Rooibos

Never tried rooibos tea before until recently. The first experience was pleasant. Not as strong as Pu-Er or black tea. Close to some high mountain tea. One day when I went to the company kitchen, I saw rooibos tea there. I never knew our kitchen provided rooibos, apparently it does. I am glad it does. I took one. Goooooood~

Rock Band: Beatles

I saw an article from a MTV insider. We will see if this is true tomorrow. It will be quite cool if the Beatles songs go to Rock Band. I will love to play them over and over.

A new company

I can't resist the cute things. A friend has a cat. This female cat is furry and shy (I thought so). Fur does not make the cat unresistant but the innocent expressions do. This cat by nature knows how to make innocent expressions. I think that's why I said "yes" to her owner when he asked if I could take care of her when he is away. I was a bit anxious the day Onyxia arrived. Onyxia is the name of the cat. She looked shy. She was good at hiding herself. She hid herself inside curtains. The hiding cracked my friends and me up. Everything looked fine by far. The only issue for me was that I have to speak French to her. Think the bright side - it is a good way to improve my French. Nonetheless, I don't want to torture the cat too much with my French. So I asked the owner some useful sentences. The first night with Onyxia was interesting. Onyxia at that time was not shy any more. She was so energetic or more accurately she was excited. Perhaps the new environment made her excited. She explored the place - my room. She ran from a spot to another swiftly. She jumped up and walked along the beam of the bed frame like a martial art star. She threw herself into the bed to feel the softness of the bedsheets. She expressed her happiness by meow-ou. I was glad for her. It was a good first night with this new company. Nonetheless, the excitement stayed next day. Onyxia woke me up in early morning. Oh I would rather continuing my sleep to recover myself from the work. The meow-ou interrupted the sleep. I opened my eyes and said "bonjour Onyxia." She assumed the greeting meant I was ready to play with her. Well a wrong message. Since she was cute, I could not resist her asking.

After three days, I start to know more about Onyxia. This baby cat has excessive energy. She needs exercise, a big amount of exercise. She behaves like an only child too. The only child you know requires non-stop attention. You gotta give her attention. If she senses you ignore her, she will do everything to earn the attention back. She is super curious about the closets. I like to put things inside closets. The closets become the battle ground between her and me. I have to be extremely careful every time I open the closet. I have to block the possible entrances for her. I have to keep an eye on her to ensure she does not get her way in the closets. She is furry. Once she gets in, she would explore as much as she can. The adventure brings a price to me - lots of cat hair. You know the weather is getting cold. So jackets, coats, heavy clothes are getting popular in the closets. This clothing is vulnerable to cat hair. So I cannot take her closet curiosity lightly. Onyxia likes to watch the yard. A friend told me this is due to cat instinct. She sees squirrels on the pine tree. So she likes to stare at the tree. She likes strings. Strings make excited. If the string provides sounds, then she becomes crazy. I have some hanging on a lamp, she somehow manages to know them. She loves to jump around them and enjoys the sounds. The lamp is vulnerable to her jumps. The lamp falls and makes a huge bang sound. I was scared and Onyxia was thrilled. Onyxia has a good learning curve. Once she knows the lamp can give her pleasure, it is over. I need to get a way to prevent her from becoming crazy. Should I use a costume to make the lamp looks scary to her? Might worth a try.

