Happy New Year!

Wherever people go,

whatever they may invent,

they will never discover 

anything better

than a family.

-Paul Gaugin

Happy New Year!!!  It's 12:30 am, and I'm ringing in year 2010 by yes, sitting in front of my computer, posting stuff on my blog (feeling nostalgic so bear with me).  I'm flying home tomorrow, and since I always seem to spend New Year's with my head in a toilet, it made sense for me to take it easy and celebrate the end of the decade at home, warm, and with the family.

It's been a wonderful two weeks.  I saw mostly everybody I wanted to see - friends, family and even my prior pet.  This is the third time I visited home, but for some reason it feels harder to leave this time.  I did a lot - went to Lena's baby shower, visited S, M & B (sounds like a circus), had dinner with Chrissy and Ju at Taksim, spent a few nights at LW's (at her request...haha), indulged in dinner at Butter and partied at Arlene's Grocery, had brunch at Il Bastardo with the girls plus Davin and Rick, went on a Dunkin Donuts date with Kathy, caught up with Jess over parma ham and lamb pappardelle pasta at the New York Times building (Montenapo is a fabulous place for lunch btw), went on a Kandinsky date with Lana at the Guggenheim, spent my last night in NYC at Tagz' apartment making dumplings until the wee hours, and enjoyed a breakfast date with Julia before the final journey home.  I also loved spending time with the family - made it out to Long Island to celebrate Christmas, ate Vietnamese food with my mum, shopped until I literally dropped at Short Hills (bad bad bad place!) and ate lots of yummy home cooked meals.  Overall, it was a fabulous trip to relax, reflect and finally spend time with my closest people.

Anyway, I'm excited to go home, but definitely a little sad.  I mentioned before that one of the hardest things when you leave home and move all the way across the world is the realization that things at home do not stop for you.  People continue on with their lives (rightfully so) and move on.  When I came back this time, I felt like all of my friends have matured, and they all grew up :).  I'm proud of all of them.  I guess this makes me realize how important it is to keep in touch with everyone and really make the effort to reach out.  I know I've been lax in this area, so I'm going to try to do a better job at this.

Well it's getting late, and I need to finish packing.  For the 2 of you who read this (haha, I know who you are!), happy new year again!!!

We share so many memories - 

both happy and sad - that we

don't have to talk a lot to know

what the other is thinking.  A look,

a sigh, a hint of a smile...that's all

it usually takes to get across a

message that says "I'm glad today,"

or "I'm sad today...bear with me."

It's comfortable and it's comforting

not to have to say a lot.

-Patricia Ziemba

'Tis the Season to be Jolly...

Fa la la la la, la la la LA!

Haha...ok I know...dork.  But I love the holidays! So who cares if I'm a dork.

Went to my Aunt Nancy's house on Christmas day.  Like any typical Chonger family gatherings, it was CHAOS!  But it was fun, and I had a great time catching up with my relatives and cousins.

Grandma Chonger!

Mama Chonger and Aunt Minnie

Cousin Ana, who did Peace Corps Africa and spent 2 years in Gambia.  Moving to China was a big deal for me but Africa is hardcore!

Aunt Nancy cooking up a storm.  Thanks for hosting us!!

Lots of things going on in this picture...not sure why nobody gave Jimmy a chair when he played the piano

Cookie the family dog

Cousin Eric and Aunt Nancy

Aunt Nancy, Aunt Tsao and Grandma

Cookie again

Dad gets a new sweater for Christmas

We also celebrated 3 bdays that night - Aunt Nancy, Aunt Tsao and Darwin.  Happy Bday!

Yesterday I hosted brunch at Il Bastardo to catch up with my New York buddies.  It was so nice to see everybody!!!!  Makes me not want to go home :(

Gloria - punctual as always and looking relaxed after her awesome honeymoon

Smiling with Mommy-to-be Lena.  Congrats Lena!!

Alpha Gloria and Alpha Amy

Latecomers Sharon and Lana...some things never change...hahah

Amy...and my Little Sis Tracy who looks like an eskimo here

Ella!

Poor Jenny was sick but she still made it out to brunch!!! 

Alpha TracerFX and Alpha Amy

The gang! L to R: Sharon, Lana, Lena, Amy X. , Jenny, Tracer, Ella, Rick, Amy H. and moi.

Miss you much!!!!  Xoxo...

Chonger Family Tradition: Dumpling Making!!

Merry Christmas!!!

While most families prepare a Christmas roast, my family, the fobs that we are, make home made dumplings during the holidays.  It's the perfect activity - everybody gathers together, you assign each person a task, we prep the ingredients, mix everything up, then sit down together to wrap!.  The wrapping stage is the perfect time to have meaningful discussions with the family or simply catch up with one another.

