Triscribe

Author: F C

  • Happy New Year 2008

    Happy New Year 2008! Thanks for being part of my life this year. As usual in my annual messages, I give you a few statistics and offer a short essay.

    Stats
    Miles on a plane: 12,705 (down 84% from last year, but will make up for it in 2008)
    Miles in a rental car: about 1,300
    Miles in a Zipcar: 784 (including 206 km in Toronto, Canada)
    MB of email: 1,304 (up 24% from last year, mostly spam)

    Cities Visited: Washington, D.C., Atlantic City, Toronto, Cincinnati, Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas

    Heroes and Mentors
    My fiancée’s dad was showing us how to make dumplings – you know, the kind you can get in Chinatown, 5 for a dollar, boiled or fried. He’s a retired Chinese chef, so it was easy for him to whip up the filling (ground pork and the cleaver-minced fresh shrimp meat for that homemade touch) and roll the skins from scratch.

    Now, the filling is not difficult for anyone that can follow a recipe. The hard part really is the crimping — making sure that the filling stays inside the skin when boiled and fried. In the standard scalloped dumpling, he can seal in 9 to 12 beautiful ruffles. Then just as quickly using the same materials, he can switch it up with the Shanghai style xiao long bao, and then move on to Cantonese siu mai. In the span of a half hour, he pumps out 4 trays of these tasty morsels. In some ways, it was almost supernatural.

    Is it better to be a hero or a mentor? They are both people that you look up to, and they have skills, characteristics, or achievements that we wish we had. But they are not the same. The difference is that heroes are people who are set apart from normal people, while mentors are people that are close to you.

    I searched for references to this relationship and many cites point to Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey”. Formally trained writers are familiar with this template for the universal story, or “monomyth”, which is illustrated in the Star Wars series of movies. One step in this journey (“Supernatural Aid”) focuses on the mentor-hero relationship: Obi-Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker in A New Hope, or Yoda to Luke in the Empire Strikes Back.

    In these stories, it is the hero that gets things done, but it is the mentor that makes it possible. It is also not unusual for one to become the other: Obi-Wan is the hero of Episodes 1 to 3, but becomes the mentor in the original Star Wars movie (Episode 4).

    This year I was fortunate to revisit the mentors from my past, family and friends who in the course of time our paths have drawn away from each other, and perhaps making them into heroes. I was also able to meet some of my heroes in person, and discover that they are people too!

    Getting back to dumplings, at first I made meager attempts to imitate the proper sealing technique, but at best it looks like a raw mutated Jamaican beef patty. He encouraged me to keep trying, saying that I could do it, and over time I got a little better – not pretty, but the two parts of the dumpling kept together.

    Due to my incomplete knowledge of Chinese, there’s a lot I don’t know about my fiancée’s dad. The one thing I know for sure is that in the universe of dumplings, he’s both a hero and a mentor. Let’s be both heroes and mentors – they need to be kept together too.

    Resolutions
    Last year’s resolution was to join the YMCA and learn how to swim. We were successful in joining the YMCA, and I did make it to the pool once, but quite frankly I can’t say that I know how to swim with any confidence. I didn’t get it together with organizing lessons, and then I messed up my left ankle (you can read about my second degree sprain at http://www.triscribe.com/wp/archives/1340) which took until this month to fully recover. I’ll try to complete this one this year, as well as the other one, to marry my sweetheart (for those that have been counting, the engagement has been going on 2 years) this October 11, 2008. Here’s to an awesome year for you – I’m looking forward to it.

    Please send me any updates to your contact information. I’ve also given in and joined Facebook, so please look for me there and challenge me to a game of Scrabblous sometime. Thanks again!

  • Chinese Americans at Jewish Restaurants for Christmas

    [Catch up posts for Christmas, I Am Legend, and the Stage Crew reunion to follow.]

    For some reason this year, much has been made of the traditional Jewish American affinity for Chinese restaurants, especially at Christmas. (See YouTube, Jennifer 8. Lee, and NPR). No one has talked about how much Chinese people like Jewish food.

