Oval Beach, Saugatuck

As Malaysians are celebrating the 51 year of Independence, we were having the time of our lives at Oval Beach, Saugatuck. There was an MSO organized Merdeka Day celebration but 'the gang' had already made plans to go to Saugatuck since early of the week. However, Ping, ah Pei and Jo did show our face for a short while to participate in the new committee election.

Once the clock striked 1.30pm, we headed out west, towards Saugatuck. Saugatuck is the first city in Michigan that Ping have visited after Kalamazoo as the Off. of International Students and Scholars at Western had organized a trip there during the international students orientation weekend. It feels like it was not too long ago that the bunch of us from Sunway came here to the States to pursue our higher education together. Now we are located all over the world, from Australia all the way up north of US.

Fortunately for us, the weather was on our side. Hot and sunny, even the water has not cooled down yet. It did got a little colder later in the afternoon but it stayed comfortable long enough that we had fun playing in the water. Ping also had a 'float' that Jo and Ping blew up and just relaxed, thinking about margarita and 帥哥 - which were both not available. But we did get entertained by the guys trying to do slam dunk.
The last and the best was sitting at the beach with close friends to watch the sun sets. This is second sunset by the beach that Ping seen in the States. The first was at Carmel, when Ping visited San Francisco three years back.But overall, 最開心的事 is enjoying the beach with 我最好的朋友們!!!!

Labless Saturday

Today is Ping's lazy day!! Had a pretty productive week - in a good way too because Ping got a result that Ping can actually write up a pretty decent conclusion, propose a few more experiments to finish it up and yoohooo!!! - that will be another chapter for the dissertation!!! At the same time, Ping put up some stuff together for a poster in 2 days - will be presenting it for the department orientation week on Monday. That means students are coming back and class will be starting soon!

Since it was a pretty good week, Ping decided to take today off. Went to lab only for a short while, to put autoclave some glasswares that Ping will need tomorrow. Spent the entire morning watching the Olympics - definitely a fun watch between the US and China. When Ping had enough of being a couch potato, went out to lab for a quick stop and then head off to Anna's for a haircut - love it!! Not super short but at least there's a style to it rather than the boring straight cut. Met up with Datuk Loo, May, MW and Tai lou for a late lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant - Asia's Finest - in Lansing. They also serve Thai food and the regular American chinese food. Ping tried their pork chop and it was pretty good. Good enough that Ping wouldn't mind going back there again. It is a little out of the way but hei, we gotta treasure good Asian food around here. It seems like their 牛肉麵 (niu rou mian/gu bak mee/beef noodle) is even better since that is what the Vietnamese are known for.
As for dinner, Ping is still pretty full from lunch so decided to go light. Wanted to have roti canai but lately, Oriental Mart seems to be running out of their plain roti canai. They only have the ones with onions in them (ewe!!). Instead, Ping had curry chicken with 饅頭 buns. The 饅頭 (mantou) buns can be pretty addictive as they are slightly sweet. When Ping was in high school, mum used to get the ones with pandan flavour for our breakfast - haven't seen them around here at all.

Definitely a lovely day!! 好久沒那麼輕鬆了!!!

MSU in Beijing

Making their mark

Guess what!! The grass in Bird's Nest (now Beijing's National Stadium) that athletes will be stepping on - it's the work of MSU's Turfgrass team!!!

MSU 還不錯唷!!

Ping got one more replicate of oxygen measurement and then Ping can go home and watch Olympic!!! This has gotta be the last experiment Ping has to do for E-lai, Co-lai!!!! It will be! Actually, it HAS to be! Gotta stay positive mer... :)

080808

08-08-08. 很美的日期吧. Coincidentally, it is also the 8th day of the month in the Chinese Lunar calendar (but on the 7th month instead - Hungry Ghost month!!). What is so special about this day? 是對中國很重要的日子 - 奧運在北京!!! Yup, it's the Olympics!!! 雖然不是中國人, 但也覺得很驕傲, 因為全世界都會注意到我們華人的力量. 再這八年裡, 北京已經變了好多. 想到四年前, 跟爸媽走在Olympic Park的時候, 很少人, maintenance也很差, 一點都不迷人, 只是很普通的地方 (但也完的很開心). 如果現在回去那裡, 一定認不出路了吧.

