If Yan Can Cook, So Can You (Part 2)

I was hoping to get lucky and meet the Man again at the Show. As I headed towards GE's booth, there he was, doing his magic with knives and wok again. He kept the same format, same jokes, and for a moment I thought he's gonna ask the same question too. I was ready for it!

Instead, he asked how many episodes has "Yan Can Cook" been aired? Never mind I had no slightest clue, my hand quickly shot up not willing to let a free book get away (must be my Chinese blood...). He caught my ninja speed and pointed at me to answer,

"2500!" I exclaimed.

Other hands were waving by now trying to get his attention. Luck must be with me again, my guess was the closest to the answer (which I forgot already). S0 waddya know, I won Martin Yan's 2006 Cookbook for the 2nd time :)



I didn't bring my camera with me, but one kind lady offered to take a picture of me and the Chef and would email it to me. I haven't got it yet. So kind lady from the show, if you happen to chance upon this blog, I'd be thrilled to hear from you.

An Experience Beyond Words

With all the talks about E3 lately, I want to chip in a little bit about the recent trade show I attended. The Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) took place at the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago this year. My company exhibits annually at the show so I went to tag along for 5 days.

T'was my first time in Chicago, and I loved it. I don't usually have a lasting impression of any cities I visited, though Boston comes close. Like everyone else, I was awfully impressed by the breathtaking architectures of the city – the old and the new intertwined together create beautiful skyline. Strangely I felt like I was partly back to the Godfather's era.

As expected, the big players had crazy booths set ups, which I heard took an entire week to set up. Ours? Modestly small, took us only a few hours get everything together. I guess the KBIS people really know what they're talking about when they claimed this is the biggest event in kitchen & bath industry. On the opening day, the queue at the entrance was so long I couldn't see the end of it. There were more than 1000 exhibitors and over 40,000 attendees, the human traffic was practically body to body! This busy pace continued throughout the show, except for the last day where we poor booth people finally got a breather.

I don’t think I even saw half of what’s there. Even then, I had lots of ooohed and aahhed moments to tons of impressive kitchens and bathrooms. Particularly, the Kitchen Aid's booth had me droolled for their everything.

Now here's the meat of the story. I can't resist to tell you the best product in my opinion. Have you ever associated the word sexy to a toilet before? Didn't think so - neither had I. But that's until TOTO's-Integrated-Toilet-Seat comes along, NEOREST 600.

I stood in front of this thing for a full 5 minutes listening intently as the TOTO guy demonstrated and explained the technology behind it. After he's done, I could not believe the evolution of toilet has come this far. It's definitely a total different kind of animal.

Neorest 600 is super sleek (pipeless and tankless), comes with seat warmer, dual-flush so you don't waste too much water when you do your #1, and the freaking lid opens automatically as you approach! Wait, there's more.

"If one continues to stand in front of the NEOREST, as would a man, the toilet seat automatically rises also. When the individual leaves, the NEOREST automatically flushes and the lid automatically closes.”

WOW. Insane or what?

The Neorest is one smart toilet that comes with "warm-water personal cleansing system and a slim wireless remote control to control Wireless remote system" (huh?!). Yeah, I sure could get used to the seat warmer.

It's only like, $7000.

Unexpected Phone Call Puts Life in Perspective

I was busy at work when my Soi Cek (dad’s youngest brother) called. Over the 7 years I’m in the States he never once did. Instantly alarm went off in my head - surely something must have gone very wrong. But he sounded just like his normal self, and said the sweetest thing that still makes me smiling from ear to ear. He said he missed me and wondered when I’ll be home.

My uncle’s call hit me. It made me realize how occupied I’ve been with my life all these while, that I’ve been selfish with my time. When you’re young, energetic and full of ambition, it’s darn easy to be sucked into the routines of life and lose track of what is really important to you. To me, that’s my family. I feel ashamed that I don’t tell them that I love them everyday. I take for granted that they’ll always be there. I know that they know I love them dearly, but there’s no excuse for not communicating more often. Recently I called couple of friends whom I haven’t talked in a long time. They too, wondered if something was wrong with me. If you’re reading this, I just wanted to check in and say hello :)

Funny how a simple phone call warms your heart. Soi cek’s call reminded me that I’m still somebody’s little niece. That is nice to know, especially living in this crazy world where sometimes you don't even know what's right or wrong anymore. Okay, maybe that's too dramatic. Point is, keep in touch with people you love and let them know you heart them.

Thanks Soi cek, I love you, I’ll be home soon.