I had not come out of my 10 year long depression about food/diet when I was in New York, I guess I volunteered to take the picture because I didn't want to touch the food. Another bunch of crazy nutcases in New York... 

Food addicts

I was reading William Leith's "The Hungry Years". Not really my style of writing but the idea of binge eating and self-hatred-induced dieting seems so familiar to me. I have been around the corner.

Being a very self-conscious kid, I constantly think I am very fat and ugly. Doing well in sports and schools does not change the fact that I am not as pretty, delicate and girly as other girls. Interestingly, all adults around encouraged me to lose weight (except my father, who thinks being chubby is a nice thing). That confirmed my fear that I am "really" fat. Started my first diet regime when turning 13 years old. But never managed to lose any weight until stopping dieting at age of 24. I have been always 10 to 15 pounds heavier than most of my friends.

It was like... shame... I am fat because I eat too much. I feel so uncomfortable in the changing room, secretly comparing other girls' slim limps and my chubby calves. I stopped putting on faminine outfits and cutting my hair short, I gave in to the fact that I am fat. Meanwhile, I still tried all kinds of diets discretely, hoping one day I will be as slim as others.

I love foods so much. However, I never binge eating because I realised I am fat since very young age. But it is so hard to control the urge to nibble on dinner leftover, to snack on breads, or to early-terminate the life of my lunch box for tomorrow. Then I felt the guilt and the feelings is really sickening, sick enough that I wanted to throw up and I did. I must have been very depressed and didn't realise anything about it.

I am so glad it is all over now.

Don't know if the duck came from duck farm? 

Not on the Label

Just glazed oever another book about corporate evilness after the TV Nation (michael moore), the Fast Food Nation (Eric Schlosser) that caught my eyes. This book is about the dark side of the supermarket chains in UK. I think you can find quite a few books with similar interest, such as "Not on the Label" or "Shopped".

Supermarkets dictate how we shop, what we eat and where to park our cars (or bycicle) and almost monopolise 80% of UK grocery shopping. Behind all friendly smiles and lowest price gurantees, they kill local grocers/fishmongers/butchers alike, they bid low on the suppliers because of their huge buying power, they have no other purposes but to make money and make their shareholders happy.

I don't like supermarket fishes, I hate their meat (they all smell, reeking of the scent of rottenness and death). Veggies are OK in the supermarkets because you are not allowed to feel your veggies in local farmer's market in this country (this doesn't have any erotic implication, please). But supermarkets shopping trip is my only option.

However, I bought Tyson food stock shares after reading the Fastfood nation around 3 years ago and stop having McDonald meals (still cannot resis french fries sometimes). I actually bought some Tesco and thinking about buying some Morrison shares after reading "Shopped". This is so complicated, I want my portfolio to make money but I don't want to shop with them more and more.

Enough about the ugly dog

This is my dad and THE dog, Yi-Long. Yi-Long was the son of a stray dog, she came to our garage and gave birth to 5 puppies. We found strange that we no longer hear the puppy crying and went checking her out. We were all heart-borken because she was so paranoid that she ate her own new borns one by one. She's got only one and half puppies left (too full to eat any more).

Yi means "the only one" and Long means "boy" in Chinese. That's how Yi-Long got his name.

The world's ugliest dog

It is said the judge recoiled when seeing the dog on the judging table
(ha ha). Some bloggers said they had nightmare after seeing the dog,
and some said we should use the dog in horror film.

Sam (the dog's name) has won this title 3 years in a row. The owner
is allergic to animal hair thus she's got herself a hairless one.

Very very cool dog.

