A Hairy Tale

One day in class, the econometrics professor suddenly digressed from his planned lesson to make a philosophical statement, “Life is like going to the barber. Sometimes, you get a good haircut; sometimes, you get a lousy haircut; you just never know.”

.
Two months after we arrived in Happy Valley, I had the most awful haircut in my entire life! One evening, whilst we were shopping in Walmart, I saw a hair salon and told my wife that I would pop into the salon to have my hair cut, whilst she continued with her shopping. Upon entering the salon, I was ushered quickly to an empty chair. I was the only customer in the shop. When asked, “how do you want your hair to be cut?”, I replied, “short”. That turns out to be a huge mistake! Before I knew it, my chair was swiveled to the side, and the lady started clipping my hair. That was the second mistake, facing away from the mirror whilst your hair was being cut by a stranger. I really had no idea what she was doing to my hair – all I saw was large quantities of shorn hair cascading down my shoulders, onto the cape and down to the floor. The third mistake was to allow the so called hairdresser to use a “clipper”, which is like a mini “lawn mover” to cut my hair.

Before the seat was warmed up, I was told that it's done! The whole session seems like a fast five minutes to me. Even before I put on my glasses, I had a bad feeling. Bill Bryson, the author of Notes from a Big Country, list some questions you'll dread hearing from your hairdresser, just before she hand you your glasses after a haircut:

• “How fast does your hair grow?”
• “Will you be going out much over the next few weeks, sir?”
• “Do you have a big hat?” .

True enough, when I looked in the mirror, I was confronted with G.I. Joe, whom I hardly could recognize. I was shocked and could only utter to the hairdresser, “it looks awfully short.” Dumbstruck, I paid her and stumbled out dazed! I went to the washroom to wash my face. Staring at the mirror, I said to myself stoically that my hair would grow back and that on the bright-side, I would not need a haircut for a long long time. Having regained my composure, I then went sheepishly to look for my wife. Upon seeing me, she let out a horrified shriek and cried repeatedly, “What have they done...? What have they done to your hair?” We went back to the shop to protest but the lady who cut my hair had already left. Apparently, my haircut was a rush job as the shop was about to close when I stepped in! My wife complained to the manager the next day. She learnt that the girl who cut my hair was a newbie – someone who had just started a few months earlier (I presume the only training she had was on the job). The manager apologized. Although she refunded us the money, the damage to my hair was already done. Over the next few months, I had to wear a cap.

After the trauma, I hesitated visiting the salon here. Anyway, last week I went to another salon to have my hair cut as it was uncomfortably long. This time, I checked around first with some friends where they got their hair cut and if they were satisfied. This time, I replied “give me a trim” and stressed ‘no clippers, please use scissors”. This time, I make sure that I am facing the mirror all the time (not that I can see clearly without my glasses). My hair cut at the “For Men Only” salon turned out to be a pleasant experience. I gave Suzanne, the hairdresser, a tip for a satisfactory job. Whilst it may not be the best I have had, but at least it was a decent haircut.

Calvin & Hobbes

This is a test run. My first time toying with Html codes. Was surfing the web and came across this feature which can be used in the blog. Useful to create slideshows on blog, with background music and can do caption. Let me know if you like the slideshow and if you have any suggestions for improvement. The picture clarity cannot be help, poor resolution from original source.

Anyway, the theme for the slideshow below is obvious. I used pictures downloaded from the internet, centering on my favorite cartoon character, Calvin and Hobbes.

Sushi Roll

Towards the end of last year, we learnt how to make sushi rolls from a friend. Tomoko, who is from Tokyo, is here in PennState to learn English. She has a boyfriend from Singapore.

Spread rice on nori sheet

Stage 1: Prepare sushi rice
==================
Since rice constitutes more than 80% of the sushi, preparing the rice is a crucial step for successful sushi making.
1. Wash and knead the rice several times until the water runs fairly clear when draining. Set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Add water and cook rice in an electric rice cooker.
3. Once cooked, remove pot from heat. Let it stand for another 15 minutes. Do not open the cover - it is important to retain the heat .

Stage 2: Vinegar Mix
===============
1. Mix rice vinegar, sugar and salt together in a small saucepan.
2. Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves, stirring frequently.
3. Remove from heat and let the sushi vinegar cool to room temperature.

Place filling in the center
Stage 3: Mix rice
============
1. Put the hot rice into a mixing bowl and add 1/4 of the sushi vinegar solution.
2. Fold the rice using a wooden spatula. Be gentle so as not to break the rice grains.
3. Repeat until all vinegar is used.
4. After mixing, fan the rice mixture for 5 mins to remove excess moisture. The rice is ready when it has a glossy shine and is sticky to touch.


Stage 4: Roll sushi
==============
1. Use a sushi mat to roll sushi.
2. Place nori sheet (sunny side down) on bamboo mat.
3. With damp fingers, spread a thin layer of the sushi rice over the seaweed. Do not cover completely. Leave a 1-inch margin at the ends uncovered to seal the roll.
4. Place your filling in a center line on the nori sheet. Interestingly, I learnt that the Japanese will never place "four" ingredients in the roll. Guess why?
5. Slowly fold the end of the mat closest to you over the filling and tuck it in. Use medium pressure to keep the roll as tight as possible.
6. Remove the roll from the mat, press in the loose ends and place it on a cutting board, seam side down.

.
7. Using a clean sharp knife, slice the roll in half, then in 6 equal pieces. Wipe knife clean with a towel (wet with vinegar) after each cut.

.

(play video)

.

8. Serve with wasabi, soy sauce and pickled ginger.

.

