Math

This was solved before

Packing is more than handling physical objects. During packing you can unveil old memories too. A box in the garage was neglected at the beginning. I was reminded to open it. I looked into this box. Surprisingly saw some memories. A proof that lead me to a far away kingdom. One of it is a math problem. As follows.

Three safari hunters are captured by a sadistic tribe of natives and forced to participate in a duel to the death. Each is given a pistol and tied to a post the same distance from the other two. They must take turns shooting at each other, one shot per turn. The worst shot of the three hunters (1 in 3 accuracy) must fire first. The second turn goes to the hunter with 50-50 (1 in 2) accuracy. If he's still alive the third turn goes to the crack shot (1 in 1 accuracy). The rotation continues until only one hunter remains, who is then rewarded with freedom. Which hunter has the best chance of surviving, and why?

I saw my note saying, Be the best otherwise your life would be shorter than others. I was brilliant.

Second knock

Close your eyes and let the carpet drive you

Consciousness brings fears. Our brains are gates of comfort zones. At least mine is like that. I have fears. Shameless to admit that. Also, I handle my fears poorly. I, autism child. But fortunately I recently have received ways to manage fears.

Amazingly I heard this from a man. He said the best story he has ever had was when he drew a cartoon for a little girl who was about to die for cancer. The little girl passed away but her stories were published as a book. She picked the cartoon from this man and put a note "I see your cartoon as a magic carpet drive. I wish all children can take this drive. No fear about destination. Just ride. The carpet knows your heart. Close your eyes."

I sensed a hope after hearing this story. Hey fears. I have choices? Close my eyes and set my foot on the carpet.

First knock

Are you in the world or off the world?

My roommate asked me this. I was unsure what this meant. But this question has stayed in my head. There are three reasons for this question to be added as "first knock". First is about recent catastrophes. If you are a reader, you should have read many events recently happened around the world. Earthquakes, floods, landslides etc. When you read news, was your heart troubled? Did you just see the death poll a number or see the sorrow behind? Did you read for reading or read with sympathy? When you saw images, was your head strong enough to sense nothing? When you watched videos about the residents' comments on the event, were you just like watching other clips? These events are tools to help you contempt whether you attach yourself to this world. Here my saying attach means you are in the world. Of course the answer is not in or out. It's like a spectrum. You will be surprised by how your attention gets allocated. You may discover yourself more while thinking through this. Another reason for this question is to see your attitude to the world. I have no psychology background. I just like to think some questions and see how others perceive them. For this "are you in the world or off the world", I have seen mesmerizing responses. Some people are very outside-unconscious. I guess that they might be indifferent to whatever irrelevant to their little world. They only give heart in for events related to them. I would dare to conclude spiritual people, material-driven people, goal-lacking crowds or self-identified-elites (not really elites) tend to be outside-unconscious. Results are similar but with distinctive paths. Perhaps many in the bay area are successful elites. I saw their snobbish attitude to the worldly events. Third is about the discussion about 2012. Maybe it was due to the people I hanged out with or the timing, I got myself interested in 2012 prediction from Mayan Long Count. I went to dig Wikipedia. The reading is a bit heavy. I looked at the mirror and asked the person in the mirror "what would you do if the prediction's true?" Of course the person in the mirror had no answer. With time she will. I am still in the process of self answer digging. It's amazing to know that the more I dig, the more surprising discovery I obtain. How about your answer for this big question?

Lynchpin

This word was a stranger to me until 30 sec ago. Came across a post and somehow this word waved itself to me, seemed it wanted me to check its meaning. (imagine the picture) I by all means granted its wish. I like this word. There are some variations for lynchpin according to my favorite online dict. Little learning, little joy.

