Strange Foods 1

As we were having dinner last night, my parents started talking about an episode of "Survivor" they had recently watched. This was an episode where castmates were challenged to eat strange foods. Apparently, many of the contestants were gagging from what was on the menu. Some of the things they had to eat were preserved duck eggs, chicken hearts, balut... That was all my parents could remember.

It's funny how cultures can be so different, and it's great that many of them have sort of made a stop in the Bay Area. All of us lucky residents get to dabble into other cultures without leaving the country. I think it's great that people get to try preserved duck eggs (so yummy), chicken hearts (so yummy), and balut (yummy if you can get past the eating an unborn chick thing). In the Bay Area, these things are pretty common here, eh? However, there are many foods eaten by other cultures of the world that we have never even considered putting into our mouths. As a food lover, I will try almost anything. Here's a short list of things you will probably not find in the US.

1. Masato - This is a Peruvian alcoholic beverage that is made one of two ways. The more modern way is to ferment yucca with sugar. But what I drank that night in the Amazon started with the river. River water mixed with yucca that local women have chewed and spit out repeatedly were fermented for a couple of days, then served to the guests of our lodge. The taste - bad. It's milky with chunks of roots and stuff inside. Yuck.


2. Alpaca - This is probably the worst thing I've ever eaten. Hmmm... I may have to retract that statement after quickly thinking about some of my mom's cooking... Anyway, closely resembling a llama in appearance, alpacas are cute, fluffy, and have long flirty eyelashes. And they are also very very gamy. That one bite of the alpaca steak was torturous. If you think lamb is gamy, alpaca is a million times worse!



3. Guinea pig - Ooooooohhhhh, YUMMY! Guinea pigs may be cute little pets to some people here in the US, but in Peru, they are another source of protein. Yummy protein, that is. Their meat was succulent. Tender. Salty. Their skin - crispy. Not too fatty like pork. It reminds me of baby pork I had in Spain... So good. Yes, that's the head.




4. Capybara - Capybaras are the biggest rodents in the world, with the capacity of growing up to 4.3 feet long. Sounds repulsive, but hey, they're actually really cute. Hmm. I see a pattern happening here. Peruvians like eating cute things. Anyway, capybaras look like humongous fat rats that are really slow. I don't remember the taste, but it probably was delicious compared to the alpaca.



5. Piranha - These vicious little creatures are known for their razor sharp teeth. Ha ha. Little did they know, it was I who would devour them with MY set of razor sharp teeth. The amount of time and work taken to catch these little suckers isn't worth their little flakes of flesh though. Their taste? Normal, just like regular ol' fish. =)



6. Fugu - (Okay, you can get this here, but it's not that common.) Fugu, also known as blow fish and pufferfish, can paralyze your entire body and the victim can die of asphyxiation if the chef accidentally cuts into its liver or ovaries. The fugu I had was really good. The chewy texture was what stood out the most.

Oh Glorious Day

I had a glorious day today. My spirits were high because of three things.

One. The weather was so beautiful, I was able to wear a pretty little sun dress.

Two. I've been having a lot of shin problems whenever I run, so I stopped this not-so- fun activity for a long time. But last night, I actually jogged two miles! This doesn't sound like anything, but this is big for me. Usually, I'm already limping from pain before hitting the quarter mile mark. My shins didn't cause any problems at all. My heart, however, needs some conditioning. The lack of pain was probably largely due to my great warm-up, 20 minutes of jump roping.

Three. Not gonna tell you. =)

Red Egg Party

I don't know if you remember a previous post I had published a few months ago about seeing my ex at my friend's party, but my dream came true. Uh, correction. Part of it came true. I saw him this weekend at my friend's red egg party* for their newborn baby.

The Call
I was at work late one night, partly working, partly scaring myself with imaginary ghosts and rapists. All of a sudden my phone rang. The screen said "Steve." What?! WHAT?! I IMed my friend, and said, "OMG. Steve is calling me..." I picked up and finally hung up with him 45 awkward minutes later. We did a lot of catching up, but his two main reasons to call was to wish me a happy belated birthday and to ask me what I'd like him to do in regards to the presence of his new girlfriend at the upcoming party. I said thank you to the former, and for the latter, I told him, "You know I don't like her, right?" He said, "Yeah." "And she probably doesn't really me either." "Probably not." "Okay, if you decide to come over and talk to me, don't bring her with you. " I didn't want to see her, let alone, see her with him.

I honestly didn't really know how she looked like. All I remember from a cursory glance at a photo was big frizzy hair and excess weight. I even asked him once, "You think I'm prettier, right?" Without a second thought, he responded, "Yeah, of course." He proceeded to say something else that would be very hurtful to her if she ever found out. (Doubters, he wasn't just saying this. He was being honest. I know him.)

