Quickwrite: The Rules of Love...?

    To guys, they would define "nice girls" as girls who gives them personal space and constantly contact them even in the middle of the night. Most guys aren't into relationships, and those who are in are usually in casual ones. They like to balance their free time with their girlfriends and for themselves. Same to girls, however, they define "nice guys" as a guys who have a gentlemen-manner. They would most likely say "I want a boyfriend who would comfort me and would always be there for me" and loves the attention to given to them by their boyfriends. What both guys and girls want are good behavior (nice personality), and trust. What "nice girls" and "nice boys" just don't do is something that can end the relationships like cheating with some other guy/girl or talk rudely about them behind their back.

    I would say the consequences for breaking their "rules" that they agreed upon, are either a break up or simply mistrust with each other. For break ups, it could be harder for girls than guys because most take relationships seriously (not all) while for few guys can take break ups hard if they were actually serious and was very committed to the relationship. As for mistrust, I think can easily switched to a break up, but I don't think relationships last long if the both the girl and guy doesn't trust with one another. To constantly worry about each other's actions behind their back and misunderstand them just because they are near the opposite gender is something no one wants to be in.

    Where do the rules come from? It's usually what the couple decide. Their rules are what sets them together, and any broken sets them apart. I would say among them are what I mainly pointed out: trust with one another. No trust, no (long lasting) relationship. All these things I been talking about are pretty much common knowledge.
 

Bánh Xèo

Once again, I am running our of ideas and my dear hero (my own mother) saved me once more. This topic will be one of Vietnamese popular dishes: Bánh xèo.   

Bánh xèo (literally "sizzling cake") are Vietnamese savoury (meaning salty, not like American ones that are usually sweet) pancakes made out of rice flour, water, (optional) chopped green onions, and turmeric powder or coconut milk  (in the Southern regions), stuffed with thin slices of fatty pork, shrimp and bean sprouts and then pan fried. Traditionally, they are served wrapped in mustard leaf, lettuce leaves, and stuffed with mint leaves, basil, fish leaf and/or other herbs, and dipped in a prepared nuoc mam (Vietnamese fish sauce thinned with water and lemon). In the Central region, the pancake is dipped in a special 'tuong' sauce which consists of liver, hoisin sauce and garlic.

Southern style Bánh xèo are larger compared to the small pan-fried versions in the Central regions. Called "banh khoai" or stuffed omelette (even though the batter doesn't include eggs), today it is one of the best known dishes from the Central region. It made with rice flour and flavoured with cumin, it is fried until deliciously crispy around the edges in pans over charcoal burners. It is filled with little mounds of pounded pork, egg, shrimps, a few bean sprouts and some mashed green beans, and then folded over. To eat it, a piece is broken off with chopsticks and wrap it in fresh mustard greens with fresh herb leaves, slices of green banana and green fig, and dip it in a sauce (called 'tuong') which consists of liver, hoisin sauce and garlic.

The fresh herbs, which include the spicy, red-tinged cumin leaf, help to reduce any oiliness in the fried dish, as does the sourness of the banana and fig, which are also digestive aids.

At home, my family prepares bánh xèo in a similiar matter. However, the sauces are just a possibility for the consumer's desire on flavor. Nuoc mam is the most commonly used sauce to dipped with and and is easier to eat with other than the tuong sauce. Most people usually claim that nuoc nam is the best use because of its light flavor. Nuoc mam is has some fishy, but zesty taste to compliment the savoury aroma of bánh xèo.

This is a great dish and it is recommended to all to eat. It's also usually eaten with LOTS of greens and herbs, depending on how much flavor should be added. When making it, its best (recommended more like) to cook it without the greens. Remember, most Vietnamese eat fresh greens, so most cooked foods are usually eaten with a huge amount or fresh herbs, red lettuce leaves, etc. Some prefer cooked so it is an option on whether you wanted your greens to be cooked or not. I'm not sure about how it is in Vietnamese restaurants, but if you do order bánh xèo, it is usually cooked in Southern style.

This information is from Wikipedia : Bánh Xèo
And here's a recipe if you want to try making this at home: recipe

The Lightning Thief pt. 2

Continuing from the previous lit circle letter of The Lightning Thief...
      Wow. I was definitely surprised. There were so much going already that I can make a long list of events that happened. This is only the second part of the novel. So based on the little summary from the back of the book, Percy finds out his his true heritage, being a demi-god (again, means half god, half human), his mother being human and his father being the god of the sea, Poseidon. After that, being aware of his father's situation with his uncle, Zeus, he then goes on a journey with his guardian and best friend, a satyr named Grover Underwood, and another fellow demi-god named Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom (or what is referred in this novel, but is also goddess of civilization, strength, strategy, craft, justice, and skill in Greek mythology) With the suspicion of Hades, his other uncle's involvement of the stolen master bolt, the three of them travel across the United States with only ten days to complete the quest: retrieve the master bolt before a war between the gods begin. To me, this is definitely quite a load on Peter, especially since he doesn't know much of the world of the gods. It's like seeing him as an innocent little sheep walking into wolf's lair. In either case, he still continues onward to the heart of the Underworld, which apparently is located in L.A. (Los Angeles, very amusing) despite of being attacked by his math teacher again, Medusa (yes, the Medusa), a chimera,and being sidetracked by the ever god of warfare (I prefer god of blood lust), Ares. Surprisingly, the second section of the book packs a lot of action in just a mere one hundred- twenty five pages. I couldn't believe there how Riordan was able to squeeze that much things happening on in that short amount of pages. With such a cliffhanger at the end of the second section, I'm really tempted to read what happens at the end.
       As for my quote that I have chosen, I want to make a small comment on this.
"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle." "Percy, I said hello to the poodle. You say hi to the poodle."
Honestly, I was laughing a lot. After facing so many challenges that just keeps going at Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, meeting a pink poodle was just...unexpected. Apparently the pink poodle was just helping out the trio when they were a bit stuck on getting money to continue their quest towards L.A., where the Underworld lies...

