proposal out of my hands

Ping finally handed in the proposal on Friday. Was it good? bad? Not sure but part of Ping feels good because Ping knows so much more writing the proposal that it almost feel like a price Ping had won, that Ping had the capability to write up a proposal good enough to hand it to professors to read. On the other hand, Ping feels nervous because that means it's exactly two weeks away from the big day (now it's only 12 days left) and there's still so much more Ping has to learn and Ping also has to figure out a way to relay the message to Ping's committee members in a way that makes Ping's research unique.

But as dad always reminds Ping, there's no trying. It's do or do not...so all Ping can do is try her best, which she will. Spent all weekend reading and building up the presentation. It is actually kinda fun because it feels like Ping is back in college again..it's like the finals is coming up in two weeks and Ping have to study for all the different subjects at the same time. It's actually better because instead of studying for four different subjects, some of which could be subjects that Ping have no interest in (like Physics!), Ping is studying all the topics that Ping is interested in. It reminds Ping of the stuff that makes Ping enjoyed schooling..writing notes! (Ouch..this paragraph brings out the nerd in Ping right?)

Since Ping haven't been taking lots of pictures lately and thinking of stuff to post is too distracting...Ping will just leave with this pic. It was a bucket of dry ice that came with the C14-labeled glycerol Ping ordered.
Before Ping forgets...Happy Belated Raya and Deepavali to everyone who celebrates it. Don't really when are they but it's probably over not too long ago. :P No signs of celebration here at all so it's kinda hard to remember unless mom tells Ping but Ping haven't called home that often recently either. :P

Taco night

Ping about to fall asleep....reading about soil moisture...so break time!!

Decided to be "pun tua" and procastinate writing last night so Ping went over to Jen's place for dinner (by invitation lah of course). It was just Jen, Kristi and Ping. Jen made us taco...yup, it's homemade taco!!! Ping have not been cooking for a while now...I know, I know..Ping could have if she really wanted to but it's just so easy to eat out or eat junk food (grins). Three more weeks..just three more and Ping can think of something else other than her comprehensive exam.

Anyway, here's the awesome taco! It was warm and fresh from the stove!

First we scoop the meat onto the warm taco shell, then sprinkle some cheese, lettuce and tomatoes, wrap them up and eat 'em! Jen also had some black beans, which she didn't smush them so it taste really good together with the meat.

Ping rarely gets taco when going out for dinner because they always come with tons and tons of cheese and sour cream (that's the two things that Ping still don't understand why they take so much of it here in the States - there's cheese in almost everything!!! sometimes too much of it makes Ping jelak). Ping did made her own taco one time...not really the Western style since it was made with left-overs - stir-fry black pepper chicken and egg! Ping had some taco shell left-over from making the Spiced Chicken with Crispy Tortillas dish and some black pepper chicken that wasn't really enough to make one full meal so Ping add them all together with some shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes. It wasn't really good since it was dry without any sauce but Ping made good use of her left-overs!! bleh!

Green beans

Not only are the fruit choices limited here in Michigan, but the vegetable choices are pretty boring too. Part of the reason is also because Ping is kinda picky and does not like the western vegetables like rhubarb, artichoke, olive, squash, and purple cabbage.

That limits Ping's vegetable choices to ----

broccoli - Ping's favorite! It's pretty easy to just stir-fry with anything too.
carrots - Ping don't know a whole lot of recipe for so usually Ping just steam it and snack on it, frozen mixed vegetables (combination of carrots, peas and corn) - usually when Ping eats instant noodles
corn - pretty cheap over the summer and is pretty good with a brush of butter
tomatoes - they taste a whole lot better here and Ping loves cherry tomatoes. Would even be better if they have 'sui boey' hoon here (remember how the ones at Carrefour are sold with a small pack of the sui boey hoon? Love em!)
brussel sprouts - don't know any recipe for it so Ping just add it to instant noodles too. Surprisingly, when mummy used to cook them on Sundays, Ping hated it!..hehe..
taugeh - once in a while, Ping would get them from Oriental Market but sometimes Ping is too lazy to peel off the tails so it's not very often that Ping gets them although Ping loves 'taugeh char kiam hu'...plus, there's no good kiam hu here either.
lettuce - Ping use them when making sandwich
ka tan lin liak - also known as okra or lady's fingers. The name in Hokkien probably came from kacang bendi but the pronunciation changed over time..probably?? It's not very popular here either but there are frozen imported ones that are very small. Unfortunately, ah mah decided not to plant them at home anymore..ish!
cauliflower - it's pretty common here too but Ping prefers broccoli to cauliflower so Ping rarely gets them. In fact, the last time Ping had cauliflower was when tiptup cooked dinner for us after our NYC trip!

Whenever Ping craves for 'or kui tau', also known as French beans, Ping would get green beans instead. They are pretty cheap here too; between 99cents to USD1.29 a lb. They don't taste quite like or kui tau but close enough to make Ping happy for a while. Hehe.. Ping's favorite way to cook them...stir-fry with shrimp! Sometimes when Ping is more adventurous, Ping would make green curry with it..like the ones they sell at nasi kandar stalls in Penang or the nasi lemak stall at one of the kopi tiam at Sunway Mentari.
Here's the homecook meal Ping had at tt and dk's place. Hehe..Ping just had to sit down and wait for dinner. Tt and dk did all the cooking and they were great! Especially since Ping just had 7 weeks of all American food, the homecook food was definitely a great meal!

The one on the top is beef stir-fry with button mushroom and baby corn. Don't know with what sauce but it was good! The bottom one is stir-fry cauliflower and carrots.

Spinach is another one of Ping's favorite here but with the recent E. coli outbreak where the source is spinach, it was all cleared from the shelves. It was distributed again early this week now that they have found the source but Ping hasn't gone back to the grocery stores since then. It is almost like kangkung. Ping likes to use it to stir-fry with belacan or hae bee or even just eat them raw with soy beans and vinagrette. Other than spinach, there's not much leafy vegetables here like 'huan chu ti' or 'chai sim' or 'tau miu' and many others.

vege Char Kuew Teow

Ping is low on groceries right now. Haven't found the time or effort to go all the way to Meijer (both Meijer are out of the way) to get groceries. But Ping was in the mood to cook and wanted to something from home. So with the limited groceries, Ping made a vegetarian version of Char Kuew Teow.
Sliced up some baby carrots, soaked the 'hiow kor' (mushroom), peeled the tails of beansprouts and mix them all together. When the kuew teow is partially soft, stir-fried it in a little oil and 'tau eu'. Finally, add all the vege and stir-fry until cooked. The last thing to add is the egg while the pan is hot. Finally, 'kui chui chiak' lah!

fungus from nowhere

Was walking towards lab one morning and a fungus caught my attention. Somehow, Ping have managed to walk past this tree without realizing there's a fungus hanging on to it so Ping didn't know when exactly did it appear.















Isn't it a unique relationship between a plant and a fungi? No idea what fungus it is but it is definitely huge and seems to grow well from the tree hole. If you look carefully, there's even a cobweb built from the fungi to the bark of the tree. Amazing isn't it? Anyway, the environmental people must have seen it and thought it might be parasitic or pathogenic to the tree because they cut it off. Sad...but as long as the tree still lives, Ping thinks it's okay.