Clay pots, delivered to your door.

I've been tempted to order delivery ever since I found out Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and KFC all deliver in HK and China, but there were never occasions for it. Yesterday father told us to all go home for dinner, didn't buy any dinner ingredients, and we were completely out of food because father doesn't seem to like stocking up, so we decided to order out.

Clay Pot 1: Bean curd with pork

The Analysis: We ordered from this HK-styled clay pot place that stuck advertising on our door a few days ago. Much to our relief and surprise they serve their clay pot rice along with the clay pot  and not in a plastic bag (real fear, based on Mother's experience) or even a disposable container. It was 9pm, fairly late by mainland Chinese standards, and they said it'd take them about half an hour to deliver.

Clay Pot 3: Preserved pork belly and Chinese sausage

The food ended up arriving twenty minutes early, warm and fairly good-smelling. We ordered three orders of clay pot rice, with braised beef with daikon, bean curd with pork, and preserved meats, respectively.  Surprisingly, for  ¥14-¥18 each, there were plenty of vegetables and meat, not drenched in MSG, wasn't overly oily for clay pots, was of decent portions, and was, overall, pretty above expectations. The rice was cooked in the pot and had crisped bits on the bottom, the beef stew had been stewed for long enough for the flavours to seep into both the daikon and the flavourful beef. The preserved pork belly and and Chinese sausage was a little fatty, but basically not stale. The bean curd was cooked just enough and unexpectedly light on the MSG.

Clay Pot 2: Beef and daikon stew

If I had to be a little pickier, the beef was a little dry, the bean curd had no character nor enough flavour, the preserved pork belly was too dry and the sausage too fatty, the soy sauce didn't have enough soy flavour, and they still added MSG, but see, for ¥50 (~$8) including delivery (delivery was free but we didn't have change), we were pretty happy. Hooray for low expectations!


The Case of the Abandoned Pots: Because they were on the same street as us, we went to see what the store was like after going out for lunch today, and that place looks new. As in, it had a very new sign on the outside, four white walls, an air conditioner, one large table with stools, a cashier's podium, and nothing else.


Last night, the delivery man told us to leave the pots outside the door after we're done so he can come pick them up later, twice. The thing is, no one came back for the pots. They sat outside our door for 20+ hours, untouched. I just brought them back inside the house because the building cleaners might get rid of them, but I kind of hope they come back and ring the doorbell for them, since they are definitely cutting a loss if they don't collect those pots and, well, this is one place that would be a bit of a shame to see closing down.


Because I am not about to show off my Canto-Mandarin on a phone where I cannot gesture to get my point across, I tried to contact them through Taobao (which is highly hilarious since that's the equivalent of ordering take-out through eBay), but I can't get into Mother's account and after I signed up for one myself, they revealed that new accounts cannot be used to send messages to sellers. Welp. Maybe when Mother gets back tonight I can use her account to send them a message. That WOULD me I have to retype the message I so painstakenly pinyin-ed out. We'll see. 


Edit 21:14: They came to pick up the pots approximately 24 hours after they were delivered. No further actions necessary. 

Progress part V: Lauding T and running out of drugs

13 July 2011

Hands seemed to have gotten better, I seem to be able to sleep quite well, and I was running out of Benadryl, so I tried reducing the dosage to 25mg. Had a lot of trouble sleeping that night. Finished the last two pills the night after.

16 July 2011

Since the end of May, I refused to see anyone except the people in my immediate household, my aunt and uncle next door (involuntarily), the doctors, and T because he's wonderful and drove down to entertain me every weekend. I'd even missed KJ's birthday/rockband party because that was the weekend right after the Millbrae doctor ruined my hands, too. ;___;

But.

I was well enough for an outing for C's birthday!

