Brazilian Steak House and Fantastic Four

Last weekend, I went to the Brazilian chain-steak house: Fogo de Chão for the first time.

[from left: Michelle, Christy, Ivy, Me, and Zhongyan from Shanghai]

I've been to a couple of those Brazilian steak houses numerous times before, but this one, by far, was the best! Salad bar was not limited to usual items like ceaser and macaroni salad. They had dishes like marinated artichokes, fresh mozzarella cheese, grilled asparagas and smoked salmon.
The service was so excellent--not to mention how stunningly handsome those servers were!

For someone of my size, the whole "all you can eat" scene never pays off. You add drink, appetizers, all the breads and sides that completely fill you up, there's very little room for the actual steaks. However, this was the first Brazilian place that made me feel that I received great value. Fillet mignion on the stick (what not to like?), bacon-wrapped fillet (even better!), and oh... the garlic-rubbed fillet was just simply out of this world.

They were originally started in my home country, Brazil, but they have many locations throughout the US and seem to be expanding rather quickly! Check out their location here.





On a different subject...
While Russ is out visiting San Diego, Parker has turned into the rock guy from Fantastic 4!

He took such a hard fall right on our drive way, receiving painful, aweful, and everlasting pebble imprints on his forehead. Can you believe it?

Considentally, I was on the phone with Meredith in San Diego the night before, where she was telling me all about the fall her daughter Ellie took in a store. If I didn't believe that things always happened for a reason before, I am a complete believer now. Because of the information she shared with me, I was very well prepared!

I iced his ouchie with a popcicle while he sucked on one to keep him calm. After he felt much better, he asked me if he could eat the one that I was using as an ice bag, which kept him in active conversation to prevent him from passing out. After he chowed that one down, he asked if he'd be able to get "just one more." When I refused, he got very upset, telling me how badly he was hurt and how it made him sad that I did not care about him at all.

That's when I knew for sure that his brain was functioning properly and that I had nothing to worry about.

Things that Rock: YSL Easy Liner

My latest find--YSL Easy Liner!

It apparently has been around for a long time, but I happened to run into someone (stranger!) that swore by it at a makeup counter yesterday. I've been a faithful user of eyeliner pencils because I've always ended up with the panda-bear eyes every time liquid or gel eyeliners were applied. My unsteady hands and heavy Asian lids don't help either!

However, this one comes out very little at a time, and it's super easy to control. The brush dispenses the liquid evenly, and the thin liquid formula allows me to apply once for a thin line that looks almost gray or multiple times for more dramatic look.

If you've been frustrated with eyeliners, definitely try this one!
I love it!!

Breakfast That Rocks!

Some of you know that Russ "gets into" things very easily.
He would find his thing, do his thing, perfect his thing, and then move onto his new thing.

His thing at the moment: Æbleskiver!
It's a Danish (I believe?) pancake puffs with fruit filling.

We love it when "his thing" coincides with "our thing."
This morning, the whole Schroader clan had a very sweet start.

For those of you who are in Japan, you can definitely use your Takoyaki-pan.

Fresh blueberries instead of pie filling would be yummy too!

2 egg whites

2C all-purpose flour

2tsp baking powder

1TBSP white sugar

1/2tsp baking soda

1/2tsp salt

4TBSP butter, melted

2C buttermilk

fruit pie filling

43.75%

Okay, okay.
I understand that this is the nature of this business.
I get that running for President of US has a lot at stakes, and you've got to use whatever you can.

But, I can't stand those negative (and stupid) emails that circulate around anymore!!
They don't get the facts right (or they intentionally manipulate the facts); they dig out any personal issues that probably have been resolved long ago that do not concern their campaigns any longer, and they don't even have enough courtesy to use correct grammar! (Talk about being natives!)

I recently got an email titling, "Obama's 'Not Exactlys.'"
In it, the email claimed that Obama is 50% Caucasian, 43.75% Arabic, and 6.25% African, therefore he would become the nation's first Arab-American president if elected, not an African American president. Then it goes on about how his name has Arabic origin (which also shares African origin as well).

First of all, how do you get 43.75%/6.25% split?
He's 1/16 African is what I'm getting--that means, his grandpa was a quarter African?

Anyhow, wouldn't this whole thing just make him an American? Since when are minorities required to lable ourselves with the racial distinction? I thought that was our choice. And by the same method, wouldn't it make Obama Caucasian-American president, rather than Arab-American, seeing that he has more caucasian in the mix than anything else?

My boys are 50% Asian and 50% Caucasian with a bit of Native American on the Caucasian side. They both have Japanese middle name. Their mom is not an American citizen.

Do all these things disqualify them from being just Americans? If they were to run for President (well, you've got to aim high, right?), am I somehow going to be the nasty stain in their pedigree?

