Thursday, September 30, 2004

Survivor is back

It's survivor night =) Hopefully the female team will beat the male team this week and send their tribe to tribal council. It's funny to see how the men handle being beaten by women.
Workout log
Time: 57 min
Heart rate: 151
Cal: 452

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Observation

As I was getting ready to hit the shower after spin class, I noticed a woman was walking very slowly from the pool area into the shower. 1st thought was that she's recovering from some trauma.
As I was getting dressed, the same lady was walking slowly toward her swimming gear and slowly bending over to pick up her water shoes, fins and floating board so I offered to help her.

Shower lady: "I can do it but thanks for offering to help."
Short hair lady chimed in: "You're exercising your independence. If it was me, I would have said please help me."
Shower lady: "Not me, they can take away my drivers license, but they can't take away my will to be independent."

Lesson learned today is not to take walking, driving or other routine activities that I do everyday for granted. Even though she walks slower than an average person, she is walking on her own.

Workout log
Time: 55 min
Ave heart rate: 148 b/m
Cal: 414

Monday, September 27, 2004

Money and happiness

Follow up on Fresno Sucks blog today, I get the sense that we think money can solve certain problems and bring some levels of happiness. May be we should get bestman's prespective on this issue since he has money.

Sunday, September 26, 2004

Tomie DePaula

We went to our local book store last night and in the children section, they were displaying books by Tomie DePaula (Author of Strega Nona, I blogged about on Friday) and on top of the shelf it said "Happy Birthday Tomie!". Naturally, S picked out his other books and we read them there.
Today, I googled his birthday and found out that on September 15th, he celebrated his 70th birthday and his doing a birthday tour around the country. He knew that he wanted to be an artist at the age of four. Now at 70 years old he continues to pursue his passion. That's amazing. Some people just know what they want to do and others continue searching.

Friday, September 24, 2004

Amazing Race 6 contestants

After reading and commenting on the Amazing race 5, I came across the
contestants for Amazing Race 6 via
There's some wrestlers, spin teachers, and UCLA student.

Story telling

S’s favorite book at the moment is Strega Nona by Tomie DePaula. We’ve been reading it almost every night. When I first read the story to her, I used my version of an Italian accent for Strega Nona’s voice to make the story interesting. Ever since then, if I used my normal voice on Strega Nona, she’ll say “That is not how Strega Nona speaks” and asked me to read it again using the “right” voice. She cracks me up when she pretend to be Strega Nona.

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Brand name or generic?

Growing up in my family, comparison shopping has been ingrained deeply inside me such that it has become second nature. When I grocery or medicine shopping, I tend to compare the price between generic vs. brand name. I'm sure others do the same since the store conveniently place both products side by side on the same shelf with the price breakdown/oz.
For example, my doctor recommended Robitussin cough medicine for my cold so I went to the local drug store and next to it was the generic brand which was half the price and had the same dosage of the active ingredient. Naturally, I went for the generic version.
For food such as can fruits, cereals, I've tried generic brand before but it didn't taste the same as the brand name version so there is added value in that respect.
I've also experimented with ice-cream and I discovered that generic just doesn't cut it. Does that make me an ice-cream snob?
Workout Log
Time: 53 min
Heart rate: 152 b/m
Cal: 427

I don't beat my self up anymore when I don't hit 500. May be meditation is working...

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Change is in the air

Today is officially the 1st day of Autumn. It's sad to see the Summer ends but I was told that changes are good for the mind and the soul. Good bye great tasting fruits such as watermelon, grapes, peaches, nectarine, mango and plums. Good bye to great deals on corn. I bought some yesterday at 50 cents each to celebrate the end of the season. I finally learned how to BBQ corn properly this summer. Before I forget, my secret to great tasting BBQ corn is as follow.
1) Pull the husk off and place it on an aluminum foil.
2) Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the corn and seal the corn completely with the aluminum foil.
3) Place corn on the barbie and cook for 7 min and turn the corn 90 degrees.
4) Continue the 90 degree turn every 7 min until the corn is cooked for 28 min. In case I wasn't clear, after 28 min all 360 degrees of the corn surface should be exposed to the barbie.
5) Once it’s off the grill, butter can be added to the corn.

So what do I look forward to in Fall?
1) Day light savings
2) Halloween
3) Thanksgiving

Happy Birthday Annette.

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Pros and cons

Even though seafood is my favorite food, we skipped the lobster festival. We had lunch with my folks, went grocery shopping and I got sick. I caught a cold from S felt miserable all weekend long.

Top 3 things I hate about being sick
1) Not able to smell anything which make eating pointless.
2) Sore throat which make swallowing a chore and eating painful.
3) Body ache, which results in sleepless nights.

