Superbowl, who??

So, as most of you may know today is the infamous holiday to man. Superbowl Sunday. *dun dun dun* Being that our team (Chicago bears) didn't make it, we could care less about this day. Of course I'm working today while everybody else will be stuffing their face with chips, burgers, hot dogs, and other high cholesterol filled junk food. :)


I managed to finish my math homework in a timely matter to post this since I know I haven't been consistant lately. *sorry*


Anthony and I got some goodies from the gem show. Tucson looks forward to this week because people from all over the world come to sell/bargain great deals on their gems, diamonds, precious stones, gold..etc. I love how you ask asians for the best price they can offer and they always think that discounting it by $1 is a "great deal!" hahaha. "Normally I sell this for $6......but for you, because you seem like nice girl, I give to you for $5!! I give you great special!" ^_^ Hey, every dollar counts, right?


Work has been getting on my nerves lately and driving me to the half way breaking point! Agghh! Don't you hate when so much is expected of you because you're the better half of the slacking off team?? *sighhhhh* Time is ticking away so s-l-o-w-l-y.....................




I went to the asian market yesturday and picked up some of our favorite goodies---

 These bowls are perfect for ramen, soups, and mixing ingredients. I love them! Too bad they're like $5 each!! Robbery!

 I don't care too much for the fruit drinks, but Anthony loves them. I stick to boricha.

 I bought this last time, and it was not good.....at all. I wouldn't recommend this.......unless you like seasoned glop on your meat?

 I wanted seaweed soup but i guess they haven't stocked up since Seolnal.... :(

I love these gyozas!! I actually made these today for Anthony and his coworkers. I thought it would be nice for them to have a lil superbowl snack, asian still. Hehe. 

 I found this udon and just had to get it for the cheap price. After adding my own fishcake, seaweed, and egg, my lunch today was a success.



I made these for our work dinner lastnight

Right after dinner a colleague brought some cajun shrimp.....Who could say no to that?

I'm in love obsessed with food......We get along so well.. ^_*

 

Happy Seolnal!! Cooking with Michelle 101-Bibimbap

Korean New Year

The Lunar New Year in Korea is celebrated today (Feb 3 in western time). The Seolnal  is the most important Korean holiday of the year. Similar to our New Year traditions, this is the time where family all gather around and prepare for a fresh and new start.  

Traditional bows are performed for the elders with kids hoping for money an exchange for their gesture. Dressing up in hanboks, eating dukguk for breakfast, and playing yutnori is what the majority of Korea will be doing today……..*sigh* Why can’t I be there too??? L

Anthony had to work today while I stayed home and did my math homework which consisted of 100+ problems! T_T Anthony's mom invited me over to the house to eat duk guk tonight, but I would be bored surrounded my ajimas babbling about who knows what while I sit on the couch watching who knows who.

I decided to make my own dinner tonight.........bibimbap and wanja jeon (beef panchan.) I hadn't made bibimbap in forever. This dish is so easy to make when you have spare vegetables lying around with leftover meat.

Bibimbap

cooked rice

vegetables of your choice ( I used carrots, cucumbers, grilled onions, and seasoned bean sprouts)

1 egg

1/4 lb beef ( I used Trader Joe's Bulgolgi)

red pepper sauce-

3 tbsp red pepper paste (gochujang)

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp water

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

Mix all the ingredients together for the red pepper paste. Set aside.

Add and assort the vegetables of your choice into the bowl of cooked rice.

Fry the egg sunnyside up. I cooked mine on medium heat for about 3 minutes under some olive oil so it wouldn't stick to the pan resulting in a broken yolk.

Once egg is done, place on top of the rice and vegetable mix. Add the red pepper paste and mix all together in the bowl.

Now you got yourself a bowl of happiness~! Yum!

 For those that don't know how much water to use when cooking rice, I have a tip for you. My mom showed me the finger trick. Add enough water where when you poke the rice with your finger the water is just at the first line.

It never looks pretty in the end.... :P

Now for the beef patties (wanja jeon)

1 lb lean ground beef

half an onion, chopped

2 tbsp grated carrots

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tsp pepper and sea salt

1 tbsp sesame oil

tofu (commonly added into the recipe, but I didn't have any.....)

