Notes of a Desolate Libra

My meal at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon is probably THE most decadent and delicious meal (and expensive of course) meal I EVER had. I was fortunate that my friend so kindly offered to treat me to a birthday dinner. Otherwise I would not have the money to walk in there for a few years.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="Foie Gras~ (*hand over heart*)"]

This review really tells you what was included in the discovery menu and the author does a better job than I could ever hope to. My post is basically to rave about how much I enjoyed this experience.  It's much like when I had REALLY good sushi/sashimi at Sasabune. Once you've been there... you can't quite go back. I don't regret it. At least that means I will work hard at improving my own cooking skills (which are lacking as of this moment)

However, I really wish I had gone to L'Atelier earlier, because as I do more research on the restaurant, I think I have positively fallen in love with the previous Executive Chef, Mr. Yosuke Suga. The last thing I could find on him is that he's now currently the Executive Chef of the Taipei branch of L'Atelier. No matter, I will visit the Taipei branch one day and fawn over him then.

Another thing that impressed me is that they gave me a special treat - an extra dessert plate - for my birthday! the service definitely has to do with how much you love a restaurant. And I think a lot of times people pay the money not only for good food but also for the service.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Extra Special"]

That said, there are still many more wonderful restaurants that I have yet to visit in New York. But I'm making my way there!

If you're not generally a fan of yogurt, you may still come to like these two frozen yogurt stores, Pinkberry (watch out for the obnoxious bgm, you can turn it off on the bottom right) and Red Mango. Their yogurts have a nice tangy taste and feel lite. My personal preference is for Pinkberry. Now hear me out. Basically most of the toppings are the same. On that note, remember that there is "mochi" available for your picking even though sometimes you may not see them among the other toppings. They are usually hidden away in the fridge somewhere. Toppings are probably a non issue since they're mostly fruits, sprinkles, oreos, and all that good stuff. I can't say I noticed much of a difference. I haven't tasted all of the different types of frozen Yogurt (Pinkberry has Original, Green Tea, Pomegranate, Passion Fruit, Coffee, and Coconut; Red Mango has Original, Green Tea, Pomegranate, and tangomonium). But from what I can tell, really, the original is good enough for me (for the other ones you have to add money).

Anyway, I think for anyone who has tasted both stores, the general opinion is that Pinkberry is more "icy" and Red Mango is more "creamy." It's like the sorbet versus ice cream sort of thing. I'm just more of a sorbet girl (usually, if all the flavors are the same). I also think that Pinkberry is slightly more tangy than Red Mango. Interestingly enough, it seems a serving of Pinkberry will put you on the more decadent side (averaging ever so slightly higher on the sugar, calories and carbs scale). However, I think I can deal with 100 calories per serving (vs. 90 for Red Mango).

Whichever one you like, I really think it's a taste thing. I know fans of both, and I know people who swear by one of them... my personal preference would probably be different from yours... the best way to find out is to have a taste yourself!

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="215" caption="Pinkberry @ 32nd"]

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="215" caption="Red Mango @ 32nd"]

VERSUS

Where you find one, you will very likely find the other right across the street or a few stores down. They are also rivals in their native Korea. I guess we all have different tastes, but consumers are usually the winners when there is competition.

Tea does amazing things for bags under the eyes. It has antioxidants that are good for the skin. Just squeeze the bag of tea until it’s relatively dry (so you don’t get tea into your eyes) and then lay them down flat on top of your eyes, covering as much surface area as you can. Then leave them there for about 10 minutes. I’m not sure how many times you can do that, but I would suggest using them once or at most, twice. Also, when you are saving teabags (to be used later), put them in the fridge to keep the temperature low. The cooler temperature will keep the bags
So the next time you have a batch of teabags that you don’t quite know what to do with (black tea and green tea work the best, herbal tea not so much), why not try to use them for some eye pampering!

When I left SF, I left the bag of teabags to my roommate. I hope she figures out how to use them.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Yummy and useful!"]

When my housemate brought home some plums, both of us knew that they would all be in the garbage within 3 days since neither of us can possibly eat so many and she didn''t even touch them because she had too many already. So on the second day, I decided to do something about it so that the plums don't go to waste. The way I wanted to do it was to cook them. Since I didn't have the equipment to make jam, I decided to make plum compote.

