No Satisfaction at Toyota

came through the pipeline today: "No Satisfaction @ Toyota"

Maxed Out II

Read this article in the news today. Don't blame me for no compassion or something, but what is it that these people don't get? you don't buy something you CANNOT afford!

(the story tells how Angela and Tim met, formed a family, with 3 kids, 3 dogs and 6 cats. But now they are facing a bank foreclosure on their home loan, and will lose their home ...)

Awwwhh... it's such a heart warming luvvy fuzzy story between Angela and Tim, but hey, the reality is that they shouldn't have so many kids so soon, and 3 dogs + 6 cats?! save and invest those money for your kids' college fund! Someone should really talk some financial sense into their heads, instead of just feeling sorry for them... I save my sympathy to the truly unfortunate, meaning bad luck that happened outside of people's control. (this sounds harsh, I know.) =p

I am just amazed that there is a large segment of the population out there that doesn't understand sub-prime loan are not free money, they have to be able to keep up the payments when the rates go up, and that over the long run they do eventually pay more than if they had put down the initial chunk!

Gosh, the school system really need to educate people to have a better math background, and also the fundamentals of financial values... maybe they should all start by reading "rich dad, poor dad" or the equivalent. ^_^

p.s. Um.. where can I get some of these cheap houses in this area? guess everyone here is financially astute and loaded...

Bibliophilia

"For the book lover in you .. " -- heheee.. they have a word for that, I am a "Bibliophile", which according to Wikipedia/m-w, means:

Bibliophilia is the love of books. Accordingly a bibliophile loves books, but especially "for qualities of format". A bookworm loves books for their content, or otherwise loves reading in general. Bibliophilia is generally considered to be incorrect, but some would say it is a new, recent, usage. That practice of loving or collecting books is dubbed bibliophilism, and the adjective form of the term is bibliophilic. Also, a bibliophile is a book collector.

The term entered the English language in 1824, according to the Merriam-Webster's reference below. It is to be distinguished from the much older notion of a bookman (which dates back to 1583), which is one who loves books, and especially reading; more generally, a bookman is one who participates in writing, publishing, or selling books.

The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often nurturing a large and specialised collection. Bibliophiles do not necessarily want to possess the books they love; an alternative would be to admire them in old libraries. However, the bibliophile is usually an avid book collector, sometimes pursuing scholarship in the collection, sometimes putting form above content with an emphasis on old, rare, and expensive books, first editions, books with special or unusual bindings, autographed copies, etc.

Vienna Teng

ok, I know I've already wrote an earlier entry on Indie music. But that was in anticipation of this weekend's event, here's an account of the conference/banquet/performance today (technically last night already).

So every year since 2002 I have helped out with and attended the Monte Jade annual conference. This year, I got a great volunteer position to help Vienna Teng [her Wiki and Xanga] setup her CD booth. I have been to a Stanford event where she performed back in 2003 (I believe shortly after she started on her musical career), ever since then, her name pops up once in a while during conversations. I was very excited that I get to meet her again in person and will probably get her autograph on her CD.

I just found out during Jinzy's social mixer on Thursday night (yes, I quickly showered and changed after a pretty tough gym class to head over to a posh networking mixer in PA) that she's from Saratoga High School, and is friends with S.Pan (my friend's sister). Another volunteer at the conference, CtWang, also knew her directly from HS. How cool's that?

Vienna (her stage name) is nice and down to earth, and she's pretty too. =) Though because of the demographics of middle-aged conference participants, not many people have heard of her before, and thus we were only able to sell about a dozen CDs before the evening banquet.

However, the stage charasmatic Vienna delievered a great performance during the evening, I would have to say that other than the Qualcomm CTO's talk on wireless 3G future in the afternoon, her event was the highlight of the evening.

She was very astute in incorporating her life and her decision to transition from an engineer to a professional musician into the introduction of each song, as well as opened and closed with two memorable old Chinese folk songs that really hit it home with the majority of middle aged first generation high tech immigrant audiences.

After the event is officially over, crowds overwhelmed the CD booth, we had 3 people staffing it selling CDs, and ~100 CDs were gone within 10 min., because people wanted all 3 of her CDs: Waking Hour, Warm Strangers, Dreaming through the Noise. Money and checks were literally being throwned at us while people were grabbing CDs and then lining up for her autograph on the next table over. [ I have volunteered with the Chris Tomlin concert CD booth before, therefore I had some experiences with the art of selling CDs, and also the power of multi-packs. ]


It's a good thing that I purchased a stack of 3 CDs before the banquet and got her to sign them before the crowd learned who she is and heard her performance. At the end of the conference, she even signed a special thank you note to me on my CD cover; I also got to keep a promotion poster of h"Dreaming" with a personalized autograph on it. !! [good thinking, Sid! CtWang, Ping, and someone else got the remaining 3 posters].

