My year in summary

At the end of every year, I look back and think, "Wow, I really matured this year." I don't know if this is because I was just so immature the year before or that I learned some good lessons through the year. Well, both were true this year. I was incredibly immature in 2009, dealing with the death of a loved one and some drastic events in my family life that led me to cope by making some wrong decisions in attempts to muster any bit of happiness--even if it led to more sadness. So, I began 2010 emotionally exhausted, hoping for drastic change to shake off the events of the prior year. And with that hope, I really could not have asked for a better year of change.

This year, I touched snow for the first time. I  got to travel with my best friend to her childhood dream city of New York City, having a wonderfully whirlwind experience that confirmed my long-ago dreams--New York is my city. I may never end up there, but the energy is definitely right for me. No other city I have visited left that impression on me the way New York City did, and I got to experience all of this with my best friend. I ended my college career by going through a special kind of hell to finish my honors thesis, an accomplishment that is incomparable to any other in my academic career so far and one that I look back with a new respect for myself for enduring all those moments of anguish to research an issue that I deeply care about. I graduated from college, moved out of my beloved apartment where I shared so many fond memories with the greatest of friends a girl could ever, ever ask for.

I jetted off to Vietnam, where I spent three months traveling the country from North to South with my little sister and mom. I got to retrace my family's history, learn in-depth about my parent's struggles, and gained a greater appreciation for all their sacrifices to relocate themselves in America. Awestruck, I got to walk through Angkor Wat, receive a fish foot massage in Siem Reap with new friends, ride the super clean subways of Singapore, and visit a monkey temple in Malaysia. I contracted tape worm while eating some of the most delicious Vietnamese food in the dirtiest of Saigon streets. I reunited with my relatives, only to feel a greater chasm of distance from them than I did 11 years before when I met them for the first time.

I returned to the US, sunburnt and mosquito-bitten to fly across the country to shed tears of pride at my brother Terry's white coat ceremony in West Virginia. In the last few months, I got a first taste of the disappointments of adulthood in a stagnant job market while holding steadfastly onto my dreams. The greater the disappointment, the closer I clutch to those dreams. I end the year jobless, financially anxious, but in all, reveling in all of the changes throughout the year that led me to this point.

In 2010, change was all I needed to regain my footing. Change in life plans, in scenery, in long-held beliefs--I come out so much more secure with myself, motivated, and more certain of my plans.The emotional immaturity I began the year with has grown into something else. I can't say what it is yet, but it feels so much better. And with this declaration, I hope 2011 is another year of exploration. More travel adventures are to come; I know it. 2011 feels pretty good already.

Random things I learned from a year of travel

This year, I learned....
1. I have quite a knack for building snowballs.

Tahoe

2. It's never too late to create new dreams.

New York City (taken from the Brooklyn Bridge)

 3. To stop and smell the roses.

Berkeley Rose Garden

4. There are no such things as rules when it comes to driving in Southeast Asia.

Saigon, Vietnam

5. It takes skill to cross a monkey bridge (stick bridges) or...

...you'll end up like this.

My Tho, Vietnam (Aunt above, cousin below)

6. The innocence of children can put a smile on your face or...

Sentosa Island, Singapore

...break your heart.                                                                   

Floating school, Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia

Love Market in Sapa

7. Tay Ninh is home to the cutest breed of dogs.

Grandparents' fields, Tay Ninh

8. Sapa is one of the most beautiful regions on Earth (and my personal favorite).

Dzao Village, Sapa

9. I have a stomach of steel!

Eating bugs on a bus ride to Phnom Penh, Cambodia

10. Mosquitoes are evil creatures.

11.If you're not stick skinny in Vietnam, you're considered fat (Whatever!).

Getting measured for my Ao Dai in Saigon

12. Never, EVER trust Vietnamese people with cutting curly hair. This is a universal lesson.

Stupid salon in Saigon-they gave me bangs, cut my hair too short, and STRAIGHTENED my hair! UGGH.