Internet

Internet becomes necessity. I feel annoyed when the internet is not working for the entire night. I believe many others feel the same way. For some reasons the DSL signal at the house is not stable. It goes on and off. Trouble shooting many times, all in vain. The carrier sent someone to examine the issue. I guess he arrived at a wonderful time, ok, I am a bit sarcastic, the DSL was working perfectly well at that time. He looked at me and seemed to ask me why I opened a ticket for a perfect service. I was so speechless. I told him the DSL was unstable. The situation made my comment sound weak. Not convincing. After he left the DSL signal got interrupted at a sudden. Ouch. I called the carrier and this time I was unable to get a hold of anyone. I kept trying. My evening was just wasted in the calling and waiting. Quite a night. You can see the scene. The night made a clear message. I totally noticed it.

Another perspective

This is going to be a long reading. Not a light or fun reading. You probably need some hours to finish the thinking and reading. A quick reader can finish this article in an hour, maybe. I began the reading in the early morning, on and off, and completed the read just now. The perspective is quite interesting. I read and thought along the way. Something heavy for weekends but good for a weekday.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200905/imf-advice

Another!

It's nice to know my plants appreciate the attention. Another plant, Jasmine, bloomed too. Jasmine was attacked by the insects. You can check the background by reading the previous post. I saw Jasmine's main stem bended like an old man. Withering. Dying. Felt so sorry. After a period of pest control, Jasmine is back to normal. The stem seems getting some energy, going upright again. Many new branches come out. Every day I saw some new ones. Yesterday when I watered it I saw it bloomed. Happy for it. Now I am waiting to see more. One day the yard will be filled with Jasmine's smell!

Bloom!

Surprise! I have these mini roses for two years. I at some point didn't think it would bloom again. This thought was enforced by another friend. I was told the mini roses are hard to bloom again. Someone even suggested me to toss the mini roses. I didn't want to. I love plants. I admit that I don't have a green thumb. But I believe that I can still do something. I can learn and try my best to maintain the plants, to make them happy, to make them thrive. For the past months, I have tried various ways to revive them. I thought about them a lot. I went to get a bigger pot. I looked online on how people transfer plant. Managed to get a small portion of the yard clean and planted few roses there. That time didn't plant all mini roses to the garden, because I was unsure if the way we transferred and replanted roses was correct. I've done research. But you know, paper work and practice sometimes have gap. So I just selected three units. Initially the picked spots were not good. Too sunny. The roses were burned by the sun. I was worried. I got help and moved the roses. Since then I closely watched the mini roses. Few weeks ago, my plants were attacked by unknown white insects. I could sense my plants were suffering. I felt so sorry. Some parts of the plant were covered by the insects. Seemed the plant was eaten alive. You see, how cruel it was. Got a specialized spray. Applied water and spray everyday since the insect outbreak. The plants really appreciate my attention. The plants look better and better with time. The insects were disappearing. The amazing part is that I saw something. It seemed to me that the roses got a new life. Few days ago I saw mini roses bloomed. Wow what a surprise!

Bear experience

It's superb to see bears. Can you imagine that the bears are just two car distant from you? I was so happy. The road in Sequoia curves around the mountains. So you can imagine the turns. I got motion sickness easily these days. I was in a bit bad shape before the presence of the bears. Funny thing was that my sickness dramatically got reduced by the ecstasy. This time was my second time to Sequoia. I got a pleasant memory the first time. I recall I saw many wild animals, including three black bears, one mom and two babies. Of course I got some expectations to the second time. The park fulfilled my expectation in the first evening. We hiked on a very short trail and returned. Around 2000 elevation we saw three bears on the side. Our presence was fine by them, seemed like. The color of the bears was not black, nor grey. We wondered what bear we saw. We engaged a conversation with two other people from another car. They had outdoor telescopes at hand. The guy said these bears are brown bears. Aha who can verify his words? We all got off the cars. We enjoyed the bears a lot.

