The census people came by last night while I was making my banananana pudding (more on that later) and took a household registration survey, which is in preparation for the national census that begins in November. Unbeknownst to them, the roommate turnover rate in my apartment has been quite high lately. Three new roommates in the […]
I got the craving for this heart-attack-waiting-to-happen as I was going through my old pictures. It’s a pretty simple recipe, requiring few ingredients and not too much work, either. I tried to make it a little healthier by adding chicken and broccoli. Alas, they were still covered in the alfredo, but what can I say? I […]
A good part of my day is devoted to finding and buying online food I like to eat back home. For example, I frequently order pies and cupcakes, which are made by foreigners, so they pass a certain standard for deliciousness and authenticity. Last week, I found Bonbon Bins and ordered some gummy candy. This […]
If you are what you eat, then would that make me really good? Everything I eat is really good. A craving for potato pancakes snuck up on me earlier in the week, so we finally made some last night. What goes with potato pancakes? We ended up just getting pork, sauteing them in bite-sized pieces. […]
We made chicken and rice flavored with curry and orange juice for dinner last night, an easy recipe to get us back into cooking mode following a long weekend of eating out. I’ve never had it before, despite it being a pretty common dish anywhere in the world. Needless to say, I’ve never made it […]
So I’m slowly getting back into the cooking/eating mood. My boyfriend recently moved in with me, and I’ve been having fun playing house. This has led me to try to build up a library of recipes that I can make without too much hassle. The caveat: China. We’re not very picky eaters, but we do […]
About a month ago, my boyfriend brought me a special treat. Yes, Sour Skittles have made their way to China! The Chinese name for them is 彩虹 (caihong), which means “rainbow.” I don’t know how long they’ve been here, but my boyfriend noticed them in his neighborhood store one fateful day. He says a store near […]
Say what you will about the national census, but I was a little miffed when I realized I’d be missing out — i.e., not counted — in the once-a-decade ritual by moving to China. But China also has this once-a-decade tradition. And lucky for me, this time around — its sixth ever — it will […]
At work, we get these really awful opinion submissions. They are awful for mainly two reasons: Illogical application or interpretation of presented evidence (not to mention, questionable selection of evidence for argument) Absence of a clearly stated opinion that isn’t a generic “the government should do more to promote x” or “there should be equality […]
No, not because of the freedom. It has a better postal system. Post offices worldwide are dismal places to be, akin to the county jail or maybe the local morgue. But at least USPS delivers packages in a timely and inexpensive way. To wit: I mailed a 3-pound package to San Francisco two weeks and […]