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April 28, 2005
Dim Sum is Bad for You. Wow, Really?
OK, this article was just too ridiculous. I read this and thought about when I started eating dim sum, back when I was less than seven years old. Even then, EVERYONE knew it was not a health-conscious choice. For one thing, half of the dishes were deep-fried in animal fats. Anyhow, dim sum is not healthy enough for everyday eating. But it sure was fun to go out to get dim sum with friends and socialize. I certainly have many fond memories of dim sum get-togethers.
One joke that goes around among my parent's circle of friends is that their Asian physicians would advise against going out to dim sum. But guess who we'd all see at the dim sum places when we did go? Yup, you guessed it. The culture of sharing meals with good friends is widespread. Dim sum is a way of eating in many Asian countries. Think of it like Spanish tapas, in terms of enjoying tasty food with good company.
Dim sum may be unhealthy, but I think it is no more unhealthy than fast food. It just needs to be eaten in moderation. By the way, I would never soak dim sum in hot water to remove oils. It would definitely ruin the taste. I think people who soak their dim sum in water should just stay home and eat salad.
Posted by Kathy at 07:47 PM | Permalink
April 24, 2005
Vanilla Rooibos
Name: Vanilla Rooibos
Kathy's Rating: 9.5/10.0
Company: Teavana
Origin of tea: South Africa
Price: $4.50/2 oz.
Tea form: Loose rooibos pieces scented with vanilla.
What they say: Rooibos flavored with authentic Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans.
Preparation method: Pour boiling water over rooibos and infuse for 5 - 6 minutes.
Review: This is one great infusion that I keep coming back to. It's not caffeinated, which means I can drink it all day and night if I want to. I'm also hard-pressed to think of a more suitable infusion combination than rooibos and vanilla.
Rooibos has a slightly buttery flavor to it, and when vanilla is added to rooibos, the result is very dessert-like. I reviewed Celestial Seasoning's Madagascar Vanilla Red Rooibos Tea earlier. This is the same infusion as Celestial Seasonings' Vanilla Rooibos, but I like Teavana's better. Somehow, the taste of vanilla feels less artificial in Teavana's blend. I've also tried other scented rooibos from Teavana, but not liked it as much as vanilla-scented rooibos. As far as perfection goes, this infusion is pretty close to it.
Posted by Kathy at 01:25 PM | Permalink
April 22, 2005
Spring and RECON 2005
Spring has sprung in the D.C. area, and there are tons of people outside on bicycles, on rollerblades, or just walking. Me? I'm inside most of the time, working on stuff or playing World of Warcraft. Never been much of an outdoors person anyway. Good thing I don't have a dog that I have to walk everyday.
On the other hand, I did take some time last fall to plant daffodils and tulips outside my house. Despite my black thumbs and best efforts, they are actually alive and blooming. That, in itself is much more than I ever expected, so I'm happy. Historically, I've had little success with growing plants. My best experience (sort of) was with a geranium plant that came in a can.
How does this work, you wonder? Well, you pop the lid off the can, water the medium inside, put the can in a sunny window, and in weeks, a green shoot appears. Very easy. So, when the shoots appeared, I eagerly anticipated a blooming geranium in no time.
That is, until I came home from work one day, and noticed that there's no shoot left in the can. This is something that was there in the morning, and about 2 inches tall. Now, there's not even 2 millimeters left of it. However, one of my cats had a very satisfied look on his face. Oops. Hope he enjoyed that geranium salad.
Travel plans are starting to heat up. I will be in Chicago early May for my cousin's wedding. Then, in June, I will be travelling to Montreal along with fellow Syn Ack Labs folks Todd MacDermid and Jack Lloyd. We will be attending and speaking at RECON 2005. Todd and Jack will talk about CUTLASS, and I'm looking forward to talking about honeyclients. I've never been to Montreal, and hear that it's a fun place.
Posted by Kathy at 08:21 PM | Permalink
April 09, 2005
Attending Conferences
I am currently at NotACon in Cleveland, having a great time. Yesterday, I was out at the Great Lakes Brewing Co. for dinner, and had a lot of fun talking to other folks in Syn Ack Labs, namely Jack Lloyd, Viki Navratilova and her fiance, Larry, and of course, Todd MacDermid.
There's a table that we've set up for Syn Ack Labs t-shirts and stickers, so stop by if you're in Cleveland! There's also a pizza party we're throwing today after Froggy and Tyger's keynote. So, stop by for free pizza if you're in the area.
I was at GFIRST in Orlando from Monday to Friday of this week as well. I think speaking at two conferences in a row if rough, especially if the speaking topics are entirely different from one another. There was a lot of activities sponsored at GFIRST by various corporations, including an excursion to Sea World. I can't say that I would want to ever go to Sea World again. I saw the Shamu Rocks America show, and was disappointed that it was only 20 minutes long.
Well, it was really 30 minutes, but 10 minutes of the 'Shamu show' was padded out by insulting the audience members. Yes, I meant that. There were cameras installed all over the Shamu seating area. For 10 minutes they played these cheesy wedding songs like 'Y.M.C.A.' and panned the camera on just about everyone in the audience. That would have been OK, but they took the liberty of adding bubbles over people's heads and saying what I thought were rude things. For example, the camera panned on a bald guy, followed by a bubble that says 'Bald Is Beautiful'.
I mean, who needs that? There was another panned scene of a guy's fat gut. Oh, by the way, this is all broadcasting on a very large screen in front of the audience so everyone can laugh at the victim's expense. I thought it was mean-spirited. When Shamu splashed water on the audience, the camera of course zoomed in on the kid that was crying as he was being deluged with water. I didn't go to the stupid show to see that, and I definitely would not recommend it to anyone else either. Sea World sucks, big time. I'll just stick to Disney World, thank you.
Posted by Kathy at 11:20 AM | Permalink