I was telling CtWang on the way back that I am so excited, I can't wait to convert her CD into MP3s and load them onto the iPod. =) And she told us that she has a performance at the Palace of Fine Arts coming up in May, maybe that'll a great event for my next organized group hangout event.

p.s. Oh, Vienna Teng also taught me the trick to quickly open sealed CD packages so we can get the autograph line moving when time comes.. =) it's so much easier than fumbling around w/ the sticky and the plastic wrap! [ ask me next time and maybe I can show yo. ]

忠孝仁义，礼仪廉耻。

yes, I know, I am really Chinese to the core.

As all other Asian American raised here in the States, it's true that we are caught in the culture gap between the East and the West. Not just us, the folks in China are bombarded by the different capitalism ideas everyday too.

I don't want to go into too much depth here on a semi-public forum. Ultimately, I still held on tight to my Chinese core values, and am a strong believer of Confucius teachings. Even though I am also a Christian by personal choice, and some of my social values align more with the western "personal space" philosophy.

I don't know, I guess I am a product of the East x West, and I am an America Raised Chinese (ARC) or what you call the 1.5 generation...

btw, I found a really useful tool online: http://www.chinese-tools.com/tools/ime.html
it let you type in Pin Yin and helps me when I forget how to write certain Chinese characters.

the Gym (O, scary!)

(my tale, told in Pooh story version)

One day, Winnie-the-Pooh wandered around the hundred-acre-woods, having just finished a large jar of "hunny", he's getting a little food coma. As he dizzily approached a new building across from the parking lot, he sees a notice saying that "under new management, we are now offering a new set of gym classes"!

"O, that's interesting." He mumbled to himself, while scratching his furry head, trying to remember when was the last time he's ever intentionally "exercised"? (urh.. ~ 2 yrs. ago?!)

"O, Gym, it's such a scary place." he thought, "and it's full of 'monsters' that can jump high and bend their limbs in unthinkable ways! what if I go in and they try to fold me into a ball or twist me into a prezel or something?"

But on a sugar-high he signs up for some aerobic classes, due to the full stomach, he almost fainted at the first "boot camp" class. That's when he realized how big his yummy-tummy's gotten. (and how badly in shape he really is!)

From then on, he's decided that the "gym" isn't such a scary place after all, and he's made a decision to take at least 3 classes per week, and he's draged his pals : piglet, eeyore, tigger, rabbit, etc and the whole gang to the gym with him. His favourite class is called "Hi/Lo" because -- (that's right, it's the EASIEST!) plus he gets to jump around and feel pretty good about himself the whole time even if the calories spent isn't really that high ] ...

Now he's napping and dreaming of the yummy ice-cream and cheese cake he gets to eat Guilt FREE ... heeheee..

Hopefully this will become his Modus operandi, after all, Christopher Robin knows that he's a narcissistic "silly old bear"!

Faster to sail to HK than to move a Petabye over the Internet?

(swoon) ... he's so smart, he's cool (in a nerdy way), he's nerdy (in a cool way), and he's a mathmatician. I totally see why his blog is so popular amongst the community, here's an interesting post about moving a petabyte->zettabyte?.

exciting writing by internal blog.

** Solaris 10 OS freeware CD download ** -- and an article about OpenSolaris

cut down calories, sodium, and fat

I never thought of it this way before, but apparently Chinese restaurants are not as healthy as I thought, read this article here. Along that line, then Korean restaurant, with all the sodium in kimchi and sauces, are not as healthy either... I guess the best way is to exercise portion control and moderation, aside from ordering the healthier veggie dishes.

Tips for healthier Chinese meal

The group says there is no safe harbor from sodium on the Chinese restaurant menu, but it offers several tips for making a meal healthier:

Look for dishes that feature vegetables instead of meat or noodles. Ask for extra broccoli, snow peas or other veggies.

Steer clear of deep-fried meat, seafood or tofu. Order it stir-fried or braised.

Hold the sauce, and eat with a fork or chopsticks to leave more sauce behind.

Limit salt, which means steering clear of the duck sauce, hot mustard, hoisin sauce and soy sauce.

Share your meal or take half home for later.

Ask for brown rice instead of white rice.

why do perfume smell differently on different people?

Since I was looking into trying out fragrances, I read that one first spray the scent on paper testers, narrow down their choices. Then spray no more than 3 fragrances on different body areas to see if the scent indeed smells great on you!

