wish I were on the beach

Finally a beautiful day after days of rain. I wish this was sunday. My neighbor Diana upstairs headed to the beach this afternoon and I was so jealous.


nodding.net - nodding dogs discovering the planet- it makes me want to get a digital camera, badly.

After scanning the computer obsessively for two days with 5 different 'spyware removal' software I was able to locate the problem software on the hard drive and successfully manually disabled it, which non of these software was able to do. I haven't seen one pop-up ever since, and I'm enjoying being on the web for the first time in almost two weeks. My advice to you: don't ever say 'yes' when prompted to install something you don't know. It's the same principle as don't go with a stranger even if he offers you a candy. Tell him you don't want to go see the puppy. If you make a mistake, know exact date and time when it happened. It helps you locate the problem.

Found $1 pineapple in Chinatown and it turned out to be super ripe and delicious. Food makes me so happy, therefore I cook.
on july 29, 2004 @ 04:48 pm [link]

'Abracadabra'

Lynn, a customer, came by and said she's leaving for 'Abracadabra' for two years with Peace Corps. I was like, what? Where is that?? (because it was a total gibberish to me) She said it's near Russia and Iran. Later I opened my world atlas and figured that it was 'Azerbaijan' where she was headed. She hoped that I'd be still here when she comes back. I surely hope so, and looking forward to hearing her stories. I'll be still here if I'm not out there on the road myself for my traveling cooking show.

A computer geek came yesterday, and an hour, three software, and $50 later I'm still getting pop-ups today. These software keep finding 'bad stuff' on the computer but won't really fix the problems. Also this week the showcase refrigerator died on me after squeeking and screaming for about a week. 10 police cars and dozens of officers by Williamsburg Bridge this morning, which NY1 only mentioned as 'police activity.' My neighbor Rose said it was a bomb scare; they found a suspicios container on the bridge. "That's terrible how we have to live these days," she said. Indeed. Bad energy is in the air. Beware.

on july 27, 2004 @ 05:16 pm [link]

summary of the week

The looper brothers (there were two of them) who enjoyed the window seating for over a week on my flowers and grown to be almost an inch long finally had to be released into the concrete jungle since my flowers were dying. My bamboo trees last week also befriended a hairy caterpillar who went up and down the bamboo and decided he didn't like it. He was last witnessed climbing up the gate. Akiro san next door said Kabuki play at Lincoln Center was amazing. My beach Sunday was postponed again due to weather. We've been having gloomy sundays for a while. Yesterday my neighbors Rose and Marie, mother and daughter who's been on Suffolk street forever (really) told me about the fascinating facts about the neighborhood. "Over here on Delancey was like red light district, and you'd see a John coming out from a Cadillac with a feather on his hat and a purple suit. You could spot him from miles away!" Then the neighborhood old-time queen Micheal passed by and said that someone told him that the building across the street 107 Suffolk once was a monestary. We looked up and said well, it was a school and it looks like a school. But there are gothic elements in the building too. Interesting.
on july 26, 2004 @ 01:59 pm [link]

Modern malice

Another attempt for a beach was ruined last Sunday due to the weather, and I accidentally installed 'adware' on my computer while browsing the web. Now I've been maliciously bombarded with pop up ads all week. People who are benefited from these modern malice is perhaps the computer geeks who'd charge you their service removing it. Same as daily virus I receive in emails. I used to believe that those people with graffiti removing service were the ones who put them there. This is how modern economy works.

I found a tiny looper on my flowers in the window last week. He was only about a half inch long, contently hanging around on the flower, and I figured he's pretty harmless, since he'd probably never leave his spot and have to go by the end of the week anyway together with the flower. He's getting fatter daily. I wish those pop up ads would have to go sometime also, but as long as there's the big flower of microsoft, they would perhaps hang around. Getting fatter and bigger. They keep creating 'cookies' which is not so yummy like my chocolate chip cookies. It's so unfortunate that internet became so evil; it's no longer the fun playground.
on july 22, 2004 @ 12:50 am [link]

Yesterday was Ikko san's birthday, so I made 'osekihan' or red bean rice per his wish from last week. In Japan we make this rice specially for celebration. "Thank you, mother! I'm already 46!" Ikko san and Komuro san each had two big bowls of rice.

