Things Seen

Just wanted to share some pics of what my camera has seen here at the Oregon/Washington border. First, this is Thursday's sunset from the balcony at my sister's home. I love how the fog is rolling in, and that puff of smoke at the horizon just adds some life to the picture.



And then, here's a sign mounted at a street corner in Portland. I believe the reference is to train tracks there at the intersection. Or possibly it's a pothole warning. Whatever it is, don't get your bike caught in it... the front wheel will get tweaked 90 degrees and you will go flying off of your bike head first. I do not remember this sign from my driver's training handbook.

Kids

Alvin and I were in Vancouver from Saturday to Wednesday celebrating Chinese New Year with Alvin's grandmother. We also stayed at the same house with Alvin's sister and her family. On Wednesday, we drove down with Alvin's sister to her home in Portland, OR. We have had a very special time with Alvin's sister's family. For 1-2 hours on the car ride, I sat with my niece telling her Disney stories, singing songs, and making animal noises. Below you can see pictures of us with the nieces and nephews. Man it is hard taking a picture with a kid; imagine taking pictures with three kids.

Starbucks, Competition, and Loyalty

I saw this in Portland, Oregon, tonight:


Now that is close competition. It looks like lots of companies over the years have figured out what makes Starbucks tick, and they're trying to do it better or cheaper; and I'm not so sure Starbucks has innovated well enough to stay ahead of the competition.

Starbucks plans to close 300 stores (200 in the U.S.) in addition to the 600 closures announced last July. Many folks are beginning to prefer Panera over Starbucks for their coffee (free refills, free wifi, tables and outlets, and more food options too). There's a constant debate about Peets versus Starbucks (Peets has pretty good coffee, but their atmosphere does not compare). And then, for the on-the-go-just-gotta-get-some-good-but-cheap-coffee-to-start-my-day kind of person, there's always the McDonalds premium roast brewed coffee option.

And McDonalds, trying to take even more competition with its new McCafe, is serving espresso based drinks now too. Yesterday, during a road trip... we stopped at McDonalds, and I needed coffee, and we couldn't get to a Starbucks. So...


... I decided to give McDonalds $2.89 mocha a try.
Pros: It was only $2.89. It tasted sweet and rich, and it was quite enjoyable.
Cons: It tasted more like a hot chocolate with a little bit of coffee thrown in.
Conclusion: I'll stick with my more-customizable (though more expensive) Starbucks drink, but I'll buy a box of Swiss Miss to make in the comfort of my own home.

I was thinking about what keeps me loyal to Starbucks, and when my loyalty may exceed rationality. I mean, Starbucks is more expensive. And their brewed coffee really isn't as good as many of the alternatives out there. I think the reason I'm loyal is... the atmosphere. It's the enjoyment I get out of sitting in a place that, strangely enough, feels like home... and being there for a good couple of hours. That must be it. Because I hardly ever get Starbucks to go. Why would I? It's too expensive. I'm only willing to pay for the drink if I know that some of what I'm paying... is rent.

So, Starbucks, you continue to have my loyalty. And I understand that, until you come up with something that rockets you ahead of the competition and propels you out of this gravitational pull called a recession, that you're going to have to close some stores. Ok, fine. But please just don't close any more stores where I'm paying rent.

Our Rights (But Why Sometimes it is not Important)

Our Rights

Back in the summer, Alvin and I had a layover in the San Francisco airport in order to catch a flight to another location. We had four hours to wait and I was super hungry. So I took a walk around the restaurants to check out my options. I found this Chinese shop that was selling dim sum. These dim sum were in baskets and each basket had three pieces. They had siu mai, har gow, and pork buns. So I asked the cashier, how much for the dim sum? She said, 3 for $5. Awesome! So I ran back to Alvin to report. I said, let's get one of each. So I walked back to the cashier, and said, I'll take three baskets. She said, "that will be $15." $15! Oh no! I was outraged. 9 pieces of dim sum for $15. Yikes. Rip off! Outrage! So I said, no thank you, and walked away. I then told Alvin how I almost got ripped off. That sense of anger at having someone rip me off was overwhelming. Dim sum should be between $2.00-$3.00 for a basket with 4-6 pieces. I have my rights, and someone just stepped all over it.