I have always known the fact that "the same perfume smells differently on each individual", and kudos for the wonders of Internet, here is a very reasonable explanation.

here is a good site that explains olfactory senses in more depth, plus I was told by SF that it's one of the primary senses that is closely tied to memory too.

Male Call: Guy refuses to take pride in paying for the dates

Read this article on the San Josae Mercury news today:

Male Call: Guy refuses to take pride in paying for the dates

Male Call opinion column, San Jose Mercury News, article link here:

Q Should the guy pay for the date? I'm struggling with a money issue with a guy I've been dating a few months. We make similar money - not much, but not minimum wage. We were splitting the bill when we first started dating. After we had been dating for a while, I asked if we could treat each other to dates rather than split the bill, because it's nicer. We started doing this, and he does take me out sometimes, but not all the time. Now I'm anxious every time we go out: Is he going to pay? Isn't he? The truth is, I prefer to be taken out by the guy. I know it's antiquated, but it makes me feel wanted, taken care of, special. I don't mind paying for dinner or drinks every second or third time. Most guys seem to take it as a point of pride that they're paying ... this guy doesn't. Even after several months, and my paying every other time for nicer dinners, etc., he still makes it known at times that we are going Dutch or that he's not paying for the entire evening. It brings him down in my esteem ... but I don't know if I'm being overly demanding. Is he a tightwad? Or am I ridiculously old-fashioned? - S.A., San Jose A This is an endlessly fascinating topic, since it raises all sorts of questions about fairness, feminism, the shackles inherent in a patriarchal society, mathematics and, perhaps most important in the long run, monetary policy at the Fed. Luckily, we won't go anywhere near most of those issues. What do we look like, Mother Jones? No, we prefer to keep things simple, because that's just the way we roll, and also because we have no idea what "the Fed" is, anyway. Does "Fannie Mae" live there with "Freddie Mac"? If so, who pays for dinner at "Trader Vic's"? Never mind. We don't really want to know. First things first, S.A. Yes, the guy is a tightwad. He also must have missed the first day of Guy School 101, where he would have learned that The Guy Always Pays (at least at first). We didn't say it's fair; it just is. For some reason, feminism was able to stamp out inequality in many areas, but this one hangs on. Why it remains and, for instance, smoking hot stewardesses have disappeared, is a mystery and, needless to say, a disappointment to us. But most guys (though not, apparently, your Mr. McCheapo) will set aside the incongruity and go with tradition. They want to make a good impression, and they know part of that entails paying for those first few Beef Burrito Supremes, even if it means diving into the nether regions of the couch for spare change. (Tip for guys: Unscrew the top of the agitator assembly inside your washer and lift it off. You'll find at least $1.50 in quarters under there, plus maybe that Paris Hilton flash drive you thought you had misplaced.) So yes, S.A. - if indeed that is your real name - your position is antiquated, and ridiculously old-fashioned. But we mean that in a good way. In your case anyway. Because you at least offer to pay some of the time. Nothing turns a guy off more than a woman who never ever offers to chip in. And, just FYI, the opposite is true as well - a guy who hears "Honey, tonight is on me ... OK, no, not actually ON me, but I'm paying" is likely to be very appreciative of the gesture. If you know what we mean. If not, ask Freddie Mac. Male Call answers questions from men and women on etiquette, relationships, men's style and more, at malecall@mercurynews.com. Also check out our forum at www.mercurynews.com.

Indie music

Vienna Teng:

listen to her song clips here: http://viennateng.com/listen/
wikipedia info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Teng

This coming Saturday, I will be volunteering for the 17th annual MonteJade conference. Luckily, I was told that I will not be doing registration as usual, but instead I get to help out Vienna Teng with her CD booth and setup! That's awesome, because I have met her years ago right when she started her musical career, and it's amazing to see that she's already put out 3 albums and her popularity on Amazon is amazing.

Apparently, she's from Saratoga, and is family friends with a friend of mine who grew up there. Learning a bit more about her background, all one can say is that she's talented and lucky. After all, not everyone has the luxury of parents who can take the financial worries off their shoulder, thus not every talented artist has the opportunity or the means to pursue their dreams...

"miss manners" column

read this from my friend "Kuri"'s blogsite, interesting article:

===

Dear Miss Manners:

My girlfriend puts bacon bits on her salad, something I find disgusting. I tell her this is "gross." She says it is rude of me to comment negatively about her food. I say this is not rude of me, that I think it is gross even though she doesn't. Please help us settle this.

