Trip #7 of Summer '07

The king still wishes this is only a sick joke; but nah, it's true. We're leaving again tonight after being home for less then 48 hours lol! No, honestly, contrary to believe, I'm not trying to drive him insane nor am I trying to kill him hahaha!

We're going back to Las Vegas tonight for four days/night. Yes, on Frontier Airlines again :) Nonstop, no hassle, cheap and on time... well, almost :) Why are we going back to Sin City when we were there less then 4 weeks ago? Well... because we can... and a friend of mine is having some shoe convention thingy there and asked if we would meet her and her boyfriend there. ...and really, you don't need to give us more excuses to return to Vegas. Sure it's the third time this summer but what beats laying around in the sun by a quiet pool (yes a quiet pool does exist on the Strip lol), gambling till the wee hours in the morning and your eyes are about to pop out like a loose mattress spring, waking up to Starbucks at your lobby and just going to try restaurants we have never been before just to be able to yelp about it hee hee. Yes, this is what summer '07 has been about. Welcome to the summer of blogging :D

I'm sure I'd have time to enter new posts when I'm there. At least I'm hoping to catch up with some of the restaurant reviews from our last trip since yelp only supports restaurants within the 50 States... I suppose that's what FoodCandy is for :)

Buenos Aires Rocks!

Yes, we're back from our whirlwind trip to 'winter in Argentina' in the middle of summer. Only one word to sum up this trip. WOW!































I have never been to South America before so to hit the Paris of South America couldn't have been a nicer way to start. We stayed at the CE Design Hotel and while some of the details were lacking - like a door to the toilet, and a stairs to our upstairs loft bedroom so steep we would probably fall to our death if we'd been drunk... or... drunk - they made up more than enough in the friendliness of all the staff members (all no older then 25) and the swankiness of the hotel.

The city is vivid, beautiful and interesting. The old mixed with the modern... the man-walking-a-gazillion-dogs was a common sight in our daily walks across the city; ok, we didn't walk THAT much but we did our share of walking even though cabs were sinfully cheap! ...and the food... omfg the food... I think out of respect, I should start a new paragraph :)

Yes, the food was very good! One thing is for sure. While I might not be eating another piece of steak again in a long long time, I do miss those delicious Argentinian cows dearly. I can't say I have had better cuts of meat then I ever had in Buenos Aires. WOW! It was not only an eye opener but an eye opener with toothpicks and the works! I was in awe... but let's talk lunch first...

Our first meal at Beunos Aires at Cumana was awesome! Yummy empanada (spicy beef - that was not spicy, tuna - my personal favorite, ham & cheese, cheese and onion, regular beef)... hey they were 1.80 pesos which made them US$0.60. Yes they were practically bite size but even if they weren't, why not!?! ...and the locro - a beefy stew with corn - actually hominy... it was yumz! Really yummy! Can't say I have had anything close to the texture or taste of this stew but the flavor was good, the beef tender... mmm mmm mmmph! I could go for some now hee hee...










That night, I had my first parilla meal at Cabana Las Lilas... if the world ended that night after my meal there (and the king hadn't taken me the next evening to an even better parilla restaurant, I would have died a happy person... alas, he did. But more of that later... this post, we'll talk about how the staff at Cabana Las Lilas made me joyous to the brink of bursting into song and dance. Not just simply 'Sound of Music' song and dance... MC Hammer 'Can't Touch This' song and dance mind you! I kid not! Yes, it was that good :)

