Weekend Recap
Hmm...
Somehow, I can never remember what I've done over the weekend by Monday afternoon.
Oh, okay. Friday night I stayed home and watched five straight hours of tv. It was wonderful! I so could not bring myself to turn off the tv, and by the end of the night, I found myself watching a ProActive Solution infomercial, which featured P. Diddy, Alicia Keyes, Jessica Simpson and of course, Vanessa Williams. That would be considered an all-star cast for an awards show, much less an infomercial. Incidentally, my other new favorite thing to watch is the Jewelry version of the Home Shopping Network where it seems all they sell is jewelry. Oh and sometimes you can bid on them, so the items have a low starting price and you can get good deals. Not that I've done that yet, I just like to watch. Me and jewelry. What can I say? I could windowshop for hours. On my first date with Max, I told him, truthfully, that I'd like to be a gemologist. Or a diamond buyer for Tiffany's. Of course, that was before I discovered that it took a surprisingly large chunk of money to get a diploma from the Gemological Institute of America. And that with it, I'd probably end up standing around at a jewelery store at the local mall for the rest of my life.
Saturday night a whole bunch of us went to see Wedding Crashers, which was really funny. Afterwards, we went to Dell's Saloon, which is this karaoke bar. Being the private room kind of gal that I am, I declined to sing, but as it turns out, no one really got to. The list was super long - our friend Tony was the one to close the bar, with, appropriately, "Friends in Low Places." Everyone in the bar sang along and raised their glasses, and I felt vaguely like I was in a movie for a bit. Then we went over to Jessi's and hung around, before finally getting back home at around 3:30 a.m. Yikes. I am getting old - 3:30 a.m. seems like an ungodly hour to stay up. Me, I'm done by 1:30, maybe 2 at the latest.
Sunday morning I met a bunch of friends for dim sum over in Monterrey Park. I am so the Dim Sum Diva, and was a little disappointed that the rest of the crew was not more enthusiastic about trying different things. I love going with my family, and even Max is a good sport, but the group that I went with was more about the "ha gows" (shrimp dumplings) and the egg tarts, which we ordered several dishes of. Oh well. This is a typical snippet of our conversation, as I was the translator:
Me: "spinach dumplings"
Everyone else: (*crickets*)
Me: "chive dumplings"
Everyone else: (*crickets*)
Me: "Chicken buns"
Everyone else: (*crickets*)
Me: "um, shrimp dumplings"
Everyone else: "OH LET'S GET FIVE ORDERS OF THOSE"
The irony is that I was with 3 1/2 chinese people (one girl is only 1/2 chinese) so I found the silence really bizarre. Actually, one of the best dim sum times I've had was when Max and I took his mom and sister (Lala). Since they had never really had it before, it gave us an excuse to order nearly everything. Hm... now I'm hungry for dim sum.
Afterwards, the girls and Amol went to Ranch 99. I bought lots of easy-to-make Chinese dishes and the ingredients for what Max calls the "1000 year old duck egg SOUP," but it's really more of a rice porridge. Bless his lil heart - Max is one of the few non-Asians I know who's willing to eat preserved duck eggs. I've included a picture, just to show you how brave my man is. You know, they actually had them on Fear Factor.
Somehow, I can never remember what I've done over the weekend by Monday afternoon.
Oh, okay. Friday night I stayed home and watched five straight hours of tv. It was wonderful! I so could not bring myself to turn off the tv, and by the end of the night, I found myself watching a ProActive Solution infomercial, which featured P. Diddy, Alicia Keyes, Jessica Simpson and of course, Vanessa Williams. That would be considered an all-star cast for an awards show, much less an infomercial. Incidentally, my other new favorite thing to watch is the Jewelry version of the Home Shopping Network where it seems all they sell is jewelry. Oh and sometimes you can bid on them, so the items have a low starting price and you can get good deals. Not that I've done that yet, I just like to watch. Me and jewelry. What can I say? I could windowshop for hours. On my first date with Max, I told him, truthfully, that I'd like to be a gemologist. Or a diamond buyer for Tiffany's. Of course, that was before I discovered that it took a surprisingly large chunk of money to get a diploma from the Gemological Institute of America. And that with it, I'd probably end up standing around at a jewelery store at the local mall for the rest of my life.