Second day we hiked on Tokopah falls trail, bear hill trail, alta trail (partial), and big tree trail (partial). The Tokopah falls trail is not long. But the snow and the lack of signs made the hike very exhausting. We spent a good amount of time on finding right way. We got lost :p The view was nice. Due to the snow the water amount of the falls was abundant. We got some nice pictures along the way and on top. Some of us were not just satisfied with the rock, the snow, and the water at the end of the trail. We climbed up and did some off trail. It was awesome. Absolutely strenuous. I like it very much. I haven't hiked any strenuous trail after I lost my big toe nail. I was very happy that my ability of hiking is getting back. Not the best condition, but I am so grateful for the recovery. No bear. Guess the snow hinders bears. Not many fresh grass or berries on the scene. Bears eat grass and berries. Besides, the snow slows actions a lot. It can be the reason of why we encountered no bear this day. Yet we got a very exciting coyote experience. It can be a coyote or a fax. It swiftly ran toward us. For food? The closest distance was just a car away. I felt I was holding my breath at that point.

Third day was short. We luckily saw two bears in the morning. The bears cared nothing about us. They were just outside our windows. We turned back for them for the closer look. Beyond the description. The joy.

Sunburn or snowburn

Sunburn or snowburn is common. But what if I tell you that I have sunburn on my wrists and lower arms? I felt shocked. Then I felt funny. My face or neck got nothing after a day of strong sunshine. Yet the most unexpected area, wrist, got the sunburn, or snowburn. As mentioned in the previous post, there was bunches of snow on the trails. I wore long sleeves that covered all my arms. In addition, I put my wrists down most of time. I couldn't think of any reason why I got this esp in this weird areas. So I suspect that the burn is due to snow. The snow reflects the sunshine and somehow my skin around wrist and lower arm is weak and cannot tolerate the strong reflection. Well I put some aloe vera on, getting better. Next time I go hiking I think I will pay some attention on them :p

Hiking on the snow

This was not planned. I went with some friends to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. We were already in April. So no one expected to see bunches snow on the trails. The snow astounded all of us. We hiked with our hiking shoes or tennis shoes. I wore my tennis shoes at that day. Each step, I placed it carefully. I guess everyone else did the same thing. Tricky to walk on snow at a regular pace. Either the snow is slippery or the snow is hollow underneath.

Chocolate cake

I experimented a bit. I heard flourless cake and wanted to make one. In my imagination the flourless chocolate cake is soft, smooth and light. Not heavy not chewy and not over sweet. It can be a bit less firm than a soufflé. I read through my recipe book. The only flourless recipe looks not my kind. So I went online to do a little research. After modification here is my version.

Materials:
- 8 oz chocolate (milk, dark, semisweet)
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 4 eggs
- 4 tablespoon sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoon rum
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preparation:
- Microwave chocolate and butter (less than 1 min)
- Put sugar, egg yolks, rum, vanilla in a big bowl and mix with a low speed for 10 min (until the dough becomes creamy)
- Pour the melted butter and chocolate and salt in the bowl
- Mix them for 10 sec
- In a small bowl mix the egg white for 2 min until the foam appears
- Fold the foam in the dough in the big bowl gently
- Preheat oven to 300 degree
- Put the cake pan in the oven and bake for 50 min

The cake puffed. A bit like soufflé. When I tested the cake with a folk, I got a similar feeling of cutting a soufflé. The outside was a bit crispy. The inside was moist. Very moist. I put it outside to cool it down for more than 30 min. I think I should have served it warm. After 30 min, the cake went to the normal form, no puff anymore. When I sliced it, I saw how smooth the inside was. My friends like it very much. The taste was between a Soufflé and a mousse. Very happy to have it. Happy to have it after a good dinner.

Squid yaki

A nice yaki with squid is great. My memory of a good yaki from Japan came out when we were in Japan town. Even though so many people lined up, we were so determined to get some squid yaki. The yaki took us at least 20 min to get yet the taste was not the best. The balls were super hollow. The yaki tasted no squid just flour. Sauce was sour. A big minus. Sad to say this was not a good experience. But the good thing is that the memory in my head stays good and the hangout was very delightful.

