"Why do you cook?"

In the Economist, Dr. Richard Wrangham explains the anthropological reasons for why our common ancestors took to eating food charred by the early flames. Cooking food meant that the first humans could digest food more efficiently, absorb the nutrients faster, change, evolve, and eventually learn how to post annoying Facebook photos. That, of course, is human evolution in a nutshell or less. But when I read it, I thought, why do I cook? This same question came up this week. A visitor from a prestigious international cooking school asked me and my colleague if we cooked, and what kind of cooks were we: does cooking relax you or does it stress you out? Does it inspire you or do you only want to be on the other end of the process (eating)? I find cooking to be pretty relaxing, inspiring, creative juices flowing, but there are moments, particularly when surrounded by pots, pans, whirring machinery making sounds it shouldn't, menu planning, realizing guests are arriving at the door and the rice is still raw, oh so many crazy moments before a meal, that the thought comes to mind "why am I doing this?"
Last Sunday, I fed two groups of friends. The first group were fed brunch food: a spinach mushroom quiche, french toast, creamy scrambled eggs, and fruit. Nothing too crazy and outrageous, plus the prep took less than an hour. The second group were fed chinese birthday noodles, boiled dumplings, taro duck (purchased from a local restaurant), and a sichuan style boiled beef. The latter menu required more prep, more kitchen time, more research. What I didn't tell most of the visitors that day was that three of the dishes were totally new to me. First the spinach quiche. I took inspiration from David Lebovitz's blog and riffed off his Spinach pie recipe. I added the mushrooms since I had them, and a load of shredded manchego cheese in lieu of parmesan. While it came out a tad saltier than I had hoped, it matched well with the scrambled eggs which I've made a lot of times before (the addition of cream and mustard make this a standout - something I learned from a Wolfgang Puck recipe).
The second and third dishes also being tested for the first time were the birthday noodles and the sichuan beef. "Misua" is a southern chinese noodle made of egg. They look like rice vermicelli, and bundled in sheaves that you cook quickly over salted boiling water. It takes no more than a few minutes to get it al dente, so it has to be cooked right before serving. The rest of the dish however can take awhile - preparation starts by soaking dried squid overnight, rinsing it out the next day, and then chopping into slivers. Soak a cup of chinese mushrooms for half an hour to an hour, and chop into small pieces. Make a chicken stock out of one chicken, garlic cloves, a good size piece of ginger sliced into coins, coarse salt, peppercorns, and I added some cloves for flavor. The chicken stock was made by placing all the ingredients in a crockpot and simmered for a couple of hours, skimming the scum every so often. The chicken pieces I have put aside, but the stock I kept simmering while I put the rest of the dish together. Saute half a kilo of ground pork with onions and ginger, add the squid, a cup of chopped chinese sausages (these tend to be very fatty and slightly sweet), the mushrooms, and when the pork is browned, add the stock (about 2 cups), and let simmer for an hour. When guests are about to arrive, toss in the cooked noodles. Serve with chopped scallions (greens), fried garlic chips, fried shallots, garlic peanuts, and typically a red-dyed chicken egg (the dye-ing of the eggs is not something I've figured out yet, so needless to say the eggs I served were more a blush pink than red).
This dish is typically served on someone's birthday, so I wanted to share this with the friends coming over for dinner. I have fond memories of this dish while I was growing up, my mother preparing days in advance and making sure we had this to eat for breakfast on any of our birthdays. I called my mom a few days before to ask for general directions, but wasn't sure if it would taste the same. I was pleased with the results except for the not so red eggs, and I'm glad I can turn to the memory of making it for future events.
The beef dish has been something I've planned to make for months now. I had seen it on Appetite for China, and knew I had to tinker with it. I loved this dish in Sichuan restaurants, it would be served boiling and bubbling like something out of hell, all the chillis dancing away on the top of the meat, and after a few spoonfuls, everyone would be sweating away from the dish, gustatory masochism!
I knew all the ingredients were easily found, and I just had to round them up, prep, and prepare, and serve when the diners were there. Other than going to the butcher early in the morning to get a good chunk of meat (and sliced by the kindly butcher to my specifications), it didn't take too long to saute the individual parts - spices, then vegetables, then the chilli bean sauce with stock (shared the stock of the birthday noodles), which got an extra dose of chillis when I added something I found recently - a garlic chilli sauce - and let to simmer away till ready. The beef is doused with chinese rice wine ahead of time, then dusted with cornflour before cooking in the chilli stock. A quick swirl in the fiery stew, ladled out over the greens, and then served with the chilli sauce over it. The only part I didn't get to do was fire up a hot chilli oil to top the dish. By then my small kitchen was overrun with pots and ingredients and plates. One more item would have pushed it over the edge.
When I ponder on the question of why I cook, I figure it's not something I take for granted. I appreciate being fed by friends and family, I know it is a gift, a measure of their time and willingness to share themselves with me. I can only give back in kind. It's a better gift than anything I can buy, and I evolve.

Rock icons

Spinal Tap is back! Or maybe just trying to make us give them more money. In any case, if you were a fan of the movie (This is Spinal Tap), laughed and snorted and nearly fell off the sofa while watching the dvd, then this is the greatest news since ... well since the last slow news day.

Grammies

A hotwater bottle wrapped in a waffle teacloth, some hot tea, and lounging in my jammies, I settled into my sofa to watch the Grammies this morning. Nothing I ate was helping calm my tummy as a bad round of dysmennorhea kept me from leaving the house. Lying in bed wasn't going to get rid of it, and I was feeling less than perky after a long night of traipsing between the room and the bathroom. Women's troubles. Uck.

I didn't pay too much attention during the show, but found myself perking up when I saw that Robert Plant and Allison Krauss were nominated and won 5 awards, including best album for Raising Sand. At first I wondered if it was the same CD I had bought last year, one that I heard on Accuradio earlier in the year, and enjoyed enough to buy it with the help of a visiting friend. Indeed it was. It's a great album, country, rock, folk, blending seamlessly into very singable, sometimes haunting music. This is another case of mature music, not for the teenyboppers, but well written songs that only make sense when you start having more gray hair. Congratulations to the winners!

Week 9

Some of the major points that we covered today included Consistency and the use of silence (or as JI said "Shut up and train"). A few of us, including me, were working with dogs that were normally trained by someone else. I took over Smart today, Hazel and Jon arrived late. Other than having to lure her to go Down, Smart was in good shape for training today, although my left hand feels like raw steak, her teeth are like jagged edges, and she bites down on my hand for the treat. One of the other trainers took over Mitch, who is normally run by K. Mitch is one of the dogs that had previous training, and she can typically plop down into a Sit or a Down with ease. But B couldn't get her to do the positions properly; we figured out that Mitch was not sure what was going on and it was as if her inner mind had decided to shut down after getting her signals crossed. Since B is a chattier trainer, it was also important to learn not to speak too much while getting a dog to do the command. Luring the dog to the proper position first until it is able to do the command properly, then using the command to affirm the position is what JI wants us to learn. We have to stop talking too much to our dogs, we're messing up with their auditory senses.
It was a long training day, even though we left the park at 1 pm, earlier than normal. But intense sessions with our dogs left most of us braindead at the end of the day. I needed cold sustenance and a large glass of sago gulaman was all I needed to pick me up from the floor.

Week 8

It's been three days since my last session at the dog training session. What with all the workload since Sunday, it slipped my mind to write down what we completed and what we need to work on.
Met with John and Hazel at La Vista, tested her on sits and downs. The wily little canine seemed to have lost any interest doing a sit, but her downs were spot on. She still walks John instead of the other way around, so we had to talk to JI about this. We played puppy pingpong until she got tired and plopped down. We should have only done a couple of rounds while she was interested.
JI didn't teach us anything new, but wanted to see how we were doing as a group, so we brought in three dogs at a time, working on the basics. I took Putol (now known as Jack, as he has recently been adopted) in for a round of lessons, but he was not in the mood at all. No sits, just lay down on his side; he was more than typically distracted and couldn't seem to concentrate. I felt like a total failure as a dog trainer on Sunday.
The only highlight was when Smart let me work with her (her usual trainer was on leave that day), so we did a good set of three sits, three downs (with some luring, but she did the position properly), and her Heeling is so lovely to watch. I suggested the new trainer give her a go, since it would be easier to work with a dog with some proficiency, even though Smart can be a real wise-ass at times, not to mention she dislikes being touched on the ruff.
JI gave me a ride out of the village and we chatted about his plans for the team. He does want to get us to learn advanced training and get the dogs into a Good Citizen program, but we need a home with doors.
While it was a difficult day with my two dogs (both adopted! Does that count in my record?) on Sunday, I felt inspired to think about long term plans. Maybe I'll ask JI if I could be an apprentice so I could learn how to work with other dogs, purebreed and rescued.

My subconscious is telling me... something

I have strange dreams, and while I'm not the only one out there with wild dreams, I do enjoy some of the weird symbolism of the dreams, if only I knew what they meant (symbolizing my strange thoughts? that I need to clean my bathroom better?). This morning's dream involved a friend who is an avid foodie, who was selling several of his family's kitchen items, each item solidly placed in what looked like bookshelves and displayed as if they were to be sold in Williams-Sonoma. For some reason, I wanted to get the breadbox, in a 60's bakelight detail, dark blue enamel. So I went to visit him and his family, only their home had turned into a british row-house, very narrow and compressed. The dog was there to greet me, but what caught my attention was a new dog they got, which only had a head, a barking, yapping, white head with barely any body left to it, perhaps a thrush like tail wagging in the back. I wasn't too surprised by the "eric-the-half-a-dog" nature of the new pet, but I did ask them if it was eating well. My friend looked very weak and aged, like his health was poor; he was weakly sipping at the bowl of duck soup, moaning about the lack of flavor and how difficult it was to eat properly.

