goin' down to chinatown

today was a good day. it started off sucky cause I couldn't sleep last night and then I finally went to sleep and ended up oversleeping. then i started to get an eye infection so i had to take out my contact lens. but soon it was time for suejin and i to go grocery shopping. we are on a very tight budget (about $180.00/month) on food for 4-5 people so we were a little worried about the food situation and like an answer from the cosmos we stopped at a light at the intersection of price st and henry st and had a fateful conversation. i always wondered what was inside the brick building that had a sign that said "chinatown grocery" on it. why? because it's the ONLY sign in savannah that even says chinatown, there's not a single asian person in sight because we are in the g-h-e-t-t-o. surely, it wasn't really a chinese grocery store - that would be....wierd. but for some reason i wanted to go check it out.

so we go inside and sure enough, it looks like a typical convenience store in the ghetto. but then... i found something that caught my eye. something so exciting that i almost thought my eyes were decieving me. there, at the front of the store was a big table with opened boxes full of - asian pastries!!! like the kind you get at mozarts - custard filled breads and sesame balls with red bean paste and even a hot dog stuffed bun! i was thrilled. so was suejin. we immediatly picked out some pastries for breakfast and continued looking around. in the back there was a meat counter and a petite asian woman doing something with her back turned to us. it wasn't a very busy store so i wasn't sure if the food was fresh but then i read some signs on the wall that said, "family specials". they had a meat deal where you could get 3 lbs of ground beef, 3 lbs of turkey wings, 3 lbs of turkey necks, 3 lbs of fish, 3 lbs of pork chops, 3 lbs of chicken thighs, 3 lbs of chicken drumsticks for $31.95. that's a lot of meat! we were wondering what we could make out of turkey necks and wings when the butcher came up and offered to give us extra chicken instead of the turkey. DEAL.

then out of nowhere an asian man tells us, there's more the back. so we go back there and it was like god smiled down upon us. it was a mini asian farmers market!! there were freezers full of rice cakes, squids, a produce section with persimmons and chestnuts and fresh ginger, a few aisles of asian canned goods like noodles, coconut milk and curries. every time we turned around a corner one of us was squealing with delight. suejin even found a shelf of asian cookies and yelled out, "LOOK, they have choco-pies!!"

we happily paid for our pastries and the wonderful butcher brought the boxof meat to our car. we were so happy. we had a month's worth of meat for $32. right now our freezer is packed to the gills.

we love chinatown.

rainbows

it's been pretty warm and dry in georgia lately - although not nearly as bad as it was this time last year. we are still in a drought but we seem to be getting rain more often. yesterday was a strange weather day. it was bright and sunny all day then around 6pm it got really dark and cloudy and it poured for about 10 minutes. the whole time johnny and i were stuck at another chamber of commerce shindig for my mom, but we got to witness the best part of it all. as we left the building, we noticed a vibrant rainbow right in front of us. then we realized holy crap - we can see the whole thing! it was truly a magnificent rainbow. then i saw another rainbow on top of the first one - like a double rainbow. we could see the whole thing so clearly, it was just beautiful. i wish i had a camera at that moment, but johnny and i watched the rainbow the whole way home because it seemed to follow us. we even saw it clearly from the highway. as we got closer to home, we noticed that the end of the rainbow seemed to be right over our neighborhood. in fact, the end of the rainbow seemed to be right over our house....

sometimes it's hard not to believe in god cause there are just some things quite unexplainable. i can't imagine what better sign from the heavens than a beautiful rainbow leading the way home. it made me happy to think we already have a pot of gold.

on the other hand, johnny pointed out, someone might have already followed that rainbow and is ransacking our house.....

atlanta botanical garden

last weekend a good friend and i visited the gorgeous atlanta botanical garden and took these marvelous pictures... i really can't add much commentary to these pictures so i'll let them speak for themselves... enjoy! :)

i do have to say this little guy is so green and cute! i love lizards. he almost looks like a baby iguana but he's just a little garden lizard. he sat there for a second eyeing me but let me take his picture before scampering off!

there were a bunch of moving sculptures around the botanical garden, this being one of them. we didn't take a whole bunch of pictures for some reason, but i really love the look of rock gardens...

isn't this orchid gorgeous? the orchid display was my second favorite - right behind the rainforest exhibit. you'll see why...

isn't this just breathtaking? well, i guess you'd have to be there in person to really appreciate it. those are roots hanging down from the really high ceiling above in this rainforest greenhouse. the roots hung almost to the ground, you have to walk through them and it's fantastic!

