Made in Japan, Outsourced Globally

Christmas in NY cannot be, without the tree & ice skating at Rockefeller Center.


Mmm... picturesque (and somewhat patriotic)


It's so cute~~~!!! >_<


Beautiful window display at Saks Fifth. People lined up in front of the fairy-tale decorated windows with their light shows every 15 minutes.

Ah... so this is what I have been missing all these years in sunny California and the tropics...

Roommate love. One of us is not sober.


The crazy dancing couple. Tee hee.


One of my favorite pictures.


Randy and Me.

If you're blue and you don't know
where to go to
why don't you gowhere fashion sits
Puttin' on the Ritz

Different types who wear a daycoat pants
with stripes and cutawaycoat perfect fits
Puttin' on the Ritz

Dressed up like a million-dollar trooper
Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper (super duper)
Come let's mix where Rockefellerswalk
with sticks or um-ber-ellasin their mitts
Puttin' on the Ritz

Good news is that I now know where I am going to be, come February.

Bad news is, the Brits won't know what hit them.

I'm moving to Corby, England. Yes ma'am.

p.s. - any tips on flat-searching in the area would be very much appreciated!

* Crab bisque
* Tuna salad and lettuce
* Chicken strips
* Tomato sauce pasta
* Ma po tofu and rice
* Gulab jamun (dessert)
(My coworker and I brought in leftovers from home)

Today, I learned the definition of "smorgasbord."

Every day is a learning experience :)

I think we got about 5 inches here. Having been in the West Coast and the tropical climate for way too long, I had to relearn my snow-plowing skills from teenage years.

One of the most memorable moments with snow is when Julio from the Dominican Republic saw snow for the very first time in Milwaukee at an Aiesec conference. Everybody kind of shook their heads disgruntledly at the piling white stuff, but Julio ran outside without a coat, screaming, "Snooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!!!!" and had the hotel staff take a group picture outside. He was shivering after the initial excitement, but it was all worth it.

In my previous post, I wrote a brief line about the ER. This caused some concerns due to my lack of information.

Basically, Randy has been sick for the last couple weeks. These last couple days have been more severe than others, and over the weekend, his tonsils have enlarged to a point where he could hardly breathe. He's been on antibiotics for strep, but his conditions showed no improvement whatsoever. So, I took him to the ER (his car was snowed-in and stuck). At the ER, he's on IVs and waiting forever... the diagnosis was "mono" (mononucleiosis). But... his physician called the next day to tell him he doesn't have mono and that he has strep plus some weird virus. Conflicting diagnosis and conflicting treatments. (My Indian roommate has no faith in American doctors now - his aunt was diagnosed with cancer, when all she had was a common cold. Although that's an extreme case, I see his point). The most frustrating thing is that there's no improvement in Randy's condition - he feels sicker and sicker by the day.

It makes me wonder if we have reached the ceiling for Western medicine. Have the diseases won over human kind already? And have we become too reliant on the "quick-fix" by the medication to outdo ourselves? That's a scary thought. But then again, if what Randy has is viral, all he can do is let his body do its due dilligence.

So, there you have it. It's the season to be sick. Please take care, and do all you can to be healthy (relax, don't stress, excercise, and eat balanced meals - it's amazing how simple these things are, but we don't follow through on a daily basis). And it beats having to go to the doctor!

p.s. - some Japanese home remedies for fighting the cold: 1) cook rice porridge with onion, carrots, at the end add scrambled egg, a dash of soy sauce, and green onions; 2) ground ginger, corn starch, sugar, cold water + add hot water in mixture and stir; 3) udon noodles cooked in miso soup (with lots and lots of green onions) - chicken, carrots, and drop in an egg at the end. I feel like a grandma, but grandma knows best.

The weekend went by in flying colors, but I'm talking about the grey kind. Or gray, if you would prefer.

It started off with a missing Polish man, who showed up at the door at 6pm instead of 6am. Made chicken soup, sugar milk & bread, and ginger coke for Randy, poor guy :( In the evening, a sushi-tastic dinner that sent my tastebuds on a trip. De-li-ci-ous. Note to self, learn how to make tempura. Also note to self: dirty martinis are harder to drink on a full stomach after sake and vodka drinks. Growing up out of the college years can sometimes equal more mellow festivities, but with a bigger wallet. We decided to go get Chappelle's Show and Napoleon Dynamite. Season 1 is better, apparently.

Snowball fight. Hopping over yellow ones. Asian market run - one of my favorite past times. Yummy food court food. Cheap produce, cheap everything. Some more supermarket runs. Finally watched Napoleon Dynamite. About to go to sleep, but life ain't that easy. 2 hours in the ER. Getting yelled at for not knowing how to drive in snow. Exhausted.

It's a monday again.