MSL (Mandarin as a Second Language)

Mike's sister and her family are in town for a week on vacation. Since they are staying with us, we have the chance to spend a lot of time together. Especially with Evan, my little nephew (or is it nephew in-law?). He is 2.5 years old and starting to speak in sentences, but mainly in Mandarin. He adores both mike (his Jiu-Jiu 舅舅) and I (his Jiu-Ma 舅媽), and we both love playing with him. But due to my limited Mandarin vocabularies, everyday is like Lost in Translation. He would speak Mandarin to me. I understand most of the time, but sometimes it can be difficult with the toddler accent. In turn, i would either reply in Cantonese or English, OR sometimes in small phrases of Mandarin which i picked up from Evan himself. When i have no clue what he's saying, i would just nod Yes or acknowledge it with OK. When he has no idea what i'm saying, he would either repeat what he said to me, or repeat my reply in a question form (as in "what the hell are you talking about" in the toddler way).

The family finds it fascinating how we communicate with each other. There are a few phrases I have mastered since Evan's visit. Example: Sleep. Does it taste good? Do you want to eat? Do you want?

Maybe by the time he leaves, I will be fluent at Mandarin.....in the toddler level.

Kung Hay Fat Choy!

After spending several holidays as a married couple, mike and i do noticed there are certain pros and cons for being married at these festivities. And with Chinese New Year fast approaching, that definitely goes under the list of cons.

For those who are not familiar with Chinese tradition, here's a short explanation. Chinese New Year is similar to X'mas, but instead of gift giving, we give money. Thus you would see Chinese people everywhere exchanging red pockets stuffed with lucky money. It symbolizes passing of good luck to others in the new year.

This is a big banking opportunity for kids and anyone who are single. But not so much for elders and married couples, as they are the giver of these lovely red pockets. Thus, mike and I will refrain from visiting any kids and single friends this Chinese new year. We will be celebrating our first at home as a happy married couple.

Do you lock the door?

When Mike and I were staying at my friend's place in LA, they both brought something to my attention. And since then, i can't seem to figure out am i the abnormal one, or there are other people out there who is also like me.

They both thought i was weird that whenever i go to the bathroom at home, i would lock the door. Home meaning the place where you reside either by yourself, or with roommate, or with family, etc. We are not talking about CLOSING the door (that's a given in my opinion), but we are talking about LOCKING the door. Their explanation is that if the door is closed, then someone is occupying the space. I can understand that if you live in a small space with only one bathroom. But what about those people who live in homes with more than one bathroom. Could that assumption still stand?

I've always lock the bathroom door at home since i was young. I can't really recall if everyone in my family does the same, since i never really barged in when the door was closed (thus, i can see their reasoning).

So my question is,

"Do you lock the door when you go to the bathroom at home?"

To make the question less complicated, let's not include house guest into the equation.

Food venture

The last four days we were back in California again. Didn't really get to visit many friends b/c of the tight schedule we had. We were on the road most of the time. First day we landed at LAX, drove to San Diego (2 hrs), then back to LA (2 hours) where we stayed for the night. Second day we drove from LA to San Fran (5 hrs). Third day we commute between SF and San Jose (only 45 mins-ish each way). Fourth day we drove from SF back to LA (another 5 hours). Last day we flew out from LAX.

Despite all the driving, we still manage to do what we love most...ah-hem...it's EAT!! And we ate A LOT! Below is a summary of all the places we visted.

Day 1:
Ramanyani Indo Restaurant in Westwood LA - Their fried chicken, fried rice, tofu dish and desserts are really good. Supposidly one of the best Indonesian restaurant in LA. Apparently they take order from anywhere in US, and can be deliever the next day. We are much tempted to try that out.

Day 2:
Yung Ho Restaurant in St. Gabriel LA - They have some authentic Taiwanese dished. Great Chinese breakfast place. They make all their own soya product (soya milk, tofu, etc). They even have stinky tofu! mmmm...

Farmer's market at The Grove - We got ourselves some English toffee from Little John. They have THE BEST English Toffee we go ga-ga for. Then we ate at one of the Thai food stand in the market. Had a fish curry and laksa noodle. We were too full to try out the funnel cake stand...next time.

Day 3:
Best of Thai Noodle on Haight Street in SF - They have really yummy Thai dishes. This time we got the Tom Yum chicken soup noodle, Thai ice-tea and a Pad Kee Mao (Stir fried flat rice noodle with ground pork).

The Stinking Rose in SF (www.thestinkingrose.com) - We go there everytime we are in SF. Let's just say everything on their menu are made with TONS of garlic, thus the name Stinking Rose. We alway get the Bagna Calda (garlic olive oil spread) as starter. This time we got the Toy Box Tomatos salad and the Garlic Encrusted Baby Back Ribs. And we can NEVER leave without having their Garlic Ice-cream for dessert. It's one of the best ice-cream we ever had!!
*Warning: The next day or two, you will smell, breath and burp garlic.

Day 4:
Tofu House in San Jose - Their specialty is tofu soup, and that's what we always order. Either with Pork or seafood in their bubbling pot with the raw egg. The cool thing is the rice for each table is served in a stone pot, and barley tea is poured into the bowl once finished to loosen the crusty bits and provide a post-meal digestive.

Andersen's Pea Soup in Buellton Cali - They have the best pea soup (all you can drink for $7 with bread) and really good pastries. We had a cherry jelly filled cream puff, and a almond cookie with chocolate mousse on top coated with chocolate dip.

Day 5:
Big Tommy Burger in LA - They have really great burger. I haven't try much in their menu but i know they have awesome turkey avocado burger. They are HUGH. Fully packed. Their fries are really good too.

So yeah, we ate tons. And now we need to detox.

Bud out!

After being a smoker for 36 years, my father has official quit smoking. Cold turkey. Just like that.

I didn't really believe it at first when my mom told me. I thought it's another one of those temporary quit sessions after much of her nagging. He would always say he quit. Then after a few days of grumpiness, then it'll be back to normal. A cig at a time. I've always told my mom there's no point of making him quit when he's not ready and willing to. Getting out of a habit is mainly psychological. If he truly doesn't want to quit himself, there's a very slim chance he will succeed.

But this time is different. My dad quit a month prior to announcing the news to us. I guess one day he decided to just stop smoking. From a pack a day to zero. Considering he was a LONG term smoker, i thought it was pretty amazing how he can just go cold turkey. He must be quite determine this time. That's not all, he shows no sign of grumpiness or agitation. In fact, his temper actually got better. He seems more relax and happier.

You ask what triggered him to stop smoking? We don't know exactly, but we suspect that it has something to do with the cold he got a month ago. He was coughing quite a bit and he was also showing some asthmatic symptoms. I guess it got him worried feeling all these tensions in his lung. But regardless, i'm so proud that he quit. You know that feeling when you wake up to a warm sunny morning and there's something good you are anticipating to happen that day. That's the feeling i have. I feel so happy for him that he now has a new beginning to life.

I have entered him in www.DrivenToQuit.com. It is a challenge presented by Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Health Department to promote smoke free Ontario. The website provides many tips and help to people who are trying to quit smoking. It may sound cliche, but i truly believe that regardless if my dad wins or not in this challenge, he already won the best prize there is...his health.