Cantonese food and Valentine's Day.

I have two very interesting things to write about this time. The first took place on Tuesday. I should provide a little history to set the tone. In November of last year, I read a restaurant review that utterly intrigued me. The reviewer went to a Chinese restaurant called Wong’s Chopsticks in Johnston which is a suburb of DM. What really drew my attention to this restaurant is the fact that they supposedly cooked authentic (non-Americanized) Cantonese cuisine. The restaurant does have its “regular” standard Americanized Chinese food, but those in the know can call and order different dishes off the menu. The bonus is that the owner/chef speaks Cantonese!

So, for the past couple of months, I’ve been trying to get a group of people to go to this restaurant with me and since Chinese New Year is right around the corner, I did get a group together to celebrate the New Year at this restaurant. Granted, the group consists of priests, Kristi and I, but it’s still a group nonetheless and they are an adventurous group who are willing to try something new and different. I called the restaurant to make sure they were going to be open, and the guy I spoke to was very friendly and confirmed that they were open for dinner. I then proceeded to ask him what’s the best way to go about ordering the dishes, and he said if I can go about describing the dishes, the chef will know what I’m talking about. I did a pretty good job overall, but was stumped when I could not think of the Cantonese word for beef. The guy asked me if I spoke Cantonese, and I said a little. He then passed the phone off to the owner/chef, who started rattling off in Cantonese. Now, it’s been years since I’ve spoken Cantonese for a long period, and you can only imagine me stumbling through the conversation. However, I’m proud to report that we got the dishes ordered, and he knew what I was talking about. Can you tell I’m excited about dinner on Sunday? You bet your bottom dollar I am!

I was so thrilled about this whole experience that I e mailed mom to ask her to gather my aunts and uncles and come up with a list of Cantonese cuisines written in Chinese character with an English translation next to it so the next time I go to the restaurant, I’ll be able to order some truly authentic cuisine. Now, you may be thinking what’s the big deal about going to a Chinese restaurant and ordering a meal? Well, let me just tell you that not living in a city that has a Chinatown, this is a huge deal. With larger cities that have a Chinatown, you can get truly authentic Chinese cuisines. But try as I may, no such restaurant exists in good old Des Moines and this is something I direly miss. I’m trying my best not to get my hopes up too high, but how can I not? This is very monumental news for Des Moines. I can see this restaurant becoming my number one restaurant in Des Moines for a truly authentic Chinese dinner. Needless to say, the report of my dining experience will follow after I get done with dinner. Stay tuned. Oh, the cherry on top of the cake would be his wife specialized in Dim Sum. Yes, Dim Sum - One of my all-time favorite types of food. If and when this restaurant starts serving Dim Sum, I’ll be going there every week! They’ll get to know me so well it’ll be scary. Now, now, I should not start counting my eggs before they hatch.

On a totally different subject, as all of you know, yesterday was Valentine’s Day. Not to sound like I’m anti-Valentine’s Day (or maybe I am), but yesterday was not a fun/good day for me. Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love/relationships/couples etc., so where does that leave us singles? We stick out like a sore thumb where everyone else is all lovey dovey and having a twinkle in their eye. You could not imagine the number of red and pink colors I saw people wearing. It was kind of nauseating. I do believe for the most part, I kept my “cynicism” to myself, but it was a pretty downer day for me. Thank goodness the office had a “Beat the Winter Blues” lunch that coincided with Valentine’s Day. Food always makes me all warm and fuzzy inside and let me tell you, there was an abundance of food in the office. I brought some chocolate chip cookies and there was a smattering of salad, chili, sandwiches and dessert. I stuffed myself to the point I did not even have dinner.

I had sent an e mail to a friend telling her about my true feelings about Valentine’s Day, and she said that my thoughts on it would probably change if I were dating someone or in a relationship. I highly doubt that because when I was dating Kate a number of years back, I cooked her a nice meal and baked a cheesecake. She was utterly thrilled. We could have gone out for a nice meal, but I figured it would be so much more fun for the both of us by me cooking her something. What really sealed the deal was the fact that I cooked something I never cooked before, and baked for the very first time. She was most impressed. Now, for me, that’s what Valentine’s Day is all about. We as a culture/society are too caught up in the commercialized aspect of Valentine’s Day and are contributing to their profit. If you truly love someone, you don’t need a special day to show that love. You should show your love every day through your words and/or actions. That’s so much more meaningful than sending your significant other a mushy card and flowers on a day when that has come to be an expectation or norm. I’ll get off my soap box now. Am I truly anti-Valentine’s Day? I don’t believe so. I just feel that it’s been blown way out of proportion and the industry is making a killing. All this could change when I meet my special someone, but I hope not.

I’m glad I went to the Drake Basketball game last night because at the very least, I got to cheer for my alma mater, and it made the day go by faster. We won which was an added bonus, but for me I had fun doing something I like to do. By the time I got back to my apartment, I surfed the net a little and replied a couple of e mails then it was bedtime. When I got up this morning, the one thing that came to my mind was the fact that it’s no longer Valentine’s Day. That was a very good feeling at least for me.

Boy, reading this blog over, I just feel that it’s been somewhat negative, and I really don’t mean it to be negative, but what’s a blog, really? It’s a journal for one to express one’s thoughts and feelings. So there, you have my thoughts and feelings. Now, I’m just looking forward to CNY celebration on Sunday. I know I’ll have a lot of fun that evening for sure.