Saturday night a whole bunch of us went to see Wedding Crashers, which was really funny. Afterwards, we went to Dell's Saloon, which is this karaoke bar. Being the private room kind of gal that I am, I declined to sing, but as it turns out, no one really got to. The list was super long - our friend Tony was the one to close the bar, with, appropriately, "Friends in Low Places." Everyone in the bar sang along and raised their glasses, and I felt vaguely like I was in a movie for a bit. Then we went over to Jessi's and hung around, before finally getting back home at around 3:30 a.m. Yikes. I am getting old - 3:30 a.m. seems like an ungodly hour to stay up. Me, I'm done by 1:30, maybe 2 at the latest.
Sunday morning I met a bunch of friends for dim sum over in Monterrey Park. I am so the Dim Sum Diva, and was a little disappointed that the rest of the crew was not more enthusiastic about trying different things. I love going with my family, and even Max is a good sport, but the group that I went with was more about the "ha gows" (shrimp dumplings) and the egg tarts, which we ordered several dishes of. Oh well. This is a typical snippet of our conversation, as I was the translator:
Me: "spinach dumplings"
Everyone else: (*crickets*)
Me: "chive dumplings"
Everyone else: (*crickets*)
Me: "Chicken buns"
Everyone else: (*crickets*)
Me: "um, shrimp dumplings"
Everyone else: "OH LET'S GET FIVE ORDERS OF THOSE"
The irony is that I was with 3 1/2 chinese people (one girl is only 1/2 chinese) so I found the silence really bizarre. Actually, one of the best dim sum times I've had was when Max and I took his mom and sister (Lala). Since they had never really had it before, it gave us an excuse to order nearly everything. Hm... now I'm hungry for dim sum.
Afterwards, the girls and Amol went to Ranch 99. I bought lots of easy-to-make Chinese dishes and the ingredients for what Max calls the "1000 year old duck egg SOUP," but it's really more of a rice porridge. Bless his lil heart - Max is one of the few non-Asians I know who's willing to eat preserved duck eggs. I've included a picture, just to show you how brave my man is. You know, they actually had them on Fear Factor.
posted by S at 12:51 PM
7 Comments:
are the eggs tasty? They look scary, but it could be delicious i suppose. Elliot and I were saying we needed you the day she was in NYC, since we were wandering around chinatown and couldn't figure out where to eat. We needed a translator.
I had my first dim sum like a week or two ago (at a fusion place, so it probably doesn't count- one had goat cheese), and i loved it! can't wait to go try more....
Sareet, Monterey Park has great dim sum places. I'm a big dim sum fan myself and we have them pretty much every other week. Our favorites include steamed spareribs, sharksfin/scallop dumplings, sticky rice, tripe, pork bbq buns ... now I'm getting hungry! My hubby (who is not Chinese) will try anything at least once. Although he has not had century eggs yet, he does eat "balut" (which, I guess, is sort of the Filipino equivalent). By the way, balut was on Fear Factor too!
Joanne - balut - (*shudder*). I saw it on the food network and nearly vomited watching the program. The thing about balut is that it's more of a preserved duckling than a preserved egg, don't you think? Maybe we can meet up sometime and get dim sum - last Sunday was a very unsatisfying experience. I like all the things you listed, especially the tripe, which I don't even order when Im with Max b/c I can't finish the dish myself. Hoping this does not come off stalker scary - the whole meeting internet friends in person is a new thing for me.
And melissa - the eggs are good, but I think they're more of an acquired taste. They taste...coppery to me somehow.
preserved duckling?!?! Balut sounds like what it would be like... ba..ba... LUT. I hate to be culturally insensitive- but wow. I had to get used to people eating chicken feet in front of me when I worked in a chinese restaurant (best job EVER!). how old are the eggs actually? The ducklings? Curious foods....
Actually, Melissa, balut is a partially developed duck embryo (typically 18-28 days old). I know it sounds pretty gross. But it's really not that bad - I've had it myself. Many Filipinos believe it's an aphrodisiac (although it's never been scientifically proven), and for others, it's sort of an initiation to "manhood" - the more developed the embryo, the more macho you are. Definitely an acquired taste.
Sareet, sure, we can meet up for dim sum. Let me know when you have a craving and we can meet somewhere like Empress Pavilion.
BTW, I've never met a friend from the Internet either - but I did sort of meet my husband that way. :)
Okay, cool Joanne. I like Empress Pavillion. BTW, what exactly does balut taste like?
What does balut taste like? Hmmm. First of all, we eat it with rock salt (which helps mask the taste somewhat). The yellow part (yolk) - tastes just like regular hard-boiled eggs, while the chick part, tastes like boiled chicken (only more "gamey", maybe more like dark meat turkey or pheasant). It's not so much the taste that's bad - it's the whole "I'm-eating-a-duck-embryo" idea and the fact that it's slimy and crunchy at the same time. (I'm trying not to be too graphic here).
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