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First Snow Fell on 12/1/2007

One layer after another, fluffy snow is gently wrapping up everything in a white coat. Silently yet assertively. It came upon us after a month of surprisingly nice November weather. It somehow adds a certain wintry authenticity to the holiday season.

Yesterday we went to CMA's Xmas party at Emily's house on Capital Hill. We arrived there from La Spiga with a full belly - that might have been a strategic mistake. The food at La Spiga was delicious; we had a few Northern Italian dishes there.

There was a lot of food, a lot of people and we had a lot of fun. Most of the people are in the shipping and logistics business.

Tie Guan Yin - Black Tea or Green Tea? Neither!!!

Opened a new can of Tie Guan Yin tea at work today. My cube neighbor, SS, turned to me for expert opinon, and asked what kind of tea that is. “Is it black tea or green tea?” I was caught off guard. Gee, I should know the answer considering that I’m from a country known for its tea! I quickly researched on the Internet a bit, and realized that it’s actually a premium variety of Oolong tea, supposedly the best kind in the Oolong tea family. So, I went ahead and assumed that it’s a black tea, since Oolong tea is known as a kind of black tea here in the States.

Unsatisfied with this level of understanding of tea, I surfed around a bit more later to learn about categories of tea. It turns out that there are many ways of categorizing tea. But in general, one can really divide them into three categories based on the level/use of fermentation in the process of making teas:
1. Fermented tea (Black tea falls in this category; Yellow Tea, e.g. Yingzhen Tea, also belongs to this category.)
2. Half-fermented tea (Oolong [Tie Guan Yin], Pu'er)
3. Un-fermented tea (Green tea such as Longjin)

Back to Tie Guan Yin tea, it was originally grown in An Xi county, Fujian province. Now it has thrived in Taiwan. Multiple websites claim that Tie Guan Yin tea has magic healing power: it can help lose weight; it can help cure Diabeties; it helps prevent one from getting cancer; it can even help prevent one from getting cavities! Next time, when I drink my cup of Tie Guan Yin, I’d have to be mindful of its potent effects on me. Maybe it’ll taste even better just envisioning these benefits!

Back to doodling on my space :)

The holiday season is around the corner again. This is when I can tangibly feel the weight of the cliché – “Time Flys.” I have not written anything on my blog for months. There is a huge gap between the Summer and the Winter, as if I have not lived those days. Being busy justifies my being lazy.

We’ll be on the road again in two weeks. I want to warm up my writing muscles for keeping travel journals. So, here I’m back on my space foraging through my latest random diversions.

Southern Oregon Coast Trip (6/29-7/1)

(6/29/07, Friday)
This trip was meant to be a surprise trip. But with the way my mind works, I'm in the habit of chipping away the suspense built around a surprise. Too much of a planner, or rather a spoiler at times. I "eavesdropped" on one of M's phone conversations with a friend of his and had an idea of where we might be going this weekend.

Submitted my PTO form on Friday, and left the office around 2pmish and joined M on a "surprise" trip. We used an airticket coupon from the Alaska trip that we cancelled and redeemed the other ticket with 20,000 miles.

An old and small airplane crammed everyone in. The windows had no shutters. The sun was shining brightly on the tarmac. One of the flight attendants was very bubbly and trying to be funny with the annoucements that she was making. It was a fast ride - 50 minutes later - we landed in Eugene.

Picked up a car at Avis, then off we were on the road. HW126 took us through a string of small towns, marshes and valleys. The road stretches out in front of us like a green tunnel once the road started traversing hillsides. As we were soaking in the tranquil and pristine scenes, suddently yet nonchanantly, a big black fluffy ball leaped out of the woods from the right side of the road, it took us a couple seconds to realize that it was a BEAR! We almost hit that guy! Yet, he strolled across the road without a glimpse of the excitement that we had over spotting him crossing the road. This is the first time I saw a bear in the wild.

