My public transport love/hate

As much as I've complained about it over the years, in general, and as a concept, I am grateful for public transport.  Yes, I would like it to be more convenient, less expensive, more dependable, less crowded, cleaner, quieter, etc., but having lived in and visited many places with some sort of public transportation, it's pretty nice to have.

I'd still like to have a car because sometimes a car is just best suited for a situation (at least until any of those sci-fi modes of transportation like teleports and TIE fighters come to fruition), but most of the time, subways, busses, and trains are the way I like to travel.

When something/someone else is taking you where you need to go, you can just sit back and read a book, listen to music, people-watch, or do absolutely nothing except remember to get off when you reach your stop.  If you're tired, it's okay to lose your concentration a bit because you won't have to worry about crashing into someone or something.  When you get to your destination, you don't have to find parking.  And who doesn't get a little rush and weird sense of accomplishment when they just make it on board right before the train/bus departs?

I even like how some systems have built their brand and you can get cute products like these:

       

Unfortunately, not all public transportation systems are created equal, and the US, for various reasons, hasn't developed as well as others in Asia and Europe.  The good news is, when I visit those other countries, I enjoy my time there even more because I find getting around easier than I do in the States.

I love places where the stations and vehicles are clean and you can see how long you have to wait until the next train or bus arrives.  If a city has a good bus system, I love being able to see different streets and neighborhoods as I travel to my destination.  Traveling between cities via overground trains are also a great way to see the countryside.  You can absorb everything around you when you don't have to devote some of your attention to the road ahead of you.

All in all, I do like public transport.  Now let's see if I can remember that the next time I pay $2.75 to travel one mile and my crowded train is delayed for an unknown reason, resulting in my commute taking longer than if I had walked.

...

Oh, and here's a little video to get in the subway riding mindset:

Tournament time - nothing is better

In two weeks, I will be surrounded by computer and TV screens, kicking off my favorite time of the year - tournament time!  I've mentioned my love for basketball and my even more intense love for college basketball before, but now it's time to discuss the crown jewel that is the NCAA D1 Men's Basketball Tournament.

To keep myself from spouting incoherently as I release a fire hose of everything I love about this tournament, I've tried to organize and highlight things in five main, somewhat chronological, categories:

Selection Sunday

The Sunday before the tournament starts, the tournament selection committee selects and reveals the teams they are inviting to the big dance.  Remember how I mentioned that in college, every game matters?  This moment is the culmination of everything that happened in the previous four months - every win, loss, margin, strength of schedule, etc.

Bubble teams (i.e. those for whom the invite isn't a foregone conclusion) find out if they've done enough to make it.  The shoe-ins find out if they've done enough to get a "better" seed.  All teams learn where they're playing and who their first opponent and potential future opponents will be.  And all of us start debating why the selection committee was right or wrong to overrate or snub or stack a region or lay out an easy path for so-and-so.

The Brackets

After the teams and seeding are revealed, we can start predicting who will win each game and ultimately the entire tournament.  Every year I am horrible at filling out my bracket, but I still do it.  In the beginning, it's kind of fun to see if I actually select the correct upsets.  For games where I don't care who wins, it gives me someone to root for, if only because I randomly wrote the team's name on a line a few days earlier.

I think the best thing about the bracket is it brings people who normally don't follow basketball into this world.  It doesn't take any skill or knowledge to fill out a bracket, and even if you have no idea what's happening in the game, you know who wins (the team that scores the most points) and you can trash talk with your friends about how you got it right.

Single-Elimination Format

Arguably the core characteristic of the tournament is its single-elimination format, which means every game will be one team's last for the season.  While everything during the regular season mattered going into Selection Sunday, after that, the only thing that matters is what happens during the current 40 minutes the team happens to be playing.  This win-or-go-home format is what makes it possible for less talented teams to go further in the tournament than the most talented team.  It's why it's so exciting - the stakes are higher and unexpected outcomes more likely.  Oh the drama!  It's why, even if my team's not playing or if they've been eliminated, I still love watching.