    My dad got me hooked at an early age, as he was good friends with Freddy the bagel guy, and spent many a weekend in the back of the store kicking back Nedicks orange sodas and watching the bagels boil into nice dumplings before being baked to chewy perfection. I probably know more about appetizing than any Chinese person ought to know. The day my sister was born, Freddy came and picked us up from school and took us home. P-‘s neighbors were all Jewish growing up; she can get mean cravings for latkes.

    OK, it’s usually nowhere as cheap as Chinese food, and it’s certainly in the same league health-wise,with their wide variety of fatty, high carb and fried foods. However, also coming from a culture of survival, you can count on Jewish food to be prepared with meticulous precision, creatively using ingredients, with nothing wasted that is edible (at least permitted under kashrut laws). Also, having no dairy works out for us lactose intolerant folks.

    First stop this past week was at the newly reopened 2nd Avenue Deli (now at 33 St. between 3 Avenue and Lexington, around the corner from Koreatown). Warning: 30-45 minute waits for a table are usual, even at the time I went at 3 PM. I hear the line was 100 deep at lunch time. Good thing that they are now open 24 hours. Our waitress (as well as about a quarter of the staff) was Chinese. My usual – matzo ball soup (lighter in color than Katz’s, but fluffier), and a hot pastrami sandwich. They are exactly the same as before. A meal will set you back $20 or so, but what are you waiting for? The 2nd Avenue Deli is kosher certified by a Conservative rabbi, so while no dairy is served, it is not strictly kosher as Orthodox standards goes, and then there is the issue of being open on Saturday. But hey, we’re Chinese, so that’s something somebody else has to deal with, while we eat. Way Recommended if you don’t need to ask too many questions.

    The day after Christmas, P and 4 of her high school friends (all Asian and female) went out with one of their old teachers (who is Jewish) to Grille de Paris, a French restaurant located on Kings Highway in Brooklyn. They are under strict glatt Kosher supervision, and the other patrons were obviously very observant. We sure made an appearance there, although I guess it’s not any weirder than Jewish people in a Chinese restaurant.

    Bowls of garlic bread were put out to begin. P had the pre fixe of fatush salad (traditional), eggplant napoleon (tasty breaded eggplant slices somewhat like that for eggplant parm), beef shish kabobs with vegatables, and a chocolate mousse (I shared it – it was a bit sweet, but I liked it – P thought there was too much of the non-dairy creamer in it). I wanted an all mushroom all the time meal, so I had the tri mushroom salad, which was large, tasty and fantastic, french onion soup (was really wishing for the melted cheese) and fillet Wellington (pretty good and full of red wine and mushroom flavor, but under Kosher rules, the meat cannot be bloody, so it has to be cooked to at least what we would normally call medium-well, so be forewarned). A piped stack of mashed potatoes (using obviously real hand-mashed potatoes, not reconstituted potato flakes) was accompanied by a trio of snow peas, peppers and onions which would be familiar in a stir-fry, all well-sauteed. We asked one of the servers to take our picture at the table at the end of the meal. He cracks a joke: “say ‘meat’, not cheese -we’re a meat restaurant”.

    While it isn’t Le Cirque, there were plenty of delicious food, and they put a lot of effort in service and presentation (see the photos in the flickr strip). Even though it’s perhaps the only Kosher French restaurant in the city, it’s not a take it or leave it situation – it’s actually not bad. Recommended if you’re avoiding dairy.

  • Hungry Town

    Some friends from law school are really into an alternate legal career – Vermont folk singers called Hungrytown. I saw them on Saturday in the city braving the hints of the overhyped Nor’easter. Their 1 hour set celebrated their new CD that they just released – they’re really good. Listen to them yourselves.

    Made a pilgrimage to Katz’s – matzo ball soup and a salami sandwich. Awesome as usual, also pricey, but it is what it is.  The 2nd Ave. Deli returns!!! It’s now at 162 E. 33rd St between Lex and 3rd, and starting Monday will be open 24 hors. They are a bit pricey, but they give so much food that you can feed 6, so it’s value for money.

    Check out some of the new things I’ve added on my del.icio.us that actually solve problems:

    Foodbytes: ever had a craving for something, but didn’t know which restaurant carried the dish? This is the solution. You type in the name of the dish and your zip code, and this thing tells you which restaurants have it on their menu. Hot!