1) There was still some rock sugar left from my Red Bean Soup so I decided to melt that for my sauce instead of using regular sugar (which I never bought).
2) I washed and cut the plums. The put them in the sugar water to cook.
3) The skin of the plums come off very easily after a few minutes in the bath of hot water. I picked out all the skins with chopsticks.
4) The finished products, which I split into two containers, were: plum meat and plum sugar water, which I stored in my gogo no koucha (yum) bottle.
5) Ok, so this wasn't really what I had in mind and was far from what the recipe instructed... but... at least now the plums won't go bad.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Plums, oatmeal, sugar plum sauce"]

6) The plum meat I used for oatmeal topping - extremely delicious. I wolfed down the oatmeal (ok so I was hungry too).
7) I couldn't figure out what to do with the sugar plum sauce until I just figured I might as well try to make sweet and sour chicken with it.
8) I had some chicken breast meat that I removed from the chicken I bought 2 weeks ago, which I marinated with small amounts of salt, soy sauce, and corn starch and put away in the fridge. I stir fried it until about 80% cooked. (may need to add water in the duration)
9) I poured the plum sauce and stir fried some more, then finally added a bit of corn starch so the sauce would thicken.
10 ) And finally, the result:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Plum Chicken"]

Amazing what a Chinese mind (Don't be wasteful! Be creative and you can put EVERYTHING to good use.) can do, right?

The remaining plum sauce became:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Yummy Sweet & Sour spare ribs"]

Ah the life of a freelancer...

Ok,these days I've been working the most insane hours and I leave my phone on all day because I use it as an alarm (ok I know I don't need it on for just that reason) and I have to catch a call if an agency calls me (and they don't really have the same concept of "appropriate" time as normal people...). I sleep at 5am and wake up around 7 or 8am to see if there are new projects or do same day projects, then I plop back into bed if there's nothing else going on... waking up usually around 2-3pm... then cook/eat one meal for the day...

Life is not too exciting... so my new indoor hobby has become (as I expected) - cooking. It's actually very zen when you stand there and chop vegetables. And it certain takes a lot of innovation to figure out how to mix the left overs from last night with what's currently expiring in the fridge to make a decent meal... generally ending up eating the same thing for days because one batch from the supermarket is too much for one person to eat in one meal...

Today I had a vendetta against eggs (actually it's just because I'm excited to have eggs in the house - bought them 2 days ago), so I cooked steamed double eggs (salted and regular, 1:2) with vermicelli and also steamed eggs dessert (used condensed milk instead of sugar, didn't put plastic wrap on top because I didn't have any... and it still turned out smooth!)... mmmmm... cholesterol...

There are some others...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="So I see why freelancers gain weight..."]

There are many things you have to learn when you're on your own. I have been on my own before, when I was in college, but the feeling is complete different. Things that I've learned...

1) Be sensible about what you need at the present moment - I've always been a great fan of preparing for the unexpected. Have at least two of everything. I was listening to a recording by Marie Forleo before and there's one thing that she said that really resonated with my current considerations: "only spend money on what you need now."
2) Be creative about using and reusing what's around to fulfill your everyday needs so you don't have to a. spend too much money and b. don't gather too much stuff - I've been using the same philosophy with other things too. Congee cans are being used as pen holders, styrofoam trays as drying trays, cup cover as coaster...  oh using egg shells to remove all the burnt bits off the side of my frying pan. A glorious end to the piles of egg shells...
3) I've realized that the only way I feel like I can work is when everything is neat and orderly... so I wiped the entire place with cleaning solution then with wipies then with a sticky roller... yes... paranoid... but effective.
4) SF is kind of humid so everything starts rotting or smelling much faster... so buying a charcoal moisture absorbing device is very important.
5) Hide away as much as possible... and you know what, not too much is needed!
6) Ok... I admit it... I'm a bit OCD'ed...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Transformation of my tiny room.*"]

7) Ok... so I can't go anywhere without creating a food hideout... it's happened at EVERY place I've worked... I was the creator of the Food Can/Fund at the lawfirm where I worked as a paralegal (the tradition continues), Food Drawer at CU, Food Cabinet at iaTV, Food Drawers II and III at LW and CH and was officially known as the Supplier... >_<

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="My food closet... >_<"]

*editing pictures is a bit difficult without photoshop... >_<

N年前的一個小專訪....................................

