Are You the Best Version of Yourself?

Posted on 14 May 2011 by christao408

While lying in a massage parlor a few blocks from home, letting someone with strong forearms unknead the knots in my back muscles, I listened to an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air with author Pete Hamill. A journalist and columnist starting back in the 1960s, Hamill also wrote novels. He was on the show speaking about his most recent book, Tabloid City, a thriller that takes place in an old-school tabloid newsroom that is struggling to deal with the digital era.

During the discussion, interviewer Dave Davies asked Hamill about a previous book he wrote, A Drinking Life, and his own struggles with drinking, which he eventually gave up cold turkey. It was Hamill’s response to the question, “What did your drinking take away from you?” that caught my attention and got me thinking.

Here’s his answer with my own added emphasis:

I was [a] very prolific journalist because I could always squeeze enough from my talent to get a newspaper piece done. What it took away from me was the courage to test the extent of whatever my talent was.
… From a professional and personal standpoint a lot of it was about trying to find out what was there as a writer. Because my ambition was not to be better than Faulkner or Hemingway or anything like that. It was to be the best version of myself that I could conceivably be.

This resonates with me because my own upbringing was very much along these lines. Both sides of my family, but particularly my mother’s side, really emphasized the idea that each of us has a responsibility to live up to our fullest potential in life.

Unlike many of my friends, whose parents expected them to follow a specific career – doctor, lawyer, engineer, etc., my parents emphasized success by pushing me to be the very best I could be, regardless of what field I chose.

To this day, when I look at my own performance I can be very critical of myself in areas where I recognize I’m not being the absolute best version of myself I could be. And, likewise, I can be very critical of others when I see that they are not making full use of their potential.

What about you? What does it mean to you, to be the best version of yourself that you could conceivably be?

Where to Buy Stickers in Bangkok

Posted on 12 May 2011 by christao408

From the innocuous “men” and “women” signs on restroom doors to the urinating cartoon Calvin on the back of many a vehicle, stickers and decals play a much larger role in the life of Bangkok residents than one may realize.

Two years ago I wrote about a taxi I was in that had the following information conveyed on its passenger door window through a series of stickers: No smoking, weapons, drinking, sex, durian, dogs, or water buffaloes allowed.

But where do these stickers come from? I don’t see sticker stores in the malls nor do I see sticker aisles at the local Big C hypermart. The answer turns out to be unsurprising: like most things of universal importance in this city of nearly ten million people, the stickers can be bought from a street vendor.

Up and down the streets, waiting at filling stations and stopping by the street food stalls where taxi drivers like to congregate, the sticker vendors drive these wagons powered by modified motorcycles, the panels of decals hanging like blinders, blocking their peripheral vision.

Upon closer inspection, some of the stickers tell a lot about the people who would buy them. There’s a popular cartoon of an Issan (northeastern Thai) boy with his pants dropped, peeing. The Playboy bunny is a popular brand here, even if the magazine is not locally available. And the classic Harley Davidson logo is popular even among the drivers of Japanese brands of scooters.

Food in BKK: Gastro 1/6 at RMA

Posted on 10 May 2011 by christao408

San Francisco, the area I come from, is a great place to eat breakfast. Since moving here more than five years ago, I’ve regretted the lack of good San Francisco-style breakfast places and if I had the money and free time, I’d probably open one myself. In the meantime, I’m glad to have recently learned about another candidate for my breakfast baht: Gastro 1/6.

Located at the RMA Institute, a gallery and art space buried deep in Sukhumvit Soi 22, Gastro 1/6 is just a small cafe, really. It is already busy on weekends and I suspect will become so popular that its charm will quickly wear off. That said, it is a charming place in a way that eludes most restaurants in Bangkok.

All the seating is in an outdoor, although covered, space that is thick with foliage and decorated with a motley assortment of chairs and tables. There is no table service – you order at the counter and pick up your own food.

The kitchen is a tiny, open affair with a limited selection of dishes. Pastries are available from Le Blanc, a local bakery that is improving the quality of baked goods available to us denizens of Bangkok. There are both breakfasty type dishes as well as specials more suitable for a lunch, making this an appealing place for brunch and those who can’t decide what they’re in the mood for.

The grounds are home to a friendly dog who greets visitors and generally manages things. We arrived at what we thought would be a bit late – about 10am – on a Sunday and were surprised to find things not very busy yet. Some other people breezed through, mostly it seemed for a quick bite and then on to whatever else was on their docket for the day.

