Asparagus Soup

Ingredients:

• Asparagus
• 1 onion
• Oil
• Milk
• Soup stock
• herbs (dried or fresh, you decide)
• salt
• pepper

Steps:

1. Cut the onion into bite sizes.
2. Heat oil up in a soup pot.  Throw in some dried herbs.  Wait till it sizzles, put in the onion.  Stir a few.
3. While the onions are cooking, cut the asparagus into bite sizes.  We're going to blend this up and strain it; so don't throw away the woody parts.
4. Put the asparagus into the soup pot; stir a few.  Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Pour in soup stock and let it boil for a few minutes, until the asparagus are tender.  Turn off the heat.*
6. While the soup is cooling down, prepare a blender or immersion stick, a fine strainer, and another bowl or pot large enough to hold the soup.
7. While the soup is cooling down, wash the knife, chopping board, etc.
8. Blend up the asparagus soup.
9. Strain the asparagus soup through the fine strainer and into the bowl.  Stir the strainer quite a lot to get as much soup through the strainer as possible.  This will take a while.
10. Once no more liquid can be extracted from the strainer, pour the soup back into the soup pot.  Turn the heat on low, and pour in milk.  Salt and pepper to taste.
11. Serve with more herbs.

*I can't stress enough to blend the soup after it cools down a bit.  It is very dangerous to blend hot soup!

My asparagus soup turned on to be quite diluted.  I had three theories:

1.  I didn't use enough asparagus.
2.  I used too much soup stock.
3.  I used too much milk.

Anyway, this is home cooking.  The amount can be adjusted to any personal preference.

Asparagus Soup

Groceries, #1

I asked Math Teacher to bring me back three vegetables:

• cauliflower
• zucchini
• mint

He got me:

• cauliflower => cabbage
• zucchini => cucumber
• mint => watercress

His dad, my father-in-law, is a farmer.  I know for a fact his dad grows cauliflower, zucchini, and cucumber.  What did Math Teacher think he ate before?

To be fair, he did bring back lemons, onions, and potatoes correctly.  Those were pretty difficult to mess up.  I also thought cauliflower, zucchini, and mint were difficult to mess up 😔

28 July 2021 Update:  today Math Teacher brought back basil instead of mint.  He even insisted that he smelled it before buying it, and it was mint.  I said, no, that was the smell of basil.  Then he said, oh, yeah, huh.  Why isn't there a head-hitting-wall emoji 😭

01 July 2021 Update:  FINALLY!  MINT!  Third time was the charm! 💖

Roasted Broccoli with Gnocchi

Pasta is Math Teacher's comfort food.

Gnocchi (應該有點像麵疙瘩) is one of my two favorite pasta; the other one is pappardelle.

We didn't have much time today so I roasted broccoli, thinking it could be added to something else.

Math Teacher was craving gnocchi.  So here it is.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 head broccoli
• 1 pack gnocchi
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• Garlic
• Oil (whatever type)
• Mixed dried herbs*
• Italian seasonings
• Jalapeno powder
• salt
• pepper

Pre Steps:

It is better to have the roasted broccoli ready before everything else.

1. Cut the broccoli into florets.  Don't forget to trim the stalk and include the inside tender part.  I used 1.5 heads today because we had 1/2 head leftover from last week, and it was looking sad.  I thought roasting it would cover its sadness.
2. Sprinkle oil, salt, pepper over the broccoli.  Roast at 200℃ for about 15 minutes, or until you can smell it.  We'll be sautéing it later with the gnocchi; so don't over-roast the broccoli.

Actual Steps:

1. Add oil, Italian seasoning, and jalapeño powder to a pan; wait until it sizzles.  I used Italian seasoning because I'm too lazy to buy all kinds of herb bottles.  Also, I know jalapeño powder is not a traditional pasta ingredient, but I cherish spiciness above everything else.
2. Add the gnocchi.  Pan fry the gnocchi until they're a bit charred on both sides.
3. While the gnocchi was in the pan frying, peel and chop the garlic.  I used one clove today, because reasons.
4. Add the garlic to the pan.  Stir a few with the gnocchi.
5. Add the roasted broccoli to the pan.  Stir a few.
6. Add the lemon juice, salt, pepper; adjust to personal preference.  I used one whole lemon because Math Teacher likes acidity more than saltiness.
7. Add the lemon zest.  Stir a few.  Turn off the heat.
8. Add the mixed dried herbs* for color.  Fresh herbs are highly recommended, but they wilt faster than me using them.
9. Serve.