Should I warn the friend that he might be the owner of a new half-dog soon?

5 out of 7: name the original justice league of america

Can you name all 7 of the original characters of the Justice League of America? I only remembered 5 of the 7. Take the quiz to test your childhood memory.

In my youth

Nostalgia is an emotion typically tinged with sadness: a favorite toy to be given away, long lost traditions over Christmas, riding a special carnival ride, reminiscing with childhood friends over one's youth. From a bright and optimistic morning, I've hit a late afternoon post-caffeine crash, and reading the news that Hershey's is closing the Joseph Schmidt and Scharffenberger factories in SF didn't help. The latter was never as closely connected to my younger days as Joseph Schmidt, however, I do understand that the many fans of the SB chocolates will be regrettably upset over the closure of the plants in the Bay area. But Joseph Schmidt was as close to nirvana when I was in college, beautiful belgian chocolate truffles, decorated, molded, boxed beautifully, rich and redolent, and hard to find. Nordstrom's carried them infrequently when I was in college, so I would sometimes wait for my sister up in SF to send me a box if she remembered. I took a factory tour one year, and how it opened my eyes to what real chocolate was all about, the velvety textures on the tongue, palate and back of the throat when it melts and lingers. How even the disliked alcoholic liquer-ed chocolates tasted better because they weren't using cheap harsh brandy or rum. And the smell... my olfactoral memories remember the heady depths of roasted cocoa beans in that space, seeped into the pores of the timbers of the walls and posts.
It's all going the way of what was. A day ending in nostalgia.

Fruit at the door

I walked in through the back entrance of the building, whistling. There was a tune in my head, I couldn't identify it. Climbing down the stairs, I grinned at the lady security guard, and saw a man standing next to her with a plastic container filled with small clementines, kiat-kiat's we call them here. He noticed I was interested in the fruit and offered to sell me some. For P100 a kilo, he said they were sweet and seedless. The guard shared a couple of segments with me, I popped them into my mouth; juicy, citrusy, sugary goodness. The fruit-man said he'd weigh the fruits nearby and bring me my order.
A few minutes later, he comes straight to the door, a large bag of kiat-kiat ready for me. Pears and larger clementines are also on sale, but I only have eyes (and stomach) for the small fruit. He tells me he's here daily, and will have grapes tomorrow if I like, mangoes too. He promises to bring me some extra large carabao mangoes from Pangasinan, and adds me to his list of suki in the building.
I've begun peeling the kiatkiats, their skin is so thin, and barely any air in the body. The fruit segments are not dry, as you sometimes find in supermarket bags of kiats, and each one is as sweet as the last. Fruitman has made my morning even brighter than I expected.

Just a spoonful of worms and dirt

Alleluia! Finally, an article that says everything I believe in about letting kids roll around in dirt, having pets, and how all this extreme cleanliness is not always good for you. Thank you, Ms. Brody for writing the article, and especially to Drs. Weinstock and Elliott!

Dance dance brow-volution

Week 7, diagnoistics and moving forward

Today was a hard day for dog training, handlers and dogs alike seemed out of sync. I thought it was just me, but everyone mentioned it at one point or another, that their dogs were not acting normal (we think Makisig is sick), wondering why a dog who used to be a snappy Down stay suddenly seemed to be deaf when her handler said Down (or she'd just go into a Sit). Sigh. I had to work with two dogs, Hazel (who has her owner with her now, so we're working in tandem) and Putol (who will end up pulling my arms out of their sockets, since he's so difficult to run with). The latter was stubborn and willful all through the run, but turned into a near dreamboat inside the training area. He did his sits and sit-stays beautifully; we struggled a bit with the downs, but by the end of the training session he was plopping down into downs relatively well.

I was so thrilled to see Hazel doing downs without having to be put into a sit. She hadn't been too keen on going into the Down position for weeks now, having to be lured constantly, and sometimes not wanting the treat if she had to work for it. Now, she did her sits perfectly, her sit stays are getting longer, and her downs are spot on! Yay! I'm giving her owner, John, a schedule to work with this week so she retains all her commands, and we look forward to a potentially smooth graduation in 4 weeks.

But the other dogs caused JI to worry a bit. He felt that after 7 weeks of training, the dogs should be able to do the Sit, Down, and hold longer stays by now. Not everyone was up to par though and it was troublesome to say the least. He held a diagnostic for the 8 dogs and only 5 could handle the basic commands, but Mitch wasn't as on the mark as she normally is and Makisig wasn't going to do the down at all. Iris, our old dame, is a bit friskier, but she has had too many handlers, she needs one person to work with instead of being passed on to someone else.

I am happy with Hazel working so hard and the instances when Putol and I worked in synchronicity, but I hope today was merely a bump in the road. We all want our dogs to finish this level and move on to better, happier things, like a happy home.

Seguing a bit to my own dog, she's been groomed and sheared of her "winter" er "wet weather" coat. She looks half her size, and has this poof on her head (I didn't ask for it, grrrr). My mother will not recognize her I'm sure.

Death by (pick your poison)

If I drank 346.2 cans of Coke Zero at my current weight, it could kill me. Likewise, I'd have to drink over 2000 glasses of chocolate milk to push me over the edge. Meanwhile, I'd die a happy death by scooping myself 248.83 cups of Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream.
How would you like to die? Death by Caffeine can help you figure it out.

Day 3: one week later

After 7 days away from the gym, I went back this morning. Too many excuses this week over not waking up in time meant zero time at the gym, so I went to sleep extra early last night and woke up at 5:45 am to prepare and be ready for the gym before 7 am.

Treadmill, 41 minutes, 3.5 km (200 calories)
Rowing machine, 20 minutes, 4 km (155 calories)
Ab exercises, 20 minutes. 70 crunches/bicycle crunches, 5 plank holds, 10 reps on back exercises.

My left upper thigh and hip still feel sore after last week's experience on the climber.

Read an article that explained in some detail how long haul weight loss has more to do with the diet than exercise, reason being that a diet high in fruits, vegetables, good proteins, healthy fats maintains a body's needs, and is more about the behavior change necessary to remain healthy. Exercise is important, but it causes some people to eat more which translates to higher calorie intake. A holistic doctor also wrote how having too much simple sugars and processed foods in one's diet affects more than just the amount of weight you carry around but the hormonal adjustments as one ages. One female client noticed weird male pattern baldness symptoms as she aged and it was but a matter of changing her diet. But it's all easier said than done. I am eating more fruit, at least 1 apple or pear in the morning, and 5 pieces of kiat-kiats in the afternoon. My veg intake is still infrequent though! I have to make sure I get my fiber intake up, and not through processed edibles.

Line up for half-smokes

In a post about where to eat in DC, a photo was taken of the lines outside Ben's Chili Bowl, famous for their half-smoke and chili, plus the rule that the only person who eats free at Ben's is Bill Cosby. He was joined recently on that list by the new President and his family. The 50+ year old institution in the heart of U St. district hosted Mr. Obama a few weeks back; he was overheard asking one of the diners what a half-smoke was. Mr. Cosby jokingly complained that the new President dropped the ball on that issue and shouldn't be allowed the free dogs!
Last September, I was staying with friends who live near Adams Morgan, and the U St/Cardozo Metro was one of the easiest stations to get to from their place. On one of our walks around the neighborhood, J recommended I stop by Ben's for a half-smoke when I had free time. There are several places to get the half-smoke in DC, and it is rather amusing that some bloggers think that the only "indigenous" food to the DC area is the half-smoke. Since Ben's is rather famous for their dogs and chili, I was loathe not to try it, being in the neighborhood and all. After a long day out and about, I did go in for a half-smoke with chili, and then had myself a chocolate milkshake. I think it might have been my nostalgic act of always having a shake with my burgers at in-n-out that made me go with the somewhat disastrous combination of hotdog, chilli, and milkshake. Children, listen up. Don't do what I did. It's not good for the tummy, even though flavorwise it sure tasted great. The place was not full, I didn't have any lines to fight my way through, and the server was a nice young woman who helped me figure out what I wanted. I'm glad I don't have to go to DC anytime soon to get a half-smoke, those lines are ridiculous! But if I ever go back to DC, there are some interesting Eritrean restaurants I must go back to try!

Speech! Speech!

Friends who are lucky enough to be in Washington DC are going to be part of a projected 3 to 4 million people attending the inauguration of Barack Obama, as the 44th President of the United States of America. One friend has promised to share his photos, another will post details of the balls. Friends who are working for US Embassies around the world are going to enjoy the day (or night) celebrating this historic event.

I am reading a witty article that explains the history of Presidential inaugurations, the traditions, the speeches, the color of this day of days, celebrated (or shunned) by millions of American once every four years, betwixt the Olympics and the World Cup. Using historical references, reading every inaugural speech over the last 200 plus years, eyeballing every inaugural photograph taken since that of James Buchanan in 1857, referencing all the traditions that have evolved, the constitutional aspects affecting the event, Ted Widmer writes about how this celebration has renewed the spirit of the American people, or signified, perhaps nothing. My favorite part is his condensation of the theme of a Presidential inauguration speech (and a topic that has been beaten to death of late, with previous speech writers commenting on how and what should be said, what significance may be drawn from one word or another). Simply put, the speech includes the following process:


"1. I am not worthy of this great honor.
2. But I congratulate the people that they elected me.
3. Now we must all come together, even those of us who really hate each other.
4. I love the Constitution, the Union, and George Washington.
5. I will work against bad threats.
6. I will work for good things.
7. We must avoid entangling alliances.
8. America’s strength = democracy.
9. Democracy’s strength = America.
10. Thanks, God."

