Virtual Christmas Gifts

Finances are tighter than ever, with this recession, and with the financial savings and honeymoon budget goals and all. But this year, I would like to wish myself a very Merry Christmas with the following virtual Christmas gifts (since noone else will buy these for me):

Liveaboard Trip in Palau (Price: $2300/person - Big Blue Explorer)

First and foremost among my virtual gifts to myself would be a scuba liveaboard trip to Palau (see above). The price is $2300/person for 7 days aboard the cheapest liveaboard in Palau, the Big Blue Explorer. This includes up to 5 dives/day, all meals and even transportation from the airport. Why Palau you might ask? It is considered one of the best places to dive in the world, and certainly one of the most varied places to dive, featuring a jellyfish lake, WWII wrecks, coral reefs, sharks and all. Furthermore, there are tons of above land attractions: one of the most famous WWII battle sites was on the Palau island of Peliliu, and some of the most exotic South Pacific culture can be experienced on the neighboring island of Yap.

Resistance 2 (Price: $71.99 from OnSale.com)

Resistance 2, is a violent, "first-person-shooter" game. Based on the prequel with the same name, this new game is supposedly badder than the first. The game's name, by the way, is a double entendre. There is the resistance against malevolent aliens attacking Earth, but there is also the resistance that the protaganist, Nathan Hale, has against the alien virus, which prevents him from completely transforming into an alien species, but allows him to obtain some of the alien's super-human strength. We have spent many an hour, without eating, or going to the bathroom, playing the former game. I am up for the challenge of playing the sequel.

La Furla Handbags (Price: $408.87 from zappos.com)

I do have a girly-girl side. And I do espouse somewhat to the philosophy that a very high-quality handbag goes a long way to dressing up a person. I could literally wear sweats, Uggs and either of the above handbags and NOT look like a baglady. Look at the luxurious leather, and the perfect proportions. (Sigh.) My purses get trashed after one year, and money spent on a handbag, however, would not be a dollar well spent.

Trench Coat Like the Burberry Ivybridge Trench (Price: $1,295 from burberry.com)

I have been searching for a while for a basic trench coat, much like the one pictured above. The joy is in the search as much as in the usage, and the Burberry trench coat, is one of those investment items that you can wear forever. However, the price is prohibitive. So I have been eyeing a much less expensive version by Soia & Kyo, below. Still debating, however. It doesn't look as classic as the original Burberry.

Soia & Kyo Black Trench (Price: $119 - 50% off at Nordstroms.com )

California Academy of Sciences

If you are a designer in any way, whether it be of mechanical systems, of interiors, or of anything for that matter, you may be interested in visiting the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. This newly reopened museum, which supposedly cost $500 million dollars and 10 years to build, is a well designed experience.

Most prominent is the fact that the Academy is an Aquarium, Natural History Museum and Planetarium all rolled up into one, which breaks previous molds for science museums. Furthermore, these entities are mixed together. For instance, the 4-story rainforest and Amazon river exhibit (see above) are housed in the same glass dome. Much has been done to break down the glass barrier between the viewer and the exhibit. The rainforest, for instance, houses orchids, tropical birds, butterflies, and even tiny frogs out in the open for viewers to experience first hand.

A most bizarre experience can be had by gazing down into the Amazon river exhibit from high up in the rain forest canopy. Looking down into the water, you see giant catfish, arapaima ... and people. There is a a tunnel underneath the river, allowing people to gaze upwards at the fish, and people gazing down from the rainforest.

Breaking another mold of sorts is the museum's architecture. The traditional museum is a neoclassical monstrosity, replete with left and right wings, tall columns, and imposing stone steps. Exhibits are designed to fit within the confines of this stone building. Not vice versa. In contrast, the new building is designed around it's two key exhibits: the planetarium and the rainforest. Indeed, the building seems almost shrink-wrapped around these dual domes. The green expanse of the building's living rooftop is broken up only by the twin spheres forming these exhibits.

The museum is almost as entertaining from a design perspective, as it is from a natural history perspective. What's missing from making the museum the most fully integrative for the viewer would be a few water slides, and some scuba gear.

