美食推荐：Hayward的上海小吃
两个星期前，JY和我看报时同时看到一个广告。内容是本来在Oakland的上海小吃在Hayward和Milpitas开了分店。并且分店也是同一个老板经营。
Hayward分店地址：600 West Harder Road, Hayward, CA 94544.电话：510-264-5888。
由来：
我和JY非常喜欢Oakland的上海小吃，可是因为距离关系，加上停车困难，所以去的机会不多。Oakland的上海小吃的小笼包是湾区最好的，每次我们去都会买些回来慢慢在家品尝。他们的凉菜做的也不错，而且价格合理，服务也蛮好的（特别是如果你会说上海话）。既然在家附近也开了一间，我们当然要去尝尝了。
初次：
两个星期前，我们在Hayward的上海小吃吃了顿中饭。有几点值得一提，一是他们没有Oakland那家的凉菜摆在台子上，有点失望。估计是刚开张，没有机会提供。比起Oakland那家，这家可算得上是窗明几净。我们去的时候，只有两个客人。我们要了一个熏鱼，一个酱鸭面，一盘马兰头。熏鱼味道淡淡的，爽口而不腻。马兰头切得比我们在上海吃的大一些，味道更浓。酱鸭面的酱鸭和面是分开上的，这样不会串味，不错。面汤也不腻，很鲜。我们临走时还买了一包小笼包，准备回家慢慢享用，还没来得及吃。
服务：
我觉得这里的服务要比Oakland那家好，服务生更加周到，态度也好，不过也可能是我们去的几次客人不是很多。要提醒的是，如果叫外卖，最好提前半小时。不知道是不是因为他们新开张，我第一次叫外卖三个菜花了他们四十分钟。
价格：
我觉得他们的价格很合理。几乎与Oakland那家一样。他们有一份内容非常丰富的家常小炒菜单，三个菜十五元（外卖同价），物超所值。只是小炒菜单上才的分量不是很多，但是我觉得刚刚好。上海菜的特点就是精致，量多反而有点不伦不类。
地点：
我觉得他们的地点的选择不是很好。其实它离880很近。下了880上92（Jackson) 往东走第一个红绿灯右转上Santa Clara,第二个红绿灯右转上W Harder Road.餐馆在路左边约一百米处。它的停车场不大，好在旁边地方宽阔，可在路边随便停。可惜它附近没有其他中国店，加上离Cal State East Bay有些距离，建立一个稳定的顾客群可能不容易。
下面这段是JY的评论：
我们去baby shower之前在那里随便买了三个菜（一共才15元）：虾仁炒蛋，上海小炒皇，毛豆雪菜百叶，带到朋友家。 非常受欢迎，尤其是毛豆雪菜百叶，我刚吃了几口，还想再去拿一些，已经被大家分光了。 毛豆雪菜是上海人的家常菜，他们做的雪菜有点接近上海的风味：很鲜，不觉得酸。虾仁炒蛋我也没多吃，因为也是很早就被分掉了。 上海小炒皇是类似炒面类的，如果在平时，我见到那样的菜都会反感，感觉是迎合老美口味的那种chao mein， 可是我一尝，发现和那些chao mein完全两回事，就像小时候爸爸妈妈常常带我去吃的“正宗”的上海炒面，而且里面还荤素有致。
去了以后别忘了和我们分享你们的感想。
总体评分： 8/10
Cheap auto insurance for CA resident
You probably remember that I had couple of accidents last year.
The first one was right before my wedding, in October, I was making a left turn on an one-lane street just as a big SUV behind me decided to over-take me from the left. I ended up with a big repair bill. The driver actually lied when she told her insurance company what happened, and because this was a secluded road and the police refused to come (because if no one is injured in an accident, the Hayward CHP will not show up), the arbitration process couldn’t determine fault. I’m still steaming from it. The second accident happened right after Christmas in 2004, on my way home from work one day, someone rear-ended my car. This time, the Castro Valley CHP came, and it was determined on the spot that the other driver was at fault, and the responsible party’s insurer paid my repair bill.
Anyway, my current auto insurance company, Kemper Direct, got acquired by another company, and they bumped up my rate more than 35%. I was also totally disappointed in the way they handled my accidents and claims, I felt that they didn’t care much for their customers, and the whole claim/arbitration process dragged on and on, it was time to look somewhere else. In the meantime, my wife’s insurer, Liberty Mutual, just increased her premium as well.