I also couldn't help but guffaw when I read that President Eisenhower's "God Float" in the parade looked like a deformed molar from a dental exhibit.

But the article, written before the second inauguration of President Bush in 2005, has it's solemn moments, reminding us all how words and actions don't always mesh. To paraphrase George Orwell, democracy does not whitewash injustice, does not condone complacency in the face of evil. The inauguration, tonight or those in the future, should be the basis for holding those in power accountable to their words. A promise for a better tomorrow.

Week 6: Heel, plus agility tests

What a packed day of lessons!
Before going into all the details of the class, I found out that Hazel had been adopted. Good for her, and doubly wonderful is that her new owner, Jon, is going to continue her training. We met up at the training session and he's willing to keep her through the training program until she graduates. We'll also plan to hold some extra training sessions at his home so she can be ready to do the major exercises JI has planned to graduate both dog and trainer.
As for what we learned today, we had to train our dogs to heel, which is not just about keeping the dog by our side, but training the dog to maintain eye contact in motion. We walked with the dog by our left side, fed at a regular interval so long as the dog stayed next to us (always at the left) and didn't break from the exercise. The point of teaching a dog to heel is to avoid having a dog go off on its own, to smell another dog or approach another person while out and about in a crowded situation. JI explained that when the military trained dogs, they kept the dog on the left side since they had to have their right hands free (guns were usually hung at the right hip). The dog is in a somewhat uncomfortable position in a heel, they are expected to focus on their walker/trainer/owner while walking, their heads turned upward to the right, keeping contact with their person.
Most of our dogs are now well socialized, with few cases of complete insubordination (!), so they took to the Heel training relatively well. We didn't have a case where the dog didn't follow, but it did happen that one dog tried to herd her walker until JI told the trainer not to let the dog choose the direction of the path. If a dog tries to jump ahead of the trainer during the Heel, use the left knee to stop that behavior. Also, he told us to call the dog to Heel before any turns, otherwise you lose the attention of your dog.
I was working with Hazel alongside her new owner, and it took awhile for her to get a sense of what we were doing, since she is still learning to bond with Jon. He also had to pick up the philosophy of the clicker training all in one morning. He was sort of thrown into the puddle but managed quite well by the end of the morning.
The next major lesson we worked on was agility training. JI brought in hurdles, a tire and a tunnel, which we were taught to use to get the dogs to jump over or through, or run/walk through. It was lots of fun to get the dogs to hop over the hurdles or try to get them to jump through the tire (we skipped this exercise since Hazel's head isn't past the tire's lower run, she's energetic but not ready for this yet). The tunnel took a bit of work, since dogs don't like having something that hangs over their heads; Hazel took time and several repeated runs before she had the courage to go through the tunnel. But when JI was observing her at this, she balked! We had to shorten the tunnel and lure her through again, only to fail at the last walk through. She was pooped, poor thing, and so were we all. Several of the dogs just plopped down after all this work, only attempting to beg for some of the chicken sandwiches we had for lunch, but with less exuberance than they normally do before the exercise.
Tiring day, full day, we're moving forward towards graduating the dogs in a month, and it's an exciting but scary plan. If the dog or the trainer fail, then we have to keep at it until JI evaluates us to have passed the course. We have a month to get the dogs to do all of the ff: a one minute sit stay, a three minute down stay (oh no, this is the one that is going to be the harder command for Hazel), a 5 minute bed stay, walking loosely on leash, the Come command, and Heel. The sit and bed isn't going to be too hard for Hazel, what will be the focus of our training will be to work on the Down, and to improve her leash walk since she's got a stubborn streak.

Chocolate dreams

The last two days have seen me in more than my usual share of supermarkets, delis and food purveyor stores. Tonight I was at another large supermarket, pushing my cart up and down the aisles, picking up fresh vegetables, pantry staples, and some necessities to keep the cat happy. Usually, I'll spend a few seconds checking if the Haagen-Dazs freezer has coffee or hoping against hope they'll bring back vanilla fudge. Tonight what really made me stop and lust was the well stocked Lindt display. Not just the typical bars of milk chocolate and white chocolate, but they had several of the dark chocolates (Madagasgar, 60%cacao for example), and orange infused chocolates, plus one bar on the bottom shelf infused with almonds. My mind raced thinking how I'd use the different flavors, my hand hovering over one choice over another. Truffles using the dark chocolate and maybe the white chocolate bar, or maybe add chips from the orange chocolate bar to some cookie dough, or maybe some of the small bars so I can nibble when I'm feeling blue...

On NPR, Kitchen Windows has an article about the Spanish obsession with chocolate. One of the brands given page time is Valor, a good spanish chocolate label, easily found locally at Terry's. But I don't think I've seen the bonbons sold locally, I wonder what the vinegar and chocolate flavor would taste like? It's unlikely they'd use something as harsh as a sinumak! The cream of chocolate recipe sounds easy and wonderfully rich, I know what to serve some friends this February for brunch. Or maybe I can make the whipped chocolate spread to go with some hearty toasted bread, just as they do in an Argentinian hotel I read about. Life's not always like a box of chocolates, I prefer making it a part of my life.

Day 2

Day two at the gym - 10 minutes on a step-climber that was painful and not at all what I had expected. I got on it thinking it was an elliptical trainer, but found myself painfully trying to stay in momentum. I don't like this machine at all! And now my left hip/buttock hurts like a muscle was pulled. Keeping far from that contraption from now on.
Moved on to the treadmill for 40 minutes, 3 km completed, with an incline of 5 (not sure how that translates). Forgot to check calorie count, but was far more pooped out this time around.
Lunges and squats - 40 reps each
shoulder and biceps - 30 reps each
Crunches on ball - 50 reps

The walk to work was pleasant, more sunshine today than yesterday, and a lot more humidity.

Resolution number 1

Resume workout. After 22 months of avoiding the lockers of a gym, I've resumed attending to my health. Today was day one! Along with writing about the dog training, this blog better be put to some use helping me get healthier, instead of being my navel gazing forum. Love my navel and happy I can still see past it to my toes, but better that I stop having to suck in my gut to see my toes.

Exercise detail:
35 minutes - treadmill, 3 km (reminder - bring pedometer)
12 minutes - rowing machine
Estimated calorie burned up - 250

Weights - arms and chest. 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
Crunches - 50 reps

After the workout, I took a 22 minute walk to work, through Glorietta, Greenbelt and the Ayala triangle. A lot of changes in the area, with two new buildings where old parking lots used to be. In Glorietta 5, they've placed Luk Yuen next to North Park with Chowking right on top of them both. Sort of a triumverate of cheap chinese food, MSG billowing out towards the customers. National Bookstore is moving to the new Glorietta 5 building, this signals somethings afoot with fixing up Glorietta 1 and 2, starting with the area that blew up/exploded/place your government conspiracy excuse here.

Things I like about the gym - not crowded, the bathroom is well stocked with fluffy towels, and a nice pepperminty shower gel. Plus the machines have those individual tv connections, so I can watch any cable channel I feel like for the time I'm huffing and puffing on the treadmill.

Week 5, free hazel free

The Sunday training sessions are averaging 4 hours a day, sometimes 5 like today. It isn't all about lectures, running the dog, or watching and commenting on how the lessons go, but it does take time and I end up at home close to 4 pm and weary. And wanting a donut. Yay for Krispy Kreme on days like today.

So we had to learn how to keep the dogs in a Stay position, specifically the Sit and Down. Basically the Stay command isn't a command, but a discipline. The dog remains in either a Sit or a Down position, and given several factors (duration, the distance the trainer moves away from the dog, and environmental distractions), the dog Stays (hence the term) until it has been released. It was also evident why we had been told to use the word Free when we wanted the dog to break the position. The Stay command is more an aggregate of whatever position you are requiring of the dog, the factors you put into play, and the release command (Free). There were some things that seemed a bit confusing to me. JI said that we were not to complicate or confuse our dogs by teaching them to stay for a length of time and add distance by walking away. However, it eventually was evident that duration and distance are closely knit. You hopefully get the dog to hold a position, learn patience by remaining as they were, and by adding a couple of movements on your end away from them, they must focus on a stillness that is not inherent to their nature. The distractions today were numerous, but at least Hazel showed fortitude in the face of other noises going on. I was very happy with her progress today even though we didn't get any time during the week. My plans today had included an hour with her before everyone else showed up but I woke up too late to put that into motion, so I spent 10 minutes with her offleash in the court while the other dogs went on their run.

However, my partnership with the puppy may be at an end. Germaine, one of the other puppies was adopted last week; his handler wants another puppy and has her eyes on Hazel. I think it might be good to have Hazel socialize with her and I can move on to a more problematic dog, like Putol. We'll see how that goes next Sunday.

JI said our graduation exercise will be a test of how good we train our dogs to stay, eeps! If I move to another dog, it won't be easy to get it to the level it needs but I shall try.