Top 3 things I like about being sick
1) Lost of appetite, which result in weight loss with out any real effort.
2) Able to rest and bum around the house without feeling guilty.
3) Attention from hubby and S.

I was contemplating if I should spin today since I have not fully recovered. Spinning can either makes me feel better or worst than my lethargic state. During class, I was struggling to keep up with the music but I felt better after class. I believe in sweating out the bad chi (energy) and make room for good chi.
Workout log
Time: 56 min
Ave heart rate: 150 b/m
Cal: 443

Friday, September 17, 2004

Lobster Fest

Hubby asked if I wanted to go to San Pedro for the lobster festival this weekend. I have not decided yet.

Thursday, September 16, 2004

480

Spin class was OK. I'm glad I did it because I fantazied about eat good food with my co-workers. While spinning, I was watching the clock during some segments but at the end she pleasantly surprised me by playing Hey ya! from Outcast. If she didn't, I wouldn't have gotten 480.

Venting

Ever since, school started, traffic has been heavier than summer time which added more stress to those of us who drive to work everyday, me. Since September, I leave home earlier to get to work on time and I get home later since there's more traffic and accidents for some reasons.
Driving home last night was one of the worst experience I had this year. When hubby heard about the big accident on the freeway which I take from work to home, he called and suggested that I avoid the scene of accident and take a different path. I took his advice, checked out the map and figured out my route. Mentally, I was determined to get through this with positive attitude. When I got off the freeway I assume everyone else also had the same idea because the alternative path to home took 2 hours. Normally it takes me 1 hour or less. By the time I got home, I jumped on the computer, checked sigalert.com and the traffic had gone back to normal. I just can't win. I picked the path and had to live with the consequences.

While listening to the radio during my drive to work, the DJs were talking about tipping. I didn't know that I'm suppose to tip even when I get takeouts. Is that customary? I thought tipping is for the service I receive when I sit down and get serve by the waiter/waitress not when I take the food home and serve my self and my family. This whole tipping thing is difficult for me to understand since we don't get out much. Where do you draw the line?

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Raising Girls

I was reading Lubbylu's blog during lunch and came across this book title Raising Girls . Based on the blurb, this could come in handy. Unfortunately, I did not find it on Amazon.com nor Barnes and noble.com. Quite disappointed.
Yesterday's Workout log
T: 55 min.
Ave heart rate: 156 b/min
Cal: 465
Will work harder tomorrow.

Ultimatum

S is learning to use ultimatum and she does not fully comprehend the concept yet. The female species in our clan:Mom (po-po), mom in-law and I use it quite a bit on her with our different variations so here’s an example of po-po's ultimatum.
Po-po:"S, come and say good morning to po-po"
If S does not respond immediately, then
Po-po: "OK, If you don’t listen to po-po then I not going to buy donuts anymore"
After a while,S would slowly walked over to mom & say "Po-po.. cau an" (good morning)
Po-po: "Guai" (good) and rewards her with hugs and kisses.

Here’s an example how I use it often during dinner.
S: "Mom, I’m full. There’s no more room in my tummy."
Me: "Is there room for popsicle?"
S: "Yeah. I have room for popsicle"
Me: "In that case you have room for dinner. Finish dinner then you can have your popsicle for dessert."

Over the weekend, we went to a local toy store to get a car booster seat for S and she saw a Pokemon toy that she wanted but I told her that I wasn't getting it that day and this was her ultimatum.
S: "If you don’t get me this Pokemon toy then I don’t like Pokemon anymore!"
Me: "I see. So.. you don’t really want this toy because you don't like Pokemon anymore."
S: "No… I love Pokemon and I want this toy"

Eventually she picked up the proper usage of the ultimatum and used it in the right context.
Me: "Here’s your favorite dinner, chicken rice noodle soup"
S: "That's not my favorite. I don't like chicken or rice noodles. I like curly noodles with soy sauce"
Me: "You are having rice noodles today and curly noodles another day"
S: "If you don’t give me curly noodles, then I’m not going to eat!"
Me: "You have two choices, eat this rice noodle soup or time out."
S: "NO.. I don’t want time out."
Me:"Good, sit down and eat your noodles"

Her ultimatum usage is still inconsistent but it's fun to watch her learn.

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

People change when you least expected

Remember my friend P who had issue with retiring her overly used purse? (refer to blog title: purse-onal preference, 8-13-04) Well, she surprised me when we met up over the weekend and showed me exhibit A. I was shocked beyond believe. I gave up the battle and gave her the DVD she wanted and she surprised me with this. Another win-win situation. Yes!
Apparently, her hubby, G convinced her to shop for a new purse at Wilson Leather. She admitted that the purse looked pretty bad on the blog.
While at the store, P found a clerk and pointed to her high mileage purse: "Can you show me where I can find this style of purse?"
Clerk:(shrieking in horror while lifting one eye brow like Spock)"No, we don't have that style anymore"
P noticed clerk's reaction and thought to her self "It's not that bad. (Still in denial)"
Long story short, she picked out this new one and retired the old one. Good job G for mission accomplished.


