A Tempura Lunch: Part II

The sequel, titled 'Lunch with 'B'esley'
Staring: Ken, Beth, Jennifer and Wesley (aka 'B'esley)

(once again the conversation takes place over email as the group decides where to have their last lunch together before 'b'esley heads back to the states for school, and beth for vacation)

Ken: Hi Beth and Jennifer, are you guys free to meet 'b'esley for lunch tmr (Wed)?

Beth: I think so. I've been busy at work, and with it being the last day before vacation you never know how much they'll want me to handle before I leave, but let's plan on it...Were we should go? Not too tiny sandwiches? Big burritos? Tempura, and hope for the leaf again?

Ken: wes is coming to meet us downstairs @ 12:20. yesterday jennifer has reserved us a table in the jap restaurant @ 12:30 in case we decide to go there. beth yesterday i went wif sum interns, one of them did order veg tempura... still no magical leaf =( so it'z yr last day be4 vacation beth!!!!! =D

Beth: true, true, last day... And I am ready... Are you on your new project yet? It is very sweaty today... Were do you think Wes would want to go? Maybe we should take him to Grappas, for one last squid ink dish... or tempura, whatever he would like...

Ken: he once said he wanna go to tsui wah (the cantonese one)...but hmmm dunno..well if we r goin maybe we shud leave earlier... (i say @ 12)....or it wud be juz too crowded, shud i call wes now to c which one he prefer? (grappas, jap, tsui wah?)

Beth: Yea why don't u call him. If he decides on the canto place (in LKF??) the taxi will be on me, no can walk in humidity that far, I sweat sooo much this morning -and ask if 12 is too early or when he can be here...

Ken: after putting all factors into consideration, Jap is wes' choiceeeee i think he did take beth's concerns of walking and beth's eagerness to try out the leaf into his decision-making process =)so we'll meet downstairs @12:20, then i cant wait till dat ... i m hungry nowwwww @~@"

Beth: How nice of Wesley to consider me... I am reminded of just why I go to lunch with him...Yes, I am on a quest for the leaf now. They served it only once as a token of my being with Jennifer who knows the hostess, and I didn't eat it and they were spurned. Never again will I be honored with it due to my unforgivable behavior.. Either that, or, the leaf accidently dropped into the temp. batter and they decided to go with it... I may never know... was it to honor or disrespect me, who knows...

[Beth, Ken and Jennifer then proceed to Japanese restaurant to meet 'b'esley. Jennifer proceeds to question why Beth never trys anything new. Yet Beth still orders tempura, however again, it is served without 'the' leaf. Ken and 'b'esley proceed to debate whether Taiwanese, Singaporeans or Hong Kong or Japanese girls are most attractive. Ken says Taiwanese, Besley prefers Japanese. Group proceeds to pose for picture which may be posted here later.]

Us, Last Sunday

Wanted to share these cute pics taken while we sat in Starbucks in the 'Festival Walk' shopping arena in Kowloon Tong last weekend.

Note: family, when we arrive next week, Nick's hair will be less scruffy and my my eyebrows less bushy... he he - Very excited to see you all in person soon...

Wish List

Because many of our family and friends have asked for gift ideas, here are a few easy to ship, yet hard to find in Hong Kong items. Always best to be aware of the weather (temperatures) when shipping certain items however for the most part there should be no complications and items should reach us (using regular US mail) in 8-12 days.

M&M's, Peanut or Peanut Butter (in treat size bags)
Any Reeses PB items: Fastbreak, Pieces, Fun Size Cups
Crystal Light 'OnTheGo' in Fruit Punch, Raspberry Ice, Raspberry Lemonade

Clorox Anywhere Hard Surface Spray (reg or mini size)
Lavender Linen/Pillow Mists
White Sport Socks (Nick)
Gap Tank Tops -Regular Length, any color (Size Med, Beth)
ITunes Gift Cards

LAST UPDATED: Sunday December 2nd 2007

My First Short Play

'A Tempura Lunch,' a short play, which tells a true story, by Beth Nordberg featuring: Wesley, Ken, Beth (and Jennifer)

Scene One:
Wesley and Ken begin talking about lunch plans...

