Feeling healthy and productive

Today was the perfect weekday! I haven't felt this good (physically and mentally) in a long while.

I started to Eat Clean since Sunday. It's been pretty manageable. I think this "diet" may actually work for me because it's not really a diet, but more of a lifestyle to eat better by consuming wholesome foods at regular intervals to keep up the metabolism. I bought the Tosca Reno book on Eating Clean, but still have to finish reading it. I like that there's lots of pictures and recipes :P

So back to why today was so productive - it was mainly because I had a really good workout today with my new personal trainer, Diana Yang. She's a pusher and I love it. To jump to the point, we started running from Andrew's apt at 24th and 3rd, down 2nd Ave to Houston (near Chinatown) and back! And then we went to a 9pm yoga class at Yoga Vida Union Square (I decided to purchase a 10 class package because I actually really love this yoga studio). Talk about a good workout! My personal trainer took note that we ran 2.66 miles in total - ran 1 mile downtown nonstop, walked for a bit, and then ran 1 mile nonstop back uptown. It was awesome! I need more of these kind of days.

Overall, I had a really productive day. I woke up early to cook myself oatmeal and eggs before leaving the house for work. On my commute in, I managed to not nap on the train and read my Tosca Reno book for a bit. Work was productive and slow (which I don't mind) and we heard back from our loan officer that our mortgage applications were ready for us to review and sign. I ate pretty consistently today, about every 3 hours or so. After work, I met up with Diana at 7pm at for our aforementioned workout. I randomly bumped into my cousin Peter, as I was walking back from yoga class at Union Square. By then it was a little after 10, and he came to over for a bit to check out the apt and catch up. It was perfect timing as Andrew just got back from basketball. I ate 2 egg whites for dinner as there really was nothing to eat and showered after. I was on a role, because I still managed to organize my "closet" at Andrew's that's been a complete mess since forever and I've bee wanting to just pull everything out and organize it. Andrew said he was hungry so I quickly whipped up some pasta for him (while I was drooling over it, but no simple carbs! Especially after 11pm!). 

What a good day. *happy sigh* Oh, AND I blogged.

Thanks for the great workout Diana! <3

The Apartment

I wanted to save and share some photos of the co-op apartment Andrew and I are purchasing around the Gramercy/Flatiron/Kips Bay area in Manhattan, New York. We started apartment hunting the beginning of this year. In the beginning, going to open houses was fun and interesting, but by the time we saw 40-50 places, the excitement dissipated. Everything started to look the same and only the ones we liked stuck with us. We (and by we I really mean, I) found this apartment on Streeteasy and saw it at an open house hosted by the seller's friends. We automatically fell in love. However, we still continued our search as the price was slightly out of our budget. We found that we kept comparing everything else to this one. And after a few weeks of continuous search, we realized this apartment was the one and we can totally see our lives in it. Below are some photos from marketing:

 Entering into the foyer and overlooking living room

 Living area

 Dining area to the right of the foyer

 Compact Kitchen with small breakfast bar

 Oversized bedroom

 Bedroom again

Walk in closet <3

Bathroom

And a terrace! Can you believe it? It's huge - about 100 sq ft

Obviously the place will look a lot different with our own furniture and decor but I love how we don't really have to update or fix anything. It's in mint condition and we pretty much just have to bring a pillow and toothbrush!

We signed contracts last Wednesday and sellers signed over the weekend. By Monday, we were officially in contract! On Tuesday, I got an email update from Streeteasy (I have an account and had saved our apartment in one of the folders) indicating that this apartment was "In Contract". I had the biggest smile and had to forward it to Andrew. It was really happening...

Streeteasy: In Contract! (Sorry, had to blur out the private info!)

Everything felt pretty surreal, but it's slowly starting to sink in. I can't believe we're actually buying an apartment. Together. In the city. I'm really excited, but also scared at the same time, as this all comes at a hefty price tag. But we believe it will be worth it - I can't wait!

Reflections: Titanic, Wall St, and Climate Change

Titanic, Wall Street, and Climate Change? What do these 3 things have anything to do with each other?

So Andrew and I recently watched "The Titanic: The Final Word" by James Cameron on NatGeo. With the 100 year anniversary upon us, there has been much talk about the tragedy of the Titanic, including the release of the new Titanic movie. What really hit home for me was the last 2 minutes of the video documentary where James Cameron eloquently delivers his analogy on the Titanic with Wall Street and with our next crisis, climate change. I cannot agree more with his take on this. The transcript is below - the message really sent a chill down my spine and saddens me that this is, in fact, the reality we live in...

There's something about the Titanic. For me, it's so much more than just simply an exercise in forensic archeology. Part of the Titanic parable is of arrogance, of hubris, of the sense that we’re too big to fail. Well, where have we heard that one before?