China Ethnic Culture Park at Olympic Park

Beijing Opera!! Front seats wei! With full course dinner somemore!
Great Wall!! Definitely the best sight-seeing Ping have ever experienced!

Hmm...家人和亞洲的朋友們一定很期待今晚奧運的開場吧. Me too!! Guess everyone would be stuck in front of the TV in a few hours. Unfortunately, no live telecast here for Ping. 但也沒關係了, not like I can watch it if it is live anyway...12 hours difference --> Ping will be preparing to start another oxygen measurement at about that time (8:08pm, Beijing time). But, NBC will be broadcasting it at 7.30pm tonight...所以, 要趕快做完experiment然後可以回家看!! 不懂杰倫有沒有備選上來唱奧運歌. 如購有的話, 我今晚一定非常的開心!!!

Aiiii, 看這麼多北京的照片, 好想念哦!!! 爸媽也應該很想念那邊的生活吧. 不隻到什麼時候才有機會回到那邊. Hopefully one day Ping get to go back there and walk the streets of Wang Fu Jing (王府井) , Liu Li Qiao (六里橋) and all the great places of Beijing.

Wan Tan Mee

雲吞麵. Wan tan noodles. It is one of the most common hawker food in Malaysia. It is also the fastest food to get when you only have 40 minutes of lunch time - this being said, Ping was thinking about all the after school lunch with mum and dad while they were both working at the Sunway HQ building, close to school and home. They will pick us up from school and we'll head over to a kopitiam near our house (shoot! Can't remember what is that area called!! Taman something...ish!). They have one of the best wan tan mee ever!! Ping had it twice this last trip back to M'sia!!!
It is basically egg noodles (but when you buy it here, they specifically label it 'Wan Tan Noodles' because they also have a different kind of noodles that they call 'egg noodles', which is the one that they use for yee fu mee back in M'sia). The typical one is thin like in the photo above (which is the one that Ping made) but there is also a different type, called 'chor mee', which is made of the same ingredient but is much thicker. Ping likes the 'chor mee' better because it is more tangy. The noodles takes only a minute or less to cook, by simply blanching it in boiling water. Blanching too long will make the noodle soft and 'liam peh peh', making one of the most common reason wan tan mee doesn't taste good at all. The photo below is the one that has 'chor mee'. This wantan mee is the one at some corner kopitiam at downtown Penang (daddy, remember which one? It was on the day when just the three of us went downtown to kia kia while you brought Kancil's backside to be repaired at the shop next to St. Xavier's. It think the shop sells only Wan Tan mee and gu bak mee suah). Haha, the typical wan tan mee you get at the stalls has basically nothing excpet a few pieces of char siew and chai...wonder how much would Ping's wan tan mee cost in M'sia today. Hehe...
As the name defines, the main 'liao' (err...stuff besides the noodle) is the wan tan. However, the wan tan is the one thing Ping usually don't eat just because there are more flour (the wan tan skin) than meat. Ping did make wan tan this time but Ping didn't like it at all because the wan tan skin is sooo thick...definitely not getting that brand again! Now Ping have to figure what other things Ping can do with the remaining 80 pieces of wan tan skin!! Thanks to Jo for bringing some home!!! (Oh yeah, Ping had Jo and Ming over since the rest of our regular M'sian gang are either in M'sia or other parts of US). But looking at the photo above, it seems like Ping must have missed a 'procedure' while cooking the wan tan because Ping's wan tan looks white...rather than yellowish. Maybe there is different kind of skin.

Besides wan tan, the other common ingredients are char siew (叉燒, BBQ pork, but there is a special char siew sauce, not just the American BBQ sauce) and chai sim (菜心, err....heart vege?...haha..some kind of vege lah). Ping was lucky enough to get chai sim at O-Mart today, as it is not always available - definitely not from Meijer!.

Those are the basics of wan tan mee but there are some places that also have other 'liao' that you can add, like mo gu kae kah (還是不要翻譯這, 怕會嚇倒些朋友), minced pork (肉絲) or curry chicken. Ping's favorite is the minced pork. The best one Ping tried is the one at SS14, there's a corner kopitiam that sells wan tan mee with char siew or rou si only. Used to go there after college when Ping only has morning class...haven't gone back since college days. So Ping also made some minced pork with mo gu and pickled vege (this is not kiam chai right??? there is another name for it! Arggh!! Time to go to bed...).