Yet as I kept thinking about it, I realized that I was getting angry (which is not good for my health) just because someone took away my rights. My right not to be ripped off. And I realized the only reason I felt ripped off was because I had an opinion of what was a just price for dim sum. Yet it was only about $2 more, and I was upset.

I remember when I was young, my cousins used to say that they would get scared that people would take advantage of me. As a result, I started to live my life making sure I get what I deserved (only the good stuff though) and never get cheated. When I do get cheated, I would be upset. Yet no one ever says life will be fair and all people will have just pricing. No one ever says that I am guaranteed a good price.

I am starting to realize that it is good to be a good steward of my money, but to be upset when I get ripped off is wrong for me. This is something I need to work on since overseas I know that I will get ripped off because I am a foreigner. But instead of being upset that life is not fair, I should just accept that I got the foreigner price because (surprise surprise), I am a foreigner.

In the end, I ended up buying one basket of har gow for $5. It is shown above. Alvin laughed at me because they looked a little pathetic. I cut up the har gow into little pieces and ate it slowly so I could savor it.

吃饱了

The title phrase (chi bao le) and the above picture pretty much sums up what we've been doing in Vancouver over the last three days. Taking pictures, playing with kids, and eating. Lots and lots of eating.

When I was growing up, I hated eating. It was a chore - a necessary evil in order to sustain life. One of my childhood memories of Vancouver is of visiting here in Expo '86, and being around cousins and uncles and aunts. But, because I hated eating, I always ate so slow and never wanted to finish my food. I remember one of my aunts (I won't say which one) tying me to the chair with a belt so that I couldn't leave until I finished my dinner... and all the while, everyone else was in the other room having a good time.

Banquet

On Friday night, our team finished our training. The organization honored us with a banquet where they served us great food, gave us inspirational words, and encouraged us.

The training was great in that it helped Alvin and I feel ready for our adventures overseas. We signed papers and went through many sessions on how to prepare mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Death, Control, and Anxiety

A few weeks ago, Bethany and I took a walk - so that Bethany could train for her upcoming half-marathon walk, and so that we could go out to buy some groceries without driving. We ended up doing a 3 mile walk, round-trip from home to the grocery. But on the way, we decided to walk through a beautiful cemetery, one that has been here for decades at least. There was nothing morbid about walking through a cemetery in the middle of the day; but it did remind me that we all live, and we all die. Life is fragile.

Today, I heard a man tell a story about what was going through his mind as he went through open-heart surgery and other on-the-verge-of-life-and-death experiences. We were talking about how it is important for us to take care of our health and to take precautions in life, but to be reminded that, in the grand scheme of things, there is much about life and death that we have no control over whatsoever. We can't control the drunk driver who slides across the center divider. We can't control the tornado or the earthquake that rips through our home. We can't control the rare heart disorder that was never detected. Much of the things of life and death, ultimately, are out of our control.

So that has me thinking about anxiety. I think that what I am most anxious about is whether or not all my affairs would be in order if I were to die. Would I be leaving things a total mess for Bethany, who would already have to deal with grieving over the loss of her wonderful and intelligent and attractive husband? Or do I have it all laid out... emergency contacts, tying up loose ends to pass on my work, financial and insurance matters, making sure that my loved ones know that I love them...? Perhaps I'm anxious... because not all of this is done.

Thinking about life and death is sobering. We avoid it because it's unpleasant; but unpleasant does not mean unrealistic. Even if I don't expect to die soon, would I be ready for it? If I have anxieties - and I do - then I need to deal with what is behind those anxieties. If I have loose ends that I can take care of, so that my dying is not more difficult for family than it needs to be, then I need to take care of those things. The sooner the better.

Inauguration

Yesterday, we had a morning off our training and so Alvin and I were able to watch the inauguration. It was exciting to be a part of history and I was filled with excitement for the future.

Yet, what started to grate on me (and this came more from watching the inauguration ball), was this overarching chanting of "Obama!" and "Yes we can!" The way it was chanted almost seemed like it was a ball game. He seemed more like the team hero who is going to win the game. I was watching an interview of a dance group on America's Best Dance Crew on YouTube, and they ended their interview with, "we are the change, Obama, Obama!"

