Reflection

My goodness, how time flies when you live life...or when you think you are living life. hahaha.
It's been a year now since i've decided to take the TESOL certficiate and decide to teach abroad.
I have been to Germany and Italy and now i'm back home. I'm teaching English at a Language school downtown Vancouver. What a change in my life after 1 year. WOW.
I wonder what one year will bring next year.
Do you reflect on our life year after year? I think i just started to do it natrually, especially when I started to blog. I think it will be a time to blog more so you will see more on my thoughts and decisions I will make.
Life can be challenging when you don't know what to do. You can get lost, but having people to support you is always the key.
I hope to be able to blog my life while i'm here in Vancouver and what things I am doing. It's a journal of my life to reflect on later.
Thanks again for reading on my life. I'm happy to keep you posted on what's next.
Until next time....with Part 2 of Life in Laughter.

GUESS WHAT!!! I'M HOME!

April 20th about a month since I got home. I left Germany March 24 leaving new friends, new cities, new experiences and new work experience behind. I didn't want to share this with everyone because I knew that I needed the time to get back into things as the German experience has been really rewarding and changed who I am. Or at least, given me in site of what values and ethics I would like to go by.
I apologies for letting you all down, for not blogging my experiences. It's been quite a journey back into the real world or at least know what I really want. Going over to live in another culture has really opened my eyes that I haven't seen enough. There is so much out there that I don't know about. There are so many kinds of people, food, activities, and amazing buildings...rich in history. There are lots that I don't know since I never really paid attention in school. I was never into reading books to learn about stuff....i tried to read this book I have on my night side table and looked at it once. It's just stilling there. It goes to show what is more important....people and friends. Not my knowledge. Anyhow, going to different sites and realizing that there was war there opens my eyes to be amazed that years ago, in the exact place i am standing, people have died for a better place to live etc. It is sure hard to imagine, but oh my, it really hits you to know that history has been created where I was standing. Just like how Japan's earthquake has hit home to many people living there. As westerner, we sometimes don't think about how lucky we are to have each other and the rich things we have in front of us. There are so many other people out there who don't have food and shelter now because of natural disasters. What does God really want from us? It sure is a question to ask.

Well, since i've been home, i've seen many of you but there maybe others that i haven't seen or you haven't heard that I'm back. Yes, i am hiding, but also, i've been wanting to learn new things so I already haven't had enough time to hang with everyone. Please don't hate me for that. I know there is lots to know, so i hope this blog could help you understand more about me and let you know how I feel.
Feelings are not always hard to express, but it sure is easier on paper than face to face.

I guess the most important news for most of you is you are probably wondering where Jan and I stand. Well, we are still good and together...just not side by side together. Long distance isn't that bad when you love each other and trust each other. Yes, you can touch each other, but life isn't just about being with someone. It's one aspect of life, but there is also about career goals, personals achievements etc. So, at this time, i'm back for my friends who are getting married this year, for many of my friends who are having kids, and for my family who miss me a lot. I know we are all growing up and ready to live our lives to the best as we could even when my parents want me to settle down, but not just yet. It's too soon. I'm not finished seeing the world yet and i don't know if i ever will.

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO JUST STAY PUT! Many people travel with their kids....right Virgina. :)
Anyhow, i hope to start bloging more to let my new friends know what I'm up to in Vancouver BC.
Miss you lots.
Your new CanGerm Asian Friend. :)

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

Yes, I'm a bit late, but like I said in my last post, since it took me awhile for me to post regular new year, my Chinese New Year would be late. Better late than never I guess.
So, after about a month, here are my Chinese New Year pictures. I hosted a party at Jan and I's place and we had a blast. We had about 11 people over to help make dinner as well as eat it all. YUM!
One of our special dishes, which I tried my best, is PEKING DUCK! Although I had all the instructions from my parents, it didn't turn out like the restaurants. I guess I'm just a chef's daughter...not a chef! hahaha.