 13. Make friendly talk with shop vendors. They'll give you good deals!

Hat seller in Hue, Vietnam

14. Revisiting the past can give one closure.

15. Beauty lies in the simple moments.

Hoi An, Vietnam

Perfume River in Hue, Vietnam

Sapa, street seller playing with his baby boy--one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking moments I've ever witnessed

14. My name is famous in Vietnam!

15. Crappy travel tours are somewhat less crappy when accompanied by awesome friends. 

Tran and I on Sentosa Island, Singapore

16. The frailty of life

Grandpa, looking at a picture of his US family, Tay Ninh

17.Small town life, while picturesque, is not for me.

Lewisburg, West Virginia

18. Home is where the heart is.

Backyard-- San Jose, CA

A Christmas story to warm your cold heart

For some mysterious reason, a couple begins receiving letters addressed to Santa Claus at their New York City apartment. Why this is happening is not the heart of the story. It is how these two act in response to these letters that makes this story inspiring, sweet, and gives reassurance to us all that there is still a lot of kindness in this world. Your insides will feel all mushy after this one. The video and a link to the story below.



NYT Story: Did He Leave a Forwarding Address? Yes, the North Pole

Merry Christmas everyone!

City Scenes...Autumn Afternoon

Alum Rock neighborhood

I passed by this playset (while driving) and I had to stop to take a picture. I like the color, the faded white picket fence, and the stillness of the old playset. This image carries a sort of nostalgia that immediately drew me in.

Plata de Arroyo Park

 

Penitencia Creek Park

The last time I was here was freshman year of high school to catch bugs for a biology project. That time, courage got the best of me and I approached some geese only to be CHASED DOWN. Having watched Alfred Hitchcock's "Birds," I was of course terrified! Well, lucky for me, the same thing happened this time when I got a little too close to take pictures. And yes, I ran and screamed like I did when I was a 14 year old highschooler.

"Compartir"--Carla Morrison

I love it when I hear a song and it just stops me in my tracks. Some songs, for one reason or another, have that effect on me. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, I just have to stop and listen. I was running on my treadmill the other day, listening to NPR's All Songs Considered podcast when this song by Mexican musician, Carla Morrison, came on. When it started playing, I quickly stopped the treadmill to listen.

I have no idea what she is singing about, but her voice struck a chord in me...it's sweet, yet full of sorrow and yearning. I know that "compartir" means "to share," but aside from that, I am not quite sure what she is singing about. I'm assuming, love, but it doesn't really matter to me what the exact lyrics are. I've made it a point not to look up the translation of the lyrics because what resonates with me more is how the song made me feel. Her crooning voice, the arrangement--it all put me in a sort of melancholic mood, but in a good way, the way a good song is able to crawl under your skin and bring you to a place that you didn't even know you knew or wanted to go. Songs like these are the ones that I treasure and really can't listen to that often because I would be way too unproductive if I listened to them all day.

I really love her music video. It's simple, just of her walking along train tracks with a suitcase in hand against a beautiful backdrop of the desert sunset. The image of her with the suitcase really triggered my wanderlust and feelings of escapism. And maybe that's why this song hit me in the way it that it did, because it evoked a certain yearning to escape.


Around 1:45 she flashes her hands to coincide with the bells. It's so subtle and sweet. I love it.

In search for kimchi

There was a time when I ate kimchi at nearly every single meal. Simply eaten with just rice or wrapped in seaweed, kimchi was my sustenance when time was too valuable to waste on preparing an actual meal. Well, that time (aka college), is over but my love for kimchi is not. Even with fully prepared food available to me at every meal time (thanks Mom!), I still get cravings for that spicy, pickled goodness. 

Problem is, good kimchi is hard to come by in the Southbay. There isn't as large a Korean population in San Jose, so (good) Korean markets and restaurants are lacking. Back in the Eastbay, I used to take the bus to Oakland--a 20+ min ride on the rapid, 40 min on the regular line--to Koreana Plaza on Telegraph, where I would stock up on all sorts of Korean side dishes and of course, kimchi. I was spoiled then.

My quest to find good kimchi took me to Seoul Market, the only Korean market in San Jose (there are others in nearby Sunnyvale/Cupertino, but I didn't want to make the drive out there). I read the reviews on Yelp and they weren't so bad and I thought, "I've never had bad kimchi before, so what's the risk?" Well, how wrong I was.

