noodles

Chinese New Year without Hong Baos

January 30, 2012 dinner event

I miss a lot of things about Singapore, but one thing I’ve been missing, especially during this Chinese New Year season, is the hong baos. Hong bao—literally, “red package” (红包)— is a little red envelope that relatives and elders give to single people. They are filled with real CASH. In Korea, we call it “sae [...]

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The best Thai Town outside of Thailand

January 19, 2012 dinner event

Some people caution parents of young kids never to waste time and money on exotic travels. I think there’s some truth in it. When I was young, my parents took me, my brother and my cousin (who lived with our family for 10 years) around the countries of Southeast Asia whenever they could afford it. [...]

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Shamed by Stinky Tofu

January 1, 2012 eating out

I’m so ashamed. My Mandarin speaking skill is failing me. Ever since I’ve moved out west to Los Angeles, I’ve had little chance to speak conversational Mandarin. When I was living in Northern Virginia, where I attended my dad’s Chinese church, I would at least have the chance to speak Mandarin every Sunday at church. [...]

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How a Real Woman Eats

November 22, 2011 eating out

I think I have a cure to L.A. traffic. Four foreign words: 포장마차 pronounced “pojang macha.” Pojang machas are these street stalls set up like big tents that weave the hustle-bustle streets in Korean cities. You can’t miss it, especially when the weather is cold and you get baited into the tent by the puff [...]

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A Day Trip at Koreatown

November 21, 2011 eating out

It seems like I’m going to have company every weekend. This weekend, my buddy Joanna drove up from her temporary residence at San Diego to hang out with me again. She slept over Saturday and left Sunday afternoon after church service. Joanna is what we call “chosunjok” in Korean (조선족), or “chaoxianzhu” in Mandarin (朝鲜族). [...]

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The Parents Service and Fried Sauce Noodles

October 18, 2011 eating out

I wish my parents will just move to the west coast already. They were only visiting for four days, but I almost got used to coming back home from school and discovering my apartment sparkling clean. Only parents would do something like that. Fatigued by jet lag and three weeks of missionary work, and yet [...]

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