The difference between Gluttony and Indulgence

Gluttony gets you nowhere. Indulgence makes you happy for what you have until it's gone.

There's a thought that always comes up in mind on September 23. Maybe it's the weather that always changes unpredictably. The inclement weather is unmerciful. It rains. It pours.

For some odd reason. For every few years (this year, too) that it does rain before this particular date, I feel as though the sky is crying for me.

It's been exactly four years since my grandfather has passed away. I can remember ever so clearly the moment I came home from school. We received a phone call from my father, who rarely calls, and rarely talks very quietly.

"Stephy, let me talk to your sister please."

I then handed the phone to my sister and walked over to the study room. A few minutes later, I see my sister already in tears, saying that my grandfather died approximately 10:00AM that day. I couldn't help but well up tears in my eyes the moment my sister cried out, "Grandpa passed away today." My siblings and I never cried so hard together, grieving our lost.

Seeing my grandfather in a casket was one of the most memorable yet most depressing moments of my life. I couldn't touch his forehead, I didn't want to feel how death feels. I was still in complete denial that my grandfather left us. After visiting him weekly at three different hospitals for two years, seeing him slowly open his eyes, and even touching his hands made me want to just imagine that he's still there. During that time when his health was returning, I still wonder even now,

"Why then?"

I think the most realistic and painful time I've ever experience was when I saw my father cried for the first time.

And probably for the last time.

Losing my grandfather was like losing a father to me. He took care of me when I was little and always made funny jokes behind my grandmother. And now... all that I have now from him are birthday cards and shards of memories that I may just forget. I hope I don't forget.

So here's to you grandpa. I hope you're watching up from above and know that all of us are okay. We're getting through this and we want you to know that we are happier that you left an unfair world to a better place. It's been four years, but it felt just like yesterday since you left your physical presence. Hope we can visit you soon.

Our family and loved ones are indulgences. Like the Häagen-Dazs® Vanilla and Almond ice cream bar, we should all be grateful for what we have, because we know there will always be a day when they're gone. However, we must also appreciate the moments and the cherished recounts that there was and never let those times die out from time.

One potato, two potato, three potato, four...

Let's play hot potato.

America's favorite vegetable is the potato. Unlike their green predecessors, potatoes are probably one of the most popular comfort food vegetables that no one can refuse. Filled with starch, it is no wonder that many people love potatoes for their rich smooth texture. However, I regret to say that I disagree with it. I like green colors. I love biting into things and be able to chew. I like purple colors too. Go eggplants!

Well, potatoes can probably be one the the top vegetables that I adore (after carrots, spinich, broccoli, beets, cabbage, and tomatoes...oh wait that's a fruit!). After all, it is practically an all purpose type of tubular. Smashed, chopped, deep fried, or steamed, it's great for any occasion.

Especially with that rich, sweet, creamy, yet artery-choking, butter.

Yes, butter. And olive oil!

Since we had a couple of bags of red and russet potatoes, my mother decided to have a potato fest. From baked potatoes to hash browns, we went crazy with the different dishes we can make out of these babies. Stirring up a new dish, I decided to grab some of the red potatoes we had and cook it with butter, olive oil, and garlic.

Garlic butter is the greatest thing ever. Besides it's overwhelming effect of bad breath.

I was quite satisfied with it's soft yet solid texture that is not too mushy. Also, the somewhat crispy surface gives a tangy garlic taste that was just satisfying. One thing that kind of bugged me though was the burned garlic. After all, garlic does burn out after cooking it under butter and olive oil for about forty minutes. Those poor little things!

So, college applications are coming out *gasp*. Ugh, and I despise physics because of my teacher. He cannot teach for beans! It's so bad that even eight people dropped out within one week.

I need a vacation!

Confession #1

I'm a happy hypocrite for eggplants.

I absolutely love eggplants. It's ridiculous that I always request for eggplants for dinner and grab a generous scoop of it on hot, steaming rice. It's simply the most satisfying dinner that I can ever had after a long day of school. Chinese cooked eggplants should be added as comfort food that is as effective as chocolate. Too bad there's so much grease it in it.

Even more ridiculous: I used to ABSOLUTELY hate it just because it had a odd name and it was a purple vegetable. Hey, we can be discriminate when it comes to food yes? Unlike those who just eat anything edible.

School is simply busy and fun. Homework's a drag though.
My shift button on my laptop is also being a drag. It took me three attempts to hit the damn "M" letter of "My."

I need a new laptop.
I am the supreme workaholic!
I need sleep.

Inscrutable fear of... SHH

Medium rare? I think not.

After spending three or so gruesome hours at the medical center of UCLA (Okay, maybe it wasn't that gruesome. After all, I did meet some very good looking and young doctors though!), my family minus my father and I decided to eat in our oh so favorite prime rib restaurant, Lawry's. With $200 worth of coupons in our hand, it would be outrageous to say no.

