Turma do Bem

We were at the Intercontinental Hotel this evening to attend a cocktail event sponsered by our friends and neighbors, Ali and Farhad. Ali is a pediatric dentist and his brother Farhad has somehow connected with Fábio Bibancos from São Paulo, who started the NGO called Turma do Bem (Dentists do Good) in Brazil. Dentista do Bem works with public schools in 163 cities across 22 Brazilian states by identifying and providing treatment for poor youth between 9 and 16 years of age who are about to seek their first job and have severe dental condition. In Brazil (and I am sure in the US, as well as everywhere in the world where there are poor people), many families cannot afford to take their kids to the dentist, or have no money to enforce proper oral hygiene from infancy, so their children sometimes end up having really terrible teeth and dental problems. Which prevents the children from having friends and later on in life, from getting a good job. Because no one wants to hire someone toothless or with a rotten smile. (This is obviously incredibly simplified.)

Anyway, Alex, the sweetie in the video above, had incredibly poor teeth. His classmates made fun of him, called him Donkey Breath; he never smiled or even opened his mouth to talk. They asked if he had ever kissed a girl, and he said no; and it is just was so incredibly heartbreaking, because Alex was sort of doomed to lead a terrible life with no life partner, doing a menial job that involved back breaking work — all because he was too poor to afford to go to the dentist, and he was probably also born with bad teeth genes. 

Turma do Bem transformed his smile, and Alex will probably be able to have a completely different life, now. Which is really amazing. It made me wonder if what I do everyday is truly making a difference in peoples lives to this sort of extent. And if its not, how can I change it so that what I do does affect peoples' lives in a more positive and life-changing way? 

I am slow.

I am woefully behind in my blog posting, but I will be filling in the back posts, slowly but surely. So every so often you might want to scroll back and see if I have posted anything new. Or else, perhaps if you have this on your RSS feed list thing, then you will get an update of whenever I post something new, even if its technically, old.

Weird flavored ポッキー

Yum, Brazilian Pudding flavor.

Honey Pomelo and Mushroom Hotpot flavors.

Whenever I travel, I love checking out the different flavored Pocky that can be found in that particular country. So I googled "Pocky flavors" and came up with the following list, which I think is still incomplete, because I did not see Hairy Crab flavor on there, anywhere:

Anime Pocky
Chocolate
Giant Chocolate
Giant Double Choco
Gokuboso Pocky – Chocolate Pocky in a thinner size
Little Pocky
Marble Pocky Chocolate
Marble Royal Milk Tea
Men’s Pocky – Dark chocolate Pocky
Pawky
Almond
Chocolate Almond Crush
White Chocolate Almond Crush
White Chocolate/Chocolate Almond Crush
Café au Lait Almond Crush
Mild Milk Almond Crush
Honey White Almond Crush
Anglaise Almond Crush
Banana
Choco Banana
Coconut – Limited edition
Coconut Milk
Cinnamon Apple
Green Apple
Mango
Melon
Pine Cream (pineapple cream)
Strawberry
Tsubu Tsubu Strawberry – Strawberry Pocky with tiny strawberry bits
Tsubu Tsubu Giant Strawberry
Marron
Tsubu Tsubu Marron (Chestnut)
Ume (Japanese plum)
Winter - Fuyuno Kuchidoke (Winter Melt-in-Mouth)
Winter - Murasaki Imo (Purple Sweet Potato)
Spring - Honey
Summer - Kiwi Mango
Cocoa Powder
Nagano - Grape
Hokkaidō - Yubari Melon
Kyūshū - Kyushu Giant Mikan
Kyoto - Kyoto Powdered Tea Azuki Bean
Kobe - Kobe Wine
Azuki
Black & Latte
Blueberry Yogurt
Choco
Chocolate
Creamy
Custard
Extra Chocolate
Green Tea
Hazelnut Milk Chocolate
Hokkaido White
Mango
Mild Chocolate
Royal Milk Tea
Strawberry
Tiramisu
White
New White
Berry Chocolate
Grape Mild Chocolate
Lemon Chocolate
Mont-Blanc White Chocolate
Peach & Strawberry Chocolate
White Wedding Chocolate
Apple Cream Custard
Bananu Semi-Sucrée
Chocolat de Caramel
Fraise au Chocolat
Gateau Chocolat
Strawberry Gâteau
Reverse
White
Strawberry Reverse
Green Tea (macha)
Honey & Milk
Grape
Strawberry Fortune Telling
Kurogo (黒五 Five Black) – Black pine nut, black soybean, black karin, black sesame seed, unpolished black rice
Goka (五果 Five Fruit) – Peach, apricot, jujube, plum, chestnut
Almond Crush
Cookie Crush
Strawberry Crush
Pocky G
Berry G
Milk Chocolate Marble
Green Tea Marble
Rum Raisin Marble
Caramel Marble
2001 Giant Rainbow (Contains Giant Cider, Giant Green Tea, Giant Custard, Giant Blueberry, Giant Orange, Giant Chocolate)
Lovely Halloween Pocky (Pumpkin, Strawberry, Milk)
Milchschokolade – Milk chocolate
Zartherb – Dark chocolate
Caramel - European
Milk Chocolate & Hazelnut
Caramel
Cereal Almond – Pocky in almond coating with corn flake bits
Kinako (Soybean)
Kurogoma (Black Sesame)
Lemon Cheesecake
Milk
Milk Chocolate Whole Wheat
Pudding
Pumpkin
Yogurt
Tahitian Vanilla
Tsubu Tsubu Green Tea
Wasabi Nori