Well, 1st preparation is to hang dry over night. Here is what is looked like. The duck is bathed in honey and vinegar. I think I didn't bath it enough. It wasn't sweet enough. As the end result, it wasn't burnt like in a restaurant. Not crispy enough, but everyone seem to like it. :) MMMMMMmmmmmmmmm.

Looks good, but looks homemade. hahaha. But yummy with the Hosin Sauce. I finally found some. I want to make BBQ Pork too, but I don't think I'll have time. It will all depend on what my plan is next....since I'm traveling a bit more because Jan is on semester break, i'm not cooking as much.





Next is the traditional Chinese New Year Cake. Nian Gao. We don't have a lot of pots for steaming so I made this on my own a head of time. It's good cold or hot. Very chewy. But yummy. I couldn't believe that I would have Nian Gao for New years this year.

What do you think mom!!!!

I did good!

Here are the workers to make the special day happen.
So we have Selina cutting up the Law Bok (White Turnip) for the Law Bok Gow, also known as Turnip Cake.
Daniel is cutting up the Chinese Sausage for the Cake. What a team.

Here, we have Sonia and Mathias making Wonton. We had pork and beef Wonton. Selina is watching closely, just like her shirt. As for Daniel, he is watching carefully how to make it so that he can make it at home. :)

The finished product.

Here is the Turnip in the wok. We had to borrow a wok as we don't have one. We don't have a steamer as well, but we made do with what we've got. It worked out well.





Daniel making coconut balls. It's a great dim sum dish, but also good for Chinese New Year. Everything is good for Chinese New Year!! HAHAHAA



They sure were delicious. Everyone loved them. We used peanut butter instead of red bean paste. I don't think anyone would eat it if I made red bean paste.

YUMMY!
Here is the finished product of the Law Bok Gow. It was a bit to floury. It was thick but not solid enough. Every runny and thick.







Here we are, eating everything.

After all that food. We had jello shooters. Lemon Jello Shooters for everyone to try. Everyone was new to using their tongue to have a shot. hehehe. Always fun to try new things. Everyone was up for it.

Here is everyone starting to sign my flag. I hope to have it all filled before I come home. What a Canadian thing to do. GEEK!

And at the end of the day, being Chinese isn't fun if you don't get a red envelope. Whooohoo, and I got one from a friend. Even though it's not money, it's still a red envelope. hehehe.







And last but not least, the clean up. All the recipes on the wall for people to read and the 2 hours of cleaning in the morning. What a day. But it was a blast. I loved it. Thanks to those who came. It was so much fun.
Gung Hay Fat Choy.

NEW YEAR 2011

A Beginning of a New Year!

Time has come that 2011 has begun. It's already a month in. It's Feb and I finally got my new years pictures up. Now that Chinese New Year has just past, I wonder when I'll get those up. Don't worry. I'll try my best because I had a blast and I need to show you my creations. You would love it. In the mean time, here are the New Years pictures.

Alright, so Germans celebrate with a huge pretzel. It's a New Year Pretzel to celebrate good luck in the coming year. WOW, i'm amazed at how big this pretzel is. Look at the size of it. I can fit my head through it. It tastes sweet as it's not like a normal pretzel. It's known to be sweet and decorative. So here we are on New Years day, having this huge pretzel for breakfast. What a feast. :) But more bread in my system! MMMMM....I'm not sick of it yet. I actually like the bread pretzel here. Our pretzels in Canada is like a cracker. But here, it's like bread. I eat it with butter. YES, butter. I don't normally eat butter, but there is always something new. :)

In this picture, I was hanging out in the kitchen. I like to learn the German style of cooking. Lots of sauces. But for New Years, we had hot pot: The German way. So all you Chinese people out the, German hot pot is totally different. The German way is very simple. In the picture you can see, meat, bread and sauces. Jan's family like beef and chicken. So those were the 2 meats. Then bread and sauce. As a Chinese gal who eats a lot and likes to eat healthy....where are the veggies? HEHEHE Well, that's for another day. hahhaa. :) There were no veggies on the table. Alright then, meat it is. More iron in the body! hahaha

In the evening, we had a fire going. Unfortunalety, Jan had been sick during this time, so we weren't able to sit outside and have a hot drink. I wish I could in my skirt. hahaha. I went out to make sure the fire was going and we actually made a dessert in the fire. At least we made some use of it. I wanted to give Jan's family a traditional thing that Canadian's do when we go camping of have a fire. hehhee. Roasted banana with chocolate. Is this actually a Canadian thing or just for kids to have a reason to eat sweets during the late evening???