Lettuce and more lettuce

My sister returned from her new year foray in Baguio and dumped bags of lettuce on my doorstep. Am I a rabbit? Do I look like one to her? What am I going to do with kilos of lettuce? I gave some of the bounty away (thanks to friends J and C, and my cousin), but it still left me with a couple of bags of lola rosa and butter lettuce left. I went through online resources, munching on a salad for inspiration, and went to work. For my first lettuce meal, I crisped up two thin medallions of pork (originally meant for tonkatsu) in the broiler. When they were cooked and crispy, I chopped them into squares, strew them into the washed and dried lettuce, and tossed the salad with a pesto vinaigrette (basil pesto, lemon juice, a dash of sugar, and some paprika). The pork added a crunch to the salad, like croutons.

Tonight I was perusing Tastespotting and saw a simple coleslaw recipe. The blogger used cabbage, vinegar and salt to taste. I figured I needed to use up a head of lettuce, so I rough chopped the leftover 3/4 head of cabbage I had in my crisper, threw in the ribbons of butter lettuce, squeezed several cloves of roasted garlic, a swig of sesame oil, a glug of mirin, some honey, salt and pepper, cayenne pepper, and a glug of fish sauce with a pinch of ginger powder. Toss well. It's a light and pleasant salad. Zingy.

Travel track down

Since 2001 travelling to the US has seemed at times more hassle than its worth. I know of friends who have decided not to renew their visas or have simply announced never to travel to America, ever. The stress over applying for a visa, the interview, the cost, then the security at the border, plus the sense of is it worth all this trouble just to give your child a chance to see Mickey Mouse in person or to stand in line to enter the Statue of Liberty?

Last September I flew back to the US for a month of railroad travel, and had read about the problems some travellers encountered at the border, when their computers, cameras, blackberries, even ipods were taken from them by the customs officials and weren't returned to them for reasons of security. There was an article of one American traveller who didn't get his laptop back for a month, who wrote that colleagues of his from other countries didn't get their equipment returned even after 3 months had passed and innumerable queries from their company had been sent to Homeland Security. I chose not to bring too many electronic items with me, but it would still have been intolerable to have to turn over my camera if they demanded it. There's little you can do, there are laws they can use against a traveller, and it's not easy to recall one's rights at moments of stress.

An article I came across today also highlights the efforts of the US government to track both their citizens and other nationals when crossing into US soil. The writer, Sean O'Neill, explains that all border crossings are sent to DHS and files of all citizens are kept for up to 15 years.

"The commercial airlines send these passenger records to Customs and Border Protection, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security. Computers match the information with the databases of federal departments, such as Treasury, Agriculture, and Homeland Security. Computers uncover links between known and previously unidentified terrorists or terrorist suspects, as well as suspicious or irregular travel patterns. Some of this information comes from foreign governments and law enforcement agencies. The data is also crosschecked with American state and local law enforcement agencies, which are tracking persons who have warrants out for their arrest or who are under restraining orders. The data is used not only to fight terrorism but also to prevent and combat acts of organized crime and other illegal activity."

For identity security, the concern lies in the massive undertaking of tracking down the millions of Americans and international travellers who enter and exit the borders each year, managing all this data, and avoiding a security leak that would put at risk all these people's data if it were to be used by criminals. It's a scenario fit for an espionage thriller, with an crazed criminal using all our details for monetary gain or worse. I'm not sure there's a hero capable enough to keep something like that at bay.

Limey

This week is turning into a botanical lesson, I've just learned of two varieties of limes that I had never heard of before.
The first is the finger lime, a elongated citrus fruit that grows in Australia, the fruit looks more like a tiny zucchini, and the pulp looks like caviar! They have grown fingerlimes in different colors, from eggplant purple to red to green, and the pebbly looking pulp also comes in a variety of colors, some of the combinations look like a Shanghai Tang mao jacket.
Today, I came across this article about the Rangpur lime, a variety grown in India, with a bright orange pulp. It's supposedly a hybrid between a mandarin orange and a lime, with tart flesh, a "smoky" essence, and a lot of juice.
Since I am currently trying to preserve some of the limes friends gave me for xmas, it seems like everywhere I turn, someone's talking limes.

Happy accidents

Sometimes the best things in life are complete mistakes. I've had my fair share of bad baking/cooking scenarios, and lately all the breads I've been trying to bake have either fallen flat, or turned into loaves of cement. Just yesterday, a simple thing like making plain steamed rice bit me in the ass, and instead of a well cooked pot of rice, I ended up with soggy rice in the bottom and crusty, undercooked kernels above. Argh. Today, not in the mood to cook, but having to clean out my fridge, I pulled out a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough I had made on Sunday, and found the dough to be too hard to even shape. It was so hard that when I tried to poke at it with a fork, a chip flew out and bonked me in the nose. So I petulantly stuck the bowl in the microwave to warm the darn thing up. Unfortunately I put it in too long, and by the time I got it out, the chips had melted into the dough, uh oh. Would it bake? Was there any reprieve for my impatience? I put a few spoonfuls into my turbo on a round cookie pan I threw together, and hoped for the best (at 375 degrees celsius for 12 minutes). The smell of baking cookies lifted my mood, and I gulped down a glass of milk in anticipation, oh the wafting aroma of chocolate, how I heart thee.
When I lifted the pucks from the pan and let it cool a bit, I thought these are not going to win a cookie beauty contest, but they seem like they baked right. After jogging in place for a minute while they cooled, I finally grabbed a small cookie, and oh heaven. Accidents do happen, and when they do, stick them in the oven and bake for a bit. Who knows what glory will pop out to turn your mood around?

It's all chinese to me

Caught sight of this on the side of the road: two mannequins dressed up in ninja costumes (all black, long sleeves, a mask covering the lower half of the face and most of the head), with what looked like a plastic sword sticking out the back. Wearing red sashes that read, in both chinese characters and pinyin (this refers to the alphabetization of chinese characters), Happy Chinese New Year. I so want to stop by them one day and plunk a glittery tiara on one of their heads.

My friend is organizing a chinese new year dinner and has been asking what day to hold the dinner. She asked if it would be wrong to hold the dinner on the day of the chinese new year, since she thought it was a day to fast among the chinese community. Fast? Chinese people??? Unless they're monks cleansing themselves for physiological reasons, I can't recall ever hearing of any Chinese group that fasts, especially the new year. I pulled out my handbook on chinese traditions (ie my father) and sent her the list of traditional activities for celebrating the new year. And I don't see anything about fasting on it!

Day 1 welcomes the gods of the heavens and earth; some folks will abstain from eating meat to ensure long life. No fasting.

Day 2, pray to the ancestors as well as to all the gods. Be kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs (strangely enough, a lot of older gen chinese folks are not too dog friendly, I wonder why...).

Days 3 and 4 are for sons-in-laws to pay respect to their parents-in-law.

On Day 5 people stay home to welcome the God of Wealth. No one visits families and friends on this day because it will bring both parties bad luck.

From the sixth to the tenth day, the Chinese visit their relatives and friends freely. They also visit the temples to pray for good fortune and health. Feasting at every stop, since no wants to be seen as too cheap to forget feeding the visitors.

The seventh day of the New Year is the day for farmers to display their produce. A juice from seven types of vegetables celebrates the bounty of the season; which is somewhat contradictory to normal Chinese weather patterns - it's the dead of winter, and farmers have to come up with their produce?? and juice 7 vegies?? It boggles the mind. The seventh day is also considered the birthday of human beings (all humans? even the ones born the day before? This one still befuddles me.). Uncut noodles are eaten to promote longevity and raw fish for success (the word for fish - yu - is a homonym to a word that refers to success).

On the eighth day the residents of Fujian province hold another family reunion dinner, and at midnight they pray to Tian Gong, the God of Heaven. No idea if the folks in Guangdong, Hubei, Shandong are just twiddling their fingers waiting for the Fujianese to finish up, or they could all still be visiting more family and friends.

The ninth day is to make offerings to the Jade Emperor.

Days 10 to 12 are intended for dinners with friends and relatives; rather than traipsing around visiting them and being fed, it's your turn to host!
By the 13th day and unable to stand anymore rich foods, cleanse your system with rice soup (zhou, congee) and mustard greens. This is as close to a fast as it gets. But you're still eating.

The 14th day is to prepare for the big night: Lantern Festival, held on the 15th night.

Week 4, Spot, Come

Oh boy, not only did we get at least 9 rules to remember, but we also had to try to teach two commands. One was to train the dog to touch an object with it's nose or to come close to it (one of the ways of training the dog is known as Shaping, rewarding the dog for approaching an object or performing an action incrementally, until the dog has completed the process). It took us a long time to get the dogs, particularly Mitch, who was not too keen on the object we first chose for her - an empty water bottle. It worked a bit better when we tried the frisbee, and one of the puppies, Germaine, took to it very quickly. Hazel only had a short couple of minutes to learn this and I don't think she understood the reason I was trying to feed her from the frisbee! She eventually got the idea that she was going to be given a treat when she looked at the frisbee, but we didn't get to the point where she was voluntarily touching the frisbee with her nose, I was still having to waggle the disk before she'd even glance at it.

She did a lot better when we used her to teach the command Come. JI explained that there are three deal breaking commands - come to me, go away, and stay wherever I tell you to. I sort of wonder why we didn't learn these right away, but perhaps they are the hardest level of commands and we needed the weeks to bond with our dogs first. Hazel still pulls on the leash and there's not much I can do to control her when she's got it in her head to go wherever she feels like. Maybe I'm not the right person for her. I feel sad thinking I could be creating more problems for her in the long run. She is sitting on command now, either with a word or the index finger. She has had a couple of problems going into the crate especially when she senses she's going to be in there without any of the other dogs around. She has no problems with the bed, but still needs to learn how to stay on the bed after she's received her treat. If she's to 'graduate' from the program, we're going to have to do a lot more morning sessions.