Jerusalem artichokes

Does anyone else think that, while tasty, Jerusalem artichokes taste like plastic Ziplock freezer bags?

Frankies (457) Spuntino

This evening we ate dinner at a place on Court Street called Frankies Spuntino. I stuffed myself on my dish, which was homemade linguine with fava beans, tomatoes and bread crumbs...I did not want to stop eating, and only did because I thought I might throw up if I stuffed in one more bite. That's how good it tasted. When we walked in, the host introduced us our server to us, as "the nicest person who works here." It was that kind of homey, yet hip, place.

Check out the review from NY Magazine, below:

The brick-walled, tin-ceilinged spuntino is less than a restaurant (though the food's terrific), more than a bar (affable bartender, respectable Negroni), and already, in its infancy, the sort of homey, affordable, drop-in-anytime place that gives interlopers from distant zip codes a serious case of neighborhood envy. The menu reads like a shopping list, with mix-and-match categories for beans and grains, vegetables, meats, and cheeses, plus a choice of sandwich breads and fillings. But the ingredients are prime (and often organic) and the chefs make the most of them, whether they're dressing long leaves of verdant puntarelle with fragrant olive oil, capers, and anchovies, grating pecorino over bitter escarole, or roasting Brussels sprouts and acorn squash till they're irresistibly sweet. — Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite

Tennis playing = water sports

The playground + park at Atlantic Commons.

This is the water mister thing. both photos by Limonada.

Today, we decided to take advantage of the fact that it was not rainy, and go over to the tennis courts between Cumberland and South Oxford Streets and hit some tennis balls. I would say play tennis, except that there was no score keeping involved, and there was quite a few times that I actually hit the ball out of the entire tennis area and into the lawn of the townhouses across the street. I wondered what would happen if I hit a ball into someone's open window. Surely, I ought to get a prize or something.

Since I am the sort of tennis novice who can at least return a serve and maintain a spirited volley — as Kenny succinctly put it, I can at least hit the ball over the net, it was incredibly satisfying and after about 30 minutes we were literally broiled, from the sun overhead and from running around all over the court. I could feel my skin sunburning itself by the minute. So we quit playing tennis and walked over to the playground area where there was a water mister installation to cool off the little kids. The moment I walked over, the mister turned off. Of course. Being overly optimistic, I removed my shoes and socks anyway, and stood underneath the structure, patiently waiting for it to turn back on, figuring it must be on a timer. Finally, after about ten minutes, a guy who was teaching his child how to ride a bike came over and magically rubbed his hands over the post standing next to the mister thing, and the misters automatically turned on! He laughingly told me it was magic. 

The water felt utterly delicious, and I stood there getting completely soaked, I wondered if there could be anything more delightful than life at that very moment.