Vietnamese Dessert

   I got bored and have no idea on what to blog...again. It's like writer's block but it's just the topics I'm stuck about. Luckily, mother to the rescue! With her amazing cooking skills, I decided to write about Vietnamese food once again! But I did a lot of the popular ones, so I decide to blog about Vietnamese desserts. Not hard since I eat them constantly and surprisingly, I'm not getting any cavities with the load of desserts I'm stuffing myself in. Anyways, make to the topic.
 
    Che is a Vietnamese sweet dessert soup/beverage/pudding, usually made from beans (e.g. kidney beans, mung beans, etc.) and sticky rice, served in a glass over ice and eaten with a spoon (pretty obvious). It's gelatinous and perfect for the summer. However, there are varieties where you can eat it when it's hot so it's also perfect for the winter, even though it's not exactly cold over in Vietnam, but in other locations that can be extremely cold. Personally, I think most ches include these ingredients:bananas, coconut milk, pearl tapioca, sweet yam or yucca root vermicelli and/or sugar. The most popular che that you will find every Vietnamese restaurant is Che Ba Mau, which translates to three color dessert. It consists of brown (or red) beans, yellow mung bean, and green jelly, sometimes served with coconut milk and ice, or just ice. Sometimes, it is known as Rainbow Drink/Dessert for its colors. Personally, along with Che Ba Mau, another favorite I have is called Che Dau Xanh, which translates to green bean dessert (buy really, it's mung beans). It's very simple to make, yet very delicious, and you can practically make it yourself at home (if you have the ingredients). Here's a link: Che Dau Xanh Recipe

     Other than that, there are other desserts such as Xôi, which is a sweet or savory Vietnamese dish made from glutinous rice and other ingredients. Although it is often served as a dessert, in many mountainous areas in Vietnam, people eat xôi as a main dish. I personally like my xôi to be savory, topped with Chinese sausage, fragrant friend onions, and dried shrimps..-drools- Xôi that are sweet are usually have a different color like it could be entirely orange or green. You see more sweet xôi rather than savory ones in markets, but there are some in Vietnamese sandwich shops. However, savory ones are usually made at home and is more easier to make than the sweet ones.
    One of the terms that can confuse people are that Vietnamese use the term bánh because it translates loosely as "cake" or "bread". Like xôi, bánh refers to a wide variety of sweet or savoury, distinct flavored cakes, buns, pastries, sandwiches, and food items from Vietnamese cuisine, which may be cooked by steaming, baking, frying, deep-frying, or boiling. Foods made from rice or wheat flour are generally called bánh, but the term may also refer to certain varieties of noodle and fish cake dishes.

These Vietnamese terms can get confusing, but you understand the words after them, you would know whether or not it is savory or sweet. Even if you do make a mistake, just eat it. There are a lot of kinds of Vietnamese desserts, so it doesn't hurt to try.

The Lightning Thief pt.1

Since I was unable to convince anyone from my previous group partners to read the book, I'll read this myself.The book I am reading is The Lightning Thief written by Rick Roirdan. This is a the first fantasy novel of the series. It tells a tale of a twelve year old boy named Percy Jackson, who was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia and have always cause trouble and always end up getting kicked out for strange things happening around him. After discovering his true heritage and the reason behind for all the incidents involving him, a new world opens for him. Because of his father, he is being blamed by the Zeus for stealing his prized master bolt, known for blowing Kronos up into thousand pieces and it's up to him to retrieve the master bolt in order to prove his innocence and his father, Poseidon. Now as he travels west, he is a target for mythical monsters that are supposedly come from myths and encounters other mythical and godly beings. With ten days to complete his quest before an unnecessary war breaks out, he travels with a satyr named Grover Underwood and Annabeth Chase, a fellow demigod (half god, half human) and daughter of Athena.




Of course, since it is the first novel, the first section of the book is the daily life of Percy Jackson. However, it was kind of unexpected that there would be some situation for Peter in the next couple of pages of reading. Also, right from the beginning there were some great use of Greek mythology and a new variation of a creature (possibly from the a Greek creature, the chimera) has been created. I am already hooked to this book and I only read one hundred-twenty five pages. What I wonder is will Percy figure out his heritage right after that situation or would he facing more dangers before that?



At the beginning, this is how Percy thinks about when he found out he was a demigod (half mortal, half god or in simple words: half-blood).

"Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways."

Percy can't choose to be half-blood. It chooses him. His mom tries to choose a normal life for him for years, but the situation is beyond her control. Percy's destiny is wrapped up in the fact that he is half-human and half-god. When he tells us that being a half-blood is dangerous, he is talking from the perspective of someone who has just returned from a quest. We're getting his perspective on the quest after he's completed it and is able to reflect on it.