Goals for the week - work with Hazel at least 2x this week, focus on the bond, spot command, and build up crate training.

My gratitude list for the past year

Things I am grateful for experiencing in the last 12 months:

1. The continued presence of my family. Both my parents suffered from poor health, but they're much stronger than they seem. They are still walking around, nagging us to death.
a. a subset to this point is that a good friend is now working at MMC and he helped me several times when we needed help with getting rooms at the hospital.

2. Longstanding friendships, some of whom are not physically nearby but continue to stay in touch even through separation of distance and time. I am also grateful for meeting a host of new friends through similar interests in food or blogging or dog training.

3. The lack of natural disasters - no super typhoons, no earthquakes, no tsunamis, no droughts. The year may have been tumultuous in so many other places and in so many other ways, but Manila survived another year with few hits compared to years past.

4. Working through tough times. I'm glad I can still work, still pay my rent, feed myself (and the pets), and donate things to others who need it more than I do.

5. The new dog, who is a bundle of curly, cinnamonny fur, bouncy joy. She makes my mother happy, even brings a smile to my dad's face, and has helped my nervous ninny of a niece get over her fear of animals.

6. The opportunities to eat great meals, not just here, but in Thailand, in Hong Kong, in the US.

7. Travel! A new passport is getting stamped with ports of entry and exit. Nothing is sadder than a passport that never gets used.

8. Podcasts. I have had an ipod for two years, and only began downloading free podcasts this year. What a joy to have such a resource during downtime, waiting in line at the bank, or stuck in traffic, or people watching in a cafe. Plug in the earphones and listen to something new.

9. New pair of shoes.

10. Chocolates in Manila. Not the waxy stuff either, real couverture stuff.

And even though the year is also one of loss, of saying goodbye to a relationship, of ending a job, of reducing the material items in life, I am thankful for the experience of having had the time with all those people and things.

The new jellybeans

Ronald Reagan made jelly beans the candy du jour, boosted Jelly Belly's company profile and made it a globally consumed item, great for packing in one's balikbayan box. For the Obama generation, I forecast the President-elect's favorite salted caramel chocolates from Fran's chocolates in Seattle, will be the food legacy of his government. New York Times has an article explaining the stages of mass consumption of this somewhat esoteric sweet, but salted caramels are now in Walmart, so it's definitely mass market. I haven't seen it hit Filipino stores yet (when will Starbucks bring over the salted caramel hot chocolate???), but I look forward to seeing it featured. I have had to savor the small bag of salted caramels I bought from the cheese store in the States, but that's only going to last a week or less. I could make it, but..

Sweet and spicy

The blog, Wandering Chopsticks, is a great resource for Vietnamese/Indochinese/Pan-asian recipes and for all her tips and reviews of restaurants in California. Two weeks ago I had read her post on how to make a Laotian pork larb, a spicy sauteed pork with herbs dish served with cabbage or sticky rice. Larb (also spelled larp, laab, laap) is also found in many Thai restaurant menus, and can range from mildly spicy to searingly hot, depending on the intensity of the fish sauce, nuoc mam, used in the mix. Wandering Chopsticks broke down the recipe into three parts: the toasted rice powder, the nuoc mam, and then the larb itself. The individual parts make for a fantastic whole, and I put it all together with some tweaking based on what ingredients I found locally.

There was no problem toasting and grinding the rice, and a half cup of jasmine rice makes enough toasted powder to store for other dishes. I did adjust the nuoc mam by adding bagoong balayan (the intensely fishy fermented sauce) to the mix - a couple of teaspoons of that along with patis (local fish sauce), a dash of sugar, a paste of Thai chillis and garlic, a teaspoon of vinegar, and a squeeze of calamansi - that should suffice to spice up the ground pork! I browned half a kilo of ground pork, drained it in the sink to remove as much of the pork juice, added the nuoc mam to the pork and spooned the meat onto the serving plate. Two tablespoons of the rice powder soaks up some of the moisture remaining in the meat, but also adds a lovely nutty flavor to the dish. Chopped up some thai chillis (yes for extra heat), a light chiffonade of coriander leaves and basil (I searched for mint but was unsuccessful), and a wedge of raw cabbage to scoop the tasty pork salad. This is a favorite for sure. Easy to make, and relatively healthy. For non-pork eaters, use ground turkey or chicken or maybe a seafood of choice.

From heat to sweet, I had to throw together a mango dessert for a party, and was not as well prepared as I should have been. For one, I didn't have the main ingredient! I dashed off to Farmer's Market early on a Saturday morning, grabbed a kilo of mangoes, and a bag of otap biscuits (a local flaky sugary biscuit). Since the dessert needed to be frozen, I was hoping that a few hours would suffice, but had doubts it would be firm enough to serve properly. The recipe I was using came from my friend I, who couldn't be at the party, and I was making the recipe so she'd be there in spirit (and in our tummy, which is a rather odd thing to want, but hey, it's to share our annual gathering with her in some fashion). She normally makes this dessert with crushed graham crackers and cream and condensed milk. I did make changes - first otap vs graham crackers, and the addition of pastillas to the cream. It turned into a tres leches (three milk) dessert - all purpose cream, a can of condensed milk, and mashed up pastillas blended together to make a very thick custard. It's basically a layered dessert, the crushed biscuits, topped with the mangos and then smothered in the custard. Repeat until it's high enough for the container, then stick into a freezer for a few hours. Preferably overnight to firm it up, but in this case, we managed with about 4 hours of freeze. I was pleased how the flaky crushed otaps worked with the sweet mangoes and creaminess of the custard. And the addition of the pastillas does take the dessert a bit over the top, but was totally worth it. Now why hasn't anyone made mango flavored pastillas candies?? It would work I tell you!

With a full tummy, good friends, healthy family members, I look forward to 2009, and put all the challenges of 2008 behind me.

Lady luck

My friend Cam and I tried something neither of us had ever done before, we played the lotto. Now, I've bet on the lottery in the US before, it's relatively straight forward, either choose numbers or have the machine do it for you; the other option is a scratch card, typically get three of the same numbers or prizes and that's the prize you win for that card. The local lottery, however, seemed to be a bit more complicated and I had never attempted it. Cam and I figured we'd test our luck for fun, after having a nice long massage over the holidays.

We went to a Lotto office, and saw the long lines and people filling out cards. We hadn't been sure of the choices, but one of Cam's masseuses told us how to play the easiest option, EZ2: choose two numbers and bet P10. She said that December 29 was the festival day of her town, so she asked us to bet 12-29 for her. We got an EZ2 card and started reading the directions. Boy, they sure make the rules a lot more complicated than it seems! We had to read it a few times, ask help from one fellow standing in line and even got directions from the ladies tending to the bets. Yikes!

We filled out an EZ2 card, bet P20, one for the masseuse and one for ourselves. Then we figured we'd go all out and try the Power Lotto! The big daddy of the lottery, if you get all 5 numbers plus another lucky number right, you win P50million! We definitely got a bit confused about that one, had to void a couple of the panels since we thought we were supposed to choose 6 numbers. And then we forgot to choose a lucky number and the ladies had to tell us to choose them before paying. Since the Power Lotto is a bigger pot, we had to pay more for it too. Two sets of numbers cost us P100 or P50 for each bet. Our total layout - P120.

The EZ2 is staged everyday, actually I discovered there's a 2 pm draw and a 9 pm draw! Wow, that's a lot of betting going on, and all for a pot of P4000. The Power Lotto is only drawn every Tuesday, but there are some variable lottos drawn on a daily basis (some require 4 numbers, some 6 numbers, a whoozy choice). Anyway, as of tonight, none of the bets we made came up as the winning set. It was an interesting experience and not too expensive, but I'm not going to be standing in line everyday to bet a tenner or a fifty once a week to try my luck.

Fusion food

Wandering through supermarket aisles may be considered odd by some, but I admit to doing my fair share. I especially enjoy taking tours of supermarkets or drug stores or even hardware stores in countries I travel to for the first time. It can tell you a lot about the local culture, not to mention finding items you are familiar with at home, stocked in a supermarket thousands of miles away; it helps with any homesickness you feel when travelling.

Taking in the wares at Rustan's supermarkets over the holidays I noticed they've added a whole selection of French imports. I perused the packaged foods, noted a lot of coucous and herbs for cooking couscous, chestnut spreads, sea salt from Guerande, Riz d'Or bouillon cubes, and.. wait... El Paso Guacamole??? Er, ok, so it has some french words on it, but when did a product with Tex-mex roots become a French import? I guess since it sat next to the Harisa herbs for couscous, french cuisine is no longer xenophobic, at least not here in Asia.

PAWS Week 3

10 am to 2:30 pm. Ran with Hazel in La Vista for 30 minutes, noticed she was willing to do a sit a couple of times when the other dogs were not around.
JI gave us instructions on beginning crate training (getting the dog to go into the crate using a treat and clicker), and how to get the dogs to go into a down position (belly down on the ground, as well as all four paws). We were also taught how to use a tug toy.
Finally got Hazel to do sits with the help of treats, but getting her to do a Down was much harder. JI had to show me a scooping/bowling motion to get her used to the idea of going down on her belly. But it's still not a total success. She is getting used to the idea of sitting to get her treat, and when I used the dog bed, she climbed up on the bed, sat, and stayed for a bit before I gave her the release. As for the crate training, we did succeed in having her climb in a few times with the help of the liver treat, but she doesn't like going in her crate when we have to put them in it during the ride back to the shelter. Maybe she knows she won't be able to play? She's trainable, but she is very distracted, she loves new smells, reminds me of a detective, blood-hound puppy!!!