and finally, the piece de resistance! this absolutely gorgeous blown glass sculpture by artist Dale Chihuly is on display in the green house, and it's truly magnificent. this guy is awesome.

new book idea

you know it's really a sad shame that most of the ideas i have become forgotten because i was too lazy to write it down, or i thought it was a ridiculous idea so i just mentally tossed it away (cause, you know, there's only so much room left inside my head...) but i think i need to vow never to lose an idea, no matter how ridiculous, again. and so here's my next idea; and i'm only sharing this cause i seriously doubt this idea will come to fruition. i really think there needs to be a comprehensive and totally practical book on bamboo. BAMBOO is the world's greatest plant. it is truly the most versatile vegetation that mother nature has gifted to us. i am by no means an expert, but i have seen a fair share of bamboo use in my lifetime and although my mind is feeble after work, i shall attempt to list as many uses as i possibly can. because i love bamboo.

well, first of all - it is totaly sustainable. it will grow and grow and grow some more. you almost can't stop it. i can't imagine how we could possibly run out of bamboo. (unlike oil).

it is fabulously green. i mean the color, not the pop buzzword of today. bamboo has so many beautiful shades of green - and it's all in your face, too! most other trees you see the bark then the branches, then the leaves - but bamboo is just a wall of emerald green BAM! right in your face. you don't have to look up to see the color. it's not just green, though. it's also a beautiful ochre-y shade of yellow, deep, almost black, greens, purple-y green, blue-y green, etc. i haven't seen a red bamboo, but i wouldn't doubt it if there is one.

bamboo grows redonkulously fast. like a foot a day fast! instant returns!

you can EAT bamboo! and it is delicious - you can fix it about a million different ways. cook it like you would asparagus, or zuchini. it would be fabulous on pasta, so good stir-fried, i like it plain, too. do not compare this to canned bamboo!! i'm not even sure that stuff is real. fresh bamboo shoots are so delicately crunchy and juicy, with a very fresh and mild flavor.

hello, you can eat it and BUILD with it! bamboo is also really really strong. the way the fibers grow give it superb tensile strength. BUT! the chambers created by the nodes also give it incredible compressive strength as well.

it's hollow! it's really strong AND lightweight! there's no better building material than that! you can make scaffolding a million stories high in about 3 hours with about 100 chinese men. you can build instant bridges, instant shelters, instant anything!

weapons. unfortunately bamboo is also a great weapons material. it's strong and lightweight which means you can swing it really fast and it freakin' hurts!! and you can also make all kinds of torture devices which shall remain nameless....

pandas (and dogs) love to eat it. in fact, i'm sure chickens probably love bamboo, too. it's high in nutrients and also water content. it is a very good source for immediate energy in the form of carbs yet sustains you with it's soluble fiber.

ok, so now about the book. what i'm saying is, why isn't there a practical, hands-on manual to all things bamboo for the average household? all kinds of recipes, ideas, building projects, etc. us asians have been taking advantage of this most resourceful grass for centuries and its uses remain unlimited. i LOVE having bamboo growing in my backyard. i use it for everything, from eating to having a nice privacy screen from my neighbors, to making beautiful trellises for climbing plants (like my peas!) you can make temporary cold frames, gates. fencing, whatever. i truly believe it is an essential for every homesteading family.

you can make flooring, utensils, plates & bowls, cups, hats, purses, rugs, furniture, clothing, paper, linens, freakin' robots, probably; food, shoes, teepees, and the list goes on and on...

bamboo shoots!

this year i have decided to document the amazing speed at which bamboo grows. last spring i saw a bamboo tree grow to 15' tall within a week. you have a pretty small window of opportunity to harvest the shoots, so timing is critical. this year, i plan to let a majority of the shoots grow into their full size so i can have some privacy from my neighbor, Marge. bamboo is actually a grass and there are many varieties - from black to purple and all kinds of sizes. i don't know the specific variety we have growing here, but they make for tasty grilling! my mom marinates these young bamboo shoots korean-style, with lots of red pepper paste (kochujang). right now is just about the perfect time to harvest, before they get more than about a foot high, but taller than 6". you just knock them over with your foot. there is rain in the forecast so i am betting that by this time next week, we'll have a lush bamboo forest. i think i will post a recipe for bamboo shoots - as a separate post.