Well, midnight was approaching. Jan's parents has some guest come by. We went to the basement to gather fire crackers. Germans are big on lighting firecrackers during the new year. I couldn't believe what he had, but it was cool. I tired to load in on fb but it might not work. The file is quite big. So at mid-night, we went outside to start lighting all the fire crackers he had collected over the years. It was loud and a lot of fun. Everyone in the neighbourhood was lighting fire crackers. The sky was lite up because you can see fire crackers from all directions. It was neat to see.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Miss you lots.
BLESS YOUR 2011 YEAR!

January 18, 2011

LAST MEAL OF MY 20's!!!!

 So, here I am, sitting at my wrapped table having my last dinner before I turn 30 in a few hours. I'm actually on my way to volleyball. Jan was in class and I was at home. I had a home made pizza with peppers, salami, & cheese. hehehe. It was yummy.
I had a lot of fun playing until 11:30 when I had to go. I know Jan had something up his sleeve.

So after I got out of the shower, he had candles lite and a letter for me.
I've never had a birthday start right at the min of midnight. It was special! Turning 30 has been special. I didn't expect it to be a big deal, but not being able to celebrate it with friends and family is a bit different on a special day turning the big THREE-ZERO. None the less, it was a great start to being 30. Jan had a full day prepared for me. We needed a good nights rest so that we can have a full day of fun. The letter was a big hint, but I was so excited about being 30 that I didn't really look at the clue. Not until we got to the location!!!


We had a long hike up the mountain to a castle.

HOHENZELLERN CASTLE

We walked up 217 stairs plus some to get to the top. It's low season so not many people going up and down. I think it was forbidden to go on the trails. But we did anyway. No one to stop us. I think it's mainly closed due to the snow and ice. No snow and ice that day. Just coldness!!

I wanted to climb up the side of the wall to get to the castle. Perhaps my prince is waiting for me! Oh wait, he's right beside me. No need to climb up the rocks!






It was a beautiful castle. There wasn't a lot of people around so I could take pictures without waiting for people to go by. It was great. I felt like a princess having her own personal tour all to herself. It felt like my castle that I lived in. But i'm not sure if i really wanted to live there. It was way to cold. No heating system or something. hahhaa

This Castle was built in 3 stages. The 1st stage was destroyed by one of the wars, but then the rest was build for the royal people. We definitely felt royal. :)
We went on a tour inside and we hoped it was just the 2 of us. But then there was other people who joined in at the last minute. Bummer!

I couldn't believe how beautiful it is. The picture on the right with Jan in it, you can see the different colour of the building. That is the difference of the 2 stages of when the castle was built. I believe that the last stage was finished in the 19th century.

We had to wear these funny looking, warm shoes over our shoes so that we don't bring in the dirt into the castle. We weren't allowed to take pictures but I did manage to take one of the family tree.
The royal family still exists today. But they live in Berlin. If they do visit, there is a room that they stay in at the castle since everything else is for tourist. What a beautiful place.

Then, Jan took me to a another small town near by. We had some time to shop and then we went back to Tuebingen, return some books, bought some baked goods and went home to relax before we went out for dinner. We made some more pearls for bubble tea after our dinner.  We went to a Greek Restaurant just around the corner from our house. Therefore, we would be able to have a glass of wine and not having to drive home. We want to try all the different places in our small town to see what it's like to give in a small town. We already tired all 3 restaurants in out town. I believe that's it. We only like one of them. The other 2 are not on our list to go back to. Sorry....they didn't impress us enough.