For those of us who are from Penang, you all probably still remember 'Tok Tok Mee' right? Stalls that still call it Tok Tok mee is definitely getting less...Ping haven't seen it in a while. Why Tok Tok? A long time ago (man...Ping feels old!!), there are hawkers who cycle their stalls around to sell wan tan mee and they attract attention by knocking on something with something (haha..can't remember how) that makes the noise 'tok tok', hence it was known as 'tok tok mee'. Guess only those who sell tok tok mee makes that noise, otherwise, people would be confuse on what the guy is selling right? Hmm...okay, definitely time to go to bed.

Sweet Potato Dessert

Taking a break from seeing number of rrn operons. A little too late to eat anything heavy but Ping is starting to get hungry again. That's the bad thing about working late into the night - Ping tends to get hungry = eating more than regular and not moving as much since working late is usually writing or analyzing data. So Ping went looking into the fridge to hunt for something light - Huan Chu T'ng (Potato soup).
Ping was craving for it during the weekend and made a pot of it (only 2 potatoes and still have to eat for so many days!!). It is a pretty simple dessert but the most important ingredient - gula Melaka - is not available here in Lansing. Boo! Gula Melaka (or theng) is actually palm sugar but the one that is made in Malaysia has a dark coloring and taste better than the seashell shaped palm sugar they sell here at Oriental Mart. To make the dessert, just boil water and ginger, dissolve the gula Melaka in the water and finally, add sweet potato and simmer until the potato is soft. Easy leh. Hehe..but whenever Ping is at home, Ping never cook it because ahmah and mummy will do all the work. Bleh. This last trip home, Ping wanted some and mummy made it the next day!! Because of the dark colored gula Melaka, the huan chu t'ng mummy made looks much darker. In fact, if Ping sees one like the one Ping makes in M'sia, Ping would most likely think that it is not very good - like chia chia.

Ahmah used to make them quite often when Ping was a kid and Ping loves it! Actually, sweet potato itself is pretty good and is a delicacy in the Chinese culture - in China, where the weather is chilly during the Moon Cake Festival, people will 'pu' (bake - but typically using charcoal like BBQing style in US) the potato (烤紅薯). We do it here when we BBQ, even during the summer! At the pasar malam (night markets) in M'sia, there are also stalls that sell tit-bits, where one of them is fried sweet potato slices - yummy!! A very addictive M'sian snacks, especially if Ping has the whole packet to herself and is sitting in front of the tv watching a nice series. Oh by the way, the new series - 籃球火 - is lots of fun!!! 小豬is super funny!!! Definitely a must watch for 小豬's fans. Haha. Pei, 如果我們兩個一起看, 一定笑道肚子痛的. 有很多遊戲玩了, 不用一直完'某人' 的遊戲了. Hehehe..

Chicken spinach pasta

Woohooo! 好久沒有blog食物的post了. 因為自己好就沒好吃的東西了. 最近很忙, 也沒有心情煮. 如果心情不好的話, 煮出來的食物, 也不會覺得好吃. 好吃的東西, 是要很用心的去煮. 雖然, 這道理是從連續劇聽到的, 但也很真阿. 每次不開心的時候, 煮的東西覺得沒有品味的.
But! This week 的感覺還不錯. Maybe because there is hope! Felt like cooking something simple since Ping is super busy this week and don't feel like eating frozen food. Hmm...cook what leh? As usual, pasta is the easiest. Ping had leftover chicken from lak-bee tng (six spice soup) and spinach. Not a very good combination since the chicken from soup is usually very mild in taste as the 'sweetness' goes into the soup. Ping wanted to use it to make chicken sandwich but didn't feel like eating bread. So Ping stir-fry it with some or tau eu (dark soya sauce) and chilli along with the spinach. Boiled the pasta and ta-da! A bowl of chicken spinach pasta with some lak-bee tng taste. Yummy! (Lin: 是的, my boey khiow-ing!) Ping also added some La Choy Crispy Noodles - nope, as far as Ping is aware, this is not Asian at all but apparently by adding it, you are 'adding Asian flair'. Ping first tried this in Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad and Ping liked the 'crunchiness' it adds to the salad.

很倒霉的一晚

已經plan 好要6.30pm之做完準備給明天的experiment, 然後回家睡個好好的一覺, 明天早上起來analyze data. But guess what...萍萍的今天真倒霉. 回來時候, 換去laptop 的背包, 有拿錢包但忘了拿家和車子的鑰匙 . 真不懂有腦袋來干嗎. 好像是關掉了吧. 做事, 疑點都不專心. 真馬虎.


