What's Up in the Sky?

The SF Bay Area was treated to some spectacular sunset every night for several weeks from September to October this year.

Sun sets every night.  We just take it as part of life - like sunrise and moon phases - and don't think much of it.  However, not every sunset stops people dead on their tracks like the ones we had recently.  Thanks to beautiful cloud formations to reflect the sun rays, the sky offered us gorgeous display of light and colors.  People just stopped what they were doing and stared at the sky.  I did the same.  What a treat!

It was visually powerful and took my breath away.  No words.  Just appreciate.

This is a wonderful world.

On the Road Again

  

(The view from my office window)

After eight and a half years with my current employer, I've decided to move on.  My last day with Paul Capital will be tomorrow, April 30, 2015.

It has been a fun ride with PCA.  I started at the time of its boom.  I had a chance to learn about hiring in this mega $$$$$ earning field.  The compensation package design was an eye-opening experience for me.  But hey, I got used to it.  After all, we are in the investment services business where transactions are valued in hundreds of millions and/or billions of dollars.  I got a chance to dive into international HR.  That was such a valuable experience and the best knowledge I picked up from this gig.  I trained myself not to impose US labor standards onto other country's labor practices.  Some country's labor laws are actually more stringent than the US.  I had a kick learning to appreciate Brazil's pro-labor compensation to employees (yes, love those vacation allowances) and HK's 20 some-odd public holidays per year.  UK is stingy but sure loves their regulated paid leaves.  And if you work in France, considered yourself one of the luckiest workers in the world!

After eight and a half years, I got restless and felt plateaued out.  Although I'm over the hill (age wise), I still feel like an Energizer Bunny.  There is still so much to learn and absorb.  I wanted a change.  JOB GOD must have heard me and dropped an opportunity on my lap -- literally.  A recruiter, whom I met last year, called me out of the blue regarding a Director level HR opportunity.  I met with seven folks and they offered me the position within two weeks.  It happened quite suddenly.  I had to make a decision very quickly whether I was really ready to leave this comfy zone and venture into the land of unknowns in the name of promotion.  Decisions.  Decisions.  Decisions.  At the end, I decided that going out there is the right direction for me.

What's ahead of me?  Who knows!  That's the challenging part that keeps me going.  What's at the next turn?  What's up ahead?  We will find out when I'm on the road again.

Wish my luck peeps!

Reminiscing...

Last month (February 2015), both my brothers had a chance to go back to Taiwan to visit the family.  Jason took Jennifer, Brandon, Carli and Justin for the very first time.  James and Karen went back for the first time as a married couple.

Their schedules were different but they managed to meet up and visited some relatives together.  So precious!!  Our family hasn't seen so many WUs at once for so long.

Of course, they all went back to Tainan to visit grandma's house.  That's the big old house that mom's family resides and has housed at least four generations of KO kids over time.  Mom was one of the kids.

Mom's parents had lived and raised their children in this huge house.  It was big enough to house my grandparents and their eight children (later, the addition of grandchildren at various times), employees (back in the old days, employees were live-ins) and the housekeepers.

The big house went through some built-outs as my grandparents' family grew.  The place I remember is 5 stories high (the 5th level is a roof garden) with an open terrace on each level.  The house also has three ground level courtyards.  The grandparents used to occupy the living quarter in the very back.  We had to walk through the front section of the house, the courtyard, the main living room, the second courtyard, the kitchen and dining room, another courtyard to get to their bedroom.  For a kid, it's a long way to get to grandma's room.

Oh, and I remembered for a while, the last courtyard also had a chicken coop. Grandma used to tell me to go pick up fresh eggs in the mornings so she could make me a warm glass of almond-egg-milk.

The front courtyard opens all the way to the top.  People can look down from above or scream up from below.  When people were too lazy to walk down the stairs to get something, they would lower a basket, ask the folks below to put it in then pull it up.  Yap, a rudimentary dumbwaiter for the lazies.  

This picture was taken by James from the 4th floor terrace.  Each level comes equipped with a kitchenette and bathroom.  The levels can be occupied as independent units but stairwells and hallways connect them top to bottom and front to back.  We can get to the same point from different routes.  A well thought out design. Most importantly, there are enough bathrooms, but one just had to get to one especially when in a hurry.

