods cannot be eaten excessively and are thought to cause stomachaches, diarrhea, dizziness, weakness, and coldness in the body if done so.

The yang represents foods that are "hot". And this one, I truly don't know the translation for it. In Chinese, I think the direct translation of the phrase means "hot air", though that probably doesn't make sense to you. The easiest way I can explain is this - deep fried foods - those are all "hot" foods that leave you feeling kind of.... dry and thirsty. You know what I mean? Basically any junk food - chips, cookies, fries, hot dogs, burgers, pizza, greasy things. You know how gross you feel sometimes after you eat at McDonalds or something? That means you ate too much of the "hot" foods that leave you feeling that way.

Also from that reference: Foods that belong to the yang (also known as "hot" food) are chili pepper, garlic, onion, curry, cabbage, eggplant, toro, pineapple, mango, cherry, peanuts, beef, turkey, shrimp, crab, French fries, fried chicken, and pizza. Excessive intake of these foods are thought to cause skin rashes, hives, pimples, nose bleeds, gas, indigestion, constipation, redness in the eyes, and sore throat. <-- oh god, I'm sounding like Goopy Gwyneth!! lol

If I have a greasy lunch, then I'll usually have some fruit afterwards and I feel better. Sort of like, drinking tea when eating oily foods because it cuts the grease. It's why you squeeze lemon juice or put vinegar on fish and chips. Gotta balance it all out.

Anyway, back to my original point of why Chinese people say to avoid eating bananas during pregnancy. I guess it's because it's one of the "cold" foods that can cause weakness or stomachaches if eaten in too large of a quantity, or too often. And so, it can increase the chances of a causing a miscarriage.

I dunno. At the end of the day, each culture has its own guidelines, and they conflict with eachother, so how could anyone possibly avoid everything that's bad to everyone? You can't. The only thing you can do is to have everything in moderation. Over here, there are signs everywhere about alcohol being a risk to your pregnancy. Yet, in Europe, they drink a glass of wine or guiness, and it's no big deal. They say avoid raw fish, but what do they do in Japan, where sashimi is king? And so on and so on. One culture says to avoid it, yet another one embraces it. I say, just use your common sense and don't overeat any one item.