Political Influence

dude...if all political activists looked like gigi ibrahim, i'd follow her revolution.

Strangers

wow...it's been a while since i've done anything with this site. suffice it to say that the lone reader that still subjects themselves to reading this lowly medium into my random thoughts has moved onto newer and shinier objects in the webosphere. but whatever, my corner of the blogosphere remains to simply allow me to throw junk into onto the internet, and i will continue to do so.

i don't really have anything insightful or truly thoughtful to post this morning, just thought i'd post this wong fu productions video that i found hit particularly close to home.

Cabin Fever

needing a good weekend outside the confines of the district, a bunch of friends and i rented out a cabin in the shenandoah for a few days of hot tub relaxation. it allowed for friends to gather...play a few games...drink you libation of pleasure...taste the local wines...and rest the dc weary minds for a couple of days.

night one...a surprisingly fun drive through a blustery winter evening ended with patrons of my car being fearful of driving into the woods with a classic horror film beat down pickup truck following us down winding mountain roads. though it did eventually veer away, what started out as a cheap scary movie allusion quickly turned into a muted, but genuine fear felt among all riders. but alas, we ended up at our assigned cabin in hot tub heaven and proceeded to hot tub and play drinking games until the wee hours of the morning.

day one...a day of wine tasting and vineyard frolicking. our caravan of two cars hopped from winery to winery. making stops at fox meadows winery, to linden vineyards, to narmada winery where we finished off our day reliving our childhood days on a playground as we watched our friend's dog chase down sticks and tennis balls.

night two...we finished that day with burgers and shrimp, our poor man's surf and turf. with everyone exhausted from a day of wine-ing, the night seemed to end earlier than most nights i've spent in dc. but surprisingly, that was a very welcome night's sleep.

day two...pack up and clean up. check out at 10...and we were back on the road. no sooner had we left our diamond shaped urban prison for the rolling hills of the blue ridge mountains were we back, ready for another week on the grind.

but for a few days, a quick drive westward, and in the company of good friends, one can escape and just have fun the way it's supposed to be had.

Prom

another year...another february...another excuse to don the tuxedo and head out to tysons for the winston health policy ball.

ever since my first visit in 2008, as a naive and wide-eyed young staffer, i've looked forward to this event each year. this year was particularly rewarding as i had to wrangle my way into the ball as a guest of a friend so as to not rankle the unusually strict reading of the ethics rules my boss had. but i wiggled my way around the rules and was able to bring out my tux from the corner of my closet and pull out my shining black dancing shoes (though no dancing was to be had).

but what i really took away from this year's event was the growth i've had since 2008. i remember that first year, not knowing anyone besides the few coworkers and staffers in a ballroom of hundreds. so new that no one really wanted or needed to talk to us...with only a few lobbyists making their a work-demanding effort to reach out to us junior staffers only because we were of the finance committee.

then moving onto that second year, with the entire health world reeling from the uncertainty of a post-scott brown era. with the bill languishing in the freezing nights of snowpocalypse, we gathered in the ballroom all a bit more somber and what a party should have been.

but this year, full of energy and with a new and some more respectable role as a true health care staffer, i realized that i knew a lot more people and was able to walk down the hallways and not feel as if i was that freshman in high school who didn't know anyone as the seniors and popular kids mingled and ignored you. instead, this year i was able to inject myself in conversations as opposed to having be introduced.

by no means do i feel like i've made it, but there are minor moments in my day-to-day where i do feel that i've done something. that i haven't just been a prop in the ever changing moments of life. and those days aren't too bad.