When Obama was speaking during the inauguration, I was filled with hope. But can he do everything he says he wants to do? Will he fix the economic crisis? Will he save the environment? Will the education system improve? Right now, I am filled with optimism. I know that many of the other people in the crowd believe he is the change needed. But what if he tries and he fails? Have I put my hope in just a man? What happens in the future if things don't change? How long will it take before he is no longer an ideology, and he becomes a man, a man that happens to be the president?

What's Missing from Photography

I don't shoot video. Shooting video is so different from shooting photography. I love how photography can bring crisp, sharp images that plant the viewer right into a single moment in time and leave them there fixed to take it all in.

But the thing that's missing, as you stare at a photograph and take in the beauty of the scene, is the sounds.

I was out shooting the freshly fallen snow on the landscape in Reading, PA.





It was peaceful and beautiful outside at about half past noon on Monday. But the one thing that the photographs don't capture is the sound of Canadian Geese in the distance. Everything else quiet with the snow falling... except for the lively chatter of geese. Something that photographs can't capture, but it was part of the moment.



I sometimes wish I carried a high-quality digital recorder with me, just to pick up the sounds around me. But I'm pretty sure I could never trade my SLR for a video camera.

Arizona Cardinals

Many of y'all know that I was born and raised in Arizona. I really love Arizona. I like warm weather, I like the Phoenix Suns, I even like monster trucks. Alvin thinks that AZ has a lot of monster trucks. I was arguing with him and telling him he was wrong, and so I said, "I bet you on this trip we won't see one monst.... oh." And of course, we just happen to be passing a huge monster truck.

But, I have never rooted for the Cardinals. I actually never knew a Phoenician who loved the Cardinals. I remember that in the past, there were jokes that the Cardinals were no good. I wonder if people in AZ are now jumping on the bandwagon, or maybe the hidden fans are now coming out of the closet.

I often have this problem where when I am surrounded by fans, sometimes I root for their team. Yet even though I am in Philly right now and surrounded by Eagle fans, I think while I was watching the game, I actually wanted the Cardinals to win more. I looked at my heart, and knew I was Arizonan through and through. Hey, I think I am jumping on the bandwagon. Go Arizona Cardinals!

I Say Tomato, You Say Ugly

Special thanks to Sam for pointing this out to us while we were at the grocery here in PA. Shot with my camera phone, so the quality is just ok.

It's good to know that the grocery is just downright honest about the quality of their tomatoes.



Turns out the Ugly Ripe tomato is the American equivalent of the French Marmande tomato, similar to a beefsteak tomato. Still... a great name.

Put Your House In Order

This week of training has been non-stressful, yet very much feeling like we still have so much to prepare before we leave for overseas.

We were handed this flier called, "Put Your House in Order." It includes items like where we put our will, where we want to buried, and where and how to open our safety deposit boxes. While I was listening to the speaker, I started feeling a burden envelope my heart. I started listing things I still needed to do before we leave as well as making an inventory of our big items and whether we should ebay, donate, trash, or give away the item. Yet the biggest burden I felt about putting my house in order was not the preparation with material items or filling out forms. The biggest area in my life I realized I needed to work on was my pr_yer life. The president of our company told us, "little time in pr_ying, little time in effectiveness." I really enjoy being here in training for I know the people in the company believe that pr_ying is important. This week, after being handed the flier, Alvin and I have been trying to put my house in order, starting with my pr_yer life.

Cold Day, Hot Coffee, Green Tumbler

On Wednesday night, we had a little bit of snow, which lasted for a few hours until it melted off. But just because the snow melts doesn't mean that it isn't cold out.



On Friday, we had a low of 6ºF. It was nice to be inside, sipping hot coffee... in a new, green tumbler.