for now, i wish to update on the status of bibi, our precious little furball. bibi had a follow-up appointment yesterday and the doc says she is doing good. although, she does lick her boo-boos too much. her is our beautiful little girl. doesn't she look happy? look at that grin! she has definitely been a lot happier dog, and spoiled rotten, too. sleeps in bed with us every night, curled up next to me with her blocky head on my pillow. she's one tough little cookie, though.

so yeah, so far we are relieved.

and even moto is looking better. he likes the new porch and most of all, he likes B. she stroked him so good the other day he drooled all over her lap. i think moto's in love.

oh, and my kinoki pads arrived!! that was actually faster than i though it would. if you have never heard of kinoki, they are "detoxifying" pads that you attach to the bottom of your feet while you sleep. it's supposed to draw out toxins through your body and out of your feet. i saw it on an infomercial. it's my guilty pleasure. every once in a while, i'll actually buy something i see advertised on tv just to see if it's really that great. (i know they are largely scams) so far i've gotten the miracle blade knife set, a couple of magic bullets, an aromatherapy showerhead, press-on accent lighting, and now these pads. i think they were about $24. i have yet to try them out, but i'll keep you posted.

oh, and it came with a free eye patch thing - it's korean! i probably could have bought this at the flea market on buford hwy....

news you can use

i realized the other day while driving home from work that not everybody knows what i know. and i just took it for granted that they did. for example: last week my boss took me to one of his vistage meetings to hear a speaker talk about nutrition. vistage is a membership for ceo's who want to better themselves, better their business, etc. anyways, i tried to keep my eye rolling to a minimum because the whole thing was lame. well, lame to me. so the guy blabs on about eating the right proportions and talks about fiber and protein and yada yada yada - like who hasn't heard all of this before? he seriously expected these people to pack a small cooler with protein and veggies everyday and take it everywhere so that you can eat 6 times a day. he's also a bodybuilder. that right there made me tune him out. he is not your average person and therefore knows not what he demands. anyways, he had this HUGE secret to share. he said it would be LIFE CHANGING and that it was actually illegal for him to tell us this. now, this perked me right up cause it sounded fantastic. i was anxiously waiting for him to reveal the mystery of a good looking body. finally, he picks up a small bottle and with a huge grin, pronounces that he has found the ultimate solution. stevia. stevia. i accidentally laughed out loud and then had to play it off. he passed it around so everyone could have a taste and there was much ooohing and aaahing. i was quite disappointed. stevia was his ace in the hole? who the hell doesn't know about stevia? hello? why is it illegal for him to tell us about it? because the sugar industry has literally outlawed the promotion of stevia as a sugar substitue. crazy, huh? anyways, i left the meeting early cause there was nothing else this guy could have said that i didn't already know. i know i sound extremely pompous. but come on, who doesn't know about stevia? in this day and age, there is information everywhere! tips, articles, books, blogs, forums, etc etc. how can any person on any kind of diet/nutrition kick not know about using stevia and eating lots of soluable and insoluable fiber and eating protein only the size of your palm? duh!!

then it occured to me that maybe I'm the one who doesn't realize something. maybe i'm just a freak of nature, that i obsessively research stuff and squirrel away information like a packrat? yes, you only have to look at the files on my computer and the number of bookmarks i have to know this. i have over 3,000 bookmarks. and i don't normally bookmark a single page or article unless it's really good. i bookmark entire websites chock full of information both common knowledge and obscure. i know shit that i have no reason to know. and then an epiphany: would i be doing a good deed by sharing any of this info? i mean, half the blogs on the web are tutorials or how-to videos, lists & tips. i don't want to be regurgitating anything already online - but then maybe the people who read my blog don't know about those websites? maybe they don't have the time or inclination to root through all the crap to find the good stuff?

can ya tell i'm bored at work today?

back to stevia. if you don't know what it is, it's a plant. it is a natural sweetener - which means no weird chemicals, no calorie overload, no insulin rush. it's like 400,000 times sweeter than sugar or something like that. you only need a 1/4 teaspoon of the diltuted stuff to equal a whole tablespoon of sugar. use it for sweetening everything, you can find it with the herbal supplements (it's illegal to promote it as sugar, so it won't be in that section of the store). there's a comapny called sweet leaf that makes a product and you can also find it at trader joe's.

so this morning in my daily perusal of google reader, i come across this very handy article called 20 things you can use twice before throwing away. isn't that handy? check it out.

handy dandy

if you scroll down to the bottom of my blog, you'll find a new widget to help you pick out a plant. it's pretty neat, try it!