We stopped at Florence, a city founded in 1893, to stretch our legs. Strolled around the Old Town area, which is lined with boutiques and eateries, then stopped at a little pocket garden where we had a good view of the 1936 Siuslaw Bridge, which is one of the city's landmark structures. Bridges from that era seem to be more soulful, unlike modern day viaducts - souless structures built with steel and concrete. What a drag compared to these older bridges! They shine through times with form, color, and grace.

Then, we turned South soon after Florence and drove on 101 through Reedsport, North Bend, Coosbay, Charleston and finally pulled into Bandon around 8pm. It was still bright outside. A big arch that says "Welcome to Bandon Old Town" was beaming under sunset clouds. Then, M's faced grimaced, "Shit, the cop is after us." Describing the rest of the encounter with this old police patrol guy annoys me. Basically, we were given a speeding ticket for driving at 49mph in 30mph zone. An outrageous fine of $140!!! We forgot that we were in Oregon, a state famous for giving our speeding tickets. And it took him 20 mintues to write up a ticket - that's the worst part! Maybe the blackbear was a sign - he was trying to warn us of these predatory cops waiting to prey on out-of-towners!

We found our hotel and checked in. The room is situated on a bluff directly facing the roaring ocean and an expansive beach. WOW. We are in Bandon, a small seaside town on the southside of the mouth of Coquille River. Population 3000.

That dreadful episode with the mean cop augmented our hunger. Got a couple of recommendations from the hotel guy for where to eat. Decided on Lord Bennett Grille & Louge, which has windows facing the ocean side. Unfortunately, they stopped serving food at 9pm. Drooling over a dessert cart, we ordered a Marionberry Pie and a Flan. Still hungry. Then, we went to El Jalapeno, a Mexican joint and picked up a Burrito and a Quesadilla.
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(6/30/07, Saturday)
The sandy beach, the whispering waves, the morning breeze and the blue sky lured us our of bed early. We headed down a path to the beach. Facing the ocean, I could smell Freedom in the air. The beach streches miles and miles in both directions. The urge to run, chase, dance and embrace is so real and natural. There were only a few people and a few happy dogs on the beach. Looking closely, there are also colorful seastars, sea anemone and other marine creatures and plants clinging onto rocks and hidden in the sand. There are different rocks, big and small, scattered near the beach. We walked around seastacks and rocks exploring marine life and admired these rocks with names like "Fish Rock," "Face Rock," "Elephant Rock," and "Cat Rock." The "Fish Rock" has big crevasses/holes that you can walk through from one end to another.

Stopped at Bandon's Visitor Center. Tried every sample of what Cranberry Sweets shop offered - at least 20 different kinds of mostly cranberry-based sweets. And it is the best place to try cranberry sweets, because Bandon is the capital of cranberry producton in Oregon. Then, we stopped at Brewed Awakening, a cafe, and had two English muffin sandwiches. Now we were ready to explore this area.

Stopped at an Animal Shelter tucked away next to a gravel road on the slope of a hill. Dogs were barking and whining. M suggested we take a dog for a quick walk. There wasn't really a trail, but we improvised and walked one of the dogs for about 10 minutes. She was in heaven compared to those dogs in cages.



Coos Bay (Art Museum [Profontaine's Room], Coos Bay Boardwalk)>> Shore Acres Park >> Laos-Thai Restaurant in Charleston >> South Slough (loop hike) >> Bandon

We had the best Pak Kee Meu in a small Laos-Thai Restaurant. It reminded me of Xinjiang Banmian!
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7/1/07, Sunday

We walked on the beach and explored tide pools again in the following morning. Checked out of the hotel at 11am. Stuffed our stomach with a yummy shrimp and seafood sandwich at Tony's Crab Shack in Bandon's Old Town next to a fishing pier, then we poked our heads into crabbers and fishing enthusiasts' buckets to admire their catch, big or small, and watched how a few seagulls were fiercely fighting over a piece of fish...