I tend to be more conservative on many issues by nature. As a non-voting permanent resident, I've always had the luxury of sitting back and analyzing without really getting caught in it. But this year's campaigns are seriously giving me a sad insight into what is really going.

Vegas, Baby!

A couple of weeks ago, my girlfriends and I took our first annual girls' trip to... Viva! Las Vegas!

I had not been to Vegas for quite a while; it'd been almost 5 years?
There were a couple of note-worthy events:

1. My first Blackjack experience!
I'd have to dedicate this life-changing experience to my gamble-guru, Meredith.

She pep-rallied before we left for the trip, constantly reminded us the importance of finding a reasonable blackjack table during the trip, and cheerfully escorted us out of posh Venetian resort where we were staying into the wilderness of TI.

After several (...okay, many) rounds of frustrating rookie mistakes, I finally got a hang of it, and it was very fun! It really got intellectually challenging once I got a couple of Cape Cods down somehow. Weird.

2. I became Brazilian!
I had to. After such an awesome night at SushiSamba Strip, I willfully surrendered my Japanese citizenship and started claiming my inner Brazilian-ness. Okay, I need to practice that a bit more.


But seriously, everything we had there was beyond fabulous, ranging from simple Miso Soup to robata-grilled sea bass. (Although I wonder if it really was sea bass--I heard many restaurants are serving white fish as Chilean sea bass everywhere... However, being a proud Brazilian that I am, I'm sure Brazilians would know the difference!)

For those of you who are on the east coast, they have a couple of them in NY as well as one in Miami. I believe their original location is in Chicago. Click here for more information.

3. We met a couple of cool entrepreneurs, with the emphasis on cool.
Hem Jeans
At the blackjack table in TI, we met Amy (aka: our bad luck!) who co-owns a tiny specialty-jean store with her sister in Austin, TX.

If you are a jean enthusiast, like me, Hem is like a mecca of all awesome jeans. What I didn't know is that they do in-store alterations right there, which is sooooo important for a little person, again, like me.

If you live in the area, or if you are traveling to the area, or if you just want to visit the store, check it out at the corner of 12th and Shoal Creek.

Claudio Riaz
Last but not the least, I cannot end this post without mentioning our awesome find: Claudio Riaz brushes!


These are way better than any other brushes I've tried so far.
Claudio mentioned that these are imported from an art-brush maker in Tokyo.

I purchased his concealer brush. It is kind of wide, but pointed in the middle, which makes it very easy to apply concealer right up to the lash line precisely. Because it's wide, it blends in no time as well. It works much better than the Bobby Brown brush, which I used to think was so awesome.

Michelle bought the angled gel liner brush, which I'm kicking myself for not getting. It had very good firmness to it, but at $65/brush, I didn't feel that it was unique enough. Wrong! Apparently, from Michelle's rave review, it performs above and beyond. She loves it, and she's a pretty tough critic.

Here's our before & after pic:

The man in the suit is Claudio himself. Isn't he the most gorgeous man alive? ...Well, beside my Sweetie, of course.

For those of you who are interested, you can purchase any of his brushes from Barney's New York. He mentioned that he was going on a promotional tour to Tokyo--I'm not sure if his stuff is in Barney's there yet. If any of you happen to see those, definitely try them out and send me your review!

Tchau!
Keiko

For those of you who are under stress this morning...

Sometimes, when you are a bit stressed out, all you have to do is to find some people who are enjoying themselves and just imagine what they might be thinking at that moment.

Don't you already feel better?
It's interesting how the source of my stress also can be the cure for my stress!

Wishing you all a stress-free, happy day...
Keiko

Papaya Mango Salsa

Ever since we moved to Texas, the frequency of Mexican dinner has increased tremendously in our household. I guess they're more Tex-Mex than the original authentic Mexican dishes, so that sort of makes sense.

The halibut Russ has brought home from Alaska is exquisite when grilled on a cedar plank and paired with mango salsa. Here's the recipe for my Papaya Mango salsa.


1 cup fresh mango, peeled and diced
1 cup fresh papaya, peeled and diced
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup finely diced green onion
1/4 cup finely diced cilantro
1/2 finely diced jalapeno, seeds & ribs removed
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 TBSP honey
1/2 tsp each of salt, cayenne pepper, cumin, oregano, and black pepper
juice from 1/2 fresh lime

Combine all ingredients and chill in a fridge for about an hour before serving.

August 15

It's August 15th again, and it marks a significant date in the history of Japan, or of the world actually--the end of the war in 1945 or more commonly known here as the V-J Day.


To think that only 63 years ago, my country and Russ's country, where I now call home, were at war boggles my mind. Our marriage, let alone our children, would not have been a possibility. As I sat in my air-conditioned, comfortable home contemplating how to spend the rest of the day with the boys, I could not help but to honor those who that did not have the same luxury of choice.