I recall those days when my family would drive 45 minutes there, wait another 30-60 minutes to be seated, and wait another 10 minutes or so to order and eat.

Lawry's, though, is a definite milestone of one of our many familial memories. Especially one of my younger twin brother Jonathan. Let's just say he had a sensitive stomach when he was small. Oh he was definitely stuffed after the main course. However, after taking a few bites of the free Häagen-Dazs ice cream, he would immediately regurgitate all the food he consumed from the beginning. Not only did this happen once, but twice. And as a loving family, of course we can't help but poke fun at him.

So after surviving the hysterical downtown Los Angeles traffic, we arrived at the restaurant greeted by what it looked like homemade potato chips and meatballs. Looking around the restaurant, I was quite surprised that not much of the restaurant has changed from the last time I dined there (which was about...at least four years ago?). It still had the paintings of what it looked like prominent European men and the same furniture. I guess the only change was that the waitresses didn't wear those head dresses anymore.

Once we sat down, we were greeted by a waitress who immediately gave us our menus. From her accent, she sounded like she came from England, which was pretty interesting. One thing I would definitely give Lawry's kudos for is the service. The waitress don't just give you your menus and wait for your orders of steaks and prime rib. Instead, she fraternizes with you and entertains the whole table with jokes or stories.

Of course, we got the old fashioned. Starting with the sourdough bread with butter. Although the center of the bread is warm and fluffy, I still can't help but complain about the incredibly hard crust. Of course, we all looked forward to the original spinning salad bowl, which was nicely seasoned with beets, baby spinach, romaine lettuce, carrots, grape tomatoes, chopped boiled eggs, and croutons. After eating what it seemed like a meal already, the sumptuous Lawry's Cut prime rib, mashed potatoes, and creamed corn arrived.

Wow. I looked at the prime rib again just to make sure it's not too rare. Personally, I like my prime rib without anything but the Au Jus sauce. I tried the creamy horseradish and I couldn't help but tasting very very rich cream. The prime rib was I guess not so much of a problem. In all, it was pretty smooth, juicy, and tender. I don't know, I'm not too much of a steak fan.

I do admit, I am somewhat the oddball of the family.

Unlike my family, I'm like a rabbit. I absolutely adore eating my fruits and vegetables. I don't particularly like eating too much rice or meat, unless it's Mexican food or Japanese curry.

So after eating about a third of my food (big portions = huge and yummy leftovers), we had an English Trifle, which was a light creamy sponge cake with a subtle touch of rum and sherry. Although it was a bit sour (which may have came from the raspberries), it was a different cake. It was just different, not implacable or horrible, just different.



So after two and a half short months of summer, school began yet again with the same routine. Wrong. Great thing about this year is that I don't have a first period. Thus, I can sleep in on those very late start days and laugh at the hapless teenagers who have to listen to insignificant lectures while I'm tucked away in my dreams. I guess the downside is since I have to drive to school, I have to wake up my buttocks up at 6:20AM and be ready to leave around 7:00AM. Any later and the traffic is horrendous.

I reallyreallyreally miss sleeping in. It's kind of funny how vitamins is like an alternative solution for waking me up instead of caffeine. Boy, I'm already sleeping in Physics. Ah!

I guess one subject that kind of irks me at the moment is Economics. Although the class is rather small (only 13 students!) and interesting, I can't understand the abstract theories that we are expected to memorize.



Lawry's The Prime Rib
100 N. La Cienega Boulevard
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
(310) 652-2827

Very Eventful

Ooey-Gooey Goodness.

I find that cutting pies is one of the most difficult desserts to cut into. Unlike cakes, pies are more fragile in their structure since the only thing that is supporting the indulging filling is the light flaky crust that can just break within seconds! Just looking at a broken piece of pie vexes me since the food's beauty also contributes to my opinion.

Oh well. It still tasted good. Pretty sad that Marie Callendar's discontinued its oh so yummy Boston pie.

School is rolling around the corner. Wow, it's amazing that two months have passed since high school students shout for joy around the campus. Time surely flies. Just recalling back to all the moments during the summer: Arcadia Relay for Life, going out everyday while my parents were gone, Ashley coming back to Walnut from Singapore, break ups, make ups, getting a car...this is probably one of the few summers that played a significant portion of my high school career, probably even my life.

Ugh, pulling out just one wisdom tooth made me feel miserable today. Note to self: never evereverever watch Food Network when you're not allowed to chew real food. I think I'm going to get sick of soy milk soon after drinking two cups of it in less than half an hour.

Marie Callendar's
1560 Albatross Rd., City of Industry, CA 91748
626-964-1094

sing when you're sad

What you can do with beans.

Green bean cakes (綠豆糕) is one of the many "souvenirs" in Taiwan that I would be happy to bring back home. Smooth and sweet, these little molded pieces of pastries are filled with red bean paste that are found in almost any bakery in Taipei. I guess you can say they taste similar to peanut butter since it makes me thirsty every time I take a bite out of it.