It was my first outing since the end of may. I had a little bit of trouble picking a sort of savory crepe that didn't have cheese or beef, and ended up ordering a custom crepe with turkey, mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes. There were sweet crepes that I could eat, actually, but I only had half of a granola bar that morning. The crepe I ordered had black peppers, which I am not supposed to eat since it's spicy. This is why eating out is a problem--there are just too many little things I could not control. I supposed it shouldn't affect me too much though, since I know my father adds a little white pepper in the things he cooks. I was a little disappointed about the turkey being slices of sandwich turkey, but it blended in with the skin of the crepe and made it meaty-tasting, which is nice.

Then everyone went to a bubble tea. I only drank some of T's taro bubble tea. It wasn't strong enough in taro flavour. Then we went to karaoke from 2 to 5. I stayed at T's until 7--right before dinner (because my diet requirements are a pain).

I had already felt my hands getting slightly worse the night before, but it wasn't so bad...it got a little more agitated that night, but still no visible redness or marks. Forgot to get more Benadryl, though, and had a hellish time sleeping. Almost reverted back to the not-sleeping sort of condition from before.

The next night we went to get more Benadryl. We got a 200 pill bottle. All the sleepy drug for me. It's now officially my happy pill. Though it doesn't really make me happy.

Dinner tiems!

I still can't believe how steaming chicken in rice is so ridiculously delicious and easy, even after years of doing it.
Also, the asparagus tasted good because it tasted like butter, sesame oil, and fermented tofu. Surely that's not how it's mean to be eaten, though.

Banned Heinz Mayo Advert: "Ain't you forgetting somethin'?!"

Heinz Deli Mayo Advert


The Wright Stuff on the pulled mayo commercial in question:


What LJ: furiosity said is so true:

The thing is, it's fairly obvious that the point of the ad is that if you use Heinz Deli Mayo, your creations will be indistinguishable from those prepared in authentic New York delis, so much so that even your family will mistake you for one of those dudes who work in New York delis, accent and all. It doesn't require Mummy and Daddy to explain gay people to Little Joanie unless they choose to. And if Mummy and Daddy are too dumb to work this out, damn, I wish they hadn't bred in the first place. Poor Joanie.

I don't think Heinz necessarily had to pull the commercial because of 200 complaints (since it's a small number and they spent the money on the commercial already), but hey, what do I know about big advertising businesses and their business model?

Macrosclarids and Cotyledons

I finally realized the detrimental effects of an undemanding plant biology course has on me. As a warning to all others, I have listed below are several symptoms that may indicate a plant biology course gone wrong:
» Eating sweet peas and think, "thank you macrosclarids and palisade parenchyma for standing up to my poor cooking skills and not go all soft and mushy on me!"
» Eating cashews and think, "mmm...cotyledons....mmm plant babies are yummy."
» Attempting to write erotic drabble on cashews.
» Attempting to write erotic drabble on yogurt.

It is my utmost sincere wish that others would learn a lesson through me and recognize these symptoms before it's too late.

[/nuttiness]

I'm in love.

Can't get enough
Creamy white and smooth skin,
Snippy and tart, but with a soft, yielding body
with just enough sweetness underneath.

I'm in love
With my homemade yogurt.


I promise I'll work on my food erotica poems a little harder next time.

Fuji Rash

Thomas treated Ben and me to an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet today...and I came back to the house with rash all over my face. Now the last time I went, I ate a lot less sashimi and nothing happened, so whether it's an MSG or some other allergic reaction, I do not know.

The three of us also went bowling (like last time? LoL)...but again, I don't think it was that, since I didn't touch my face during that time (I think).

Argh, face bloated up like a pig D:

Summer, the thrid week

It has been too long since I wrote, especially since life these days have been far from dull. So let's review what I've been doing for the past three weeks in reverse chronological order, shall we?

Tomorrow will mark the fourth day, and the completion of a week's worth of real work for PcBY. During these three (half) days I have already developed a healthy dislike fo stacks of rolled up paper and their abominably sharp edges :D

Several things factor into these...unfortunate, minor, seriously annoying injuries: 1) I have dry hands (cannot hydrate herself enough); 2) My layer of dead skin cells is too thin (does not work with her hands enough); 3) I am careless (clumsiness have no excuses); 4) I roll and unroll large rolls of paper constantly (teehee, almost rewrote this bit), and; 5) Clay makes my hands dry.