We hit the road again. Stopped at North Bend's Visitors Center. Our first stop was Umpqua National Park, where the West Coast's tallest sand dunes are. ATVs and dune buggies are zooming around like swarms of loud flies - the noise can be heard from far away. Too short on time, we'd have to leave this for the next trip.

Next to the sand dunes, there is a lake, Maria Lake. We did a hike around the lake. Amazing in such a small stretch of land, there is ocean, beach, sand dunes, forests, lakes, rivers, all within the vicinity of each other. Currently, the sand dunes have been contained by beachgrass introduced from Europe from long ago and plants are growing on the edges of sand dunes. They have stopped moving eastward inland. Quite a combo of terrain and contrast!

We drove back to Eugene on Route 38, another scenic road, and stopped at a Butterfly Pavilion near Elkton. Monarch butterflies pass through here on their way to Canada or Mexico. This little place near a valley helps educate people on butterfly and preserve their hatching environment. The Pavilion has a beautiful garden attached to it. These butterflies must be very happy to go through their metamorphosis in such a beautiful and friendly environment.

The rest of drive to Eugene was no fuss. We drove into the city to get a quick look at this college town. Green, clean and quiet - school is off now. Had dinner at Wings, a restaurant at the airport. Our weekend trip came to an end when the airplane landed in Seattle, our home city surrounded by mountains and bodies of water. Looking down at Seattle from the airplane windows always reminds me what a beautiful part of the world we live in, with majestic and pristine nature at our doorsteps.

movie

Savannah, Bobanah

6/3/07-6/6/07 Savannah Trip

Two weeks ago (5/25-27), I had just returned from the East Coast, and hadn't yet recovered from the long flights, one of which was a red-eye. Now I was flying out to the East Coast again, this time, for a conference in Savannah, a town famed for its "Southern charm and hospitality."

As part of my trip preparation, M checked out a book by John Berendt and a movie based on that book. That book is called "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," later I learned that this is also referred to by the locals as "the Book." The book was based on a real story that took place in Savannah; and the movie came out in 1997. Clint Eastwood was the director. It has a strong cast with Kevin Spacy, John Cusack and Jude Law. Jude Law was still a young boy in that movie. It wasn't an earth-shattering movie, but I can see why it is being touted as "the Book" in Savannah.

The movie did give me a good sliver of what Savannah is like. Some scenes were shot in the famous Forsyth Park. The architecture - distinctive brown stone and red brick houses - added extra allure to the movie.

To allow myself some time to walk around this city, I flew in on a red-eye via Atlanta and arrived at the Savannah-Hilton Head Airport around 10:30am. Dark clouds were hanging low above tree line. It was muggy, yet not too hot. A lady taxi driver picked me up. I tried to strike up a conversation with her, but my first attempt in getting a taste of "Southern hospitality" met with a shield of ice - she was more into her super-sized Coke and pungent cigarette hanging off the corner of her mouth than me, an out-of-towner. Worse than that, she charged me an extra $4 for calling in to charge my credit card.

I was anxious to check in at the Hyatt Regency Hotel so that I could take a nap. Again, neither "southern hospitality," nor Hyatt standards were given. My room was not ready, and I had to camp out on a couch in the lobby...Called SK, my colleague who came here ahead of me.

We did a loop around the historic district looking for a place to have lunch and taking in some city sights and sounds. It's Sunday. People seemed to have all disappeared into churches. The sun came out dancing through leaves and Cathedral spires. The Spanish moss hanging low off trees reminded me that I was not in the Pacific Northwest. We walked past many monuments and squares, pausing to take photos. Soon, we had an impressive collection of monuments. They look so distant and somber. It makes me feel this city is still living in the past and actually cashing in on its past by bringing tourists to its historical landmarks.

The architecture in the historic district, as promised in guidebooks and movies, is outstanding. Newly renovated old buildings, block after block, evoke a sense of a lost era, with style and quality; even some dilapidated houses still carry time-honored charm and grace.