The First Weekend

If I had to choose just one part of the tournament to watch, it would be the first weekend.  The tournament is essentially structured into three consecutive weekends.  All the games of the first two rounds are played in the first weekend (Thursday through Sunday).  Then there's a break until the following Thursday, which begins the next weekend when all the games of the next two rounds, the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, are played.  And finally, the Final Four and Championship Game are played the Saturday and Monday of the week after that.

Since there are 64 teams when the tournament starts, that means they have to fit 48 games into the first weekend.  That means it's back-to-back games during nearly all my waking hours all weekend, at times with multiple games happening at the same time.  That's why I need multiple screens.  There's so much happening and the potential for so many exciting and wonderful moments.  You could see a nail-biting buzzer-beater in one game, change the channel, and see another one a few seconds later.  You see so many teams with different styles of play and match ups that would never be scheduled during the regular season.  Multiple upsets can happen in one day.  Games go into overtime.  It's non-stop emotion.  One great moment after another.

One Shining Moment

On the subject of great moments, the tournament is not complete until we hear the final notes of One Shining Moment.  After the final buzzer sounds, after the champions receive their trophy, we're treated to a sentimental montage of clips from throughout the tournament set to a cheesy but lovable song.

The NCAA March Madness Facebook page has been posting One Shining Moments from the past 30 years, and I've loved watching them.  Some of them I saw the first time they were aired but most are new to me, since they were before I started watching basketball.  Even if I have no affiliation with the teams in them, they still give me a great feeling.

Ironically, the only One Shining Moment that didn't make me all sappy was the one created when my team won the championship in 2010.  That's because that year they decided to cut in video of the singer singing in a studio in between footage of the tournament.  Kind of takes you out of the moment...  So for that year, I prefer the video Duke Blue Planet put together, set against the classic and dulcet tones of Luther Vandross.  (Warning: Duke haters, which I realize is most of the country, you may not like this version either.)

One Shining Moment is probably the best encapsulation of why this tournament is special to me - you experience the emotion of the players, coaches, and fans.  It's a wonderful celebration.

Alice's Tea Cup - fairytale food

One of the NYC restaurants I love is Alice's Tea Cup.  They have three locations, and each one is a cute little space decorated with fairy wings and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland-inspired art and knickknacks.  Even better than the magical environment is the delectable menu.  The tea selection is huge.  Breakfast/brunch entrees, sandwiches, and salads are all delicious.  And desserts and pastries are scrumptious.

Imagine my joy when I discovered they have a cookbook!  I tend not to buy many cookbooks because they usually have just one or two recipes I want and the rest are filler, but I want to make almost everything in the Alice's Tea Cup cookbook.  One of my favorite recipes in the book is for chocolate cake.  It always comes out moist and not overly sweet.  Here's a summary of the recipe:

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup hot brewed coffee

Sift together the dry ingredients.  Mix in the rest (except the coffee) with a mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Decrease the mixer to low speed and drizzle in the coffee until everything is blended.  The batter will be very liquidy.  Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350° F.

The book also has a recipe for vanilla buttercream frosting that you can put on the cake!  But this book isn't just full of desserts.  It also contains recipes for brunch, soups, salads, sandwiches, scones, tea concoctions, and party planning suggestions.  You can even learn how to tea-dye fabrics.

So if you're not in NYC, or you don't want to wait to get a table during their busy weekend brunch hours, get the Alice's Tea Cup cookbook and enjoy making and eating your own meal.  Who says tea parties are only for children?

Warming up with ramen from Ichiran

It's been a little while since my last post.  I've been working on some projects and also took a trip overseas.  During the last week of 2015, I was in the wonderful city of Tokyo.  As it was my first time actually in the city and not just the airport, I saw a lot of sites and ate a lot of food.  But one dish is still the subject of my cravings during these cold days back in the States - Ichiran's tonkotsu ramen.