Thang and Steve in Mountain View, California 

What does it cost to become a UK resident? An appointment, patience and 500 quid

Quoted from Thang...
-----------------------------
hey Joey yes I'm a UK RESIDENT NOW (or ILR -Indefinite Leave to Remain as they call it)!!!!!YIPPIEE!!!!it was a long wait for sure, luckily I made anappointment, else would had been queuing outside forpossibly hour in the pouring rain.summary:got there just before 11:30 yesterday, had to waitoutside for about 20 mins then went through securitychecks, got in line again, went to one of the booths,they checked my documents, went upstairs to the 2ndfloor, paid my £500 (ouch), issued a number, went toanother room where I had to wait (i was getting a bit nervous), number was called, went up and handed my documents, asked if I was still employed I said 'YES',she then said she's going to run a check (thought ibetter keep cool this time and not let her know how nervous i really am), she came back and said everything was fine (relief) and take a seat until they call me again as the process can take up to 2hours for my paperwork, i smiled and said thank-you, i was called exactly 2 hours later and they handed me my passport back that says i'm a permament residence!!!!
--------------------------------

XiaoHo wonders what everything tastes like ... 

Bad Restaurant

I don't think I am a picky person in terms of foods or dinning. But I hate restaurants that try to tell us what is good and what is not good and mess around the natural flavors with lots of lemon grass, unfortunately, fushion is the main stream now.

More specifically, untidy toilets, hostess wiping down the class window, waitrons walking around with no-focus eyesights... These things are always tryingto tell you one thing - no one in this restaurant care how his/her customers feel, you cannot expect to have decent food or sincere service.

For heaven's sake, when you see this, you should just walk away as fast as possible, you can save yourself several 20-pound bills and a pleasant evening. Cheapo WongKee in China town would give you a more satisfying roast duck noodles for £3.30 (even though they make you share table and throw dishes in front of you). Perhaps the restauraneurs or investors should know it is time to pakc up the whole business rather than prolong the pain, dry the fund, rip the public and make me feel angry.

Contact lens and I

I started to wear contact lenses since high school. It was not only for aesthetic reason but also for my destructive ability. I didn't really know why I am so clumsy and careless that my mom had to buy me 3 or 4 eye glasses replacements a year. I remember one time I was playing long jump in the field. My glasses flew off before me and I landed on them.

My mom really hesitated about the idea of contact lenses, she thinks I am messy and not particularly neat. Horrifying thoughts occupied her mind, such as both of my eyes are infected because I didn't wash my hands throughoutly. After 2 and half year of hard work, she finally gave in.

Contact lenses were quite expensive then, I cherished them as much as I can knowing it is quite impossible to get another pair. I guess I was very traumatised then. Even now, I still constantly dream about the contact lenses have mutated into some strange shape and I am fitting them into my eyes.

XiaoHo looks very threatening in this picture 

The Taiwanese style ice cream shop was fully packed and the queue was very long. We have got 11 people all together (my dad, mom, auntie Au, auntie Mary, Grace, Kevin, XiaoHo, Irene, Kaiping Mai, and I). It is impossible to get a big table for 10, we split into several groups. Kaiping swam through the crowed, went straight to one of the tables, stood behind a group of Japense tourists. Man, I have never seen her so aggressive, perhaps, it is because of the ice cream. Amazingly, those Japanese tourists finished their ice cream very quickly and kept looking back at Kaiping (she is big and tall). They even cleaned up the table!! Irene kept expressing our apology in Japanese but Kaiping had already got herself a seat. This picture was taken right after we occupied the table after those Japanese tourists fleed out from the side door. Funny thing was, Irene and Mai ran into the same group of Japanese tourists in National Palace Museum.  

Beijing roast duck

I just finished reading Qiu Xiaolong's detective novel, death of red heroine. The background is set in ShangHai around early 90s. I guess this story has excited many westerners because they have finally had a little taste of modern China through a more refreshing channel. However, it does not excite me too much.

Detective Chen is a very likeable character. I like him because he likes foods. There was one scene that his forensic examiner dropped by his apartment and gave him a whole Beijing roast duck, well, I like this bit (mainly the roast duck) very much.

I think the best ever Beijing roast duck I had was in Washington D.C., nearly 10 years ago. The chef came out with the red-skinned, steamingly hot duck. He held the duck in his left hand and a cleaver right hand, deftly and speedily removed the hot duck skin off the duck. Because of a think layer of fat, each piece of skin didn't have a shred of meat attached. The fatty tissue layer underneath the skin was just the right amount.

