Rock-n-Rose Room Rocks! Two-Year Anniversary Getaway Weekend

Since we have two wedding dates to remember - one is x/x, that's when we exchanged vows in Arradon, France; another is x/x, that's when our marriage became official in the King County Court House, I really don't know which day I should remember to celebrate. So, it's no surprise that I just totally forgot about it. M, on the other hand, surprised me with a beautiful getaway weekend at the Rock-n-Rose Room overlooking the middle fork of the Snoqualmie River on our 2nd wedding anniversary. He is an expert in giving surprises; I, on the other hand, completely lacks that skill.

Friday evening, unexpectedly, the line in front of the snowshoe rental counter at REI was too long, we went home without snowshoes. I thought our snowshoeing plan was off and lying ahead was just another lazy Saturday. Around noon, M told me to get ready for a fun trip and didn't let me in on the details.

It's a beautiful day - sunny with blue sky - perfect for any outdoor activity. We picked up snowshoes from REI, and got on I-90.

Seeing icy snow on tire tracks leading to the parking lot at the foot of Mt. Si, we hesitated. After chatting with a couple of hikers, we went ahead and parked on the snow in the parking lot.

We were planning on doing the Talapus Lake Trail, but it was hard to follow the trail; so we just randomly trekked around on a trail where there was snow and not too steep. It was refreshing and invigorating to be in the forests; snow-capped mountain tops stand high above tree lines, displaying postcard-perfect views. After 2 hours of fun in the snow, we were re-energized and ready to hit the road home - at least, I thought so.

When we drove to the little town, North Bend, M wanted to explore the back roads in that area, that's when I sensed that we were not going home. He pulled into a parking lot in a wooded area where there are a few houses and cabins. Voila! Here is the surprise - this is where we are going to be staying tonight and happy anniversary! Yes, I was surprised and happily surprised.

The couple, who run and own the B&B, are very friendly. I immediately noticed the view from their big windows. The husband took us to our room, the Rock-n-Rose Room, which has a fascinating story. It is a room right underneath the main floor of their house overlooking the Snowqualmie River. It has a huge rock, the bulk part of which is in the bedroom, a small part of which extends into the Sauna room. The original owner had tried to blast the rock, but only small pieces broke off, the rest sat firmly in one piece. And the original owner's wife was shaken off her chair, not knowing the rock was being blasted. Thank Goodness that they kept the rock in the room! Now, the rock adds a special lure to the room.

It's truly a rock-n-rose room. Besides the prominent presence of the rock and a rose garden outside the room, the room itself is filled with rose-themed objects - paintings, plates, sheets, pillows, cups, coasters, photos, books etc. - you name it. Aesthetically, this decorative style is busy to eyes and doesn't really suit my taste. But the overabundance of rose-themed items exemplify the owner's love and care for this room. It definitely serves as a good reminder to people who are staying here to be romantic.

Well, the most romantic part about this place is really the view. It overlooks the Snoqualmie River, which soothingly flows and splashes against rocks down in the riverbed. The B&B bears the name of "Roaring River," but the river really murmurs, maybe there are moments (flooding?) when the river really roars.

After resting up a bit, we went to the main strip of the town, checked out the Bad Girls Antique Store, and then sat down for a big fat dinner - 10 ounces of prime rib and a thick bacon burger - at the North Bend Bar & Grill. As if that's not enough, we grabbed a milk shake and a hot apple cider to go at the Dairy Freeze and went back to our cozy Rock-n-Rose room. Then, we watched a movie, Mona Lisa, on the small TV next to the big rock, and simmered ourselves in the sauna room for ten minutes which readied us for a good night's sleep.

The next morning, we woke up to dancing sun rays splashing through tall pine trees; there was gossamer mist hanging low above the river; the water flows and splits around rocks like melted jade.

Our breakfast came in a basket: two danishes, two quiche, two scones, OJ and strawberry jam. Yum. We had breakfast while watching "Breakfast at Tiffany."

After checking out, we hiked down to the river, where we laid on a rock and soaked in the morning sunshine and savored the beautiful views and sounds around us. We had the whole river bend all to ourselves. There was not another soul in sight. Peaceful, blissful, and we were mindful of the beauty and serenity around us.

On our way back, we stopped by the Snowqualmie Falls. We had to drive around in circles to find a parking spot. Many people were crowded next to each other on the viewing deck, and a few ventured down below.