Ramen is a noodle dish, and there are many different styles of ramen.  Tonkotsu ramen consists of pork-based broth.  With pork being one of my favorite meats, I suspected I at least wouldn't dislike eating at Ichiran.

Ichiran is a chain restaurant in Japan, and it specializes in tonkotsu ramen.  In fact, it serves only tonkotsu ramen.  You can customize your dish by adding extra ingredients or selecting different amounts of flavoring of firmness of noodles, but it is essentially just one dish served in the entire restaurant.  And Ichiran does an amazing job with that one dish.

The first thing that drew me towards Ichiran was the price.  For just the "basic" bowl of ramen, without adding any extras, you pay less than $7 USD.  In any city, let alone Tokyo, that's a bargain for a meal, and your stomach leaves satisfied with both quantity and taste.  The basic bowl consists of noodles, broth, green onion, garlic, sliced pork, and Ichiran's own red sauce.  If you don't want onion, garlic, pork, or red sauce, you can specify that in your order.

To order, you start at a vending machine.  You insert cash and then press buttons to make your selection.  Your selections are printed out on little slips of paper printed by the machine.  You can just order the basic bowl of ramen, but if you know you want to add additional ingredients (boiled egg, seaweed, extra pork, extra noodles, etc.), you can select those buttons for a nominal extra fee.  (An egg costs $1, and refilling your noodles is just a bit over $1.)  You can also order drinks or dessert at this point.  Don't worry, if you don't order extras and decide later while you're eating that you'd like to add a boiled egg or want more noodles, you can order them at your seat.

After the vending machine, you get a larger slip of paper that allows you to customize your noodles.  For example, you can choose how firm you want the noodles cooked, if you want pork, how much garlic or red sauce you want, the type of green onion you want, how strong you want the broth flavor.  I selected "medium" for everything, 1/2 red sauce, green onion, with pork, and the maximum garlic that didn't incur an additional charge.

Waiting for your seat can be a bit like a game.  Ichiran is structured kind of like a bar with dividers separating each seat.  As one person finishes their meal and leaves, the next person in line takes their place.  If you're there with a group, it will likely take longer to get seated if you want to sit together, since you'd have to wait for multiple seats next to each other to become available.  If you don't mind being split up, then the turnover happens pretty quickly, since the dividers help people focus on eating rather than just sitting around.  Of course in popular areas, you'll still have to wait a while outside before being able to order and then wait a while inside before a seat becomes available.

Once you sit down, you put your order slips at the edge of the window of your individual booth and call for the waiter using a button on the table.  They'll take your order slips and after not much wait, you get your food.  If you decide you want to order extra noodles or ingredients, there's another slip in your booth that you can fill out and pay for at the table.  There's a curtain that they pull down to cover the window of your booth between you and the wait staff, so if you need to call them over for some reason during the meal, just press the button.  Unless you're getting more noodles, however, there really isn't any need for them.  Just enjoy your meal, and when you're done, get up and leave.

Ichiran was one of my tastiest experiences in Tokyo.  I loved it so much that I had it twice while I was in Tokyo.  Normally I don't repeat meals when I'm visiting a new place because I want to try as much as possible, but this ramen was too good not to have again.

Now back in NYC, all the ramen here doesn't seem so great, especially when you take into account that it's more expensive.  Why would I wait an hour for ramen that's twice as expensive and half as tasty?  I've seen some articles saying Ichiran is going to open a location in NYC.  When that finally happens, I hope they maintain the pricing and quality that I experienced in Japan.  If they can make it work in Tokyo, a city that's more expensive and has more quality restaurant competition than NYC, wouldn't they be able to make it work here?

Basketball - from the NBA to college

It's almost time!  In two days, we see the first official game of the college basketball season.  I love watching college basketball and have since 2000, but every year between April and October/November, I seem to forget how much.  When I watch that first game in the fall, I am consumed by bliss stronger than I anticipated.  No matter what happened that day, I instantly feel great.

