Wai-Puo Visits

My mom decided to come see us for a week for the sole purpose of cooking for us.  She came armed with two suitcases (one large, one small) full of Chinese snacks (Hello Pandas, Pocky, dried squid, fish snacks, crackers, Chinese jellies, etc.), noodles, as well as things I am unsure of in English (think dried mushrooms, dried scallops, dried fish, dates, soy beans, dried fruit, etc.)  So far, we've had noodles, red bean soup, brussel sprouts with lamb, mochi, soup, and we are set to have curry for lunch today.  Yummy!

 i really have no idea what any of this is

 pocky and squid

 seaweed

biscuits and jellies

We also went shopping and got Jordan new winter threads from H&M, TJ Maxx, and we all enjoyed a nice dinner at Twigs Bistro courtesy of wai-puo.  And then all our plans were ruined once snow fell.  I am apprehensive to drive in the snow and as I look out the window into the forest of white that is now my balcony view, the bits of snow falling that I only saw a mimic of at the Grove during Christmastime doesn't make it any better.

The "Chinese" Ways

When my mom found out I was pregnant, she immediately began updating me on the things I must do to maintain a safe pregnancy. Among those, were Chinese "ways" meant to be strictly adhered to since my Chinese body was weaker than that of any white woman.

Here is some of what I hear.

No watermelon - too cold.
No coconut juice - not good for you.
No pineapple - cuz the Cantonese friend told her so.
No scissors - you will cut into your baby's life or something like that.
No hammering in the house - you will hammer something bad into your baby's life.
No furniture rearrangements - not good for the baby's peace.
Eat lots of fruit so baby's skin will be white and healthy!

This only encompasses the pregnancy. Once you give birth, you are...

Not to wash your hair for a month (gross!).
To eat fresh chicken soup to replenish the lost nutrients (sounds okay).
Shave the baby's head at 100 days (to help it grow more).

None of the recommendations provided above have really impeded my lifestyle. Watermelon is out of season (won't lie, ate some during the first trimester); coconut juice continues to be a staple in my fridge as of late; pineapple is a Cantonese rule and I'm Mandarin; I don't get the scissors thing - isn't a knife just as bad?; I haven't had to hammer anything (but Andy has!) and what momma don't see with the furniture, don't hurt momma! And the fruit just means my dear mother delivers fruit to me once a week - usually an assortment of oranges, strawberries, berries and apples. I can't complain about the latter.

When it comes to the suggestions for post prenatal time, I'm a bit more hesitant. I have spoken in depth with my hair stylist who is Taiwanese and very traditional, who claims the purpose behind not washing your hair is to avoid getting a whiff of the cold while showering. Easy solution - have rugs on the cold tiles and dry your hair completely before coming out of the bathroom. The baby's head shaving is the biggest point of contention because while I believe my beautiful, full head of hair is a result of my own head being shaved at 100 days, nobody else seems to buy it - especially my husband and his side of the family. Since we're having a boy, it doesn't really matter, but once we have a girl, what will we do?! Or will the Lord only bless us with boys in order to avoid the decision? Guess only time will tell.

In the meantime, the only thing that matters is knowing the Lord will guide us and doing those small things that matter even when I am big, uncomfortable, hormonal, migraine-ish... when my heart is burning, I'm constantly peeing, wanting to waddle and oh, by the way - I'm also oddly itchy, swollen, full of dandruff on my head and slowly beginning to have slight back aches. It's difficult to remember that I must continue praying for help from the Lord for more guidance, more faith, more patience, more optimism, and more humility. But if I do these things, the minor traditions being instilled - sometimes imposed - upon me will not phase me, I will not lose my temper when talking to my mother about why these archaic customs are silly, and I will have my head on straight when approaching the "Chinese" ways with her. It's not an easy conversation - she believes with all her heart that it's true - just like I believe with all my heart and mind that the things I know are true of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. So all I can do is be patient... be positive... and pray that the Spirit will guide me through these conversations, that I may remain calm, composed, and not insult my mother and her "Chinese" ways.

In Chinese We Have a Saying...

Chi bao fan....mei shi gan!

Full of rice, nothing to do. Its meaning stems from the inane nature of doing things that you must be so bored to be doing them... because why bother otherwise?

Lately, I've heard that a lot from my parents with all the wedding crafts I am enjoying! I've always liked doing crafts.... since I was a kid actually.. so much that my mom used to sign me up for craft classes all the time - I learned Chinese knotting, ceramics, painting (least favorite), and lots of gluing beads and stuff to painted thinga ma bobs.