Then, after grocery stops at the ID and TD and dropping off snowshoes at REI, we embraced the last bit of the weekend before Monday would drag us out of bed again...

Babbling about "Babel"

The weather has been surprisingly nice for a whole week. It's Friday evening. The setting sun splashed different hues of orange on the ripples of Puget Sound. I walked to M's office taking my usual route along the waterfront, and turned onto Western Ave where I browsed furniture displays in windows, which has become a pleasant weekly routine for me.

The downtown traffic was crawling as always on a Friday evening. We decided to go to REI first to rent snowshoes, and only to find a dreadful long line at the rental counter. Then, we chose to leave without snowshoes to catch a movie at the Pacific Center and grab a plate of my favorite sweet potato fries at Tacone.

We watched "Babel," a movie directed by our favorite Mexican director, Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu. We had watched two other movies directed by him: "Amores Perros" and "21 Grams." It's said that these three movies complete a trilogy that Innaritu and the screenwriter, Guillermo Arriaga, set out to produce a few years ago. Among the three movies, "Babel" really stands out on many different levels: the cinematography, a plot that is cross-border and cross-cultural and a solid cast with both super stars and amateur unknown actors.

The title itself says a lot about the movie. The word "babel" means "confusion of sounds and voices." When written as "Babel" with a capitalized "b," it refers to the city (now thought to be Babylon) where the Tower of Babel was built in trying to reach Heaven; and it was said that God was offended by that and made people to speak different languages so that man can't understand each other. I'm no expert in religion. But I can see how this title is a smart choice.

The movie delivered that message very clearly - communicating across cultures, languages and gestures is no easy task. Even as a movie viewer, we are also naturally trapped in ongoing moments of "lost in translation" throughout the movie without being able to speak the respective languages firsthand.

This movie weaves in so many themes and asks so many questions all in one movie:

• Life styles differ from cultural to culture; yet how much of that difference is dictated by economic conditions, how much by political conditions, how much by culture itself. It seems rich countries seem to have a somewhat similar life style. Does poverty make a country and its people dangerous? Or is it something else?


• The pains and joy of growing up no matter where you are in four corners of the world (the lure of and curiosity about sex and the ethics around it...)


• How do we come to terms with losing loved ones (the couple's baby, the Japanese girl's mom, and towards the end the sheep herder's son...)


• Although the gun was a gift by a Japanese tourist to a local Moroccan hunter. It also raises the question: How do countries prevent weapons from spreading, or how does a country go about the issue of gun-control?


• The relationship between the police - the machine of a state - and the general populace (Moroccan police, Japanese police and US border patrol.) How do the police treat people (as enemy of the state?) whom they are supposed to protect?


• Our lives are so intertwined with each other, knowingly or unknowingly. Is globalization bringing us closer or sending us far apart along religious, spiritual and cultural lines?


• What kind of immigration policy should the US pursue?


• How can the world combat true terrorism without sacrificing civilian lives or civil liberty?

The movie ingeniously linked these themes across three different continents. After watching it, I find myself babbling from one subject to another...

NWAAFF, Asian American Film Festival Opening Night

This year, the Northwest Asian American Film Festival fell between 1/24 and 1/28 from Thursday to Sunday. We went on Thursday, the opening night; and this is our second time to come to a NWAAFF event.

There was no long lines trailing outside of the Theatre Off Jackson when we got there a bit later than 7:30pm, which is the starting time stated on the schedule. Compared to the Seattle International Film Festival, understandably, this is a much smaller event, hence the smaller crowd.

The Theatre is small and cozy. It was two-thirds full by the time when we sat down. After brief opening remarks, acknowledgement of sponsors and a few lucky draws of ticket giveaways to a few performances around the town - we didn't have the lucky numbers, we were shown a collage of snippets from different films to be shown in the next few days.

It's quite a varied collection of movies by Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and other Asian American artists. In mainstream films, Asian Americans are still a rare sight. A film festival as such gives Asian Americans an opportunity to explore what it is to be an Asian American, and to refute some of the stereotypes associated with Asian American women -obedient, secretive, dragon lady - and men - asexual, rigid, humorless.

