吃得太遲

Last night, I slept at 2, woke up at 5, and could never go back to sleep... It must be the food... Eating too much too late (we're done with the dinner at 11) so the stomach needed to keep working and hence I could never get into a good sleep.

At least that's my theory.

In fact I was woke up by a horrible dream. Someone wanted to kill me again.

***

There is an interview scheduled at 1am tonight! Talking to an employer that is located in Hong Kong... I was thinking that I should keep on writing code while I'm at school to not only get financial support, but also to have something to fall back onto if it turns out I hate working in the kitchen. But then after a second thought, I should get myself concentrated on what I really want to do--at least for now. Having too much options isn't a good thing after all...

That said, I'm tempted to start my own project :)

***

I've started planning a trip to Yellowstone during the Memorial Day weekend. I'm planning for 5 days. Thanks for all the help, Jacky! Today I passed by the building where the restaurant 太平洋餐廳 used to be located, in which Jacky and I had lunch over there at least twice a week... And now, the restaurant was closed long time ago and the building is being remodeled to become a museum. And Jacky has already switched two companies since he's gone like two years ago.

And what about me?

I'm still wandering around the same old Chinatown almost every day looking for food...

Food is always like that. It reminds you a lot of your past, the people you ate with, and the people who prepared the food for you.

I really like this issue of 《飲食男女》, there is an introduction that says:

麵 包 是 有 生 命 的 ， 從 一 團 麵 粉 加 水 加 糖 加 酵 母 加 雞 蛋 開 始 ， 它 的 生 命 就 開 始 了 。
經 麵 包 師 一 番 揉 搓 ， 入 焗 爐 焗 好 ， 一 身 金 黃 ， 新 鮮 出 爐 ， 在 生 命 最 閃 爍 一 刻 ， 你 選 了 它 。
菠蘿 包 、 雞 尾 包 、 墨 西 哥 包 、 麥 包 、 椰 絲 奶 油 包 … … 不 同 的 人 選 了 他 們 心 中 最 愛 ， 這時 ， 它 闖 進 你 的 嘴 巴 ， 與 你 身 邊 的 人 、 物 、 事 ， 圓 融 為 一 個 記 憶 ！
今 夕 何 夕， 麵 包 潮 一 浪 接 一 浪 ， 花 款 琳 瑯 滿 目 ， 這 些 舊 包 被 遺 落 在 一 角 落 ， 偶 爾 重 遇 ， 那 味道 如 一 根 絲 ， 牽 引 到 何 年 何 月 ， 想 起 一 些 人 一 些 事 和 那 口 屬 於 你 私 人 的 滋 味 來 。
那 情 懷 、 舊 記 憶 ， 全 收 攏 在 一 個 麵 包 。

Zoë : 食環境

Finding a single guy/gal to dine with me is like looking for a parking spot around downtown area during rush hour (ha, sounds familiar right)... Finally met a good Samaritan, who is willing to have a very late dinner (yup, we reserved a table for 9.30) on this last day of 25 for 25.

The restaurant we choose is Zoë, which is located in the Belltown area.

Comparing to Campagne, the food quality is better, and the portion is much larger! Unfortunately, I ain't convinced that I will go back for more--too salty and too sweet.

Here's what I order:

Starter:
Ricotta gnudi with crispy sage in brown butter balsamic vinaigrette sauce.

Entree:
Beef steak with spinach, bacon, pickled onion, and smahed potato.

Dessert:
Chocolate Chantilly pot de creme

The ricotta gundi is the best of all three, and the deep fried sage leaves beautifully sit on top of the ricotta that have subtle smell of cheese.

Teh beef steak is disappointing. I ordered it medium rare, but it looks like rare to me. The center of the steak is not warm enough (and in fact I have minor diarrhea right after I get back home, which could be related...). The steak is also too lean that makes it hard to chew. The potato/veggies mix is really salty. I think the bacon added the extra saltiness.

The chocolate Chantilly is even worse. It's way too sweet to my taste that I can't even finish it. It just keeps irritating my throat...

The good side of this restaurant? The atmosphere. You feel like you're home in this little cozy restaurant filled with customers who all dress like a designer of some sort.

And the great hospitality you received in this restaurant is one of the best in town--you can feel the passion of every single staff in the team.

Oh well, except that they take our order ten minutes after we are seated...

SIFF光伴我心...

So the yearly Seattle International Film Festival is around the corner! Too bad the film list won't be announced until May 10... If you are interested in volunteering, you can get more information here. The job involved is nothing comparing to any other volunteering work--in most cases, all you need to do is just ushering. In return, you'll get to see the movie you're helping out with for free (well, depending on your workload AND the mood of the lead usher), and get one voucher for every two hours of volunteer work!