Other than paper cuts, work is pretty dull. It mainly consists of opening long, dusty, oblong boxes containing roll(s) of drawings of dead (old) projects, sorting through them, deciding which ones are already archived in files, scan in the ones that aren't (i.e. hand drawings, wetstamped drawings, etc.), and picking up after myself (collapse boxes, roll papers back up to throw them away, etc.). Let's just say that this job is quite a lot more physical than I thought. Jeff, on the other hand, seems to be doing much more technical things, even if it is just constructing new shelves, design, shop, build, and all (jealous jealous).

In the afternoons I attend a ceramics class in CSM, which lasts four hours. They give us 30 minutes of break, taken whenever, so I tend to get there late (stupid public transportation). Throwing is the most awesome yet; it is messy, difficult, and make my muscles ached the first couple of times, but while it is still difficult, I have come to enjoy the steady, slow movements and firm yet gentle ways of handling clay on a potter's wheel. I am still horrible at pulling the clay up (and I blame the shape of my fingers for that), but bowls are okay. Cups should be within my abilities too..perhaps I will try that next...then a plate (saucer?)...I wonder if I can get good enough to throw a teapot in a week and a half. The handle for the one at home is broken.

Oh, I have made figurines too; I just need to make up my mind on how to paint the underglaze =\ The other day we made face molds—we made a mold of our faces using this ...gel thing (it's the stuff they use at the orthodontists' to take the mold of your teeth, I think), then pour plaster in the mold. Paint a layer of latex on top of the plaster positive and make a mother mold negative, then use the latex and mother mold to make clay masks. I'm still fixing the plaster positive...and it really looks creepy, having my face all white and closed-eyed like that.

I hope I have time to finish all my required projects plus a couple more—this is a really rare chance for me. Perhaps I will think about taking ceramics again, whether in CSM or in Davis.

Relying on public transportations has given me a lot of time to read. I have finished Dune (finally) and is half way through Dune Messiah. Today Rory (ceramics instructor; makes pretty interesting, but rather morbid, sculptures) recommended a couple more too..Pinball and other works by that same author. I wonder when I will get to read Deathly Hallows? reserved a copy, but I'm kinda far down in the waiting list. Perhaps I will ask the parents to buy me a copy; mother seemed a little interested when we passed by borders yesterday. At the very least, she is not adverse to that concept.

As all my Chinese identifications have expired, father and I went to get another visa for me...and of course, a trip to Japan Town goes without being said. Lunch was pretty bad (shouldn't've gone to eat sushi), and I spent money on Loveless 7, a Betsu Hana to Yume and a Zerosum. And I have found a new shoujo to watch out over (it's been long!)—Otomen (乙男). Like, as in　乙女＋男, lmao. It's completely outrageous and stereotypical (or the opposite of?), but the SPARKLES. The SPARKLES are hilarious (like Seiji in Tonari Monogatari/Parakisu! XD)

Oh, and I also went to re-take my permit test (the other one expired) and I didn't get perfect score. Cannot be helped, since father told me to go just the night before and I had no time to study `0`;;; (excuses.)

...I have chickened out of driving practices after the third time, when I freaked out and went a little hysterical. Uhh...I was a little tired a the time >___<;;;;;

Surely there's more than this, but I'm slowly exhausting the last of my energies...tomorrow's a full day of work.

Next time: Doctor Who, Planet Earth, Paradise Kiss, Sailor Moon, Shrek the Third, and stuff.

Badminton

For the first time, the "themed nights" at the DC is bad. Well, maybe not as bad as it can get, just not as good as the other themed nights. I was especially disappointed in the supersalty!salmon-tomatoes thing and the slightly un-fresh!Mahi Mahi. I got the last bubble bottle though, yay.