The Party
This past Saturday, I arrived at the restaurant wearing a flirty red dress and tall scrunchy boots and looking pretty good... on the outside, but my insides were a jumbled mess. My stomach had traveled all the way up to my neck. Two of my close friends greeted me at the entrance. We walked in and I recognized his head/hair right away seated at one of the tables. We found a couple of friends at the end of the room and sat down, with our backs facing him... and her.

The Greeting
While we were eating and chatting, he approached from behind me and said "hi." I turned and he was standing next to me. I looked at his face, the same face I've memorized the contours of from all the times I've traced over it with my fingertips, the face I loved every millimeter of for the past few years, the face I haven't seen for almost seven months. Our hug was genuine, but I pushed away first, not wanting old feelings to surface. He complimented me, and I knew he was being honest. I said he looked good as well, but it came out a little rehearsed, so we both chuckled. He had lost some weight and looked darker. I guess that's from all the running he's been doing. I forgot to check to see if he had lost more hair! I would have pointed it out to him. Ha ha.. We talked for a few minutes, laughing about certain things, agreeing on the quality of the food (this was one of our favorite topics in the past), about his friend who is now in a band... I even insulted him like I used to do, which felt nice. I don't mean the insult, but how we would disagree with each other and were completely honest about everything. He left after saying brief "hi"s to my friends. I let out a deep breath. I was alright.

The Unknown Encounter
I finished whatever was on my plate and made another trip to the buffet counters. As I was walking back (empty-handed... weird) I saw one of Steve's friends, Chiang. We gave each other a hug and started catching up on things like work, traveling, hiking, the seven summits, etc. I believe Steve's name came up a couple times. As were were chatting away, I noticed a girl sitting at the table where I was perching my elbows on, holding my friend's newborn. She had big eyes, a big nose, and straight brown hair. I didn't recognize her, but I had a feeling she recognized me. You know how some people look like they're preoccupied with something, for instance, holding and petting a baby, but she's actually listening in on your conversation? Yeah, she was doing that. So after a few minutes of being chummy with Steve's friends (another friend came up to us after a few minutes), I gave them hugs and said goodbye. As they were leaving, I saw Steve again, but this time, he talked to that big nosed girl holding the baby. I knew then that that was her.

The Hunchback Bitch
I walked back to my table and started blurting out to my friends that I saw her. Everyone's interest peaked. As catty insults were thrown out, Steve surprised me (and everyone else) from behind (much like a ninja) to say goodbye. We gave each other our last hug of the day, and he continued on with saying his goodbyes to other family members seated at other tables. Our eyes followed him, and sure enough, following behind him was her. (I don't even know her name. I don't want to know her name. I've told him before, "Don't you ever say her name in front of me." He called her "what's her face.") Sharpening our claws, we started taking a good look at her. Insults started flying. "Her nose is sooo big!" "Look at her spare tire!" "You can tell she's not an active person. Things are oozing out." (Oh gosh, I actually feel kind of bad for saying these things and laughing at her now. It's really mean... But I'm going to finish my story.) My favorite insult was "Look at her! She has a hunchback!!" I started laughing in disbelief when my friend said that. And she said, "No! Look. She does have a little hunchback!" I looked carefully, and to my surprise, she does!! So that was when she was given the title "The Hunchback Bitch."

To be honest, she looks like a nice girl. We all agreed she looks like her confidence level wasn't very high. My friends noticed she kept looking in my direction during the party. But looks can be deceiving, as we all should know. Another friend of mine saw her in the bathroom, before knowing that it's her, and noticed that she eyed my friend from head to toe and back. My friend thought, "Eew. Who is this person?! How rude!"

The Aftermath
After they left, my blood was still boiling. Seeing him was fine. I honestly believe that we can become friends in the future. But seeing her with him gets me pretty riled up. I wanted to gouge her eyes out. I really did. I hate her. I know I shouldn't. If there's anyone who deserves my fury, it would be Steve. That only makes sense. But love doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense at all. Because of love, I stayed with him for several years, 100% in love for the entire duration, but all the while fearing his decision on marriage wouldn't budge. Don't get me wrong. I am no longer in love with Steve, but I do still love him. How can I not? So after a lot of good conversation and a lot of laughs with friends, we left the party.

I was thinking about it earlier today. (I actually haven't been able to get this off my mind.) I actually think this girl may be good for Steve. She looks submissive with low self-confidence. (But again, looks are deceiving.) If she is this way, that may work with Steve. He tends to do whatever he wants. And I imagine she won't be strong enough to even know what she wants. But he'll definitely not have much fun with her though. She looks like a boring gal. No personality. He used to tease me about getting multiple girlfriends, and I would be his weekend girl. I'm fun, funny, etc. BUT!!! I may be completely wrong about her because she was the one who pursued him. She was willing to inconvenience herself for him when Steve and I were on vacation. Thinking back, it made me feel good knowing she saw me being "cool" with Steve's friends. Any girlfriend would hate to see her man's ex being chummy with his friends.

