Prayer Hands

You ever notice how prayer hands look like a high-five?

 

Source: prayinghandsclipart.com/

I personally do the fingers folded method, but this way, prayer is like a prolonged, slow-motion high-five. Nice way to say "Hey, what's up" to a friend.

Currently Coveting

I apologize for my latest burst of book-worming.

Fueled by my current read by The Bloggess (sigh, also a book) and her tales of loathing,
this post is about someone who might make me tense up, narrow my eyes and heart beat faster.

His name is John Harrison.

[insert Fight Club chant]

He and his white coat, kind eyes, circle glasses and charming pastel polka-dot bow ties. Wipe that smug "my life is so much better than yours" smile off your face.

I've never met him but I know all I need to know to be slightly very extremely jealous.

You see, 

Mr. jolly John "I only eat with a golden spoon" Harrison

is Dreyer's Official Ice Cream Taster.

Source: dreyers.com

Yes, it is a real position.
And John Harrison has it.

Okay, jealousy is not a good feeling but I'm sure I'm not the only one that just discovered he possesses your dream job. Admission, this is probably not my dream job anymore since my body started rebelling against consuming large quantities of dairy; I can see myself (and everyone within a five-foot radius) getting rather uncomfortable everyday. But for the five-year-old version of me, this would have been my dream job back when and my diet was primarily ice cream, a bite or two whatever my parents forced me to eat, washed down with a few bowls of ice cream. Is there a cookie taster position anywhere? I would take it in a heartbeat (I hope it includes a gym membership).

Actually, if I go into cookie tasting I have no qualms with John.
Thank you Mr. John Harrison for keeping my Dreyer's ice cream tasting delicious
(and all the extra weight you probably gained in the name of quality control).

You can learn more about Mr. John Harrison and his job here.

Chocolates in Asia I wish were sold in the States

This week's photo challenge: Chocolate reminded me of something I've been wanting to say for some time.

Why are these things not available in the States?
-----------------------------   
AMICELLI by Dove

Every time I visit Taiwan I try to find some Amicelli.

Amicelli are small individually wrapped wafer rolls filled with hazelnut chocolate, also known as bits of heaven wrapped in a wafer roll (in my world). A bit on the pricier end but I REALLY LIKE HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE so it's a real treat. They are made by Dove but I have not seen them in the U.S.

But Dove chocolate is headquartered in New Jersey!

Yes, why would Dove deny Americans of this delicious treat? Why doesn't CocaCola sell Qoo here? Why can't 7-11 be the hub for all bill-paying activity? Why can't my potato chips taste like a hamburger with ketchup or a steak covered in black pepper sauce with a side of mashed potatoes? Why can't I have a local bookstore that is 7 floors tall? Why can't all receipts also double up as lottery tickets? Sometimes you have to travel the world to realize the US isn't the only place with great ideas and even though we are in the land of plenty we still don't have it all.

At least the Bay Area is finally getting a Uniqlo. My brother introduced me to this brand when we were in Japan. I remember stopping by the store in NYC a few years back and wishing I had one in my backyard. Uniqlo is like the Gap of Japan, lots of pretty basics, cute print t-shirts, and fun collaborations with designers like Jill Sanders, Vena Cava, Orla Kiely. Yippee!

-----------------------------
Rich Matcha Chocolate by Meiji

My housemate went to Japan earlier this year and brought back Meiji rich matcha chocolate bars. Similar in appearance to a Hershey's chocolate bar, except think of a white chocolate bar flavored with matcha and only 10% of white chocolate's typical sweetness. Not super sophisticated or beautifully packaged but all I can say is YUM! Such a huge fan of matcha green tea and it's smoky, dry flavor.

She said she could only find them in the 7-11 stores around Japan.

I had high hopes of returning from Taiwan with a years worth of this stuff. When I was in Taiwan, every time I passed by a 7-11 (which appear about every other block in the bigger cities) I peeked inside hoping to spot some in the candy aisle. There were quite a few Meiji products, but only milk chocolate and dark chocolate bars. No matcha green tea bars! I scoured Taipei. Grocery stores, 7-11's, family marts (another common convenience store), department stores... NADA!

Sigh.

I shouldn't have gobbled up the one from Japan so quickly.

I was hoping to bring some back from Taiwan as souvenirs for others because they are delicious, cheap (the airport ate half my spending money before I could cross customs), easy to carry, I haven't seen them in America and who DOESN'T like them? Sigh. Pineapple cakes, mochi, taro cakes, black charcoal face wash, cheap tights and funny hello kitty glasses were the only plunder I brought back from my trip. I hate giving people things they could easily find in their local Asian supermarket. (Bulky boxes also end up being smashed in my luggage and do not very pretty gifts.)

My brother returned from Taiwan a week after me and look what he brought back for me!

He said he found it in a grocery store.

I shall ration it for a year... or week. Whatever comes first.

-----------------------------
Any candies you wish were available in the US?
FYI - No one is allowed to say Smarties (I'm looking at you Canadians) because M&M's are clearly superior. Clearly.

Don't get me started on ice cream flavors.