Upon arriving, we were immediately served with many many dishes and plates of food. There was the little mini cup of thick mushroom soup which was yum (actually it was very close to the amuse bouche served in Canlis in Seattle)... then there was the big platter of antipasto which was not only beautiful in color but wow, you think antipasto is simply antipasto? Hah! Not this... no pics were taken of the breadsticks nor what seemed like a puff cracker shaped like a mini pillow also placed immediately on the table for us... two pairs of some form of (corn?) bread (absolutely delicious and warm!)... AND REFILLED lol when we finished them (I was mortified since this was done when our steaks were served and I was too full to even take the first bite of my entree (never mind corn bread) - not that it stopped me from continuing with my entree and one more piece of that corn bread thingy... there was chimichurri and salsa to do what with we had no idea, but we later saw people dipping their breads into them... DUH! ...and oh, the bread girl, don't forget the bread girl who walked around the big restaurant with a huge basket of breads of all kinds... maybe it's the Argentinian version of pass-arounds like at Lamberts lol!
Need I even go into how awesome our steaks were!? I went with my usual favorite cut; the rib eye (salivating as I fantasize of that first bite again) and the husband had his usual fillet. My oh my, I thought my crazy 14oz rib eye steak was insane when we were at the Metropolitan Grill in Seattle last month. My steak here at Cabanas Las Lilas was at least 18!!! I kid you not! It doesn't look as insane in the picture (L) but trust me, I burst into laughter when they served it. Why!? It just seemed so ridiculously crazy humongous! ...that and of course after too much wine drunk like water on our entire trip in Buenos Aires, you can't help but laugh at what a great time you're having :) ...and the potatoes I got... omg the potatoes... they're called souffle fries. It's a cross between a chip and a crisp. A french fry and a potato chip. They are crispy like a crisp and fat like a french fry... BUT... they're hollow!!! Can someone say ORGASMIC!??! LOL! Yes the steaks were superb (they were served with a little red cow on it telling you how they're cooked lol) . Yes, it's safe to say that was a piece of meat that was the best cut of rib eye I have ever had - yes even compared to the meat I had the next day! It just seemed perfectly well marbled and every mouthful tasted better by then the last... with wine... and not forgetting, an already full stomach!

You'd think we didn't have desserts... but you can't complete an experience at Cabanas Las Lilas without dessert - much like a meal without wine in Argentina lol. I had the Brazillian Coconut tart and the king had grilled fruits... his was alright but my coconut tart was oh-so-good, oh-so-rich, and oh-my-gawd-I'm-having-a-heart-attack-fattening lol. But you know, you only live once and if I wasn't complaining about the amount of food I'd had pre-dinner, pre-dessert, or simply pre-Cabana Las Lilas-experience, why should I start then?! :D










I will post only my first day of food or this post will go on forever. I will write more Argentinian restaurant reviews later.

Cousin Lani Visits

Bruce's cousin Lani and her boyfriend, Richard (fresh graduate from U Conn), are on their way to Albuquerque to Lani's parent's home and arrived in Memphis yesterday. Aren't they cute?! :)

Trip #6 Of Summer '07

Well, it's been quite a shocker for everyone who track our travels that it's already mid July and the king and I have yet to leave this country. This is a first for us... so with the inflated prices to Asia, we've decided to head for a different direction. To a continent I've never been before! The husband's been, of course, so he'll be the guide - but that's nothing new :)

Tomorrow, we're off to Buenos Aires, Argentina!!! It's winter there right now so I get to pull out all my sweaters and coats. NICE! I'm so over this heat already... good wine, good food here we come! No, I'm not going to be doing any tango! LOL

News Travels Fast Here

I just got a call from a girlfriend of mine whom I have not hung out with in a long time; she had a baby and then another... and she had to become a mother and couldn't hang out with us losers anymore lol :)

Anywayz, this German friend of mine was out on her daily walk and bumped into a mutual Italian friend of ours (whom, by the way, I have not seen also in almost two years) and was told by Ms Italy that the king and I were leaving Memphis. Like leaving tomorrow!!! It was quite comical to me since Ms Germany was practically in shock, huffing and puffing (still on her walk) wanting to know the whole story of this sudden plan for departure. Yes I calmed her down... I told her I wasn't leaving tomorrow or the day after - sorry Memphis, lots more blogs to write here for you to read; and since I have only told two good friends of mine here and a couple of restaurant owners, this piece of news sure traveled fast and furious. Apparently, we even have a 'for sale' sign in our front yard already! No, contrary to believe, we are not that much in a hurry to leave. Actually, that's not entirely true either lol! But decisions have to be made as to where we'd like to move to (three or four US cities and a couple of Asian countries are the choices right now that have not been narrowed down) and what the husband would like to do when we move. Will he return to the technology world? Continue being a teacher - 'coz we all know he's a darn good teacher and one of the most dedicated(!).

Right now, we're simply enjoying time off like a regular summer out of school. Traveling is vital and everything else secondary.

Pain

After almost six weeks of constant travel zipping from one city to another and absolutely not hitting the gym when I should have, I finally returned to Germantown Center yesterday. What can I say!? Yes, "ouch!" would be a good start lol. ... and the moans and groans that followed a 45 minute 'switch' class was plain ugly. I seem to have shrunk! My 'normal' setting on one of those Schwinn bikes seem a wee bit high. Kind of odd... unless I really got shorter. Gawd help me if that's possible at 37. Not a good thing especially for someone barely 5ft.