還是於到了不開心的我. 我的精神跑到那去了呀.

脆弱

我最討厭的感覺就是脆弱. 討厭自己有這種感覺, 也不喜歡看到別人脆弱的樣子. 它是一種negative的影響. 但它卻會悄悄的發現在我心理. 好久沒有這種感覺了. 到今天, 到我難過的時候, 我煩惱的時候, 我無救的時候, 它就接替我所有的開心於陽光...只留下哭泣於黑暗的情緒. 一點都不好玩.

有時候, 真不想當個graduate student. 今天早上很開心的start up HPLC. 本來還滿順利的. 但到下午, 一個一個的問題開始發生了. 因為不是很動哪個system,所以自己不太會解決問題. 也不太敢問別間lab的post-doc因為怕打擾. 剛剛, 以為另一個experiment會比較順利, 不過自己太大的希望了, magnetic stirrer 的fuse 壞掉. 已經11.30晚上了. 饒了我把.

好想回家, 躲在背毯裡大哭然後去睡覺. 可惜, 者能可以在lab專心的做完experiment, 希望, 沒有stir不會有太大的影響. 也要確定HPLC 的 pressure不會上的太高. 不然我就完蛋了.

今天的我, 看不到月亮, 看不到星星, 者能看到黑的天恐和安靜的外面.

我的明天會更好嗎? 有誰要帶我的脆弱走, 永遠不要再讓它會來.

The Beauty of Nature - Rainbow

When there is rain and there is sun, it is a sign that we should tilt our head upwards and look around for rainbows. Ever seen one? Am sure everyone has seen it at least once, a big one, a small one, a complete one, a small arc, any variety at all, we come across them every once in a while. Ping and Lin saw one just a week ago when we went to Walmart. It was a complete one but neither of us had our camera at that time so we could only enjoy the pretty view.

We were talking about that incident in the car today on our way home from Kalamazoo (yeap, went to Rasa Ria for dinner - we were so desperate for M'sian food we ordered almost all their M'sian dishes). May was telling us about her rainbow experience at Disney and then she turned out towards the window and suddenly shouted 'ahhh!'. Ping and Lin was looking for some animal that ran by when May finally found a way out of her excitement to tell us about the rainbow that was creating a lovely spectrum in the sky. Wow! This is the FIRST time Ping see such a lovely rainbow - wait, there was actually two, the larger one is lighter.
Ping was very thankful she wasn't the driver because now she can just enjoy looking at the rainbow. Tai lou was very nice to exit the highway and stopped by a roadside for us to take pictures of it. It was just lovely that we kept looking at it. The above is a panaromic stitch of photos Ping took from that first stop (not very smooth, but Ping is not sure how to rotate it to fit properly). There is actually two but the second was too light to be captured with Ping's setting at that time. Isn't it lovely?























After a bunch of photos, we got back on to the highway and we were still looking at the rainbow and realized that it was getting more apparent (gotta learn how to capture and edit panaromic shots better...the lighting is not right at all). So ngam, tai lou need to get gas so we exited the highway again into a gas station and of course, more photos!!!
That's the best rainbow Ping have seen!!! At the gas station, we were even lucky enough to see a rare supernumerary rainbow!!! Isn't nature wonderful? Something that is so amazing that can bring a smile to all our faces...it is all about Mother Nature. The more reason we should protect our environment!!!

A Journey of Life – The Sleeping Bear Dune Climb

Ｆrom the Glen Lake picnic site, we could see the Sleeping Bear Dune – the main reason for our trip out to the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. It is so high up that all the people climbing up the dune looks like 'or hia' walking around. The dune is just basically a 'suar eh sua' but because it is so bare, it feels exciting to climb it. You have this entire hill of sand right in front of you and it is all yours to climb.

View of Glen Lake from the peak of the 1st Dune climb

Unlike hill trails, running up a dune trail is definitely harder and uses a lot of your calf and hamstring muscle. It is easier if you can find a spot where someone else had stepped on because it makes the sand firm. If it has been a while since it was stepped on and the wind had blow the sand even, then it is much harder because climbing one step is actually climbing half a step as your feet sink into the sand.