Oyster farm

I am from an island. But I never got a chance to see an oyster farm. On weekend friend invited me to go to a farm closed to Point Reyes, north of San Francisco. Should be fun, I thought. The road to there is horrible though. I got a severe motion sickness. The drive freaked me out. After 2.5 hours suffering we arrived at the oyster farm. It was my first time to see oyster farm. The farm is isolated. The view is so natural. The only artificial thing is the sticks used for oysters. I felt peaceful by looking at the view. The weather was good. The breeze freshed me. My sickness was gone after a few minutes of immersing myself in this.

The farm offers fresh oysters with various sizes. I initially didn't want to try the fresh one because I was afraid of the pollution. The farm is not really far away from San Francisco. I was afraid to eat in some mercury polluted oyster. My friend kept saying the fresh one tastes awesome. Well I stuck to the half cooked. With lemon and cocktail sauce the good quality of the oyster was revealed completely. After a while I was ready to try a fresh one. All oysters were in shells. I picked a small shell. This time I didn't need to open the shell myself. This friend is pretty proficient in opening oysters. I watched the whole process. It looked fun. I got my oyster. Poured some lemon juice. Excessive. Pushed the oyster in my mouth and no kidding, the fresh oyster tasted really good. I was surprised that I would like it. Normally I didn't like to eat something looks a bit black or too soft. Through the oyster I can taste the sea. I felt the San Francisco bay was in my mouth.

Daube

This daube has my most satisfaction. It was awesomely tasty.

According to Wikipedia, daube is a style.
Daube is a classic French stew made with cubed meat braised in wine, vegetables, garlic, and herbes de provence. Although most modern recipes call for red wine, a minority call for white wine, and the earliest recorded daube recipes call for white wine. Variations also call for olives, prunes, and flavoring with duck fat, vinegar, brandy, lavender, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, juniper berries, or orange peel. For best flavor, it is cooked in several stages, and cooled for a day between each stage to allow the flavors to meld together.

I have some good red wine. They were open for some time. Friends told me wine's taste lasts short, once you open a good bottle, better serve and finish within a day, you should turn it to a cooking wine otherwise. I wanted to give this wine another new life. I wanted it to know how good it is by giving the credit of a delicious dish to it. A bit silly. But I meant it :)

I then went ahead to getting all ingredients for this daube.

1. Two big chicken thigh with bone
2. Half box tomatoes
3. One bay leaf
4. One big onion
5. Wine
6. Salt
7. Black pepper
8. Half cup chicken broth

I washed the thigh. I removed the skin and fat. Skin and fat can contribute some flavor to the dish, but, for the health's sake, tossed them. I cut the thigh to smaller pieces. Put the chicken in a big pot. Then put the sliced onion and washed pearl tomatoes in. Poured all nice wine in. The amount of the wine was around half bottle. Put the bay leaf. Dashed salt and pepper. Covered the pot and marinated the ingredients.

I cooked the chicken after one day. One side story. The pot was a bit burned due to the carelessness. The wine volume was half yet I didn't set the first checkpoint accordingly. The pot delivered a burn smell after 30 min. I saw the bottom of the pot turned black. Was a bit sad. So put some chicken broth in and continued the cooking. After 10 more minutes the cooking was complete.

The taste of the chicken was superb. No burn taste at all. The chicken was tender and the vegetables were fully blended with the good wine. The juice was not abundant. Right amount. 200% satisfaction.

Banana nut bread

I remember I had a very tasty banan nut bread in Maui on the Road to Hana. We got it from a small local shop. The bread was moist. The shop was not frugal on banana. I saw banana and tasted banana at my every bite. It was a good memory.

Now I am competent at baking. Look around, I got banan, walnut, flour, sugar, and my good old mixer. Why not realizing my good memory to reality? I checked my recipe book, seems like I need to get baking powder. Alright, marked it on my note. Tomorrow I should have everything.

Making a banana nut bread needs patience and care. More than 20 ingredients are needed. I simplified the recipe to fit it to my like. List: 2 teaspoon baking powder; 2 cup all purpose flour; 4 tablespoon melted unsalted butter; 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk; pinch salt; 3/4 cup walnut; 2 very ripe banana fingers; half cup sugar; 1 tablespoon orange zest.

