This is how I spent the last day of year 4703…

Out of blue, I decided to do something about the año Nuevo chino (Chinese New Year of Golden Pig). Got up early and went shopping to the one and only Asian food market in Barcelona as I am determined to learn some Chinese cooking via the best source: the Internet. So I did. Making the dumplings (jiaozi, a.k.a. chinese ravioli or chinese gyoza) from dough (ended up using a wine bottle to roll the dough as we didn’t have a roller), cooking up my specialty ‘orange chicken’ which I learned from my dear brother the past Christmas (when I discovered the magic of maizena in Chinese cooking), and wokking my life away with rice vermicelli con gambas. Man, my kitchen was a real sweat shop at the end. Was too shy to invite people ahead of time as I was not very confident with my chinese cooking. But after my satisfied guests cleaned up my 3 ½ hours of labour, I knew that I could proudly call myself a Chinese (or Taiwanese, to be more politically correct, or incorrect? :)

Planetario, here I come!

Couldn’t remember when was my last time going to a planetarium. Thrilled to learn that there was a planetarium in BCN, I decided to pay it a visit. Here it is, CosmoCaixa, the new museum in BCN and was awarded the European museum of the year 2006.The architecture is amazing with an indoor tropical garden filled with tropic plants and animals. Was disappointed to find out that the dinosaur exhibition was over but I suppose watching thousands of hard-working ants building a life underground somewhat made up for it. Ironically, I missed most of the program at the planetario. Who shall I blame? Definitely the comfortable chair at the planetario. And the best of all, I met Einstein!
http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/centros/cosmocaixabcn_es.html

Sharouism

Apparently, I always have an one-line answer to every problem. My friends call them sharou's one-liners, I call them ‘Sharouism’…

"Everything happens for a reason."
"It’s all good!"
"Sweetness!"
"When you want something bad enough, you will get it."
"What goes around comes around!"
"There is nothing heavier than the burden of potential."
"Passion!"
"Coolness!"
"There is time for everything."
"I couldn’t care less."
"Fucking hell!" (or "joder", the latest substitute for this one)

…and of course, as much as people like making fun of me and my Sharouism, they religiously follow Sharouism and treat it their anchor of life. I am sure you (whoever is reading this) is one of them, no?☺

Why am I a CHEAP DRUNK? AFR, AFD, AB, AG, and ALDH Deficiency

Here is my three-pronged analysis of why I am a Cheap Drunk: (being a cheap-drunk asian dork)

Situation: I am a Cheap Drunk! Usually takes me 2 sips to get red and two beers or 1 ½ glasses of wine to be tipsy.

Challenge:
Because I am ASIAN!!

Frustrated by the fact that I haven’t been able to build up my alcohol tolerance with the habitual drinking lifestyle in Spain, I am determined to study the missing ENZYME – acetaldehyde dehydrogenase2 (ALDH2). It appears that half of people with Asian descents suffer from the same syndrome. The real name for the syndrome is Alcohol Flush Reacion (a.k.a Asian Blush, Asian Glow, ALDH deficiency, and Cheap Drunk (my favorite ☺) Lack of ALDH2 resulted in the deficiency in breaking down acetaldehyde, a product of the metabolism of alcohol…

Solution: Apparently, if I take this thing called Pepcid AC (containing Famotidine) an hour before drinking, I may be able to turn myself into an Expensive Drunk. True or not, I am dying to find out!

Source: wikipedia