WW - Starbucks in Beijing

With the Beijing 2008 Olympic fever that we have in our house right now, I want to post the picture we took almost 10 years ago. Starbucks have been in Beijing way before the Olympic. I'm very in awe with the opening ceremony but I'm not surprised. I know that the Chinese can do it and they have the determination and committment to make it big.

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Around The Blogosphere

I know I'm late updating my Carnival around the blogosphere from last week. In the past 2 weeks I was features in a few Carnivals. Here are the rundown.

1) Stop the Ride presents Carnival of Money Stories: Check out the ABC's of Money carnival. After all, you will leave with 25 new ideas about money.

2) Student Scrooge presents Festival of Frugality: This is a great edition for Festival of Frugality #136 - Summer school Edition. A really great round up with over 60 posts of great tips and story about how to live frugally from Philosophy, Environment, Geography (Travel) to Extra Credit. And don't forget to check out the Honor Roll.

3) Can I Get Rich on a Salary presents Money Hacks Carnival: The 23rd Edition of Money Hacks Carnival features great round up

4) Georgia On My Mind presents Georgia Carnival: Check out posts about Georgia or from Georgia bloggers. It's nice to read my neighbor bloggers.

5) Credit Card Low Down presents Carnival of Money, Growth and Happiness: The Carnival of Money, Growth and Happiness Edition #52 is up. Make sure to check it out. There are 26 great posts out there.

6) Tip Diva presents Carnival of Tips: The edition has over 30 great tips ranging from Finance, Home, Relationship, Travel and Technology.

7) Quiverfull Family presents Carnival of Family Life: See what's going on in the family life around the blogosphere.

8) Not The Jet Set presents Green It! Carnival: This is the first time I have joined this carnival. I'm honored to be part of this great Carnival. I consider myself not-yet-green mom but trying to be as green as possible. It's such a great roundup that I enjoy reading other posts and learn a few more tips along the way.

13 Thai Food I Miss

It's true that there are a lot of Thai restaurants in the US. But I have to break the news to all Thai food lover that the variety we have here is nothing compare to the food we can eat, consume, stuff-till-you-hurt in Thailand. Here are just some of the Thai dish I really miss.

1. Thai Boat Noodle (Kuay-Tiaw Ruea) - This is my favorite noodle dish. The traditional dish was originated from the way they sold this noodle by way of boat. Hence, boat-style noodle. The dish is spicy and tasty.

2. Thai Ox Tail Soup - The muslim influenced dish from the Southern part of Thailand is always on the top of my to-eat list whenever I go back to Thailand. The soup is clear not as stewy like the caribbean style (I do love that as well). The taste is more sour and spicy. The meat is so tender that it falls off the bone.


3. Streamed Curry Cup (Hor Mok) - My favorite to-go food in Thailand. It's convenient food that I can eat so many of them in one sitting with just rice. Made from fish, coconut milk and basil leaves and steam in the banana leaf cup. Oh.. How yummy!


4. Steamed Shrimp with Glass Noodle (Koong Op Woon Send) - This delicious shrimp dish is cooked in the clay pot with glass noodle seasoned with soy sauce, oyster sauce, whole peppercorn and topped with green onion, chinese celery and cilantro. It seems like an easy recipe but hard to pull it off. In Thailand, I don't bother to learn how to cook this dish.. Just have to find the best restaurant for this one.


5. Thai Rice Noodle with spicy curry (Kha-nom Jeen) - Fresh rice noodle topped with curry and fresh vegetable. This dish can be had in various way depend on what kind of curry you like. We have fish curry (Nam Ya), sweet curry (Nam Prik), spicy Southern style curry (Nam Ya Pak Tai). It's also perfect food for people on diet since you can load it up with fresh veggies of basil leaves, bean sprout, cabbages or other kinds of vegetable you like.


6. Flash-fried Morning Glory (Phat Phak Boong) - A quick dish for a late night meal. It's a very quick and easy dish that is best when eat while it's still hot.


