Turning Japanese for lunch

Katsudon for lunch!

MY FIRST ever international trip was to Japan.  It left an indelible imprint in my mind and started my love affair with nori, zaru soba, and enoki.  I loved it so much that I wrote about in in my school paper then.

And for today at lunch time, I turned Japanese – yet again – courtesy of the katsudon our cafeteria offered.  True to its Japanese name – a combination of tonkastu (pork cutlet) and donburi (rice bowl dish) – our cafeteria’s version had a deep-fried yet juicy pork cutlet served on top of plump steamed white rice with a beaten egg oozing with the special Japanese soy sauce.  The best part?  It was served steaming hot!

Perfect to break from the pressures of the day.  This dish has been one of Spider-man’s favorites too!  Too bad he’s away for meetings in Shanghai (which, I realize is a better thing!).

I loved the katsudon I had today so much that I had to tell Harry Stamper!  But I guess he had something better for lunch where he’s at.

 

Copyright © 2009 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MuchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

Dark white milk and a key ring

Sweetness!

MY GOOD good friend Rizzie seems to have been going on an Asian tour.  In the space of a couple of weeks, she has gone to Korea, Singapore, and China where she’s still at as I write.  It is a mix of business and pleasure.  Actually, more business than pleasure that when I finally broke my facebook hiatus, her status message was one of the first to really demand my attention.  She said something about being tired from Singapore and being not ready for China yet.

She has always been quite thoughtful.  When I came back to my desk after some meetings this morning, a pile of something “dark,” “white” and “milk” greeted me.  A key ring from Singapore with a note saying “From Rizzie” revealed the source.

I found out that it was delivered through the kindness of one of our Financial Analysts.

Thanks, Rizzie, for always remembering!  I hope you’re enjoying Shanghai.  I think they’re soon building a Disneyland there!

(And yes, thanks Alvin… I know!  Please bring more next time, ok?)

 

Copyright © 2009 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MuchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

What I’m reading

The 9/11 Commission Report

AIR TRAVEL has never been quite the same after 9/11.  Believe you me.  I’ve taken a cross-continental flight on a day when the “terror alert level” had been raised to orange (high risk) on a nationwide level.  Subjecting myself to the most stringent screening procedure at the gate was my smallest contribution to peace of mind at 30,000+ feet up in the air.

Every widescreen at the Chicago Midway International Airport that day was tuned in to national news discussing the heightened alert.  I needed to get distracted so I ended up buying practically every single title on the magazine rack.  On the flight back to California – with a layover in Las Vegas – I buried my face in between pages.

All these thoughts came coming back after my recent book purchase.  Lately, second-hand bookstores have been a favorite hangout of mine.  And the last time, I bought “House of Sand and Fog” and this one – “The 9/11 Commission Report:  Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (Authorized Edition).”  It’s a copy from the first printing.

This copy is from the first printing. I love the cover design! (or lack thereof)

I have just cracked it open.  The first section reads like a novel.  It actually brought to mind the opening lines of the second paragraph of my “Rickshaw Diaries,” an accounting of my travel to India in 2005: “As has always been the case with me, the night before any trip doesn’t see me sleeping for even a wink.  I really fuss about my stuff, lay them around for quite some time as I don’t put them in my luggage ‘til about the last hour before I leave.  And I don’t let anyone do my packing for me because I don’t want to lie to the customs officer at the airport once he asks me as to who did my packing.  It is one of my small contributions to tightened airport security post-9/11 – to be fully aware and accountable for whatever goes in my bags.”

This will be quite a challenging read. It's highly technical. And quite thick! Look at that spine.

 

Copyright © 2009 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MuchTime™©.  All rights reserved.