yummy rice cakes

Every year, I usually try to schedule a vacation and go home to be with my family in Boston during the Lunar New Year. When I was working, it was easy to take a few personal days off and just fly home. But then I started this thing called law school and it interfered with taking personal days off. Last year, fortunately, the lunar new year fell on the weekend of Presidents Day, so we had a Monday off from school and I was able to skip Friday classes and spend four days with my family celebrating Tet (Vietnamese New Year).
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By being home for the "holiday," I was able to parttake in the traditional festivities like watching the parade/shows, eating, silly dice game of bau cua ca cop, eating, collecting red envelopes, and more eating.
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This year, however, I couldn't go home because I couldn't afford to skip 10 classes. And because I'm in the middle of no good asian food land, I wouldn't be able to eat all the good desserts, like rice cakes. So I called my mom and asked her if it was even possible to send me some. Fed-ex overnight is a good thing. She sent me a variety of rice cakes and I quickly gobbled down two of the small rolls.

Above, is a version of rice cakes called Banh Chung. If you want to see how it's made, click here for a musical video.

This was the pile of rice cakes that my mom sent to me (love you mommy!)

And here is the unwrapped rice cake. I'm preparing to eat it.

But first I like to heat it up by frying it for a few minutes.

And then I stuffed everything in my mouth. It was so good. I love the sticky rice, and this version was especially yummy because it was just green bean filling and didn't have the fatty meat in it (which is also good too).

新年快乐 -- year of the rat

Birth years: 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008
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People born in the Year of the Rat are noted for their charm and attraction for the opposite sex. They work hard to achieve their goals, acquire possessions, and are likely to be perfectionists. They are basically thrifty with money. Rat people are easily angered and love to gossip. Their ambitions are big, and they are usually very successful. They are most compatible with people born in the years of the Dragon, Monkey, and Ox.
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To learn more about the year of your animal, click here.
If you're in San Francisco this weekend, here's a list of festivities.
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Chinese greetings: 新年快乐
Vietnamese greetings: CHÚC MỪNG NĂM MỚI
English greetings: Happy Lunar New Year!

let's all go eat worms

nobody loves me

everybody hates me

let's all go eat worms

big ones little ones

fat ones skinny ones

let's all go eat worms

SNOW DAY!!

Falling snow as I was walking home around 12:30am last night. It was a really pretty sight, especially with the silence of the night.

An image without the flash. See how peaceful it looks?
I didn't think it was going to snow enough for school to be canceled. But, to my surprise, I woke up this morning to a 7:30am voicemail from school that said the campus was closed and classes were canceled. I got out of my warm bed and looked outside -- there wasn't that much snow out there.

I again come to the conclusion that the midwesterners out here are wimps when it comes to snow. That, or the state does a really bad job at cleaning the streets, thus forcing people to stay home instead of drive to work/school/etc.

Although I think it was a waste of a snow day, I'm not complaining that loudly. I enjoyed sleeping in till noon on a Wednesday.

super sized dumplings

I used to make my own dumplings (or wontons/potstickers/and the like) from scratch, but I always bought the ready made wrappers from the store. I would just make the filling (usually shrimp and pork) and then sit in front of the TV while "wrapping" the ready made wonton wrappers around the filling; it's similar to wrapping eggrolls, but in smaller form. And I thought it was already a long process to make home-made dumplings when using ready made store bought wrappers.

Then I met my roommate, and her friends. They make EVERYTHING from scratch, including the wrapper. The dough is made from flour and eggs, and kneaded until your arms fall off. Then each dumpling wrapper is rolled out piece by piece before adding the filling. Normally, the dumplings are about 1-2 inches in length. Last night, however, the dumplings were about twice the normal size because we were all hungry and didn't want to wait another hour just to finish making the dumplings.

I guess now that I know how to make the dough for the dumpling/wonton/potsticker wrapper, I should never go back to buying ready made wrappers. Homemade dough tastes much better than store bought. But then again, if I'm lazy, I'll just buy it from the store. =)

I have always wondered what the difference is between a dumpling, a wonton and a potsticker. I ask the natives of China, and they can't tell me. The only difference I know is that a potsticker is always fried. Whereas dumplings can be steamed or fried, and wontons are always in a soup. Is there any other difference?

superbowl food, the chinese way

My roommate, an international student from China, wanted to invite some of her friends over for dinner tonight (friends are also international students from China) and she also invited me, because you know, I live with her. I said I'd join dinner but asked if they would mind if I could keep the TV on to watch the Superbowl. Surprisingly, she said we could just make it a Superbowl dinner party. So, that's what we did.