I'm so looking forward to this event. It's really fun! Um... will Ping Pong be on their list?

***

It's the THIRD case I know someone who needs to fight against caner this year... *sigh* every time when I heard of the news, I'd imagine it'll be my turn sooner or later...

還是舊的好

I hate the Sony Ericsson 800i!!! That control stick stops working properly for a few months already... whenever I need to make a call, I have to spend at least half a minute to locate the number, which I used to need five seconds only.... *sigh*

So finally I digged up the old Motorola phone, and found it actually pretty lovely--it doesn't have the fancy features, but it does what I really need to do.

Seamlessly.

那年我們這樣遇見...

I have started working on a set of pictures that tells the stories over the past few years of my stay in Seattle--which are truely one of the best times in my life!

Those were the days that left me with joy and envy!

忘記哭泣

It's been a while I haven't cried--so long that I forgot it's actually quite soothing --until last night.

As a segue of my ER incident, I accidentally wiped my eyes too hard in the middle of the night that irritated a lot of tears... *sigh*

And then in the morning when I woke up, I found my back is really painful and stiff. What happened to my body lately??

***

Dad called and said that his recent EKG result shows possible problems with his heart. All of a sudden I said to myself why I don't I leave earlier and spend some more time with parents before the school starts... but then on the other hand I still have a lot unfinished businesses I have to take care of before leaving. Hopefully dad will be OK.

***

Heard that the treatments were not constraining the cancer cells... how should I cheer you up in this case? I wanted to leave some words for you, but I wasn't able to find any proper words--should I encourage you to continue fighting? Or should I say that God is taking good care of you? Whatever I say, I know I'm just trying to cover up the reality...

***

And your hearing is impaired more and more by the tumor... whenever I picture how the tumor is going to alter your face.... my heart sinks.

***

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7

我們的失敗

森田童子 (English translation) - ぼくたちの失敗 (我們的失敗)

在充滿春天氣息的陽光裡
在妳的溫柔中
沉浸的我
一直都是個懦弱的人吧?

與妳聊著天
說累了
就不知不覺地沈默下來
就那樣地
只有代替暖爐的電熱器
紅紅地燃燒著

在那一家地下爵士咖啡館
仍然有著我們不變的身影
就彷彿像惡夢一樣
時間毫無緣由地消逝而去

在只剩一個人的房間裡
找到了你喜歡的Charlie Parker (爵士樂作家 1920~1955)
可是我想你已經忘了我吧...?

看見了變得沒用的我
我想妳也會吃驚吧?
"那個女孩還好嗎"
那都已是過去的事了.......

(courtesy of scent)

二人三足

I'm like playing 二人三足 today, the only difference is, the game only involves me!

I was admitted to the Overlake Hospital ER early this morning. A sudden pain around my right knee woke me up at around 2.30am. I tried to get into sleep again thinking that the pain should go away, but an hour later I had to wake up and keep my leg straight.

Being worried by the stories of 食肉菌 (as the pain became more and more sever), I decided to log on to the internet and do some research to see if I needed emergency care.

And guess what? Someone from Settle was still online, at 4am!

I just can't believe it. Anyways, I thought of calling 911 and get an ambulance, but the pain started to fade out :-) So I decided to drive to the ER.

It turned out to be... muscle pain because I climbed the stairs too hard.... yeah... I know.... I should say I'm involved in an avalanche or at least went skiing to make myself less embarrassing....

***

Went to see cherry blossoms at UW yesterday!

Without you I am nothing
Originally uploaded by euqus.

Limelight: 不完美的人生，才叫人生...

I was not a fan of Charlie Chaplin when I was small. The only impression I had was that he's always moving with his stick in a slightly fast forwarded pace. And I found it really boring.

Well, apparently I hadn't gone through a lot of life issues to come to appreciate the paradoxes of Chaplin's comedies. Until recently a radio show aroused my interest to check out his DVD, and I picked 《Limelight》, a 1952 film that was written, directed by, and starring Chaplin.

It is truely marvelous!

After half a century, this movie is still touching the heart of its audience...

Life can be wonderful if you're not afraid of it.
All it needs is courage, imagination.
"--- Calvero, Limelight"

What is there to fight for?
Everything!
Life itself! Isn't that enough?
To be lived, suffered, enjoyed!
What is there to fight for?
Life is a beautiful, magnificent thing.
Even to a jelly fish.
"--- Calvero, Limelight"

(But I can't dance without legs!)
I know a man without arms
who can play a scherzo on a violin and does it all with his toes.
The trouble is you won't fight. You've given in.
Continually dwelling on sicknes and death!
But, there's something just as inevitable as death
and that's life.
Life, life, life!
Think of the power that's in the universe!
Moving the earth, growing the trees!
And that's the same power within you.
If you'd only have courage and the will to use it.
"--- Calvero, Limelight"

***
Thanks so much for the call! I'm so looking for that day--that big milestone we have to achieve!

Campagne: This is why you have 25 for 25

There are these restaurants I would never try if not because of 25 for 25, and Campagne is one of them. And sadly I think it's overrated.

