shamu

黄豆芽，豆腐丝（俺们美国内陆小城也有豆腐丝卖！）开水抄一下
其他的原料：胡萝卜，黄瓜（$1.79一根的英国黄瓜），香菜。
切啊切啊切啊切
装盘，加盐适量，然后倒上醋，淋上少许花椒油，就可以上桌了。
色鲜清脆美味健康爽口。
此冷盘是用来招待同事来家party的七菜一汤之一。还有一大盘是不加香菜的。极受欢迎，尤其得到印度素食夫妇青睐（我们一共做了四个素菜）。

生米凉水泡24小时。
猪肉馅和用food processer打碎的油菜（现在健康第一，已经不习惯吃纯肉丸子），生姜，盐和馅。
泡好的米平扑在瓷盘里。
包好丸子，在瓷盘里打几个滚儿，让米粒儿沾满丸子的表面。
装盘，上蒸锅蒸半小时左右，就可以出锅了。
健康美味，

As a Chinese living in the US, I have a weak spot for expat writing. I particularly love to read blogs written by western people living in China. They are easy to love because they are funny, they look at things I know from a different perspective and they are honest. One of my favorite is Violet Eclipse, an English teacher living in Yantai. Today I came upon this entry about ordering banana in a Yantai restaurant. In short, they tried to order fried banana, an entry on the menu, but were always denied. They finally brought a banana and the restaurant gave in and cooked for them.
And my first reaction was: I miss China!

It’s been a while, but at least I’m picking up the topic again.
Last time I talked about reading American celebrity blogs—Mark Cuban and Donald Trump. While Mark Cuban is a poster child of the new rich, it is hard to label Donald Trump (save for the now contrite hair joke)—he made his fortune a long time ago (so long that I thought he was long dead) but recently enjoyed an even grander comeback, thanks to the Apprentice gig. He takes the word “unabashed” to a new extreme.
While I, like many people, often find his excessive self-promotion uncomfortable, I have a genuine respect for the man for what he does and has been able to accomplish. This happens especially after I read his blog, which despite his busy schedule, he still finds time to write some interesting stuff once in a while. And I began to ask myself, “what can I learn from him?”.
Well, the question is not hard to answer if you read his recent piece here. Here’s a quote:

继续阅读

In America, celebrities are often what I call “deserving” celebrities, because most of them are 1) smart; 2) talented and 3) hard-working. Observing their behavior, I always thought they deserve to make the amount of money they make for their work, the sacrifices they, and often their family members, have to make. They take the word “professionalism” to extreme in everything they do. Including blogging.
Of course, most celebrities are too busy to write a blog, if people like me only have time to update a couple times a month (although I’m trying to pick up). But many have found it a good marketing tool–after all, they are all confident that the more people know about them, the more they’ll be liked, and the easier for them to sell whatever they need to sell. (I think this notion is generally true here in the US, however I am not sure about its applicability to celebrities in China. It’s more often the case that the more we know about a Chinese celebrity, the less we like them. But this point deserves another blog entry by itself.)
Getting back to my list. I subscribe to two blogs by American celebrities.

继续阅读

Some people demand to see more details of the sushi. I can’t disappoint my fans.

Like George said, we like to try new cooking at home. Recently we (read: my wife) conquered Japanese food. Of course, I did the photographing.
The first one is vegetarian, with avocado, cucumber, and carrots.

The second one has a shrimp, similar to California roll, only better.

Then there are the hand rolls. Contrary to my imagination, they are easier to make than sushi.

The spinach dish is my wife’s innovation:

While it was easier than we thought, it did take a lot of time.

We headed out to dinner in a TexMex restaurant (where else?) in Austin.
The time is approaching dusk, and we find ourselves driving in the traffic on 360, also known as the Capital of Texas Highway. This has been voted the most beautiful highway of Austin many times and it is not hard to see why. Even sitting in traffic, we cannot help but enjoy the great view of hills.

