fishiie's Xanga

Friday, December 25, 2009

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:26:35 GMT

sleeeeeepy....

i'm like in this perpetual state of conflict...
personally i think it is my problem.
yet...

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:37:22 GMT

An age-old story retold in Avatar.
The same old critique of the narrative of progress.
Reminds me of the US' development of the West in the late 19th century.
The massacre of natives and buffalos.
The process of enclosure... the claiming of public space for private use, for profit.
"Waste" of space because of the wasted potential for wealth.
There was so much destruction of the natural environment that you cannot help but draw connections between it and the bombing scenes.
Building large infrastructures at the expense of environment... massacring the natives, marking them as "savages"/other... just because they were in the way of "civilization" and "progress", and of course, of profit.
Even SF's history... is full of such stories -- exploitation of the environment for profit, without any respect for mother nature.

Sure, the film's got its fair share of problems if you just had to pick at it,
cliched message, formulaic storyline, white hero coming to save the day,
heck you can even talk about the lack of representation of Asians in the film (once again we only see Asians as model minority)
but I think its merits are enough for it to be worth a watch.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:02:13 GMT

我開始越黎越癲，
簡直好似打開左 pandora's box 咁一發不可收拾。

由一開始只係 boil 下 D pasta，炒下 d 菜，
到開始接觸肉類，
開頭只係整下雞腿同雞翼，然後開始慢慢試整其他肉類...
排骨、豬扒、牛扒..
然後羊扒、吞拿魚扒... (LOL 點解全部都係扒？！其實唔止扒的...)
天氣轉涼之後，我就開始係咁開焗爐，
焗曲奇餅，焗炸雞，焗 roasted potatoes、oven fries...
後來又整埋 crepes...
然後開始自制云吞，
今日就 from-the-scratch 整 pizza...
宜家諗緊想試下自己焗雞...
自己整面包...
想整 cabbage rolls... beef bourguignon...
買 pastry sheet 整 galette...
遲下可能自己開始整 pastry...
我直頭想買 pie pan 開始整 pie...

LOL 真係無法自制...
烹飪可以話係唯一一件我唔會懶的事情。

BTW，雖然我知道無人打算買我禮物，
不過如果真係有人有心取悅我，
不妨買個細細地o既 slow cooker 比我，
我會開心死。

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:24:13 GMT

原來我o係屋企張床上面都可以寫到文...
舒服過o係圖書館好多，
不過平時我一定無咁好死o係屋企會溫到書。

唔知點解交完呢個 sem 最後一份 paper 之後突然一陣空虛，
可能係搏殺完畢之後突如其來的靜止，令我有點兒無所適從。
不過其實只不過係暫時性的靜止，
因為好快禮拜六又考試，
聽朝一起身又要去溫書喇。

不過又，話就話搏殺，
其實我無咩真係點搏殺過，
只不過係平時太過懶。

不過我又想講，
某程度上我覺得自己已經搞掂呢個 sem，
因為溫書比起寫 paper 舒服他條好多...
起碼溫 ASAMST 係...

原諒我o係度胡言亂語自說自話，
我剛剛寫完一份 12 page take-home final 同埋 9-page final paper...
超爽... 但爽得黎又有幾分落寞... 然後落寞至餘亦都十分累和眼訓...

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:00:17 GMT

why do i have to write so many papers...
i hate writing papers in which i find no point in...
i just want to STUDY for god's sake...
i just had a dream that i had an extra AMERSTD paper to write lol... it was so scary.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:01:40 GMT

頂！
夜晚五點返屋企，
打開閘口，檢查書包確定自己有鑰匙，
諗住好好返去訓一覺，第朝起身搏殺，
心不在焉走到房門樓梯口，點知突然發現企住隻浣熊，
佢仲要o係見到我的一剎那即刻擺起一副戰斗格，凝視住我。
我即刻調頭走，走都走唔切。
頂，好彩佢o係見到我之後爬墻走左去隔離屋，
如果唔係今晚直情無得訓。
最好彩係佢o係見到我的一剎無即刻襲擊我，
如果唔係直情今晚以後再見唔到大家。

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:43:56 GMT

LOL i'm sorry Good Eats fans, but Alton Brown makes potstickers with wonton wrappers, black papper, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and cayenne pepper... I cannot imagine what the fuck would that taste like.
And the Americans love that shit, saying it's the best potstickers they have ever had.