    LibraryThing: I’ve got a gazillion books, but I don’t really have an inventory of what I got or where anything is. This thing let you type or scan the ISBN numbers, and it does the cataloging, and even assigns LC or Dewey numbers if you’re into that. Free for the first 200 books, $25 lifetime afterwards for unlimited books. Now if it only did CDs…

    Google Reader: This thing makes reading a dozen blogs of various frequencies possible – it aggregates them into one screen, and let’s you know when updates are made without having to check each one. It also lets you read blogs offline using their Google Gears caching technology.

    Podnova: Takes care of checking the 20 or 30 podcasts that I listen to. Has a local client that takes care of the downloading to the computer. Sweet!

    MyRegistry.com: Ever wanted a gift list, but you have eclectic tastes? Now you can aggregate them into one list that can let people shop on multiple sites. Occasional contributor AS from school is working for this company now.

  • Chinese Food for Christmas

    This was pretty entertaining…

  • Don’t Stop Believing

    Not so much on the East Coast, but in Vegas and the Pacific Rim, the Filipino cover band is ubiquitous at hotel bars and other places where fine karaoke systems are installed. In a story that you can’t make up, the real power ballad band Journey was searching for a new lead singer. After an extensive search on YouTube (??), they found pinoy performer Arnel Pineda, and hired him. I think he sounds real good; P- thinks he’s not exactly Steve Perry, but see for yourself below:

    Definitely the biggest break of his life – no more 3 hour sets at the local Hard Rock!

  • Speak Up

    Saw legendary travel writer Arthur Frommer live yesterday at an alumni hosted speaking appearance on Tuesday. Like the Zagats of restaurant rating fame, he retired from being a white shoe litigator to pursue his travel enterprises.

    We as a society have lost the skills for long form oratory. Frommer presented non-stop for a whole hour with ease, possessing notes consisting of perhaps one index card, yet he were able to cite (at my count) over 2 dozen travel resources, including websites, distinct details of each venue or vendor – especially his tales of summertime study at Oxford of really ancient Egyptian history (as in pre-Pharaoh days). Afterwards, he went on for another hour at a reception that followed.

    Nowadays, the norm is the sound bite. Even the best moot court advocate does not have to go on for more than 15 minutes without interruption! Presidential debates used to go on for days – the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates are a prime example. Now maybe you get 3 minutes for each of a dozen candidates.

    If we just took more time for exposition, maybe we would know more.

    Happy Birthday to SSW (that was yesterday)!

  • Leaps of Faith and Logic

    Sorry that Triscribe was out most of the day Sunday, because I forgot to renew the domain name (whoops). Got it fixed in 10 minutes, and even snagged a coupon code. We’re good for 3 more years….

    First snow this season – took P’s sister’s dogs out for a romp while she’s away in Belgium.

    RIP Daredevil Evel Knievel, succeeding when actually failing to jump over objects, earning the Guinness World Record for broken bones (40).  In the weeks before his death, he amiably settled a trademark suit against Kanye West’s parody of Knievel’s Snake River rocket shot, and was baptized on the Crystal Cathedral’s Hour of Power show. Definitely did things his way.

    Stuck into a monster collage aid bill is a requirement that colleges and universities provide subscription plans for download music and to implement blocking for P2P file sharing, or their students lose all of their federal financial aid. Let’s get this straight — we can’t make sure students have a health insurance plan (many college students lose their health insurance in their senior year soon after because they age out of their parent’s health plans – most law students are completely bare except for what they can get from the institution or the ABA, and that is generally major medical only) but we can mandate that they pay for a music subscription plan. What kind of logic is this?

    Brunch: Belleville – P got an omelet, I got the Norwegian eggs Benedict. Both were served with hash potatoes and a green salad. Her omlete was perfectly fluffy; my dish was excellent except a dry muffin (but that could be our fault for showing up at 2 PM). Web reviews seem to be down on them lately, but if they can cook decent eggs, the kitchen deserves a chance.

  • Thirty-seven or Thanksgiving, But Who’s Counting?