Ken: wht shud we hv for lunch ah dai lo?
Wesley: ngay shi yu wen jennifer-ahh toong beth-ahhh
Ken: asked them alrdy?
Wesley: what'd they say?
Ken: nooooo i hvnt asked them yeti was askin u if u hv asked them
Wesley: not yet. let me ask you to ask them because you're a better asker. ask.

Scene Two:
Ken invites Beth and Jennifer to lunch

Ken (to Jennifer and Beth): Hi Beth and Jennifer,"lunch today?" asked Wesley and Ken. -kEn

Beth: Well, sounds good, but I need convincing. It is so awful hot out these days I only go out for emergencies. I mean I'd rather ride the escalator for an hour than sweat that much...So I need to know where and whether I can take a taxi and when stepping outside it be in the restaurant within 20 seconds (high maintenance, huh?). Unless of course you can convince me the weather isn't as bad as it was last week. I haven't been out at lunch for awhile...

Wesley: beth, honestly its not that bad out today! this morning wasn't very hot at all. thank god for clouds. come out!

Ken: yeaaa today is actually da best so far this weekkkkkkhaha at least my back wasnt as wet as last couple daysssssss -KEN

Beth: Ok, now I'm really going to sound spoiled, but uh, since I don't speak Canto - will you help me order 'customized' tempura? I liked it but I am picky about which veggies they give me. If I asked for only potatoes, carrots, squash, zuchini do you think they'll do it? I wasn't keen on the fried leaf nor the mushroom with antenna. AND - Can we leave here at 12? I am hungry already...We'll see if you still want me to join now...

Wesley: Beth, you are totally missing out on the magical properties of the mystery leaf. Unfortunately I can't help you out with this Canto, I'm sure Jennifer and Ken can, though!

Ken: dun mind leavin @ 12 i'm starvin haha...that little tiny mango cake juz does not satisfy me...and yea we can help u ask them not to gv u the mystery leaf nor da mushroom so COMEEEE but we may need Jen to change the reservation timeeee if we r goin @ 12

Beth: You are too funny Wesley, but i mean, are there no limits to what might end up on my plate here? What's next eggrolls filled with grass? I don't see it being necessary to be culinarily adventurous when I have several things I really like and am not sick of... Ok, still very hungry... Btw, Ken see attached custom tempura order.

Wesley: That is quite hard to believe. especially since the leaf doesn't taste like anything! beth, you are shunning its medicinal properties, and letting its appearance get to you. i bet if we blindfolded you and told you it was a fried potato chip you wouldn't know the difference.. and you'd probably like it! yes its odd, but japan is an island and they probably ran out of things to cook, so, you know, leaves don't sound so bad then, do they?

Beth: Wesley - you are right, the leaf is probably fairly harmless and might taste like a potatoe chip... I have revised my order, see attached.

Ken: Oh my, Wesley you got Beth to try the leaf.

THE END

I enjoy being rescued, but...

I think every woman wants to be a damsel in distress at some point in her life. Not that she wants to invite more distress—but rather, if life is going to introduce twists and turns complicating this or that—why not be rescued or atleast aided by a (assumed burly) man; which of course is what being a ‘damsel’ is all about.

The trouble with this ‘fantasy’ is that it requires the rescuer to be capable of rescuing. (Ok, ok, my male readers, don’t take offense just yet, keep reading) I would think it above my head to begin rambling on the modern woman and her liberations from historical expectations but I think I can safely say life for the average woman is quite different today than say 30, 40, or more years ago, some changes postive and some not so.

Today’s women are by default expected to master the home including: cooking, cleaning, ordering, buying, decorating--and should that all be complete--don’t dare sit down for tea before washing out the can which holds all said garbage removed in tending to your abode. (which btw cleaning out the garbage can is a task that single-handedly reminds me how relentless adulthood is) and in addition to the home there is the office and the children on which we must be experts, perfecting our efforts with each.

But back to the (assumed tall and handsome) rescuer…

Today while running on the treadmill I managed to send my locker key flying resulting in a small pinging noise which indicated it did in fact land somewhere, though not within my sight.

I stopped the mill and began scouring to the left, to the right, behind and under the treadmill. I started the belt to ensure the key hadn’t lodged in it, but to no avail it appeared it was not located in the machinery.