During the break, before the audience were invited back in for CineOke, Cinema version of Karaoke, the small hallway was filled with audience who had eyes on plates laden with yummy foods donated by different restaurants and stores including Wild Ginger, Trader Joe's, to name a couple. M ran into someone he knows. We chatted with him and his wife. Later, a Chinese American guy, David, chatted up with us. He is from Philadelphia, and had been in Seattle for a few month and currently looking for a place to buy. He complained about how expensive the properties are in Seattle...

In spite of an American passport, I don't consider myself Asian American, I think I'm really a transplant that doesn't fall under that category. Watching these films give me a sense what my kids might experience in search of their own identity.

Coming out of the theatre, right around the corner, we ran into Jim, who runs a Subway store near where I work, he is the one who always gives me a free cookie whenever I buy sandwich there. What a coincidence! I haven't gone there for almost 3 months!

Laundry Listing the Weekend of Jan. 20 -21

Another weekend flew by; luckily, the good weather stayed with us. It feels like springtime. I love walking to M's office with the sun setting gloriously between the Sound and the Olympic Mountains, quite a breathtaking view accompanying me on my walk along the water front. Now it's almost half way into the week, I feel like recapturing our weekend activities in a laundry list format (when and what):

Friday evening after work: We tried a new downtown restaurant, Qube. The food was good; the price was a bit high; the service was fine; the ambiance was sleek and chic, also full of youthful and metrosexual energy.

On the way home after dinner, we checked out a couple of movies from Planet Hollywood, one of which was "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," the 1975 Oscar Award movie. Quite a movie! Awesome!

Saturday:
Saturday morning, M made omelet and we read Sunday newspapers together.
Lounging around, surfing around, cleaning up around the house, time just went by.

Late in the afternoon, as a spur-of-the-moment decision, we drove to Volunteer Park for a nice walk. While we were in the park, we stopped by the Green House and admired all the beautiful plants and flowers. Then we crossed over a fallen fence between the park and a cemetery. There, we zigzagged around tomb stones, and bet on in which year the oldest tome stone was erected or laid down here. The result? Roughly the late 19th century. The view from the hilltop that is part of the cemetery was stunning - what a nice piece of land to rest one's soul! We also stumbled upon Bruce Lee's tomb, right next to his son's. In fact, there are a fair number of Asians buried here.

Popped into Daiso just when a fire alarm went off, the whole Westlake Center was being evacuated and people were looking at each other in disbelief and confusion. I didn't see the source of smoke or fire. There was no panic, just shopping crowds filing out of the building obediently following a voice coming out of a speaker up in the ceiling. Instead of waiting around, I walked to BB&B and got a faucet-mounted water filter and we drove to M's brother's house for dinner.

We ate and hung out at their house and played with 3 babies. Babies are really popping up everywhere! We left around 10pm for another event, the 3rd Annual Weird Genius Science Fair, which happens to be in the newly renovated Youngstown Cultural Arts Center right in our neck of woods, West Seattle. Mostly young people - freaks, geeks and yuppies, people of all types - were there. There was the biggest baking soda volcano demonstration, artificial snow, the world viewed from insects' eyes (you actually were required to put on a pair of wings and some sort of headgear with contraptions that would allow you see the world in their way), thermal reactive TV screen etc. I'm not a science enthusiast, but it was fun watching them churning some fun out of science.

Sunday:
Late in the morning, I cooked a crustless Quiche with soy milk. It turned out well. A bit sweet - something that I didn't expect to taste - little wonder that I used VANILLA soymilk!

Afternoon-Evening: We spent the whole afternoon and evening working on a home improvement project - about 5 hours to transport rocks from our neighbour's front yard to our yard and align them along the sidewalk next to our front lawn so that the soil and plants won't overgrow onto the sidewalk. We thought it'd take us 2 hours. It turned out to be a much bigger project. Transporting those heavy and bulky rocks was the most time-consuming part; of course, arguing over which rocks goes in where was also exhausting:) But, we got it down without throwing shovels at each other. Alas.

We ended a productive weekend with the movie, La Petite Jerusalem.

Watching "China from the Inside" from the Outside

Yesterday night, we finished watching all 4 episodes of the PBS show entitled "China from the Inside." It was an emotional ride; I was sad, mad, disappointed and hopeful.