 

challenge: chocolate

Thank goodness my mom is a horse

I finished reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. I consider myself a terribly slow reading but even I was able to finish this book in two sittings. It's a quick read.

This woman sounded crazy and over the top at times. Bah! I first thought- what stereotypes! Asian children are all two years ahead of their peers at math and never attend sleepovers?!? I LOVED sleepovers. But then I remembered how my parents quickly wrote up pages of math problems for me whenever I made the mistake of saying I was bored. I must have said I was bored quite a bit because I whizzed through multiplication problems while my fellow first-graders were still counting on their fingers to do addition. I think I was always ahead in math when my dad was around because he would check out various textbooks from his college library so I always had ample practice problems and every time I had a question about my current homework he would also make me to do the next two lessons I haven't learned yet. (reading and english were a completely different story.) Also, there were plenty of times my grandparents and parents called me what translates to "bad egg" or "stupid egg" and my mother told me I was garbage more than once. But Chua was right. Though it sounds like totally crazy things to say to children in English in a "Western" country, it was acceptable and I didn't hate anyone or really think I was stupid or garbage. My family loved me and I thought I was just stuck with a lousy nickname.

My craziest realization was that the prestigious pre-college Julliard program that Chua and pushed her violin music prodigy daughter Lulu to audition for, that hyped up super-selective program, leading to more out-of-the-way violin lessons that she probably sacrificed more vacations to pay for, the program that was dominated by Asians, that foreigners moved to America for, the one that her daughter ultimately did not get accepted into... my cousin was in that. Her family moved from Taiwan to New Jersey with the goal for my cousin to one day attend Julliard. And she did. For violin. (FYI, all that hard work and sacrifice was well invested because she sounds amazing.)

As outlandish and fantastical as her story may seem, it happens. Asian families really do sacrifice a lot to push their kids to be what seems the best and often times do get great results. They say behind every great man is a great woman, behind every outstanding kid is probably at least one strict, extremely dedicated parent.

Although I must say I was pretty aghast at some of the things she said and did to her kids. Not accepting birthday cards because they aren't up to her standards? Eek. I would have cried too.

Things that have made me smile this week

 1. Finding my Hello Kitty glasses. They were wedged in the car seat.

They look like this.
Source: Bonanza

2. Barley milk tea from Tea Era.

3. Watching my tulips bloom.

4. Spending time with people I like.

5. Discovering Ten Ren has hot grass jelly with sweet beans and taro (no tapioca, thank you).

6. Discovering a book store next to Ten Ren that sells asian magazines I like.

7. Attempting to read Dr. Seuss in Mandarin.
(Ee tiau yu, liang tiau yu, hong duh yu, lan duh yu. haha.)

8. Helping my friend with her wedding invitations. I am excited (even though I will probably have to learn photoshop at light speed.)

9. Adventures at the library.

Did I mention I recently started volunteering at the library? I help with Special Outreach Services which is a fantastic program that allows patrons who are home-bound for various reasons (illness, pregnancy, caretaker, etc.) to still have access to most of the library. Each person makes a list of material they would like to checkout (baroque classical cds, tom clancy novels, etc.) then a volunteer, like me, picks out recommendations for them and once-a-month a library staff person delivers the material and picks up the previous month's items.

I thought this would be a super simple monthly service project because I only have to go in 2 hours a month and I LOVE telling people what they should read and who they should listen to. Unfortunately, I only tell people what I have already read and listened to before. So this assumes you must be interested in novels that have been made into movies (such as Disney classics), books ranked as top picks by the staff at Powell's Books in Portland, books involving a shopaholic, and memoirs, especially memoirs by comedians and people who go through some life-changing, possibly crazy, fantastical experience or just think differently (augusten burroughs comes to mind). It turns out... the genre preferences of the people I was assigned to and my own don't overlap much. Bumbumbum. I know almost nothing about romance, westerns, thrillers, and science fiction (separate from fantasy). NOTHING! I cheated and looked on Amazon for reviews.

For the most part I used Amazon or just followed the authors they lsited. There was one book for which I deviated off the preferences. I threw in Devil in the White City by Erik Larson book for a person who wanted science fiction books by authors I have never heard of and Agatha Christie mysteries (which I think are a bit boring, although I haven't given her a real chance since middle school). Devil in the White City is categorized as a nonfiction biography because it's the retelling of the real events of a serial killer at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. I remember attempting to read it in college and not getting very far because it spooked me. I didn't get far enough to have nightmares but far enough to appreciate Larson's storytelling skills and recognize the fact that if I read further I might have nightmares.

This was a long intro to get to my happy moment...

There is no communication between the volunteers and people on the receiving end. I don't get to chat with the patron and ask how they liked what I picked or discuss anything. They are mysterious bookworms I must cater to via another mysterious third-party.

Today, I stopped by the library to pick up a hold and noticed my patron had put their own hold on Erik Larson's newest book.

I think they liked it!

Perhaps I will start throwing in more books that I liked even though they aren't quite what was requested. Perhaps next up will be The Professor and the Madman.


(By the way, you should read Ready Player One and listen to Mumford and Sons.)