What is gross here is your putting your nose into someone else's salad. Miss Manners would say that the lady erred only in not going far enough. Even monitoring what others eat is rude, much less commenting on it. Even more serious an etiquette travesty is your assumption that thinking something justifies saying it.

Feeling incorrect? E-mail your etiquette quesitons to Miss Manners (who is distraught that she cannot reply personally) atMissManners@unitedmedia.comor mail to United Media, 200 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016.

the Power of Aromatherapy

Have you ever tried to shop for a fragrance?

A fragrance that defines you, makes your unique, stands out in a crowd yet not too overwhelming? A scent that immediately reminds people of your personality, and conjures up images of you, as you?

a list of some of the scents I tried out (over a time period of 2 weeks):
Calvin Klein Euphoria
Beautiful [original, Love]
Estee Lauder Pleasure [Exotic, Intense]
Dior Lily
Dior J'Adore
Paris Hilton [original, ?? ]
Lovely, Sarah Jessica Parker - sheer, light pink, and lovely indeed
Dior Dolce Vita
Pure White Linen
Issey Miyake L'eau d'Issey
Carolina Herrera 212
Lancome Tresor
Happy [citrus, heart]
Healing Gardens by Coty
Bulgari Green Tea
Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue - vanilla and smells like lemon cake =)

The picture here is the award winning bottle design for Kenzo Amour, it imitates the plant Bird of Paradise. Unfortunately, I loved this design, but not the scent as much. Just like the bottle design for Vera Wang Princess is both unpleasing/tacky to the eye, as well as ergonomically awkward.

~~~ latest personal update ~~~:

I've taken on such an "expedition" lately, as a rite of passage into my adult woman-hood. I have finally graduated to the realization that as a woman, I will embrace the idea of adorn myself with delicate and sophisticated scents. This, in complement with makeup (visual), clothing, hair style, nice skin care, shoes, bags, and now finally, the fragrance, completes my "whole outfit".

I have always recognized the importance of inner beauty, however, now I realize that outward appearance is as much a part of who you are as your inner-self. One's inner peace and aura will be projected through one's mannerism and the way an individual carries themselves. Their taste and preferences can also be projected via their choice of clothing, style, makeup, hair and fragrance.

However, the olfactory senses is probably the least sensitive out of our 5 senses. So to have to smell a dozen plus recommendations on my shopping trip, though with the help of the coffee jar, is still a very difficult task. I had to do the binary elimination algorithm, where I smell two similar scents in the same family and eliminate at least one of them. This rapidly reduced my choices down to a mere half a dozen. However, to choose between those 4-6 scents were increasingly difficult since I do like all of them a little bit.

There's just one refreshing scent that really stood out to me the whole time, I had it in my mind the whole time. I think more than the actual scent molecule, the image I have in my mind's eye when I smell that scent is so pleasing that it brings me back to this scent over and over again. Actually, you could say that I had quite an impression upon the first "impression", and it's really that fair to all the other fragrances, since I probably had a secret preference already.

I have finally decided on one fragrance for this season, yes, I admit, I have "fallen in luv" with another "thing". If you pay close attention, you may just get a whiff of my new "fling" next time in person. My new favourite projects a refreshingly clean scent, floral and slightly sweet, conjures up images of a pony-tailed girl running around on freshly cut green grass, in her flowy white linen pants on a sunny summer afternoon.

~~~ a teaser about this fragrance for those of you who are curious ~~~

Fresh. Luminous. Pure.

It steals you away to the perfect summer day. Like a stroll in a flowering garden, it lifts your mood and renews your spirit.

Notes include grapefruit, mandarin, iced rose tea, raspberry, pear, Granny Smith apple, dewy greens, lily, white freesia, white ginger, cardamom, red tulips, rose absolute, honeysuckle, gardenia, tuberose, jasmine, iris, osmanthus, white cedarwood, patchouli and white heliotropine.

The scent opens with a succulent juicy pairing of grapefruit and pear against a complex but well-blended background of white petals. As the scent progresses, the fruity notes begin to relax as echoes of the notes make their appearance — a soft rose, a green leafy note, powdery heliotrope. As the scent develops, it also relaxes, leaving a trail of mostly honeysuckle, lily and again, heliotrope, but here it has an almost almond-like quality.

Bathtub Caddy

below is a review I found for my newly acquired bathtub caddy tray.. I totally share her sentiments. =) have fun playing in the water now!

Imagine sitting in a tub, sipping a great wine and taking in the pleasant smell of a scented candle while reading your favorite novel. This bathtub caddy makes it all possible. It keeps everything in place with a holder for your wine glass and another holder for a taper candle. Book holder is removable and the angle it rests at is adjustable.