I was especially disturbed by the environmental disasters - the polluted water, air, soil - prevalent in China; these are also the basic elements for sustaining human life, be you rich or poor. The images in the show are heart-wrenching. A village, now known as the "cancer village", has many sickly people lacking basic medical care and having no way of getting compensated for what have caused their cancer - deadly cancer-inducing pollutants in the river where they draw their drinking water. That makes me wonder, not for the first time, that the polluted water and air probably are the key culprits for my mother's cancer too. Obviously, she is not alone in this case. It pains me. It angers me.

On a positive note, the program interviewed activists, journalists and professors who are deeply concerned about these issues and passionate about making changes. I truly admire their courage, altruism and perseverance for taking real actions: exposing scandals, cleaning up rivers, planting trees, spreading "green" messages. Someday, I hope I have the guts to face the perils and contribute my share to make China a greener and cleaner place.

I took a stroll to PBS's forum on this show. There are insightful discussions on different subjects - assigning blames, searching for solutions, debating on the fate of Tibet, the future of China - all good food for thought.

I hope the Chinese in China will get to see this documentary too...

Maps: Tracing Our Recent Road Trip from Merida to Belize

I've meant to map out the route that we took on our recent road trip from Merida, Mexico to Belize. After looking around online, I finally found a website that has world maps available for free. So, I decided to give it a shot, and below are maps that trace the route that we took:

Map 1: Mexico and Central America

Map 2: Yucatuan Penusinla, Belize, Guatemala and Nicaruagua

Map 3: Actual Road Trip Route (Yellow & Brown Line) and Flight Route (Pine Line)

Blog for U, or for Myself? - That Is A Question!

Today, I ran across an article that caught my attention, because it used the phenomenon of mass blogging as a main example to support the argument. After reading it, I felt compelled to point out a fallacy.

Below is an excerpt from the article entitled "Economics of Here to There" by Jefferey Tucker, in which, he used 'blogging' as a primary example to illustrate his point:

"Thanks to the advent of mass blogging, many more people are acquainted with this issue than ever before. Let's say you take what is for most people a big and exciting step of creating a blog. There are so many sites now that make it easy. You sign up, you fiddle around with the look and feel, you add links, and the all-important "about me" page. You are ready to go.

You write your first post, thoughts you find funny, profound, insightful, or otherwise compelling in some way. Submit. And voila! You are published in a medium that is accessible to the entire world. Who can believe it?

The thrill doesn't last long because you suddenly realize something that had not yet presented itself. Only your family is reading this. Maybe. It's true that anyone in the world can access it but why should anyone want to? How are people even going to find out about it? How can you be sure that people are going to come back again and again?

This is a striking problem mainly because it is something that hadn't actually occurred to you before. You created a beautiful product. You could create a profound post. But you must then persuade people to read it.

You might have read somewhere that the key to blogging is to do it often. So you blog and blog. You post 3 times, or even ten times, per day. You keep this up for weeks, even months. Exhausted, you check your stats. They show no increase in readership. Still, only your family is reading — or at least they claim to be reading.

You then turn to other means. You link, you beg for links, you turn on track backs. You try boosting your search-engine ranking. Finally, you take the step: you buy a spot on Google ads. Then things begin to happen. And then you marvel at how much time you have spent on this project. It seems that you have spent 10 times as much time promoting than you ever spent writing your blog. And yet what is the point of writing if you have no readers?

In this way, average people are beginning to see the great hidden cost of capitalist production: getting from here to there. And take note that with blogging, the problem of distribution is already solved. The final product is delivered via a click."

The author is trying to make a point about how the cost of promoting and marketing a product is far greater than the cost of actually producing it - a point that's well argued and I don't disagree - except that I don't think "blogging" is a good example.

Is the content of blogging a product? It varies from case to case - some blog sites are, some are not. I don't think there is a consensus out there among bloggers. The author's assumption that blogging is a business activity that churns about products does NOT fly, and is misleading. Blogging can't be equated to selling things on ebay. It's not necessarily a commercial activity; in fact, it's probably more spiritual - searching for a virtual community and sharing fun stories with friends & family members - than commercial.

I started blogging, because I like what I can do with it. Surely, I could also keep a journal on my own computer in MS Word. But I wouldn't be able to have access to it whenever I want. I blog, first and foremost, for myself. If there is no traffic on my site at all, I won't be disappointed or discouraged to continue with my random babbling.