There were Chinese marinated ribs, honey glazed chicken wings (made the Asian way, of course)...

...some cucumber chicken potato salad, and spicy tofu. Oh yeah, all served with white rice, of course.

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Luckily, two of her friends were males so they were excited to see their first American Superbowl game. And they kinda understood the game.

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Now, imagine me, someone who isn't an expert in football in the first place, trying to explain to a group of foreign students about the rules of football, the history of the Patriots' undeated season thus far, and the importance of how we had to root for the Patriots during the entire game. There were a lot of questions and I tried to answer as best as I could all the while screaming "NOOOO, THROW THE DAMN BALL BRADY!!!" or "WHERE'S THE DEFENSE???"

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Once everyone understood what was supposed to happen (i.e. the Patriots must win in order to have a perfect season), we all got into the game. I, for the first time in my life, was screaming at the TV whenever Brady got hit or the Eli connected on a pass. When the Patriots made their last touchdown, the roommate and her friends thought the game was over and Patriots won. They didn't understand the concept of 2:39 minutes was a lifetime in football and anything could happen within that period. And unfortunately for the Patriots, anything did happen.

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Damn, that was a good game. But let me just say that the halftime show could have been a lot more exciting. I'm so bummed the Patriots lost. My poor Brady -- must be crying his eyes out.

i want a puppy

how can you not love something this adorable?

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AND

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it loves you right back!

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If Sam's owner wasn't a good friend, I'd dognap him.

weightwatcher's dinner

Spinach and cherry tomatoes salad -- 5 points
Chicken and spinach lasagna -- 11 points
YUM YUM -- Such a delicious and HEALTHY dinner!!

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Coldstone Creamery Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Cake -- points overloaded.

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I'm not on WeightWatchers, but I think I ruined the point system by contributing the ice-cream cake for dinner. Eh, it was her birthday - she deserved to be spoiled.

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It was yummy though.

since it's tax season...

Supposedly, there is this urban myth that irate taxpayers will mail in their tax payments written on the back of a shirt -- "the shirt off their back" so to say.

So we discussed this hypothetical in class: Suppose an IRS tax agent receives a package from a taxpayer in the mail. When he opens the box, he sees that he has received a somewhat worn white dress shirt, with teh following written in black ink across the back of the shirt: "Pay to the order of the Internal Revenue Service $150,000." The taxpayer signed his name at the bottom, wrote "Secondhand Bank" next to it and also wrote a series of numbers that seemed to appear to be his account at Secondhand Bank.

Puzzled, the IRS agent wanted to find out if he could actually collect payment from the "shirt check." So the IRS agent took the shirt to Secondhand Bank and attempted to cash it. Secondhand Bank confirmed that taxpayer was one of their customers and that the numbers were indeed his account number at the bank, and that his account did indeed have enough funds to cover the $150,000 amount. But, Secondhand Bank refused to honor the shirt check because it was their policy that customers had to use the bank's forms in writing checks.

Who's wrong? Secondhand Bank or IRS Agent?

Neither. I will spare you by not listing the 20+ UCC* provisions that we could use to argue that the shirt check is indeed a negotiable instrument in which IRS Agent is permitted by law to collect payment on. The shirt check identified a person to make payment to, an amount, an account and thus it "ordered" Secondhand Bank to make the $150,000 payment to IRS. However, if Secondhand Bank had specifically written in its "terms and conditions of account agreement" with its customer, the taxpayer, that it is the bank's policy to use its forms only, then Secondhand Bank would not have to honor the payment of the shirt check. BUT, this means that IRS Agent can now sue the taxpayer for "bouncing" the shirt check.

Okay, I'm done teaching lessons about commercial transactions now. I promise to stop boring you.

*If you're a law student, past or present, you know what the UCC is. For all others, it's the Uniform Commercial Code and is currently the bane of my existence.

where's spring, mr. groundhog?

The official Punxsutawny Phil saw his freaking shadow today and as a result of his vision, we're going to have six more weeks of winter.

Damn you, groundhog! Why couldn't you face the sun when you came out of your hole?

