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| London Underground public announcementsAmong all the cities I've lived in where I use the public transport, London definitely offers the most unusual public announcements in its Underground network.
1. "The Victoria line is closed today due to industrial action." (industrial action = strike)
2. "There are major delays on the Central line due to passanger action." (passanger action = someone jumping onto the rail tracks. It's horrible.)
3. "This train is held at this station to even out the gaps between trains." This one never fails to baffle and amuse me each time I hear it.
4. "Planned engineering work." They should say "perpetually planned engineering work." Ok, ok, so it's the oldest underground network and they're always working to improve it.
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| Places to studyI'm really picky about - among other things! - where I can do my studying. So when I embarked on studying for the CFA, finding a conducive place to study was quite a challenge since I don't properly belong to a school.
Back in my university days, Rice University's libraries were real blessings. I studied a lot in Fondren Library. I loved its high ceilings, dark wood furniture, floor-to-ceiling windows, and high shelves filled with hardcover books. I can't explain it, but just being in that environment already made me feel smarter.  I still remember the bliss which was sitting on a plush armchair, enjoying my Sociology textbook, and looking out the big windows into the main square of the campus, watching students passing or cycling by. I thought, "I love studying Sociology and I love this place. Thank you, God." When Fondren got crowded, I went to the business school's library. It was so brand-spanking new and fresh, yet always so empty; those MBA students didn't do a lot of studying for sure!
I remember one summer I visited a friend who was studying in Oxford University, and we popped into one of the college libraries. As soon as I entered, I just wanted out. The place felt claustrophobic, the air was dusty (or was it musty?), and I could feel my nose was going to act up if I were to stay there longer. I have to say, at that time I just thought, "My, I wouldn't be able to study here. Thank God for Rice's libraries." (I'm sure there were newer libraries in Oxford... just that we happened to stop by a small and old one!)
Fast forward to April 2009. I tried the Starbucks near my apartment, on Edgware Road; it was too dim and messy. Costa Coffee on the same road was too noisy. Starbucks on Baker Street had no tables big enough for my CFA books. Finally I found a Starbucks I was happy with. It's on the corner of Great Portland Street and Weymouth Street. This Starbucks isn't too busy, has high ceilings and almost floor-to-ceiling windows, looking into fairly quiet streets lined with quintessentially London brownstone buildings. I quite liked the music, too. So I studied there for about a week.
Then I tried the RIBA building which my architect fiance recommended to me. It's actually just round the corner from the Starbucks mentioned above. This building is quite a find. I would have never guessed that the place is open to public. The restaurant closes at 3 pm, and thereafter, this wonderful space is open to anyone. It's a beautiful hall filled with daylight and the decor is smart and stylish. I like.  (In fact, I like it so much I wish I could have my wedding there, but it's too late now.) I studied there for about two weeks.
Next, the Wellcome Library. I think this is where I'll study for the next month. I really like it as it feels like a proper university library (perhaps I just enjoy the fact that it brings me back to Rice), it's got Internet and printing when you need it, you can't bring food and water but there's a nice (read: fancy) water fountain in there. More importantly, unlike at Starbucks and at RIBA, I don't feel like I'm the only studying. Everyone there is mugging, so not only the physical environment is conducive for studying, but also the people. Thank you, Ying Hwei, for telling me about this place.
Well, I've got to go to the Wellcome library to study now! Blogging has been a nice break. 
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| My favorite meatThere's no question about it. While I love beef and lamb and do increasingly enjoy duck and pork, if I had to choose one meat to live on for the rest of my life, it would definitely be the chicken thigh. Is there any other more versatile, flavorsome, yet affordable meat? With cattle meat, different cuts need different ways of cooking, but with chicken thighs, you will do them justice with almost any cooking method. You can roast it - plain, or with herbs, spices, and sauces. You can deep fry it (thank you, Col. Sanders for your legacy!). You can pan fry it with various kinds of seasonings and sauces. You can boil it ala Hainanese chicken rice. You can simmer it for a few hours and make a hearty chicken soup. You can grill it to make Japanese yakitori, Indonesian satay, and of course, you can simply barbecue it with barbecue sauce. You can stir-fry it with vegetables. You can put it in curries, Thai or Indian. You can make chicken and mushroom pasta. Man, the possibilities are endless.
I'm not sure what's with the obsession in the US and the UK with chicken breast meat. Something about breast meat being healthier and so on. However, a quick online research (and if it's online, it has to be truth, right?) shows that "while it is true that chicken thighs contain twice the amount of fat of boneless, skinless breasts, it is only at a mere 11 grams of fat per 4-ounce serving. That is less than you will find in the same size serving of beef, lamb or pork." Well, at any rate, this bewildering obsession for breast meat can only benefit thigh lovers like me by way of pricing. They say that breast meat is more expensive as it requires more butchery work, but I think the higher price also reflects the higher demand for breast meat.
My only complaint is that sometimes supermarkets don't sell thigh fillets. I still haven't found a way to debone and skin thigh meat quickly. I do know a friend who does, though. I shall implore him to teach me the secret skill!
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| Reminiscences of Constellation (Part 2)I still remember my first day of work at Constellation in July 2005. It was like landing on a different planet. For a start, people talked in a different language. Here, a "curve" can be "flat" and "flat" means either no change or a zero value. Moreover, "F" is January, "Dees" and "Z" are both December, "Ercot" is Texas, "vol" is an "option", and an "option" is much, much more than just a choice! As if that's not enough, "long" is nothing to do with duration of time or extent in space and "PNL" are the three most important and heart-wrenching letters in the alphabet.
People also looked quite different from me. They were all male except one, mostly white Americans, and save for a few, each of them was almost twice my mass.
They also cussed a lot. I had never heard the f word used in so many different forms before-- it's a noun, a verb, an adjective. One guy used it in his every other word that my (rare) non-cussing co-workers started keeping a tally.
Welcome to the power trading floor. My primary responsibility was to provide the power traders a daily PNL ("profit and loss") report and its reconciliation with a similar report by the accounting group. It wasn't that challenging conceptually but through that task I learned how to use Excel functions and the weird-looking, DOS-based risk management system called SecDb. There were days I felt that it was a thankless task, what with the occasional trader crushing my report into a ball as soon as he saw his miserable PNL on it.
But I am thankful for the nice colleagues in my team. They patiently explained to me what "curve", "flat", and "long" means, and how the business worked. Thus, I stepped into this world called derivatives trading and I thought it was fascinatingly clever.
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Note: I haven't written Part 1 and 3 yet (learning this technique from the Star Wars people...heheh..)
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| My EnglishAt the 07/08 new year's eve, I went to the countdown party/ thanksgiving service at my parents' church. One part of the service had people going up to say what they're thankful to God for in 2007. My parents and I went up (my sis wasn't feeling well, so she stayed home), too. My parents said some things (in Mandarin), and then I spoke some (first in English, since I'm more proficient there than in Mandarin, then translated to Mandarin so my parents could understand).
On Friday, my mom called (as she often would). She said,
"A lot of people have been asking if you've gone back to London. They also said, "Your daughter's English is so good/ refined!"
I told them, "Oh, really? I didn't know that! This kind of thing, you guys would have to let me know in order for me to know, since you know the language and I don't."
So I felt very happy and very proud, because people said that my daughter's English is very good. I thank God for that."
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