Lost and Found

I checked out an audiobook "Noah's Compass" by Anne Tyler from the public library. When I finished listening to the story, disc 5 was missing. I checked my husband's car first because it's during the week he drove my van to Berkeley when I remembered listening to the story. Then I checked my van inside out. I checked every rooms in my house and even cleaned my room and desk.
I started to panic inside and really dreaded the consequences of having to pay the fine of the whole audiobook for just one missing disc.  After searching online for a replacement, I ordered one under $10 and felt so relieved. A few days later, I received a hardcover book instead of the audiobook in the mail. Imagine my disappointment! The discription on half.com was very misleading.
Well, lesson learned. I did another search this time on ebay and ordered the audiobook. The package arrived yesterday and the audiobook is in great condition. However, the lime green disc cover is different from the library's silver disc. While looking through the CD's and the case, I found the missing disc hiding inside the back cover of the case!!!
Of course, after $17 and so much time searching for it.
Still I'm glad to find it finally. The missing disc had stirred up some self-doubt and questions. Am I losing my memory too? Is my life too chaotic and stressful? Do I have too much on my plate?  Now I know I will be fine.

Comfort food

I just realized the take-out food containers from Class 302 are made of thin wood.

These containers are very popular for good lunch boxes in Taiwan.

But this is actually the first time I've seen wooden food container in the US.

I ordered box dinners with salmon, chicken and pork rib.

These boxes also include rice and 3 side dishes of scrambled egg, cabbage and mix vegi.

For me this is real comfort food.

These box lunches were first sold on long distance train, know as railway lunchbox (鐵路便當)

Although I seldom had chance to enjoy these when I was living in Taiwan.

Now old time containers seem to make a come back.

Take a look at my salmon box:

The box with stew chicken leg:

This box is the most popular lunch box with pork rib:

世界新聞網-北美華人社區新聞 - 光譜購物中心 橙縣旅遊新景點

世界新聞網-北美華人社區新聞 - 光譜購物中心 橙縣旅遊新景點

Dim Sum Lunch

We had dim sum at Capital Seafood in Irvine Spectrum Center. This place is nicely decorated and it's opened less than a year ago here. We ordered 7 dishes in total and enjoyed the food. Each dish tastes freshly made. We had the traditional siu mai, steamed egg plnats, spinage dumplings (green skin with vegetable fillings, not pictured), chicken feet, cabbage rolls, tofu skin rolls, and seaweed rolls. YUM!! The cost is $34 including tax and tip.

This place is so close to home. I would take my friends there next time when we are out for dim sum. We went on a weekday and around 1:00 pm. It's not crowded and we were seated at the patio. We ordered everything from the carts, so it's almost like fast food.

Collage postcards with numbers

I made these 2 postcards for a swap on swap-bot and as always had a lot of fun looking thru piles of old magazines. It's not as hard as I thought it would be. I wish I can have more time to play with cutting and pasting. For now I'm sending out more store-bought postcards for postcrossing though. 

Lulu's Creperie Cafe

 We visited Lulu's after all the talk about extra credit for French.  Of course, our student didn't order in French. I think this restaurant shows how the rest of the world use space creatively. The restaurant is very small compared with other typical Orange County eateries. The indoor sitting area is a narrow strip with same parallel patio room next to it. The wall is painted sky blue. The table cloth and window treatment give the room a warm and welcoming feel. Near the front door, there's a small cornor that doubled as a stage. To make the room and patio more compatible, there's quite a few silk plants and flowers on the wall. At first, we were treated to 4 warm mini muffins even though it's after 11:00 AM. I ordered espresso which also comes in a mini cup.

For main dish I ordered La Francaise with ham, sun-dried tomato, portabello mushroom, gruyere cheese in a bechamel sauce ($10.95). I like the crepe, the sauce and the whole dish.

This is  La Normandie omelette: sausage, bacon, green onion, tomato & cheese. It came with English muffin and popato. ($10.95)

This is La Parisienne: crepe with spinach, chicken, gruyere cheese in a light cream sauce. ($10.95)

Our French student was inspired to practice sudoku in this charming setting while it rained outside.

Ei menina!: Uma coruja no cartão

Ei menina!: Uma coruja no cartão: Já viram que sou louquinha por corujas, né?! Acho tão lindas. Esse cartão vai para um professora muuuito especial.