During summer and winter breaks, bunch of us kids would be sent to grandma's house - just like summer camps but more fun because we got spoiled!!  The kids had the whole house to explore and so many places to play hide and seek.  The house was not child proof but there was never an accident with kids running, chasing, sliding, jumping, climbing... 

The back of the house was not remodeled as much as the front end when I was a kid.  The kitchen that I remembered had an "old style" wood stove and a wood burning water heater for the bathroom in the back.  I remembered we all had to take turn manning the water heater at bath time.

I remembered meal time was always like party time.  Sleeping time was like slumber party every night.  We sometime would just gather at the court yard during hot summer afternoons for snacks and for story time with grandma or with our aunts and uncles.  It's always nice and breezing in the court yard.   Sometime, the adults would ask the street food vendors to bring their carts in.  The vendors were always happy to do so because their food cart would be cleaned out at one stop, then they could wrap up and go home for the day.  Oh, the sweet memories!!

"Going to Grandma's House!"  - Although I only got to do that every year for the first 9 years of my life - and only a few more times up to now - it is still a very special place and I still reminisce with my brothers.  I am very happy that James and Jason got to visit, and I am so glad that Brandon, Carli and Justin got to see a part of our childhood.  Jason noted that, as in tradition, Justin stuck his head between the railings just like so many of us did when we were kids.

Our grandma's house is our very own Neverland.

So I am Now a Statistics

About 1,000 wallets and purses get stolen every 2 minutes in the U.S according to www.answers.com.  Well, my wallet was one of them yesterday.

Sometime between going to work in the morning and coming out from the gym during lunch yesterday, my wallet was stolen.  My car was broken into before and things stolen before, but never anything as personal as my wallet.  And just to think, someone actually reached into my bag to take out the wallet.  Ugh!!

At about the same time that I discovered my wallet missing, I started getting fraud alerts from credit card companies and my bank.  Thanks to modern technology, credit card companies and banks know that certain transactions just don't make sense on my accounts.  $600 at Armani.  $400 at Victoria Secrets.  $400 at Timberland.  $400 at Walgreens.  Hello?

When I saw these fraudulent transactions popping up on my online accounts, I wondered what were the thieves thinking, or maybe they weren't thinking at all.  How could they boldly and shamelessly use somebody else's credit card/money like it was theirs?  Oh I forgot, criminal minds.

When did it happen?  How did it happen?  It didn't really matter because the end result was the same.  Someone tried to go on a shopping spree on my dime.

Of course, I took all the steps to contain damage.  Top concern is the loss of my driver license.  My poor little driver license is out there somewhere.  Is it being tossed?  Is it in somebody's pocket?  Is someone trying to be me?

Losing my wallet is one thing (and I did my share of that).  Having it stolen is quite another because the latter comes with a criminal intent.  It is out of my control (ok, so maybe I could have safeguard it better), and I feel sad and violated.  Angry is not even the right word to describe how I feel.  I am very sadden to have experienced the ugly side of us humans.

Oh, I do want to note that I have also experienced the best side of humans - I had my lost wallet returned to me more than 5 times.  I have found and  returned lost items to others as well.  Isn't that the right thing to do??  Why can't there be more of the good stuff?  Why can't there be more considerations for others?  Thieves, do you really get a great joy from stealing other people's stuff?

So, yesterday was a sucky day for me.  I joined the stolen wallet victims club.

Goodwill Hunting - IV

Once again, another great find at Goodwill.  This time, I found a gorgeous casserole among a pile of pots and pans.  I wasn't curious at first.  I just wanted to pull it from underneath so it wouldn't get crushed.  I had a big surprise when I retrieved it.  It was a well made ceramic casserole with a pretty matching lid.  It was in mint condition and had a company mark on the bottom.

I was very happy to get it for $3.99 to add to my kitchen collection and I made a note to check out the mark.

The story a mark can tell!!  It turned out that this casserole was made by John B. Taylor Company, a well known ceramic maker in Louisville, Kentucky.  The company has been around since 1815 and was sold to Louisville Stoneware in 1970.  The company is still in operation, and most of the vintage designs are still in production today.