Brotherly Love

no no...this really has nothing to do with my brother, whom i do love very much and is doing well in shanghai.

this is about a random weekend trip i made out to philadephia to visit a few friends from san diego. being my first trip out there in my nearly four years on the east coast, i was fairly excited. though it probably wasn't smartest to head over there in the dead of winter.

but whatever, off i go...just a quick weekend trip to see the liberty bell, independence hall, old told philadephia, constitution center, reading terminal...you know, the standards. but coming from a city full of historical importance, i did find it ironic that the only thoughts i had while standing inside independence hall was about the movie "national treasure"...typical.

it's okay though, the purpose of the trip really was just a quick break from the district, to visit some old friends, and to enjoy some good philly cuisine...which i did, here, here, here and here. overall, a pretty decent day and a half. a nice little escape out of my tiny little city.

We Reach For The Stars

it's easy to blame...it's easy to complain...and it's easy to make excuses. it's hard to accept...it's hard to understand...and it's hard to take responsibility. but in light of the president's speech tonight, it is upon all of us to seek the humility and the humanity that we seemed to have lost.

except, in the wake of tragedies like the one this past saturday in tuscon, there are never any words to say or actions that can be taken that will ease the pain and suffering of the victims.

at these moments, we look to our leaders to guide us. and though sometimes i hope that aaron sorkin would come to the rescue and put his rhetorical magic into the mouths of our public speakers, i know jeb bartlett will only speak to the "streets of heaven being too crowded with angels" in the annals of television history.

but sometimes, reality surprises us. oratory, when given well, has the ability to move us like music and deliver us an emotion that we could not have conjured ourselves. and while the president's speech tonight touched on many issues: anger, acceptance, humility, hope, and remembrance of those loved and lost...i will focus on his foresight and desire to see what we can be in light of what we are. expectations...to ourselves and to each other...all summed up in the eyes of a nine year old girl, a role model for the innocence and optimism that our country and political arena are built on, that too often we forget.

"i want to live up to her expectations, i want our democracy to be as good as christina imagined it, i want american to be as good as she imagined it. all of us, we should do everything we can do to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations"

Citronelle

not being made of money (or work in the private sector in this city)...a visit to citronelle is definitely only called for on a special occasion. and as a send off to my very good friend and fellow foodie, my ucsd travel buddy, and former roommate, ting, before she leaves the district, i felt this a very worthy chance to spoil myself with some of michel richard's delectable cuisine.

opting for the 3 course dinner prix-fix as opposed to the promenade gourmande, i chose the mosaic to start, the venison as the entree, and finished it all off with the napoleon for dessert. throw in an amuse bouche as a little appetizer and another for dessert, and i left with my belly stretched and my taste buds satiated.

i would have to say that the amuse bouche was a very welcome starter. it included bites of quail egg topped with ikura, a salmon tartar wrapped in pickled jicama, and a mini cupcake with creme fraiche icing...all of which i quickly popped into my mouth followed by "holy crap...this is great" comments after each morsel. though i would have to single out the quail egg as the best of the three.

as for the venison, you must enjoy the gaminess of the meat to fully appreciate this dish. so if you already have trouble with lamb, stay away from the venison. as someone who has a rather indiscriminate palate for food, i rather enjoyed the dish...leaving me with my only criticism that there wasn't enough of it to go around. served with a cabbage cannelloni and a very succulent gravy, i was almost tempted to just lick the plate clean...but felt the inappropriate for the standards and class of a place like citronelle.

and to finish it all off, a creme brulee napolean. and i'm usually not a big fan of desserts (or sweets in general), but my first taste was immediately followed by another "holy crap" moment. the puff pastry that divided the vanilla creme brulee slices were perfectly flaky...the assortment of fruits that covered the dish were fresh and exquisitely paired with the passionfruit sauce. i must say, dessert usually being the course that surprises me the least, this one stood out.

so after the rave review, why only a 4-star rating you ask? even though the food was great and the service was top-notch, it is difficult to justify the costs even for a foodie like myself. there aren't many things that i'm willing to unconsciously drop large sums of money on, and food is one of them. but it is still without a moments pause to think that you have to be prepared to shell out a couple of benjamins if you want to savor the experience that is michel richard. personally, i'm glad i came, but it would take another momentous occasion to bring me back. i'll stick with his much more accessible and equally delicious central for my standard monday evening meals.