Thanksgiving NorCal Style

Below, some images from our quintessential, Northern Californian Thanksgiving weekend.

Maverick's Surf Area

Half Moon Bay Tide Pool

"The Age of Innocence" - A Book Review

Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day Lewis star in "The Age of Innocence" the movie

Having just completed the book, I can't wait to see "The Age of Innocence" the movie. This movie stars Daniel Day Lewis as the protagonist, Newland Archer, Winona Ryder as his beautiful, but dull wife, May, and Michelle Pfeiffer as the outsider, Countess Olenska. I am looking forward to seeing the beautiful costumes, the sumptuous opera nights, and the exotic dinners that fill the days of the rich, according to author, Edith Wharton's portrayal of Old New York.

This book is about the strict social rules governing rich New York society. Surprisingly, in trying to emulate the ornate social rules of the Old World, the New York upper classes have out-stiffed the Europeans. Europe at this equivalent time was more liberal and tolerant (interpreted by New Yorkers as more decadent). It was at about this approximate time frame that Emily Post, Edith Wharton's peer, wrote her seminal book, "Etiquette".

Young and rich, Newland Archer can play the social game. On the verge of marrying May Welland, a gorgeous, but conventional and unimaginative young woman, Newland meets Ellen Olenska. Ellen Olenska is an outsider, with the taint of Europe and scandal surrounding her reputation. Through very few, but poignant interactions in which the two characters barely touch each other, Newland falls desperately in love with Ellen. In Ellen, he sees living outside of the narrow limits of New York society as a possibility for the first time. In Newland, Ellen finds the rarity and intense beauty of unconsummated love.

I won't completely describe the most chilling moment of the book. But in short, the New York "tribe", which had been rallying around the wronged wife, May, succeed in maneuvering the two lovers apart through chilly demeanor at one ornate dinner party.

When viewing how strictly regulated society was at that time, I am reminded how life in the Silicon Valley is just as limited and narrow, but in a different way. I, like Newland, feel that I could be living life in a Bigger way. We are all in this rat race to appear in control, go on more expensive vacations, start one's own business ventures. Perhaps, like Newland, I see glimpses of how to live life outside of this rat race. But, like Newland, I am pulled back into the fray.

Turkey Follow Up, and More Recipe Stuff

The turkey was nooot good. Serves me right for believing I could make a better turkey than the masses. The turkey was not very salty, tough, and did not exhibit enough carmalization on the skin.

Lessons learned:
(1) the turkey needs to be a few inches from the heat coil at the top of the oven. The "Joy of Cooking" said to lower the rack to the lowest setting. But the turkey was so small, it was too far away!

(2) No more free-range/organic turkey. It was tough.

In other recipe news, I learned how to make my Mom's Chinese turkey stew.

Ingredients:
dried shitake mushrooms soaking in water
dried wood ear mushrooms soaking in water
preserved cabbage, shredded, in a can (yellow and red can labelled "Preserved Cabbage")

Instructions:
(1) Boil the carcass in a pot. Also possible, a thigh leg. No carcass necessary
(2) Lower the soup to a simmer. In the meantime, cut the mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms into slices, taking care to remove the woody root of the wood ear. Slices can be 1/8" thick.
(3) Put 1/2-3/4 can of the preserved, salty cabbage into the soup and simmer for a few hours.
(4) Put julienned carrots into the soup. Simmer some more...
(5) The soup is done when the wood ear mushroom makes the soup gelatinous. Serve into a bowl with some Chinese black vinegar (optional).

Roasted Brined Turkey, November, 2008

As you may well know, we take food very seriously in this household. Mark was a former cook, and has spoiled me with his sublime Italian cooking. One of his culinary habits is precision, both in material selection, as well as in following process parameters. Some of his habit has soaked into my cooking style through osmosis. In this spirit, I have begun to write down recipes, so that I can learn and iterate upon them to satisfaction. Sometimes, a little bit of extra effort is required to set oneself apart from the ordinary!

In hopes of eventually perfecting my roasted turkey, and improving from the one I roasted in March, I will be recording the process of brining and roasting this Thanksgiving's 7.22 lbs turkey.