在紐約唐人街喜士達(Hester) 街和伊利莎白(Elizabeth)街的交界﹐某著名教會&某大型超級市場的對面﹐有一輛小食車。它的主人是一個整天笑哈哈的大嬸。見到她那燦爛的笑容﹐無論工作得多累﹐都有種身心舒暢的感覺。

某個禮拜六早上六點多﹐天還剛朦光﹐刀子般銳利的北風掠耳而過﹐去電臺的路上邊忙著把自己藏好在衣服裡﹐邊和朋友抱怨為什麼自己選的是早上節目﹐弄得好好一個禮拜五週末晚上吃也吃不飽(怕胖) ﹐睡也睡不好(怕遲到) 。

經過那十字路口的時候﹐身旁一個推著小食車的女人身影經過﹐眼皮也沒抬一下﹐專心致志地安置著那輛小車。那時候突然想到﹐其實我一個禮拜只不過有一次早起﹐這位大嬸可是天天都要在我窩在棉被裡呼呼大睡的時候就開工了呢。

好奇的我﹐加上嘴饞﹐節目完後跑到小食車旁截住了大嬸。

我﹕大嬸﹗能問你幾個問題嗎﹖

大嬸﹕呃﹐你誰啊﹖什麼報章﹖(害羞地躲避相機&給我奇怪的眼光)

我﹕…不是報章﹐自己的電子報而已~

大嬸﹕啥﹖

我﹕就是網上的私人報紙啦~(擦汗)

大嬸﹕噢…。你要問什麼﹖

我﹕我很想知道大嬸你做這行多久了呢﹖

大嬸﹕(興致來了)十多年了啊~~~那時候在老家我還是大廚師呢﹗當了二十多年廚師﹐出來就還是惦掛著老本行啦。也試過做一下其他的行業﹐都不喜歡﹐還是自己煮煮賣賣的多好啊…(滔滔不絕中﹐下略384792834797字)

我﹕…那麼﹐大嬸啊﹐你是一年365天都賣這個嗎﹖

大嬸﹕(甩甩手) 哎呀﹗怎麼可能﹗人總是要休息的﹐偶爾偷個假囉。

我﹕那麼以後﹐還會做下去嗎﹖

大嬸﹕(瞪) 那個當然﹗做到我不能動為止﹗

我﹕(感動中) 那麼大嬸會把這個轉交給下一代嗎﹖

大嬸﹕啊﹗我那大學中的兒子女兒誰要這檔東西﹐我也只不過是為了興趣嘛。看見大家吃的開心﹐我也覺得很快樂啊。(旁邊坐著的食客偷笑點頭中)

我﹕嗯嗯﹐明白。請能不能來一兜芝麻糊…

大嬸﹕啊﹐看你皮膚那麼好﹐一定是吃了我的芝麻糊了﹗

我﹕(趁機) 當然啦﹗就是吃了覺得皮膚好才再來買的嘛﹗

旁邊排隊中的大嬸﹕就是嘛﹗看你的芝麻糊多棒﹗

大嬸﹕哈哈~那有空歡迎你來當我生招牌啊﹗

要拍照片的時候她躲進車裡去了﹐順便把一個員工推出來﹐說那人才是老闆…糾纏了許久﹐還是沒能照到﹐最後﹐只是買了一大袋子東西(包括蝦米腸茶葉蛋魚蛋粉…當然還有我最心愛的芝麻糊) 後﹐勉強伸手跟大嬸說了聲拜﹐繼續上班去了。大嬸在我離開的時候還在後面冒出頭來一直嚷﹕你寫完要給我看啊~不過我看不懂英文﹐你要寫中文啊~~~

我邊應聲邊想﹐這次午餐還真豐富呢…唉﹐可惜﹐纏了她那麼久﹐還是沒打折。^^

寫完這篇﹐才突然發現我忘了問大嬸的名字。下次我回去﹐一定得問她。順便嘛﹐也會買一碗那香甜嫩滑﹐黑溜溜的芝麻糊。

As some of you know, besides the fact that Kunjip has (I think) the tastiest Korean food in K town, I also love them for the steamed egg. That's absolute heaven right there. Three foods that I LOVE - egg, tofu, and eel (ahh the eel tofu at Yakitori... mmm), and this place just does their egg the RIGHT WAY!