2010 Post Mortem

beyond producing some verbal vomit every so often into my little corner of the interwebs, these yearly memorials have been a fantastic time capsule for my already addled mind. so to ensure that i will always have a lasting visual of what my life once was, i will continue to type my babbles.

last years inaugural posting reflected on the seeds that i have planted while looking forward to a year of progress. looking back on it, i can say that it has been a year of partial successes and half failures. certain things moved forward while others stayed completely the same. so this year, no lofty goals, no inspiring quotes, just another year gone by.

december
a rambunctious and surprisingly productive lame-duck congress finally put an end to the 111th congress, the most active and successful congress in decades. though happily, unlike 2009, i wasn't forced to sit through endless hours of cloture votes this month and i was able to make my trip out to taiwan for a long overdue visit to my family.
november
this was the first year in quite a while that i was the sole chef for the thanksgiving table mainstays (turkey, ham, blah blah blah). and i tried a new recipe...and joined (though i've heard it many times before) the brining revolution. probably one of the best turkeys i've ever pulled out of an oven.
october
a month of political chatter and electoral banter led up to our shellacking of november's midterm elections. but us liberals did get a nice reprieve from the consecutive appearances of sarah palin and glenn beck with our own rally with our icons on the left...jon stewart and steven colbert.
september
a birthday month with a much more extravagant and costly (thanks friends) than i expected. it also came with a nice visit from a good friend from the other side of the country. another year older and another year wiser...well, i definitely got the year, but not necessarily the wisdom.
august
crossing off another state on my futile and not really active attempt to see all 50 states, i got a visit to minnesota taken off my list. as the new representative on health care issues for the senior senator from minnesota, i made my rounds around minneapolis and st. paul meeting all the players.
july
of all things that progressed in my life, my career was probably moving at the fastest pace. and with all the glory and reputation of working on health care reform, i was surprised that my half-assed and semi-unprepared job search ended in such swift conclusion with my hiring at the health legislative assistant for senator amy klobuchar of minnesota. also, i did get to make a very nostalgic visit back to california for a very nice reunion of san diego friends at helen's wedding.
june
before my move to the hart office building, i took a reward trip to boston as a reward for a year and half of being stuck in the dirksen office building. so while unknowing that i would cross minnesota off my list of unseen states, i got to add massachusetts to that list as well. i was sure to hide my lakers jersey while i walked the streets of celtics territory.
may
on this look back, i realize that i did a fair amount of traveling this year...taiwan in december, minnesota in august, massachusetts in july. for the month of may, we can add montana and new york to that list. montana for work for the old boss...a victory lap around the state to sell the bill law; new york for a vacation with an old friend...a personal celebration with drinking and debauchery.
april
like last year, april seemed to have dragged on, but in a much better way than last year. this april was more a "take a breath and relax" month as the finance committee's health team finally got some time to sit down and enjoy the spoils of success.
march
what a month march was. with another around-the-clock effort, democrats on the hill followed the president's leadership and determination to finally pass health care reform and the accompanying reconciliation bill. march 23 will now represent the peak of my legislative career.
february
this was a tough month...with our seemingly dead health care reform legislation sucking in its last breaths while being pumped by life support. not to mention that the entire district was snowed in by our own little version of snowmageddon.
january
before the political earthquake of a scott brown victory for ted kennedy's historically liberal democratic seat, the entire health care world was roaming around the floors of the capitol building, darting in and out of bicameral+white house meetings working on a conference health reform bill. though it included extremely late nights and painstaking negotiations, it was probably my favorite part of the entire legislative process.

so there it is, the year in a nutshell. i can't seem to find a proper wrap up of the past year or an appropriate prediction for next year. maybe it's my lack of imagination or creative instincts, hopefully it's not an omen for the future, but i'm having a hard time deciding whether my glass is still being filled.