For those of you who always wanted to make home made dumplings, I took step-by-step photos this year.

Ingredients for Pork and Garlic Chives Dumplings (zu rou jiu cai or 猪肉韭菜):

1 Medium size head of Napa cabbage
1 ginger root (enough to make about 3 teaspoons of freshly grated ginger)
3/4 pounds of ground pork (I like the leaner kind for a healthier meal)
1 bunch of garlic chives (also known as jiu cai or 韮菜 in Chinese)
2 large eggs
1 package of dumpling skin
Sesame oil
Salt
Pepper

Dipping sauce:
Dark vinegar
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Chili oil

Servings: Makes about 40-42 medium dumplings

Ready? Here we go...

Chop the napa cabbage into thin strips

Cook the napa cabbage in boiling water until the veggies are soft.  Then drain the water

Here's an important step.  Squeeze the water out of the cabbage until it's dry.  You have to make sure the veggies don't retain too much water so the dumpling filling won't be too heavy.  This prevents the dumpling skin from breaking later on

Next - mince the garlic chives until they're finely chopped

Grate the ginger root.  I happen to love ginger so I always like to add more.  You can lessen the amount if you don't like the kick

Combine the chives with the napa cabbage and mix the vegetables together

 Add the pork and mix it up

After you mix everything up, crack an egg and add it to the mixture.  Then fold the egg into the mixture.  The egg will help hold the mixture together for the dumpling filling.  Don't forget to add sesame oil, salt and pepper to season the mixture.  If you like a little bit of spiciness, you can also add chili oil

After you mix the egg in, place the mixture into the fridge for 30 minutes.  This allows the mixture to set

Now it's time to make the dumplings!   Here's a pic of the package of dumpling skin we picked up from the market

I took a video of my mom making a dumpling.  Make sure you pleat the sides.  I like to pleat 3 on each side so the ends curve in.  Also, you need to wet the ends with water and egg white so the skin will stick together

Yumm...the finished product (almost).  Make sure you dust the dumplings with flour so they don't stick together

Now it's time to cook them!  We boiled our dumplings last night to make 水餃 (shui jiao).  You can also steam or fry them, depending on your tastes.  For the 水餃, you throw the dumplings into a pot of boiling water, and you boil them until the dumplings float and the skin starts to turn white

Add more water to the pot and wait until the dumplings boil again.  This makes sure they're thoroughly cooked on the inside and outside

Voila.  Dumplings!!  Make the dipping sauce to your liking and enjoy! 

Jetlagged...but home!

Yay! I'm finally home! It's 1:45 am right now, and I'm wide awake, but I'm happy to be home in Jersey!!! Mama Chong picked me up from the airport, and I enjoyed her home-cooked meals. Yum yum yum....now it's time to relax and catch up with old friends and family!

Procrastinating...

It's 8:45 pm. I'm suppose to be working, but I'm tired and cranky.

Time to procrastinate!

My fridge right now: peanut butter, fish sauce, fermented bean curd, chocolate cake icing, leftovers from 1 week ago and two bottles of Mylanta...yummy

Really awesome pizza from Kro's Nest

World's most pathetic meatball salad

Sleeping beauties...

Running in the Jing with Big Russell (from Up!)...hahahah...don't kill me!

I miss my long hair :(

Lurkers... (from Vy!)

AHAHAHAHAH...I LOVE this picture!!!

Ok...back to work!

Turkey Day & Hsinging with Harry

One of Mike's friends, Harry, came to visit for the holidays. Needless to say, we took him out for some good times and to celebrate Turkey Day :)

Thanksgiving Dinner at the Westin Chaoyang

Our host of the night, Ray, made up his own icebreaker - "iLeyS." Here he is, introducing his wife Dina as his "Master of the Universe." LOL

Tofu, "because his skin is as white and smooth as tofu."

The UMich crew - Miguel, Ray, Deb, Sean & Harry

The boys - Harry and Mike

Dina and I had a second Thanksgiving dinner the next night with the Beijing NYU Stern Alumni Club. When the GM of Invito, Pablo, brought out the turkey, we couldn't resist taking a picture with it (and Dina couldn't resist helping herself to a juicy piece of bacon).

Drinks at D Lounge

The Boys #2

We went out for karaoke the next night for some singing...drinking...and um, rapping. Here's Harry, Sean and Mike

Sean and his girlfriend Andrea plus Kern

Amy came out for some singing. Too bad she's leaving China and moving back home...boooo :(

A very awesome couple :)

The boys started to sing...

...and they sang...

...and sang...

...and sang...

Who knew Harry loved Hsinging (sorry, just had to put that in HAHA)?

SOMETHING had to entertain me while they sang

Some incoherent conversations towards the end of the night

Awww...good times boys...good times :)

HOPE EVERYBODY HAD A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!