Pretty hilarious... check it out

Spicy Crab Soup: 

Will be visiting Ondal 2 this weekend!!
Update coming.

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Update:  It was a tad overhyped, I think.  I'd give it a 3 out of 5 stars. The crab wasn't as fresh or juicy as I had hoped and the soup wasn't "crabby" enough either. The fried rice, which everyone on yelp seemed to love, was a bit strange... neither "dry" like Chinese fried rice or "wet" enough for sticky fried rice.... it was just a bit damp.  And it wasn't spicy enough, but that's probably because we had to order "mild" for my mom.  The "monk fish soup" that we ordered for my grandma was really tasty though. The fish was fresh and the soup was perfect... I love fish soup.

The best part of the crab soup was the "dough."  It tasted like... dumpling skin in spicy soup.  I'm biased, of course, as anyone who knows me knows that I love dumplings - A LOT. 

Price-wise, it costed us about $20 per person, which isn't too bad.  I suggest that you bring at least 2 others, though, as the smallest pot costs $55. 

Thanks to those of you who came to the Annual White Elephant Gift Exchange on Saturday!!
Special thanks to Peter for taking all those pictures! (I'll post some of them, if you don't mind!)
Thanks to Kris for coming so late!
Thanks Wei, for helping us cut the cake!
And thanks to my honey for helping me cook and set up!

I'm really surprised by the turnout this year!!   It's been growing every year, actually... from 6 people (?)... to like 20 (?) this year.  We hung out for a bit to wait for more people to come, played mafia (we won!!), had a pretty crazy gift exchange (collusions everywhere!) and had some cake.

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White Elephant Gift Exchange Rules

1. Bring a Mystery Gift. Wrap the gift, or bring it in a bag so that no one knows what it is.
2. Start the picking! Everyone draws a number from a hat to
   determine the order of gift choosing. Have the first person choose
   a gift to unwrap.
3. New Gift or Steal a Gift? Have the next person choose an unopened gift or "steal" a gift
   that has already been opened. The person who lost their gift can
   "steal" another, or open a new gift. Note: A single gift can only
   be "stolen" a maximum of 3 times, then it is out of play. And no one can steal back the gift that was just stolen from them... HOWEVER, the next time something is taken from you, you can steal your old gift back.
4. Go to the next person in order and repeat. The exchange
   continues until every gift has been opened and the last person
   keeps their gift.

"Some would argue that his childhood experiences, as well as his mixed
heritage (his father was Kenyan, his mother from Kansas), gives him a
better inner compass on foreign policy than most Americans. They cite
the pioneering work of Ruth Hill Useem, the late sociologist of Michigan
State University, who spent her career studying what she called Third
Culture Kids — the millions of U.S. children (an estimated 20 million
since the advent of mass air travel) who have been carted abroad by
their missionary, diplomatic, corporate or military parents. These
frequent-flier kids don't spend enough time in their adopted countries
to become fully bicultural, but they take pieces and add it to their
home values and traditions — creating millions of "Third Cultures."
Studies have shows that kids who have spent time abroad are more likely
to go to college, to relate to one another despite the influences of
vastly differing cultures, and to latch on to one aspect of their
culture — in Obama's case African Americanism."

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1695803,00.html?xid=feed-cnn-topics

I think that it's important for children to go abroad... and maybe even live abroad.

When will they be old enough, you think? 

Wow!!! The bf got me Bose All-Around Headphones for my birthday!!!!!!!!
Thank you, thank you, honey!!!!!!!!! I love them!!
They're sooo expensive though.... now I feel bad.
And... I can't even get you anything because I can't afford to right now, especially with that upcoming China trip.
It's ok, I'll get you something for your birthday.

The bf and I went to La Ciccia a couple of weekends ago...

His lamb chops were absolutely perfect.  GO FOR THE LAMB CHOPS

My sea bass wasn't as good though.

but... i'm really, really, really afraid of flying.
this might sound a little strange, considering the fact that i've been to 11 countries and dozens of international cities..
every time i fly, i get soo scared.
but that might be due to the fact that i've had some pretty bad experiences on tiny, ghetto little planes that wobbled non-stop.
huge commercial jets aren't bad.

ok, that said, i'm super excited about going to China! can't wait can't wait can't wait!!

When I worked in Shanghai, it was easy to live on $1 a day.  $1 equated to about 8RMB (this was before the value of the US dollar tanked). 
Morning Bus ride:1RMB;
Breakfast, two small buns:2RMB;... (bought from the guy on the left)
Lunch (noodles): 4MB;...
Bus ride home: 1RMB.
Total: 8RMB

I wanted to see whether it could be done.  And yes, it can.

The company fed me dinner, most companies feed their employees lunch. And gave them a place to live. I was lucky, I lived in a company-sponsored apartment with the HR department head.  I was supplied with company towels, toothbrushes, TV, couches... even a bed!  The company's name/brand was stamped on almost everything that I had.

I can see how $1 is not enough for people with families, though. 

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/12/18/asia.economy.ap/index.html