I was forced to look around for another auto insurance company for both of our cars.
After weeks of searching, I finally found an auto-insurer online that met my needs exactly.
The company is called Wawanesa Insurance, it mainly focuses on good drivers in California and Oregon. It’s been writing auto insurances in California since 1975, they also have an A+ rating with AM Best. There was also a lot of good things people said about the company, you can read these reviews on Epinion.
I heard about it from someone on Fatwallet, and did some research, and asked for a quote. When I got my application in my mail, I was stunned, their quote is 40% less than what I’m paying for right now. Someone from Wawanesa then called me to clarify some issues with my two accidents, and I got them resolved. I then mentioned that my wife has her own car, and wanted to know if they can add my wife to my policy as well as the car under her name.
The lady on the phone told me yes, and get this, the quote for both cars, with both my wife and me covered, the total is 20% less than what I’m paying my car right now. We saved over 60% on auto-insurance by going with Wawanesa. I strongly suggest you check them out. BTW, they have no referral program, so I’m just telling sharing this with you so you can enjoy the same savings.
Here are the pros and cons from the view of a new Wawanesa customer.
Pros
1. Cheap
2. Good reputation
3. Being selective thus can maintain low premium.
Cons
1. In the US, only available in California, Nevada and Oregon.
2. Paper-based application although the online quoting process does pre-fill some fields in the paper application.
3. CSR has no email access, everyone will be by phone.
To me, the pros far out-weighs the cons.
Hopefully you can save some money with Wawanesa as well.
The Crib problem
I didn’t know it’s so hard to make sleeping arrangement for my baby.
So I went crib shopping with JY the other day. There were so many to choose from. We found more than 5 brands/15 models of cribs at Baby Depot just the other day. I mentioned that I live the Baby Bargain book a great deal, and use it mostly as my shopping guide. Now their coverage of cribs is truly extensive. I looked around Baby Depot, and finally settled on Child Craft as the brand of choice. The other brands are either too expensive (eg. C&T, Bassett) or too cheaply made (eg. Delta, Storkcraft).
The next decision is to have either a vanilla flavor crib, or a convertible one, which can be converted to a day-bed, a toddler bed, and full-size bed or all of the above (Delta has a model that can do all four).
After weighing things, I thought convertible crib makes sense for me because we simply don’t have space to store the crib if our baby moves to full-size bed because I have a rather smallish house.
So I took out my ruler and made some measurement. After I went back to my house, I measured the dimension of my room, and low-and-behold, I found the fully assembled crib won’t clear the nursery’s door or our bedroom’s. Now, that’s a problem for us. We don’t the baby to live alone in the nursery for the first three months, but if we put the crib inside our bedroom, then moving it to the nursery after 6 months presents a challenge.
So I went home and did a bit more research and re-read the chapter of the Baby Bargains book on Bassinet. I wanted to get a Moses’ Basket for my baby first, then I looked at the basket stands selection, and didn’t like them much, too shaky for comfort. I then looked at a bunch of pretty bassinet on-line, some of them are real nice. However, I hate to just add a piece of nursery further because of this one problem with my crib.
Again, the Baby Bargains books came to my rescue. In it, the author actually advised against a bassinet, they were saying a playpen with a bassinet is the way to go. They actually recommended Pack ‘n Play – Mocha. So I went to the baby depot again the day after thanksgiving, and got my baby a Pack ‘n Play – Mocha. Setup was a snap, took no more than 15 minutes.
I’m going to get a convertible crib for my baby a bit later, no need to hurry now since the Pack’n Play will hold her for 3-4 months after her birth. I’m a happy man again.
Check back often to find my quests to acquire other nursery furniture.
感恩节快乐!
希望大家都过了个好的感恩节.
我和JY昨天在朋友家过的感恩节。 我负责做Mashed Potato.做了几年的Mashed Potato,我总算能不负众望，Mashed Potato又软又滑，非常好吃。做Mashed Potato的诀窍有三个。第一，要用含水分少的Potato，比如说Russett Potato.第二，要有好的工具。我一直用Potato Masher.一个圆柱形的把子，下面是一块圆形塑料板，板上有很多小孔。听说一种新的工具叫Potato Ricer更好用，我想明年我会买个来试试。第三个要点是牛奶要温热时加入，一边加奶一边搅拌，直到达到想要得Consistency.