Taiwan 2010

for my annual trip out to the far east, i met up with my family in our taiwan home base in taichung. it was a welcome trip out of dc, and luckily, right before the snow storm hit the east coast. plus, it has been a couple of years since i've seen my brother and several more since i've seen my grandmother...so a nice family reunion was to be had.

i remember when i was younger, making these trips was very much a chore. always having to ditch my friends during our very few chances to meet up, never really haven't any friends out in asia, always being bored spending time with parents. and sure, those problems still exist now, but i have come to truly appreciate what these trips are for me. being so far away from my family, i have to take the very view chances i get to see them (any why not...it's not on my dime :P)

and this trip was no different...my brother flew down from shanghai to spend a several days with the family. we brought my grandmother over so we could take family photos. we went on a short in-island vacation to the local hot springs of yilan. and we ate...ate...and then ate some more.

though this will be the first year that i didn't celebrate a new years eve with excessive drinking and eventual vomiting, i'll take this clam and quiet transition to another year as an omen of a tranquil and stable 2011.

E Pluribus Unum

in a flurry of activity and in record speeds, the congress passed both historic and necessary pieces of legislation during this lame-duck session. from hostage negotiating a tax extension to finally repealing "don't as don't tell" to ratifying a new START treaty to ensuring health care for our 9/11 heroes...the last few weeks have been a whirlwind by senatorial standards.

some will come out of this thinking that we've heeded the calls of the midterm elections, that bipartisanship is the new watchword of the future. and even the president seems to believe it, which his most stirring oratorical statement in a long while: "For we are not a nation that says, 'don't ask, don’t tell.' We are a nation that says, 'Out of many, we are one.'"

the optimist in me hopes that the sentiment is real...that it wasn't just a momentary glimpse into what the founders intended congress to be. but the realist in me knows that we're looking at a couple years of deadlock and partisanship.

but however we spend the next couple of years, the idealist in me continues to hope that each individual member comes to the table with a genuine desire to do good of the country, regardless of whether or not i believe in their positions or not. after all, it is in that love for country that brings all of us into one.

Thanksgiving

the tradition continues...pre-thanksgiving feast 2010 was another success. again missing my coveted sous chef, i took on more of the responsibilities myself. and i was very pleased with myself when everything worked out.

but the main reason for this post is to rave about the utility and benefits of a good brine. and stealing alton brown's recipe, i thought the turkey turned out great...probably one of the best i've ever made.

anyways, now that the thanksgiving weekend is over and the leftovers are still being consumed, i'm already excited for the next time i get to feast.

Dream Girl

there may need to be new room on my mantel of ridiculously hot women that i will never get to meet...and as much as it pains me to think about this possibility, emmanuelle chriqui, has some serious competition.

so without further ado, to live forever in my creepish fantasy world of awesomely beautiful women who i will never have a chance with...arden cho.

and to further promote her and a few ucsd alum and a bunch of much more creative asian people than i..."A.S.S"

Where Amazing Happens

so good that you can't help but love it...

...or if you're in anything but purple and gold, just hate it.

More Sane?

us on the left have definitely had a plethora of ironic, hypocritical, downright hilarious, and realistically dangerous material from the right wing, tea party base the past few years...and it's done for some good ratings for the daily show and the colbert report. but what is truly appreciated about those types of shows is the level of intelligence that the two respective hosts bring to the discourse...it's not about who's winning or who's the loudest. yes, they make a living calling out the crazies, but those who believe that is news are just as ironic, hypocritical, hilarious, and dangerous...and sadly, missed the whole point of the rally this past weekend.

we were supposed to rise above the noise, not succumb to sound bites and talking points, and truly engage ourselves in the process and make our own decisions.

sure we may not be as hateful or be as aggressively spiteful, but we need to be careful not to be as blindly led.