The entire trail is about 3-4 hours. It takes you to the beach of Lake Michigan and back through the same route. There are green patches of grass here and there but the trail itself is all sand. Sometimes we feel like we're lost in a desert and yet, the intensity of the wind is pretty strong that sometimes you feel cold.

While the dune may not seem super interesting, Ping actually learned a lot from the climb.

1. The excitement when one enters a new path in life.
   

   When we arrived at the Dune, we were all very excited to climb up to the first top peak. When you see little kids rolling down the hill, you want to get up there so that you can roll down too (of course we didn't do that lah, that'll be too much sand getting into weird places). But thinking back to when Ping first came to the States, when Ping first stated her graduate school, everything is exciting. Something as simple as a perfect gel electrophoresis picture makes your day. Now, it has to be more than that to feel the satisfaction.
   

2. Curiosity keeps us going.
   

   When we arrive at the peak of that first Dune, we look ahead and we see another dune. After climbing another, yet another dune appears in front of us. It was the curiosity that had us kept walking forward. Similarly in life, we see people around us and they make us think about what we could do if only we know how to do so and so. It makes us want to pursue it. Hence, it is the curiosities that initiate us take that step forward again and again.
   

3. Influence
   

   Along the hike, we met a couple whom Lin asked what is at the end of the trail. The guy told us: Hell. Don't go there. Upon hearing that, we thought we were headed the wrong way and turned towards another direction. After a while, we realized that there is no sign of footsteps along that route. So we turned back and clearly, that was the wrong direction. We were supposed to follow the wooden sticks with blue colored top. Throughout our journey of life, we meet people who can negatively influence us. Sometimes we decided to listen to the wrong people that divert us from our main goal, making our journey complicated. BUT! If we realize that we are going the wrong way, it is never too late to turn back. Eventually, we'll find our own way to achieve our goal, not getting influenced by negativity.
   

   Further along the hike, we also met a bunch of guys who told us "You only have 2 more dunes to go!". It may just be a simple sentence exchanged between strangers but sometimes, it is this small motivation that brings our spirit up again. Around us, there will always be someone or even something that encourage us to keep moving forward, heading towards our goal, it just depends on if we see it or not. Whenever Ping feels like just quitting and go back home, there is always something stronger that prevents it from happening. Even the fact that someone has reached a similar goal can be encouraging – if they have done it, why can't I? Maybe I can do even better.
   

4. The goal might not be the way we imagine it to be.
   

   We have no idea what the end is like. We know it is Lake Michigan and that is where we want to go. In the end, all we get is a stony beach with 4 other people. So why isn't there anyone else? There really is not that many people travelling along with us to begin with but Ping never did expect to see so little people at the end of it. When we start on a new journey, we know what we want but really, we don't know how it will be like when we reached our destination. The traditional view is that you study hard, get a degree and then get a good job. But what is a good job? Is there really such thing as a good job? We have no idea. Do we really know how we feel once we get that job? Not really. At least not until we get there. It might be totally different from what we have in our mind.
   

   At the end of the trail, the view is pretty, but at the same time scary. The waves comes in really strong and you feel like any second any minute (haha..how to translate 每一鍾每一秒?), the waves will just swipe you away. It is not a very enjoyable beach either because it is stony instead of sandy. It hurts to walk around and again, scary because it is hard to grip on to the slippery stones. Even so, Lin and Ping went into the water and got a dip since we felt dehydrated. Oh yeah – definitely bring TONS and TONS of water when climbing the dunes.
   

5. Treasure every moment.
   

   The walk back started out harder than the walk towards the lake. That is pretty normal since going back is always tiring. But at the same time, we also couldn't wait to get back to the campsite to shower and lie down on our backs to rest our legs, away from the heat. While we are enjoying going downhill, we look forward and we see another dune that we have to climb – aiyohhhhhh. Going uphill is like the down moments in life while going downhill is the up moments in life. In life, it is not as clear because we don't see the next hurdle in front of us. In fact, we don't even really enjoy the up moments because there is always an 'if only', we'll be thinking, wah, na si wa u chi keng bungalow…or stuff like that. So Ping and Lin was telling ourselves, we should not look at the next dune and go aiyohhhhhh, instead, we should be having fun going down the dune.
   

   Lake Michigan at the end of the Dune trail.
   