Tawn had French toast with a side of bacon, which was very tasty. There’s a drop of syrup about to drip from the bacon on the right end of it. Caught it with the camera!

My breakfast came with a bowl of toasted bread, thin slices that definitely wouldn’t appeal to the Thai palate, which doesn’t seem to like crispy and crunchy. Perfect for me, though, who likes his bread willing to fight back a bit.

I had the traditional English breakfast, which was spruced up so nicely I barely recognized it. Scrambled organic eggs with fresh cracked pepper and sea salt, homemade baked beans and baked tomato, salad with a lovely dressing, homemade sausage, and some bacon. This was really tasty and just the perfect serving size.

Afterwards, relaxing with my latte as an English family with three adorable children decide what they want to order.

Tawn, fresh off his fashion show, looks so much more relaxed without the stress of an impending deadline looming over him.

My impression? Gastro 1/6 is a cute and satisfying choice for brunch or even pastries and a cup of coffee. Probably not the place to linger for a long time, but a good start to your morning. Cash only, closed Mondays.

Updated Fashion Show Video

Posted on 9 May 2011 by christao408

Several people told me they are having problems viewing the video I posted of Tawn’s fashion show, receiving a notice that some content is copyright EMI. I think that is a result of the first song I used, which is by the Pet Shop Boys. I’ve removed that song and stuck only with the second song. Let’s see if that works any better.

Tawn’s First Fashion Show – Full Entry

Posted on 8 May 2011 by christao408

After a year of studying fashion design at Accademia Italiana, Tawn had his first fashion show Saturday night. Here’s a look at this exciting evening.

Some of our friends who made it to the show. (From left: Per, Ko, Linda, Tawn, Fluck, and Bim) We were blessed to have more than a dozen friends show up to lend their support, with many others who sent their regards and best wishes.

Here’s a 3-minute video summarizing the evening.

The Collection

The assignment for the students was to take their inspiration from Italy, a fitting assignment given the Italian roots of the school. Tawn thought about his last visit to Italy and a trip he took to Siena. Inspired by the city and the Piazza del Campo, the fan-shaped public plaza at the heart of Siena, Tawn interpreted this shape into the skirt and the pleats which appear throughout his collection.

He used body suits with all the outfits, interpreted for women and covered in different ways to transform the looks while maintaining a cohesive theme. This being a spring/summer collection, Tawn chose lighter fabrics, primarily grey, black, and nude color silk chiffon for the outer garments with black crepe for the body suits. There is significant bead work on many pieces which give the appearance of a subtle pattern.

The story behind Tawn’s collection is of women gardening. Each model carries props that convey this story.

Look #1: Tawn’s first look is a one-shoulder body suit covered with a gauzy silk chiffon long skirt. The hem of the skirt is cut in a train with the back longer than the front.

Look #2: The body suit from the first look evolves into short pants evocative of 1950s swim wear. The blouse features a sophisticated bow and detailed hand-sewn bead work as well as black piping on the cuffs and the bow. All four models wore these custom-designed pleated ankle cuffs with black velvet ribbon.

Tawn Design 3

Look #3: An elegant hybrid of evening gown and night gown featuring pleated multi-tier skirt with black piping worn with a simple black corset body suit.

Look #4: This final look (which the picture does not do justice to) is a sleeveless nude color body suit with a rear black chiffon bow and an accompanying pencil skirt. The detailed hand-sewn bead work subtly decorates the skirt.

Tawn, fellow students, and their models pose with the director of the school for a group photo.

After the show, Tawn with his proud husband.

We returned home to a low key evening, letting all our friends head their own way and declining invitations to celebrate. Dinner was Homemade chicken and garbanzo bean enchiladas with a mole poblano sauce and a bottle of Moet Chandon champagne.

After a very long past few weeks as The Annex (as we call the adjacent condo unit which we use as an office and work room) has turned into a whirlwind of fabric, thread, accessories, and needles, the post-show stillness is eerie. The sudden lack of adrenaline coursing through our veins is like going over a cliff. Nice to have a calm and quiet Sunday afterwards with nothing to worry about.