Forsyth Park, the signature park of Savannah, stretches out grand and quietly in front of us. Several tourists were taking their best of shots of the Park Fountain from every possible angle. The park was quite empty. We hoped to run into a good restaurant. But "Closed" signs were everywhere. After asking around, we finally walked back towards an area closer to our hotel and ate at a cafe. It turned out to be a good choice - pleasant food and sweet tea! The sweat tea is basically sweetened lemon tea, and has become a local specialty very popular among tourists too. We ordered sweet tea for every meal we had there.

On the way back to the hotel passing through the City Market, it seemed that most of the people, local or tourists, had come here. There were people everywhere in a stretch of about 2-3 blocks, there was music, stores crammed with artifacts etc. It's a bit like Seattle's Pike Place Market without fish and fresh produce.

Another attraction is Riverfront Street. It is lined with restaurants, candy shops, ice cream parlors and souvenir shops. Very touristy! Imagine in the 18th and 19th century, this street was basically a row of warehouses waiting to send cotton to domestic and overseas markets! We walked up and down the Street a couple times and realized that the city, or rather the historic district, is really small.

Monday and Tuesday were spent mostly indoors at the World Trade Conference Center. The Belles Water taxi took us to the other side of the river for the Conference. Wednesday was spent on the road getting from Savannah to Seattle via Cincinnati.

The "southern hospitality" might be just an urban legend or Tourism Bureau's campaign message. But Riverfront Street, the multiple squares and monuments, the City Market and Forsyth Park, beautiful architecture and chunks of Spanish moss swinging in the breeze are all real and unique to Savannah, a Southern jewel.

Memorial Day in Memory of Mom

The Memorial Day on the last Monday of May, a federal holiday, makes a nice long weekend. It, in many ways, symbolizes the beginning of the long-awaited summer here in this part of the US. This is when you hope for good weather; this is when many families will hit the road and camp grounds (skyrocketing gas price - $3.30 per gallon - won't even deter them from going); this is also when you will involuntarily breathe in air filled with BBQ smell. Of course, on the radio or TV, you'd hear or tune into shows in rememberance of those who died in military service - the real reason for having a day dedicated to this purpose.

This year, for me, the word "memorial" means something different. We cancelled our trip to Alaska, we didn't fire up our grill. I'm taking some time off to catch up on old memories with my mom who just passed away over a month ago. This has became a special weekend in memory of her.

I've taken a long break from this blog. Sometimes silence is a heightened sense of grief; sometimes silence is just the result of the dizzying pace of the modern-day life that we choose to live and not question. It's more of a senseless blur than blissful serenity that I wish I could wrap myself in.

After coming back from Mom's funeral, I went to Vancouver for a conference, then the following week, flew to Boston on a red-eye flight for a weekend in Provincetown on Cape Cod. Being on the road a lot left little room and time for grieving. Or maybe I'm just afraid of taking on the weight of grief and loss accumulating inside me.

I thought about quitting this blog completely and returning to the good old pen-paper type of journalling. But for what? I don't have a compelling reason to do that. So, I'm back to this cyber-space rambling along as my diversions occur, be they seldom or random.

May Mom lie in peace and love...

Rewind, Unwind and Ramble along

Two weeks of go, go, go
Now is time to rewind and unwind

My upper chest and left arm still suffer from stinging pain
as a result of shingles
unfortunately, not the kind one puts on the roof.
My mind is scanning for moments from last week
that left imprints on the trail I trotted along
as if I'm trying to pick the fruits
dangling from the tree of memory...

(Sunday, March 25th)
We walked from table to table savoring vegetarians/vegans' imagination at the VegeFest. Tofu turned out to be the key ingredient for anything that attempts to imitate the meat flavor. Why do we have to have vegetarian sausages/hot dogs - vegetarian food names tinted with meat flavor? Don't vegetarians/vegans pride themselves on their purity and their principle of "no-kill?" Yet, they can't seem to stay away from the meat lovers' lingo. Then, there was a table displaying caviar made from seaweed. Quite a creation - I have to say - the shape, the color, even the taste. It was sold as vegetarian caviART. Again, this naming strategy resembles that of the "vegetarian hot dog." Maybe it is just a way to lure meat lovers away into the vegetarian/vegan utopia and give them an alternative of loving "meat" without killing the beast. We walked away with a bag full of "freebies" at the expense of us spending $20 on becoming a member of the Washington State Vegetarian Association.