Afterwards I went to play badminton with Thomas & Garris. Well, I pretty much only played with Garris, since we're too n00b to play with the ex-badminton team member :] It was still fun feeding Garris birdies, as I cannot vary my shots to save my life. Hitting the birdie back to where ever the person is is almost an instinct `0`;;; And as out of shape as I am, my arms and legs are sore just from playing for the better part of two hours. I'm glad I did, since it would hopefully reduce my emerging insomnia tendencies (as my father would have suggested) and I have forgotten the subtleties of the game. There would be hell to pay tomorrow though °0°!!!! I'm sure right forearm and thigh will definitely be difficult...and hopefully my hand will not shake tomorrow...wah...though there is no saying for the rest of the muscles ><;;;;

Gah, I will everything will just be over :[ A lot of things are starting to get on my nerves again.

New favourite food

Horseradish cheese is now one of my favourite foods, along with lobster, pomegranate juice, Switzerland 70% dark chocolate, black rice, uni, mother's tiramisu, and fresh fish.

♥.

Never A Dull Day For PcBY

...That was the title I had when I planned to write today. Amy, in her recent post, said that school's been unevenful and so routine. Contrarily, I seemed to find enough to post all last week. It could be because I just didn't want to study for midterms, but I had things to say. Well, I guess that's not too difficult to being with. I suppose the difference is in the frame of mind and...what actually did happen. Yes, school is not that different and not difficult to adjust to, but many things did happen that is new, interesting...and need to be let out of my system. But maybe it's just me being easily interested.

This is my place to speak without being too afraid of being uninteresting. Or too random. Or too scary. Or too emo. (wait. Nevermind on that. That's already done.)

Last night was supposed to be uneventful. Amy went out to explore the Sacramento airport, while I stayed in the room to study for the Chem midterm (the last one for the moment). First day of vegan/vegetarian diet, but I've been doing that for years. Boiled noodles and cooked vegetables for myself, but that's been done the night before too. (By the way, there weren't nearly as many aphides on the bokchoy as the package from the night before.)

Amy came back around 21:00 (21:30?) and bought cup ramen from RiteAid. Cleaned the casseroll dish for me and used it to boil water for the ramen. After a while she ran in, told me she poured boiling water on her feet, and went to the bathroom. Maybe I should've warned her about spiling, since I did get a bit on me when I tried to pour hot water a little earlier. So after checking that she's okay, I went back into the room to find the first aid kit. And guess what I did. I panicked. I completely forgot that I put it on the shelf next to the door and went rumaging my closet, drawers, etc, etc for the box, even thinking that I might've left it behind at home. Yeah, so much for being cool-headed.

I found creme for burns and non-stick pads, but no gauze pads, gauze rolls, or cloth tape. Basically what we have left after the cat healed. So I ran around the floor (okay, just on my side of the building) and looked for these things. People tried to be helpful and was caring, I'm glad to find.

Today she didn't go to class (MUS010) and was still asleep a couple of hours after noon.

In the meanwhile, I got my Calc midterm back (98/100, 115 pts possible), learned about bread and wine and cheese, and failed my Chem midterm (not in the joking way).

I should mention that my computer had been acting strangely for the past few days. I couldn't find any viruses, but sometimes it would turn on by itself in the middle of the night after I've turned it off, staying on until I wake up and hear its whirl. It happened again last night, keyboard lights flashing spasmodically and hard drive making chuggling noises. I turned off the UPS and unplugged the ethernet cable before I slept.

This morning I plugged the power back in and tried to see if it still has problems, and found that I couldn't even turn it on. After classes I took the cover off the tower and checked for loose cables and such...and when that didn't work, I called Father. After wishing him happy birthday, you're one year older, and such. Checked a few more things and he said the power supply for the computer must've burnt out. (eMachines' tend to do that often, he said.)

SOOOOO. No computer until Sunday. Awesome. I'll be going home this weekend (through Davis-Berkeley shuttle, yay!), so I guess a new computer part is another thing I can look forward to.