Meet Joe Black

The title did not sound attractive. Nonetheless, it is a worth watching movie. The story was not too complicated: a powerful and wise man was visited by the death just before his 65 year old birthday. The death this time did not take the man with him right away, instead, he spent some time in the world with the man to get joy. The power of the death made this request inrefusable. The man obeyed. The death, or Joe Black, blended himself in the man's life. Joe appeared in every occasion of the man's life. The man, or we called him Bill, was a CEO of a large communication company. Bill had to bring Joe to the board meetings even though Joe was not a board member. Of course the strange appearance of Joe drew attention and suspection. In addition, Bill had to allow Joe to join his family dinners. Family was thrilled to this new commer. Not his initial intention, the death fell in love with Bill's little daughter, Susan.
One of the worth watching scenes was the coffee shop scene. In the coffee shop, Joe (the original Joe) met Susan. The 5 min conversation between them made this film popular among female audience. The male audience asked me if I would fall to a Joe-like man with a Joe-like conversation. The answer was positive. Of course partially was due to Joe's looking. The main part was his frankness and sincerity. Romance will not be bloomed without some direct words. The frankness strike. Nonetheless, if the conversation is only filled with direct words, then the conversation becomes rude. Sincerity was essential in a good flirt. If the words sound empty or fake, no girl will believe in them. Right before the coffee shop, Bill told Susan the love was like striking thunder. This sentence helped the audience link the scenes. This sentence served as a hint. When you hear it, you know something is going to happen. Back to the performance, I enjoyed the performance from Bill the most. Anthony's acting was near perfect. The acting made Bill so real. Bill's calm and sophistication implied why the death said he was a quite successful figure in this world. I also enjoyed the facial expressions from Susan. The smiles and the expressions were innocent and seductive. I saw self-control and tension among self. Two scenes left a mark in my mind. The first one was the one when Bill and Joe saw the fireworks in the sky. The fireworks were to celebrate Bill's birthday. The fireworks were fascinating. Nonetheless, Bill must have felt sad when he saw them because he knew he was going to die during the fireworks. He liked the fireworks, he enjoyed them, but he may not be able to enjoy them any more since he would be in another world soon. Bill commented "it is hard to let go... just like life." The second scene was when the coffee shop Joe met with a worried Susan in the hills after he was brought back by the death after the death took the life of Bill. Susan recognized this Joe by his genuine behaviors right away. She asked Joe "what do we do now?" Joe replied "it will come to us". Yes, sometimes you don't know what is next. You just need a person next to you assures you and helps you clear your anxiety.

La Americana

Last night I went to see a documentary. I thought the documentary was a fun one until a friend pointed out that this documentary shall be quite depressing. I adjusted my expectation. I adjusted it right before I took off for the movie. The move was played at Stanford. You can imagine all the settings are quite cozy (school style) which is what I like. The movie was about a single Bolivian mom. At the time the film started, she was 33. She said at the beginning of the film that she would never have come to NYC if not for her daughter. She does not think she is a good mom. She has an ailed daughter who relies on a wheelchair to move her from places to places. She loves her daughter. To get a better treatment for her ailed daughter, she needs more money. She knew she would not get much in Bolivia. The only way to get money quickly was to go to the US. The solution seemed clear to her, however, going there meant that she had to leave her home, her friends, her family, her daughter, her job, and her mom. She tried to apply a tourist Visa but got rejected. So she decided to take the risky way - illegal entrance. She flew to Mexico, hid in a small trunk of a coupe, and entered the US from the Mexico-US border. She described the illegal entrance vividly. She barely breathed and felt almost dead in the line for Custom inspection. She thought she would fail. She thought the officer would have seen her. But she got through successfully thanks to a chubby girl sitting on top of her. She flew to NY. She took multiple jobs: cleaning lady for shops, cleaning lady for houses, nanny for kids, dog walker, and elder helper. She always tried to buy time. She hopped to the subway and bus. She worked and worked. She was so motivated - for her daughter. Due to her illegal stay, she could not go back to see her daughter. If she goes back, then she will have a ten year penalty. She will not be allowed to enter until the penalty ends. To earn more money, she gave up her world. She had been working as an illegal worker at NY for six years. Audience saw the talks between her and her daughter on the phone. She said once she asked her daughter what Christmas gift she wanted and her daughter replied she wanted her mom to come back. Even though she missed her daughter so much, she kept staying in NY. Why? Because she wanted to earn more money to ensure her daughter will have enough money at later time in her life. She met a Bolivian guy. Similar to her, the guy gave up his world as a travel agent in Bolivia and his family and came to NY. Why? Because he believes American Dream. This land has more opportunities. In the progress of the film, the audience witnessed the controversial Congress bill about legalizing the illegal immigrants. The bill wanted to open up an opportunity for illegal immigrants. All illegal immigrants could start working toward the citizenship as long as they have been staying in US for more than five years. The mom talked about her point of view. She even thought about getting the citizenship through marriage. Nonetheless, due to her illegal entrance, she didn't have this privilege. She regretted to entering illegally. She talked to her interviewer that she wanted to go back to Bolivia for her daughter's 15 birthday. She said her daughter was 9 when she left. She missed her daughter's growing up. She felt sad about it. She said when she arrived, she told herself she would go back for her daughter's birthday. Now the birthday was approaching. She wanted to keep her words. Of course this decision took a price - cutting off her finance source and leaving her lover. One side was her daughter and the desire to see her daughter and the other side was her daughter's future and her lover. Without sufficient capital, her daughter will not get a good care from licensed medical professionals and not able to live comfortably if one day she has to live by herself. Quite a dilemma. The mom decided to go back. Among the very last things, she went to see the Statue of Liberty that was always on her list to visit. The mom spent some time reading the carved words on the board before the statue. She didn't believe the words. Her eyes were wet. She said the reality was not like what the words stated. This land needs illegal immigrants to do jobs for them, however, this land also eliminates the opportunity for illegal immigrants (the bill). She said she was not a threat to anyone and yet this land treated her as a threat. She said the American Dream and liberty not there. She said this statue was just a symbol. The scene went to Bolivia. Her daughter was thrilled to see her return. They went to various stores to prepare her daughter's birthday. Once the birthday passed, audience started seeing the reality. The Bolivia medical system, infrastructure, living condition of the family, and struggles this family faced. After seven months, the mom spoke out loud that she started to regret returning to Bolivia. The daily wage she got was less than ten dollars. But her daughter's diapers cost her hundred dollars a year and each medical visit cost her five dollars. She realized a doctor had broken her daughter's hip by careless deeds. She was upset and yet not much she could do. She went to many places to see if any one can help heal the hip with reasonable price. The life was tough. In the last scene, the mom talked about "God bless America" and "Who is American". She said in every speech made from Bush she heard the first phrase. She wondered what this meant. She said this land only admits "Americans are those who were born here". But it was true under her definition. She said she is an American. She was born in Bolivia and Bolivia is in the American continent. So why she is not viewed by America as American? It is a radical question.