I've written and talked about my history with basketball quite a bit in school applications, job interviews, and elsewhere, but for those of you not familiar with the story . . .

I haven't always had such kind feelings towards basketball.  I remember going to my brother's games when we were younger, but I don't actually remember watching much.  I was probably finding some other form of entertainment like climbing on and under the bleachers or checking out the concessions stand while the game was going on.  I remember getting Gene Keady's autograph but really only finding it interesting/exciting because other people found it interesting/exciting.  And I definitely felt some resentment towards my high school athletics department in general because they kept getting funding even though our teams were not very good while the music department experienced cuts and had some of the best choirs in the region.

But in 1998, my attitude started to soften.  I accidentally started watching the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers.  As often happened, I was doing homework with the TV on, and I was too lazy to change the channel.  I caught myself watching the game, and I became hooked.  Maybe Reggie Miller's three-pointers have some hypnotic quality.  I actively tuned in to the rest of the finals, disappointed when the Pacers lost and thrilled when the Bulls beat the Jazz.

For years after that, I followed the finals closely, picking which team I would support on a series-by-series basis.  Growing up in an area where the closest NBA team were the Toronto Raptors, I didn't have any strong allegiances. Which brings me to college basketball.

While I became a fan of the NBA in '98, I still didn't have much interest in college, high school, or any other form of basketball.  Those other games just didn't seem as exciting.  Then team allegiance sucked me in.  I got into a college that had a decent team.  Even before I finished the first semester of my senior year in high school, I started following the Stanford Cardinal.  Not having cable, I couldn't watch the game, but I definitely knew and celebrated when Stanford beat Duke in the Pete Newell Challenge in December 2000.  And I closely watched and followed every game in the NCAA tournament that season, and every season since then.  (More on the tourney some other time.  It deserves it's own post.)

Having a team to root for made the game that much better.  And the more I watched college basketball, the more I appreciated the strategy, skill, team dynamics, leadership, etc.  It quickly overtook my love of the NBA, which to me had more flash but not as much heart and soul.

The best part of college basketball was being able to watch all the home games in person.  Before college, I had never gone to a live game, other than my brother's or my high school's.  There's nothing like watching 10 talented players and 2 legendary coaches battle it out while standing on the floor, center court, with just two rows of rich people in folding chairs in front of you.  In college, every single game matters, and everyone involved cares deeply about what happens and the outcome.

That's why, come Friday night, you know what I'll be doing.

Museums - my favorite fact-based fun

Since I was little, I have loved museums.  There's something about walking into that vast clean building, hearing the echo, and knowing there are interesting tidbits around every corner.  It's even better if it's interactive or has interesting facts to learn.

I still remember stopping by the Children's Museum of Indianapolis during family road trips and seeing my favorite exhibits - the giant rotating globe and a miniaturized house.  Those trips are so ingrained in my childhood memory that I thought about visiting after a 20 year absence during my last trip to Indy, but I was too busy witnessing and celebrating a national championship (more on that in a future post.)

My favorite museum as a child, though, required a longer drive - the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.  That building was full of wonder and history and inspired the future.  My parents would buy me the freeze-dried Neapolitan ice cream from the gift shop.  It was such a treat.
Science-based museums are still my favorite.  Even if I don't remember everything I learn from them, the experience of the learning is fun.  The exhibits are also visually fascinating and spark the imagination.  It's the perfect outing for families because people of every age can get something out of it.

I recently created a video of my visit to the American Museum of Natural History in New York.  You can check it out here, along with baby, toddler, child, and adult clothing to match.  And a video I made previously of the MoMA can be seen here.

 

Shirt store: http://teespring.com/stores/littlethingsofbliss 

AMNH video: https://youtu.be/Px0ro58_0Dk 

MoMA video: http://youtu.be/4yHVt88oug0

I hope that this post and these videos inspire you to get out to more museums.  They truly are things of bliss in this world.