Sheri is a hoop star

My friend Sheri has always been into hula hooping, but over the past year she has started taking classes at the YMCA and bought herself a super hoop with special LED lights that glow when she spins. The above pictures show the tricks that she has mastered, made all the more cool because of the way the LED lights are captured via a very slow shutter speed (á la Marc's adroit manipulation of their point and shoot digital camera). Every time that I think Sheri is pretty fucking awesome, I am then yet again blown away by one of her zany projects, skills, abilities that makes me have an more profound respect for just how special she truly is. I mean, who do you know who has a LED-lit hula hoop? 

How did I miss this?!

I am not sure how I missed this concert at Prospect Park Bandshell. I LOVE the Crooklyn Dodgers, Masta Ace AND, oh my god, Special Ed. Special Ed is one of my all time favorite rappers from the late 80s. This concert basically happened in my backyard, and I MISSED IT. Why didn't anyone tell me?!

Destination: Brighton Beach

talking to my mom

the girls on the beach

the coco ice sellers

Today was a perfect beach day: not too hot, a nice amount of breeze, and not too many people playing loud music on their radios. The highlight was seeing a woman change out of her swimsuit, and having her wet dress hike up so the entire beach could see her naked backside. Then her wet dress clung to her naked backside, unbeknownst to her, as she folded up her swimming stuff, thereby mooning everyone at Brighton Beach.

I also learned the phrase "tramp stamp." Am I the last person on earth to know what this means? Where have I been?

Hello Kitty snacks

Hello Kitty Calpico soft drinks!

Hello Kitty fake pocky.

Tonight at the Japanese convenience store/grocery store across the street from the movie theater on 11th Street and 3rd Avenue, I spied all sorts of Hello Kitty themed snacks. At first I was loving it, and then it started to freak me out slightly. Why are there all of these Hello Kitty foods?! Why has Sanrio pimped my girl out to all of these random brands for such weird things? Hello Kitty soft drinks?! And yet, apparently, people buy, and then eat, these things. It is a little creepy to me, and I really love Hello Kitty. Does anyone else find this a little strange?

Birds chirping in Prospect Park

pictures by Tim Shortell.

As I rode my bike through Prospect Park this morning, I was disappointed that I forget to bring my iPod, again. Despite it being the iPod Shuffle which means I can literally clip it onto my outfit, I never seem to remember to bring it along anywhere. Which is to my benefit, because it allowed me to listen to the birds chirping as I rode my bike. Usually, I am spend my bike ride seriously focused on how much I really don't want to ride another lap, or the fact that backside feels really bruised from my bike saddle, or that I am raggedly breathing out of my mouth instead of my nose like I know I ought to be doing.

However, this ride was spent listening to the birds chirp to one another. They were actually quite loud, which was a way nicer soundtrack to ride to than the permanent playlist on my shuffle — could I listen the songs from the Juno soundtrack one more time!? Honestly, I think I wore it out. Anyway, it was incredibly pleasant (Actually, it was beyond pleasant. I could have listened to them ALL day.) to listen to the birds talk with one another, perhaps discussing the idiotic humans exercising beneath them.

For many years, I have felt quite sad for the birds who live in New York City. Feeling that they totally got the short end of the stick when they all decided to leave South America one year and fly north...and some of them got stuck living in New York City where they are forced to pretzels and crusty vomit, instead of fat earthworms and cute little bugs from someone's garden vegetables in Mentor, Ohio. But the birds in Prospect Heights seem extraordinarily happy to be living in Brooklyn. Maybe because they have the best of both worlds — eating melted FrozFruit® bars and unsuspecting cockroaches for dinner.

Apparently, I am not the only person who loves the birds in the park. There is a Prospect Park birding club, as well as a bird-sightings-in-Prospect-Park blog, which you can read in your leisure time, here.

Malin + Goetz detox face mask

I first read about Malin + Goetz's detox face mask in Women's Health magazine back in October:

I only recently learned the power of a deep breath-when my shoulders get tense, a big inhale loosens them right up. The MALIN+GOETZ DETOX FACE MASK does something similar for my complexion with deep cleaning oxygenating agents. After I tried it, co-workers asked what I'd done to my skin. I said "I just taught it how to relax."