The Offspring

Thanks to Pandora.com, I have a chance to appreciate the music from them. Their music is cool. The drums caught my attention. I assigned a thumb up to their song right away. Good music. Nice guitar. Awesome drums.

Polk audio

I am so happy that I made a good choice on my speaker hunting. Polk Audio. I was not and still ain't speaker savvy. I don't know what brands are good and what features are essential. What I relied on was reviews from shoppers and suggestions from friends. I was suggested with some web sites. I carefully read the reviews. Made notes. Went to various web sites to compare the prices and features. Nonetheless, some knowledge can't be picked up right away. The watt, frequency, multiple way, and function thing look like physics to me. Well, 10 years ago I was quite good at this subject but now any easy physics question can beat me easily. Luckily I have some friends are amateurs. We went to local stores to experience the quality of the tower speakers. The field trip was exciting. Walked around and looked at the variety. I think I was excited as a school girl going to see some exotic animals. Sounds all are amazing. But my friends sometimes dampened my zeal by saying this is crappy. Guess good ears obtained through training. We later on focused on two Polk Audio speakers. I honestly was just a normal person with normal ears. I tried at least 10 times and yet couldn't distinguish the sounds from A speaker to B speaker. Given the needs and budget, I got the A speaker. The night we tried them at a friend's place. The sound was so beautiful. So beautiful that I wanted to hug the speakers.

Le Papillon

Felt it was like a year since my last visit to a high end restaurant. I was excited to see this restaurant. To avoid disappointment, I was not told the name of the place before the arrival. The nickname of the place was KFC. It was a smart way I have to admit. I was quite glad to walk in this restaurant. A delightful place. The menu was simple. Two pages, few appetizers, few soup and salad dishes, few entrees, and a tasting menu. Was tempted to think to try the tasting menu. But, after a second look, no, I wanted to order courses by myself instead of a combo menu.

Complimentary Appetizer
Nice presentation. Four small pieces of tease. All of them were based on filo dough. Two kinds: pate and prawn.

Lobster Teased with Avocado (Appetizer)
The true name of this was not found on Le Papillon website. Based on my memory, I gave it this nickname. The lobster quality is above the average. The sauce in this appetizer was suspected to be carrot based.

Foie Gras with Apple (Appetizer)
As above, this is not its true name. I like foie gras but I don't have to order it. I think the reason I ordered it was because I wanted to make a comparison. I wanted to compare it to my previous foie gras experiences at other high end restaurants and see if Le Papillon stands out. Two forms of foie gras were presented. Cold and seared. Cold with a smashed apple sauce underneath. Seared with a piece of apple to balance the strong taste.

