Dedicated to feasting

I spoke to some relatives in Taiwan last week and it definitely sparked a glimmer of desire to see everyone and spend time with them. While that's not entirely possible, this article from the NYTimes, Feasting at the Table of Taipei, made me really happy and satisfied some of that desire. Matt Gross does an excellent job of describing the food of Taiwan. Unfortunately he doesn't venture outside of Taipei where most of my favorite stalls and restaurants lie.

Following the Chinese food trail

My friend Teresa recently sent me this NYTimes article about finding Beijing in Flushing. Flushing is an area in Queens, New York that has long been a second Chinatown in NYC. This article highlighted a bunch of places I had never heard of and some food I was not familiar with. With my friend Liu in town, we ventured forth with our appetites.

There is a download-able map from the NYTimes article. We tried the Dan Dan noodles at Golden Mall (no.9) and their version of the wontons in hot sauce. Both really good and spicy (food is from Sichuan and the peppers they use are of the numbing variety). I really wanted to try no. 13 but Shi Hong Mall was closed for renovation so we headed back to Golden Mall. We picked no. 11 from the list and proceeded to order dumplings (10 for $2) and a bowl of vegetable handmade noodles. The texture of the dumpling skin and the noodles were perfect. The dumplings were perfectly juicy as well. (This is coming from someone who avoids dumplings for fear of having a bad one.) The stall across from no. 11 sold Xi'an lamb sandwiches with cumin and red onions. ($2.50 for one.) I really liked this as well (not too much meat, which was perfect for me, and lots of cumin.) For dessert we hit up no. 1 on the list, a huge bowl of red bean ice for $3.75 big enough for four people. It wasn't anything special but did quench my thirst and put a sweet taste in my mouth.


This is Liu eating his third dinner. I did not partake in this meal.


Red bean over shaved ice.

Momma's Man

copyright Nina Buesing

Nina has blogged about her friend Aza several times. He is Azazel Jacobs, director of Momma's Man. The movie tells the story of a man, Mikey, who when stranded in NY amidst airline cancellations, decides to stay put in his parents' Tribeca loft. The loft is Jacob's family loft where his parents live and is a gem of a set. His parents play Mikey's parents in the movie. As the stay progresses, he starts digging through old boxes of memories and becomes entangled with the past and no longer wants to leave, or return to his wife and child in LA. This article in the NYTimes is a good read and features Nina's photo of Aza. I went to BAM last Friday to catch the movie in the midst of the thunderstorm. I have to say that it was well worth it and Flo Jacobs was amazing in the movie. Go catch it at Angelika, starting this Friday.

Pittsburgh for the Fourth

Over the holiday weekend I went out to Pittsburgh. I saw a great fireworks display downtown and also had a famous Primanti Bros. sandwich. The NYTimes just published 36 hours in Pittsburgh, I will have to keep it in mind for my next trip.


How did you celebrate the Fourth of July?

Worrisome news from China

China is now rushing to evacuate people from an area north of where the quake hit on May 12th. This image and accompanying article from the NYTimes is gut wrenching as the possibilities for flooding threatens the lives of 150,000 citizens.

(photo from the NYTimes)

What about the dams?

My mother called her sister in Wuhan last night to see if they were affected by the earthquake in Sichuan, China. My aunt and her family felt the quake and are fine. While thinking about them this morning, I started wondering if the Three Gorges Dam was ok. They live 4 hours down river from the largest dam in the world, in a metropolitan city that's along the Yangtze. This NYTimes article made me feel a bit better but I'm still uneasy about all of those affected by the quake.

(photo that I took in 2006 of the Three Gorges Dam)

Devastation

My thoughts are with those in Myanmar suffering the devastation of the cyclone that hit on Saturday. This NYTimes article sums up the situation pretty well. I hope that this tragic event will eventually bring about a dialogue for diplomacy and change in a country whose government has been hostile to other governments and to its own people.

(photo from NYTimes)

Hakka heritage

In the travel section of the NYTimes, I found this article on The Earthen Homes of Yongding County, in Fujian, China. I had seen a miniature version of this type of structure at "Windows on the World" in Taiwan. The Hakkas (I am ethnically Hakka on my father's side) have built these interesting earthen structures and they are now being considered for UNESCO heritage site designation.

On another Hakka note, I was sorting through a box of my dad's stuff last night and found our family genealogy handbook. I brought it to my mom, who helped me sort out how I should decipher the charts. Hakkas tend to favour male decendents and no where is it more obvious than in the family charts where only male decendents are listed. For example, our family tree shows my grandfather and my grandmother's name, below them, only their four sons names are listed, none of my five aunts are included. On the page where my family is listed, my father does not have any children listed under him (I have one other sibling, a sister) and my uncles who have sons have their names listed, but not their daughters. My mom commented that this was a heavy bias, maybe I should consider getting rid of the book!

(Photo by Barbara Koh from the NYTimes.)

Mangosteens available for Maggie

This NYTimes article declares that mangosteens are now available in the US. It's a great fruit for those who have not tried it and hooray for my best friend Maggie because it's her favorite fruit and she's been been craving it so.

Sze Tsung Leong in the NYTimes

Nina posted this discussion by Phillip Gefter in the NYTimes about the work of Sze Tsung Leong. For those of you who have not seen the show, do go and see it. There are lots of images to be seen and presentation in the gallery is quite important to this body of work. I had a better understanding of the project as a whole after seeing it in person.

Earth Day is coming up

Earth day is coming up and I just read a great article in the NYTimes about a grassroots movement by some parents of Pubic School 154 in Brooklyn to boycott polystyrene trays and privately fund the use bagasse (the fiber left after the extraction of the sugar-bearing juice from sugar cane) ones instead. How cool is that? At work, we used to use paper products, and when they switched to styrofoam polystyrene products, there was an uproar. We were told that both types of products are equally bad for the environment. Huh??? Thankfully though, this year, we are back on track with biodegradable products.

One other thing- Tekserve is hosting a e-waste recycling event. April 26, 27 10am-4pm and April 28 4pm-7pm. Acceptable items for recycling include: computers, monitors, fax machines, copiers, DVD or VCR players, radios, telephones, cell phones, televisions, cameras and stereo equipment. They cannot accept the following items for recycling: Home appliances - including microwaves, stoves, refrigerators and air conditioners. I'm planning on bringing in an old hardrive that I dug out of my Mom's closet. Spring cleaning!

JetBlue's Saarinen Project at Terminal 5 to reopen at JFK

Read about the renovation of the old TWA Terminal that will reopen in Spetember in the NYTimes.

A Pool in Queens- did someone hear my prayers?

I've been lamenting about the lack of pools in Queens for-like-ever. Now there is a brand new one! A super duper one opened up in Flushing Meadows Park last Friday. There's a write up in the NYTimes. There is just not enough parks and recreational space in Queens, and while Flushing Meadows is huge, it is quite over used. There isn't much free lawn space when you go there on the weekends. This is a huge step in the right direction, I have hope for my borough!

(Chester Higgins for the NYTimes)

Spicy street food

It could be that I'm hungry and have not been to Thailand in almost a year. This article makes me want to take the long flight to Bangkok, be devlish and adventurous by sampling the best of Thai cuisine at great street stalls.

(photo by Josef Polleross for the NYTimes)

Let there be art by STRUTH

Check out this portfolio of images that Thomas Struth made for TMagazine's Let There be Art- house of worship where the feelings of exhaltation come from the light.

Relative Choices- Adoption

I've been reading the series Relative Choices- Adoption in the NYTimes. It is an amazing collection of writing about the topic by those who are closest to the subject at hand.