Well, actually I'm not really in the position to make fun of them, because HKers come up with their own versions of pastas and pizza and shit, where they add soy sauce to spaghetti and stir-fry it, or put thousand island dressing and fucking bonito flakes onto pizza... and they think it's the best Italian food in the world.

Actually, I have to learn to stop making fun of people for not being authentic... Authenticity doesn't matter, taste and fun and happiness is what matters, and as long as people like it, what's the hurt in changing up the recipe to suit your own taste? I actually do that all the time like leaving out Bechamel sauce and ricotta cheese from lasagna (lol yeah I know it's probably sounds very gross for some of you) or make weird stir-frys from whatever I have left in the fridge.

But the thing that I just cannot get over is when people eat that kind of dumbed down/adapted version of the dish, and then proceed to call it Chinese or Italian. NO, meat dumplings that are made with wonton wrappers, mustard, ketchup and finished in an oven are NOT Chinese potstickers. And NO, your piece of bread topped with deep-fried soft-shelled crabs and thousand island dressing is NOT a true Italian pizza. Sure, you can like it better than "the real deal", but just don't call it Chinese potstickers. Call it something like "americanized won-ton-inspired potstickers" for all I care, but it's just not Chinese potstickers and don't try to serve it to me in a restaurant and pass it off as "potstickers". And don't call that pie with salad dressing on it a "pizza". You can call it "HK-style pizza", but no, not "pizza".

If you don't understand my frustration, just imagine somebody saying something like "oh, I really like listening to rock music" when what they really mean is they like listening to the Jonas Brothers' songs, or somebody saying "i'm an avid gamer" when in reality what they really mean is that ever since they purchased their first console, the DS, they've been playing Cooking Mama once a week. I mean, there's nothing wrong with liking Jonas Brothers, but don't call it rock music and declare yourself as a rocker.

It just pisses me off when people accept these dumbed down versions of culture, and then comfortably take them as they were "the real deal". It's an insult to rock music and its origins. And similarly, calling that potsticker a potsticker is really disrespectful to the Chinese food culture.... You are stripping food of its cultural meaning and its history, which are important parts of a dish. It's just like how a person wouldn't truly be able to appreciate the novel Hong Lou Meng if they didn't delve into the historical period of which the novel was written, the author's background, Chinese philosophy, and stylistic elements of the novel etc. Sure, Hong Lou Meng is still a great novel on its own, but to merely take it as a story with a good plot and ignoring all the history of it would not be doing the novel justice. I think it's important to look for authenticity, to understand the origins of a dish, in order to respect food, respect cultures, and to truly appreciate food. To say that authenticity doesn't matter and that we should just stop learning more about the food's origins is like saying we should just keep listening to whatever the radio feeds us, and as long as it's easy on our ears, we need not do any further exploration and that we should stick to these watered-down versions of rock, jazz or hip hop.

... I mean, of course it's fine to use different ingredients, make your own variations on the recipes, mix influences from different cuisines and make fusion food, I have nothing against that at all, in fact I encourage it because cooking is all about making it personal. But that's for when you have learned the traditions of different cuisines, the way the dish is traditionally made and the essence of it, and then you do your own take on it. But it's not acceptable to make arbitrary substitutions or adding arbitrary ingredients without even knowing what's the essence of the dish... then ending up with a pseudo potsticker that departs from the real thing completely, and proclaiming that you have made a traditional Chinese dish.

A fellow chowhound put it so eloquently that I decided to just quote her instead of trying to come up with my own amateur attempt at defense for my stubbornness over authenticity:

People anywhere ought to care about the origins of any food, because it provides a context for understanding the flavors as well as the culture. It shows respect, not only for the food itself, but for the people that originated it. Why do we bother having cultural days in elementary school, where someone's mom brings in a bunch of strange food?

"Welcome to America" is about as condescending a phrase as I've heard on this board. It is virtually a code phrase used by intolerant people to justify their bad treatment of immigrants. I don't know if you meant it that way, but there it is. I guess it's up to us immigrants to decide whether to take it that way or not.

Food represents our culture. That tie-in simultaneously enriches our understanding of the food and culture, and gets in the way of pure deliciousness. If someone believes that deliciousness exists on its own, existentially, for each person, and that is all there is to that, then all this talk of authenticity or traditional or original or whatever is quite meaningless. But if someone believes that deliciousness is learned and earned - it is derived from experience, it is shared, and it is enhanced by a greater understanding of all the aspects of food - from ingredients and technique to history and culture - then, authenticity, tradition and origin have some value.