7. Stir fried Rice Noodle (Pad See Ew) - This is one of the popular dish in Thai restaurant here but they have it all wrong. Pad See Ew in Thailand doesn't have any other veggies in there.. No broccoli or pepper or onion. The real Pad See Ew is a really simple street food in Thailand. It is made with rice noodle, egg, pork, garlic, dark soy sauce, and chinese broccoli. It's easy recipe but hard to make it taste good. The taste should be on the sweet side and a bit oily.. Yup.. It's so good that it's so bad for you.


8. Southern Thai Rice (Khao Yum) - This is my favorite breakfast when I was a kid. We were from the Southern part of Thailand and there are several dishes that you can't find it anywhere in Bangkok. Khao Yum is part of the Southern food. Basically, it's the rice salad with boo-doo sauce on the top. The topping for Khao Yum has a lot of nutrient in there including fruits, veggie and seafood. It's all-in-one dish. The taste can be very distinctive and might not be for every taste buds. But this is my childhood dish. I miss it dearly.


9. Sweet Stewed Pork & Egg (Kai Pa-Lo) - A chinese dish that I have had since I can remember. It's good for especially for the 2nd or 3rd days after it's been cooked. We used to boil more eggs and dropped it in for later days. Perfect with steam rice.


10. Thai Sukiyaki - Thais are pack creatures. We like to stay in group especially when we go out and eat. Sukiyaki is a perfect get together meal. But it might make Americans feel uneasy when you have to dip your food in the pot that share by everyone else. You will think that we don't want to eat something like hot soup in Thai's hot tropical climate..but you will be surprised.


11. Liver Salad (Tap Waan) - Another side dish that you can typically see serving with sticky rice. This is another Thai salad dish with young liver. The liver has to be cooked at the right temperature for the perfect soft and sweet taste. It's not easy as liver can give a real bad taste if you don't know how to cook it.


12. Chicken and Rice (Kao Mun Gai) - This one dish wonder is my favorite.. You will notice now that I have more than many favorites. I can't pick just one. It will depend on the mood. This is a rather simple dish.. The rice is cooked in chicken stock and make it rich-fatty taste and then topped with chicken. Served with chicken stock soup and ginger&soy bean sauce.


13. Thai Fish Cake (Todd Man Pla) - This side dish is served with spicy dipping sauce and garnish of cucumber. The fish cake are made from soft fish, green beans, and starch.

OH.. Boy!! I'm starving!!! What are the food you would love to have right now?

I Walked, I Ran and I Walked

Yesterday was the first time since a really really long time that I sweat and had my heart rate pumped up.. Since I signed up with the Run/Walk event, I figured I need some training before the real event. After all, I don't want to get left behind in downtown Atlanta at 8pm. Mr. Rojo has been running in our neighborhood for quite sometimes. He has all the distance down. So based on his information if I walk 4 and a half loop, it will be approximately 3.1 miles the same distance for the 5K Walk/Run.

After dinner, I set out to walk.. I must confess that I don't like walking. I just want to get it done fast. I can't stand just walk there. I'm so tempted to run and I did.. Oh! Boy! How out of shape I am. After one block of jogging, I need to come back to reality that I wasn't ready for the jogging/running scene yet. So walking I did.. I didn't make it to 4 and a half loops but I did 3 loops. And that was approximately 2 miles. Not bad for the first day.. I must say..

It was such a good feeling to exercise. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. Check back often to see when I will hit my 3.1 miles goal. Who know maybe after 51 days I might be able to run instead of walk!

WW - Blueberries

My snapshot of the blueberries. My attempt to take a closeup photo.

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5K Run/Walk, Me?

When Mr. Rojo told me that our company will sponsor the Kaiser Permanente Corporate Run/Walk Event, I thought it was a really good idea for *HIM* to do it. I didn't think I could do it. But after much consideration.. for a whooping 5 minutes, I decided that of course I can do it.. Well, it's only 5K which equals to 5,000 metres or 3.10685 miles.. Ok now it seems to be very long.

The program is desinged to promote health and fitness among Metro-Atlanta companies and their employees while raising funds for the Atlanta Braves Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta. I consider myself a pretty fit person. Eventhough I haven't been to the gym since.. ehh forever.

The Run/Walk will be on September 25 in downtown Atlanta area. We will start from Turner Field and loop back. Well, I have about 52 days to get myself ready. Time to get off my lazy butt (can I say that here.. oh well, I just did) and get active.