Pan Roasted Veal Loin with Madeira Reduction, Morels and Sweetbread Fritters (Entree)
This is its true name. I did not get a full explanation of what I ate. It looked like the cook cut various parts of veal and used the side dishes to enhance the flavor of the veal. Quality was above the average. The only complaint was that the portion was too large.

Grilled Lamb (Entree)
By looking at the name you know this is not its true name. I just recall its name is super long. Two lines. It looks like it is a special. The lamb was by all means fantastic. I could not remember exactly how I felt about this lamb entree. I was almost full at that time. When I was full, my taste became less sensitive.

Salad with Fig, Lamb, and Bacon (Salad)
Its true name is more fancy than this. Average quality.

A Selection of Artisan Cheeses (Cheese)
Four types. At that time I was 100% full. Could not tell its quality.

Complimentary Mango Sorbet (Desert)
Quite surprised to see this. If I was not that full, I would be able to enjoy it more. By the taste, it was a great desert with a suitable size.

Soufflé Grand Marnier with Fresh Berries (Desert)
This was superb. I love Soufflé and yet I have to say I was a bit disappointed when I saw it. I assumed this was a chocolate Soufflé. It was not. Later on I learned the chocolate Soufflé would not come with grand marinier (liquor). With my over 100% full condition, I was surprised to know I could still scoop this well done desert more than 10 times. 10 sounds a lot. I intended to cut the portion at my each scoop. A cheerful ending for this dinner.

This dinner experience was amazing. I had not had such a wonderful night for almost a year. I appreciated this chance. A sweet night.

Articulate your thoughts

The same words. I have asked myself over 100 times since yesterday. I realize that I have not done a good job on articulating my thoughts. At many occasions. I sensed something but ignored it. I had some thoughts but just let them disappeared. I disagreed something and yet kept silent. I was intrigued by some conversations and had some opinion and yet just stood there quietly. I spoke up before the thoughts got clear. I explained and yet just further confused people. I said something but lead the other to a wrong direction. I started talking but the conversation became a debate. I made the conversation less efficient and more confusing. Why? Because I did not articulate my thoughts. I used to excuse that to a few reasons. It was because I was not proficient in this language. It was because the meeting attendees were aggressive and did not give me a chance to express. It was... Are they true reasons? I know sometimes it is personality. Some people were born with good skills to articulate their thoughts. I am not one of them. I tend to make loose points. Will keep asking myself the same question help me improve?

October 14

I would mark it on my calendar and remind myself for the following 20 years. I am not able to make everyday a happy day. But I can make October 14 a happy day. I will never forget my sweet first October 14.

Purple noodles

It's interesting to see noodles become purple. I start liking cooking. Yesterday I cooked something with red wine. With over night marination, everything inside the pot turned to a nice purple color. Smelled promising. I patiently cooked it for around one hour. The air was saturated with rich wine aroma. I did not have pressure cooker so I was afraid of the result. Besides, I did not know how long I was supposed to cook it without a pressure cooker. I checked the pot once a while. The hardcore carrots after a long simmering gave up and became suitable for eating. The tough onions turned themselves in too. I was satisfied with the result. The dinner was good. With a good beverage, three dishes made a good dinner. After the nice dinner, I cooked some noodles. To make a lunch box. This morning when I took the lunch box out, I saw the noodles became purple. Interesting. A very interesting color. The immersed noodles look quite happy inside the lunch box. So, I think I will be happy to eat the lunch box too. At noon, I heated up the box. I was anxious. Eager to see the result. Opened the box. Aroma remained good. Noodles stayed strong. Nice. I tried some. Very nice. If any thing was not perfect, then it must be the color.

Cold weather

I think I am a warm weather person. From last week, the weather has changed. Not warm or hot any more. Windy, cold, and overcast. I recall one day when I left work the sky was already dark. The grey sky was depressing. I think I prefer the sunshine more. The sunny sky somehow looks like the sky is smiling at me. Now, after the weather changed, the smile faded away and is replaced by a cool face. Well perhaps it is not bad. We can still use our inner fire to make our life bright. Just it is hard to do so though. I start to miss the sunny face from the sky.