I had a haircut this afternoon next door at Siren Hair Salon by Akiro san. It was my first visit there as a customer. The salon is simply but beautifully furnished by antiques and art works, and I sat on a big sturdy antique barbar's chair, which is over a hundred years old according to Akiro san. And I was very pleased with his masterful job; I must say that it was the best haircut I've had in a long time. Well, it pays to spend more than $20-haircut in Chinatown.
on july 17, 2004 @ 08:18 pm [link]

coffee and cigarettes

I've been meaning to write about this film for almost two weeks. More I think about it, it feels deeper. I mean, Tom Waits being a doctor! What a profound absurdity! And there's also so much truth as the Earth being a conductor of acoustical resonance. And everything is black and white. (Pay attention to details!) Then I was pleasantly surprised to see EJ Rodriguez whom I was hanging out with at Tonic for this New Year's. (He is a percussionist and was playing with Marc Ribot.) Jim Jarmusch has been my hero, since "Stranger Than Paradise," which was the number one reason to come to New York. He just made New York look so freakishly cool. Once I saw him walking down Delancey Street and I totally froze and couldn't say anything. That was only one real encounter with him unfortunately, although he lives here in the Lower East Side.
on july 16, 2004 @ 12:43 am [link]

Gimme more Sushi Class

In response to the popular demand, we've just added two more sushi making classes this month. Details at cooking class page.
on july 12, 2004 @ 05:31 pm [link]

Story about a chimp?

After torturing myself under blazing sun in 84% humidity at Bronx Half Marathon, I treated myself for a movie. "Fahrenheit 9/11" is a brilliant documentary. But you have to remember this is Micheal Moore, the angry man; you'll understand why Disney would be upset. This is pretty hard-core. It's manupilative, persuasive, and gluesome, and really won't make you feel good, although there's great comical moments. But you have to remember that George W. Bush is NOT a chimp.
on july 12, 2004 @ 04:12 pm [link]

Get your dinner and a wish


July 7th was "Tanabata" or Star Festival in Japan, when Shokujo, or Weaver Princess Star, is supposed to meet Kengyu, or Herdboy Star, on the bank of the Amanogawa (River of Heaven), or Milky Way, for their annual tryst. The Chinese legend behind the festival goes like this: "The celestial princess, daughter of the celestial king, a most skillful weaver and the embodiment of industry, while engaged in weaving cloth for the king's garments, fell in love with a handsome lad, a cowherder, and as a reward for her diligent industry the king allowed them to marry. But so much in love were they that the princess gradually neglected her weaving and the herder allowed his cows to stray, which so experated the king that he finally separated the couple forcing them to remain on opposite side of the Milky Way, and permitting them to approach each other only one a year. But there is no bridge over the Milky Way and the princess, on her first visit, wept so bitterly at the impossibility of meeting her husband that she roused the sympathy of a Kasasagi (magpie) who assured her that a bridge would be contrived for her. This was done, the magpies with wings spread forming a bridge on which the princess crossed." In Japan we celebrate this day by decorating bamboo branches with our wishes written on pieces of paper.
So yesterday I asked my customers to make a wish and post them on our wall of fame. My favorite wishes: "Bush out!" "Don't fuck it up" " ". Guida stormed in and made about 10 wishes. Ikko san wished for Osekihan (or red bean rice) for his birthday next week. I think his wish will be granted. I'm supposed to burn these wishes so they would go up to the heaven, to be read by the king of Heaven.
on july 8, 2004 @ 04:12 pm [link]