We wrapped the duck skin, leek-like green onion, with a sort of flat bread. Bread is not a correct term to describe it but I couldn't find a more appropriate one. I am sure the dough was not leavened, the protein (gluten) concentration must be high because the bread tasted very chowy and full of the wonderful smell of wheat. The bread must be baked in a similar fashion as Indian nan. The sauce was sweet and thick, it was properly fermented pastry leftover mixed.


I feel like to cry every time I am served a Beijing duck dish in a Cantonese restaurant. Southerners rarely know how to make with flour. The bread was steamed and tasted like sweetened toast!! In addition, they thought there is no difference between Cantonese and Beijing roast duck. They rarely sliced up the skin and meat well, all you can have is a thick layer of fat. The sauce that came with the duck? I think it was made with HuaiSin sauce and some thickening stuff. Why can Cantonese just do what they are good at, leave the Beijing roast duck alone?

We all love to eat... Simple take out foods are just enough to cheer us up. Of course, Taiwan beer helps, too. 

Beautiful black skirt

I like the combination of medium-length skirt and sandals, it is easy to walk with and it gives some sort of I-am-so-chic-and-hip feelings (to myself, at least). After a day of walking, I decided to take the bus home.

I was coming down from the second floor of a crowded double decker. The guy walking behind me stepped a piece of my skirt, which landed on the stair behind me, and the whole thing came down half way of my buttom. I was struggling to pull the skirt back up and heard him saying "I am sorry" with a bit of amusement.

I replied "That's all right" without even looking back. We all came down near the exist. I was just preparing to get off in the next stop and sent him off with a smile. He went out the bus with his friends and finally burst into great laugh.

Mai and I went to the famoust night market to eat the rice noodles, it was like 30 something celsius and we ate pigs diaphragm.  

Pretty boys and croissant

I do have the tendency of flying off the tangent from time to time. I was planning to write about all pretty boys I have met in my life earlier. I have even thought about several stories and plots that are worth posting.

However, as soon as I spotted the croissants sitting in the oven waiting to come out in Pret a Manger, I decided to write about croissants. The Pret clerk was about to give me the pathetic looking croissant from the shelf, I smilled and said "I am going to wait for the fresh batch"

5 mininutes later, I have got the most awesome croissant of the whole world (which made me the happies person. Forgetting about pretty boys, I think coissants are very sexy).

The timing and temperature are so important in determining the fluffy-ness and buttery-ness of this pastry. The heat keeps the butter soft, moist air carrying out the mellow butter smell from the hollow but elastic interior. A croissant is less flaky in such a high temperature so you waste little crusty pastry skin on your face.

When you feel the drinking-too-hot-soup-too-fast sensation inside your mouth skin after consuming a whole coissant, you know you have got the ideal temperature.

Roman Toilet without bottles of shampoo, mascara and toilet paper 

Confession of a minimalist

Things started in a summer several years ago when I was in university. I had spent a semester sleeping in friends' couches, kept tooth brush in the computer lab locker and showered in the gym. Any excessive weight in my sack caused great discomfort. I felt ecstatic when finishing a bottle of shampoo and throwing it to the trash can. I struggled in the shop when I had to buy another bottle because my hair started to smell.

Gradually, I have got my own bed, my own room and my own flat, I still hate to possess things permenantly. All my furnitures have been either portable or disposable. Most of them are my proud collection from the dumpsters. My neighbours are quite used to the scene of a little Chinese girl carrying a computer stand or a 3-meter long wood log through the gate in the middle of the night.

I hate to see things in my kitchen or bathroom. Concealing them seems the only way to make peace with myself. I cannot believe I have bought them in the first place. But the cruel truth is that I need them to moisturise my skin and sterilise the kitchen work surface.

I feel guilty when taking garbage out or turning up the water tab. Have I fully utilised them? Are those materials used to the absolute limit? How should I minimise the water comsumption? It is truely interesting to plan and scheme my way through those chores in every day life. Somehow the idea that nothing is indispensible makes me very happy. I think I am going to get a composite pot to consume the kitchen waste.

Before the penguin turned up 

Great to have the third wheel