Bummer

I was happy to place orders to get the living room project done. This morning, I received an email from the online shop so I contacted them. The answer was not fun. They told me my receiver does not come with US warranty. But I recall at the time I checked out, the screen said I will have a full year warranty. The sales explained that the company has a policy which supersedes the saying. He was trying to have me to purchase an extra protection plan. No way. This selling is a really bad one. I don't like to be forced to buy something which does not make sense. If the screen says something, then you should not have a hidden policy somewhere. I don't think many customers pay attention to read through the policies not shown right next to the order. It is a cheating action. Thus I asked the sales to stop the order. I will not buy any goods from this store.

Excitement

I am happy because I am getting close to the picture that I drew for my living room setting. I imagined that I will have a projector, a receiver, a sofa, a xbox 360, a screen, and a pc in the living room. Almost everything in the picture was not there at the time I drew the picture. That's why the project is not a piece of cake. That was also why the project is challenging. A challenging sweet dream. I have spent time doing searches. Looking around. Comparing merchant A to merchant B. Reviewing return policies and warranty policies among all preferabble merchants. After some intense work, I got some good ideas. Two major purchased have been placed. The goods are not cheap. So I was extremely careful. I had to do some price searching before. I felt comfortable at the time I placed the order. In addition, I felt excitement inside and the feeling was good. I realized how little I know about the setting. It was ok though since no body was born to know everything. The learning is fun. I enjoy it. Now I look forward to receiving the purchases.

A voice from a far away land

Wandered on Internet and came across this press. The author is an amateur and yet the words on the press punch and make a non-stop echo. The words are not strong. But I felt the power. I have not read such a genuine press for some times. A voice from a far away land, a voice talks about something I barely pay attention with, a voice filled with sympathy and anger, and a voice strikes me so much. By reading this press, I saw pictures. Not nice pleasant pictures though. The pictures were all about the war. Bloody. With conspiracy, greed, and power desire. With struggles and broken heart stories. The press triggers my fear. Maybe just me. I am from a land where political tension is always there. Our opponent is too strong. My land doesn't stand at the same level as our opponent. There is a big inequality. The inequality may sound ridiculous for outsiders but it exists. When I read this press, I heard a voice inside the echo. Would some day a similar thing get to my land? I felt sad, sorry, and afraid. It's sorry to know somewhere in this world was terribly suffering. It's more sorry to know some high level people are trying to cover the truth for their own desire.

Corporate life

Would I foresee it at my second year of the graduate school? I was naive to assume corporate life was fun. Life would be exciting. By engaging myself into projects and challenging myself with assignments. I was so looking forward to throwing myself into the workforce to the corporate life. I could not wait. I was eager to try on. Perhaps, I was not that wrong. Good things happened and the zeal was there at the first quarter. Over time, the corporate life becomes dull. Why I keep working? To fulfill myself? To pay bills? I had a rose picture of the corporate life. Now the picture changes. Sometimes the familiar claim comes back from new graduates. They are so energetic and happy about the fact that they are going to work. I smile. With no comments. It's good to hope something and keep a positive attitude. I don't want to damp the zeal. Perhaps one of the graduates will find something really interests him. Perhaps these graduates are different from me.

Would you eat kangaroo

A goverment advicer on climate change urges people to eat kangaroo steaks and ditch beef and lamb steaks to protect the earth from global warming. Well I couldn't help reading this article because I was curious to know what holds this claim. The article is based on a recent report which states the live stocks like cows and sheep produce a large amount of methane and, kangaroos, compared to farming cattle and sheep, produce no methane thanks to their digestive system. In this view, kangaroos get a wonderful point to be the substitute for the beef or lamb. Perhaps in Australia it is easy to get a piece of kangaroo meat. Here in the bay area, even though I want to save the planet, I don't know where to go to get the kangaroo meat. Besides, is the report a way to increase the export of the kangaroo meat for Australia?

I forgot it

I feel I have been struggling for some times. For at least some months. Perhaps for some years. I keep going and yet don't know where to go. I pick what I can and get the best out of it. No matter how others perceive me, I know I am not satisfied. I know something is missing. But I stopped there and did not go further to look for what has been missing. Interesting. I did not know I have been stuck at the origin until a conversation awoke me. I have not set any goals for some times. I may know what is best for me but I did not tell myself to go for it and motivated myself with something. I thought I should not do anything because of uncertainty. Yet, I might be wrong. I lost the motivation. I lost that. I lost what had been keeping me going right. I forgot it.