   Overall, it was a fun and inspiring climb. It made Ping think about all the experience in life and reanalyze Ping's view of life in general. Would Ping recommend people to climb the Dune to enjoy what lies at the end of the trail? Nope. It is just a beach. Not the most fun beach either. But for the experience of climbing a dune, Yup, definitely! Just bring lots of water and be prepared for a 3 hours of climbing session.

Hiking the Trails

Sleeping in the tent was pretty cozy but it got super cold in the morning! As dawn approaches, it got colder and Ping was 'kiu-ing' up in the sleeping bag, trying to preserve heat from herself. Ping eventually gave up and woke up, seeing ah Pei 'pai ang kong-ing'. Fortunate for Ping, less fortunate for ah Pei (since she didn't get sleep all night), that she is awake so Ping has company. We jogged to the shower room to wash up and then walk around the campground. We were looking at the RVs in the area and thought that they are very much like a home as the owners decorate their own RV, each with a different theme.

We then wanted to make breakfast for everyone but realized that all the food is in Tai lou's car. So we snacked on fruit and nut bar made by ah Pei. That is one of the best bar Ping had (Ping probably had the most hor?), kept eating it. After a while, we started getting bored of sitting around so we decided to drive out to the nearby town. Didn't want to wake the others up, we set the car into reverse gear, push it a little distance away from the tent and set out. Went to the visitor center to get the park passes and then drove into the Empire town (by the way, they only have 378 residents as of 2000!!! That is so cute! Am sure everyone knows everyone there). At the end of the town, we came across the Empire beach and if Ping and Pei was not up and awake yet, that surely did it. We were super excited to see the lovely beach and soft sand and cool breeze, it ALMOST feels like you're at the ocean as the lake seems to run forever. The only thing about beaches around this area is that they have a lot of flies. They don't bite but they surround you. As long as you don't look at them, you're totally fine. It was a good thing we decided to drive that way because that was the best beach of the trip that we've seen. We made plans to go back there the next day but we never did because we found a nature trail to explore. We lepak there until Wei Yi called – they're awake!

Went back to the campsite and we (actually more like Jo and Wei Yi) cooked breakfast and lunch. We had tuna that was modified to taste like sardine (it's all in the mind mah..if you think you're eating sardine, then you're eating sardine lor), scrambled egg and sausages. Cleaned up the area, changed and then it is time to chu4 fa1 lor! Our first stop was the Pyramid Point Hiking Trail. The national park has 14 trails and Pyramid Point is the most Northern point of the Sleeping Bear bay. It overlooks the two Manitou Island and supposedly, we can see a ship wreck on a clear day. Nope, we didn't see any even though the weather is pretty nice out there. Along this trail, we started out hiking through a meadow, going into a maple-beech forests, heading towards the lookout point at a high bluffs area. The view from the bluff is breathtaking and yet, scary because one step too close and you'll be sliding down to the lake... it may just be a lake, but it is so huge that sometimes you can feel dark aura enveloping your soul, giving you a jolt of fear. The sky was clear enough that we can easily see the two Manitou Island and boats. The picture on the right is taken by Ming - the tree has lost so much soil to grip on and yet it is still standing strong. If Ping were to name this pic, it would be - Determination.

Using a different route, we hike back to the starting point, going through more maple-beech forests, along the way seeing the understory plants community changes. We ended our morning and early afternoon with a picnic at Glen Lake, just opposite the Sleeping Bear Dune. The view below is Little Glen Lake.

A Lovely Surprise!

Just as we were all done with dinner, girls wants to go wash up and do the stuff we do before we go to bed so we walked to the shower rooms. On the way back, Ping wanted to fill up a pail of water to 'sae kah' before we go to sleep. Tai lou helped carry it back to the campsite and set it down next to the picnic table. Ping wanted the pail to be near the tent so that after we sae kah, we don't have to walk around to get back to the tent. Just as Ping picked up the pail, Tai lou took it from Ping and says no no no, it is time to make smores (a popular BBQ and camping snack made of graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallow). So Ping hen ren zhen go find the satay sticks and marshmallow, thinking that Jo and Lin Pei went to look for the graham crackers and chocolate bar.

Not too long later, Jo and Lin Pei came from behind, singing Happy Birthday and carrying a cake with a candle that sets the Happy Birthday melody…we're not getting ready to make smores! We're celebrating Ping's birthday! This is definitely a very successful surprise because Ping was all prepared for smores AND Ping had no clue that she was driving her own b'day cake all the way to Sleeping Bear!!!!