*I'd buy a lot of organic fresh herbs and dry them  myself.  100℃ for about 10 minutes increment, until I feel it's dry enough.  Then I blitz them up.  They last for a long time.  Amazingly, homemade dried herbs retain its fresh vibrant green color, unlike the supermarket bottled ones.  That's why I use the Italian seasoning in a bottle to cook, and homemade dried herb for color.

The current homemade dried herbs I have is a mixture of rosemary and basil.  I DO NOT recommend it.  Rosemary and basil separately have beautiful, distinct fragrances.  Mix them together, and they smell of nothing.  That was a failed experiment.

Math Teacher ate 95% of it before I remembered to take a photo.

Roasted Broccoli with Gnocchi

Basil Omelette

Easy Chinese cooking #1

Chinese cooking is not difficult at all.  What you see in the restaurant is not what we eat at home.  Basically Chinese people stir fry everything.

This is what I do when I have a small bunch of basil leftover and can't make it into a proper recipe.  This is also a stable dish at any traditional night market or street stand.

Ingredients:

• Basil (any amount)
• Eggs, scrambled (any amount)
• Ginger, sliced thinly (any amount)
• Sake (I don't know if alcohol is required in the traditional recipe, and I'm too lazy to look it up, and I have sake on hand.  So sake it is.)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Sesame oil*

Steps:

1. Tear basil into tiny pieces, or do the fancy chiffonade.
2. Mix the basil with the scrambled eggs.  Just scramble enough eggs that you think it's a proper amount to cover over the basil.  It doesn't matter because this is home cooking.
3. Sake, salt, and pepper into the egg/basil mixture, to taste.  How do I know if it's salty enough before the egg is cooked?  I don't know, because I usually throw in a 1/4 teaspoon and don't taste it.  This is home cooking; it doesn't matter.
4. Thinly slice ginger.  Peel or not, you decide.  My family doesn't peel ginger because we're a lazy bunch.  Also today I didn't have fresh ginger on hand so I used ground ginger powder.  It doesn't matter, because ginger here is not for eating; it's for fragrance and to give the oil a kick.
5. Pour sesame oil into a pan and put the ginger slices in.  Wait until the ginger is sizzling*.  You will smell the amazing ginger cooked in sesame oil.  It is one of the most delicious smells in the world.
6. Pour the egg/basil mixture into the pan.  Cook to the desired doneness and the desired omelette style and shape.
7. Serve.

*Disclaimer:  Chinese cooking actually requires a specific kind of sesame oil.  It is specially made for high-heat cooking.  Most of the sesame oil sold in the supermarkets are not the high-heat type.  So watch out for the pan and don't overheat the sesame oil.

Home cooking, so the picture is ugly.

Basil Omelette

Tachikawa Half Day Trip

It was Sunday and nothing to do.  The weather forecast said it was going to rain but then it didn't happen.  So we hopped on the train to Tachikawa Green Springs.

First lunch at Bistro Saito (ビストロ サイトウ).  It wasn't bad.

Bistro Saito Carrot Potage ¥500

Then afternoon tea at Paper Moon.  The teas and desserts were delicious, but someone needed to fix the freezer.  The ice cream came out half melting.

Paper Moon Teas, Pie, Cake ¥3,355

Green Springs is a new development in Tachikawa City.  All the shops here are over-priced tourist traps.  However, it has a really nicely landscaped garden flanked by office buildings.  It is a relaxing stroll straight shot to IKEA.  It's a great place to spend half a day so can't really complain about it.

Masobyo 媽祖廟

14 June 2021 was lunar calendar 05 May, which was Dragon Boat festival.  I was craving the rice dumplings so we went to Yokohama Chinatown.  Since we were there, we dropped by Masobyo.  The entrance fee was ¥100/person.

The website had a different version of what I remembered from childhood story.

Ma Zhu, or her civilian name "Mo-Niang Lin", was a little girl born and raised in a fishing village in Fujian Province, China.  One day her father and brother went out fishing, and there was a typhoon (or thunderstorm).  She was worried they couldn't find the way home; so she held a lantern by the harbor every night to wait for them.

I couldn't remember if her father and brother came home or not.  I couldn't remember if she died waiting for them.