It was at this point my blood-pressure reached a level which quite often results in utterances such as ‘Crap’ or ‘Fudge’ or ‘NO!’ or ‘What the heck!?!’ and in an effort to ensure attention to the problem I sprinted over to the ‘Personal Trainer Desk’ asking the one (male) occupant to assist in moving the equipment so I could better search the floor.

After re-explaining the situation which seemed to be my only hope in getting the supposed ‘athlete’ off his a$$ he began making his way to where I had been running. He looked left, right, and checked the belt.

After what might have been 90 seconds, which in my book is an absolute ETERNITY in a situation like this, I knew what I had known even before asking for his help; this was just one more problem meager Beth, all on her own, was going to have to solve.

Despite being in public I resolved I would have to cave and in-effect kiss the floor allowing complete perusal of all space in and around the machine. My humble act turned out to be just the ticket as I quickly spotted the key under the neighboring mill and hastily moved to swoop it up.

Being courteous I thanked him (for doing nothing) and resumed my workout. Sure the problem was solved, but why, oh why, does it always seem to turn out this way? I am not good at many things, but I seem to be a fairly good investigator-slash-problem solver and this has resulted, time and time again, in my not being a good candidate for rescuing as before any possible help can be given I've determined a more efficient means having become un-impressed with the skills of the 'assistant' in question.

So many times I am left to fend for myself as my requests for help fall on the ears of men not capable of helping me step over a twig, let alone assisting in a quandry of 'intermediate' proportions.

Lest you take this as a slap on Nick, be assured that I am lucky, and grateful that he and I are conveniently good at tasks of opposite types resulting in him very often 'rescuing' me. But alas, there are, not surprisingly, very many moments where he is not around and I am limited to aid from the nit-wits that make up roughly half of the public population.

If you take this as a bitter diatribe on men, so be it. Being one who has appreciation for things tall and handsome I will likely soon forget all about today's well learned lesson in helping myself--but for now--men of the world, be reminded to atleast once in awhile succeed in the art of damsel spotting and problem fixing, and no that doesn't mean I'm willing to wait an extra-long 5 more minutes as you try...

The 'Good for 15 minute solitaire games' model

Our computer takes a long time to cook. And by cook I mean start-up. From the time I push the 'go' button on the dogarn thing it's gonna be another 6-8 minutes before I can surf the net... Not that I actually surf really, it's more like wading seeing as how I pick one site and tend to stay there.

But in any case this thing is tremendously mediocre. I suppose I only have myself to blame when clearly all e-consumer pages give this model an F in heftiness and a Z minus when it comes to basic ability to do anything outside smashing your garlic cloves.

Quite often this supposed 'technical tool' decides all on it's own it's finished for the day and spontaneously shuts down--no wait, spontaneous shut down would be too convenient--rather it prefers to shut down say at minute 40 of a 50 minute video clip or at paragraph 6 of an intended one-page story.

Right about now some of you may be thinking, "but you posted this post, your computer can't be that bad..."

"Screw/hammer/nail that." I say. "Fine with me if you stop reading here and go finish knitting that fuzzy pink cover for your sudoku book."

Maybe if I had time enough to knit covers for my word and number game books I wouldn't be so harsh on this here pc which seems to lack any work ethic.

But in any case.

Mind you the spontaneous shut down has nothing to do with a lack of access to a power source. This thing isn't a happy camper even when plugged into an outlet; and when not plugged in it stays on for about a nano-second, which of course has led me to believe there simply isn't enough competition in the laptop battery sector of the world.

I suppose you could argue this overweight placemat is competitive in some ways. Runners are always trying to run faster, this thing, always trying to shut off sooner. I suppose I have it to thank, I otherwise would have no real idea of just how short a nano-second is.

Well, I think no further explanation is needed on why I must end the post here in hopes of seeing this draft make it to the web, especially as the pc is making sounds, the ones that indicate it's crankier than usual...

Happy Birthday

July is a very busy birthday month. Here is my shout out to Jessica, Janelle, Bethany and Nick. Hope you guys enjoy your cake, gifts, dinners--all that!

Sheng-ri Kwai le! (Happy Birthday)