I hope the groundhog is wrong about the forecast because I'm done being miserable with this winter cold. I want some sunshine and warmth!!

dangers of indorsing a check

What I learned in class today:

Let's say you get a check from someone, which says "Pay to the order of John Smith" in the amount of $500.00. In theory, John Smith should be able to sign the back of the check, take it to the bank and cash it or deposit it into his account without any worries. Yes, that's the theory.

But what if John Smith was on his way to the bank with his paycheck that he just signed and dropped it on the street. Should he worry that no one else will be able to take his money? Should he worry that he can get another check from work if he told them he lost it?

Yes he should worry. If John Smith just signed "John Smith" on the back of that paycheck, he just turned that piece of paper into "bearer paper," which means that the "bearer" of the check is the new holder of the check and thus can cash the check without question. Thus, Jane Doe can pick up John Smith's paycheck and as the new holder of his paycheck, she can cash it at a bank for $500.

Next scenario: Suppose John Smith signs the back of the paycheck "John Smith" and then gives the paycheck to a check cashing place in exchange for immediate cash of $500, then the check cashing place rubber stamps "Check Cashing Place" underneath John Smith's signature, does this protect the Check Cashing Place from losing money if it drops the check on the street where Jane Doe picks it up? Nope, for the same reason above. By rubber stamping "Check Cashing Place" underneath "John Smith", this is just saying that John Smith signed the check over to Check Cashing Place, and thus it is still "bearer paper" and the person who bears the paper is the holder who gets money.

So how should John Smith and Check Cashing Place protect themselves from the Jane Does of the world?

When signing the back of a check made payable to you, always put "For Deposit Only" underneath your signature. And if you want to be extra careful, put "for deposit only to account xxx" under your signature. This by law does not convert the check into "bearer paper" and the only holder of the check is the owner of the account the check is being deposited in.

Of course, if you want immediate cash, make sure you don't sign the check until you are physically in front of a bank teller or employee of a check cashing place. Because once they give you the cash, who cares if they're negligent in losing checks on the street.

Vocabulary lesson: You have to INDORSE the back of a check to get the funds; and you only ENDORSE a presidential candidate if you really really really believe all the lies he/she is telling.

funny pictures of kids

go away freaking cold weather

It has been really really REALLY cold here. I can't stand it anymore so am now going to whine about it in hopes that the weather god will give me some sunshine.

The weird part with this weather was that when I got back to KC on New Year's day, it was cold. But then, all of a sudden, the temperature got really really warm. I was wearing my down coat one day, and the next I was running around in just a t-shirt -- that's how warm it was. And it was such a nice feeling to be free from being all bundled up with layered clothing, scarves, hats and gloves. Sadly, the warmth only lasted a few days.

And now we're back to this freezing coldness.

I had to go to the post office the other day to mail off 40+ resume packets to SF and the temperature was so cold, I think my ears were about to fall off. The post office is only two blocks away from where I live, so I figured if I run, I'll keep warm. Not so true, the harder I ran, the more it hurt to breathe in the frigid air! I felt like I was going to have a heart attack in the middle of the street. And then my legs were getting cold from just standing in the middle of the street to catch my breathe. It was awful.

This morning, I had to get up and go to spin class at the school's gym. Initially, I didn't want to get out of bed at all because it was so cold. I would stick a foot out from under my blankets to see how cold it was and immediately my foot retreated itself back under the covers. But since I committed myself to the spin classes by paying for it, I was going to get my freezing butt out of bed and trek through the cold to get my $48 worth of spin class. And I did it.

Now I'm sore in addition to being cold.

Damn winter, go away and let spring come already. I'm done with the cold. Give me some warmth please.

Thank you very much.

new blogs for your reading pleasure

If you're in the need for some recipes for Vietnamese food, here's a collection of home-made recipes.

If you just want to read about the life of a stranger, here's a collection of a fellow classmate's inner thoughts (or not).

advertising for salad dressing

It's funny how we had this whole selection of salad dressing laid out on the table and the only bottle we used was the Kraft Ranch dressing.

how to get over a broken heart

1. Go to Happy Hour.

2. Drink lots of So Cal Strawberry Lemonade.

3. Order the giant Hazelnut Sundae dessert.

4. Devour as slowly or as quickly as you like. Curse the idiot who broke your heart a few times and eat some more.
5. Take a huge bite out of the giant hazelnut truffles and imagine how much life will suck less each day.
6. Lick the martini glass and leave no remnants of the sundae behind.

