Sunny day and Happy Ping

Yippeee!!! The sun is out!! Not just visually but you can feel it!! When Ping gets to wear skirt to lab, no bulky winter jacket and no freezing fingers, Ping's mood is up and jumping!! Spring is finally here!! Look, even the grass are coming back to life!!! Sometimes Ping tell herself that she won't let the weather affect her mood but it is usually a lie. When the Sun comes up earlier and sets later (it is now 8.30pm and it is still bright out!!!), Ping will realize that the weather does affect her mood. Waking up early gets so much easier because you know that when you step outside, the Sun will greet you good morning. Staying late at work gets easier too because you know that when you leave late, it will still be nice outside. That's the not so nice thing about living in a place where winter can get pretty drastic. Ping's next destination has to be somewhere that does not have such crazy winter....like...hmmm....where to go leh?

One thing amazing about this extreme cold weather - the plants survive through them just fine. Just looking at them, you would think that they are dead. Super dry and brittle (hmm...Ping tries to think of the Hokkien saying 'san xiang ka tek koh' and 'tah xiang ka ???'....can't think of the dry one...anyone remember?). But you know what? If you keep water them and keep them indoors, they could actually grow back! Here's Jen's basil. Isn't it amazing?

Chicken Lettuce Wrap

Been to P.F. Chang's China Bistro? There's one here at East Lansing, just north west of campus at Lake Lansing. It has a classy environment with Chinese decors and unique dishes. Ping been there once and loved the one dish that Ping ordered - Chicken Lettuce Wrap. It is a pretty easy dish but costs a bomb at P.F. Chang's.

Was thinking of what to cook this morning and thought of that dish. It idea of it is so simple that you can basically use anything in your fridge to make the dish. So what's in Ping's dish? Errr...besides carrot, lettuce and chicken, there really is nothing else. But if those few stuff are your favorite, the dish can still be tasty. So who needs P. F. Chang's? Definitely not Ping tonight! *blek*
Ping marinated the chicken with tau eu (soy sauce) and oh eu (oyster sauce) for a few hours, sliced some orange rind (this is the best thing that Ping found out from Rachel Ray's blog...never thought we could make use of the orange skin!...well, besides when we have to drink the nasty eok bi when we had a bad cough as a kid. Until today, Ping can still remember how much Ping dislike drinking that chinese medicine recommended by some sin seh), and then we just char (stir-fry) them all together!
Ping had it with Boston head lettuce. That's Ping's favorite lettuce although a little more pricey than the regular lettuce. But it has much more nutrient mer. And crunchier too! Mom likes the Boston lettuce too. Actually it was mom who first bought them when they started selling the hydroponic grown vegetables at Yaohon (who used to be the anchor tenant for Sunway Pyramid).

Yummy! Had a very satisfying meal while Ping realized that all microbes with rrn operons that have interoperon heterogeneity more than 3% are thermophiles! Hmm...does that mean horizontal gene transfer can occur for rrn operons at higher temperature? Possible, but the sequence of the divergent copy has no high similarity with other closely related relatives. BUT! Presence of a divergent copy of rrn operon does allow them to have a broader range of growth temperature. Isn't that cool!

Lok Hor Sia (落雨聲)

Was browsing through Fang Wen Shan's blog today and came by this song - Lok Hor Sia (the sound of rain). It is a classical Chinese song that is definitely not Jay's style but by working with the Queen of Hokkien song, Jiang Hui (江蕙), he did a pretty decent job. The lyrics was penned by Wen Shan, based on his thoughts about his parents back in their village (故鄉).

This is an excerpt of his description on the song form his blog.

這首《落雨聲》的詞意主要是在述說為人子女無法克盡孝道的遺憾與感慨。真的不要想等賺大錢時才來照顧與奉養父母，或者給自 己一個藉口，一切等自己有經濟能力時再說，屆時再來盡孝道，但其實可能永遠不會有這麼一天，因為等你存夠了一百萬、三百萬，你就會想再存五百萬、一千萬， 等到手頭上真有一千萬時，你同時也會花費很大，然後馬上你又會覺得一千萬太少。人的欲望是永不可能滿足的，因為錢永遠都賺不完，但父母親卻會一天一天的衰 老…切莫等到「樹欲靜而風不止，子欲養而親不待」時才開始後悔莫及…

Basically, it explains about the regrets of a child who did not have the opportunity to take care and spend time with its mother.