Oh, and in case you are interested, here are some of the outfits shown by Tawn’s classmates:

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Behind the Scenes – Tawn’s First Fashion Show

Posted on 7 May 2011 by christao408

It’s Saturday afternoon here in Bangkok and Tawn’s first fashion show, in which he’s participating after only two semesters of studying fashion design – begins in less than three hours. I’ve spent a good portion of the day at Paragon mall, helping him get everything loaded in and documenting the process in the hopes that years from now where he’s a famous designer and they need to do a retrospective of his work, I’ll have some pictures they can use.

Just returned home to freshen up a bit before heading back to take pictures and video of the show. Here are some sneak peak behind the scenes photos:

Tawn organizes outfits as models (mostly Russian) chat.

Lots of “hurry up and wait” during the rehearsals.

After final dress rehearsal there is chaos backstage as designers make adjustments. Here, Tawn, assisted by another student, adds padding to the model’s shoes so they fit better.

Pictures and video in the next day or so. Stay tuned!

Visualizing Relationships

Posted on 6 May 2011 by christao408

People relate to data in different ways. I’m very much a visual learner and putting data in charts, graphs, or other sorts of illustrations help me understand, absorb, and put the information into context. I’ve also found it useful to track data that is important to me. Many people use tools like this – think of exercise logs to keep track of your progress towards fitness goals. Several companies now provide software solutions that make it easier for people to tabulate whatever it is they want to tabulate, then turn it into graphs and charts.

Recently, I tried out an application from TouchGraph, a New York-based company that specializes in visualization tools and they created this Facebook application as an experiment to demonstrate the capabilities of their technology. Other companies that provide other visual relationship applications include LinkedIn and Daytum.com. After entering your username and password – TouchGraph accesses your information only with your permission – they application generates a variety of charts to map the relationships of your Facebook friends.

Here are thumbnails of increasing numbers of my Facebook friends, from my 100 “top friends” on the left (no explanation on what constitutes a “top friend” in TouchGraph’s scheme of things) to all of my more than 600 Facebook friends on the right. I’m fascinated to watch how the groupings make small shifts as more people, and thus more relationships, are factored into the graphic.

I also found it interesting just to observe how these relationships are mapped out. Using the 300 friends setting, I found nine primary identifiable groups from which my relationships arise. AMC Theatres was my first real job after being a newspaper delivery boy and I continued working with the company through university and even for several years after. Needless to say, a lot of my connections were made there.

One area that is missing is a significant number of friends from post-secondary school. I changed schools twice en route to my degree, and only lived on campus for six months total, so my number of university friends is less than a dozen.

What’s also interesting to me is the California-centric nature of my contacts! No surprise, I suppose, given that I grew up in the Bay Area and lived in Southern California several times. But everyone to the left and above the dashed line is pretty much in California or else that’s where I originally knew them.

Anyhow, that’s more than you probably wanted to know about my life. I found it interesting, though.

Another Inside Job

Posted on 4 May 2011 by christao408

Last week I finally made the time to watch Inside Job, the Academy Award winning 2010 documentary about the recent financial crisis. The film does an effective job of clearly explaining the complex series of factors that led up to the crisis, including a headlong rush into deregulation of the financial services industry as well as the creation of ever more complex and risky financial tools. The root of the problem, though, was the revolving door between government and business and the corrupting influence of money on both.

Needless to say, my blood was boiling after watching the film. You can imagine the effect, then, when I learned that on Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee passed three bills that will cripple the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one of the most important innovations in the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law that was a response to the conditions exposed in Inside Job.

(Details on the three bills are here, if you’d like to read them: HR 1121, HR 1667, HR 1315 on OpenCongress.org – a great non-partisan resource to keep tabs on what your Congress is up to.)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a simple and reasonable purpose: to shield consumers from unfair, misleading, and deceptive lending. While we can rail on and on about people getting themselves into bigger loans than they could afford, a large share of the blame (if not the majority of it) belongs to lending companies that made loans they knew the borrowers couldn’t afford. If you’ve ever looked at the fine print of a lending contract, a credit card agreement, or any other consumer financial services legal document, you know that it is unclear and opaque even for the most educated of consumers.

The purpose of the Republican bills is to deprive the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of the power to fulfill its mission. Oh, and the fact that they stand to attract a lot of campaign money from financial firms by indicating their willingness to gut laws that protect consumers? Well, that’s probably a motivating factor, too.