There was this big machine, this human system that was pushing forward with so much momentum that it couldn’t turn, it couldn’t stop in time to avert a disaster. And that’s what we have right now.

Within that human system on board that ship, if you want to make it a microcosm of the world, you have different classes: you’ve got first class, second class, third class. In our world right now you’ve got developed nations, undeveloped nations.

You’ve got the starving millions who are going to be the ones most affected by the next iceberg that we hit, which is going to be climate change. We can see that iceberg ahead of us right now, but we can’t turn.

We can’t turn because of the momentum of the system, the political momentum, the business momentum. There too many people making money out of the system, the way the system works right now and those people frankly have their hands on the levers of power and aren’t ready to let them go.

Until they do, we will not be able to turn to miss that iceberg and we’re going to hit it, and when we hit it, the rich are still going to be able to get their access to food, to arable land, to water and so on. It’s going to be poor, it’s going to be the steerage that are going to be impacted. It’s the same with Titanic.

I think that’s why this story will always fascinate people. Because it’s a perfect little encapsulation of the world, and all social spectra, but until our lives are really put at risk, the moment of truth, we don’t know what we would do. And that’s my final word.

-James Cameron

Taiwan: TSMC & NYC (Day 10)

February 20, 2012

On our final day in Taiwan (Monday), we had most of the day there since our flight wasn't until the evening. We woke up and took a taxi to Andrew's dad's office, TSMC. He gave us a tour of the office building to show us where he spends most of his time in Taiwan (sadly, working too much!).

Andrew and dad in front of TSMC

TSMC Headquarters

After visiting the office, we had time for lunch before we had to go back and grab our luggage and head to the airport. We originally wanted to try a famous shop for beef noodle soup but unfortunately the shop was closed when we got there via shuttle bus. We ended up going with option #2, lunch buffet at Ambassador Hotel. The food was okay, pretty good for buffet but I think by now, I was pretty tired of the whole unlimited quantity concept.

Specially ordered ribs at buffet

Dessert

Lunch buffet

After lunch, we headed back to the apartment and picked up our luggage and headed for the airport. I was pretty ready to come back, as I definitely had intense food overload over the past 10 days - felt like I gained 4000 lbs. The plane ride back was miserable as this baby kept crying and its fob parents took and had no control over them - so inconsiderate.

Overall, it was an awesome trip - there sure is a lot to eat and everything was phenomenal. Super thankful for Andrew's family and Diana for taking us around. It was wonderful meeting Andrew's family!

Taiwan: Wang Steak & Saying Goodbyes (Day 9)

February 19, 2012

We grabbed breakfast at the college campus cafeteria near the apartment and ate on the go while strolling through campus. We shared an order of dumplings and each got a cup of soy bean milk. Andrew's dad didn't want us to eat too much as he had plans to take us to a popular Taiwanese steakhouse, Wang Steak. It was an upscale steakhouse and reservations were a bit harder to get. The menu is pretty much set with about 3 options to choose from for each course. Unfortunately I found a hair well wrapped within my appetizer and quickly sent it back to the kitchen. They apologized as they pride themselves in good quality control. What a slip up. I can understand if there was just a piece of (long) hair chilling on top of the food, but this strand was braided into one of items below. They gave me a new one of course and it was fine.

Octopus Appetizer (mine)

Shrimp appetizer (Andrew and Dad had the same thing)

Plum wine and another really sweet wine - really love the Taiwanese palate for wine. Super sweet, like dessert wine!

Soup (mine)

Soup in bread bowl with crust (Andrew and Dad had the same thing)

Soup

They served this really strong plum juice as a palate cleanser as well as to enhance your appetite for the meat to come

Andrew's American steak

My New Zealand steak

New Zealand steak

The type of meat (American or New Zealand) is just where the meat is from. So the deal with Taiwanese steak is that it is cooked well done. In the states, we like our quality steaks medium rare. So there's a huge difference here. Andrew and I were both concerned about how tough and dry the meat was going to be since it's well done. Boy, were we wrong. The meat was so tender and juicy, it was unbelievable. I liked Andrew's steak better because it was super tender and juicy. The New Zealand steak was more chewy, as mentioned by the waiter. I wanted to try it anyway and it was still very good.

Some interesting sides: fresh sliced garlic, plum, broccoli, and not sure what the yellow thing was. Didn't really eat our steaks with this but I'm sure you are supposed to enhance flavors and to clean your palate

Fruit - wax apple!! I'm obsessed.

Early birthday celebration for Andrew's 25th

Happy Birthday baby!

Making a wish

Free cake! Was quite good!

Andrew's dessert - Chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream

Chocolate gift dessert with crazy stuffing inside. Was so stuffed by now, I barely touched it. And I don't really have a sweet tooth.