Or, more specifically, according to the Malin + Goetz website:

Innovative, oxygenating cleansing agents replace harsh detergents to deep-pore-cleanse, lifting dirt, oil and make-up away from the skin without irritation, while creating a physical barrier to seal hydration. Complex amino acids and natural almond extract gently and effectively purify, clarify, balance and soothe. Stable Vitamin C, anti-oxidant Vitamin E and Soy Protein help firm and address concerns for aging.

Sounds great, right? But when I went into their store on Seventh Avenue to buy some, it was of course sold out. But on a subsequent visit it had been restocked and I immediately bought some to try. (When did I become that sort of woman who shells out $38 for a face mask?) The pump dispenses something sort of greige-colored goop that you are supposed to spread it on your face quite thickly, the guy at the store instructed me. And then it immediately puffs up into the most marvelous foam. You can hear it bubbling away, and getting frothier by the second. The grime of living in new York City magically bubbles out of my pores and in like 10 minutes, I look like I have the carefree complexion of someone who lives in a suburb in Cleveland and has a yard with real grass.

I love it.

Gifts from Dana

Dana and I met tonight to catch up, since we have not seen one another since before I went to Brazil. Which means I have not seen her in more than a month! We decided to hang out for a little while in Madison Square Park, and spent at least an hour chatting while watching all of the cute babies, dogs and hot guys walk by. Dana also gave me a stack of presents for my birthday, and as usual, it was the most amazing presentation. First of all, the wrapping paper was fabulous — it is covered in peas! And the presents within the wrapping were just as special. (Hello, Paul Beatty's new book?!!!)

Flat tires on Bowery

Today was my summer Friday — every summer, from Memorial to Labor Day, J+J gives its employees every other Friday off, work permitting, if they work longer hours during the week. So today was my day. I woke up early and decided to ride my bike to my therapy appointment, which is all the way on 56th Street. All was going well, until I started to get a little hot-doggish on Bowery, passing cars and in general being one of those annoying lane shifting bikers you want to run over, when you are driving a car. Karma bit me in the ass, as I suddenly heard a loud pop and then the distinct noise of the air rushing out of my front tire. In seconds, the tire was completely flat. Which means I had to walk my bike over to the Bicycle Habitat on Lafayette and Spring Streets to have a new tube and tire put on.

While I was at the bike store, I decided that I ought to get a basket that attached to my luggage rack, because it was getting a little tiring to keep wrapping my purse into a little ball and then bungee cording the whole thing to my rack. Anytime I wanted to stick something in my bag, I had to undo two bungee cords, which sucked.

While the bike mechanic was fixing my bike, I spent the time walking around the store, finding other stuff to buy to stick onto my bike. I was up to two knog frog silicone LED bike lights, and just as I was about to peruse the bike bells, the mechanic blew up my new bike tire. It was actually quite a deafening noise, and I decided no bell. I then got a new mechanic, since the first guy literally walked away after he exploded my tire and was so like, "I am done with this sundressed white girl with her 15-year old Fuji clunker." The new mechanic was much nicer and told me to forgo the clanky metal baskets and opt for the new Trek Grocery Bag baskets. Holy cow, they are fabulous. Basically, its a purse that attaches to the side of my bike rack. I can unhook it and tote it around and then stick it back on and pedal off.

Thievery Corporation at Summer Stage

The Thievery Corporation was performing in Central Park tonight together with Seu Jorge and Bebel Gilberto, as part of the city's Summer Stage series. The reason why we really wanted to go was because Federico Aubele was also supposed to perform, but for whatever reason, he did not show up. However, the Brazilians represented and Bebel and Seu Jorge were fantastic. Ali's foot is still broken, so he and Ladan were ushered to the handicapped people's area, where we met them after Bebel performed. The concert was packed!, so having a seat for the rest of the performance was pretty fabulous, everyone else had to stand or sit on the ground.

I heart my Fuji 10-speed

I rode my bike to work today. It was a good day.

Blueberries for breakfast, lunch + dinner

While I am not obsessive over most things because I think that I am sort of too lazy to be that single minded about any one thing, I must admit that I could eat the same thing every day, for weeks on end without getting sick of it. And in fact, I do this sometimes. Usually, its because that thing in question is in season, like fresh green peas. Or in this case, blueberries. (Which I am eating, as I write this blog post.) And blueberries, like freshly shelled peas, are perfect foods to be eaten with your fingers — which is my favorite way to eat. They are round, have a very nice resistance against your teeth when you bite into them, and then there is a little explosion of tart, sweet firm berriness on your tongue and teeth that is unparalleled. I love summer, specifically because of the fruits and vegetables. And I swear that I could eat blueberries for every meal for at least a month, until I might perhaps wish for some fresh sweet corn.