As much as I love the idea of free markets and unfettered capitalism, I think there is a place for regulation: when an industry’s actions causes harm to the larger society. Especially in regards to the financial industry, we’ve seen over the last thirty to forty years that as it becomes less regulated, it takes greater and more irresponsible risks. Ultimately, it is the taxpayers of this nation who end up bailing out the shareholders of these companies.

I don’t know if this is an issue that bothers you. I try to keep this blog apolitical, but sometimes I think something of concern is worth sharing. If you’re so motivated, perhaps a quick email to your Representative and Senators to let them know your thoughts about gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would help ensure that the voice of the citizenry gets heard over the sound of all that money.

Here’s the email I sent to Kevin Yoder, my Representative:

Dear Sir:
This week, the House Financial Services Committee voted to approve three measures that would considerably weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I want you to know that as your constituent, I would like you to VOTE NO on these measures, if and when they reach the floor of the House.
It seems that our politicians have forgotten how we got into the financial mess of 2008. As much as I like free markets, the financial services industry is incapable of policing itself and needs stronger, not weaker, regulation. This is particularly true of consumer finance, where every effort is made by financial institutions to be as opaque as possible in an effort to entrap consumers in a web of bad decisions.
Again, I’d like you to vote in favor of consumers rather than in favor of the financial industry and monied interests. VOTE NO on any reforms or weakening of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Regards,
Chris

Caramel Rice Flan

Posted on 4 May 2011 by christao408

One recipe that caught my eye a week or so ago while browsing the New York Times’s website was Caramel Rice Flan. This egg-enhanced rice pudding is made with risotto rice, giving it a nicer “toothy” feel when you eat it. The best part is the homemade caramel which lines the bottom of the souffle dish, subsequently becoming the sauce for the flan when it is flipped upside down and unmolded onto a serving dish. I decided to try the recipe for dinner last Friday at Ko and Per’s place, where Tawn and his girlfriends gathered to watch the royal wedding.

The recipe takes about an hour of active time to prepare and then around two hours to bake. After that, it needs at least six hours in the refrigerator so it really is a “make today for tomorrow” sort of dessert. Ingredients include arborio rice (one of the types you use for risotto), milk, cinnamon sticks, ground cardamom, lemon zest, cardamom pods, cream, eggs, egg yolks, salt, and sugar.

The recipe said it serves 8-10 but looking at it, it appeared to be a big recipe so I cut it in half.

The recipe is moderately complex, requiring several saucepans, a few bowls, and a strainer. Helpful to have everything prepared in advance and maybe even an extra pair of hands along the way. The first step is to simmer the rice in boiling water for about 15 minutes to start cooking it.

You then drain the rice, then add it to a medium saucepan with most of the milk, the cinnamon, and ground cardamom, bringing it to a boil and then lowering the temperature and simmering it for 30 minutes, cooking until the rice is very tender.

Any unabsorbed milk is poured off and then the rice is put in the bowl and lemon jest is stirred in.

You then make the custard, cooking the rest of the milk, the cream, and the cardamom pods. While that is coming to a simmer, in a separate bowl you whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, and part of the sugar.

When the milk comes to a simmer, you temper the eggs by adding the milk and cream mixture to it a little at a time, whisking constantly. This keeps the eggs from scrambling.

You then strain the mixture back into the pan, discarding the cardamom and any bits of egg that scrambled. Next, stir in the rice.

This was the point where I felt like too many things were going on at one time and the recipe would be easier if a second set of hands was helping. That way elements of the dish could come together simultaneously.

The next step was to make the caramel, heating the remaining sugar and a little water in a saucepan until it boils and starts to caramelize. I think I had the heat too high because it burned a bit, leaving the caramel with a slightly bitter taste. Must remember to be gentle when making caramel, something I have little experience doing.

The caramel is poured into the buttered souffle dish and quickly swirled around the sides before it starts to cool. This was easier said than done! Then, pour the rice and custard mixture on top.

The souffle dish is placed in the middle of a baking pan and boiling water is filled about halfway up the side of the pan. This water bath helps the custard cook more evenly, instead of the outsides cooking too fast and the inside still being uncooked. Cover the pan with foil, making some small slits in the corners of the foil for steam to escape.

Pop it into a 300-degree oven for about 2 hours, checking after 90 minutes. Try to use a better bending technique than I did as I was just begging for a strained back.

Since I had a half recipe I failed to anticipate that the cooking time would be less. When I checked at about 1 hour, 40 minutes the flan was a bit more solid than desired.