Exhibit A

Monday, September 13, 2004

Bulleye's wedding

When ever I hear Shania's "When you kiss me", the song takes me back to Bulleye's 1st dance with his beautiful bride. I can't believe how fast time flies. Here's a picture of that moment. This was one of the most memorable moment of the wedding (to me). The lyric of the song fits those two.

First dance

When you kiss me


This could be it, I think I'm in love
It's love this time
It just seems to fit, I think I'm in love
This love is mine

I can see you with me when I'm older
All my lonely nights are finally over
You took the weight of the world off my shoulders
(the world just goes away)

Chorus
When you kiss me
I know you miss me
And when you're with me
The world just goes away
The way you hold me
The way you show me that you
adore me-oh, when you kiss me
Oh, yeah

You are the one, I think I'm in love
Live has begun

I can see the two of us together
I know I'm gonna be with you forever
Love couldn't be any better
.......

Sunday, September 12, 2004

Desserts anyone?

Last night, we celebrated my friend P's Birthday at an Italian restaurant. We made reservation but still had to wait for 20 minutes before we were seated. I wa soo.. hungry by 9 PM. I took some pictures of the dishes but the lighting was on the romantic side so only the desserts pictures came out decent. My friend recommended Warm Apple Crasada. They were both extremely delicious. Sharing desert is the way to go.


I. N.Y. Style Cheese Cake. with fresh strawberry & whip cream.

II. Warm Apple Crasada with vanilla ice cream and apple chip.

Saturday, September 11, 2004

Hubby can you hear me?

3 days ago, hubby accidentally got some water in his ear. It really bothered him because he wasn't able to hear. The night that it happened, I told him to jump up and down as he tilt his head to get the water out. It had always worked for me but not him;however,it was entertaining to see him jumping around the house on one leg.
The next day, I tried dripping alcohol and he said that alcohol made his hearing worst. Fear of getting an ear infection he went to see the doctor last night. When the nurse looked in to his ear canals, she wasn't able to see his ear drums due to heavy wax build up. The nurse syringed lots of water in his ears to flush out both ears. After the ear enemas, he was able to hear again and there was no infection.
Hubby: "I can hear so much better now. Everything seem louder and I can hear the rubbing noise from my shorts when I walk which I couldn't hear before"
So all these pass incidents where I said something and 5 seconds later he said the same thing and I get so annoyed and told him, "Isn't that what I just said!" was due to his wax build up in his ear not because he's mentally blocked out my voice or took credit for my ideas. Come to think of it there were lots of incidents where I tried to whisper or speak really low to him so others are not disturbed, he couldn't hear. It wasn't him it was his wax.
Today is my friend S's Birthday. Happy Birthday S. :)
We've got a wedding to go to in the valley. It will be a hot wedding, literally.

Thursday, September 09, 2004

Meditate with no expectation

A co-worker, Mica who meditate regularly knew I'm attempting to practice meditation.
Mica: "How's your meditation going?"
Me:"I'm doing it every morning but don't really feel any different"
Mica: "Try not to expect anything from it. Eventually you'll see the benefit from meditation after a while. It's not like exercise where you will fell the adrenalin rush"
Me: "Oh. I expect to reach enlightenment like Buddha had. Have you experience enlightenment?"
Mica: "Enlightenment is a state that can't be easily achieved. It takes hours and hours of practice and dedication."
Me: "Ok. I'll just do it and see what happens when it happens"

Workout log
Time: 53 min.
Ave heart rate: 148 b/m
Cal: 410

Indo news

As I drove to work this morning, I was disturbed by another car bombing incident. This time in Jakarta, Indonesia. Here’s an
article on the subject here’s another

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Exploring

When we went to the beach Labor day weekend, this little girl was in front of me as I was taking picture of the ocean wave.
How do you like this picture Bulleye? Next task is to create a file wide enough to cover the whole gray patch.

Where's the skunk?