With all kinds of VegeFest samples still lingering in the stomach, we found ourselves in the buffet line at the Il Fornio for the Jewish Film Festival Closing Night Gala. There was a long line curving along the buffet table with multiple arms reaching into different beautifully displayed plates. The inviting smell filled the air, recharged our appetite and expanded our stomach for more food. We jumped the line thanks to H&G who were at the front end of the line. We ate, chatted, and drank. Good food, good dessert, good tea and good company. Then, we were off to the last film of the Festival, a documentary about a photographer whose passion is documenting the terrorist activities, conflicts and wars in action in areas such as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The documentary is like the photographer himself - very intense and passion-driven. I admire someone who purses passion so exuberantly. It's a blessing to know what exactly you want to do in your life.

Another week went by. The details escaped me without visible traces.

Last Saturday, we had friends (T & J) and family over for dinner. It's fun to sit around a table of food and chat.

Sunday, we drove over to Ballard to see about renting a Tuxedo for a Black Tie event that we will be going in May. After a quick peek around the Tuxedo shop, we strolled down the Ballard ave and explored shops that I have never been to before. There was so much creativity seeping through the doors of these shops/boutiques: furniture made of bamboo, bags made of recycled materials, vintage furniture, green engineered floors etc...The whole street is brimming with entrepreneurs spirits.

This week, the Baseball Season started. I know what that means for me. M will be in his halo zone with his eyes/ears wide open for anything that's Angels-related. I will feel compelled to send some good mojo to his team and mimic the commentator say "Just another Halo victory!" So, Monday he went to the first game of this season while I planted some ground-cover plants next to our sidewalk.

The days are really getting longer. I love biking while it's bright outside. And yesterday (Friday, 4/6) we had another weather-related record, 78 degrees! Many people had their summer outfits on - miniskirts, shorts and sandals. I was still wrapped in my cardigan and didn't feel the heat at all. Guess what - today we are back in the 50s! Ah, or ghurr, Seattle's unpredictable weather!

Chris Kennedy Lawford - Actor, Author and Advocate

Last Thursday (3/22/07), M's organization put together a community forum on Hepatitis C sponsored by Roche. The featured speaker was Chris Kennedy Lawford, who is the son of actor, Peter Lawford, and nephew of J. F. Kennedy -quite a mix of celebrity blood on both sides.

After work, I strolled over to Bell Harbor where the Forum was being held. I noticed that a few people were circling him talking. I didn't expect much beyond a brief introduction. As I was just wondering when and how to go over and introduce myself, he asked me first, "Are you with Roche?" That served as a good ice-breaker. The next thing I knew was that we sat down at a table and chatted for a good while until the Forum officially started. I was telling him about China, he was telling me about his experience in Cuba. He also told me his ex-wife is half-Asian and half-Swedish. He is very charming and down-to-earth; one can definitely sense the star quality in him.

He was asked to speak about his struggle with addictions and his victory over alcohol and drugs; now he's been clean for almost 20 years. In fact, he just wrote a book "Symptoms of Withdrawl." The book is a memoir with a focus on recounting his journey from becoming an addict to overcoming addictions with determination and honesty.

He's been in a number of movies, one of which I've seen before, "Thirteen Days." Now that I've met him in person, I feel the need to watch that movie again. In fact, I only vaguely remember that the movie is about the Cuban Missile Crisis, but I have no memories of other details.

Surely, born into a well-known family, the privileges are numerous. He talked about growing up with family friends like Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra, and later, Arnold Schwarzenegger, among other personalities. On the other hand, it's also encouraging to see him taking on the role of an advocate and putting the power of his name to a good cause, that is, to educate people and help addicts to overcome addiction.