After passing a road named 2222 (twenty-two twenty-two), we are suddenly on this road cutting through limestone hills:

In front of us is the famous Loop 360 Bridge over Lake Austin:

We are heading to Maudies Milagro, a local TexMex favorite that is in a plaza called Davenport Village right next to the highway (and a wealthy neighborhood). I have never been to this place before but it was an easy choice when I searched for Austin TexMex restaurants as it had won Austin Chronicle’s Best Enchilada in Austin two years in a row.
The restaurant is up on a hill (as always in Austin) on the second floor and there is a balcony at the back overlooking the highway and the sunset.
I did not take a picture of the entrence, but here is a picture i found on the web:

Before sitting down, we checked out the views. The sky is a little cloudy for a good sunset. Nonetheless, people are having a good time, and the view is terrific:



The inside is also lively with young people sitting at the bar:

“Do you want to sit inside or outside?” Asked the waiter.
Tough choice.
In the end, we gave in to the view and the atmosphere on the balcony.
The food did not disappoint either.
First, the mandatory chips and salsa. I also requested guacamole, our favorite:

DXM got Chipotle Shrimp Quesadilla:

It is *tempting*.

And I went for the “Rockin’ Ruthann’s”, a chicken enchilada:

What a great meal!

We are spending the spring break in Austin, TX, where I lived for six years before heading north. We are enjoying every minute of our stay here.
Some pictures.

上学的时候开个破subaru,右转弯的时候被后面轻轻顶了一下,现在想起来是个福特金牛,保险杠撞歪了,没什么大事.下来正想跟他理论呢,那哥们儿说是公司的车,找保险公司吧,很痛快的留了保险公司电话就走了. 撞的很轻,我自己仔细感觉了一下,好像身体没事,就不准备计较了.
给保险公司打电话,原来在加州,根本本地没有,就让我去修车铺估个价传真给他们.俺估计这个小case一个, 发个传真他们就写个支票完事儿, 根本连牙缝都不用剔.俺穷学生哪能放过这样挖资本主义墙角又顺便发点小财的好机会啊,于是去了三个body shop(现在想起来, 俺早在N年前就深刻贯彻”三个代表”了! Step aside, JXX!). 当然去了先强调一下是别人的过错,保险公司陪的,指望着能给估个好价钱(deal精神咱融会贯通!). 开始去的那个看了看俺的破车,说这个问题不大,不用换零件,敲打敲打就够了,也不容我分辨,大笔一挥,$179.给我这气的!
走,咱找别人去!俺听别人说修body是最贵的,要不大街上怎么那么多撞了以后歪瓜裂枣的也不整整容就出来晃悠的车那,怎么到了俺这就这么便宜?打发叫花子哪!
于是就开着车在大街上xue2me (这两个字怎么写?),终于看见一家门面极为讲究的汽车美容院, 大摇大摆把俺的破车开过去停在门口—都这样了谁怕谁呀! 进了屋,你说档次不一样就是不一样嗨, 墙上挂满了各种锦旗奖状证书啥的(噢, 记错了,老外人家不兴锦旗的).相比之下刚才那一家就像个街头摆摊的. 老板(也许是颇有老板意识的伙计)明明看见俺开着破subaru过来,仍笑脸相迎. 俺照例把开场白讲了,他说,”您慢等,在这休息室凉凉快快儿的,喝点水,或者咖啡. 我马上给您做.” 总之是在休息室里好吃好喝了一会,就见他已经拿着打印好的估价进来了.一共$759. “谢谢”, 俺终于舒了口气, 我觉得这车跟我这么多年了,不会关键时候不给俺争气的么! “让我先和保险公司联系,再回来修.”我嘴里这么说,心里想着拿了这钱,干什么不比把这歪屁股弄正强!
出了这一家,还不放心,回家的路上又拐进一家店估了价, 这回不高不低, 四百多. 感情人家第二家就是质优价高! 当即对自己宣布,循价结束. 然后拿着估价单,一路哼着小曲儿开回了家.
接下来的事虽然俺是第一次, 也再容易不过了–把估价单传真给保险公司. 过了两个星期,收到一个电话,让俺签个免责声明, 确认以后不会再纠缠他们,收到以后就可以寄支票给我了. 我又仔细感觉了一下脖子,嗯,好像真没事儿,就一切照办了.
回想起来,这是俺到美国以后赚的最容易的钱了.
什么,车修了么? 您说那?
=========================
Moral of the story:
别替别人想太多,很多人或者是公司的保险,或者保险里有第一次免责的优待.只有你自己才会为自己想.