Smorgasbord

On Tuesday morning, our team went to S*hady M*aple Smorgasbord. Basically it is a lot of food. It had breakfast foods (which means 6 different kinds of potato products and many different kinds of egg products). It had at least 5 different kinds of meat, which I hear in PA is a sign that a meal is good. They also had a man making corn fritters (shown above) and a cheese bar. They also had ic*ees. We stayed for 2 hours and in the 2 hours we had a team meeting, and then went back to eating.

Yummy! Also, last night we went over to a couple's house and they served us nacho salad. They made cheese with meat in a crockpot, but didn't call it queso. I think only Texans call it queso, everywhere else they call it cheese with meat.

$5 or 35 Styrofoam Cups

I'm doing some preliminary math to figure out how many Styrofoam cups I'm going to go through in my next 2 weeks here at this training. The hotel, with its 24/7 coffee and tea, only has Styrofoam cups. The training center also only has Styrofoam cups. So I'm seriously looking at 3-4 cups used per day, over approximately 11 days. That's around 35 Styrofoam cups. By some estimates, 25 million Styrofoam cups go into our landfills each year, making up 25% of our landfill space.

So I'm thinking about buying a mug at Starbucks, on sale these days for about $5. I should have brought one with me, but luggage space was limited.

Arrived in Reading, PA

Alvin and I arrived in Reading, PA on Sunday night. We were on the same flight as CLee and ELee.

We arrived to the Best Western where we are staying for two weeks. The Best Western is great. One and a half years ago we stayed at the same hotel but it was called the Days Inn. Now it is under Best Western management and there seems to be significant changes to the hotel. The best part is that they now have a fitness center.

Alvin and I will be at training everyday (starting on Tuesday) for the next two weeks. Today, the eight of us on the team had a meeting with a counselor and the East Asia leaders for our organization. It was a great discussion about expectations, how to make decisions in a team, and who we should talk to in different situations.

One funny situation that has already happened is that when Alvin grabbed my nametag, it said "Bethany Lau." Huh? Wow, no one tells me anything.

Didn't Even Leave A Note

Just like that... gone. This is was the Northpark Mall Starbucks. It was here 3 weeks ago. I know because I was there. Bethany was with me too... I have a witness. I probably still have my receipt.

On Friday, Bethany and I had our backpacks, books, laptops, and were all ready to be productive for about 3 hours. But all that was there was a boarded up mall space. I was completely disoriented. I mean, seriously stunned. For about 30 seconds, I didn't know where I was or what was going on. Nobody told me that this one was closing. I just stood there - in shock, traumatized... numb.

Birthday is coming up pretty soon. My idea for a birthday party is to have a SBUX party. That is, I will spend an entire day (9am to 11pm) planted at a single SBUX. And any friends who want to come can just stop by anytime during the day to hang out, chat, and celebrate together over coffee. What a perfect way to spend my birthday.

But I had been planning to have this party at this SBUX which has left me... with no warning signs, and it didn't even leave note. So now I'll have to find a different birthday SBUX. I think there might be one or two others in the DFW metroplex somewhere...

First Day of Training

On Tuesday afternoon, I went on my first training walk. Actually, it turned into a run.

I decided to walk from my house to West Village (which is 2.25 miles). Getting there was actually a milestone. When I was training for my last run, I always had a fear of crossing under the 75 freeway. I am not quite sure what the fear is, except that it is long, dark, no one runs there, and there is a lot of standstill traffic and so everyone driving will be watching me run. So for the first time I was able to run under bridge.

This is about the time I realized, that although it was between 45-50 degrees outside, it was super windy. The weather channel says that the wind was at 26mph. I was completely cold although I had a sweatshirt and long pants. So I decided to run it. I guess, although I am training for a walk, there is nothing wrong with running. If I was training for a run, and I ended up walking, that would be different. It did get me warmer, although my ears felt completely frozen.

The bad part of the run/walk is that I don't know how fast I can walk a mile since my timing was all off.

By the way, great job to Mama Lee for starting her training. She is doing a great job!

Food Pics 01/08/09

Yummy dinner on Thursday night.

Pasta with tomato, basil, and mozzarella. One of B's best, and one of my favorites.