Method soap critter

When I came back to work today after being away for almost a month, I found this very adorable Method Soap beaver? otter? on my desk, waiting to greet me. Part of Method's new Baby + Kids line of products, the super cute packaging launched on Earth Day. And while I am not a big fan of having such designed packaging in my own home — I do not want my hand soap to make a statement at all — I totally love Method's packaging in general, and wished I could get over the minimalist hump and desire to have super nifty looking laundry detergent packaging and plug-in room fragrancers in the shape of futuristic capsules. I mean, I design packaging for a living. Yet, I would prefer if all of my own things came in plain bottles and jars (preferably glass) with removable, or at least minimal, labels. I am also not sure how safe for the planet Method's products are. Which is why I am still using Ecover products...sorry Method. That being said, obviously, I am not the only person who loves this little otter — which, for the record, I would buy. Because products in the shape of cute little animals beats out my minimalist desire. — You can check out some other comments here.

Summer rain showers

Suddenly out of nowhere, it started to pour down rain. One moment, the sky was sunny; the next minute it was still sunny, but rain was falling straight down out of the sky. I went outside onto the patio to watch the rain in the courtyard — loving that it was raining so furiously and yet my feet were not getting the slightest bit wet on the edge of the patio. There is something so satisfying about watching it rain so aggressively outside, while staying completely dry.

Fresa batidas

We bought some cute little strawberries at the greenmarket yesterday. And then Kenny thoughtfully washed them and sealed them into their fate of death in a Ziplock freezer bag and we left them in the hot car while we were at Sammy's first birthday party. The berries turned soft, squishy and very juicy, and I would have immediately pitched the whole scary bagful of what looked like strawberry blood, into the trash bin. But Kenny — Mr. Resourceful — decided to make fruit smoothies with the murdered strawberries, using the blender we got as a wedding gift from his cousin, for the very first time in four and a half years. The strawberry smoothies were ridiculously delicious and made me rethink all of the times I have thrown away scary ziplock bags full of potential fruit smoothie possibilities.

Eating strawberries in the car

Sammy's 1st Birthday

The birthday boy, little (not really so little) Samuel Efren.

Mr. Alden Rufus wearing appropriately formal attire.

Leela Grace, having just finished eating a fresh pear.

We drove out to Princeton this afternoon to celebrate Sammy's first birthday — Christine and Aaron had rented a large white tent and put together a huge fête, featuring a whole roast pig and copious amounts of Filipino food — which the birthday boy actually missed, since he had a fever and took a nap the whole afternoon. But that is not really the point, since a child's first birthday, it seems, is more about celebrating the fact that the parents made it through the first year and are still alive to commemorate it. Aaron and Christine both looked amazing; and in fact, I am convinced that carrying their mini-football player around has made Christine's arms incredibly buff.

Needless to say, it was great to see our friends, many of whom live within a four block radius of our apartment in Brooklyn, but we all are too busy to ever see one another. This is typical of New Yorkers...we drive 58 miles to get together and hang out with our friends, when it would be much more convenient to just walk down the street and grab dinner at Ici.

The longest day of the year

photo by Tiboutoo.

We celebrated by eating dinner at Dressler, which is my new most favorite restaurant (due in part to the fabulous onion rings which are now no longer on the menu despite my pleading comments to the chef on the review card; the fact that the victorian grillwork has cute little animals hidden in the iron work; and the unctuously delicious artichoke salad), since 360 in Red Hook closed down. Dressler is named after Martin Dressler, the eponymous antihero of Steven Millhauser's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. (Which is about a cigar store owner's son who manages to make it big in the world of New York hotels in turn of the century America, finds big city success to be anything but unalloyed.)