Seoul Market is located on West San Carlos, in the part of San Jose I call 'old San Jose' because of all the old neon signs in that area that suggested it was once a bustling business area 30 years ago. Bustling wouldn't be the word I would use to describe it today. There's a lot of strip malls, vintage shops, used car dealerships that are usually empty when I pass by.

Finding the small market along all these strip malls was easy enough, what with the large sign jutting out. It's also located right next to an animal hospital. Funny, because in Vietnam a lot of meat shops were also located right next to veterinary services.

 

From the outside window lined with videos, the market looks more video store than grocery market. This is because the market doubly functions as a video shop in front and grocery store in back. Upon entering, you are greeted with posters advertising the latest Korean dramas.

 

The grocery store itself is nothing notable. It's like any other Asian market, a little grimier than I expected though. Not as grimy as a Vietnamese market, but much more than Koreana Plaza, which was always tip-top clean. The selection of side dishes was small, but they did look delicious. They didn't have the squid salad I was looking for, but I did pick up a box of seaweed salad in sesame oil.

The kimchi selection was also limited. I noticed right away that there weren't labels on the jars, suggesting that the kimchi was made fresh, on location. I was excited. I purchased a small jar for 8.99 (which was a bit expensive for its size).

 

When I got home, I immediately went about prepping my meal to taste my purchases. Like a sacred ritual, I laid everything out--the rice, shredded meat pieces, seaweed wrap, and my appetizers in front of me and went about the eating ritual (which my roommates and I affectionately termed 'poor college food').

 

Step 1: take a seaweed wrap and place rice on top. Step 2: Load up on as much appetizers to your liking. 

Step 3: Fold/wrap. And, voila! Easy peasy...

Okay, so the verdict on the kimchi. How can I put this...It was the WORST KIMCHI EVER. EVER. And this judgment is coming from a nonexpert who really could eat about any kind of kimchi, even the Safeway kind that is made to trick non-Koreans that they are eating something 'exotic.' This was hands-down the worst kimchi I've had the unfortunate opportunity of putting into my mouth. I can't say that it lacked flavor, because mind you, there was some undefinable flavor going on there. It really tasted like whoever made it cut the cabbage just that day and placed it into a wierd concoction of pickled juice, skipping the entire fermentation process that is crucial to the flavoring of kimchi.

It was so bad that when my dad tasted it, he asked for my permission to add some salt. I said yes because whatever he was planning to do to it couldn't have made it taste worse than it already did. My dad added I don't know how many tablespoonfuls of salt. It made me feel sick just watching him add so much salt. And, it helped! It tasted a LOT better. Passably edible. Now instead of retching from the nastiness of it, I will just eat it with the fear of hypertension in the back of my mind. Great.

The seaweed appetizer was the only saving grace.Very tasty. The only complaint I have is that there was a bit too much sesame oil, which left an oily filminess in my mouth. However, delicious seaweed appetizer is not enough to erase my food memory of the awful kimchi nor persuade me to make another trip out to Seoul Market. As I mentioned above, I was spoiled then. Sigh.

Oh! And here is a picture of me and Judy, way back when we went to Paris four years ago, enjoying what I believe is my first meal with kimchi. (Eating kimchi in Paris, the gastronomical capital of the world??! I know right? Again, emphasis on poor college food.) I have her to thank for introducing me to kimchi and all other types of Korean food. Thanks Judy! You made me a lifelong fan of Korean food!

Reason #328 why I love East San Jose

#328: Impromptu mariachi band appearances at parties

I don't know if it was all the alcohol I ingested or a newly discovered love for old school mariachi music, but the appearance of this mariachi band at a friend's party made me so incredibly happy. I had so much fun swaying, mumbling (gibberish) along with the music. Oh, East San Jose. You make me so happy to be a native here. I feel so lucky to be from an area where all sorts of cultures intermix. San Jose is a bland city without the East Side.  A collection of pictures below. 

 

 

 

 

Tequila shot, mid song. 

Not only did this guy have a spiffy mustache, he had the best facial expressions for each song.

Smug face

Awww...sad song

The look of love

Happy song!