Remove and allow to cool. At this point when I shook the dish it didn’t jiggle very much. The idea would be just a little jiggling in the center when it comes out of the oven, as it will continue to cook for several more minutes. Once cool, cover the flan with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.

The real moment of truth was how well it would unmold. You set the souffle dish in a larger pot with hot water in it for about 20 minutes, letting the caramel melt again and then loosening the edges of the flan. Invert it onto a serving dish. Expecting a potential disaster (after all, the recipe warns of this possibility), I decided to film it for posterity.

And the result is….

Quite pleasant to look at, actually. Not quite as beautiful as the picture illustrating the Times’ article, but they probably had a better set-up for photography.

The texture was like a pretty thick rice pudding, a little eggy but not overly so. The caramel was burned, there was no getting around the bitter flavor. I attribute it to making a half-recipe, which is so little that in even my smallest saucepan, overheating was a risk. Next time, maybe I’ll add a dollop of butter at the end to tame it a bit.

All in all, though, it was a nice dessert. I’m going to try it again soon at the full recipe and see how it turns out.

Singapore Light Rail and New Urbanism

Posted on 2 May 2011 by christao408

During a March visit to Singapore, I decided to ride the subway out to the nether reaches of the island to visit the light rail lines. Singapore has three light rail lines that form four loops connecting to stations in the rail-based public transit network. They were built with the express purpose of serving master-planned housing estates, giving residents a door-to-door rail service that allowed them to get around without increasing road-based traffic.

The light rail itself is clean and efficient, with the automated cars running regularly on elevated tracks that weave between housing towers. Below is a video that overviews my experience on the system, including a startling discovery I made about how technology is used to solve a perhaps unforseen privacy problem.

Matters of urban planning and design have always interested me and for a short while in university I was an urban planning major. Examples of transit-oriented land use, like the developments that surround the light rail lines in Singapore, make me think about ways that similar lessons could be applied in the United States.

A country with a plentitude of land, since World War II development in the US has been oriented towards the automobile, resulting in more and more sprawl and fewer and fewer neighborhoods where one can walk from home to anywhere useful. With rising fuel prices and ever-increasing congestion on the roads, it amazes me that there has been continued resistance not only to public transit, but transit-oriented development.

There are a few examples in the United States of what is sometimes called “New Urbanism”, a design philosophy that promotes more walkable and transit-friendly neighborhoods that include mixed use buildings – shops, businesses, and residences in the same general area. Not unlike traditional older neighborhoods in an urban environment, there are small shops on the main streets, some apartments overhead or in the surrounding blocks, and then single-family dwellings set further back. Orenco Station, a neighborhood in the Portland, OR area is a good example of this type of planning.

(Comparing the “suburban sprawl” photo earlier in this entry with the master plan for Orenco Station, you’ll notice that suburbia has a lot of dead-end streets, which means there’s always a long way to go to get out of the neighborhood.)

Some defining elements of this new style of development include:

The neighborhood has a discernible center. This is often a square or a green and sometimes a busy or memorable street corner. A transit stop would be located at this center.
Most of the dwellings are within a five-minute walk of the center, an average of roughly ¼ mile or 1,320 feet (0.4 km).
There are a variety of dwelling types — usually houses, rowhouses, and apartments — so that younger and older people, singles and families, the poor and the wealthy may find places to live.
At the edge of the neighborhood, there are shops and offices of sufficiently varied types to supply the weekly needs of a household.
An elementary school is close enough so that most children can walk from their home. There are small playgrounds accessible to every dwelling — not more than a tenth of a mile away.
Streets within the neighborhood form a connected network, which disperses traffic by providing a variety of pedestrian and vehicular routes to any destination. The streets are relatively narrow and shaded by rows of trees. This slows traffic, creating an environment suitable for pedestrians and bicycles.
Parking lots and garage doors rarely front the street. Parking is relegated to the rear of buildings, usually accessed by alleys.

As I look at these design elements, I see of list of things that have a whole lot of “pros” and very few, if any, “cons”. While the US will never go the route of Singaporean style land use – there’s no comparable acquiesence to the wisdom of the government, for starters – it does seem that a more comprehensive approach to land use would benefit the United States and our quality of life in the decades to come.

Further reading: Interesting blog entry titled “Five Causes of Suckiness in American Architecture“.