Objective for the week - work on the down, and keep working on the bond with the puppy.

Gullibility or why we never learn from history

"The real mystery in the Madoff story is not how naïve individual investors such as myself would think the investment safe, but how the risks and warning signs could have been ignored by so many financially knowledgeable people, ranging from the adviser who sold me and my sister (and himself) on the investment, to the highly compensated executives who ran the various feeder funds that kept the Madoff ship afloat."

A snippet from an interesting article (Fooled by Ponzi and Madoff) about gullibility, Ponzi schemes, and other forms of fraud by Stephen Greenspan (as he noted down, he is not related to ex-Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan), professor and writer on topics such as human gullibility, who fell victim to the recent Madoff scheme.

Written from the perspective of a victim, he breaks down why humans fall prey to these forms of dubious financial transactions. The writer explains that there are four primary factors involved in why people invest - situation, cognition, personality and emotion - and the historical big picture of international scams (other than Ponzi) that feed on human gullibility. Or perhaps we forget basic greed is all part of it.

I had two reactions to reading this article: when I opened my email this morning, I received a message from someone "G.O" who was willing to purchase a piece of jewelry that I posted on a seemingly respectable auction board, G.O. said he'd send the money through his bank, then demanded I send him my bank details (swift code etc). Alarm bells went off and I emailed back that there was no way I would send those details and I was listing him as a spammer. A second email later in the day from a trusted friend warned several of us of a sheep in wolf's clothing; I wrote back that I hadn't picked up any diabolical vibes from the person, but as I read Mr. Greenspan's article I realized that part of it was that I had fallen into the trap of at least two of the factors, specifically situation. We had been introduced by a trusted friend and respected community leader, and the setting was one where we wouldn't suspect the person of any nefarious doings in his past.

Sides

When I hosted my friend S way back in the 1990's for her first visit to the Philippines, she was aghast at how much we used sauces, dousing our foods in ketchup or soy sauce or patis with garlic or chilli. Having lived in China for more than a year by then, she could see the similarities and influences, but she didn't quite understand why there was a need to add a layer of flavor to something.

I think of S at times when having a meal and mixing up a side sauce, usually soy sauce or fish sauce, a paste of garlic or a squeeze of calamansi. When I know something might be a bit on the bland side, a crushed Thai bird-eye chilli always helps. For a simple meal of tofu and rice, I mix sesame oil, ginger and a light soy sauce to keep me from losing interest in what I am eating. I guess a good side sauce is to highlight flavors or textures and to avoid gustatory malcontentment.

Inspired by a recent online recipe for nuoc mam, the Vietnamese fish sauce spiced with chillis and herbs, I ground a paste of garlic and a Thai bird-eye chilli with some salt, added it to a liquid blend of fish bagoong (that uber-pungent fermented soup, which looks less than appetizing in its grey sludge), patis (yes, that's three sources of salt), vinegar, calamansi, and a fresh jalapeno sliced in two. So that makes three salty flavors, two spices, and two souring agents. Oh and don't forget the garlic. I left the blend in the refrigerator overnight and tested it on my dinner of sauteed pork and rice. It's hot, salty but doesn't make my mouth itch, and savoury. This could be addicting.

PAWS Sunday training, weeks 1 and 2

(Am taking part in a Sunday stray dog rehabilitation training, ten weeks of working with rescued dogs at the PAWS shelter. Have had two Sunday sessions and was told to start logging in a diary/journal.)

Week 1, December 14. Worked with two dogs - Makisig and Hermione. Makisig is an adult male, stocky, brown. Pulls like heck and not interested in walking straight, leans a lot. Hermione is about 6 to 8 months old, has some beagle mix I think. She responds to food, but doesn't like to be petted, and has to be on leash at all times. Session covered basic bonding with dog using food and clicker, learned how to use the clicker properly (dog must be facing you when you click, 1.5 secs to give treat. Positive reinforcement). JI gave us top three tips working with dogs - consistency, timing, and one other thing, ack. Especially important with the rescued dogs, to rebuild (or start building) a bond with the dogs, gain level of trust.
Attempted to learn luring to teach dog how to sit. Hermione managed one sit, but no further. Very distracted by everything in the grass, the other dogs. Treat used - hotdogs - should cut them up instead of squishing them out of casing.

Visited Hermione on Wed 7 am before she was fed. We walked around grass lot, used peanut butter on disposable chopstick as treat, but she remained really distracted. No sit again.

Week 2, December 21. Hermione is limping, left rear leg. Poor thing has to be put into the cage again. Took Hazel out, another puppy, 6 months perhaps. She's very energetic, ok with petting and carrying, and has the shortest attention span!!!! Did the run with her, after awhile all she wanted to do was roll around on the leafy sidewalks of the village. During training session, she did a lot better with bonding - cheese snacks. Picked up on her name better too. Had to move to hotdog treats for the sit though. She managed two sits (yay), but no interest in the ball. Is pretty good in the crate, doesn't hate it like the other puppy. She and Gervi not getting along, antagonistic.
Completed lessons - clicker/food, sit. Only did one session on the dog bed.

Plane update

Over lunch, friend M asked me "Is this filling up a plane on KLM real?" I shrugged, said I think so. I also mentioned I didn't think people really signed up for it, I might be the only one flying in my plane. Then she told me that she tried to get a "seat" on my plane but was informed it was full. Huh? We tried to make some baseless guesses on how many seats there were in the plane and who I sent invites to, etc. All random nonsense, but today I did check the site, and she was right, the plane, all 99 seats plus mine are full. But to be honest, I only recognized a handful of the names, the rest are all ambiguous "New Passenger" or folks who I wouldn't know from Adam. Hmmm. Do I need a skymarshall???

Ok, KLM, what's the prize for the most clueless flight filler?

Eat this

There's a video of a kitten that loves her broccoli. Not so much this older feline. I love my broccoli and cauliflower, but not sure my own cat will take to it.

Quick read

A cousin of mine said she was interested in reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, and I chimed in that it was a fantastic book, with a rare mention of Manila in it. What I forgot to mention to her, but something she will soon find out, is how quick it is to read. I checked my book log, noting how quickly I finished the book and if there was anything striking about the work. I bought my copy last December while in the US, and it was a book that I read between the overload of food related literature in the first quarter of the year. It also took me 3 hours to read. While it is a relatively slim book, it could have easily been a book that took days to complete if I was bored with it or distracted. The writing does not drag, the characters are not hard to like, and there are no distractions towards the climax of the book.

I also jotted down that the book had a strong similarity to a couple of books I had read in the past, including Iain Pears' The Portrait, and a book by a Hungarian author who I couldn't remember when I made the note (including a reminder to self to find the other book in my bookshelf; as I still can't remember the author or the title of the book, but do remember the style and characters, it is doubly annoying several months after writing myself the note.). All three books are written in the first person narration by the protagonist, speaking to one other person (with a strong directive tone towards that person), narrating a story that they need to know, and you, as the audience, are keen to discover. In all three cases, the protagonist and primary speaker has a revelation through his talk with his sole audience, usually a negative one, and ends in a tragic note in all three novels. The medium can be intense, but what I always wonder when reading this style is how does one person maintain so much talking without needing a break, a regular flow of water and some menthol candy to soothe the throat? I can't imagine going on and on in that vein, charged with completing my mission and maintaining some semblance of composure at the very beginnning without giving away my final position. I know it's fiction, but the style can be a bit unmanageable, especially if you put yourself (like I often do) in the perspective of the main character.

I was interested in reading the book after seeing it mentioned in Jessica Zafra's blog, where she quoted from the part of the book that mentions Manila. She has done literary collections of books that refer to Filipinos and the Philippines, but this was the first time I felt compelled to find a copy of a book after reading so little of it. I am thankful that I did; it was a worthwhile literary find. Her blog has also had several links to short stories lately, the most recent to a short story by Edith Wharton, and a month ago she linked to Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. A week before Ms. Zafra's post I was listening to the New Yorker Fiction podcast which featured The Lottery. It was chilling, twisted, and very well written. I didn't realize that it was part of the literary canon for a certain generation of American school children, and I am not sure if it still is, but I would recommend it to an older high school student or first year college student reading American Literature. The language is clear and brutal, the plot is simple and subversive.

Short stories and books that can be read in a few hours in traffic or while standing in line is a breathe of fresh air, it can rejuvenate you if you're in a reading slump. Not only does it break the monotony of reading certain genres but it also invigorates those mental facilities that need a jolt every now and then. If it forces you to think or feel differently about the way you see life, then it is damn good reading.

News of the day

Models and fashionistas are wary of PETA activists who may splash them with red paint if they wear fur on the catwalk or on their person. Celebrities are constantly battling with papparazzi for in your face photography while out slumming. A few months ago, a president of a university was hit in the face by a pie from an activist student on campus. And yesterday, in his last month of office, President George W. Bush was nearly hit in the face by a pair of shoes, thrown at him by an Iraqi reporter. His father is (in)famously remembered for tossing his cookies at a dinner with the Emperor of Japan, and President Bush junior has had more than his share of verbal mishaps since taking office in 2001, but a quick search online makes him the first President to have footwear thrown at him. The Secret Service may have to demand all reporters wear socks from now on. Kudos to the Iraqi PM who attempted to shield his guest from the second podalic missile.