Chilled Jumbo Shrimp with Homemade Cocktail Sauce

Grooveshark

A few weeks ago, misteravery turned me on to Grooveshark. It's similar to Pandora, in that you can search for music and play it on demand. But I never used Pandora, and Grooveshark came into our lives at just the point in time when I wanted to search for and listen to Christmas music - but not the traditional Bing Crosby Christmas music... I was looking for the remixed loungy stuff, like what you would hear if you were shopping at Williams-Sonoma or Old Navy during Christmas.

So, we began using Grooveshark. Search for songs, build playlists, save. Yes, you need to be online to listen to the songs, and you can't download them nor rip them (can't as in 不可以 rather than 不会) ... but I'm practically always online. And now I get to hear the whole song instead of just 30-second samples from itunes.

So since then, I've put together a playlist of songs that were on the radio back when I was in high school - Counting Crows (Mr. Jones), Ace of Base (All That She Wants), The Proclaimers (500 Miles), Pearl Jam (Daughter). And then, another playlist of songs from Wii Rockband... just so that I can build familiarity.

The interface for Grooveshark could use some work. It looks like it's built on FlexBuilder, and menu transitions run a little slow. On top of that, searches that yield multiple results of the same song get a little bit unwieldy. I just want to build quick playlists without repeats, and then let my music play. I'm looking to see how Grooveshark will improve in the days to come, or to see how long it'll last. In the meantime, it sure is nice to be able to bring back the music - but only the music - of my not-so-fond high school years.

Disney Thinks I'm Special

My friend, who knows that I love Disneyland, and will be going with me this year for my birthday, sent me this link.

If you haven't heard, Disney will give you a free ticket into the park on your birthday. I have been planning on going ever since I heard a couple months ago.

Will you be in LA around that time? Come with me to celebrate what may be my last birthday in the states for a while.

Starbucks... the Jackpot Receipt

It has only happened to me once, but it happened to me in mid-December. After ordering a Peppermint Mocha (2 pump mocha, 4 pump peppermint, grande, for-here, no whip), I decided to get my receipt... and out prints this 18 inch long receipt. It was like one of those Staples rebate receipts...

But instead of a rebate form, it was a code to fill out a quick survey online, and they reward you with a free tall drink! Not bad! I had read that before, these jackpot receipts were for a chance to win $1000 dollars. But I'll take a 100% free tall drink over a 0.0001% chance at $1000 dollars any day. Apparently, these jackpot receipts print at random times. But who knows how many times I've missed the opportunity because I didn't want my receipt and just walked away! I'm asking for my receipt every time now.

Filled out the survey, which basically asks about service, drink quality, and store cleanliness for that particular visit. Took about 5 minutes. And then you get a redemption code for the free drink.

Not bad at all. So, Monday's drink was free. My Tuesday drink will be a free drink as I buy a pound of whole beans (for the French Press) with a registered card.

Beautiful Cold

As I drove home in the middle of the afternoon on Monday, I noticed that the trees looked different. They weren't just bare and leafless from the winter... they were shiny white. It was... ice! Beautiful cold.

Running Soon

I have not had a gym membership in the last four months. But it has been fine since I was disciplined to run regularly preparing for a half marathon that I ran on Oct. 5th. The last two months it has been harder to run since I have no goal and it is super cold in Dallas.

After my last run, I decided I would never do a half marathon again since my knees hurt so much after the race.

I guess I should never say never. I am now training for another half marathon in Pasadena on March 22. But this time I am walking it. After my race on Oct. 5th, Alvin's mom said that she wanted to walk one. So I was looking at the races in LA around the time Alvin and I are visiting her in March, and so Mom Lee and I are now getting ready to walk the race. I'm not sure how I will prepare. I might just do the same thing I did for my other race, but instead of running, I will walk during the trainings. This race also has a hill, so I need to do some hill training.

I also talked to AWong who is considering it. That would be so awesome to see her walk a 1/2 marathon.

I was going to start my training today, but I wake up and it is raining freezing rain. Ok, I will try again tomorrow.

French Press

On the one hand, I think to myself, "Why in the world am I blogging about anything and everything that is going on in my life, even the seemingly mundane?" Shouldn't I just save my blog posts for the important stuff, and not little snippets about the kind of coffee that I'm brewing?