Aromatherapy Bathtub CaddyAnd here is a detailed review about this caddy, pasted below:

This really useful wire-rimmed bathtub caddy is a real treat if you are a bathtub gourmand. Personally, I love my nice evening baths, where I can set up my candles, wine, books and fun bath salts and bubble treats. This caddy actually has a place for all those things.

It's made of a "satin nickle finsish" with a white plastic coating on the part that rests on the tub ends. There are two trays on the side for bath toiletries (soap, cleansers, hair products), a center area with a book holder, and two swing-out arms to hold your candle and wine glass. How cool is this!

What I Like Best - The caddy is nice looking and it doesn't take up much space (my husband and I leave it in the tub permanently, and even when we shower at the same time the caddy is still not in the way). When bathing, the caddy holds my book without me having to worry that it will get wet. That's a big bonus.

The caddy also has internal extenders that stretch out to accomodate a tub of up to 38". The plastic coated sleeve prevents rust stains on the tub sidewalls.

And Not as Much - The little swing out arms are a cool concept but I haven't used them as much as I thought I might. Usually I bring a book to the bath, and it's hard to read by candlelight. If you are not a big bath reader, then the candleholder is a super-neat concept that really adds to the romance of the bath. As far as the wine glass holder, it's made for the typical wine glass, (the kind 99% of people use). Unfortunately, I have unusual wine glasses that don't fit in the holders. I just might have to make a run out to Goodwill and get a wine glass JUST for the tub! And grab some aromatherapy-type candles while I'm at it. Yes, Goodwill is a great source for gorgeous, unused candles if you look for them. :)

Overall - I love my bathtub caddy, which is, as mentioned, now a permanent fixture in the tub. It really helps me have a relaxing bathing experience. I even use the caddy to hold my regular shower necessities, which adds to my limited tub shelf storage. I bought mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond for around $45. The caddy would make a pretty thoughtful gift for anyone you know who loves their tub, or for shower lovers who need a bit more toiletries shelf space.

"Maxed Out"

movie buffs, please do not read any further. I don't want to ruin the story line for you, thus I am writing the rest of this entry in white.

This is another interesting expose on corporate America, along the same line as "Super size me". The entire movie went on and on about how banks use predatory marketing to single out the financially vulnerable and eventually take all their money and forces fore-closure or bankruptcy on these poor citizens. That's it, that's basically the entire story line. There were experts, lobbyists, ex-bank employees, as well as the family of the victims being interviewed, and unanimously they all come to the conclusion that it's the bank's fault, as well as the government since they didn't do anything to regulate the market.

Excuse me for being an independent here, but the credit card scheme boils down to one very simple principle for me:

"If you borrow money, you will have to pay back, and with interest that's agreed upon by both parties when you initially borrowed the money. "

Isn't that just simple, concise, and age old true? I mean, borrowing money from an institution like a bank is not modern invention. It's a practice that's been in existence for as long as we've had the concept of bartering.

In the movie, there are many so called "victims". But when it comes down to it, no matter how much late fee or interest the greedy banks charged, the audience must see that there's the PRINCIPLE part not being paid back. Why? Because those people spent money that they don't have! They borrowed money to buy luxury items that they cannot afford, and ended up not being able to pay back the debt. HOW in the world is the government supposed to do anything about THAT?!

If you ask me, Yes, the banks are greedy, yes, the 20+% interest rate on the credit cards are high, which is exactly why you DON'T borrow at that interest rate for none-life-necessity things. Yes, the only items being exception outside of food and water is maybe take out a loan for a car and a house. But again, if you can't afford it, don't spend it. One can argue that someone can always ride a bike, buy a used car, rent for a while, get a roommate if they can't afford that new car and new house.

There's the blame on the government for lack of regulation. Anyone who's studied economics know that the free market is the most desirable (except monopoly cases) most of the time. It's boiled down to the individuals to be FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE for their situations. To declare bankruptcy because one cannot make ends meet is not someone else's fault! Stop blaming others, and start to realize the utter stupidity displayed in some of the victim cases. Yes, they are victims, to their own lack of financial literacy and stupidity and greed! (for spending borrowed money in the first place)

Bottom line is, I think American public should learn the lessons that many new immigrant families already know by heart when it comes to financial management: you don't spend what you don't have and cannot afford! PERIOD.

I like bread pudding too!

I searched high and low, compared and contrasted, it seems bread pudding is really easy to make, and all recipes are very similar, with your usual UNhealthy ingredients of milk, egg, sugar, butter, bread slices (carbohydrate).... Umm... but still, easy to make dessert that costs virtually nothing! I narrowed it down to 2 simplest recipes, just substitute the fruit with strawberry, cinnamon, apple, etc.. =) enjoy!