朋友这次是从我家旁边的中国超市定的火鸡，明炉烤的，味道很不错。朋友还作了不少的寿司，有Tuna, Eel, and Salmon的。味道不错。其实我更喜欢吃鱼生，我觉得米饭是多余的，真正好的鱼生单独吃才能吃过瘾。
感恩节吃的东西还是次要，主要是和朋友及家人联络感情，分享感恩。
这个感恩节我和JY有很多事情需要感恩。我们有许多好的朋友。我们婚姻路上虽然有小的磕碰，但总体来说满顺利的。神由赐给我们一个自己的孩子。JY父亲的烫伤恢复得很好。JY可以在生孩子前见到父母。还有许许多多其它可以感恩的事情，在此就不一一表述了。我们求神继续带领我们全家在今后的道路，也希望大家能继续为我们祷告。
Baby registry ready!
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我的好动女儿
JY怀孕32周了。
现在她的肚子越来越大了，连肚脐都突了出来。现在女儿也是越长越大，又有了一些更多的问题。
JY现在经常有Heart-burn.她现在晚上睡觉前会吃鸡蛋和牛奶。不过因为女儿占肚子的面积日益扩大，胃经常被压到，是胃酸倒流。所以现在JY晚上很晚才能睡着。请大家继续为她祷告。
女儿现在动的幅度也增大了，我有时可以看见JY肚皮突然突起，有时象地震一样，此起彼伏。不知道女儿是不是个天生的运动健将。
我们最近发现了一个可以听胎动的机器，所以最近我经常把它放在JY肚皮上，听女儿的声音。不过好多时间需要找半天才能找到听到女儿心跳的最好位置。如果你们有兴趣，这个机器叫BeBe Sounds Prenatal Listener With Two Headsets可以在Amazon找到。
我又要去听女儿的胎动了，下次见。
The Apprentice
There are TV shows I like, and there are TV shows I love. The Apprentice falls squarely in the second category.
I got hooked on The Apprentice during the second season after reading somewhere that some business schools started using it as teaching material to show business students the way business works.
At the time, I was working mostly in technology, and didn’t appreciate the business side of things very much. Then I started watching The Apprentice.
The more I watched it, the more I realized that the people competing for the job is not unlike the people I work with. They come in from different background, with their own strength and weaknesses. It’s refreshing to see people work together under a tight time-line, and try to outsmart each other.
The second season was great, I enjoyed it greatly. After it was over, I went out and bought the first season DVD, which I thought was as good as, if not better than the second season.
I got to see how people make good and bad decisions, how the lack of team cohesiveness is an indicator of success, how one person’s negative attitude can bring down the whole team, how people clashes because of their personality, how mis-communication is the root of a lot of these problem, and how a good leader behaves and handles things.
There is no one clear indicator of success, but a few that stood out are: good communication amongst team members, assigning goals and responsibilities according to people’s strength and preference, focus on the goal, individual loyalty to the team, the artful ways of resolving differences.
The show is not without its flaws. It’s too short, and because it’s for TV, it’s tend to be more sensationalistic than more down-to-earth. At the beginning of the second season, they started putting out these extended versions on Saturdays, which I found great. However, middle of the season, they stopped doing that. I guess it’s not making the numbers. Also, the show is focused on conflict and the problems during each task, which definitely entertains, but it’s important to also focus on what people do well and how they do them.
This year, Donald changed the ruled during the middle of the season by firing four people during one episode and two during last night’s episode. I thought these are quite dramatic measures which removed some potentially great candidates for the job.
Last night, both Brian and Marshawn got fired.
Now, I think Brian deserved it, it’s his decision to leave late for the important meeting that ultimately resulted in the team’s failure to meet client’s expectation. I’m not so sure about Marshawn. Her mistake was that she saw the tasks is going down the drain, and try to save her own behind by refusing to do the presentation. If I were her though, I would’ve tried extra hard on making a good presentation. You can not stay safe by shying away from challenges, instead, you need to face up the challenge, and do the best you can. If that’s not enough to get you hired, then fine, but at least you tried and you should be content with the result. But when you shy away from a task that is assigned to you, and you gladly accepted, you need to take up the challenge and deliver. In the worst case scenario, you will fail along with the rest of the team. However, if your team lose yet you did a phenomenal job, people will see that and decide it’s not your fault that the task failed, and you’ll look much better than the people who did not do so well.