Mental wanderings

Two years ago, I watched Cherie Gil in the play Doubt; she portrayed Sister Aloysius, the nun who confronts Father Brendan on suspicion of child abuse. The new movie of the play by John Patrick Shanley casts Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Father Brendan. The movie has already received a groundswell of critical acclaim, both actors were nominated by the Golden Globes a couple of days ago (fellow cast members, Amy Adams and Viola Davis, were also nominated). It is quite possible that Ms. Streep will be nominated again for Best Actress at the Academy Awards, and that will push her list of nominations to 15 nominations (she's won it twice).

My childhood classmate John is probably the biggest fan of Meryl Streep. Along with his continued love of the Ms. Universe pageants, he can list every single movie Meryl has been in, what movies she has been nominated for, and her total fabulousness. I don't know if he has some form of Meryl Streep altar or worse, but every time another Meryl Streep movie is released I know he's over the moon. I am sure that 2008 will be a notable year for him and other Streep followers, what with the release of Mamma Mia earlier this year.

As kids, John and I were already into food. Our favorite place to go was a japanese restaurant (Kamameshi) near our school that served oyster rice. They'd cook steamed rice mixed with oysters (or any other seafood or meat) along with vegatables in a special steamer contraption. I used to tell him to go with his mom to a Binondo oyster dive my dad used to bring me and my family. The specialties of the house were oyster cake (eggs, green onions, bean sprouts, and as many oysters as possible, fried up and plated), and oyster soup, this thick stew, gluey at times (too much corn starch I suppose), but rich with the briney flavors of the oyster. I don't know of anyplace that still serves the oyster soup, but Mann Hann, a small chain that serves Taiwanese style chinese food in several malls does serve oyster cake. I also chanced upon a stall at the Legazpi Market on Sundays that serves a very good oyster cake for P180, full of plump oysters and perfect with a cup of rice. The stall owners take a few minutes to prepare the fresh oysters, and cook the omelette to order. It's not the kind of dish that lasts beyond an hour after cooking, eat it hot and fresh.

The Moth

Laughing, giggling, chuckling for no apparent reason in public may brand you by those observing your actions as cause for concern. Drunk? Insane? Contagious? Stand back folks, nothing to see here, yes, I mean you buddy... You are after all, walking or sitting alone, seemingly normal, a few shopping bags in hand, and looking a wee bit weary during the manic Christmas season. If they are observant, they may look for a sign that you are speaking to someone via earpiece; hmm, not from this distance, but wait, it does look like you're listening to something. Must be funny, wish I could share in the joy, where did I leave my umbrella....

You are listening to something and it is funny, it's from the Moth podcast, and Joe Jackson, musician, New Age savant, has been sharing how rock and roll saved his life. Sounds serious enough, but Mr. Jackson is full of silliness tonight. He's been keeping you smiling for at least 10 minutes describing his first gig, playing the piano with a couple of friends at the Drake, a pub/piano bar/marine hangout in Portsmouth (UK). He tells tales of Marty, Frankenstein of the music world, who could piece together bits and pieces of any wind instrument and then some. Or of the skinheads at the Irish Center who threw fag ends and coins at them for playing acoustic jazz. But the real piece de resistance was the toilet humor. At the Drake's ladies toilet, the owners had hung up a large picture of Adam (of A. and Eve fame), with a noticeable flap where the fig leaves normally hang. Lift the flap and find yourself reading a sign that says "A bell just rang in the bar".

The Moth podcasts are a great mix of serious, sublime, ridiculous, awe inspiring. It's story telling at its best. Recorded on stage at the Moth's New York and Los Angeles centers, you never know who is going to be sharing a wee bit of themselves when you get your weekly download. Most of the speakers aren't big name hotshots. These are the people behind the scenes, the non-celebrities, but they have a story to tell and a lot of it is hilarious. For ten to fifteen minutes, stand in someone else's shoes, feel their pain, their glory, their laughter. Just don't lift Adam's flap.

Br-unch

I like breakfast food that works in lieu of any other meal of the day. Take congee for instance. You can eat it when you're sick (my go to sick food of all time), but on nippy days like last week, blustering with a cold front from the north and miserable rain, a bowl of congee is comforting and cosy. Add some toppings of choice and you're good to go. Some days all you want is a zen like approach, tofu, a few slivers of green onion, ginger, with a splash of soy sauce. Some days, it's toss everything from the fridge - pork, century eggs, fish balls, an egg, vegies, bbq chicken, peanuts, bagoong, a pickle. Whatever suits your fancy, for the base - boiled rice - will take it in.

I also love our filipino -logs (tosilog, tapsilog, longsilog, yada yada); meat, egg, and rice. Side of atchara for contrast. You get varities around the country, danggit being a favorite of mine further south in Cebu or Palawan, where the fresh danggit is sublime, crispy, not overly salty, and makes for a change of pace when travelling. I once ordered a bangus with rice and egg in Zamboanga, didn't realize how large the bangus is outside of Manila, found myself face to face with a bangus the size of a platter, it was too much food and difficult to gulp down in haste before my flight took off.

The last few days, I've taken to eating a lot of crispy adobo flakes with egg and garlic rice. Pancake house has a really good version, not so crispy perhaps, but the adobo sulipan is chocful of stewed garlic and tasty meat (a mixture of chicken and pork); I like to mush the garlic and mix it into the already garlicky rice, and douse the meat with hot sauce. And I've discovered that Vanilla Bean, a cafe in Salcedo Village has a good crispy adobo meal, the eggs are softly scrambled, the rice is garlicky but not too oily, and the adobo is quite crunchy, with stringy bits blended in. Not enough garlic but I can appreciate the dish. If VB was open beyond 6 pm, I'd have it for dinner too, but I know I can always depend on Pancake House if I'm feeling the need for garlicky meat and rice after 7 pm.

How much is that doggy in the webcam?

Shiba Inu is one of the few canine breeds first developed in Japan, with a developing interest around the world. The dogs were bred by indigenous Japanese tribes to hunt for boar and small mammals. Their colors range from cream to red to brown and even black, wolf like snouts, and known to be good protectors of their humans. A friend of mine, who has enough furry friends at home to make Cruella de Ville envious, is considering getting one of the dogs, after seeing a documentary about several dogs at a US dog parade. She sent me the link to a puppy cam with live feeds of 6 Shibas: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/shiba-inu-puppy-cam

While they are typical puppies, gamboling, playing, eating, sleeping, I've caught a few sweet moments during the live feed, typically when one puppy has just woken up, finds his or her siblings still sleeping, walks over them and then pillows its head on one of the others tummies, then goes back to sleep. Watching them makes me wish I had another dog for my own tousled head poodle, but one dog is enough right now, especially since she and the master or our domain, ie the cat, are not getting along at all. Seperate domains are all I can provide at the moment, thankfully the dog is bit more mobile, willing to take rides to my parents house at the drop of the hat.

At the recent bookclub reading, we chose The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, a modern day retelling of Hamlet with a healthy dose of the Dog Whisperer mixed in. The book has been receiving a lot of strong praise, it then was chosen as an Oprah bookclub selection, but 6 out of the 8 of us who read the book and went to the dinner last week were less than enthusiastic. I had been enthused to read the book after hearing good reviews from other readers, but found myself dragging to get through the book after 100 pages. The parts that needed serious editing tended to be about the dog breeding strategies and the letters between the dog enthusiasts who had their own opinions about what characterized scientific breeding of dogs for specific traits. One of our readers had sincere concerns about the mental and emotional strength of the title character who she described as downright crazy. But then we all had doubts about any of the characters' ability to make the right choices; the mother falling into bed with her recently deceased husband's brother given the animosity between the siblings; the anthropomorphic development of the dogs (some serious mind reading between humans and dogs in this book); plus the ambiguous mystery of how the father died.

The only revelation that came to me during the dinner was that not a lot of people seem to know their basic Shakespeare. Most of us who attend the book club are educated in the western canon, but so many of the attendees didn't know the basic plot or characters of Hamlet, or got characters mixed up with other Shakesperean tragedies. Maybe too many of us take our liberal arts education for granted.

Back to the Shibas, 2 of the puppies waved farewell on cam, one more heads out to its new home in a few hours. At 8-9 weeks old, they are much younger than the Sawtelle dogs were when released to new homes, but that is typical of these days of modern dog adoption. Even though I am new to the Shiba puppy watch, I think they are golden bundles of puppy love.

Conjunction in the sky (there are great big terrible giants in the sky...)

A text from Nena said for me to look up at the moon. I thought it would simply be a larger than normal full moon, and it took me a little over 30 minutes to head outside to see what all the fuss was about. I looked and was taken aback, there was a crescent moon, and two bright lights above it. I knew enough that they weren't stars, but planets. But which ones?? I rushed back to the computer and started googling, I also started to send texts to Nena and friends who might know. I knew the brightest light would be Venus, she normally appears shiny in the heavens, so it was expected. But my initial thought that the second planet was Mercury was wrong. I was more thrilled to find out it was Jupiter! How wonderful! It may be the biggest planet, but I suppose being further away it didn't cast as strong a reflection as the goddess of love.
Looking up at that sight, going back and forth between sky gazing and the living room for answers and furious texts to friends and family (telling the young uns to get up from their butts and look outside), I recall special moments when the evening sky, filled with stars, the occasional shooting star, makes everything else in life seem small and shallow. Last night, with the moon and the planets smiling down on us (those of us closer to the equator and in the southern hemisphere had the blessing of a smiley face; the folks north saw a downturned moon), I couldn't help but feel a rush of positive emotions. Forget wars, economic downturns, man made disasters for a few moments, look up!