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Mango Cardamom Bread Pudding

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 45 Minutes

Ready In: 1 Hour Yields: 8 servings

"Silky smooth bread pudding made with mangos and a healthy dash of cardamom. Passed to my mother from her girlhood friend."

INGREDIENTS:

6 slices white bread, torn into small pieces 2 mangos - peeled, seeded and diced 1/4 cup white sugar 3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups milk 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom 2 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x11 inch baking dish.
2.	Toss together the pieces of bread and mango, and place in the prepared baking dish. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla and cardamom. Pour over the bread. Dot with small pieces of butter.

3.	Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until slightly puffed and golden brown.

==============================

=========================

Lemon Bread Pudding

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 50 Minutes

Ready In: 1 Hour 5 Minutes Yields: 6 servings

"Sweet raisins and a smooth hot lemon sauce make this bread pudding extra special. Even today, I get requests for the recipe from people who tasted this traditional dessert years ago. --Mildred Sherrer, Fort Worth, Texas"

INGREDIENTS:

3 slices day-old bread, cubed 3/4 cup raisins 2 cups milk 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons butter or margarine 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

LEMON SAUCE: 3/4 cup sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 cup water 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel 1 tablespoon butter or margarine

DIRECTIONS:

1.

Toss bread and raisins in an ungreased 1-1/2-qt. baking dish. in a saucepan, combine milk, sugar, butter and salt; cook and stir until butter melts. Remove from the heat. Whisk eggs and vanilla in a small bowl; gradually stir in a small amount of the hot mixture. Return all to the pan and mix well. Pour over bread and raisins. Set the dish in a larger baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. For sauce, combine the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Stir in water until smooth; bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; stir in lemon juice, peel and butter until butter melts. Serve over warm or cold pudding. Refrigerate any leftovers.

McNealy's simple tastes

The following article taken from today's San Jose Mercury News "Tech Notebook" section, hilarious! =)

---------------
MCNEALY'S SIMPLE TASTES

Sun Microsystems' Chief Executive Jonathan Schwartz mentioned that Chevy's is on the best-loved list of his predecessor, Scott McNealy, at a recent event. In fact, when McNealy was still Sun's CEO, he took Schwartz to Chevy's for lunch.

Schwartz, on the other hand, is quite the foodie. So when he's had a chance to pick the restaurant, where have he and McNealy gone?

That question recently drew a blank look from McNealy.

"I eat to refuel. To him, it's an experience," said McNealy, now Sun's chairman. "I probably wouldn't remember where we went. You're wasting money on a good meal with me. With a skillet and a microwave, I can cook just about anything I want to eat."

McNealy chewed on the question some more.

"Son of a gun. I don't think that cheapskate has taken me out to dinner," McNealy said with his trademark bite. "That's why I hired him. He's cheap."

Schaffen Berger chocolate tour III

I co-lead an AACO event yesterday to Berkeley's gourmet chocolate factory. This would be the third visit to the Schaffen Berger chocolate factory for me since my arrival in the bay area. During that time, this little gourmet chocolate producer has switched hands, and along with Joseph Schmidt and Dagoba chocolate has been sold to the chocolate giant, Hershey's.

The tour was an informative hour of lecture by one of the guides, then we were each given a hair net (yes, we had to put on that piece of fashion accessory: Question: if someone's comletely bald, do they still have to wear one??), and girls were asked to wear closed toe shoes only. The tour talked about the origin of the chocolate, what the fruit looked like, then the fermentation, roasting process, to produce the nib, then finally into chocolate liquid. Plates of dark, semi-dark, and milk chocolates were handed out for tasting, and we also chewed on the essence of chocolate -- the nib to experience the strong aroma/taste.

Overall the tour was informative and educational, though compared with 3-4 years ago, we didn't get to spend as much time on the factory floor.

==============
Afterwards, a group of us went to the Emeryville public market, where we all grabed a piece of ethnic lunch. The variety there was amazing! I had a delicious Afghan/Persian meal with a lamb shank and safron rice, topped with creamed spinach and curry tofu. Yummy!!! Oh, and a piece of Baklava for only $1!

Quickly making our way over to the Chabot Science and Space center in time for the 2:30pm "Space Now!" live planitarium show, we spent the next few hours exploring "space -- the final frontier!". "Space Now" was a very well designed and educational show, it showed you what the night sky would've been like at the location, and how to locate and identify some of the famous stars/constellation groups. Excellent 3 hours of walking and hands-on playing!

