Vacation = Catching up on reading

I’m on vacation in South America right now, and I realized that it is also a way for me to relax and finally catch up on some reading - on the flights, during wait times between transportation, on buses, etc. I just finished Richard Feynman’s book “Surely you’re joking, Mr Feynman!”, and it’s such a delightful book for me, especially I’ve known him only as a famous physicist and philosopher! It made me realize this is how mavericks and really smart scientists think - they’re inquisitive, constantly challenging rules and norms, and doing things their own way. It’s also what’s celebrated in San Francisco today, though it can get annoying when pompous people try to pretend they’re one of those mavericks and act intentionally weird/antisocial when it just comes off as creepy and annoying...

Anyway, I was reading “Surely you’re joking, Mr Feynman!” and I get to the part about Brazil - and it’s so funny that I happened to be in Brazil as well. We’re in the same city that he was in (Rio de Janeiro), at Copacabana beach exactly where he described his stay at the Miramar hotel, that hotel where I just walked past yesterday. The beaches, the streets, and the neighborhoods he mentioned - Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, etc. it’s funny that for once I know all the places he’s talking about, having just seen them so they’re real to me, fresh in my mind.

For most of the book I had been reading it as fiction and “traveling” to Alberqueque, Los Alamos, Caltech through his words, but I’m so glad that for once I can relate to exactly where and what he’s talking about! It’s such great timing hahaha...it’s just like that time I reread “A Child called It” and it turned out the setting was in Bay Area Daly City, where I’ve been and seen multiple times since I first read the book back in Singapore. That feeling of serendipity and coincidence is just amazing hahaha

Meanwhile, I’ve been traveling all around South America for the past week, and will continue for another week and a half - through nature, big cities, and some wine and dining too! I’m really excited about what I’m going to learn and discover about these culturally rich and different countries I’m visiting!

Come What May

I'm so excited!! One of my favorite movies/musicals of all time is going to Boston / Broadway!!

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/theater-arts/moulin-rouge-musical-open-boston-broadway-article-1.3605255

Here's my favorite song from the musical!

Unbelievable

This is unbelievable! I just upgraded to a newer (and faster) laptop at work, and I'm loving it! With the new Windows 10 interface (which mimics a tablet/cell phone interface, with apps, etc) and new Microsoft Office 365 Word, we're getting cool things like this function:

It's under Clarity and Conciseness, and it's amazing that they're including checks for gender-specific language, racial bias, oxford commas, passive voice, euphemisms, among other things! This is really leaps and bounds beyond my expectations lol.

Other fun updates - I celebrated Halloween last weekend with my friends, and had a really good time. I dressed up as Rey from Star Wars - The Force Awakens, which was a great costume for me since I don't like dressing up the way everyone else does in Halloween. I'm not a big fan of the stereotypes of women dressing up in sexy skimpy mini dresses with bunny ears, because all it does is perpetuate the stereotype of women having to dress sexy (and men having to dress funny/silly). It's also cold haha, so it was refreshing for me to be able to wear pants and rock the look! :D

I never really celebrated Halloween like this before, so I'm glad I had the quintessential experience here!

 Also went to Alinea in Chicago for the first time - it's my second 3-star Michelin experience and it blew my mind! It's definitely one of my 2 all-time favorite restaurants now (the other being Atelier Crenn, which I think deserves 3 Michelin stars but really has 2), and is my favorite in terms of experience! They incorporated so many elements of surprise, and subverts expectations on purpose in many ways - e.g. they put items on the table that looked like it was for food but was only for decoration, so you'd think some of the other dishes were for decoration too and NO! It turned out that those other dishes were actually cooking on your table the whole time et voila - time to eat it!

Things like that really delights the customer and brings out the playful inner child in us - I for one, did the helium balloon voice for the first time at Alinea (because they served edible helium balloons - yes go figure that). They also played with our sense of smell, sight, touch, and taste with a definite Asian fusion influence including umami and cinnamon/star anise spices. I love the food and the overall experience - I'd highly recommend it (for folks with the $$$)! They also change up the menu every once in a while so don't worry too much about spoilers haha, but I'm not going to share too many photos or you'd know what's on the menu. The whole point of Alinea is the surprise after surprise, so you're not supposed to know what comes next ;)

Edible helium balloons anyone?

Such beautiful plating and presentation - really a feast for the eyes!

I love this plating - it's just some aluminum/steel like sheet that you can crumple and folkd and play around with!

Creating dry ice over citrus fruits