Went to TAPS to get the shuttle ticket, and walked ~40min to The Marketplace when I could've taken paid public transportation. At least I took Unitrans back. And at least I have a good idea of some of the area north of UCD now. I like walking; gives me a sense of where things are. I don't notice as much on bikes or buses...well, I'm mostly trying not to crash and get to some place as soon as possible when I'm on a bike...

Bought gauze pads, a gauze roll, and a roll of cloth tape. Used my credit card the first time (MUST REMEMBER TO PAY THE BILLS). Went to safeway to buy Melba toast for the goat cheese I bought last weekend, also got two tiny pumpkins that I don't know what to do with. Decided the "vegetarian food" at DC not only has entirely too much oil, but is making me feel sick. Thus I bought a strawberry whirl (yay for trying new food) and will be having that for dinner.

Got back, gave the model # for the power supply to Father, went to Cowell with Amy, came to Hutchinson's, got a bit lost trying to find the computer lab, and here I am, spending more time than I should ranting about insignificant details of my day. Not the worst day, but getting there.

I'm really trying to have vegan diet for 9 days. Father said I shouldn't though, since I have school, and I don't have the greatest selection of foods here. Eat eggs and milk products like you have been previous years, he said. He laughed when I said I'll go on the diet as well on Saturday, when they got back from their trip.

Oh well. The cheese will have to be eaten.

Too much oil makes me sick. It's an uncomfortable weight in my stomach that wouldn't go away.

Mother called around 12:30 to see how I was doing. I was frustrated at the computer and thus was unkind and impatient when we talked. I feel guilty now. Father was...so business-like. "Okay, I'll see if I can get the power supply for you. Goodbye." -__-;

As I was walking to Albertson's (though I didn't see any Albertsons and ended up in Safeway), I talked to myself in a cheerily sacrastic tone. Oh yes, just a brilliant day today. I wonder if it's going to get better? No, I'm not pissed, no, no, not at all. A warm sun and failing chem. What more could I ask for? Ah, I hope it won't get any colder when they turn on the central heating system on the 26th. It's not warm enough until it feels like an oven. I briefly considered talking to others this way, but decided I don't need to get other people irritated too.

Meh. I have a writing assignment (w/ internet reserch!) due Thursay. Sounds like a good time to spend an obscene amount of time in the computer lab sometime soon...

I can't wait until Friday. Really. Not only because will I be done with this hellish week without my own computer, but because I is going to have dinner with Larry, Elton, Mayo, and maybe other people too. Yay.

My phone is running out of battery again. GARH, RAZRs use too much battery....

CDs & Resized T-shrits

Not a month since this 'higher education' thing started and I've already got two, no, three new CDs. Bernice doesn't usually buy CDs. Free noon concerts are to be blamed. Last Tuesday was "folk guitarist" Joe Hickerson and today was guitarist Brandon Yip. Hmm...and in between scavenged Japan for Sale from the library.

The first two CDs doesn't do the music justice compared to the concert. Especially the Hickerson one, where the audience participates by singing the chorus. Sounded better than the CD version, I daresay. But it might've just been the acoustics though. Yip's is not as good in CD, either. =\ I guess now I know why people go to concerts. Oh, I just noticed another reason. The CD I got was recorded 10 years ago. His skills probably improved during the years.

____________________

We got back from the noon concert (Psych midterm was just before that) and I noticed how my t-shirt seemed larger than before. I washed/dried this particular shirt in our dorm's laundry. Amy then commented that her robotics shirt seemed smalled than before. We questioned the strangeness of the dryer. (Dietary, exercise, and habitual changes probably played a factor, too)

Speaking of food, I'm eating much less healthily now. My nails have become more brittle than it used to be...which makes me rather unhappy because I am (was) proud of my nails-that-don't-break. Gah.

I should go study for tomorrow's Calculus for BioSci and Med midterm. Bright and early at 08:00. (dies)