Cuisine

it is no secret that i have been irate about the lack of quality mexican food in the district. and whenever i spout off on my complete disdain and disgust at the scene, i get rebuttals to visit places like cactus cantina or lauriol plaza, i immediate refute their claims that this is mexican food. as evidenced by the most useful of diagrams...



i won't lie, i do enjoy a plate of nachos or chips and queso or enchiladas and overly stuffed burritos. but there are times when i really just crave some quality chorizo or succulent carnitas...and sadly, those are harder to find in what should be a metropolitan.

Irony?

perhaps after sending sexts of your junk to unsuspecting former coworkers, this is what you get in return.

it doesn't matter where you are, whenever a guy sees another guy getting hit in the nuts they will instinctively feel a bit of pain in their own region...but that being said, this is still pretty funny.

Goals

now that i've recently passed my latest celebration of my birth year, i feel that i should assess where i've come and where i want to go. thus far, it seems that i've followed the exact route that i should have...the stereotypical first-generation asian american path: do well in high school, get into a good college, travel a bit (explore the world), pursue and advanced degree, then find a job. that is the path that my parents have laid out in front of me, coddled and nurtured to succeed. but they can only take me so far...

at this point, it's really up to me. so yes, on paper, it looks like i've done a decent job with myself. grad degree, worked on an exceptional team to pass health care reform, and now am responsible for the health care portfolio of another senator. sadly, i've been working under the feeling that i've gotten very lucky...having fallen into my job with finance, which allure and aura helped land me my current job. i'm still waiting to feel like i've completely earned what i have.

but beyond these deep seated ramblings, i still have to set goals for myself. and i won't bore the blogsphere with the thoughts of job advancements or luck in love. i've set a few very achievable goals that i hope to have in my lifetime...and here they are:

1. i want to be able to live in a house where i can have my own pool table
2. i want to have an infinity pool overlooking a cliff
3. i want to be wealthy enough to be able to open up a restaurant without fear of it failing

so now that i've succeeded in most of my goals during the first quarter century of so of my life, let's see if i can't get the rest of those in the rest of my life.

Volt

like many many others, i only know of volt through owner/chef bryan voltaggio's top chef fame. without that, i'm sure i wouldn't have made the hour drive to this quiet little block of frederick that reminded me of old town alexandria...with the same historic ambiance with an authentic american feel to it. and heading out there on a sunday night towards the end of a heated redskins game made the city blocks seem nearly abandoned. as my friend and i wondered what a famed chef and top tier restaurant were doing hidden in this more pastoral town as opposed to a trendy urban enclave, i had to stop myself from overly critiquing and just enjoy the new american cuisine in this classic american setting.

but once you walk up the stairs of the landmark houck mansion and into the restaurant itself, you leave the historic feel of frederick and are whisked away into a modern, chic, and surprisingly brightly lit dining room. though we arrived early for our meal, we were seated promptly. which meant we had to forgo the pre-meal drink at what looked like a rather comfortable lounge/bar. sadly, we were not offered a table in the kitchen. instead, we sat in the main dining room which was bright, with shining linens and plush seating...all adorned in white, offsetting the black/gray suits that the hosts/servers were wearing.

once seated, our server was quick to offer us the house filtered still/sparkling water as well as the cocktail/wine list. from which my friend and i both ordered expertly made manhattans...smooth and smokey. having done our homework, we had already decided to go for the pre-fixe six course kitchen menu opposed to their a la carte menu (though it was a very tough decision...but i figured i'd go for it since it was my birthday).