This morning, I woke up to two unmovable arms. No, it was not a good idea to return straight to those eight pound weights I was getting used to... ouch again.

I doubt I will return to the crazy regimen I was doing before summer started. I don't want to and I sure don't miss it. I'm doing the minimum just to say I'm not sitting in front of this machine 12 hours of the day and over-stuffing myself :) Can't say I'm not enjoying it however.

Let's see how it goes this first week. I'm sure we'll be hopping onto another plane pretty soon. After all, we've been back for more than a week! Imagine that! One week and no plans to go anywhere. At this point, I'll settle for Destin - ummm... nah... I'll wait.

A Little Piece Of Heaven

If you like popcorn, you're gonna' love the popcorn from Garrett's. I usually order via their website but I got tired of paying the damn Fedex charges which are exorbitant! So I was in Chicago a few weeks ago, I made it a point, (I dragged the king along, of course lol) went to their store, joined the crazy line of people and got three of these two gallon tins of mix - cheese and caramel popcorn... YUM!!! The other two tins went to friends and my family back in Singapore. My family can't wait to get the box (which is on it's way arriving today) - they absolutely love the popcorn from Garrett's.

Of course, I didn't take a picture of the popcorn while I still had some inside this tin lol. Yes, they're all gone... I gave the last bit to the local nieces here before I let myself stuff my face with more popcorn lol. I'm so pathetic :D

Did I Eat A Bao While In China?!

After I heard from my girlfriend who lives in China that the Chinese make 'fake' soya sauce, Johnson's Baby Powder, fruits, eggs... you name it, I was beginning to wonder about all the delicious (and not so delicious) food I had while I was there... no, fortunately, I'm quite sure I did not have a bao-zi while I was in China. Phew!

The AP reports that Chinese State TV has uncovered a "steamed bun" making operation in one Beijing neighborhood that uses pieces of cardboard collected from the street and softened with caustic soda as the main ingredient. From the AP:

The hidden camera follows the man, whose face is not shown, into a ramshackle building where steamers are filled with the fluffy white buns, traditionally stuffed with minced pork.

The surroundings are filthy, with water puddles and piles of old furniture and cardboard on the ground.

"What's in the recipe?" the reporter asks. "Six to four," the man says.

"You mean 60 percent cardboard? What is the other 40 percent?" asks the reporter. "Fatty meat," the man replies.

The bun maker and his assistants then give a demonstration on how the product is made.

Squares of cardboard picked from the ground are first soaked to a pulp in a plastic basin of caustic soda -- a chemical base commonly used in manufacturing paper and soap -- then chopped into tiny morsels with a cleaver. Fatty pork and powdered seasoning are stirred in.

Soon, steaming servings of the buns appear on the screen. The reporter takes a bite.

"This baozi filling is kind of tough. Not much taste," he says. "Can other people taste the difference?"

"Most people can't. It fools the average person," the maker says. "I don't eat them myself."

Wonder why.

Beijing steamed buns include cardboard [Yahoo!] (Thanks, Acambras!)
(Photo:AP)

10:42am ON THU JUL 12 2007
BY MEG MARCO consumerist

My Love-Hate Relationship With Summer...And Memphis

It's summer again and I have my husband all to myself. Of course, now that he's quit that job of his, I have him all to myself anyway. I kind of wish it wasn't summer after all... with this darn heat, it's hard to enjoy anything around here. It's too hot to sit out in our deck even with two fans running max outside; it's too hot to go anywhere - though the airport is a nice refuge to head out to somewhere else - and it's too hot at home no matter how low the temperature of the air-conditioning is. No, of course it has nothing to with the the a/c or the fans inside or out... it's the place and sun! I don't like the sun, the sight of it, the thought of it. Arrgh! Ditto for the city. Actually, it's not quite the city. It's the people here who make this place a dump. But that's just MY opinion - remember? That's what blogs are for, for the few idiots out there who insist on taking my word as bible!

Growing up in a city-state-island-country where it's hot and humid all year round, cloudy days made me fill with joy! Though I lived in the country till I was barely 17, I always thought cloudy days to be romantic, sweet smelling and just plain gorgeous! Rain drops on the aluminum roof next to my bedroom that covered the downstairs outdoor kitchen kept me sleeping in peace many afternoons during school holidays. (no, our parents didn't have to send us off to summer camps 'coz they liked having us around lol) Who can beat an afternoon of clouds followed by a crazy five hour thunderstorm to make it nice and cool?!