I hate 4th of July

Back from the three-day off. Unfortunately the trip to New Hampshire *sucked* overall: no hiking, no skinny-dipping, no encounter with exotic animals, no fireworks. The way up wasn't so terrible: $10-Chinatown Bus to Boston, which was packed, somewhat chaotic, since there's Chinese people yelling at each other (that's what it sounds like) all around you. Some traffic, but not so terrible. Four and a half hours. From there to Concord, New Hampshire, one and a half hours. And I arrived at Concord. A clean New England town. There was Main Street. Stores. A clock. A statue. The State building. Holiday Inn. That was all I saw. "Yeah, there's not much here." Guida admitted. Her friend Joe and his girlfriend Amanda picked us up at the bus station and we went to eat and drink. Then we went to a Chinese restaurant called Tea Garden and drunk tropical drinks on a deck. Then we went to another bar called Green Martini and drunk more. I actually couldn't drink more than a little sip of Bass since the Scorpion Bowl (or Ball?) from the Chinese place which was pineapple juice and something alcoholic hit me hard. So that was my first day ever in New Hampshire. Big deal. Next day, I thought we were going to hiking or something, but another friend of Guida, Tim, didn't really want to do anything hardcore on his day off. So he took us to a public beach on a lake. A public beach. I traveled 6 hours to New Hampshire to sit on a public beach and eat a sandwich. A few other options fell through and although Tim and his girlfried told us we were welcomed to stick around in their house doing nothing for the night, but sitting in the woods doing nothing with people I don't know and their crazy dogs on Fourth of July didn't appeal to me much. I voted for heading back. Maybe we catch the fireworks in Boston. So we took the last bus from Concord at 7 pm and arrived at Boston. When we got to the park where the fireworks were supposed to be, the tiny park was of course already full of people. And guess what? There were trees everywhere and we couldn't find a place where you got a clear view of the sky. But people were sitting everywhere on the little patches of grass. So we sat down among already drunk people, and hoped that the fireworks would go up in this tiny clearing between the trees in front of us. The sky was already dark, and I assumed for no reason that the fireworks was on the way anytime soon like 9:30. We bought this disgusting thing called fried dough since there was nothing else that seemed edible around, and boy, it was the truly disgusting thing you could buy for four bucks. In the darkness we bit into gross pockets full of oil. After some classical music by Boston Pops, David Lee Roth came up (we hear only audio where we were) and sang California Girls. Then there were sing-a-long of bunch of patriotic songs. Some announcer went yap yap yap (we were listing to live broadcasting) that more people came out to see Boston fireworks than New York last year. Good for them! It better be good then. But it's almost 10:30 and there's no fireworks. I said, let's just go. The last Chinatown bus was at 11:30. As we started heading to the subway station, the fireworks started. People stood around to watch the little sparks behind the trees. With little I saw, it didn't seem anywhere comparable to Macy's fireworks. The guy next to me across the isle on the bus puked all over on the way back to New York. All the rest of passengers almost puked also because of that. When we finally arrived by the Manhattan Bridge it was seriously pouring and we gave up on having a breakfast/late supper in Chinatown at 4 o'clock in the morning. So this is why I hate the fourth of July.
on july 6, 2004 @ 11:01 pm [link]

what a compliment

Guida's friend Mateo passed by this morning as I was leaving for my morning food shopping. "You look like a Hollywood star hiding behind those shades!" Now, THAT is a compliment. Quiet afternoon. I think many people left town. I'll be heading out to New Hampshire tomorrow morning, which means no SOY for you this weekend! Plus no updates here either for a few days. Happy Fourth of July! Hope we all get to see fireworks some place.
on july 2, 2004 @ 04:59 pm [link]

For the world peace

Some days I have so much to say and can't decide what I want to say or how I want to say it, so I won't write. Some days I feel uninspired. Some days I really don't feel like writing; it seems nothing substantial come to mind. However the day goes, it flies away in light-year speed. Did you realize that the half of year 2004 is already a past. But everyday every moment is a novel by itself and like I always say I wish I had time!

The New York Times > Story about Sri Chinmoy in the New York Times today. This spiritual leader who has a meditation center in Queens with a philosophy of celibacy, vegetarianism and meditation says he regularly lifts over 2000 pounds and sleeps 90 minutes a day. Has done more than 14 million "peace bird" drawings, has written 1,400 books, 80,000 poems and 18,000 songs, and done 200,000 paintings. Of course I'm skeptical although I claim running to be my religion. I wonder if I could accomplish more and become a better runner if I give up on sex and eating meat. Yes, I can perfectly picture it. If all the people give up on sex, become vegetarian, meditate, and participate in ultra-marathons, there'll be a world peace.
on july 1, 2004 @ 05:01 pm [link]