I think Clay will be gone within couple of episode just because he doesn’t work well with the team. I think Randal will ultimately win this year’s contest. He’s smart, diligent, works well with people, communicate well, and has a high EQ. Alla may be the one to compete against Randal in the final tasks. The others will be gone during the interview process (by the executives).
This season, they didn’t have colorful characters like Sam or Raj. So far, this season is much better than season 3, which was a total disaster.
I hope you get to enjoy it as much as I do, may you can leave me a comment on who you think will win this year.
Review: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
I’ve just finished listening to this audiobook in my car.
This is not an easy book to listen to. I will probably read the paperback version of these days.
To summarize, there are two parallel plot-lines going on. One is a schizophrenic father taking his son on a cross-country motorcycle trip while explaining the art of motorcycle maintenance. The other plot line concerns the other persona of the father which is named Phaedrus and his quest to introduce “quality” as the entity that ties together subjectivity and objectivity.
The book does get into heavy philosophical discussion. I studied philosophy in university but this is quite hard for me to grasp. I also don’t know Greek philosophy as well as I should, so the latter part of the book requires some further reading on my side.
Overall, I liked this book. It presents the idea of quality in a most original way. What I enjoyed the most was actually the non-essential subjects of the discussion which were the “classic” vs. ” romantic” views, the scientific method of fixing a problem, and gumption traps.
However, since the ideas inside book is presented in a non-linear fashion, it’d be nice for the author to tie it all together toward the end and summarize the main hyposisis and main arguments again.
I’ll need to go through this book again after catching up on Greek philosophy, dialectics and rhetorics. These are fascinating discussions, and hopefully I can understand them better if I can grasp the context around the whole thing.
On a scale of 1 to 10, this book deserves a 7/10.
Week in Vegas
I just came back from a week-long trip from Las Vegas. It was a conference that I attneded for work.
The hotel I stayed in, JW Marriot was a bit far from the Vegas strip, about 15 miles one way. It’s a rather nice hotel, with a big jacuzzi style tub, a large bathroom, two twin size beds and a nicely landscaped courtyard.
But as most of you know, when you are in Vegas, the strip is where the action is.
I spent the last couple of nights on the town with my colleagues from the conference.
We went to a show called Splash at the Riviera. It was a variety show, with juggling, motorcross, ice skating and skits. It was very very entertaining. We were told that the whole show is performed topless by the female performers on week nights at 9:30pm and weekends. I don’t think I’ll enjoy the show that much more though. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to be entertained. You can find a review of the show here
One thing about the shows is that you should not pay full price. You can find discount tickets at multiple places. I liked Ticket 4 Less at the first floor of the Fashion Show Mall. There is another company at the food court in the same mall., althought their selection is more limited and price higher.
I also got a chance to sample the finest food Vegas has to offer, well almost, the finest buffets that Vegas has to offer.
The first one was located at Wynn Las Vegas. It’s a magnificant hotel, the attention to detail was amazing. The selection of food was huge, very high class and exotic food. Instead of chicken, they have free-range cornish game hen, along with more than 10 different types of fish. I’m a seafood person, and I was delighted by the selection. My colleagued sampled their ice-cream, and told me it tasted like it was hand-spun, and he got a second helping. They are a bit more expensive then most other buffets, although I think it’s a steal at $35.
The second buffet we went to was at Paris. They offer food from five French regions. The food selection is a bit more limited, however, the quality is quite good as well. They make ordinary ingredients taste good. I especially enjoyed their salmon, mussels and beef stew. They also have a big selection of desserts, although I’m not a dessert person, I still enjoyed their banana in syrup. It was very good at $27.
Of course, since I stayed at JW Marriot, I went to their Rampart Buffet as well. The food is nothing to write home about, but it’s plenty and tasted ok for the price.
The weather in Vegas is surprisingly temperate. In fact, it’s very similar to the bay area. We even got a rain shower on Thursday, which was surprising.
Overall, the conference was great, the entertainment was ok, and home is definitely where I want to be.