The mark on the casserole indicated that this was a piece that was made sometime between 1960 and 1970.  Here are some clues (learned from Googling):

• The John B. Taylor mark indicated that this casserole was produced before the company was sold to Louisville Stoneware, so it predated 1970.
• "Made in the U.S.A." was added after 1954.  If you see a JB Taylor ceramic without it, then you know it is an old piece.
• The pattern "Harvest" was introduced in 1954 -  mine said "Harvest".
• The pattern title was added to the mark in the 1960s, so mine was produced during the 60s.  Geez, it's as old as me!!

Isn't this cool?  This is why I love rummaging in thrift stores.   I never know what history lessons I will learn from the things I pick up.

Intrigued?  Visit your local thrift stores and check out the stuff.  Some of them may have a story to tell you.

Happy thrifting!!

The Story of the Rabbit Hole Cafe @...

My friends know that I like to cook because I bombard them with pictures of my food (and other people's food) on Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, emails, text messages, etc... and they put up with me.

My family knows that I like to cook because I make them eat my food.  Come over and try this.  Take this home.  Let me know how you like it.  Do you want more?? .... and they oblige.

Some folks say maybe I should open a restaurant.  I say NOPE because I only like the cooking part and not the running/managing part.  Besides, I am not a creative cook.  I don't create recipes.  There are many recipes out there written by great food people and I'm perfectly happy trying them out - maybe improvising here and there.  Basically, I am a copycat.  Moreover, it would be a great cheat if I open a restaurant with other people's recipes.

Still though, I like the idea of giving my cooking an identity.  I want to give it a name.  How about...

• Sut's Kitchen?  Boring!!
• The Kitchen Lab on Berta?  Sounds clinical.
• Berta Cafe?  Nah!
• Rabbit Hole on Berta?  Hmmm... some potential

After few months of part-time brainstorming, something that has to do with rabbit seems to stick,  I like rabbits because I was born in the year of Rabbit and I like anything bunnies.  I like the name Rabbit Hole because it reminds me of clever Bugs Bunny poking his head out from the hole.  It also reminds me of the old Chinese saying, "A clever rabbit always has three holes (hiding places)."

So Rabbit Hole Cafe is it!!  When I cook at home, I call it Rabbit Hole Cafe @ Berta.  When I cook at Robert's, I call it Rabbit Hole Cafe @ Club Jo Lin.  You see, my Rabbit Hole Cafe is virtual.  It's imaginary.  It's cooking at-will.  It's about having fun and enjoying the moment.

Early this morning, a light bulb came on in my head while I was still half asleep.  A logo image came to mind. I grabbed a paper and scribbled this:

What do you think?  I thought it's kind of clever turning "bb" into rabbit ears.  I took a picture and sent to Robert.  Look honey, I'm doing your job!!  Robert liked the idea.  Ha!  That was expert opinion!!  YES!

I later got creative.  I revised my little line art to have the rabbit head poking out from the hole and making the line wavy to give it some energy.  Here:

You like the idea?  Robert thought it was cool but he suggested that I should put the word hole next to rabbit to make the name complete.  Hmmm... I thought holes are supposed to be underground but, heck, I don't argue with someone who designs logos for a living.  So here goes again:

Robert said this looked great then I didn't hear from him until the afternoon.  I knew he was working on a project so I didn't want to bother him anymore with my new-found creativity.  Little did I know, he was busy transforming my simple artwork to this:

TA-DA!!

Oh My God!!  How did he do it?  How did he know this was exactly what I had in mind and with the exact colors I wanted?!?!  I didn't even tell Robert about the colors!!  I was envisioning either a green background with yellow lettering, or a yellow background with black lettering.  The nose of the rabbit would be orange.  Robert changed the nose to eyes but he made them orange.  Just like how I imagined!!

Wow!!  I am so touched!!  I am so blessed that I have a guy who knows me inside out and entertains my craziness all the while putting his project on hold just to make me happy.

Oh man!  I am the luckiest girl in the whole wide world!!  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  MY SWEETIE!!

So what do I do now?  I guess I'll have to cook a lot more!!

Stay tuned for food pictures from the Rabbit Hole Cafe...