The reasons that I prefer blogging over the traditional way of keeping a journal:
1. It looks prettier than a plain word document stored away on my computer.
2. I tend to be more disciplined (spelling, punctuation and grammar) and, occasionally, more creative when I know there might be a pair of invisible eyes glancing through. And, for the same reason, I don't blog about things of utmost private nature.
3. I like the idea that other people can access it and comment on it if they choose too. If not, I'm equally jovial - because I treat it as a hobby.
4. I can access it whenever I want - on my couch or in an Internet cafe far away from home.
5. It's a place where I can store my favorite links without having to pull down the "bookmark" function on my web browser.
6. Ultimately, it creates a space that's controllable, accessible and interactive.

Replacing a Kitchen Faucet - A Stubborn Screw and A Stubborn Crew

It's Monday, also the MLK day that makes up a nice long weekend. I had a whole day ahead of me and a long list of things-to-do, one of which is replacing a kitchen faucet set.

I allotted a couple of hours for replacing the old faucet in our kitchen sink. But, in reality, I started the project at 10:30am and finally decided to stop at 2:30pm - that's 4 hours! As it turned out, replacing a kitchen faucet can be extremely time-consuming.

Installing the faucet set is fairly easy and straightforward. The diagram is simple enough. There are three major pieces: the faucet, the level and the spray. The key is connecting hot and cold water pipes with the right hoses. The hardest part is fastening the three different pieces onto the sink due to the tight spaces under the sink. I noticed the improvements made on the newer model. But to install the new set, I needed to remove the old set. And that's where I got stuck - I spent hours trying to remove an old rusty screw below the faucet under the sink!

I lied down under the sink like a car mechanic under the belly of a car holding a flash light while trying to screw off a stubborn screw that's way more stubborn than me. Residue water was spraying and dripping all over my face and arms; little rusty bits were falling off the back side of the sink into my eyes. I tried different wrenches in different poses until my hands and my neck were sore. The skin on my fingers were completely chapped... And the screw just wouldn't budge. I let out a few subdued screams.

I've always enjoyed studying a diagram and putting things together. I've worked on many other home repair and improvement projects - putting together furniture, installing closet racks and shelves, hooking up speakers with stereo - and I never gave up in the middle of a project! But now I'm stuck on this screw. Obviously, I don't have the right tools!

Finally, I was able to drag myself out of my determination of finishing the project. What a triumph! I breathed deeply and realized that I don't have to finish it right now. I can come back to it when I have the right tools.

Now sitting in front of computer as I typed away, I felt calmer and a sense of freedom too. Let's wait until I have the right tools. Patience is a hard-learned virtue that can go a long way!

Long Weekend Is Always Too Short

Over this long weekend (MLK day), the weather has been surprisingly good - blue sky with steaks of white clouds, crispy air; it's cold, but pleasantly cold - no wind, very calm. Snow on major roads has mostly melted; but rooftops and tree branches are still covered with snow - adding a silver lining to the city. Mountains in the distance are glowing under the sun.

On Friday night, M and his friend, R (visiting from LA), went to a basketball game. I curled up on the couch sipping hot chocolate and reading, then fell asleep at an unknown time. I love a quiet night like this: no TV, no noise, just Birdie (our cat) in my lap and a magazine in hand. I had a full evening's solitude all to myself.

The next morning (Saturday) M cooked omelet, I cut up some fruits, we had a pleasant breakfast with R; then they watched college basketball game (UCLA vs. USC) on TV, and I went about my own business.

In the afternoon, we ventured out to a new contemporary art space called "Western Bridge," which used to be a warehouse in the SoDo industrial district. Now on exhibition are works that use non-traditional media or methods - broken light bulbs, tins and cans hanging from ceiling, music collages from different movies. There are also a bedroom and a kitchen integrated into the space.

After a good dose of culture, we went to M's brother's place for a good dose of food and family fun. The night ended with us watching "V for Vendetta" on our big screen TV (and M fell alseep on that:-).

After dropping R off at the airport on Sunday morning, we went straight to F's house for the big NFL Playoff pajama party. We could feel a sense of excitement in the air - the Seahawks is in the Playoff again, a step closer to the championship which they've never obtained. We heard a round of loud roaring noise coming out of F's house right before we opened the door - the Seahawks and the Bears just tied up!

There were about 20 people with their eyes all glued to the TV screen. Breakfast foods, fruits and snacks of all kinds were laid out on tables. I'm not a sports fan; yet the enthusiasm was contagious. Unfortunately, the Seahawks lost out in the overtime - it's a close game. After the game, one group jumped into their big hot tub in the backyard, another group started poker game. We didn't join either - left with a quiche that F made and headed for TJ's and the ID grocery store.