as for the food, we were presented with a trio of canapes to wet our palettes. it included a beet flavored puff with a little dollop of creme fois gras, a cube of compressed watermelon flavored with prosciutto, and a lobster salad with fried leeks...what a great start to the meal. the tasting menu followed along with a plate of heirloom tomatoes topped with tomato dip n' dops, olive oil ice cream, and mozzarella spheres. not only was everything on the plate fresh, as if it was plucked directly from the soil, but the combination provided a refreshing tone to evening. we followed that with what i would say is the stand out dish of the evening...the goat cheese ravioli. one bite in and i was awed at its creaminess, its boldness in flavor, and its harmony of tastes. the sharp goat cheese was countered with a very sweet puree of butternut squash, providing a balance between sweet and savory. the spotted skate wing was the next course...sitting on top of a bed of pea puree, was nicely prepared but didn't inspire me to sing another aria to the chef. the red water pork belly with white beans and stewed mustard seeds was fork tender, melt in your mouth delicious (but if given the choice, i'd still take david chang's pork belly bun from momofuku). the last savory dish was a neatly butchered, rare veal loin. i wasn't disappointed, but again, it didn't even beat out the braised veal cheeks i had at tabaq here in dc. the dessert was a texture of chocolate...and unlike the rest of the world, i'm simply not huge on chocolate. and the ganache and caramel was just too rich for my tastes.

overall, the food was definitely worth the hour drive away from the culinary adventures of the district, the service was impeccable with a server clearing the plates and utensils after each dish, and the price for a six course pre-fixe was not outrageous. and i didn't leave hungry as you often do from tasting menus.

granted without his top chef fame i probably never would have ventured into frederick, but now that i've tasted what i watched on tv, i'm happy that i did.

Election Season

as the owner of a big D-card, all this talk about republicans sweeping into power this year and the ineptitude of the democratic party has gotten me down and frustrated. yes...i agree that the economic outlook and the democrats complete lack of a message are big reasons why we're in the pickle that we're in. but at the same time, i'm seeing hypocrisy in action when talking about tax cuts and deficits...i'm seeing a republican party oppose any and everything for the sake of winning and the cost of the country...and sadly, i am seeing an insane amount of lies and deceit driving a less than informed electorate. but what really pisses me off (and this is a bipartisan finger pointing) are the people who take advantage of the electorate to make money under the guise of "restoring america".

i can respect policy differences...i can respect their position that government is too large and that tax dollars should be returned to those who make them. but when they take that argument and suggest that it will spur the economy because those dollars will simply be put back into the private sector, i urge them to bring me historical evidence. we need only look at this past decade to prove that that plan didn't work. with some of the largest tax cuts we've seen resulting in the largest deficits we've seen. at what point does perseverance become downright crazy?

but what's even more despicable with their tax policy is their continual raving about the deficit and pounding democrats for overspending. if the republican stuck by their by-as-you-go guns on everything else the democrats have tried to do these past two years, then i expect them to do so with the tax cuts. to offset the trillion dollars this is going to cost us, i want to hear them say they're raise the retirement age for social security, or list the benefits they would cut out of medicare, or limit the exorbitant defense budget. but they won't say any of those things. so they'll pound us for spending money on the poor, the needy, and the middle-income while they rake in cash from the uber wealthy and the large corporations.

not to be a blind loyalist, i've got my beef with the democrats as well. i've said this before, and it holds even truer today. but one of the reasons why i am a democrat is because we are open to ideas and a rather welcoming tent...but at the same time, that leaves us vulnerable and divided on message. i understand that all politics is local and that members of congress are sent here to represent their constituents...and they can't influence the social good if they can't win at home. but for once, i wish the democrats would stand tall, face the dirt that's being thrown at them, and remove their veil of cowardice and punch back. be proud and say "yes, i voted for the health reform bill, climate change, and financial reform. i know you disagree. but here's why i did". but instead, they run and hide. and as they always do, they say "don't pick on me". show me that candidate and i'll vote for him/her any day.

but i don't see that candidate anywhere. and i do see millions of misinformed americans blindly following the tune of beck, palin, limbaugh. these working class americans who belief faith has been lost in this country, that the democrats have auctioned off the wealth...i want them to ask glen, sarah, and rush "how much money did you make scribbling on your blackboard this year? how much money did you make touring the country as the mama grizzly? how much money did you make spewing hate over the airwaves?" then see how much they'd give back to you in times of trouble.

so with that note...end of rant.

Sick