The use of the word authentic obviously conveys some sort of meaning - good or bad, rightly understood or misinterpreted. It may very well be that authentic is an extremely narrow experience for me or for EN or some other import or denizen of a particular cultural enclave right here in the US. That doesn't negate its value, both in starting a conversation, a dialectic, or in coming to an ultimate understanding. As it turns out, there are a lot more people than myself that believe that there is nothing like authentic sushi (and what you're eating is probably nothing like authentic sushi), ditto fish tacos. And we're not all immigrants, thankfully.

Second post:

Actually, no, you're wrong. This country is about tolerance and diversity. This country is about respecting each other's differences, while building on the foundation block of those diverse tastes and backgrounds. That's what has ultimately worked for us - when we've gone against that respect, we've failed and fought some very foolish and costly battles that have advanced nothing.

"Welcome to America" in the context you used is about as respectful as "Love It or Leave It". If you think that's what this country is about, you just didn't learn enough of your own history. And I certainly don't need to be told what this country is about from someone that doesn't know its history and hasn't served it the way I have.

With regard to food, a melting pot doesn't make good food - just a bunch of glop. We don't just want to melt all our diverse flavors together - we want to combine them in exciting new ways that work. But without understanding what came before, why things were done the way they were done, having a healthy respect for the original and the authentic (whatever the definition and context), we can't build on it. We can't just arbitrarily decide that I'm going to sell this bowl of chili as gumbo - who would take us seriously? Certainly, many would take catfish or salmon on a flour tortilla, as a fish taco, but many wouldn't consider it authentic - especially those who knew the history.
People that have been here many generations from East North Carolina argue about authentic que with people from the western part of their own state, never mind Beale St. or St. Louis or KC or whatever that annexed, previously foreign territory is called - oh yeah, baja Oklahoma... Tejas.

So it's not just a matter of immigration and looking at foreign foods from south of the border or other foreign places - our own country is full of pockets of great, authentic food that people will fight to the death for.

The truth is that we have to seek deliciousness - that's whats in our blood, as chowhounds. So whether it's the salmon taco or the Ensenada fish taco, whether it's whole pig with vinegar or beef brisket with a tomato based sauce, we should try it all and decide what we like for ourselves.

But like it or not, fish tacos originated in one area, and because of that there is a matter of authenticity in that the ones that came from there, many years before other fish tacos came about, were made a certain way. It's not a matter of rejecting catfish or salmon taco, but of simply stating that the authentic ones didn't use salmon or catfish (or flour tortillas). Diversity means you like the salmon or catfish, others like the authentic ones. As a chowhound, you should want to try the authentic ones just to see if they are any better - if you decide otherwise, that's fine - at least you'll know what fish tacos were all about at one time. Nobody says you have to like the authentic ones more than the assorted adaptations - at least no true American, regardless of where they were born and bred.

BTW, made wontons today and results were bad. but now I have like 30 counts of leftovers in my freezer now. anyone up for some bad wontons??
BTW, just got my AMERSTD paper back and omg, I haven't gotten an A+ since forever. I cannot believe that I got one on an AMERSTD paper. I think the only reason that I aced it was that it doesn't involve history, and I sort of knew what the instructor was really looking for.
But doesn't really make a difference 'cause I just fucked up my take-home final. I'm just hoping I will pass the class despite that and a D+ on the midterm...

Monday, December 14, 2009

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:29:57 GMT

i think i actually purposefully left this take-home final to the last minute.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:31:19 GMT

回心一想，不難發現，
其實你的所謂朋友根本就只是蜻蜓點水的即食朋友。
撫心自問，他們其中有幾多位會愿意在你迫在眉睫的時候，犧牲自己的利益，以你的利益為優先？
當然，也會有一部分人面對任何請求也不懂拒絕，在危急關頭無法見死不救而伸出援手，但那只是因為他太過善良而已，並非因為你跟他有著能經得起考驗的交情。
又當然，君子之交淡如水，有人向往這種交朋友的方式，亦無不可。
只是，如此脫俗的一套人生觀，恐怕非你所凡輩能悟懂。

其實我有一份 12 page take-home final 2 pm due，我暫時凈系做好左三頁，但我都仲o系呢度打野...

btw, people need to fucking stop talking in the library... occassional whispering is fine, but god, i've only sat down for 5 minutes and already there have been 2 groups of people who have been talking in loud volume (i can hear them like 20 feet away) for an extended period of time.

and omg... i can't believe it, imeem's fucking gone!
where am i gonna get my study music now?!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:47:58 GMT

哇哇哇，
真係唱得好好聽。