How so?

The mimosa has no suprise at all, the mussles are not fresh (some of them actually gone bad), and the chocolate cake is way too sweet that I can't even finish it! $25 for this food quality is too pricy. Good though that we spent three hours over the dinner and it was the chatting that's the funniest.

It's true though Campangne has a romatic view of Pudget Sound.

I heard that Barking Frog is pretty good. May be I should give it a try.

****

Finally I signed off my life to the George Brown Chef School last night! This was actually the easiest part. Now I need to start shaping up the house AND THE LAWN and get prepared for putting it on market... or may be renting it out. Either way, I need to start cleaning up!

****

The China trip to Chongqing this June is canceld because of the drought and extreme weather in the summer...

滄海桑田

Received an ambitious book Friedlander that weights 5lbs of a total of 500 pages. I really what was quoted from Peter Galassi, one of the curators of MoMA, reads:

You have to change to stay the same.

It's so true, isn't it?

***
I have decided to sell the house and most everything before leaving. It's sad to part with any single one of them, but I guess I'll have to leave the past behind. It's going to be a totally different life, and I dont' want to, and it's useless, to look back...

Including Sassy... yeah, I have to leave her behind...

(Picture courtesy of ho gor...)

Shocking news....

Logged on to facebook just now, and found out two shocking news about my housemate:

1. I thought I could entrust Sassy to him but apparently she's under torture....

2. What?! Even YOU are now...

*SIGH*

***

Went to St. Lawrenece market to pick up some stuffs for tomorrow's dinner. Unfortunately as soon as we got what we need, we found out that we're all losing our appetite since we ate too much greasy food these days.

So here's what I am going to make: Congee with venison and pumkin (if I can find any), topped with Himalayan salt; and steamed cod roe with ginger and green onion.

飢餓的成因

是貧窮...

***

Forbes reported that we had a record 946 billionaires last year...

dynamic pricing

This article "Amazon mystery: pricing of books" is a pretty fun read--it's fun to see how speculation become a fact after seemingly authoritative publishing :-) While I couldn't comment much on the article, I like the idea to make it feasible for customers to negotiate price. If that's a reality though, does it really matter if customers pay differently on an identical item?

***

Had dinner with parents in George Brown Dining Room, where the food and services were provided by the students. Here's the menu:

APPETIZER

Chicken Liver Parfait
with Pimento Relish and Crispy Croutons

A Gathering of Salad Greens
with a Herb Vinaigrette

Vitello Tonnato
Thinly Sliced Veal in a Tuna Fish Sauce

SOUP COURSE

Chef's Daily Creation

ENTREÉES

Oven Braised Lamb Shank in a Red Wine and Thyme Jus
Partnered with a Rosemary and White Bean Ragout

Teriyaki Glazed Salmon Fillet Steak
on Ginger Scented Rice, Stir-Fried Shitake Mushrooms,
Cabbage and Bean Sprouts

Roasted Supreme of Chicken
On Nature Pan Jus with Blueberries, Sautéed Rapini,
Glazed Cippoloni Onions and Creamy Polenta

Herb Marinated Sirloin of Beef
With a Cracked Peppercorn Cabernet Reduction

Chef's Special of the Day
Ask your Server about the Chef’s Daily Creation

DESSERTS

Molten Chocolate Cake with Berry Compote and Mango Coulis

Lemon Grass Flavoured Crème Brûlée with Raspberry Coulis

Coffee or Tea

For the appetizer, I particularly liked the Chicken Liver Parfait, which I think liver in itself tastes good already because of its fat content. The salad had no pleasant surprise, and the veal was.... tasteless.

The soup was Cream of potato. A very standard soup, and honestly you can't go wrong easily for soup, right?

All of the entrees were disappointing. The lamb wasn't surprising, while the chicken was, again, tasteless (since they didn't put enough sauce on it). The salmon was way too dry...

The desserts were, however, pretty good. The chocolate was awesome! Hum, should I get into their pastry program instead??

我們這一家

It's been a while since I last watch 《我們這一家》, but life in Toronto is a bit boring so I started watching it again...

Haaa, didn't know that 師奶 can be that universal :-) Her song 《別怪她》 is really funny.


The story plot is really simple, but I always laugh my head off because of that!

其實, 花師奶, 就在身邊了...

Ouch!

Under the greenhouse effect, I'm sure this year's temperature in July will be record breaking... Argh. I'm sure I'll soon become this when I get there. I'm also worrying if Immigration will allow me to come back as my visa expires in August?? And the horrific memories of not being able to open my eyes after taking various vaccines...