Thanks a bunch to everyone! And especially to Lin for making it happen and TT for the great suggestion! The blackforest cake from Roma Bakery is very good! Ping and Lin had it for breakfast on Sunday too!

Camping at Sleepy Bear Campground

Ping's first camping experience in the States! Ping and the girls had wanted to go camping since last year but there are so many places to explore that we never made it last summer. So one of the first few things we planned this summer is camping!! Ming had also mentioned about Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore last year so we decided to go there for our camping trip.

Ping wanted to make reservations at the Platte River campground within the National Lakeshore border but it was fully booked. Since we had quite a bunch of people, Ping didn't want to take the risk of driving all the way there and not having a place to stay. So we ended up getting a campsite at a private campground – Sleepy Bear Campground. This campground is a pretty good location as it is not too far away from the national park but we have to drive everywhere because it is basically in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by meadows and woods.

The drive to the park is suppose to take only about 4.5 hrs through the scenic route but due to road damaged from the crazy weather Michigan is experiencing recently, we had to detour and end up taking almost 5 hours to get to the campground. The drive on US-31, once we get out of US-127 is very different. The roads are hilly and there are meadows and hills for the side view. Definitely much more fun than driving on US-69/US-96!!! Thankfully, we got there before it got really dark and had time to build our tent, which was very comfortable! All 4 of us had plenty of space to sleep, with more space to put our stuff too. Ming followed Ping's car and helped us set up the fire, which kept us warm later in the night when the temperature drop – definitely lower than Ping expected because Ping only bought a thin sweater.

Just as we finished putting up our tent (the dark blue one, at the back) and unpack our sleeping bags, the other car driven by Tai Lou, with the guys and Pei Hua, arrived. Helped them pitch their tent (which is super huge because all 9 of us had dinner in it the second day!), or more like help 'slow' them down in pitching their tent since the more people it is, the more luan chi cha we become but it is more lau juak mar! Once the tents are up, it's dinner time!

We knew that we would be arriving late and might be too hungry to be cooking so we made some stuff for the first night. Jo made char bee hoon, Ping made pasta salad (actually Ping still calls it macaroni salad since back in M'sia, irregardless of what shape they look like, we always call pasta as macaroni, unless it is spaghetti or lasagna) with Italian dressing and Pei Hua brought mashed potato. It was Ping's first time making the pasta salad and Ping likes it! It was actually Kristi's idea. Ping was asking for Kristi's (she's the best person to go to when it comes to cooking!) suggestion on a non-milk or cheese-based dressing for macaroni salad and she suggested Italian. Ping didn't want to have too much meat in it so Ping used tuna and of course, lots of vege!!

Italian Tuna Pasta

Cooked elbow pasta

Cucumbers, Carrots and Bell peppers chopped into small pieces

Corn kernels

1 can of tuna (drained the water)

Italian dressing

Mix em all up and it's tasty!

Elephant Collection

Elephants, elephants, elephants! They are the most adorable large mammals!! Ping started collecting them when Ping got her first - Elli-O.
Elli-O is the larger one, with a smile on her face. Right next to Elli-O is Hathi Junior from Jungle Book. Isn't it cute? Elli-O is still Ping's favorite (seems like 'first love sticks around forever' is certainly true in this case *grins*). Ping's second one is lazy Dumbo. It is super hard to get this lazy bum to sit by its own. But it has been Ping's ngek ngek here because in US, they don't sell ngek ngek at all...or at least Ping haven't seen it. Actually, when you ask some American about 'bolster', they wouldn't know what you are talking about. Ping also has an elephant bookmark, a birthday gift from Nokkie.
The porcelain elephant is a souvenir that Ping got from Holland. Ping's latest addition is baby Emmy and Elbion. Baby Emmy caught Ping's eye the moment the guy at the yard sale brought it out. Ping just had to get it. Elbion gave Ping a little weird feeling. It's a white elephant. With blue feet. Hmmm...kinda weird looking too. But it is one of those Disney collection that is no longer in production and it is unique. So Ping got her along with baby Emmy from a yard sale when Ping was down at K'zoo not too long ago.