First, I bought tissue paper ... 480 sheets of purple and 480 sheets of lilac, sized at 20" x 30" (which is like getting 960 sheets of 10" x 15" sheets of both colors) for $22.81/per package plus shipping and handling (cuz I didn't want to drive to ghetto LA to pick it up).
Compared to drug store or craft store tissue paper of $3.99/pack of 16 sheets, I got a steal! So I calculated... I have enough tissue paper to make.... drumroll.... 120 poms (each pom takes 16 10" x 15" sheets) with a cost savings of $3.61 per PoM, or $ 433 bucks for 120 PoMs! What a steal!


Next, I bought silk flowers. 2 different 84-pk silk rose flowers for $14.99 (plus shipping and handling) and some styerfoam balls from Mosketel's and JoAnn's Fabric (Mosketel's is WAY cheaper - $1.49 and $2.99). And then I began stuffing. And this is what I came up with.



I know... what am I going to do with 120 PoMs right? Wish I thought of that before I made the purchase. Oh well.... my friends are creative - they'll think of something. I've already tasked two of 'em with figuring out how to cover up the bsaketball hoop that doesn't go up by using it as a base for something 3-dimensional. And... I haven't even talked about the placecards yet (those are a surprise).

I'll be the first to admit.. there's a sense of accomplishment from the DIY crafts (plus I'm doing this on a budget!) and my mom seems to have caught the bug. Most recently, she decided to do our centerpiece flowers herself. She even got some friends who volunteered to help out from picking the flowers, getting the vase, to just commenting if it's a go or no go. This weekend marks the test run (even though we know the flowers might be out of season by June). Should be exciting!

More to come on the DIY cheesy cute wedding of the year!

But My Momma Said....

Growing up, my mom always had breakfast for my brother and I before we left for school. Normally, that consisted of one of the following: a deluxe breakfast which was usually eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, orange juice, and an assortment of fresh fruit etc., leftover bento boxes from the previous night's dinner, egg mcmuffins, bagels with cream cheese and cut fruit, Chinese rice congee with about five different dishes from a can to pick from such as pickled radish, spicy eel, dried pork, spicy tofu, spicy bamboo, and mian jin (wheat gluten and my favorite!) or special Chinese rice congee with abalone, duck eggs and scallops. Sometimes, the overload of such extravagant breakfast menu items meant my brother and I were psyched to have pop tarts or Lucky Charm's! But often, even the cereal would have to be accompanied with some type of fresh cut or peeled fruit such as honey dew, oranges, clementines, cantaloupe, watermelon, kiwis, apples, pears, strawberries, or grapes. Rarely were we allowed to leave the table without having finished both our meal and serving of fruit. No... we weren't spoiled! It's just an Asian mom thing.... I mean, we weren't the only kids to get fresh cut fruit ...but we were the only kids to get fresh cut grapes, peeled and without seeds (she would manually remove 'em). So I guess you could say we were a lil bit spoiled....

In many ways, preparing food and cooking is my mom's thing. She doesn't often ask us for help with the actual cooking... only to help unload the groceries, set the table or clear and wash the dishes. So when my brother and I began baking or cooking... she seemed indifferent and unimpressed. And then... when I moved out on my own, I found out - she was neither when she told me one day, "Don't worry about learning how to cook now - you will learn eventually when you're married and cooking everyday."

With that nugget of truth, I have started to fear how awful my cooking may be or how unfortunate my poor future husband to be will be since come June, I will be cooking everyday (almost). I'm pretty good at the non-cooking essentials such as washing fruit, preparing sandwiches and tossing salads. But actually "COOKING" is a whole other story! Though I have some experience, it is fairly little and I have lots to learn. And so, I have begun to follow recipes - with the hope that the more I cook, the easier it will become - the more I'll be able to figure out what is easy to cook based on the ingredients already in the house and grocery shopping will be simplified.

I figure cooking will be like everything else I try to do consistently such as scripture study and gym time. It might seem uncomfortable at first and I might have to rely on recipes when I begin... just like I might rely on study guides and instructional videos. But now.. I know where to go to find conference talks, past talks, scripture study guides, etc. and I can run through different exercise routines on my own so hopefully... one day, I'll be able to cook without the recipe book and the measuring cup.

I did manage to make some salmon that was pretty aesthetically pleasing AND taste bud-riffic! Beginner's luck.



They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach... I sure hope Andy is the exception! At least until I learn how to cook more!