Super moon cakes

Has everyone recovered from the excitement of the super blood moon lunar eclipse?  In spite of less than ideal conditions, I managed to grab this shot:

But other than this astronomical phenomenon, I was super excited yesterday because it was the Mid-Autumn Festival, which means . . . moon cakes!  The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second biggest celebration in Chinese culture after the Lunar New Year.  One tradition during the festival is the sharing and eating of moon cakes with friends and relatives.  As someone whose holiday preferences seems to revolve around food (Thanksgiving's my favorite US holiday!), it shouldn't be a surprise that my favorite part of this holiday is being able to eat moon cakes.

Moon cakes are delicious pastries that have a pie crust-like outer shell and fillings of different varieties.

My favorite filling is red bean paste (pictured above).  Other fillings I also like are lotus paste and green tea paste.  Another common aspect of fillings, although I'm not a fan, is including hard boiled egg yolk along with the paste.  I just generally prefer my desserts to be sweet and not have anything savory added.

This year I had quite a journey to Chinatown to find my beloved red bean paste moon cake.  I went to at least five bakeries, a grocery store, and two impromptu street stands, not having much luck finding what I wanted.  The vendors either didn't have what I wanted, had what I wanted but the way it was made didn't seem like what I'm used to enjoying, or were sold out of the red bean variety.  Finally I found a place that had what I wanted (I got the last one!), although the moon cake was square rather than round and they charged more than any of the other stores, but I only have this treat once a year, so I splurged.

Then I was looking around online and discovered that there are kits to make moon cakes!  I like baking, but I don't know if I'm that dedicated.  Who knows.  If it continues being this difficult to find the ones I want, maybe I will try making my own one day.  Or I can plan better and not wait until the last minute to go searching for red bean moon cake.

Autumnal bliss

Autumn is here!  Not only is today the day of the autumnal equinox but also it's feeling like autumn - with a cool breeze in your hair, pumpkin spice lattes in cafes, and candy corn on store shelves.  It's my favorite season of the year.

It makes me happy just strolling outside, where the temperature is ideal and the sky is usually overcast.  You really feel the crispness of the air.  When I was a child, my dad and I would go on hikes, and I'd collect the most beautiful fallen leaves and acorns (don't worry, there were plenty left for the squirrels).  I still love seeing the leaves change color, but it's a little more difficult now that I live in a city.  At least it's better than when I was living on the west coast, since I can at least go to a park that has trees . . . or enjoy a stranger's bike decoration on the street:

Thinking about autumn, my idealized autumn, brings about a calm.  I'm ready to relax with a cuppa tea and listen to one of my favorite jazz standards, Autumn Leaves.

Care Bears and other 80s toys

It seems like toy brands hit their peak in the 1980s, back when parents had to line up around a store, hoping to be able to bring back that special doll.  Of course, being a child of the 80s, I may be biased.  Here's a list of some of my favorites.  Let me know what you think.

• Care Bears
• Rainbow Brite
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Glo Worm
• Cabbage Patch Kids
• Transformers
• My Little Pony

Not too shabby, huh?  Many of these toys have been resurrected and made a comeback.  Perhaps it's because they were great toys and can't help but be a part of mainstream society again, or perhaps the kids that played with them are now in positions at various companies to bring them back.  Either way, they made an impression, triggered something sentimental, and I'm happy they're available for another generation.

Sure, the toys and games today are pretty impressive, and I'm sure kids love them, but it's hard for me to grow an emotional attachment to them, probably because they're not made for someone my age . . .  At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old person starting a rant about how things were better back in the day, I'll just say, the great thing about these revamped 80s toys (even though they're not exactly the same as they used to be) is that the parent and child can both appreciate and connect over them.

So for those of you about to have or that already have young children, yes, go ahead and get the latest toys and useful equipment.  But also make room on your registries for something you had also wanted as a child.  The great thing is nowadays, it's all available and easy to get without having to line up around the store.