Best Comedy Ever!

Russ and I went to see Tropic Thunder last night at the Alamo Draft House.
It was the perfect movie to watch at the Alamo--it was so funny that I even forgot about the nasty cold I was coming down with, and I completely feel better today.

Laghter is the best medicine.

The Source of My Power

Man, I miss Russ so much!

He's only been gone for a week, but it's the second weekend that always get you, ya know!?

I've been moping around all day, like a Power Wheel that is almost out of battery...

Consequences

I just finished reading this month's book club book; Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum.
What an extraordinary story...
When I finally finished it, I literally had to sit there with the book on my lap for a minute before I could pick myself up again.

I loved that it made such a great attempt at explaining how these ordinary civilians could possibly come to support (or just even live with) such an inhumane regime.
And what really set this book apart, in my eyes, was that it realistically told how intricate and powerful the consequences of such actions (or non-actions in some case) could be, affecting lives even a generation later.

I know some of you were not the biggest fan of this book.
Leave me a comment and we'll have our book club right here!!

The Awesome Man and the Sea

Thaaaats my baby!
Mmmmm... halibut...
I need to get going on my mango salsa...

Here is a Story of the Biggest Bit*h in the History for ya...

This photo was taken at Qian Mausoleum (Qian Ling) located outside of Xi'an. These statues once represented the 61 foreign emissaries who attended the funeral of Emperor Gao Zong, who ruled during the Tang Dynasty. For some unknown reasons, every single one of them has been decapitated sometime after they were constructed.

This Emperor Gao Zong is not really known for his own great doings but more for his clever but ruthless wife, Empress Wu Zetian. She is the only woman that has ever ruled China in their 5000-year-long history.

Empress Wu Zetian climbed to power by associating with people in power and then later discarding them. She was once a concubine belonged to Emperor Tai Zong. Soon after his death, she was scheduled to be retired into a Buddhist temple to become a nun, but she was instead invited back to the palace by Empress Wang to become a concubine for her husband, Emperor Gao Zong, the late Emperor's son. Empress Wang did this as a desperate attempt to divert the Emperor's favors from his favorite consort, Consort Xiao.

Within several years of becoming the new Emperor's concubine, she managed to become his favorite consort, giving birth to two sons. The year she gave birth to their daughter and the baby died soon after, she accused childless Empress Wang of killing their daughter out of jealousy, successfully replacing her as the new Empress. She later had both Empress Wang and Consort Xiao killed.

Once she became the Empress, Empress Wu Zetian removed the Emperor's first born son with one of his consorts from the position of power and made their first son crown prince. She grew in power as the mother of future Emperor, later giving birth to two more sons and a daughter, while putting greater influence on Emperor Gao Zong's governance. When Crown Prince was 23 years old, he offended her by urging her not to exercise so much influence. Shortly after, he was poisoned to death.

By the time Empress Wu Zetian finally took the throne 7 years after Emperor Gao's death, she had all of her sons executed or exiled along with anyone who opposed and threatened her political views, including her neice, nephew, and grandson, with an exception of her youngest son who willfully stepped down from his throne.

After 15 years of ruling, she became seriously ill and reinstated her third son, who was waiting all these years in the wings, as the successor. When Wu Zetian passed away later that year, Emperor Zhong Zong had her buried in a joint burial with his father, Emperor Gao Zong, at the Qian Mausoleum, along with his wife, son, and daughter who were all victims of Wu Zetian's wrath. When Emperor Zhong Zong had the tombstone tablet made for his late mother, it is said that he was not able to come up with any praise to be inscribed, therefore leaving it as a blank tablet. There is no other blank tablet at any other royal tomb site.

The craziest thing about this woman is that she actually proved to be a great ruler. She was ruthless to imcompetent officials but generous with those with great talents. She was fair to peasants and promoted scholarship. She replaced Daoism with Buddhism as the favored state religion, achieving highest development of Chinese Buddhism. It's just too bad that she had to be such a bit*h in order to do all those good things.

The Value of Now

In The Great Debaters, the preacher character played by Forest Whitaker repeatedly says to his 14-year-old son, "We do what we have to do in order to do what we want to do."

I find this to be one of the hardest but yet most valuable lessons in life.


When you look around, everything in life is established in this order. We study to gain knowledge, so that we can apply that knowledge to life. We save our hard earned money, so that we can enjoy the retirement in the future. We put great effort into building strong relationships now, so that when the rainy season comes, we will have a solid ground to stand on in order to endure and overcome the challenges.


It is hard enough for grown adults to see and practice this; I can only imagine how vague this idea must be in a child's still developing mind. All I can hope for is that all the mundane hard work and seemingly insignificant principles we work on today will one day contribute to the formation of stronger and more stable roots in our childrens' lives.