Later that afternoon, M made Chili loaded with fresh ingredients and garlic; and it simmered on the stove for a long time as the night pulled in around us.

Second Week of Sun-filled Vacation (Sat, 12/30/06 - Fri, 1/5/07)

Now we are back in Seattle expecting another round of high winds and snowstorm. Looking back, the 2nd week of our vacation slipped away extremely fast considering we really didn't do a whole lot. But then again, what accounts as "doing things?" We slept alot. We ate a lot. We laughed a lot. We hung out with family and friends a lot. We walked around the Plaza Principal a lot. We also kept the fan on a lot to keep the mosquitos away. I guess we did do a lot; more importanly, we enjoyed every minute of it.

M's brother, his wife and their two babies also joined us at Casa Contenta on the last day of 2006 - a big family reunion outside of the U.S.! We walked to the city center to see the New Year's fireworks and embraced 2007 like an old friend - no boisterous cheering or clinking wineglasses around. The next day (Monday) the whole family had the 1st lunch of 2007 at Hyatt.

On Tuesday morning, we went shopping for foods and ingredients for Thursday's dinner party at Casa Contenta, and I was the appointed chef. That afternoon, we went to see a bullfight, the first ever for me (more on that in a separate entry). On Wednesday, I and M's sister stayed at home chilling and preparing for the next day's big dinner, while the other half of the visting fam did a day trip to cenotes (sink holes) near Merida.
On Thursdsay, with help from Blanquita and M's sister, I cooked 9 different dishes and really put my cooking and prepping skills to test. The dishes came out well; I thought that the flavor was good and I need to work on display and color. Fortunately, there was no picky eater at the table; everybody was very generous in giving compliments.


On Friday, M's sister left early in the morning. In the afternoon, the rest of us went to Dzibilchaltun and visited a Mayan ruin (more on that later) there.


The next day we started our journey back home around noon, hopped on our connecting flight in Atlanta, and by 11pm, we were finally back home breathing the familiar, crispy, clean and fresh Seattle air again under gathering stormy clouds.

Big Plate Chicken (Da4 Pan2 ji1) Recipe Revisited (大盘鸡的做法)

It was such a pleasure to get a request from a reader who wants to know the recipe for Da Pan ji (Big Plate Chicken), a traditional and very popular Xinjiang dish in China. I thought it would be a good idea to post the recipe here:

Main Ingredients and Prep Work:

-a whole chicken (You can have the butcher to chop it up into mouth-manageable pieces for you. I would't want to chop up a whole chicken again, because I really didn't enjoy doing that - it gives me creeps as if I was killing it! In the States, it's hard to find a freshly killed chicken; and Americans don't like bones! Chinese tend to love bones, because they add extra flavor and fun to eating, so keep the bones if you can - imagine ribs without bones, it wouldn't taste the same!)

-3 or 4 potatoes (First, peel potatoes; then, chop them into big cubes; then soak them in cold water to get rid of the starchiness.)

-1 red pepper and 1 green pepper (If you like the dish spicier like I do, I recommend adding jalapeño pepper and habañero pepper - dried habañero peppers will do too - which will add both color and spiciness.)

-a handful of Sichuan pepper (If it's hard to find Sichuan pepper, black pepper corns would do too, although when frying blackpepper corns in hot oil, they may crackle - watch out for hot oil!)

-fresh ginger (sliced), green onion (2 or 3, chopped), garlic (2 cloves, minced)

-star anise (3 or 4 for enhancing flavor)

Steps for Making the Dish:

1. Marinate chicken pieces in light soy sauce, salt, cooking wine and a dash of ground black pepper and sugar for 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Pour some oil (I cook almost everything with olive oil) into a wok or deep cooking pan, wait until it's hot, then throw in Sichuan pepper corns.

3. Take out Sichuan pepper corn bits and pieces with a drainer. Then, put a spoon of sugar (for coloring the chicken pieces) in the oil, wait until the sugar starts to turn brown, then put marinated chicken cubes/pieces in, followed by ginger, garlic and green onion. Stir.

4. Add soy sauce and water (enough to barely cover chicken cubes)

5. Add salt, star anise and cooking wine (don't add too much salt, remember you can always add a bit more at the end when the taste test requires more.)

