Kids (oh wait, I meant Xander) Say the Darnest Things

So Xander is now 5 1/2. The kid that I used to swaddle, feed with a bottle and rock to sleep is now a curious kindergarten, asking millions of questions and commenting on everything he sees. And I mean, everything. I don't have answers for even half of his questions, but I try, of course. His comments though, could make me drop on the floor laughing. Really - kids his age are so innocent in their way of thinking and they say the obvious, which we adults are not aware of.

So over the years I have tried to savor all his comments, or as I call it, Xander's expressions. I know I will miss this - gosh he grows up so fast - but hey I will have another one coming soon so then I'll have another page for that kid!

Xander's Expressions

- Mommy, what about Kids Earth? (on using fabric bags as oppose to plastic bags to help the environment and "Mother Earth")
- Daddy are you texting? In the car? When you are driving?
- Yes you do Mommy, you have money in your bag - it's a card

- Mommy can you be my wife? (on why I call his Dad "Hubby")
- Mommy, you are driving Daddy nuts! But you also drive me Blueberry. or Banana.
- Mommy, can you ask your husband to give me his iPhone? (this is usually after he asks his Dad and got a no)

- I want to go to eat at a restaurant. It's more fun.
- Mommy can I see how you pee?
- How far is Los Angeles from our house? (after I explain that we live in the state of California)
- I don't want to die, I want to live forever
- Santa Clause will give to the poor people too, because besides the good list and the bad list, there is a sad list

- Why is there a heaven to go to when we die?
- I don't want to die after I become a grandpa, I want to be a daddy forever (so I don't die)
- I want boys to be pregnant with boys and girls to be pregnant with girls
- Mommy I love you 1000, and Daddy 100 (and his Dad says "Hey!")
- Mommy can you call God on the phone right now to find out (about something)?
- Mother Earth is real, and she lives here on Earth. Do you know she's under us?

- Mommy did you want a girl or a boy? I said a girl, but we got a boy and that's OK. He says, is it because Jesus is running out of girls in heaven?
- Mommy on Easter, did the Easter bunny come down from heaven with Easter eggs because of Jesus going to Heaven?
- and just last night, he asked his grandma: What year were you born? She answered, 1940. Xander says, Whoah, that was a long, long time ago. You are VERY old.

Why I hate Chinese New Year... in the context of work

The last few days have been one of my yearly nightmares. Yearly? you might ask. Well yes, it is the period that I dread so much. It is called... the Chinese New Year.

Don't get me wrong. It is not about the celebration, it is not about the Chinese culture, (well... a little), it has nothing about the holiday itself but the ethics of shipping from China. Yes, you can say 'huh?' now. But read on and you will understand.

So my business, in summary, gets stuff in China, bring it here to the US, and that of course involve shipping. You think it's already complicated to import things from China, well try this: the period before Chinese New Year, freight forwarders will scramble to get their customers' goods out of China before the "cut off dates". These dates will vary depending whether you ship LCL (Less Container Load), which is calculated in CBM (don't ask me what it is), and FCL (Full Container Load), which also has many options: 20 foot container, 40 foot container, and 40"HQ or High Cube, and 45"HQ.

Now, vessels or I should say ships, that's the actual commercial ships or merchants ships, are the ones who can say what and how many can be loaded in their vessels at one time. Those scoundrels will actually lessen the number of ships going out before Chinese New Year, so that they can increase the price knowing that the demand of shipping will be high, because less ships are leaving China! And not only that, factories will actually close down (and their workers leave work) one to two and a half weeks before the actual holiday!

You might be yawning right now at all of this explanation. Well, like I say this is why I hate Chinese New Year. Let me explain more... so you can really fall asleep now. My shipment, yes, my source of headache the last few days, supposed to be leaving February 2. Well guess what. The factory is actually down to only 3 workers working at their facility now, (the other 167 has left the building hopping trains to go home to their villages!!), so my projects are not going to be finished on time. So scratch that ship date. Further more, I learned that my shipment is actually less than FCL load so why the heck I want to pay 120% more for that, and so I needed to not only find a new ship date but also schedule for LCL! The good thing is, LCL has more chance of NOT being offloaded on the vessel. So making this shipment an LCL actually makes sense.

Unfortunately, the only date available is February 8, which is a week later than scheduled. I will be in so much trouble about 3 weeks from now, because I have to call 3 clients and explain why the shipment is late - they might scream at me for that - but hey, at least it will still be a February shipment. And, I will save about $800 on shipping charges.

In Indonesian, there is a saying "Masih untung... " which translates to, thank Goodness for .... Which is to say, always look from the bright side. It's a tough attitude to follow, but now that I have a blog to vent, I feel that it's possible.

My craving for Tahu Isi, and so I made it myself

It was before the holidays, when I had a craving for Tahu Isi. It's steamed tofu with meat inside. It was before dinner time and I couldn't really ask my husband to go to Chinatown to buy a couple of them, although I know he would. So, being a frugal mother-to-be I decided to make it myself. Good thing I had ground chicken in the fridge that day.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of ground chicken
2 eggs
1/2 cup of minced green onion
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp corn starch
1 tbs flour
1 tbs oyster sauce
pinch of salt and pepper
1 package of firm tofu

Method:
- Mix ground chicken with eggs, green onion, garlic, oyster sauce, salt and pepper until well blended. Add corn starch and flour.
- Cut tofu into 1 1/2 inch x 1 inch. Slit the top but not all the way.
- Add chicken mixture into the middle of the slit
- Steam in a steamer for about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

I like to eat this with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), sambal botol (spicy sauce) and bawang goreng (fried onion). Yeah, it's an Indonesian thing.

1st Day of Blogging. Why do I even bother

OK so maybe it's hormonal, but being almost 8 months pregnant does make you want to vent a lot. Emotions going up and down. Every single thing that happens at the office either make you happy or sad. Or mad.

So, stupid of me for waiting this long... Why not just start a blog, said my brain who slowly woke up from its caffeine-deprived state. Good thing it's not something hard to do, or I will just break down and cry like a baby. After 5 minutes of logging in to google I finally realized how easy this is.

What am I going to write here? Mostly junk. Seriously. I think I'll also add some photos of my cooking, or attempts to cook, and some of my favorite recipes... Because who knows if I ever have the time to cook again after that baby pops out. I'll also add pics that matter only to me, because hey, who cares about what you want to read... It's all about me, me, me, right? I'd like to go down memory lane and reminisence.. no, reminicense... no, reminisce (good Lord I can't even spell now) about my childhood, because frankly, that was the period of my life that I wouldn't mind repeating over and over again.

So why the title of my blog is so... like an anime? (you know, Japanese sounding). Well it's because that is my nick name and how my Dad & loved ones called me, and, I still want a castle. No I'm not a princess-head type of girl but seriously I love castles, specifically those in England. Fine. I don't expect you to understand me anyway... hey, I can be cranky because 1. I'm hungry again, 2. why is the baby kicking so much and 3. you're not the one gaining tens of pounds carrying another human being.

So there... leave me alone to vent.