Life's To Do List

I've never met a person who does not have a "Before I Die" List.
Most I hear are the "places to visit" lists for obvious reasons.
Some have been "things to experience," like skydiving and swimming with sharks.
What's yours? Have you heard of any other lists?

Not being one of the most creative people in the world, mine of course is a good old "places to visit" list.

Growing up in Japan, I remember reading an article as a little girl about this massive natural landscape in far off land, called the Grand Canyon.
I honestly believe that that one magazine altered the course of my life completely.

This year, I got to check one more off my list while I was in Xi'an.

The Terracotta Warriors!!

This is the Main Army in Pit 1.
(There are 4 pits in total, each one housing different types of military formation.)

The whole pit is covered with a dome, in which the temperature and humidity is controlled, preserving estimated 6000 figures.


This statue of Kneeling Archer on the left was perfectly intact when it was discovered. On the other hand, some are badly damaged as you can see in the picture on the right.
After they are excavated, they go through series of reassembly work in order to look whole again.


In an attempt to help the boys understand the magnitude of this experience, I explained to them that this very site was one of the Eighth Wonders of the World.
Always being the optimistic, "glass half-full" kind of guy, Jackson simply answered, "Wow! Then we have 7 more to go, Mom!"

All the Small Things

Okay, okay!
Thanks to my silent readers who are not so silent only when I don't update my blog, I am renewing my commitment once again to keep up with this d*mn thing.

I'm a big believer of things not working out for a reason--in other words, it's not a coincidence that I've failed to maintain a blog so many times. Simply put, MY POSTS ARE WAY TOO LONG!

In order to cut me some slack (and for you too!), I will attempt to get to the point quickly. Short and sweet. The more the merrier. One little event or thought per day, period.
I am also going to point out some of the idioms and slangs that might be difficult for non-native speakers to pick up. Hopefully, that'll clarify what I'm saying. So here we go again.

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My beloved Russ (yeah, I will be stopping the whole code name thing too--I can't keep up with the big ol' list!) departed yesterday to Alaska to find his inner fisherman. 7 days of nothing but fishing.


As I was driving home from a quick trip to the lake with the boys earlier, out of the blue, I had a flashback of my mom saying, "Husbands are best healthy and away." Although I suspect that she meant something completely different, I could not agree more that we do need separate time here and there to appreciate each other.

As beautiful as the drive was, I kept on wanting to look over the creek or the hills or whatever else that we were passing by in order to really have a closer look at things. Only to realize all this time, while I've looked around and commented on this and that, there was Russ who was driving us home, shouldering the whole responsibility of our family's safety without a single complaint. How often did he just want to sit back, relax and enjoy?

So I decided to update my mom's saying.
Husbads are best healthy and back.

************************************************************
cut some slack = 大目に見てあげる
out of the blue = 突然・何の関連もなく

Are Bloggs Off Limit in China?

I have not been able to access my blog site ever since I arrived in Shanghai.

I seem to be able to post one, but not visit a site on blogger.com at all...

Certain sites are very hard to get to as well--can websites be censored or is it just a coincidence?

On the other hand, only 7 years ago, I remember that we did not have much access to regular television here--this place has come a long way.

Since I've been a major slacker, I'm going to post a couple of pics from last couple of weeks.

Oh great, this has officially become a picture blog now!

For those of you who know WC, he got married to a beautiful bride, Jeannine.

Jeannine with the boys before the ceremony; Princess EE and Prince Pucker

I've always loved attending weddings.

There's always something about it in the air--a great combination of love, hope, and happiness. On a great wedding, like this one, there is also something extra as well; the pride, gratefulness...and just the overall "good" feeling that they're going to be okay.

Here are some pics from Rachid's factory:

(left) Our PFC models in the production building; (right) Kids in the large conference room

It's been great getting to tour the factory.

First, we've all discovered that Rachid actually does have a job, and second, it's been so great to finally witness their baby in a tangible form. I have been beaming with pride--I just can't help it! Just to think that they started all this with nothing only 5 years ago!

Now here are some random pictures of people having too much fun!

(left) Did someone say "beer?";(right) Someone's wasted, and it's not me (for once)! Party Maisie coming out!

(left) At Helen's place; (middle) Trip to Napa coming up!; (right) Master squeals like a Japanese school girl over a tiny little pen

(left) One B-day in Shanghai Makes a Hard Boy Humble; (right) Happy Child = Happy Family

(left) Us in Cloud 9; "My Pine, Your Forest" meets Chinese Jesus

(left)Model material; (right) or maybe not...


(left) Who needs Rock Band when you have Party World?; (right) Achey can't keep up with PFC

Stay tuned for more posts on great places we've visited!