我住台灣的時候 常常有人問我 美國的生活是怎麼樣 . 最常被問的含 : "你們不是每天都吃pizza跟漢堡嗎 ?" 與 "你們那裡的房子都像美國電視節目上看到的一樣那麼大嗎?"
我就是來給你們一個小peek進去我們美國這裡的生活 . 我在這個部落格會波影片, 照片, 小故事 (講真的發生過的事情) , local新聞, 食譜, 等等 . 歡迎你們來瀏覽一下 !
先講一聲~ 我目前住在夏威夷, 這裡的生活還有一些文化特色跟美國的傳統有一點不一樣 . 假如內容碰到這一些差別的話 , 我會跟你們講 !
你們的問題和興趣是這個部落格的靈感 . 有任何想看什麼的 , 根我講一聲吧!
很希望你們會享受這裡波的東西 .
Aloha!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Bitter melon
After waiting two years and two and a half months, I got to be a part of one of my favorite things on earth: BBQ with Hawaiian family. The main reason is getting to be completely surrounded by family- cousins, cousins kids running around or playing in the pool, auntie and uncle hanging by the grill and keeping all in line. Family is one of THE things I miss most when in Taiwan, and when I'm there with all of them, it's like my soul is finally able to be filled of something it was meant to have and went way too long without. The second aspect: the FOOD. Mind you, everyone thinks they make the best bar-b-que, but not everyone has Hawaiian relatives. We won't blame them for what they don't know. My islander family knows how to eat. I cannot remember one instance of leaving their presence in any state other than completely full of delicious food. The regular menu for BBQ includes grilled steak, chicken, char su chicken, grilled pork, fried wonton (stuffed by Auntie and fried by cousin), salted shrimp (very fresh Hawaiian shrimp, they even come with grass skirts..jk), poki (seasoned raw fish- very good stuff), rice, potatoe salad, and whatever cakes, desserts and snacks everybody else throws in.
After putting in some time in the pool, I sat and listened to my cousins "talk story" with my aunt and her sister. I heard my name from where my uncle and the other uncle, Uncle Ed, were talking, and got up to talk with them. That was the first time I'd met Uncle Ed (he's my uncle's brother-in-law), at least that I remember (he'd probably seen me when I was a kid, but both of us had forgotten). What started out as me answering his questions about what I did in Taiwan turned into a conversation I won't forget. We talked about the simplicity of life, how good life is when it's devoid of the distractions of over-convenience and fast paced. Thankfully, I've gotten to live in a place that has yet to give way to modernized chaos and materialism, demands to keep up with the rest of the world. People still know everybody in their community, family sticks together and friends help each other out. He told me how life was in his younger years (at least 40 years ago), how Hawaiians had worked hard and lived off of their own hard work. When he recollected working at the pineapple plantation , he paused to look over at Auntie Sandy, who was still talking it up with the other women. A gleam came to his eyes, and a smile spread across his face. "That's where I met her." I listened as he continued on about how life was, and how new rennovations to the islands were stealing away from the local community and economy. Seems like modernization in the islands was promised to be "good" for the community, yet the profits of it tend to get lost somewhere in the investors' bank accounts.
And bitter melons? Thanks to Uncle Ed I am well educated on the health benefits of bitter melon, and how to cook them. "Just slice them up real small, yeah. And den add some really din slices of beef and cook it with da peppers and lemon juice. You know it smooths out da bitter taste, yeah. If dey ever found a super food, it would be bitter melon."
The conversation ended, and on a happy note. It still makes me smile when I think of it. "You know Hawaiians, we like da kine simple life..."
After putting in some time in the pool, I sat and listened to my cousins "talk story" with my aunt and her sister. I heard my name from where my uncle and the other uncle, Uncle Ed, were talking, and got up to talk with them. That was the first time I'd met Uncle Ed (he's my uncle's brother-in-law), at least that I remember (he'd probably seen me when I was a kid, but both of us had forgotten). What started out as me answering his questions about what I did in Taiwan turned into a conversation I won't forget. We talked about the simplicity of life, how good life is when it's devoid of the distractions of over-convenience and fast paced. Thankfully, I've gotten to live in a place that has yet to give way to modernized chaos and materialism, demands to keep up with the rest of the world. People still know everybody in their community, family sticks together and friends help each other out. He told me how life was in his younger years (at least 40 years ago), how Hawaiians had worked hard and lived off of their own hard work. When he recollected working at the pineapple plantation , he paused to look over at Auntie Sandy, who was still talking it up with the other women. A gleam came to his eyes, and a smile spread across his face. "That's where I met her." I listened as he continued on about how life was, and how new rennovations to the islands were stealing away from the local community and economy. Seems like modernization in the islands was promised to be "good" for the community, yet the profits of it tend to get lost somewhere in the investors' bank accounts.
And bitter melons? Thanks to Uncle Ed I am well educated on the health benefits of bitter melon, and how to cook them. "Just slice them up real small, yeah. And den add some really din slices of beef and cook it with da peppers and lemon juice. You know it smooths out da bitter taste, yeah. If dey ever found a super food, it would be bitter melon."
The conversation ended, and on a happy note. It still makes me smile when I think of it. "You know Hawaiians, we like da kine simple life..."
Bounce back.
I thought it was age that caused it. Maybe it started with the cheese stick and sweetart binge I went on when life starting throwing emotional curves I wasn't prepared for. Stress probably contributed. Put together on a list, the physical problems I've dealt with over the past year look like a checklist of stress symptoms, from minor to severe. Seriously depressing.
It seemed like my ability to "bounce back," whether it be muscles from a good workout or one too many late nights in one week, had slowed down. So not me. I may not be invincible, but I can get pretty close.
Looking back at how life was before the problems surfaced the most consistent characteristics of daily habit were: daily exercise (swimming for 30min. a day, 4-5 days a week plus skating, gym, etc.), sleeping early (8-9 hours per night, cutting out computer and other unimportant things for it), and eating well (pasta, veggies, less meat, fish and sushi, occasional treats, eating ENOUGH but better foods).
Am trying that again this summer, but adding harder cardio, cutting caffeine (ha, it'll cut my budget down, too), and eating fruits. I hate fruits, but they're healthy and feel good to eat in hot weather.
What I want to eat more of:
tomoatoes
broccoli
greens
seasonal fruits
bitter melon
grains (tsampa!)
soups
green tea
So posting this was more or less because I was too lazy to find paper to write my ideas down. Any thoughts of your own?
It seemed like my ability to "bounce back," whether it be muscles from a good workout or one too many late nights in one week, had slowed down. So not me. I may not be invincible, but I can get pretty close.
Looking back at how life was before the problems surfaced the most consistent characteristics of daily habit were: daily exercise (swimming for 30min. a day, 4-5 days a week plus skating, gym, etc.), sleeping early (8-9 hours per night, cutting out computer and other unimportant things for it), and eating well (pasta, veggies, less meat, fish and sushi, occasional treats, eating ENOUGH but better foods).
Am trying that again this summer, but adding harder cardio, cutting caffeine (ha, it'll cut my budget down, too), and eating fruits. I hate fruits, but they're healthy and feel good to eat in hot weather.
What I want to eat more of:
tomoatoes
broccoli
greens
seasonal fruits
bitter melon
grains (tsampa!)
soups
green tea
So posting this was more or less because I was too lazy to find paper to write my ideas down. Any thoughts of your own?
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