Preparation:
1. Mix eggs, yolk, butter, zest, and sugar with low speed for 3 min or until you see the dough turn to creamy
2. Put flour, salt, and baking powder in and mix the dough for 3 min
3. Cut and mash banana
4. Crash walnut to small size
5. Put the mashed banana in
6. Mix the ingredients
7. Put the walnut in
8. Preheat oven to 350 degree
9. Put the dough in a loaf pan
10. Put the loaf pan in the preheat oven for 40 min

I didn't put any butter or spray around the loaf pan since the dough has butter. The buttered dough is a non stick guarantee. Another tip is that when you mix banana with the dough you need to ensure the mix is not over blended so you can taste the banana in the bread. You wonder if you don't have to mash banana because you like to see banana trunks. My advice is that if you don't mash the banana to a good degree, the bread will be too loose when you cut it. The third trick is that the creamy form of the dough has to be there. Your bread will taste better if you mix the dough enough time. The 6 min make a difference.

Crêpe

Cook well, eat well. You can feel the power of eating well inside you. Seriously. I modified the crêpe recipe, you can find the original one in previous posts, and the result was gorgeous. Thinner and lighter. This is good if you want to have a light dessert.

2 egg white and 1 egg
400 ml milk
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons rum
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

1. Mix all ingredients in a big bowl well with low speed
2. Let the dough stand for hours before cooking
3. Put some oil on a flat pan and use napkin to even out the oil
4. One scoop of dough one time
5. Cook both sides to golden brown

Change your heart

A good friend said "life is short". Life can be fragile. Life can also bring you a lot satisfaction. He has been through many since he has come to United States. Yet he always has a good spirit. It's fun to hang out with a person like him. He uses fun ways to convey his thoughts. His thoughts inspire me. He said sometimes we don't think things since there is no need. Therefore, we don't sense things. Many people don't sense much even though they have been on this planet for 30 years. To sense things needs practice. It's not just I say I want to sense and I will sense. Over time anxiety and doubt occur when we are alone. Sometimes these negative feelings help push us to think. We wonder why me and why not me. The more you practice the more you sense. Life is short. You need to keep your heart open. Change your heart once a while. The change will reward you gorgeously if you have a faith. You can live your life with no care. You can live your life with a sense. You decide how to live your life. Live your life right and things will come to you in your short life.

Swallow your pride

You don't like to admit your wrong doings. You don't like to know you're wrong. So you don't like to rethink the wrong doings. But the less you think about, the less you improve self. Sometimes we are too proud. We don't know what to do when things go bad. Hard lessons. It's usually a hard lesson to face wrong doings. Some people would say forget the wrong doings and start fresh. But history repeats itself. If the cause is not fixed then the wrong doing will come back to your life again. Most of people want to become better persons. No easy way. I am just like others. I don't like to say I am wrong. I tend to blame on others when possible. But I notice that history comes back. We don't want to regret. A fresh start sounds cool but does little to prevent you from regretting. Some steps can avoid this I learned. The first step is to swallow your pride. The second step is to fix the wrong doings you caused instead of escaping (to think to have a fresh start). Fixing things and making them work make more sense. You need a will, a strong one. Also, remember what you did wrong and what you learned from wrongs. No one likes to admit "I am wrong". We tend to be slacking on fixing wrongs caused by us or bailing out on the way of fixing things. It's not pleasing to face or rethink the wrongs. Forgetting your pride and reversing wrong doings are such noble actions. They really are. No kidding

Popovers

This baking is entertaining. It's dramatic. You will like it.

Ingredients for 12 muffin size ones:
- 2 eggs and 2 egg white
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation:
- Use mixer to blend eggs, milk, oil, flour, sugar, and salt, careful not to over blend ingredients
- You can add more sugar if you like sweet taste
- Preheat oven to 425
- Oil the muffin pan
- Fill each cup half full with the dough in the pan
- Put the muffin pan to preheated oven for 8 to 10 min

Tip them and remove them from the pan immediately. Serve hot. A fun desert :)