But on the other hand, I'm hoping this will slowly become a discipline, so that we're able to keep people updated on our lives regularly even as we make our move overseas. So, with quantity comes quality. And for now, you'll just have to endure quantity.

In the last few months, as we begin paring down our lives to figure out what we can bring with us, and what we can't, I have been doing a lot of thinking about... coffee. We (actually, make that I, since I'm the only coffee-drinker in this home) have a great Capresso coffee maker which was a wedding gift from a few years back (thanks, sis!) - gold filter, steams milk, starts on a timer. And so now, we're I'm thinking about what I'm going to do for coffee overseas. We may need to minimize the number of appliances we can actually bring, especially because of voltage conversion issues. So I guess we'll see. Anyways, I'm researching my options.



Thanks to klou, I have been able to borrow and test out a fully new French Press, just to see if it will suffice as a substitute. Some people swear by their French Press, so I decided to try it out. This morning was my first pot. This is a Thermos brand, 1-liter French Press (about 4.5 cups).

Originally, I was afraid that my coffee bean grinder (another gift from my sis) would grind too fine for a French Press. But it worked out just great... no grinds came through the filter. With a water-boiling Zojirushi full and at 190 degrees, I made a rich and smooth pot of coffee this morning. No floating grinds, just a little bit of that dark-brown mud near the bottom of the cup (which I like!). Functionally, the French Press worked out wonderfully.

When it comes to the quality of the cup of coffee, I thought it was quite good. I think people think that - since I spend so much of my time drinking coffee, or talking about coffee, or meeting people over coffee, or sitting in coffee-vending establishments - that I'm some sort of coffee snob. While I can tell what a really bad cup of coffee tastes like, I don't think my palette is so discriminating (= discerning) as to be able to sort out and name the distinctions for a good cup of coffee. I drank it... it tasted good... it did what it needed to do. So I'm quite satisfied.

Clean-up. Just be a quick rinse and wipedown of the equipment. Fill up the water boiler so there's hot water ready tomorrow. And we're good to go again.

Chinese Flashcards

In the last few weeks, we have stepped up our efforts to learn Chinese in a more systematic way. It all began in late November, sitting outside Corner Bakery at the Galleria, when B pulled out a small stack of flashcards from a set that we had owned for many years but only dabbled in here and there...



But, as we sat there and tried to learn how to recognize and how to write about 10 characters - ones which were of medium difficulty - we began the journey of slowly trying to get through all of the cards in this set.

Now, about 45 days later, we can probably recognize about 200 of the characters maybe 95% of the time, are hit-and-miss for about 50 characters, and still have another 200 that we haven't even touched. But... we're getting there!

It builds our confidence when we see something in Chinese - on a sign, or in a book, or on a webpage - and now we can recognize a handful of the characters in each sentence. Just character recognition, mind you... full sentence comprehension is still far out of our grasp.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend Tuttle's flashcard set over another set that we own, published by Vis-Ed. And this is only Volume 1 out of 4 sets. The print on the Vis-Ed set is too small, when what you really want to see is the single Chinese character in huge, easy-to-distinguish strokes. This is helpful both for recognition and for writing. And on top of that, Tuttle's examples of character usage seem more useful and typical.

Christmas Food Pics

In the last few months, I've been trying to take pictures of food more. So that we can remember all of the good things we eat, and because I think good pictures of good food make the good food look even better.

So, here are a few samples of the yummy food we ate while spending Christmas in Los Angeles...

Pear & Jicama Salad


Ceviche (with Tilapia)


Lao Lao (bamboo leaf wrapped pork with salted fish)


Ginger-Scallion Dungeness Crab


Steamed Shrimp (Chinese-style... with head and eyes and everything...)


Mexican Dessert (what's this called? It's kinda like a churro...)


Red-Bean Mochi

New Year. New Blog.

Happy 2009!

Well, since this coming year is sure to bring new changes, we've decided to start a new blog. This is just so that family and friends can keep track of what's going on in our lives... the food that we eat, the Chinese we're learning, our thoughts on life and the world, and the things we're doing...

So, no more xanga. And this way, both B and I can post together to this single blog.