I wonder what they talked about after they left. I wonder what he thought. I wonder what she thought. I don't know if my friend was trying to make me feel better, but she said, "Steve must be kicking himself right now. Come on. Just compare you two. You have so much more. Either that or he's profusely apologizing to her. She must be feeling pretty bad right now..." I hope she feels bad.

Some of you may think that it's been several months. Just get over it already. But my argument is that it's only been several months. And when you're so invested in a relationship for a long period of time, several months is nothing at all. And like I said, I'm not in love with him anymore. Feeling waves of anger, betrayal, and jealousy when seeing them together is normal, right? I know in time, I will not be affected by this, but presently, she's still a hunchback bitch. My hatred for her is in full gear.

* What is a red egg party you are wondering? It's a tradition for Chinese parents to throw their newborn babies a party after their first month to celebrate their birth. Eggs dyed in red are handed out to guests as favors, an egg symbolizing life, and red is a color that is believed to bring luck.

Geek Moment #1 - Scrabble

OK. This beats ALL of my geek moments, as a matter of fact, all of them combined. Tonight, I played a very enjoyable game of scrabble. My opponent? Myself. Yes, it was my right side against my left. Well, my friend on the phone pretended to be my rival, but ultimately, I was the one making the moves. So yes, I had a fantastic time playing scrabble against myself. My highest scoring word of the night was "wave," giving my left side 42 points! That was amazing! The outcome you are wondering? Well, my right side won, 225 to 211. But without the extra tiles at the end, the left side would have won by only two points! What a close game! Will I do this again? Sure! That really was fun! Yes! Yes! I know. What a loser thing to do, but hey, it's my prerogative. I can do what I want to do.

P.S. I love my feather boa. =)

Simple Pleasure #2

This was my best birthday ever. What made this birthday so special was that I was surrounded by loving friends and family (and will continue to do so for another month and a half because my birthday celebrations are spread out).

One of the great presents I got this year was a pink feather boa, as shown in the photo. I never knew how fun these things are. I've realized, when my mood has dipped, throwing this pink boa around my neck immediately lifts my spirits. It's amazing how something that is so seemingly insignificant can turn a frown upside down! When I threw it on and flounced about in it for the very first time, it felt like I had an endless supply of energy. I was an unstoppable karaoke-ing (heh heh) force! Thanks LP and MAC for introducing this lovely accessory to me! As a matter of fact, I have it draped around my neck as I'm typing!

The Age of NOT so Innocent

On my drive to the peninsula this evening, thoughts were running amok in my tangled mind, as usual, and memories of my very first dance came up. I was in the sixth grade. It was the farewell dance, a dance to say goodbye to being a child and welcoming life as a grown-up, life in junior high. I remember this moment well. I was standing by the wall (of course) with a couple of other girls. The last song of the evening had just started playing. A boy from Mrs. Sullivan's, my homeroom class, approached me and asked if I wanted to dance. He was so sweet and polite. I'm absolutely horrible at saying no, so I said "OK" and followed him to the edge of the dance floor, quickly giving my friends an unsure glance. With my jacket still draped over my forearm, we danced a very awkward and innocent dance. I don't remember if we spoke, but I know our bodies were more than a foot away from each other. It was a dance mom and dad wouldn't have minded much, even as a sixth grader.

Coincidentally, the topic of school dances were brought up during dinner with my friends tonight. My friend had recently deejayed a high school event and was booed for playing a particular song. It was a good song too! It's new, hip, and has a good beat. But the kids booed. They wanted hard-core hip-hop. They wanted music that allowed them to get freaky. If you compare school dances these days with ones from almost twenty years ago, you will find the differences to be astounding. NONE of the kids, as far as I can remember, were freaking each other during that sixth grade dance. Today, some of these children practically have sex on the dance floor! I shake my head in shame when I see these kids going about wearing clothes that reveal their breasts and midriff with low and tight fitting shirts, butt cracks with their low-rise jeans, butt cheeks with their extremely short skirts... And why do so many of the boys want to portray the look of a bad boy by waddling around in jeans they've pushed down to the knees?! The whole sex issue has gotten so bad that I've learned from a friend that one school has even banned hugging. Hugging! A simple gesture many people use to express happiness is no longer allowed! How bad it must have been for the school to take such a dramatic and illogical step in hopes of stopping physical contact between their students!! I'm not suggesting everybody was as clean as a whistle when I was attending high school. I knew of a girl who supposedly have had so many abortions that she wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant again. But gossip told me she was again with child the very summer she graduated from high school. When my older sister was in the seventh grade, one of her classmate's mom was only 24 at the time. That means she had him when she was only twelve years old. I didn't even get my period until I was thirteen!