[In the Asian culture, being a filial child is one who takes over the financial burden of his/her parents as soon as they have a stable career. Parents often talk about how proud they are when a certain amount of their child's paycheck goes to them. It used to be more important a generation ago when the society is less materialistic. Nowadays, most kids move out as soon as they start earning their first paycheck and most of the money goes to entertainment if there is leftover from paying off bills. In some families like Ping's, the kid never stops supporting their parents, unlike in America where most grandparents are capable of living an independent life, never having to ask for a single cent from their kids. There are both good and bad in both cases. While it seems like a burden to some people to be taking care of the elder, it makes some feels good. It would make Ping very proud when one day Ping can be the financial source for Ping's mom and dad.]

But it is not all about money either. Fang Wen Shan says 'don't use the reason that I want to earn big money first before taking care and 'fen yang' my parents'. That is very true. While materials, house, car, vacations are always there to be bought, our parents and grandparents will not freeze in time. If you think of something you want to do for them or to bring them somewhere, why not now? Why wait until you earn 10k, 30k, you will think of earning 50k, 100k, which by then, your spendings will be even more and 100k is no longer enough. So you'll keep thinking, wait, wait, but really, when will it be enough? Nothing is permanent. So why don't we treasure our loved ones before we spend on materials that will not bring eternal happiness? The memories that we create with them will be the ones that can last for a very very long time.
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A Hokkien song that brings a tear to the eye...composed by Jay, penned by Vincent for Jiang Hui.

落雨聲 哪親像一條歌
Lok hor sia na qin qiu jit tiau kua

誰知影 阮越頭嘸敢聽
Siang zai ya bun wa tao em ka tia

異鄉的我 一個人起畏寒
Yi hiong e gua ji ge lang khi ui kua

寂寞的雨聲 捶阮心肝
Sio bo e ho xia chui bun sim gua

人孤單 像斷翅的鳥只
Lang ko dua ciu tui sit e jiao jia

飛袂行 咁講是阮的命
Pue bue gia kam gong si bun e mia

故鄉的山 永遠攏站置遐
Ko hiong e sua Yeng wan long gia li hia

阮的心晟只有講乎山來聽
Bun e xim jia ji u gong ho sua lai tia

來到故鄉的海岸
Lai kao ko hiong e hai hua

景色猶原攏總無變化
Keng se you guan long jiong bo pian hua

當初離開是為啥
Dong cho li kui si wei sia

你若問阮阮心肝來疼
Ni na meng bun bun xim gua lai tia

你若欲友孝世大嘸免等好額
Ni na be eo hao sit tio em ben tan ho giak

世間有阿母惜的囝仔尚好命
Si kan u a bu siong e gi na siong ho mia

嘸通等成功欲來接阿母住
Em tang tan seng gong be lai jiap a bu dua

阿母啊 已經無置遐
A bu a yi ging bo di hia

你若欲友孝世大嘸免等好額
Ni na be eo hao sit tio em ben tan ho giak

世間有阿母惜的囝仔尚好命
Si kan u a bu siong e gi na siong ho mia

出社會走闖塊甲人拼輸贏
Chu xia wei zhao jong de ka lang pia su yia

為著啥 家己嘸知影
Wei dio sia ga gi em zai yia

你若欲友孝世大嘸免等好額
Ni na e eo hao sit tio em ben tan ho gia

世間有阿母惜的囝仔尚好命
Si kan u a bu siong e gi na siong ho mia

嘸通等成功欲來接阿母住
Em tang tan seng gong be lai jiap a bu dua

阿母啊 已經無置遐
A bu a yi ging bo di hia

哭出聲 無人惜命命
Kao chu xia bo lang xio mia mia
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The songs is sending out the message 'ni na e eo hao sit, tio em ben tan ho giak' - if you wanna be filial, then you should not wait till you're rich. As LP always say, 你開心, 我開心, 就好了. As long as we are all happy, that's good. Why wait?

Just out of the topic, Ping just realized that in their Hokkien, 'lu ah si boey' is 'ni na be'....errr..sounds a bit like 'chau ua'..hehe.