    Earliest Christmas carol: I heard the Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…) on Veteran’s Day. That’s really lame, it’s almost like, let’s just get through Turkey Day to get to massive shopping the next. Kind of the same for my birthday – it was one of those, not a milestone, nothing to see, moving on type of days.

    Jade Asian Restaurant, Flushing: Dimsum in the old Gum Fong. New decor is one part Shanghai Tang, one part Blue Ribbon. Ha gow and ha chern both excellent, as well as their other dumplings and buns. Jook (congee) was average, obviously using a boat motor blender as a shortcut. Check it out. Average tab: $15-20.

    Downtown Atlantic: 10 minutes in this place, and you will be dying of hunger, as the scent of baking cupcakes will whet your appetite. Tried the Grandma’s Sunday Gravy (Spaghetti with tomato sauce with stewed meatballs and sausage, for those not having the privilege of having an Italian Sunday dinner). It was passable, but obviously they had to cut out significant trans-fat, which I had to supplement with dollops of butter. The other brunch options looked quite nice, topped off with your favorite baked good and a strong coffee.

    Beltway elite now shopping at Costco. It’s rediscovering the Protestant work ethic for Thanksgiving – still feed everyone well, but at least you can say that you were frugal. I suppose that FreshDirect performs a similar function in New York City, although Fairway and Costco are serious competition here.

    And the hunt is on for Christmas shopping – Black Friday loss leaders not worth it (and I’m not waking up at 5:30 to get them), but P and I bought snow boots at 20% off at EMS.  Anyone know where you can find a Wii? Happy Holidays!

  • Objects Are Farther Than They Appear

    The billboards in Vegas make it seem that each casino is right there right where you can grab it. But that is not true – it is always a struggle to get from one to the other, or even to find the exit. A property that is “on the other side of the block” can be a mile away. This is the lesson of the conference I attended here in Las Vegas.

    Event recap:
    Thursday: dinner with P- at Mario Bateli’s Enoteca di San Marco in the Venician. Food on par with the dishes served in Otto, etc. However, they needed more waitstaff, because they were obviously slammed.

    Cirque du Soliel Love: excellent show. They weaved a selection of famous and not so famous Beatles songs, plus some choice studio outtakes with the famed acrobatic performers to create a truly psychadellic experience. Recommended.

    Friday: I played a judge, first in moot court, then in a historical reinactment of a Japanese internment trial. Both experiences were fantastic. Our alma mater’s moot team did well, placing as a semifinalist and 2nd best brief. Finally, got to meet Survivor winner and conference speaker Yul Kwon. What a nice guy in person, and caused a lot of the women to swoon!

    Other Strip events: rode the NY-NY rollercoaster, drank slurpees while walking through the Bellagio, and watched the free water light show at the Wynn while sipping port wine. Awesome!

    Connecting Flight here at DFW has a one hour ground delay. Will be home by 6.

  • Groundwork, or Why Costo for Travel

    Made it into Vegas early Wednesday. Perfect 3 point on-time landing with American Airlines.  New for Vegas this year – all of the car rental companies are now in a new Rent-A-Car mall. There is only one bus for all rental car companies that take you there. Literally, it is a mall in reverse – each rental company has a store, and then you go to the parking garage and pick up your car.  NY should do  that

    Once in the rental car, I really had to make a pit stop and get some supplies for the room. I remembered that there was a Costco nearby. If you do a lot of driving travel, you should really have a Costco card along with AAA. First, Costcos usually have cheap gas (here, 11 cents cheaper per gallon). Second, cheap food – their quarter pound hot dog and 20 oz refillable soda combo is only $1.50. Third, if you need extra clothes (as I did in Seattle), drinks (the one in Vegas has perfect selections of wines or liquors for that room party), or medications, you can pick up cheap quantities. Fifth, in addition to their national Kirkland products, there are also local items that work well as souvenirs (this was most applicable in Hawaii).  Finally, clean restrooms are always available. For an driving oasis, this is it.

    Staying at the Suncoast. Dropped off at the Marriott, got shanghaied into helping out shopping with bags. Buffet was pretty good at $13 – totally broke the bank on them with their ox tail stew, which usually retails for $8 -$10 a serving. P– drove in at about 10 PM, and we had a late supper. Then we totally crashed out.