7. Repeat if necessary.

guess who ate what?

The "appetizer" portion of the Chicken Nachos.
The other plate is the second half of the "half soup and sandwich combo".

I had the soup and sandwich combo, and was only able to finish the giant bowl of clam chowder. The Boy didn't finish his appetizer size nachos either. Both were very yummy when we had the leftovers for dinner.

DONE!

I am officially HALF WAY DONE with law school!

whoop whoop de doo!

Ice Storm 2007

School almost got canceled today because of the ice storm coming our way. Luckily for me (I just wanted to get exams over with), school was not canceled today and I did not have to wait until Friday to take my exam scheduled for today (yes, unfortunate for those who were actually praying for a snow day).

After three hours of agonizing over which choice is the right answer on my product liability exam, I spent about a half hour walking around campus taking pictures of the ice on the trees. It was a pretty sight. Kinda cool too.

Frozen trees from afar, and frozen trees up close.
Flowers on ice.
I think this picture of the frozen leaf is the coolest picture I have ever taken up close (probably because I finally figured out how to use the "macro" option on my new digital camera.
I hope there were no living things inside that bird's nest!
I wonder why this bench isn't being used right now...

first snow of the season

these pictures were taken from my bedroom window, so that's why there are tiny little grid lines in it.





there's a lonely crow sitting in a tree...is that supposed to be some sign of bad omen?

things I learned from watching "The Biggest Loser" on NBC

1. If you drank two beers a week for a year, you're consuming 15,000 calories.

2. If you stood up and walked to the TV to manually change the channel, you could lose up to 95 calories per hour.

you cook rice, puts family to shame

Mom: You put too much water in the rice, it's all soggy.

Me: Sorry. When you said "put just a little bit of water" I didn't think you meant that little.

Mom: I said just little water.

Me: Sorry. I just put half a finger measurement of water in there. To me that's little! Our rice back in Kansas City, I use a whole finger measurement and it's still dry!! What kind of rice did you buy anyway?

Mom: You are going to embarass our family if you cook rice that way for your mother-in-law. Tsk-tsk, a girl who can't even cook rice.

Me: Well, if I don't marry a Vietnamese guy, or if I don't marry an Asian guy at all, we won't have to worry that I can't cook rice.

Mom: What?! The Boy won't be able to speak with me.

Me: Yes, he can. He can say "chào cô khỏe không?" [Hi miss, how are you?]

Mom: Aiyah!

Me: And he likes my rice. And his mother likes my rice.

Mom: Well, I can't eat your rice. Cook it again.

Me: Aiyah!

so deserving

The Boy: Hello! I'm calling from the Habitat for Humanity build site in Argentina!

Me: What did you do today?

The Boy: I dug a hole for 8 hours today. And the hole is still not done. The locals are calling me a gopher.

Me: What's the hole for? Must be really big hole if you've been digging for 8 hours on the same hole.

The Boy: For a septic tank.

Me: Nice.

The Boy: Yep, I've been digging a hole for shit.

happy hour food

Cheeseburger and fries; buffalo spicy wings; beef taquitos; salmon spread on crackers -- all this food for $11 total. There's no better deal than that.

best sushi

Marking off another restaurant off the "Best of Kansas City" resturant guide, we decided to try another resturant tonight. After trying Korean, we decided for some Japanese: Friends Sushi.


I like sushi, but I don't eat the raw stuff. It all has to be cooked sushi for me. So we ordered the Spider Roll, Dragon Roll, Eel maki and a Spicy Tuna Roll because my dinner companion likes the raw stuff. (I tried a piece of the Spicy Tuna Roll and lathered wasabi on it hoping to mask the raw rish smell, but that plan didn't quite mask the raw fish texture and I had to force myself to swallow it.)


The rolls were delicious. And the price was not too bad--it wasn't cheap, but it didn't cost an arm and a leg either. The Dragon rolls were my favorite, because instead of avacodo, they used a slice of mango, which gave it a sweeter taste. The Spider Roll was yummy too, although why do they make Spider Rolls so big that you can't put an entire piece into your mouth? I had to bite each piece in half and then all the contents fell out, making it messy.

And for dessert, we ordered fried ice-cream. What we ate was fried batter with soupy vanilla cream inside. The serving was only a small scoop of vanilla ice-cream which probably wasn't large enough to withstand the heat of the fryer. Still yummy nonetheless.