Here is Gael Greene's review:

The scarred tile floors are real, and the abundant hills of tantalizing, gently priced food are real, too, a joy in this era of foam and froth. But everything else at the new Dressler is whimsy. The metal grillwork, the paneling, the chandeliers with tiny birds nesting all look vaguely Victorian yet are clever artifice from local craftsmen. It makes a handsome setting, steps from Peter Luger, for yet another fine eating spot from Colin Devlin (DuMont and DuMont Burger). The same duo of chefs—Polo Dobkin and Cal Elliott—take turns at the range, delivering splendid strozzapreti pasta with veal ragù and shards of pecorino Romano, and a thick grilled pork chop with Savoy cabbage, fresh bacon, and white beans—preserved lemon taming its earthy richness. You can barely see the white of the rib-eye plate under its puddle of spinach, mushroom-flecked bordelaise, and its tower of crisp, hot onion rings. Starters like spring-pea-and-Fontina raviolini in a lemony Parmesan broth with peas and pea shoots would be an entrée in most joints across the river, as might smoked sturgeon on potato galette with herbed crème fraîche, frisée, arugula, hard-boiled egg, and truffle vinaigrette. Does that sound hauntingly Tom Valenti? Well, it’s definitely got that lush heft, I’m happy to report. Undone by our own gluttony, we four decide to share a smartly tart rhubarb-and-berry crumble, but prudence melts as three more sweets arrive unbidden.

My shirt fits!

This shirt has not fit me for at least nine months, if not closer to a year. Seriously, I could not button it. And since it used to be part of my weekly line up, I am really super excited that I can finally button it across me again. It might look like the buttons are pulling too tightly in this incredibly unflattering photograph, but I promise that is only because I am leaning over in a weird contortionist way to take this picture. Really, it fits.

Corn snacks + dancing = sublime?

Blondie from Shakil

I went into the freezer and dug out the blondie that Shakil bought for me at the Treat Truck while I was China. (I had asked Kenny if he would not minding sticking it into the freezer for me, so it would not get stale.) I have always found blondies to be incredibly boring baked goods — but the Treat Truck blondie is superlative. In fact, it was so rich and mind-numbingly scrumptious, that I could only eat the corner — one bite! — and wrapped up the rest for another day.

(editor's note: I actually ate one bite a day of this blondie for 8 straight days.)

Flip Flapping

About four and a half years ago, we bought these Flip Flap (love that they are on Wikipedia, here) solar powered plants in the Tokyu Hands department store in Shibuya (Tokyo). The instant I spotted them, I was in love and there was no way that I was not buying at least one to take home. We bought two. So scared I was of them breaking, I have kept them ensconsed in their plastic packaging "solarium", despite the fact that you are supposed to remove the packaging once you get them home. I just might cover our sofa in plastic wrap next. (I am kidding.)

Despite my precautionary measures, about two years ago, they stopped flapping. This was right about the time when we moved to our interim garden apartment on Adelphi Street, in the whole "waiting for our new apartment to be finished" situation. Perhaps because I did not want to leave our current apartment, the plants sensed my sadness and stopped their cheerful flapping.

We then moved into our current apartment more than a year ago, and placing them on the bathroom windowsill was one of the first things I did as soon as we arrived at the new apartment. In fact, I am certain that I hand-carried them over, and did not even pack them into a Uline box for transport. However, they did not start flapping in their new place of honor, either. Again, perhaps sensing that I actually did not really like our newly built apartment, either, and was still pining for our duplex on Lafayette Avenue with my geraniums still blooming in the window boxes. I let them be, and figured that one day, they would start flapping again. I had faith.

Today, for some reason out of the blue, I picked up the blue plant and noticed that the flapper had been switched to the off position. In fact, I probably switched them both off when we moved to the apartment on Adelphi, so that the flapper parts would not get damaged in the move. And then I am sure I forget that I turned them off, and was just sad that they had stopped flapping. And now, I cannot express how delighted I am whenever I come into the bathroom and the two plants are sitting there, silently flapping their little leaves.

I have tried to understand why they make me happy, but I have no idea why these little plastic plants bring me such joy; all I know is that if there was a fire in our apartment (god forbid), I would grab these two fake plants before making a dash for it.

CMU grlzzz

For everyone who ever went to Carnegie Mellon, you must check out the above video that Kenny sent Christina, Dane and I...it is really great. And further emphasizes what a creative place that school was. Maybe I did not love the social life (and these girls are obviously rocking it way harder than I ever did), but the amount of creative energy the university fostered was unparalleled. The best line in the video is most definitely, "Maggie Mo, you a ho, fo sho."