In-N-Out Burger is in

The west coast doesn't have Wegmans, but it does have In-N-Out Burger.  I don't often miss living in California, but when I do, it's usually because I'm craving In-N-Out.

Even if you've never been near one, you've probably heard of it at some point.  People love In-N-Out and its not-so-secret secret menu.  I'm boring and usually just get a regular cheeseburger (lettuce, tomatoes, raw onions, no spread) and fries, but the cheeseburger and fries aren't boring.  Everything is fresh and you can actually watch them cut the potatoes for the fries while you're waiting for your order.

When I feel adventurous, I will order off the In-N-Out secret menu.  My go-to are animal fries with spread on the side.  Anything "animal style" consists of having grilled onions on it, and some other stuff depending on if you're getting a burger or fries.  Animal fries are their normal fries with cheese, grilled onions, and "spread" (In-N-Out's sauce which is similar to thousand island dressing).  For burgers, you can get them animal style, and you can order different patty/cheese counts:

• double-double - 2 beef patties, 2 cheese slices
• 4x4 (pronounced "four by four") - 4 beef patties and 4 cheese slices
• 8x8 - you get the idea
• And I'm sure more.  But you have to wonder why you're getting so much meat and cheese.

For those on a bread-free diet, you can get "protein", which means the burger is wrapped in lettuce instead of bread.  And for the vegetarians, you can get grilled cheese, which can have the same ingredients as a cheeseburger minus the beef.

I'm not a milkshake fan, but people who are seem to like them.  In-N-Out serves vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, but you can ask them to combine flavors if you'd like.

Why I like this place is not just the good food, but also it was a fun place to go in my college days.  It's usually open until 1am or so, and I actually think I didn't go there during daylight until after I graduated.  When you go during peak times (lunch, dinner, or late at night if you're near a college) it can be tough to get a table.  But sometimes it was fun to stake out different corners of the restaurant with your friends, so one of you could claim a table for the group as soon as someone finished eating and stood up.

These days, I usually go through the drive thru or get my food to go, but every time I bite into one of the "ketchup and mustard instead of spread" burgers, I am brought back to my college days and soothe my craving.

Wegmans - the gem of many east coast towns

One of the best things about returning to my home town is being able to go to Wegmans every day.  If you've ever lived near a Wegmans or known someone that has, then you probably already know how fanatical people are about it.  If you've never heard of Wegmans, I'll try to explain.

Simply put, Wegmans is a supermarket.  Yes, many people think we Wegmans fans are crazy when we say that, but it's not just any supermarket.  Over the years, this family-run private company has honed its brand and cultivated loyal customers.  Its private label products are sometimes more sought after than the brand name alternatives.  Customers trust the store to provide quality products, reasonable prices, and great service.  Produce is often locally-sourced, and they have a huge selection of prepared foods and kits that make your own home cooking and party preparation easier.

Because pretty much all the new stores (and several of the renovated old ones) are built in the "super" style, there's tons of seating, making Wegmans a great place to grab a meal with family or friends and just hang out.  For your entrée, you can select what you like from the food bar or choose something from one of the many food stations (subs, pizza, sushi, burritos).  Their $6 meals are a great deal, which include one entrée and two sides.  When you're done with your entrée, you can stop by the patisserie and grab some cake, or cookies, or any of the other beautiful and delicious desserts made on premise.  To wash down all that goodness, grab a latte from the coffee bar.

Oh, and did I mention there's wifi?

Over the past decade, this company has expanded without compromising the experience expected by its original Upstate New York clientele.  That's great news for all those kids that grew up and moved to New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, or Maryland.  Coming soon, there's even going to be a Wegmans in NYC.  For now, here are all the places you can find this amazing store.

So the next time you're near a place that has Wegmans, go visit.  Or if you're driving by one on a road trip, it's worth getting off at the exit to check it out.