We wanted to pay our last visit to grandma as it was our 2nd to last day in Taiwan, to say our goodbyes. We stayed and chatted for a while and took some last family photos. It was tough to say goodbye, especially for Andrew because he never gets to see his grandma. 

Andrew, Grandma, Me

Group shot

After we bid our farewells, we went to pick up some souvenirs to bring home. We went to a few bakeries to pick up Taiwan's famous pineapple cakes as well as tea and some random treats from the local market. I wish I had planned better and purchased more and well thought out souvenirs for everyone ahead of time. It was a bit awkward for me to buy anything since Andrew's dad was paying for everything so I kept it simple. 

Taiwan: Taipei 101 & Memorial (Day 8)

February 18, 2012


Before heading into Taipei, we stopped by for some Shao Bing You Tiao in Hsinchu. Andrew's always talked about this and he really wanted to get some in Taiwan. He's asked me where we can get it in Chinatown, NY and I've never really understood what it was exactly that he was looking for.
The shop we went to was pretty....local. It almost look like it was not sanitary to eat there but since Andrew's dad was okay with it, we didn't worry too much. Shao Bing You Tiao is basically a stick of fried dough (what Cantonese people usually eat with congee) inside a sesame pancake. This is usually enjoyed with a cup of hot soy bean milk - which is exactly how we had it.

Whipping out some You Tiao...concerning much? Why is he so dirty?

Ladies frying up some other breakfast menu items

Shao Bing You Tiao and Soy Bean Milk

We headed to Taipei and went up the 101. The elevator that took us to the top where the observatory was is the fastest elevator in the world. It was a really smooth ride and it felt like 10 secs to get all the way to the top (though I didn't measure myself).

View of Taipei from 101 observatory

Taipei 101 is the second tallest building in the world

Taipei 101 has the world's largest damper to control stabilization of the building.

After the observatory, we walked around the nearby mall and tried one of Taiwan's fast food chains, Mos Burger. Diana told me to try it because she knew how much I loved my rice - it was really good. I could eat this over a Big Mac any day.

Fast Food: Mos Burger #1 - fried seafood between 2 rice patties

We then headed to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall to see some of Taiwan's history. The best thing of tourism in Taiwan is that the MRT (subway) pretty much takes you everywhere; this historical landmark was just another stop on the MRT. 

Memorial Hall

Memorial Hall

Memorial Hall

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial

Inside the Memorial

The pretty ceiling with symbol from Taiwanese flag

Andrew and Dad

We were fortunate enough to catch the guards in action. Andrew was fascinated by the stand still guards that he was curious if they would move/switch at the hour and lo and behold he was right, not only did they move, they even marched to take down the flag.

Guards marching to the flag

Everyone was so fascinated by the guards, us included

I remember one of them being pretty cute...lol

Work it

Taking down the flag

For dinner, we went to a local Taiwanese restaurant where Andrew's grandma hosted one of her birthdays. We order a mixed stir fry with pancakes - consumed similar to peking duck. It was pretty good but nothing too special. The star dish of the meal was hotpot, that came with this long tube - definitely different than the hotpot I am used to at home. The hotpot came with all the food already cooking inside which is ready to eat upon being served. I loved the soup based which had the flavors of everything that was cooking in it, including a strong sour cabbage flavor - very different and unique.

Stuffing for the pancake (eaten similar to peking duck)

Hot pot! 

Filled with shrimp, tofu, pork, sour cabbage, and clams

Where my fishball at?

For some reason, the plate of mixed stir fry, fried tofu, and hotpot did not fill us up! Even though the waitress told us that it was going to be more than enough food for 3. I think we had really stretch out our stomachs by now so we definitely needed more food to fill our bellies up. As we were walking around, we passed by this famous Lu Rou Fan shop (Braised pork on rice) that has been on TV and such according to Andrew's dad. It is a famous Taiwanese dish and with a little extra room in our tummies, we obviously did not pass on the opportunity to try some! Andrew and I shared a small bowl of it. It was soooooo good - the meat was a bit fatty and totally melt in your mouth! I wish I had my own! The sauce/marinade was superb, and ingredients all hearty. Diana, I need to try yours again to see how they compare! lol

The best "Lu Rou Fan" (Braised pork on rice) ever (sorry Diana!) -  it was literally melt in your mouth

We still had more room and really wanted to have some stinky tofu again before we left so we went to the same stinky tofu stand where Ah-jea-ah-yee took us (Andrew's dad's favorite stand) and shared one large order. YUM!!!

Frying up some stink

Deeelicious stinky tofu with pickled cabbage

I was personally already stuffed but Andrew insisted that we have some shaved ice again. Same drill as a few days ago: stinky tofu followed by shaved ice. Haha. Look at these ginormous portions:

Strawberry and condensed milk shaved ice

Red bean shaved ice

I realized that when I'm with Andrew's family, I'm either really hungry or really full...