Birthday gifts from down under!

Kristy sends me the best packages in the mail...and opening them is such a treat! Such as the above package, which is actually the most splendid looking box, ever. In the history of boxes. I am saving it to send a gift to someone else for their birthday, so we can keep the beautiful box moving around the world, from person to person, full of birthday gifts. That being said, the box was full of shredded paper and nestled inside, amongst other things, was a pair of the most perfect salad tongs. Salad tongs have to be the most under rated kitchen item. You rarely would buy them for yourself. But owning a pair makes preparing salad such an exciting event — because you actually get to use such a lovely pair of tongs to mix all the stuff up. In fact, I am not even a big fan of lettuces — unless its mâche, which I LOVE! — but I would happily eat any lettuce-like thing if I got the chance to toss it with my super cool new tongs.

Gifts from Yuki — a 扇子!

Today I received the nicest package in the mail — a gift from my friend Yuki, who lives in Tokyo. It was wrapped in a really lovely goldfish printed furoshiki, which was enough of a gift unto itself. However, inside was a really cool Japanese paper folding fan, which are called sensu. I remember having a paper folding fan when I was child, and it had a black metal handle that had a latch that folded over to keep the fan closed. I played with that fan for years, until the edges of the fan got all fuzzy and I have no idea what actually happened to it. My new fan is really sophisticated (it is made with wood and the image on the fan itself is a very simple, but beautifully written, character. and I am dying to bust it out at some place like Summer Stage, where people will think I am the biggest nerd, ever.

A Pea Homecoming

This morning, Kenny thoughtfully bought me ten pounds of peas (it is Pea Season!) at the greenmarket, because I was coming home from China tonight, and coming home to fresh peas in the fridge is a super thing. Despite being on a plane for the past 18+ hours, and zipping through numerous time zones, there was nothing I wanted to do more than to sit on the living room rug and shell all ten pounds of peas before I went to bed. However, by the fifth pound or so, I was totally flagging, in fact, I was completely exhausted. So Kenny had to join me on the carpet and help me finish the pea shelling. For whatever reason, I think I wanted to wake up tomorrow and see a giant bowlful of peas in the fridge.

Free warm water!

For whatever reason, I have begun to lug my Camelback water bottle with me whenever I travel. Despite the no outside water allowed through security annoyance. I just buy a bottle of water when I get through security and fill up my water bottle, and throw away the empty plastic bottle of water. And trying to find a recycle bin at JFK is also next to impossible. That being said, there are never any water fountains anymore, and the ones that you do happen across are scary, woebegone relics from another century. Which is why I was literally ecstatic when I came across the water fountains in Pudong Airport, in Shanghai. Please note that did I notice them last time I was in Shanghai but missed one very important thing: the water comes in three temperatures! Warm, Cold and Hot! Since I truly loathe cold water, the warm button totally had my name all over it. When the woman in front of me was done, I put my Camelback beneath the spout and filled the entire thing up with warm water. And yeah, I know that you are not supposed to put warmish liquids into polycarbonate bottles (my Camelback is not one of the new polycarbonate-free bottles), but I was not really worried about the PCBs leaching into my drinking water. I was more excited about the fact that I was drinking delicious WARM water that tasted like jasmine tea without the jasmine in it. Which sounds weird, but it was such tasty water! I was actually disappointed when I had finished off the entire 750ml, before the plane even boarded.

Eating dinner at Flavor Tang

My flight back to Shanghai was not until 7pm or so, which meant I had some time to eat dinner at the Tianjin International Airport. Flavor Tang seemed bright and cheerful, and I was lured in by the dish of shrimp and sauteed cucumbers, for some reason. Usually, I find hot, cooked cucumbers to be pretty disgusting, but this dish looked really delicious — and it was. The whole meal came to under $10, and it included my Evian water, and a bowl of rice (of course), plus some hot + sour soup. In fact, it was way too much food, and I could not finish half of it. I had thought it only cost like $3 and got really excited about that, and the check out guy just looked at me like I was completely stupid. His look said, "just because this is China does not mean everything is super cheap and all." Oh. My bad, dude.