6. Cover the pot and let it simmer for 15 or 20 minutes depending on the amount of chicken meat until the chicken pieces are cooked through.

7. Add potato cubes and let the pot simmer again for about 5 or 10 mintues until the potatoes are cooked. (If simmered for too long, the potato cubes may get very starchy and lose shape, then the dish will lose clarity. I almost prefer using microwave for heating up the potato cubes and then throw them in the pot and stir/mix at the last minute - a trick that I recently learned from Ronnie while vacationing in Merida.)

8. Add green and red peppers, stir for a few minutes.

9. It's ready for the big plate that you have!

Last time when I made the dish, I didn't make the wide noodles that usually go with the dish; instead, I bought a packet of wide noodles from China Town. Cook noodels in a seperate pot, then mix noodles with the Big Plate Chicken dish (similar to eating Pasta).

So Many Chinese in Belize!

I feel that this topic deserves a separate blog entry for a couple of reasons: 1. Many Chinese (and many other nationals) don't even know where Belize is on the map. 2. I know Chinese immigrants are every where, but I didn't expect to see SO MANY Chinese in a country like Belize. Historically, China and Belize had very little connections. Unlike the official relationships that China had sought after during the 50s and 60s with Africa, there seems to be a void in the official China-Belize relationship.

On a short trip of merely 4.5 days in Belize, everywhere we went, we saw Chinese. I was absolutely surprised and intrigued by this phenomenon. We made a point of talking to the Chinese we met in trying to find out how and why they ended up there.


When we drove through Corozal on our way to San Pedro, I was surprised to see many Chinese signs of restaurants and general stores in both English and Chinese in a small city like Corozal. Once we arrived in San Pedro, my surprise was taken to a different level - Why here?!

On our first day in San Pedro, we strolled around in the evening and saw a Chinese restaurant (see pic), and ventured upstairs to strike up a conversation with the restaurant owners, a couple from Guangdong. They told us that there are 81 Chinese on this tiny island alone and there is a girl from Xinjiang!


We continued our walk; soon, we ran into three Chinese, two adults with a young girl. M and I opened up the conversation with "ni hao!" After finding out the young lady is also from Xinjiang, the conversation took an interesting turn - we both wanted to find out more about each other. She made some very interesting comparisons and comments about San Pedro and Wulumuqi where she is originally from:

"This place is so shabby; it doesn't even have paved roads. It doesn't have high rise buildings. Wulumuqi is so much more advanced than this place!"
"When I first came here, I wanted to leave immediately. But, since my brother and sister-in-law are here, I feel that I have to be near them. Now I'm getting used to it. But I still miss Wulumuqi; after all, that's a big city - you know that - you lived in Shanghai!"
"Before I came here, I thought this place woud be like Paris or New York with big fancy buildings! Look at this place, it has nothing - just a bunch of country bumpkins! I look down on them - they eat with their feet up on the table and have no manners at all!"
"I followed my older brother here. He didn't know that Belize was so backward. He has many friends who emigrated to Autralia; he actually meant to get a visa to go to Australia; instead, the visa agency in China took the processing fees and gave him a visa to come to Belize - a place that we had never heard of before!
"Most of the Chinese here are not very well educated. I went to college. I want to find someone who is well-educated. Let me know if you know somebody from the States."

Then, the next day when we were out walking again in the evening, right next to Rebacca's Clinic (the Xinjiang girl's massage and acupuncture business), we ran into a Taiwanese woman who was a shop assistant at a gift store. She only works on the island shop every other week. She is in Belize with her 17 year old son who is going to high school there. For her, it's all about giving her son's the best high school education to the best of their ability. Her husband owns a business in Taiwan and pays their son's education. The son did his middle school in New Zealand. Right now, she started working recently to kill time since her son spends most of his time in school now and he is old enough to take care of himself. She is thinking about sending her son to a college in the States, if possible. When they have time, they travel to neighboring countries like Mexico and Guatemala to expose her son to the world. It sounds like her son has seen a lot for a 17-year-old.