Brining
I did not use my redlined notes from the brining recipe from the "Joy of Cooking", which in retrospect was not a huge mistake since the "Joy" recipe calls for a 6 hour soak, instead of the overnight brining I performed for this turkey. This year I used an adaptation of Emeril Lagasse's brine recipe online:

1.5 gallons of water (24 cups)
3/4 cup of brown sugar (or golden sugar in my case)
1.5 cups of kosher salt (or 3/4 cups of table salt)
2-3 tbs dried rosemary

I hope there is enough salt. The Joy of Cooking recipe called for twice as much salt.

Roasting
Veering slightly from the "Joy of Cooking" instructions, I will be stuffing the turkey with a shallot, a carrot, and a celery stalk. The shallot is taking place of the onion due to the smaller turkey cavity. To encourage browning, the turkey skin will be covered with melted butter.

Per my March turkey blog, I will be roasting the turkey at 325 deg. F on the lowest rack setting. The turkey will be positioned on a wire rack on a disposable, aluminum roasting pan, with a cup of water at the bottom of the pan to discourage burning of drippings. Because this turkey is less than half the weight of March's turkey, it will be difficult to guess how much oven time I will require. To be conservative, I will cook the turkey for even less time than I proposed in my March blog:

The turkey will be breast side up for 1.25-1.5 hours, and then breast side down for 25 minutes, or until the center of the thigh is 170 deg. F (according to the "Joy", this will help ensure the tenderest of breast meat, but the thigh meat will be a bit pink, but still thoroughly cooked).

Resting
I will be resting the bird under a tent of aluminum foil for 15-20 minutes.

To be continued...

Books, Their Owners, and Book Elitism

Today, my local library hosted its annual book sale. This was my second year attending, and like last year, I really piled up on the $1.00 books. I left, loaded down with 18 books, some bursting out of my canvas bag, some stacked in my arms.

What also transpired at the book sale was a sly observation of the humans attached to the books. People at the book sale were checking each other out: the size of their book stacks, and their titles, and what that might reveal about their inner character. There was a grizzled gray haired guy with a book stack that extended from his waist to his forehead with obscure titles. There was the Asian engineer with such varied titles from Exercises for the Golfer, to a textbook on Calculus.

There was also my cousin, Alicia, newly minted Stanford Grad, who had a select 6 books in her arms that were meant for the informed literati. She explained that she had already read all of the popular books on offer.

My coworker, Qian, was also in attendance. For 20 minutes I watched her wander the piles, and not pick up a single book. Maybe she felt self-conscious about her taste in reading. I wasn't being very helpful. I showed her my growing stack of self-help and chick lit books so that she wouldn't feel too embarrassed by her reading choices. I guess she might feel self-conscious somehow. I cannot understand why, what with my shallow and unintellectual book choices.

Here are the books that I bought.

1. Age if Innocence, by Edith Wharton
2. Bergdorf Blondes, by Plum Sykes
3. Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work, by Jack Canfield et al.
4. Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck
5. The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Stories, by Henry James
6. Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi
7. The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank
8. Fever Pitch, by Nick Hornby
9. Le Divorce, by Diane Johnson
10. The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx
11. Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier
12. Mars and Venus Together Forever, by John Gray, Ph.D.
13. The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White
14. Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer
15. Cave in the Snow, by Vicki Mackenzie
16. The Best American Travel Writing 2006, edited by Tim Cahill
17. Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton
18. Sharks & Rays, edited by Leighton Taylor

As noted previously, some shallow and unintellectual books, but others that are more challenging. There are some "chick lit" selections (Bergdorf Blondes, Le Divorce), as well as a share of sappy self help (Chicken Soup, Mars and Venus). Finally, there are the classics that I feel I should read (Age if Innocence, The Turn of the Screw). My cousin, Alicia, drily observed that a lot of my book selections were books with movie adaptations (Cold Mountain, The Shipping News). I can't tell if she was being condescending or not. Well, hey, I never pretended to be an intellectual.

I will post my progress on these books in the near future.