================
Next stop, Japan town in SF for some quick Curry Rice dish, and shopping. We also tried the new Photobooth store, they've become very pricy since I first tried them in JP. But regardless, how can one miss an opportunity for "print club"?! =)

Last but not least, we ended the evening with a limited edition showing of "Maxed Out". Now that's a completely different topic, and I will try to post another blog specifically stating my opinion of the movie.

so all in all, it's a good day! =) Oh, let's not forget the cute breakfast muffins!

Japanese Curry rice

Just had a plate of yummy Curry Rice at the Japan center in SF tonight, I came home and wanting to duplicate the delicious fast meal for future bento boxes brought to work. So I looked up the recipe online, and surprisingly, nobody recommend you to make your own curry roux, every recipe I read recommend that you mix in the vegetables, chicken, etc. in with packaged curry roux. I finally found one description and recipe online and posting it here.
Wow, it looks quite complicated for something that I thought would be simple to make, Umm.. maybe I will just pick up a few packs of the pre-made stuff next time I am at Ranch 99. =)


http://japanesefood.about.com/od/curry/r/curryroux.htm

Curry Roux Recipe
From Setsuko Yoshizuka,
Your Guide to Japanese Cuisine.
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This is a basic recipe to make curry roux from scratch.

See more Japanese Curry Recipes / Japanese Food Photos

4 servings
INGREDIENTS:

* 1 tbsp curry powder
* 2 onion
* 2 tbsps flour
* 3 cups water
* 2 cubes soup bouillon
* 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
* 1 tsp grated garlic
* 1/2 tsp garam masala
* 2 tbsps butter

PREPARATION:
Heat water in a pan and add soup bouillon to make soup. Slice onion thinly. Heat butter in a pan and saute onion slices slowly until they are brown for 15-20 minutes. Add garlic and ginger in the pan and saute well.

Add flour and curry powder and saute over low heat. Pour soup in the pan little by little, stirring quickly. Simmer the curry roux until thickened, and add garam masala at last.

Gmail Chat smiley

Let's see, there's the Unix talk/write, then MIT's zephyr (which I still think is top notch simple/clean UI), along comes ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, AOL IM, Triton, MSN, Jabber, Skype, etc... then Google Talk, and now Gmail Chat ...

I'd have to say that I transitioned from zephyr to ICQ for a little while before settling down with Yahoo Messenger. For some reason I just like YM better than AIM, I like the UI, the graphics, the modes, and most of all, they had archiving long before AIM. Oh, let's not forget that at that time everything I had was integrated into Yahoo something (mail, calendar, MyYahoo, finances, movie listings, yp)...

to be honest, I wouldn't reinvest all that time into re-establish Google Talk, but the Gmail Chat embedded is a different story. It does not require you to open up another application, it does not take up precious "real estate" on your screen, and it directly uses people's gmail address as recipients... how convenient. A jetset friend of mine told me recently about the smiley faces list, but another great feature to incorporate is mabye a ring if someone just texted you?

umm.. there are quite a few other sugguestions on the list...

Art of Sorry

Caught this on NPR "Talk of the Nation" show today, the "art of sorry"... You can hear the Podcast online, and there's also a blog entry written with comments from readers, some pasted below:

Scusi, Sorry, Pardon, and Other Ways to Channel Patsy Cline, sorry, Brenda Lee

Filed under: Deep Thoughts

If you haven't had to eat humble pie at least once in your life ... well, we just don't believe you. But it's a sure bet that whether you've done anything for which you need pardoning (one time I did, back in the winter of '82), you've most likely been on the receiving end of some good old fashioned apologizing. Here are a few apology genres it's best to stay away from.

1) "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." We discussed in the morning meeting today the merits of "if" vs. "that," and decided that "if" was much, much worse. (In general, stay away from conjunctions and pronouns in an apology: ifs, ands, and buts, can really ruin a good thing.)

2) "I'm sorry, but I'm just built that way." Which is really just a fancy way of saying, "I don't do apologies. Wanna bet on it?"

3) "Sincere regret." What is it about regret that sounds the least sincere of all? Also under discussion in our morning meeting -- the importance of actually saying the word "sorry." Regret seems somehow paler then its sorry cousins; it's a feeling, rather then a state of being. Depending on the offense, your best bet is to just dig in and get abject; and "abject regret" sounds like something written by lawyers and/or publicists. (And you know what? You should probably try like heck to get it right the first time.)

Anyway, please comment on worst/best apologies you've received (or -- gasp! --given), and get warmed up for our show on the art of the apology today.