So when we moved to Memphis in mid August six years ago, I was filled with anything but joy lol! Yes, I was moving in with my husband, then boyfriend... but Memphis?! That, my friends is looooove! Now that we're planning on moving away (hip hip hooray! ...or in local lingo, hallelujah!), I suppose it's not too hard to stomach another summer here. Yes, some people are screaming, 'good riddance!' but guess what? We get to leave while they're stuck here. Who's laughing now?! Muahahaha!

We don't know where we're going yet. San Francisco? Seattle? Tokyo? Singapore? Hawaii? Yes, anywhere outside the south or anywhere not ulu! But who knows... we have nothing but choices. Again, don't get me wrong, I don't hate Memphis... it's just the people here who think the world revolves around their asses and their... ah-hem... non-existent world view. Oh well... life goes on for people like us and people who live here and can't wait to get away from these bloody bird brains :) We're off to greener pastures where people have at least traveled across their own country, know that Singaporeans don't speak Japanese, and yes, my first language is English.

Okay, that was the hate part of it all. Now, the love part for summer and Memphis... hmmm... ummm... the sun is nice (sometimes) during bitterly cold winter days... Memphis has many churches - ok, that's not it... thank goodness for Fedex and International Paper or there would be no Memphis... ok that's not it for me either... we leave this place with a few friends who will remain good friends for a long long time - there you go! ...and yes, that's it lol! ...oh ok, my big cheap house (apparently culture doesn't come cheap lol) and I'll give you good bbq :D

Trip #5 Of Summer '07

We're off to Las Vegas again tomorrow. I know, most of you who know us well are probably surprised we're still in the country for the summer and not takin our third trip to Asia already lol! Good thing is, we have tons of time for Asia after August when the prices of air-tickets go down dramatically... so we're just flying 'close to home' and enjoy the cheaper tickets for now.

Seeing that I didn't get enough on our last trip in Vegas a month ago and the MGM is inviting us back and comping us a suite, all our meals and transportation to and from the airport, we figured, what have we got to lose!? Sure, we'll gamble... but hey, we always have fun! I might just hit the jackpot this time lol! Plus, we also got tickets to see Lewis Black perform on Saturday evening. Can't beat that!

We're flying Frontier Airlines for the first time tomorrow. Yup, they now have non-stop flights out of Memphis to Las Vegas and they're dirt cheap! So we're gonna' see how they treat us. We don't want to fly American for awhile - we might be cashing out on all our millions of miles since our last few disgusting and disastrous encounters (all in one trip) with their services as well as that gawd awful excuse for a man tending to the guests in the Admirals Club lounge in Terminal 'C' at DFW - I almot forgot about calling his boss to find out what his deal is... and I'm tired of giving any more money to Northwest Airlines whose pilots have been cutting down on their overtime schedule to get back at their company/bosses though it's actually the customers who are actually suffering first hand... so Fronteir Air it is.

This will be our first time staying with the MGM. We stayed at the Signature the last time and loved it! But I guess they don't comp rooms at the Signature - bummer! I'll remember to take pics :)

Update On Iphone (For The Not Yet Convinced Morons)

If you've already bought the phone... well... return it! ...'coz what you're about to read, is going to hurt - as if my last entry wasn't enough to convince you about this bad bad product.

Remember how I mentioned that when the battery of your Iphone dies, you'd have to send it back to the manufacturer to get it 'serviced'(?) unless you want to own a doorstop while continuing to pay the evil trolls at AT&T until your 2-year contract expires!?! Well, check out this article here from Gizmodo. It says that the Iphone lasts about 300-400 charges and once that's done, you have to pay a total of $85.95 (shipping included) to get it 'replaced'. If that's not bad enough, all the information on your phone will not be restored! ...still want an Iphone?!
And since you won't have a phone while the battery is being replaced, that would be the perfect time for that Antarctica vacation you've always been planning.

...then I also found out that the Bluetooth on the Iphone does not have full Bluetooth capabilities. Surprise surprise! Other than being able to use that silly looking Bluetooth earphones with the Iphone, that's as much as you can do with the Bluetooth feature it provides! Basically, you're buying a fridge that comes with a freezer but doesn't freeze LOL! Dumbass! So no sharing of files via Bluetooth from phone to phone, phone to computer. Hmmm...

Funny isn't it - to people like me who never did and still don't want an Iphone!? All I can say is, if you're still looking for a cellphone to get, buy a Nokia N-95! You won't regret it. No, Nokia is NOT paying me to say this lol. Plus you'd be the envy of smart people in the know lol.