Chocolate Coconut Macaroon

Yummy! Ping went to Roma Bakery early last week just after turning in ahdik's application. Got
some of their chocolate macaroon and it was great stuff!!! So hunt around online for the recipe and found one that is very easy, requires simple ingredients that is readily available in Ping's pantry and fast too. We were also going to celebrate May Chia's '二X' birthday so got more motivation to make the macaroons.

Coconut Macaroons

4 egg whites

2 cups shredded coconut

1¼ cups white sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp almond extract

¼ cup flour

¼ tsp salt

⅜ tsp apple vinegar

Melted chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 300^oC and grease and flour cookie sheet.

2. In a bowl, beat egg whites, vanilla extract, almond extract and vinegar until soft peaks form. [ This is the longest and tiring step because we did it by hand, starting with Ping then Jo took over]

3. Gradually beat in sugar and whip until stiff.

4. In another bowl, toss flour, salt and coconut.

5. Fold dry ingredients (4) into the egg white mix (2-3). [Once mixed, must not dilly-dally in making the spoonful and putting it into the over because the mixture will lessen over time as the ‘soft peaks’ become less foamy.]

6. Drop spoonful on cookie sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes.

7. Allow cookie to cool and dip into chocolate. [We started out using melted chocolate chips but decided that we don’t have enough and should make more. So we made chocolate from cocoa and soy milk. It turned out okay but the process got us nervous for a while as we were not sure if we are getting a dipping chocolate that will solidify.]

The best part is the last part when we get to dip the macaroons in chocolate and make all kinds of decorations. The one on the left is one that has only part of the macaroons covered with chocolate - kinda like Pepperidge Farm style cookies while the one on the right is decorated with chocolates, dried strawberries, coconut, cereals and almond.

Making this reminds Ping of the almond macaroon Ping once learned from Tua Ee. That was the best macaroons ever!! Ping can finish the entire cookie container Ee usually use in like a day! Have to ask Ee for the recipe again. Ping only remember that it requires lots and lots of egg white. This time when make the almond macaroon, must get egg beater edi because too many egg yolks will need to be used later (although Ping can still make milo pudding after that). Will wait till after the committee meeting to work on that....now must study first.

Paintball

Paintball - a very expensive and painful sport but we did have fun. Brian organized a trip to Chaos Paintball at Charlotte last Saturday. It is only about 25 minutes away from Lansing, near a housing area, with 6 fields.
When we first got there, we each get a paintball gun filled with compressed air, carried in a gas tank. This makes the gun very heavy and as time goes by, it becomes quite a challenge to carry the gun and aim. We were also provided with a bag of 500 'bullets'. The paintball is made of vegetable oil and food coloring, protected within a gelatin coating. While the impact of being hit from a distance that hurts the most, when the gelatin coating burst upon contact with skin surface, it can also cause scratches. The 'bullets goes into the white bottle attached to the top of the gun as in the photo above. In addition to that, we were also given 2 containers for more bullets to be refilled when in the field. The containers are attached to a waist belt, which is another challenge if you have to crawl on the ground when avoiding the opponent.

The first field we played at is the 'Hyperball Field'. It is basically a flat greenland, with plastic materials set up as places to hide. Each team starts from one end of the field and we have to try to eliminate everyone in the opponent team. In the first two game, Ping was the last survivor in Ping's team and had to surrender both times because Ping have no idea where the remaining opponents are and Ping was ambushed!!! When Ping first entered the 'battle-field', it wasn't that scary because it was more exciting. It was almost the end of the first game when someone kept shooting towards Ping and the sound of the 'bullets' coming at you is 恐怖 (terrorizing?...scary).
The second field we played at is much harder - an open field. There is barely any place to hide unless you are in the ditch, which can be pretty dangerous because when the opponent come running from the top, you have no where to hide. Another way is to stay flat on the ground but that also reduces your own visibility of who is going where and the big picture is lost.

This is definitely a 'gia lui lai ho lang sae' (use money to be shot). But it was lots of fun! Fortunately, Ping did not get any direct shot. Got a few scratches and 'or chae' from crawling on the ground and running from one hiding place to another. For those who got hit, it does look scary because it is a huge 'or chae' and looks like the Lyme disease Bull's eye rash symptom.

It's mom!!

Vintage craft

Guess what!!! Ping's mummy is in the paper - The Star! One of M'sia's most read national newspaper!!! Hehe...

It is about all the lovely 'kasut manik' she makes!!! Below is the 'newer' one that mum made for Ping.

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!