Sigh, why do I always choose a difficult path??

***

I still haven't accepted the offer yet. I guess I'm still waiting to get enough adrenaline to press the button--or more seriously, I'm still trying to make sure I have unwavering conviction that this is the correct direction I should be heading to. Sometimes I wonder if I could be a successful entrepreneur, since I don't have this "Just do it" or "Bias for action" attitude (ironically, these are some of the key competences my current company is looking for, no wonder....)

Sometimes I do admire my courages friends who let go of a lot of things to follow their vocation: this friend (A) I just had dinner with tonight traded his Boxster to fund his startup; while this friend (B) volunteers full time teaching English in rual parts of China with a PhD in his CV...

What is holding me back?

代價....

沉重的代價....

見死不救吃喝拉撒的動物

Today I found out that I am accpeted by the school... I have until May 1 to accpet the offer.

I guess I still have not realized the risk of quiting my current job and entering a field of unkonwn working towards my "dreams". I was still laughing if off when poeple reminded me repeatedly that I am heading a future of no future, especially at this age in life.

Whenever I heard of these warnings, honestly, my other part of me tells me just to quit. Wouldn't it be easier for myself, and for people around me, to see my life continues as it is now? Sure, I won't get very excited staying in this field doing more or less the same job over and over until 30 years later. But does that really matter? I can earn enough to support my expensive hobbies, to continue the mortgages, and probably set up my own family easier? What do I want? Who do I think I am? You want to change the world? Forget it. With limited time, limited opportunities, and limited everything, the world won't change because of me.

*proof*

I feel like I'm giving power to these thoughts as I write them.

This song... is telling the truth to all "idiots" who don't want to follow the rules....

(白：……還沒有熟的一個果子，然後一些人就很餓，饑不擇食，然後忽然發現一個果子以後，撲上去把它摘下來吃了，一口吃下去，甚至於連嚼都沒嚼就咽下去，咽下去以後發現肚子痛，然後又苦又澀的感覺，你說他應該不應該吃，你要說不應該吃，他餓；你要說他應該吃，他吃的是個澀的、是個不可以吃的東西……)

你的踏板車要滑向哪裏
你在滑行裏快樂旋轉著
有人看著你為你祝福
我曾經和你有一樣的臉龐

如今這個廣場是我的墳墓
這個歌聲將來是你的挽歌
你會被教育成一個壞人
見死不救吃喝拉撒的動物

請你不要相信她的愛情
你看黎明還沒有來臨
請你不要相信他的關心
他的手槍正瞄準你的胸膛

如今這個廣場是我的墳墓
這個歌聲將來是你的挽歌
你會被教育成一個壞人
見死不救吃喝拉撒的動物

啦啦啦啦啦

(白：……我一直預感著有一場災難要來的，可來的太快，而且扎扎實實的就落在我頭上，是我最怕生事的人的頭上，它奪去了我最心愛的兒子……)

《廣場》 by 李志 （2006)

Courtesy of 燕窩

Didn't the students are told not to stay in the square for their parents' sake? What is the reality now? Where are those who were fighting for their dreams?

At a time like this, when I am emotionally defeated, quotes like these help a lot:

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

Christopher Gardner: [to his son] You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can't do it. You want something? Go get it. Period.《The Pursuit of Happyness》

人不發夢枉少年!

****

無國界義工 has some good programs that target at rebuilding old school buildings in rural parts of China. May be one day, I could set up a cooking school there too :-)

不知說什麼好

Back to Toronto!

The trip was not smooth at all. First the schedule got changed and I had to arrange the ride at the last minute. Thankfully Doug messaged me and asked if I needed a ride! Thanks so much.

I sweared I will not take a flight back home if it's not a direct flight, after a disastrous experience last time. Too bad I had to do this again, and didn't go back home until 2am... What an exhausting trip.

It's going to be my mom's brithday this Thursday... 生日快樂!

I don't usually do this, but this time I brought home with a gift :)

I printed some pics I took for them last time I was in Toronto.



****

Met a friend I haven't seen for over ten years... time really flies.

****

So my travel plans for the rest of days before I leave:

April/May: Join a mountiaineering trip organized by Outward Bound. I'll probably choose a 10-day trip in Colorado. Another option is dessert backpacking in Utah.
June/July: Joining Rainbow Missions trip to China, and stay in HK for a week.
July: Come back to Seattle, and work for two more weeks.
August: Camping in Shi Shi Beach, North Cascades, and probably Death Valley and hopefully Yosemite too... 一償心願...

Well, hopefully I will be able to execute this as planned. My H1B expires this August.... not sure if they allow me to come back in.