Gene's Joint

Happy 2006!

3. . . 2 . . .1. . .

Happy 2006 from Taipei everyone!

My NY resolutions:
1. More studying, more sleep
2. Lose the 20lbs I gained in first term med school

Sleepless in Taipei

Damn these mosquitos! Yep, back in Taipei and still up at 5 am fighting mosquitos. Hopefully I can get back to sleep soon, don’t seem to be any more for some reason. Hmmmm, rumor has it that Ron Artest is coming to the Lakers, great another idiot to deal with . . . hopefully we get rid of Kwame so that our team IQ stays at the same level – really really low

Cambodia: Land O’ Temples

Here are some initial pics from Cambodia, more to come . . .

Postcard shot: Angkor Wat

BuddhiTourism??

The waterfall pool at our hotel . . . Cambodian luxury . . . wish I could relive those massages too . . . mmmmmm

The family in front of an overgrown temple (trees growing into the walls and doorways)

Temples, temples and more temples

Yes, after about 12 temples in the last two days I am all templed out. Its bad enough that all of them look the same (piles of mildewed bricks piled in columns), people here have really no solid idea why they were built, what they were used for, etc. So we basically go around looking at the same thing, take the same pictures . . . for all I know, we are going to the same place every time, piling back on the bus, driving around in circles and going back to the same place again.

Hmmm, this afternoon we visit the fabled Angkor Wat. Maybe this one will be better.

Day 1 in Cambodia

After five days in Shanghai and a night in Taipei, I am finally in Cambodia. Its gonna be five days of fun fun fun! So far, can’t complain, came off the plane and checked into a brand new five star hotel in Siem Reap near the Angkor temples in Eastern Cambodia. The rooms are beautiful, the service is amazing and the food so far hasn’t upset my stomach. Toured the Tongle Sap lake (1/3 the size of Taiwan), got a free 1hr full body massage (a woman this time – man massages weird me out) and then had a nice buffet dinner (mmmmmm good satays) and took a tricycle ride back to the hotel. Just found out that the spa/sauna is open til 10 so will probably hit that up soon . . . ahhhhh life is good

Refried Pork

1. With the same blanched “five flowers pork”, slice into thin slices
2. mince garlic and ginger and heat with oil
3. add pork with sliced tofu
4. brown pork and add triangular slices of green pepper and dried chilies
5. add spicy black bean sauce, a few dashes of soy sauce and water, spoonful of sugar
6. fry until meat is tender and serve

Bai Cie Pork

My mom keeps making mini samples of dishes to show me how to make them and feeding them to me . . . mmmmm mini-samples . . .

1. Buy a piece of pork Belly or flank (five flower pork in Chinese)
2. Blanche by putting the pork and some ginger into a boiling pot of water and adding rice wine
3. pour out water, replace and allow pot to boil
4. when pork is tender (you can stick a chopstick through) remove from pot
5. slice into thin pieces, add minced garlic and soy sauce paste and serve

Kong Xin Cai

1. Heat up oil and minced garlic
2. add one small teaspoon of Shrimp paste
3. Add KXC and stir fry (dashes of salt to taste)

Dou ya and tofu

1. Wash Dou Ya or bean sprouts and cut up firm tofu into vertical slices
2. Heat up oil and minced garlic in wok
3. saute tofu for a few minutes on medium heat with dashes of salt
4. add dou ya, some dashes of soy sauce
5. add one packet of chicken broth powder and water
6. add one teaspoon sugar, mix thoroughly and stew in low heat until dou ya become soft

Mom’s cookbook

I’ve decided that since I can’t get good Chinese cookin’ in Hanover, that I’m just gonna have to make it all by my lonesome. So the point of this section is to start documenting the best cookin I know: Mom’s home cooking which tends to be a blend of Taiwanese and Shanghainese flavors, more salty and sweet than spicy.

Definitely look forward to experimenting on all my friends, you know who you are! :)