After chatting with the Taiwanese lady, we then chatted with the sister-in-law of the Xinjiang girl for a long time. She holds a different view from the more fashionable Xinjiang girl whom we talked with the day before. She has two kids, one of whom was born in Belize - something that they couldn't have done in China. She enjoys coming to the island - fresh air, beautiful scenery and peaceful. She and her husband run a similar clinic in Belize city. She also shared with us a couple of horrible crimes in Belize city. One of which is rather gruesome: a Chinese shop owner with a baby in his arm got shot in his own store, and his store got robbed; later on, he became a vegetable and had to be shipped back to China. Chinese and Indians own and run a lot of restaurants, general stores and other businesses. They often become targets of robbery and crimes.

Caye Caulker, a teeny-weeny island where I really didn't expect to see many island residents, not to mention, Chinese! Yet, there they are. Our first stop was a small general store owned by a Chinese guy who also rents out bicycles. We rented our bikes from him. Then, off we rode around. We saw a couple of Chinese restaurants. Then, at the end of the pier while waiting for our water taxi, we saw a Chinese guy sitting on the edge of the pier fishing! I chatted with him a little bit. He is here all by himself leaving his wife and a kid behind in China. He said he wanted to make and save enough money, then he would go back to China to reunite with his family - no plans of staying permanently according to him.

When we arrived in Belize city, from the car we were in, we could see Chinese-looking people on bikes, in shops or walking on the streets, it astonishes me to see so many Chinese immigrants among a city with predominantly black and mestizo population. After a while, my surprise over this really should get old; but it still strikes me as something rather peculiar. Why Belize? I didn't see as many Chinese in Mexico! I was told that the Chinese now accounts for 5% of the Belize population!

The puzzle becomes a bit clearer after we arrived in Corozal. I basically forced a conversation on a Chinese guy who was watching Hong Kong TV series on Satellite TV in the restaurant where we picked up our dinner. He was planning a trip back to China after having worked for a Chinese factory here for seven years. He complained about the long journey that he was about to make: Corozal >> Cancun, Mexico >> Amsterdam >> Beijing >> Tianjin. He wasn't particularly interested in answering my questions. But when he did answer, his answers were revealing.

To sum up, it seems that there are a few things unique to Belize that really attract Chinese immigrants:
1. Easier for Chinese to get a visa to come to Belize.
2. English is the first official language, which many Chinese have learned in school.
3. Belize is still considered a member of the British Commonwealth - their currency still has the Queen's head shot. Travelling to the UK can be made easier in the future.
4. Acquiring Belize citizenship is relatively easier compared to other countries such as the U.S. and Canada.
5. The next generation's education is the parents' top priority. Their kids can be better prepared to become global citizens with education in multiple languages.
6. Business opportunities abound (and maybe the higher artificially fixed exchange rate to US dollars helps too: 1 US$ = 2 BZ$ vs. 1 US$ = 8 RMB).

From Corozal, Belize Back to Merida, Mexico (Day 5, 12/29, Friday)

We got up around 7am - early enough to make it back to Merida late in the afternoon - and headed for the border-crossing point. A few miles away from the border, we were stopped by a soldier at a checkpoint. He kept asking us for our paperwork on car insurance after we showed him the proper papers we have for the car. The tension was escalating as we talked through the window. This guy was obviously trying to scare us into bribing him. We were not going to let him have his will. Finally, he let us pass after we firmly told him many times that we have the exact papers that he was asking for. What a pain having to deal with the whims of these border patrols!

At the border-crossing point, we went through the whole process again - a stamp at one counter, then another at a different counter. We then drove to the Free Zone hoping that we would find the kind of cooking ring that R was talking about and Punta Rock CDs that Denis recommended. We were told that the Free Zone is duty free and has a wide selection of commodities. Maybe we were there too early (8:30am); the whole place looked like a flea market full of crappy stuff. Rows of concrete box-like stores lie randomly and listlessly under the scorching sun. Loud speakers as tall as me were blasting cacophonous Latino pop music. There were people waiting outside of storefronts that were not open yet. I checked out a few stores and didn't see anything worthy of buying. We fled quickly from the "Flea Zone."

Leaving the Free Zone and all the English signs behind, we drove to the other side of the border - Mexico. We stopped at Bacalar and did a quick drive-through: there is a beautiful park right next a lagoon and an old Mayan fort. The rest of the drive from Chetumal to Merida was quick and easy. This time, we avoided the small villages and stayed on the expressway all the way to Merida. It took only about 4.5 hours. We got back around 3pm when comida dishes were still warm on the table.

The rest of the day was spent on sharing our road stories with the fam, eating and resting.