After she died, she was raised to the status of a deity, "Ma Zhu" (Holy Mother of Heaven), by fishermen because she cared about their safety and livelihood.

Masobyo

Ma Zhu = Mandarin Chinese pronunciation

Ma So = Fujianese/Taiwanese pronunciation

They both mean the same thing, "Holy Mother of Heaven".

Japan Coast Guard Museum Yokohama

JCG Museum Yokohama is an awesome museum on the same island as the ferris whell, Red Brick Warehouses and World Porters shopping center.

The website is in Japanese only, but everything in the museum is in Chinese, English, Japanese, and Korean.

We went in because the sign on the entrance read "North Korea Spy Ship Exhibit" and the entrance fee is FREE!

This is more of an exhibit than a museum.  The whole building is one big room with that entire North Korea spy ship inside.  They had the spy ship, one small boat, radio transmitters, machine guns, rocket launcher, and food supplies.  It was fascinating!

JCG Museum Yokohama English pamphlet, front

JCG Museum Yokohama English pamphlet, back

I have to say, museum entrance fee in Japan is dirt cheap.  We've been to so many that are under $10/person.

Redemption

My short story, REDEMPTION, is available for sale on Amazon!

Free with Kindle Unlimited!

He fell in love with her the first time they met, on her wedding day.  The more he got to know her, the more mistakes he made.  If he did not hurry to redeem himself, the others would sweep her off her feet!

This is a romance novella set in fantasy medieval time period. There are a few curse words, but no explicit sex scenes.

Redemption

I really want to write book II.  In fact, I already started book II, and this short story is the prequel to it.  It was just that, book II had too many people and too much happening.  I was on page 150+ and got lost on the timeline and couldn’t move things forward.  So I stopped book II and wrote this prequel, which happened about twenty years before book II.

Sigh, this is why I write short stories. I can’t write huge epics; I get distracted and lose track 😞

端午節快樂

今年六月十四為五月初五端午節

真想吃粽子呀
在外流浪久了
沒人提醒
節日都忘了
一被提醒
立刻想哭

端午

24 June 2021 Update:

好記園こうきえん

終於買到了！

但是綁粽子的技術不太好

應該是繩子一拉就開

這家店竟然是綁死的

我還得拿剪刀剪

味道差不多而已

素的包素蝦和素肉

有點多此一舉

別包豬肉就好啦

唉😮‍💨

有吃到算過節就好了唄

明年除非數學老師要

不然不會買素的了

左：素粽　右：肉粽

Redemption

My short story, REDEMPTION, is available for sale on Amazon!

Free with Kindle Unlimited!

He fell in love with her the first time they met, on her wedding day.  The more he got to know her, the more mistakes he made.  If he did not hurry to redeem himself, the others would sweep her off her feet!

This is a romance novella set in fantasy medieval time period. There are a few curse words, but no explicit sex scenes.

The male characters in the story are based on my brother-in-laws.  They somehow give off medieval hero vibes.  I am ever so lucky to have them as models 💖

REDEMPTION

Punctuality

 I don't even know where to begin about Japanese punctuality; so I'll just list all the examples.

1.  Internet set up:  the appointment time was between 1pm ~ 5pm.  The man came at 1pm.

2.  Household moving company:  the appointment time was between 1pm ~ 2pm.  The man came at 12:55pm.

3.  Shopping package delivery:  the delivery time was between 6pm ~ 9pm.  The man came at 5:40pm.

4.  Household moving company, part II:  the appointment time was at 8am.  They came at 7:25am.

I mean, I appreciated it, but what if I wasn't home?

04 July 2021 Opposite of Japanese Punctuality:

The office hours of the Property Management Office is 9am ~ 6pm, everyday, except Wednesday.

Three Japanese grandmas run the place.

We went to the office to pay rent on Sunday, 04 July 2021, at 3:30pm.  The office was closed, without any notice posted on the door.  I called the cell phone of Lady Middlefield, one of the Japanese grandmas running the place; nobody answered.  I emailed her; she emailed me back saying "We're closed today.  Pay tomorrow."  She didn't explain why they were closed on a day they should've been open.

I emailed her back asking what time the office would be open.  She emailed me back saying "9:30am".  The sign on the door said 9am.  If I hadn't asked, I would've wasted more time waiting for them.