Yesterday, I was happy that the spin instructor is well enough to teach a class. Everyone was expecting a sub since she threw her back out cutting onions in the kitchen last week so it was a pleasant surprise.
There's one lady, let's call her blonde who had the bike to my left insisted on turning the fan on during class. She liked to "circulate the stifle air". I told her it's fine with me as long as it's not blowing directly in my face. I don't ride into a tornados.
In the middle of the class, I suddenly smelled this garlic like skunky odor. Internal dialog during the stinky segment of the ride:
"Is some one sweating garlic or some one let one loose? Discousting!!"
"Thanks blonde for circulating the stinky air!!"
Once the song is over, E who was biking to my right said "What was that smell? Who brought a skunk to class?"
Fortunately the stench went away and I was able to breath the rest of the class.
Workout Log
Time: 57 min
Ave heart rate: 151 b/min
Cal: 460

New pre-school

Today is S’s first day at her new pre-school. When hubby dropped her off, hubby said that her eyes were glistening but she didn’t cry during good bye. I’m sure she’ll adjust well after two to four weeks once she makes new friends and play Powerpuff girl saving the world.
This weekend, we’ll go shopping for new shoes and outfits for fall since all her clothes from 4 months ago are too short. Mom & dad plan to visit her during lunch. Seeing a familiar face will definitely brighten her day.
Thanks Mom & Dad :)

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Different world

Monday night, I happened to be watching the discovery channel and came across this women who was pregnant with baby #15 while taking care of 14 children. Her philosophy is to “have as many children as God intended them to have” i.e. no birth control. Needless to say their family is different than ours average one or two kids family. They don’t have any debt, which was a real surprised. They put the kids to work such as building a house, taking care of their toddler siblings, cooking, cleaning & etc. All the kids are home schooled by the mom/teacher. In the short clip, the mom was explaining bankruptcy concept to all the kids, age range of 3 to 17. I don't think S understand the concept of debt let alone bancrupcy. For entertainment, every child is exposed to 2 musical instruments, piano & violin and they don’t believe in TV watching or the Internet. I tip my hat to the mom, Michelle who had given birth 13 times in 16 years and they think they might want more. What was she thinking? Can't relate to her in so many different level.

Sunday, September 05, 2004

Home made dishes

This was our dinner Saturday night. The rib is one of my mom's favorite dish to make. My version is not exactly the same but it was tasty. S just starts liking firm tofu so I incorporate it in my dishes often. Stirfry cabbage is very simple and quick to make. I dressed it up with a couple of shrimp.
I'm running out of ingredients so grocery store here I come, again. How can I make grocery shopping more fun?

i. Baby ribs with firm tofu & tomato

ii. Stirfry cabbage & shrimps

Friday, September 03, 2004

Work in progress

I really don't like generic template so I'm learning & playing with the color scheme. So far I'm still not 100% content. Thanks San Diego Realtor for your help.

New discovery

Recently I've came across some Indonesian blogs and I'm fascinated by them. After reading them, I realized how poor my Indonesian reading skill has dwindle down to. *deep sigh*
As the saying goes " Use it or loose it" so I choose to use it. I've added 2 Indonesian blogs to my daily reads so I can trigger the old reading skill I know I have deep down inside. Some blogs had so much slang that I have a hard time understanding the context. These two are suitable for my current skill level. Remind me to write my aunt to send me the latest Indonesian/English dictionary. It's so ironic that back when I first came to the states, I relied on the same dictionary to learn English. May be some day I'll have the courage to blog in Indonesian.

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Meditation update

I've been meditating 20 minutes in the morning for the pass 2 days. I tried to meditate last night and it was fun with S wanting to participate. We both lay on the floor & listened to the CD instructing us to relax and take deep breaths. I close my eyes and lay still next to her feeling her movement like a little worm.
S: "Mom, what's a breath?"
Me: "It's the air you breath in and out of your body"
S: "Is your eyes open or close?"
Me: "My eyes are close."
S: "This music is making daddy sleepy, did hear him snore?"
Me: "Yes, it's good that he's relaxed"
After 10 minutes, I declared the session is over.
We all had a good night rest. :)

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Mom's the best

I asked mom to buy me half a duck today since I'm running out of ideas on what to cook for dinner. She not only got the duck for me but also made some tofukan and fried corn fritters.
I'm glad that I didn't have to cook tonight.
Thanks mom :)

Sleepless night

After the pink eye episode, S caught a cold where she has lots of mucus build up in her system. I’ve been giving her some cough syrup and it seemed to minimize the discomfort and she appeared to not cough anymore so I stopped the medication last night. Well, that was not the right decision because she coughed all night in her sleep. At least it felt that way.
At 3:30 AM, I’ve decided to give her some cough syrup so that she can actually rest and so can we. Afterward, I was not able to fall back to sleep anticipating that I intended to wake up in 2 hrs or so. The next thing I recalled, I finished an important meeting and took a trolley to hear a key presentation and during my trolley ride I realized that I was wearing my pajamas. I had to ask the trolley driver if and when he can take me back to the hotel so I can change. He was not sympathetic about my situation and more concerned about his scheduled route. I was stressing out as I contemplate between missing the presentation or just go with the pajamas look when hubby came to my rescue and woke me up.