-- Barrie Hardymon

Comment also pasted below:
--------------------------------------

After an inane argument about whether the Olympics would be good for Chicago or not, my wife told me that she felt completely unheard and invalidated by my steamrollering her with my reasoned arguments. I felt bad that I'd discounted her point of view, but I also felt confused about how I should handle such discussions in the future. I'm sorry, I told her. I didn't mean to make you feel your ideas weren't worth as much as mine. I think I may have been okay to that point, and then I added, "Would you rather I just agree with you in the future?" Ouch. She told me that she could feel her anger burn when I said that. I learned (again) that it's important, when trying to respond to someone else's feelings, to take the time to make clear that's all I'm intending to do. Don't mix the moment of listening to someone with making a point for how I see the world, nor mix an apology with an explanation, like "what else could I have done?"

Sent by Stanley | 3:23 PM ET | 03-08-2007

Rubik Art

kudos to the friend who forwarded me this cool information:
Rubik Art

In addition, see my older posts 1, and 2, about Rubik's cubes.

randomly stumbled upon this today... guess our ancestors do know something about a well balanced diet... =)

7 Reasons to Drink Green Tea

The steady stream of good news about green tea is getting so hard to ignore that even java junkies are beginning to sip mugs of the deceptively delicate brew. You'd think the daily dose of disease-fighting, inflammation-squelching antioxidants - long linked with heart protection - would be enough incentive, but wait, there's more! Lots more.

CUT YOUR CANCER RISK
Several polyphenols - the potent antioxidants green tea's famous for - seem to help keep cancer cells from gaining a foothold in the body, by discouraging their growth and then squelching the creation of new blood vessels that tumors need to thrive. Study after study has found that people who regularly drink green tea reduce their risk of breast, stomach, esophagus, colon, and/or prostate cancer.

SOOTHE YOUR SKIN
Got a cut, scrape, or bite, and a little leftover green tea? Soak a cotton pad in it. The tea is a natural antiseptic that relieves itching and swelling. Try it on inflamed breakouts and blemishes, sunburns, even puffy eyelids. And that's not all. In the lab, green tea helps block sun-triggered skin cancer, whether you drink it or apply it directly to the skin - which is why you're seeing green tea in more and more sunscreens and moisturizers.

STEADY YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE
Having healthy blood pressure - meaning below 120/80 - is one thing. Keeping it that way is quite another. But people who sip just half a cup a day are almost 50 percent less likely to wind up with hypertension than non-drinkers. Credit goes to the polyphenols again (especially one known as ECGC). They help keep blood vessels from contracting and raising blood pressure.

PROTECT YOUR MEMORY, OR YOUR MOM'S
Green tea may also keep the brain from turning fuzzy. Getting-up-there adults who drink at least two cups a day are half as likely to develop cognitive problems as those who drink less. Why? It appears that the tea's big dose of antioxidants fights the free-radical damage to brain nerves seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

STAY YOUNG
The younger and healthier your arteries are, the younger and healthier you are. So fight plaque build-up in your blood vessels, which ups the risk of heart disease and stroke, adds years to your biological age (or RealAge), and saps your energy too. How much green tea does this vital job take? About 10 ounces a day, which also deters your body from absorbing artery-clogging fat and cholesterol.

LOSE WEIGHT
Oh yeah, one more thing. Turns out that green tea speeds up your body's calorie-burning process. In the every-little-bit-counts department, this is good news!

boot camp

Because Sun just switched to a new out-sourced contractor for its fitness facilities, we are offered a full week of free group exercise classes this week. I excited joined the "boot camp" during lunch, knowing that I have not been in the best physical shape for a while, and need to start slow to build up my stamina and energy level.

What I didn't anticipate, however, was that "beginner's level" is a relative term. I didn't think I was so out of shape, given that I can still run and use the elliptical machines alright. I went to the boot camps class, and half way into the exercises, I was so tired that I accidentally stepped on an obstacle and fell! Ok, so I didn't break an arm or anything, so I keep on going. But I was so tired, that I started seeing gold stars and felt light headed!!

whew... I am in much worse physical/strength shape than I originally thought, time to catch up and re-start the 3 times a week workout routine. And what better time to get started other than now? =)

no procrastination

Dark and WriteRoom: turn your computer intoa fullscreen typewriter.
Win free download: www.hogbaysoftware.com

Temptation Blocker: block your computer from certain time-sucking programs, such as emails for a set period of time. Win free download: www.sourceforge.net/projects/temptblocker

book: The Now-Habit: A strategic program for overcoming procrastination and enjoy guilt-free play, by Neil Fiore