This is not the first time they closed the office without notice.  In the past, however, they would at least post a sign saying "We'll be back in an hour".  They were never back in an hour, but at least there was a sign.

Apparently Japanese punctuality and professionalism do not apply to Japanese grandmas.

05 July 2021 Opposite of Japanese Punctuality, Part II:

We arrived at the Property Management Office at 9:20am.  The office was already opened.  So they were opened on time at 9am.  Why did Lady Middlefield tell me 9:30am?  I had other places to be!  I asked her if 04 July was a Japanese holiday; she said no.  She said she went home so she closed the office early 😲

It was ¥1,000/day penalty for me paying rent late.  Why wasn't there a penalty for them to close office early, especially at the beginning of the month when people needed to pay rent?! 😡

Japanese punctuality and professionalism definitely do not apply to Japanese grandmas.

Ashikaga Flower Park

Three-hour train ride from Tokyo.  Spent three hours at the park.  There was nothing around the park so we were stuck at having below-average park food.

The wisteria flowers were absolutely beautiful.  The smell was wonderful.  Oh, and the wisteria-flavored ice cream was surprisingly good!

We spent the night at Ashikaga City.  It was like an abandoned ghost town.  Really there was nothing except the flower park.

Wisteria Festival 1

Wisteria Festival 2

Wisteria Festival 3

Wisteria Festival 4

Wisteria Festival 5

Wisteria Festival 6

Wisteria Festival 7

Wisteria Festival 8

Wisteria Festival 9

Wisteria Festival 10

Wisteria Festival 11

JR Ashikaga Flower Park Station

寒山寺

這裡竟然有寒山寺！
且非山寨！
連鐘都有！
每個觀光客都敲一下
不知是否左右鄰居聽煩了

寒山寺１

寒山寺２

回味一下！

唐．張繼《楓橋夜泊》

月落烏啼霜滿天

江楓漁火對愁眠

姑蘇城外寒山寺

夜半鐘聲到客船

The Wedding Vow

I'm planning four books in this series.

Book 1:  I Take Thee

Available for sale in Amazon now!  This is a paranormal romance set in the modern time period.  Relatively modern.  In my mind it was iPhone 1 in 2007.

Free with Kindle Unlimited!

I TAKE THEE

Book 2:  From This Day Forward

Available for sale in Amazon now!  This is a prequel to I Take Thee, which took place about 350 years in the past.

Book 3:  To Love and To Cherish.

This immediately follows From This Day Forward, about three days right after.

Book 4:  Till Death Do Us Part

This is a sequel to I Take Thee.  It will end at whichever iPhone model it is then (iPhone 12??? 😲).

There is perhaps a Book 3.5; I'm not sure yet.  It depends on where the characters take me.  Sometimes they have their own minds and ideas.

I'm not tech-savvy, but following iPhone development gives me a perfect timeframe to set the story in.  It has been 12+ years for iPhones; so the characters have 12+ years in the story.  It depends on how long it takes me to write the story.  If I haven't finished the story by iPhone 15, then the characters would have 15 years of life experience.  😜

Tokyo Tower

First time in this neighborhood of Tokyo.

Zojoji was under renovation so that was disappointing.

Tokyo Tower looked beautiful on the outside but it was dead inside.  It might be the combination of COVID-19 and the opening of Sky Tree.

The Wedding Vow Book 1 and Book 2

I'm currently working on The Wedding Vow series.

Book 1, I Take Thee, is available on Amazon for sale!

Free with Kindle Unlimited!

I TAKE THEE

Book 2, From This Day Forward, is a prequel to I Take Thee.  I'm already at the Epilogue.  Really hoping to get it finished in the next couple months.

I Take Thee

My story, I TAKE THEE, is available for sale on Amazon!

Free with Kindle Unlimited!

A centuries-old vampire, she wanted to marry him on the second date. When he said no, she found someone else. What should he do to win her back?

This is a paranormal romance set in the modern time period. There are a few curse words, but no explicit sex scenes.

I TAKE THEE

Redemption

My short story, REDEMPTION, is now available for sale on Amazon!

Free with Kindle Unlimited!

He fell in love with her the first time they met, on her wedding day. The more he got to know her, the more mistakes he made. If he did not hurry to redeem himself, the others would sweep her off her feet!

This is a romance novella set in fantasy medieval time period. There are a few curse words, but no explicit sex scenes.

REDEMPTION