Missing

Earlier this year my mom and a Portland friend sent me care packages filled with goodies: MTA subway map, Stumptown coffee, Brooklyn Industries t-shirts, earplugs, Dayquil. Yay! But when I am asked on the spot "what can I send you from home?" my mind usually goes blank. Everything is seemingly Made in China, so what do I possibly need from the US which I can't get here? So I started keeping notes about items, which I've needed or miss from home, and can't purchase readily or of a good quality.

On the list so far:
anti-perspirant that actually works and passes the black dress test
delicious cheese (not that sliced crap in the supermarket)
freshly made pesto
electroluminescent wire
spray foam
a superb croissant
Brooklyn Beer on tap
a straight answer (the chabudou, vague answers drive me nuts sometimes)
prosciutto
tampons
fitted bed sheets

While I can probably find the food and personal care items from Jenny Lou's, a supermarket which imports many of their goods from US and Europe and sells them at a significant mark-up, part of me balks at paying US$15 for a small container of jarred pesto with an expiration date of 6 months (ew).

I'm going to compare notes with other expat friends to see what is on their "missing from home" list. Wow, many of these items are food-related. This is probably due to my skipping dinner tonight. Based on the items on my list, it would seem that I am a starving, sweaty woman. So attractive.

Eating my way through Beijing

During a spur-of-the-moment hotpot dinner, I vowed never to dine in the same restaurant twice. Beijing is full of good Chinese eats. Why not try every single one of them since I'll be here for a while? In particular trying good, inexpensive eats.

Last night I dined at one of my first post-vow restaurants with an ex-colleague and her husband. The classy Middle-8th Restaurant did not let us down. The long wait just made me hunger more for the taste of their yummy Yunnan dishes (mushrooms, pineapple, peppers, chilies, oh my) and sweet rice wine served in jelly jars (made from Mexico of all places). While this didn't exactly fall in the super-cheap category of eats, this 67 RMB per person feast was well worth it.


Have a recommendation for a restaurant, Chinese, Italian (I've been craving pesto and the smell of basil for the past five weeks), whatever restaurant or alleyway street vendor? Let me know. My stomach needs feeding and taste buds need satisfying.

Tasty Boards

I spotted these familiar-looking boards in a shop. Recovering from the melamine scandal, the classic White Rabbit Candy crosses industry lines into the skateboarding world. I loved these chewy, rice paper-wrapped candies when I was child.