So... every time I go there, I would look forward to the moment when they would place that dish of steaming steamed eggs on my table and I would slowly dip my spoon in for a scrumptious (and HOT - watch out for that) first bite.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="288" caption="First bite already gone :p"]

But!!! This time they almost denied me my egg!!! We had been there for about an hour and my friends were starting to get annoyed with my constant whining ("where is my egg~~~") and waiter harassing ("you have the egg right?") when I saw a waiter come out with a dish of steamed egg and put it down on the table next to us that JUST sat down!!! 

Sensing danger, I immediately locked his eyes and gave him the Puppy Dog Face.
... it was a reflex reaction, I didn't even think about it. (apparently Sarah saw and cracked up because I looked so funny >_<)

But no matter! It worked! The waiter looked at where I was looking (ok so I wasn't exactly looking at him), gestured toward the steamed egg he was holding and mouthed "you didn't get this?". I shook my head violently (while continuing my *look*), upon which he apologized to the other table and brought the steamed egg over to our table.

So... HAPPY ENDING FOR ALL!!!

This lesson teaches us - the puppy dog face, when applied in the appropriate situations, can be a useful and necessary weapon. I don't know how long I'll continue to have possession of that weapon, but as long as it works - I'm HAPPY!

P.s. I usually don't do reviews of restaurants on my blog because I just post them on Yelp. But if Kunjip is my favorite and I'm pretty picky, you can be sure that it's *good*.

This is a photo of me at Hiroko's Place that many people have seen. The gigantic and endlessly delicious green tea parfait is the focus of this picture of course... and from then on, Hiroko's became one of my favorite places in the city. It's a bit pricey, but the food is good, the setting is wonderful, and the service is top notch. It's basically a place that serves Japanese style "Western Food"... such as "omu-rice" (think omlet+rice+a happy face written with ketchup). I love ordering their seafood doria, then their green tea parfait, and end with the British milk tea (tea brewed IN milk). Mmmmm.... hard on the wallet, but so good for the tummy (?) and soul. The decoration is all artwork from a collection of local artists and range from esoteric to funky, complete with shelves of manga that guests are welcomed to read.

The other day, I took a few friends there (one of them really craved omu-rice) and happened upon a rather pleasant surprise... (wouldn't you figure) in the bathroom. I noticed these beautiful pictures on the wall and (yes) kept on going back to the bathroom to take another look... the more I looked the more I liked... and I finally couldn't help it but ask the waitress about the artist who did these. Fortunately, they had her name on the bottom of the menu and also her website.

What touched  me so deeply is the simplicity and profound wisdom contained within these pictures. We all *know* the messages that are in these pictures, but do we really understand them? It's not until you get to the point in your life that the message finally hits you right in the gut - Oh! So that's how it must feel! Yes, we all have to feel it. And I did. I hope that if you haven't yet, that you will feel it some time. Of course, all feelings are fleeting, but that doesn't take away from the moment when we actually experience them! That's what makes life so interesting and lovable!

The artist is a lovely lady named Junko Miyakoshi. Of course... being the super proactive (?) dork that I am, I contacted her about her artwork and she was kind enough to create desktop wallpapers for me! The pictures below are edited from the originals. You should go check out the originals if you want to see the full picture. She has them (and her other artworks) up on her website.

It's the most encouraging and moving thing when an artist gets an email or a post from a stranger or friend regarding her craft, be it art, writing, etc. As a writer (er), I completely understand how it is and I am glad that I let her know how much her artwork touched me and influenced me in a positive way. Please do drop by her website to let her know if you like her art... and if you want to see them in person, just go to Hiroko's... and check out the adorable bathroom. :)

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="233" caption="What seems impossible are from limitations you set upon yourself."]

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[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="233" caption="Successful or not, winning or losing, the journey is more important than the result."]

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[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="233" caption="Every parting is the start of a new beginning."]

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[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="233" caption="When you know pain, you will come to understand true happiness."]

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="233" caption="Kindness needs no reason."]

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