Last week was the Reading Week here, which of course somehow amounts to food. (Who studies, am I right?)
On Tuesday, I ate Panda Express with my RA, which featured a nice spiciness, even if it is so obviously not *real* Chinese food. The biggest surprise was a free boba tea -- it took me a week to finish, but it was a nice chance to re-evaluate my stance! It turns out, I am fine with tapioca balls, even if they still seem a bit weird. Of all the places one could get a free boba, Panda Express was not what I expected! It was also a good chance to get to know my RA better -- we knew each other but had not spend time one on one in such a capacity.
On Tuesday, I ate Panda Express with my RA, which featured a nice spiciness, even if it is so obviously not *real* Chinese food. The biggest surprise was a free boba tea -- it took me a week to finish, but it was a nice chance to re-evaluate my stance! It turns out, I am fine with tapioca balls, even if they still seem a bit weird. Of all the places one could get a free boba, Panda Express was not what I expected! It was also a good chance to get to know my RA better -- we knew each other but had not spend time one on one in such a capacity.
Actually, there were also two potlucks this week. This inspired me to do some cooking -- I made a reddish "spanish" rice (below) on the suggestion of my mom. I tried creating a broth to cook the rice in, but it largely tasted like tomato! It was not a failure though. I learned a lot from cooking it. I also prepared some scrambled eggs (below) and some edamame. *BUT* this did heighten my stress and make me enjoy Reading Week less. I felt weighed down by the idea that my cooking was too simple -- I could do so much better.
Potluck #1 is illustrated in the next two images. This was our lab potluck, which was quite exciting with many varieties of food. Unfortunately, the pasta dish was loaded with pesto, which meant that I could not eat it. But the lasagna was quite nice. Our famous baker in the lab created a matcha cake, which smoothly blends matcha (green) with a white chocolate layer. Clearly a well done cake, but I would push its baker to work to better bring out the flavor of matcha! The distinctive flavor felt hidden away in the dish, as if we had to dig around with our taste buds. Above all else, this was a very fun social event.
One would hope that we accomplished important lab things after our potluck like writing and experiments. Instead we played the game Exploding Kittens, by the creator of The Oatmeal, for perhaps two whole hours. Though the game has some luck, it requires much skill to maintain control of the cards. I felt accomplished from winning just one game, even if I had been the first loser in a previous round. Forget poker, they should call it the Exploding Kittens Face.
Wednesday had one more surprise in store; we were running The Worst Meeting of Toastmasters Ever. A first-timer took on the lead role and simultaneously as the table topics master. But with only 6 people, all of whom had done Toastmasters before, we had to get very creative with our format. We watched a video of a GOP candidate -- his speech was infamous enough to travel the internet, but we still tried to play nice. After that we did table topics -- which are again the short impromptu speeches -- for most of the time. The hardest part of the meeting was keeping up the facade of being a bad Toastmasters meeting. I jokingly insulted our leader a few times! But at the end, I made a pivot back to seriousness and gave evaluation on the meeting as a whole. Our gimmick actually generally worked with our format, albeit simplified, and it paves the way for future experimentation. I look forward to what we can accomplish now.
Potluck #2 was also fortunately near my place -- it was in my dorm on the 14th. The same fears about potlucks persisted in my mind. What if people did not eat my dish?
I brought the spanish rice once more and edamame (below), which was a good mixture of vegetarian dishes in my view. The meat dishes tended to be pork, which is no good for me. I actually simply ate some pasta and my vegetarian dishes, opting to not eat meat. It was a good experience trying to cut down on meat consumption. It is feasible, even for me who has grown up with many meat dishes.
Potluck #2 was also fortunately near my place -- it was in my dorm on the 14th. The same fears about potlucks persisted in my mind. What if people did not eat my dish?
I brought the spanish rice once more and edamame (below), which was a good mixture of vegetarian dishes in my view. The meat dishes tended to be pork, which is no good for me. I actually simply ate some pasta and my vegetarian dishes, opting to not eat meat. It was a good experience trying to cut down on meat consumption. It is feasible, even for me who has grown up with many meat dishes.
This potluck was also followed by a fun event: karaoke. At the least, it seemed fun on the surface, until it got out of hand with a certain person going many more times than they should have. But before that point, I made a new friend, someone from China and we discussed many things about cuisine and other cultural differences. This came in handy when it was my turn for karaoke; if she had not spoken up, I may have been entirely passed over. (I think that one person was too overzealous to do karaoke, despite not being one of the best speakers). I chose "Smells Like Teen Spirit" because of the humor of the lyrics and it was absolutely fun to sing even if I felt incredibly foolish. My new friend did an Adele song, clocking in perhaps the only actually good performance. A slight accent aside, her vocal control was pretty impressive. Unfortunately, the karaoke event kind of petered out, and I ended up leaving. The worst part is the organizer may have tossed my food (since the cleaning staff had not touched it)! It was still edible. I wanted to still eat it. ;______; My spirit is perhaps most wounded by the loss of perfectly usable plastic containers.
Friday, I cooked chicken again (below), using up my leftover Panda Express Rice. This was a pretty simple dish, but I marveled at the simple yet elegant balance of spices. Imagine what I can do with more complex dishes! This kept up my cooking theme for the Reading Week.
One last point of excitement was the Edmonton Japanese Community Association event -- it celebrated its 25th anniversary on my sister's 25th birthday! I do not have much to say here, other than I enjoyed seeing Japanese culture on full display. I had been anticipating this event ever since I finished the EJCA on November 2nd. Going there was a great way to place myself back into Japanese culture. (A perfect complement to my doing the Japanese Conversational Club.)
Right after this event, I had coffee with new friends from the conversational club, I just mentioned. Admittedly, my worry over the time (The event started late) soured it a little bit in my mind. But in the end I still greatly enjoyed having both back to back.
On November 18th, I ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut (below) in an effort to remember my grandparents. Though certainly not the 'best' pizza, the crust and cheese flavor was enough to bring a sense of nostalgia and comfort over me. This is maybe my first time ordering a pizza entirely of my own volition. And I do not plan to make this a regular habit! But it was a very fun way to mix up my eating and keep myself thinking about how to improve as a cook.
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