So who is to blame? An accusing finger usually points to the parents and the media. I point my finger at them too. I am pretty sure most parents do not want their children to be whores and players, but many aren't spending as much time with their children as they should be. Because of demanding jobs and the increasingly wide gap between parent and child (which I think technology plays a big part), strong bonds aren't being made. But I'm not yet a parent so I probably don't have the proper insight...

However, I can comment about the media. I remember three films that were considered racy when I was younger. Dirty Dancing (1987), Ghost (1990), and Basic Instinct (1992). Dirty Dancing and Ghost had some kissing and suggestive dancing. Basic Instinct was a bit more with Sharon Stone's flashing to the entire world, but take a look at what is shown on the tube today. It's if producers and creators are having a race with each other. Whoever can push the limits furthest wins. Of course, this applies to the big screen as well. Most movies and and primetime shows include sexual content. It's not just the productions made for the post-puberty audience that have a negative affect on kids, some shows made for children are questionable too! A great example is Bratz! Little girls want to be these characters. And what makes up these characters? High heels, short skirts, exposed midriffs, and an excessive amount of makeup. Oh, and I forgot the attitude these characters embody. Innocent children are evolving into sassy little teeny boppers at an earlier age.



Gaaah! I often do this. I write, but then I forget what my whole point is. Maybe I should stop writing so late. Okay, well I think my main point is kids these days are growing up too fast, and they are eager to do this. They're not experiencing the innocence of their youth which I think is truly sad because many of my happiest moments are from my childhood.

Okay, if you are still reading, I congratulate you! Now go do something more important like... recycle that bottle or turn off some of those lights! Tata for now!!

Mother Nature

It's been a long five weeks since I've been in touch with dear old Mother Nature. It's lovely getting out there again.

And the statistics below found in National Geographic (June 2007 issue) can help prolong her life...

Average Annual Household Pounds of Carbon Dioxide Saved:
1,000 if you recycle glass, plastic and paper. (Don't forget to recycle plastic bags!)
800 if you take the bus to work instead of driving.
720 if you line-dry half your laundry loads instead of using the dryer.
700 if you maintain a tight seal on your refrigerator door and keep the appliance's coils clean.
55 if you replace a 75-watt incandescent lightbulb with a 20-watt compact fluorescent bulb.

Please don't sit back and do nothing to help. Some of the things on this list are so easy! Do your part to slow down global warming.

Evil

Evil lurks in the lobby of my office. It takes the form of an orange and black ceramic bowl with a happy face filled with sweets. This looks and sounds very innocent, but truth be told, it is a true test of will power. Once jumbo-sized bags of candy are stocked in store shelves, it is a sign that the holidays are approaching, and approaching fast. The chilly weather urges people to cozy up in a warm room and be inactive. Numerous parties with family and friends are a wonderful excuse to eat more than your stomach can handle. At this time of the year, thoughts of warm molten chocolate cake, buttery snickerdoodles, and rich fudge that melts in your mouth, just to name a few, possess me. It is so difficult to refrain from eating more than a small serving of a dessert. It is so difficult to refrain from reaching into the bowl of evil. I can promise that I will be eating my fair share of sweets this season, but I'll try my darndest to eat in moderation and continue to be active. Ladies and gents, we can do it together. Don't let evil consume you by consuming it. Fight the urge. Fight the urge! You can doooo it!

By the way, my hand never went close to the bowl of evil today. I had candy placed on my desk, but I didn't succumb! (It was just a starburst anyway. If it was something special, I'd be all over it!)

Fairly Attractive

A few weeks ago, someone told me that I'm "fairly attractive." I understood exactly what he was trying to say, but still, I was shocked with his choice of words. My response was, "Fairly?" "Uh, isn't that a good thing?" he asked, afraid he had said the wrong thing. Curious to see where this conversation would go, I said, "Saying that I'm 'fairly attractive' is equivalent to saying I'm kinda ugly."

I haven't been able to forget this conversation. Sharing this comment with friends never fails to receive roars of laughter. (I'm sorry! I know we're laughing at _____'s expense, but I can't help it! It's too funny!) Some of my friends said, it's great! I barely made the cut. It won't hurt the eyes to look at me! Ha ha. Well, it might help to say that he prefaced this comment by saying, "You have a nice smile." If I want to look at it a different way, he could have meant, "You have a nice smile, but everything else is ugly." "You sure have beautiful hair, but looks like everything else got beat with the ugly stick. Twice." "Your eyes are breathtaking, but the rest of your face? Crap. Wear a paper bag over your head and cut two holes for your eyes. Will ya?"

The poor guy. He intended it to be a compliment, but as one of my good friends said, "Oh my god, _____. What have you done?" Without knowing what he intended to say, how would you react if someone told you that you're "fairly attractive?"