Check out KLM - Fill a Plane - Promote your plane

Ugh, KLM needs better macro forms. They have a new promo to win prizes including a trip to Amsterdam. But their blog post format is so boring:

Hi,

I want you to take a look at : KLM - Fill a Plane - Promote your plane

See?

However, the more people who sign up to fly on my plane, the better chances of winning those tickets to Amsterdam! Land of windmills, Van Gogh, tulips, and coffee houses :D

Come fly with me, let's go down to Peru...

(Socky, this is your fault! I'm hooked on Slide!)

Tinkering with Slide, I put some of the landscape photos I took of N. Dakota and Montana. I love the drive through look, so retro :D

The lechons are full of hot air

Tea on a Sunday morning

In August, I took off for a weekend to visit Butuan, one of the oldest pre-spanish settlements in the country, reknowned among Filipino historians and archeologists, where the Spanish landed and are said to have held the first Catholic mass. In the months prior to the trip, I had seen the reconstructed balanghais, a boat used by our ancestors who must have traversed the Butuan river and the straits heading towards other islands north. I was also lured by Eating Asia's post on the kilawin the authors had at the fish market. There's nothing like salivating at Robyn and Dave's pictures to get an idea of travelling to one of the provincial cities in Mindanao going.

One of the wonderful finds I took back from that trip was the biasyong, a kaffir or makrut lime that has an intensely fragrant, flower-like aroma. Cut into one and inhale for one's life, it will take the blues away. Of course, there are very few of these lovely green fruits in Manila, so I brought back a kilo and divided it among friends. I stuck them in my bottled water, I grated some of the zest, experimented with adding the juice to honey, and considered attempting the kilawin of the south. The latter didn't pan out due to my laziness of sourcing perfectly fresh tuna.

At the recent MM Eyeball in Cebu, MM used a lot of biasyongs for his kilawin, and it reminded me how lovely a fruit it is. A friend travelling to Cagayan de Oro asked if there was anything a few of us would like from the south, and two of us asked if she could try to find the biasyongs. She kindly obliged and brought back several of the limes for us; they are called suka in CDO, but I cut into one and was sure it is one and the same, for who could miss the perfume?

I have a few of the limes left, and thought how to use them best. I tried adding some of the juice when I cooked some bagoong last week, but found it the wrong combination. The astringency of the lime's juice wasn't as strong as calamansi, and the aroma was sort of offputting when paired with the fishiness of the bagoong, the clash was distinctly nauseating.

This morning, I put the kettle on, planning to steep a few teaspoons of a wonderful green tea. As the water roiled and I spooned the tea leaves into my trusty teapot (I've had this pot since 1995, it has kept me company through many a home), I thought why not add some of the lime wedges, see how it fared. A couple of minutes into the brew, I knew it was the perfect pairing. It may be a wee bit gloomy outside, and there may not be much to watch on the telly, but I sit with my teapot, a mug of tea, and think perfumed thoughts.

Eat more skin

1.


Marketman promised us lechon, we got lechon. Three of his personal recipe spiced/rubbed/roasted on a spit lechons. Other bloggers have shown the photos of the party, the pigs, the kilawin (ceviche of mackarel), sisig, desserts galore. I know that Joey of 80breakfasts, Socky of Tennis and Conversations, and Lee have all posted their albums. Other than sharing the roasted pig above, the only two shots I'm sharing from my collection are:

1. A crisp white parol floating against the background of the city. White was the background of the party. Crisp, clean, festive.



2. I spied this lovely wooden mortar and pestle in the back of MM's office kitchen. I can imagine he and his crew pounded all the garlic, ginger, spices on it, but what I love is the shape and sturdy look.


Thank you MM/Mrs.MM/The Teen/The Crew!

(PS: I'm tinkering with posting a video from the eyeball and may figure it out before the end of the day. Check this space for one other addition from the event.)

Fomalhaut B

The first planet seen outside our own solar system, Fomalhaut B. Fomalhaut means "mouth of the (big) fish", translated from Arabic (fum al'hot). Since my mythological education was greco-roman centric, it's good to learn a new myth from a different religion/culture. Here's a snippet from related stories about the big fish, the star, and the mermaids:

"In Greek mythology, Fomalhaut was associated with the monster Typhon, who is said to lie buried beneath Mt. Etna in Sicily. In Syrian and Canaanite lands it was honored as the symbol of the fish-god Dagon, whose temple at Gaza was destroyed by the Biblical strongman Samson. This temple is believed to have been oriented to the rising of Fomalhaut.

All accounts of this constellation's mythology are disappointingly sketchy. Like Pisces, its mythology has a Middle Eastern setting indicative of Babylonian origin. An ancient constellation, Piscis Austrinus represents the Babylonian fish-god Oannes, who came to Earth to teach humans how to become civilized. According to the brief account of Eratosthenes, the Syrian fertility goddess Derceto (the Greek name for Atargatis) is supposed to have fallen into a lake at Bambyce near the Euphrates river in Syria, and was saved by a large fish. Hyginus says, in repetition of his note on Pisces, that as a result of this the Syrians do not eat fish but rather they worship the images of fish as gods.

Bambyce later became known to the Greeks as Hieropolis (meaning Sacred City), now called Membij. Other classical sources tell us that temples of Atargatis contained fish ponds. The goddess was said to punish those who ate fish by making them ill, but her priests ate fish in a daily ritual.

According to the Greek writer Diodorus Siculus, Derceto deliberately threw herself into a lake at Ascalon in Palestine as a suicide bid in shame for a love affair with a young Syrian, Caystrus, by whom she bore a daughter, Semiramis. Derceto killer her lover and abandoned her child, who was brought up by doves and later became queen of Babylon. In the lake, Derceto was turned into a mermaid, half woman, half fish. So merpeople may also be associated with the constellation Piscis Austrinus."
- Mythology of Star Tales, Ian Ridpath. Universe Books, New York.

Pair of thoughts

Old unfinished buildings are finally getting their due: the empty shell of a building along EDSA corner Pasong Tamo extension is going to be turned into apartments, and likewise the same abandoned apartment building next to the Nestle factory along Aurora Blvd has a sign by the wall stating it will be turned into a "landmark" residential building. Instead of building from scratch the developers have to rehabilitate the structures, slap on some paint, and start selling the bejeezus out of them. Will people buy these apartments? What about the former investors whose funds were stuck while the buildings languished into weed gardens? Do they get their money back, first dibs on penthouses, or a mere thanks for helping us pay for the cornerstone cement ten years ago? I'd feel pretty lousy if I knew someone was going to get that apartment I plunked down my life savings on. But I'm projecting.


Carbs! We had another day at Cottage Kitchen over the weekend, and I counted partaking 4 of the 6 kinds of carbs on offer: grits, cornbread, biscuits, dirty rice. I believe the fifth was a potato salad, and someone had hush puppies. No one had a spoonful of the rice that came with the gumbo. Who would? Today, I tried the triple berry fruit bread at Coffee bean and tea leaf; after horrible muffin and scones there some years back, I was not sure I'd order anything other than hot chocolate. But the triple berry was surprisingly moist. And with the addition of dried cranberries, sultanas and a blueberry preserve, the fruitbread was not without flavor. I think the next time I have this for breakfast, I'll pair it with a black tea to offset the sweetness.

Sunday lunch

After a busy Saturday, the best contrast is a very quiet Sunday. I have been planning to make a vegetarian curry using all the materials in my crisper (cauliflower, sweet potato, carrots, peas, okra) and a box of spicy Japanese curry paste. I also needed to add some of the eggs that were probably on its last legs, so those got boiled and added to the pot. A rice cooker full of cooked brown rice and I could have stuck to a high fiber healthy meal. But there's a part of me that needs an added twist, so I took my sole can of corned beef, fried the heck out of it till it was crispy, and mixed it into the brown rice. Eat with a sizeable dollop of the curried vegies Textures - nutty, crispy, creamy, and spicy. Not the prettiest of meals, it's a meal only a sunday luncher could love.

'08 Election results

Most of my American friends and family members are euphoric over the results of the race for the Presidency yesterday. I received many a happy-happy-joy-joy text from that side of the Pacific.

Other than the big ticket race, there were several interesting propositions under consideration. I was happy to see that both Colorado and S. Dakota voters voted against restrictions to abortion rights, and Washington is now the second state to allow euthanasia. There were other smaller bills, like banning inhumane cages for chickens (tight fit chicken coops?), which I think got passed.

Since I am still enjoying (and posting) my memories of travelling by train, it was interesting to read that California has passed Proposition 1A - High Speed Train. It may seem a tad 20th century, what with bullet trains in Japan, France, and China has the Maglev. But the US has put train travel on the backburner for so long. Now, the first state to pass funding and support for a high speed train gets the go signal. It will be a SF to LA train, estimated to take 2.5 hours, instead of the meandering overnighter that it can sometimes take on Amtrak now. I hope I get to take that train when it's up and running!

Head North

Dawn on the first day of my train trip. Looking out from the Observation Deck, suspecting I'm somewhere in Arizona, and taking fuzzy photos of the arroyos and red rock cliffs.

Speaking of the observation deck, if you're ever on Amtrak and need extra space to just think, read, chat with strangers, read the paper, drink some water or eat chips, eavesdrop on what other people are saying, nap, wonder what to have for lunch/dinner in the dining car, nibble on carrots to stave off hunger, hog the two seater so you can stretch out... anyway, this is what you see outside.