The beginning of my 30's wasn't so bad. This is a year of transition and more great things for me. I'm glad to have had the time in Germany to reflect and to live each day with a smile on my face. It's great to wake up every morning to be with someone that you love and willing to cherish every moment with them. It's that what life is about! Living it!!!

My 30th Birthday Party

TIME HAS COME! I am now 30! A New beginning....30's is the new 20's!!! :)
The start of my 30's have been a blast. The Germans think it's bad luck to wish someone a happy birthday before their birthday....well, what if someone celebrated it before their birthday!!! I sure did, the Canadian way I guess. If your birthday is on a weekday, then it needs to be celebrated on the weekend either the week before or the week after depending on when the actual birthday is. hehehe. None the less, I had a great celebrations with my new friends here in Germany. I'm glad the party was tame and we didn't drink until we got sick. It was just perfect. A great way to start my 30's.


So being that I am hosting a party, there has to be a cake. So I made my own. Yes, not ideal, but I want a good cake. It's important to me to have a cake. Perhaps it's because I have had a cake every birthday and a birthday without a cake isn't right.

 This is a healthy cake since I've been on this health crazze for the last year or so...but it's not 100% healthy. hahaha. It does have a load of sugar....especially the icing. It's Nutella. Chrystyna, your favorite. :)
It's Choclate Zucchini Cake. YES!!! There are 2 Zucchini's in it. It sure was yummy. My guests wanted the recipe. hehhe.

The waffles was my idea from Vienna....oh right. I didn't talk about my holidays. I guess that would be tomorrow's post. Vienna pictures.
So in Vienna, they are known for making waffles. The Manner brand. It's Austria's trade mark....I think.  It's on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manner

 So, Jan and I were brain stroming what else I should do at my party. Jan misses Bubble Tea. So he searched the internet to find a German provider. We looked all over town first but kind of gave up. He then found a provider so we decided to order 3kg since the small package wasn't available. We got 80 straws as well. I wonder how many we can use with 3kg of perals. I'm not sure if we can do it, but it's worth a try. So on the day of the party, we gave it a try so that my guests who haven't had this before would be able to try something new. :) THANKS Stella for putting bubble tea in my christmas package. I wasn't sure what you had in store for me. We went a head to get it before your package got to me. :) I wonder what tastes better. 5 min bubble tea or 25 min bubble tea. HEHEHE.

 So here are some of the decorations.
Sorry Chrystyna, I've been meaning to take pictures of my place for you. I have them in my files. I just haven't had the time to send them to you...or did I? I forget. I'll get on it.

 My new found friends. hehhee. Virgina who is actually from Vancouver, living in Munich now. :) Zain, who is from Jordan. Very fun gal. Nikola, who is a German. :) Finishing off her P.H.D....I'm among all these high educated people. Zain is also doing her P.H.D.

So I didn't want to stare my guests so I made bread. It was the best batch ever. YUM. I should make more today, but I think we are all out of yeast. Bummer. Next week I guess.

 So here we are, hanging out after our fondue. It was delicious. A lot of chocolate to ring in my 30's. So the gal on the end is Sonia. Another pure German. hehehe. Besides Nikola and Jan. hehehe. I met Sonia at a circuit training class. She was brave enough to come talk to me. Not many people do since I look so Asian.

A picture of our first celebration. :) Jan has been very supportive and amazing during my stay. He's the greatest boyfriend I have ever had....well, only had.  

So as the night went on, we had a drink. Not to many as I had volleyball the next day. 2 other people arrived to celebrate with me. Yu-Chun from China and Chris from London. We ended up playing Rummy-o, they got me a new game (Halligalli Extreme) and then Karoke. You got to check this out on FB. I will post the video there. 

And so at the end of the night, we had a great Mango Fig Liquor Bubble tea. Who would ever know that I would have bubble tea on my birthday this year....in Germany. hehhee.

AND this is the mess after the party. What a day.
Thanks Jan for cleaning up the mess.
A day I won't forget.....but the best day was the actual day where I got to spend the whole day with my boyfriend.

Pictures in the next post.