2 eggs

1/4 cup flour

Mix the meat with all the ingredients except for the flour and eggs.

Whisk eggs in a separate bowl and place the flour on a separate plate.

Start rolling the meat mixture and flattening into little patties.

Cover the patties on both side with the flour, followed by coating of the eggs.

Using a non stick pan (or oil), cook the patties until both sides are cooked.

My patties weren't as small as I should have made them so I spent more time cooking the meat (5 minutes on each side total with it still not being done.) I then just added a little bit of water to the pan to add some steam, and then covered it with a lid for about 3 more minutes.

I don't have an end result picture for the patties because Anthony was running late for work, so I had to hurry and pack him some before he left. He doesn't like brown or grain rice so he had bibimbap without the bap.......??  That's how he wanted it-

My map of Taiwan island

Part of my Taiwan resource

This is my English version of the map found on ROC's government website Taiwan Administrative Region Map (all rights reserved to them). I added the common romanized names of Taiwan's cities, towns and national parks. I hope this map will be useful to those who intend to visit Taiwan and look for the locations of certain popular destinations on the island. You can find the original map here.

Related: [My TAIWAN TRAVEL information][My TAIWAN page]

Tian Tan Buddha, Hong Kong

The Tian Tan Buddha (天壇大佛, pronounced in Mandarin as Tiāntán Dàfó, "tian tan" meaning "altar of heaven"), sometimes also called the Big Buddha, is one of Hong Kong's biggest tourist attractions. The 34m tall bronze statue of a sitting Buddha is located on the Lantau island (close to the airport) and was completed in 1993 (Info: Source). People usually take a ride on the Ngong Ping 360 cable car (read my previous post about that) from Tung Chung. Right next to the statue they built a small village in old Chinese style, but of course it's just a replica. It's full of small souvenir shops and restaurants. And there are tourists everywhere. Within few minutes of walk, you arrive at the statue and you have to climb 268 steps to reach to the top. The size of the statue is simply overwhelming. It's simply huge and impressive, probably one of the most impressive sights I've ever seen. The size however is calming and reassuring. Although there are tons of tourists, you feel at peace, you forget everything around you. The statue has a huge aura, an aura that seemingly outshines all the tall surrounding mountains. It's purely magical. I can show you photos and describe the feelings, but luckily I can't recreate the atmosphere for you. You will have to go and visit the Big Buddha for yourself. Until then, enjoy some of my photos:

The Ngong Ping village.

It was close to Chinese new year, hence the red lanterns.

The Big Buddha as seen from the village.

Approaching the Big Buddha.

I love this photo of the sun finding its way through the trees.

And then I was close to the statue and took tons of photos.

The big palm.

Statues of devout followers donating offerings to the Buddha.

The nearby mountain as seen from close to the Buddha.

The Tian Tan Buddha from the side.

I love this photo.

The area near the Buddha.

The Buddha from another angle.

My Hong Kong 2009 tour - NEXT: Mongkok>>

[My HONG KONG page][My PR China page][All photos by MKL, 2009]

Two International Finance Centre

Hong Kong's second tallest building in 2011

One International Finance Centre on the left.

The International Finance Centre (Chinese 國際金融中心, short ifc) consists of two skyscrapers, of which the first one is relatively small, "only 210m", the second one, known as Two International Finance Centre (國際金融中心二期, short 2ifc) is one of the tallest skyscrapers in Hong Kong and all of China. It's 417m tall and has 88 floors (8 is a lucky number for Chinese). Constructed between 1997 and 2003, it was the tallest building in Hong Kong upon completion and remained tallest until 2010, when the the taller International Commerce Centre in Kowloon was completed (Info source: 1IFC, 2IFC). There is a mall inside ifc and it's pretty good, but very fancy. I definitely recommend this building to see, it's close to the Hong Kong Central Pier and a walk away from the Hong Kong Central station. This building is definitely one of my favorite skyscrapers. I like the minimalistic design. It looks very aesthetic, blends in well with the water and the sky, which makes it less intrusive.

I love this shot and how the sun is reflected.

My best shot of the 2IFC tower.

The 1IFC tower on the right.

[My SKYSCRAPERS page][My HONG KONG page][All photos by MKL, 2009]