Foods like these just reminds me of the good ol' days when I went to Taiwan for about two weeks with my family. It's really strange, the moment we landed on the new Taipei airport platform, I could just feel that I was in Taiwan. I couldn't feel that when I landed on Hong Kong or Shanghai, only Taiwan. Staying in Taiwan made me feel like I was home, even though I was not natively born here. The atmosphere, the people, and just the nightlife in Taiwan made me feel like I belonged there. Well, obviously. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I do feel like the oddball in the family because I only seem to adulate Taiwanese pop and Taiwan's culture.

I think the greatest thing about Taiwan and China is knowing where the people come from. With hundreds of different dialects, saying one is Chinese doesn't define his or her ethnic background. In a way, each province is similar to a "country," each having their own unique culture and aspects of life. For example, my father's side came from 河南 (Henan) , which is near the Yellow River, and 南京 (Nanjing) while my mother's side came from both 上海 (Shanghai) and 四川 (Szechwan). So aside from just coming from Taiwan, another history unveils itself!

王力宏 - 星期六的深夜

星期六晚上 那兒都不想去 也無法入睡
看著電視機 持續在發呆 喝了七分醉
閉上了眼睛 試著不想你 但已來不及
忘了如何讓眼淚 停止流下
還好沒人看見(到) 沒人會說話

星期六深夜 我想起了你
沒什麼特別 只是回憶
你讓我自由 我很感激
星期六深夜 喔～
永遠不會有任何人 能代替你

這就是遺憾的滋味 陪著我形影不離
明天我會面帶微笑 但無法忘記你

讓我自由 我很感激
星期六 喔～Yeah

永遠不會有任何人 能代替你

Kampai for Happiness,

Up close and personal. Maybe too personal.

I have a tendency to limit how much I should write in blogs. I'm sure bloggers have the same problem too, unless they enable some kind of friends filter that enables only people that they know and trust to confide their true feelings against certain issues (haha and I was one of them!). I guess the reason why I wanted to create Beautify Love is that I was kind of sick of hiding things from readers and forcing them to grab a free ID on LiveJournal just so they can read my oh-so-pointless entries.

Despite the fact that I've kept a blog for about 3-4 years with subdomains, livejournal, and now blogspot, I'm not really sure I could define myself (one of those teenage self-identification crisis that seems overrated but atypical at the same time). If you ask me, "Who are you?" I would answer, "I am Stephanie K. Huang." However, Stephanie K. Huang is merely a label of my physical identification. I even took the nerve of writing a letter to myself, reminding myself to learn from my mistakes and the lessons that my family taught me.

What is wrong with me?

Anyways, I decided to do a meme and reveal the progress of which I have learned after losing someone.

Seven Definitive Facts About Stephanie
1. I'm a veryveryveryvery(!) difficult person to handle. Self-explanatory.
2. I don't believe there was a week when I would not cry. Haha, it's amusing that I'm such a crybaby. There for legitimate reasons mind you.
3. I'm having a very difficult time following God again. I was never a devoted Christian when I was in private school, and I guess I lost my faith around middle-early high school. But I've been praying and seldomly attending church, so there's improvement!
4. I rarely trust people. But when I do, I trust them with my life.
5. I'm an oddball out of my four siblings when it comes to interest. I sometimes feel that I was adopted from a family in Taiwan. It's ludicrous how my siblings are all Americanized while I still occupy myself in Asian interests.
6. (For once an optimistic note) I love to wrap my agenda that is provided by my high school every year. Sophomore year, I wrapped it with Starburst wrappers and junior year I wrapped it with an adorable Japanese stationary paper that I got from Taiwan. This year is a surprise! (well not really)
7. My favorite food is sushi! I have a particular liking for salmon and crunchy rolls.

T'was the night of July 27th that things started lighting up. I meant the charcoal. Just Kampai is a petite Japanese barbeque restaurant that seems isolate from the Chinese plaza not so far from it. Because that restaurant constantly changes managers (I vaguely recall the last restaurant that leased that vicinity was Fujiya), my family and I were never really crazy visiting that area and spend $10-$15 for what maybe a mediocre dinner. Because I had a get together with a couple of friends, Connie introduced us to the area and recommended their food.

Kampai was probably not the best restaurant that I've ever eaten, but it has definitely stepped up its plate. Not only is the environment nicely lighted, but the ambience and good service kept me satisfied.

We started with a boneless short rib. Although the meat was not marinated, seeing the lovely seasoned scallops made up for that. I was quite satisfied that the scallop tasted relatively fresh with its lovely white flesh.

Because many asian restaurants have lost their authenticity in America, Kampai is probably one of the few places to have a nice dinner at a decent price with a nice dark vibe to the side.

Just Kampai
18902 E. Gale Ave. #A
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626)854-3000

Don't worry about losing. If it is right, it happens - The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.

-John Steinbeck, 10 November 1958

One lesson to learn. One less mistake made. At least I hope.