It is not that difficult to roll the sushi, but I would rate the whole process as very tedious involving many steps. Nevertheless, we had fun and it was a good experience. In exchange, my wife taught Tomoko how to cook Chinese glutinous rise, "loh mei fun".

Unfulfilled Dreams

Eulogy – a speech or written tribute, especially praising someone who has died.

.Epitaph – words engraved on a person’s tomb or in a plaque.

"I have seen the promised land... and I may not get there with you. But I want you to know though that we, as a people, will get to the promised land... and I am happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the Lord."

- Martin Luther's prophetic speech one day before his assasination.

.

King: Like anybody, I would like to live a long life.

"Get somebody to be able to say,

'He may not have reached the highest heights, he may not have realized all his dreams, but he tried.' Isn't that a wonderful thing for somebody to say about you?"

Martin Luther King, Jr speech entitled "Unfulfilled Dreams" (1968)

Proverbs for the Day (22:1):

A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver and gold.

.

In the Bible, it is written that a good name is better than perfume. Now what is this comparison supposed to teach us? A good name is that which has influence and character … that which changes lives … that which has a fine reputation. Indeed, a good name is certainly to be preferred to that which simply has a pleasant aroma, that which will last but a moment (Swindoll, p.204).

.

Many people avoid thinking about death, refuse to face it, and are reluctant to attend funerals. Solomon, the author of Proverbs, also wrote in Ecclesiastes 7:2, “it is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting.” He is not encouraging us to think morbidly, but he knows that it is helpful to think clearly about death.

It reminds us that there is still time for change, time to examine the direction of our lives, and time to confess our sins and find forgiveness from God. Because everyone will eventually die, it makes sense to plan ahead to experience God’s mercy rather than his justice (LAB, p. 1136).

Ref: C.R. Swindoll (1985) Living on the Ragged Edge - Coming to Terms with Reality.

"I Have a Dream"

"I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today..."

"Freedom is never voluntarily granted by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the opressed."

In honor of the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., today is a public holiday in the US. Curious to find out more about this man who has a national holiday bearing his name, I went to the library to borrow a book on Martin Luther King, Jr.

.

For those who are not familiar with American history, Dr King played an instrumental part in the black civil rights movement in the US in the 1960s. King lead a movement of nonviolence protests to fight for race equality across the US. Like his idol, Mahatma Gandhi, King held the belief that love would conquer hate through justice. Hence, his tactic, "we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer." To King, nonviolence was not only a tactic but a way of life:-

."resistance and non-violence are not in themselves good. There is another element that must be present in our struggles that then make our resistance and nonviolence trully meaningful. Our ultimate goal must be the creation of the beloved community."

Sadly, King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in that city. He was only 39!

King was the youngest man, at the age of 35, to have received the Nobel Peace prize (1964). According to his wife, King genuinely was uninterested in money and material success and wished he could take a vow of poverty. Benjamin Mays, a former teacher at his alma mater (Morehouse College), said,

"Because you did not seek fame, it has come to you. It must have been a person like you that Emerson had in mind when he said, 'see how the masses of men worry themselves into nameless graves where here and there a great, unselfish soul forgets himself into immotality.' You are a gentle and loving, Christian and brave, sane and wise".

40 years after his death, King's legacy lives on. In 1986, the then US President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation declaring the third Monday in January of each year a public holiday in honor of the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. In Washington, President Bush today hailed King as a towering figure and called on the country to honor his legacy by showing compassion to those in need. "It's fitting that we honor his service and his courage and his vision." The president said that the federal holiday in King's memory is "an opportunity to renew our deep desire for America to be a land of promise to everybody."

Reference:

Charles Johnson & Bob Adelman (2000) King - The photobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The most memorable speech of his life, "I have a Dream", was delivered at the footsteps of the Lincoln Memorial (Washington D.C.) on August 28, 1963. It is a timeless classic for any aspiring public speaker. The passionate and powerful speech (8 mins) can be viewed at youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEMXaTktUfA.

Recipe: Crispy Oat Prawn

On our weekly visit to the Asian grocery store (Far Corners), we were delighted to find fresh prawns. Whilst the supermarkets here do carry prawns, they are most of the time pre-cooked and shelled, and always with the head removed! Americans will eat the prawns as they are, thawed with a seafood salsa dip. BTW, prawns are more commonly called as 'shrimps' here.

So, you can imagine our delight when we stumbled on the shining fresh prawns (with shell and their heads still intact). A small pack containing about 20 average-sized prawns costs us around US$ 5+.

We decided to fry them with crispy oats, which is one of my wife's favorite zhe zhar dishes in Singapore. As we had not prepared this dish before, I had to do some research on the internet. As it turn out, the dish is not that difficult to prepare. Below is the recipe, but as usual, I don't have the exact measurement. My style of cooking is "agak-agak" (guesstimate).

Ingredients:

20 prawns, soya sauce, pepper, shaoshing wine, cooking oil, 80g butter, 5 chili padi, a bunch of curry leaves, two fistful of oats, 1 egg, diced garlic and onions, salt and sugar.

Stage 1- Fry prawns
==============
1. Trim the sharp-ends of the prawns with a kitchen scissors, slit & devein but keep the head intact.
2. Marinate with a dash of soya sauce, pepper, shaoshing wine for 30 mins.
3. Dust with cornflour and fry prawns in very hot cooking oil till golden brown.
4. Remove and place on absorbent kitchen towel to remove excess oil.

Stage 2 - Fry oats
============
5. Melt butter in a hot wok to stir fry the chopped garlic and onions (shallots would give a better fragrant, but they weren't readily available in our pantry).

6. Add the curry leaves and chili padi (cut into small rings) and fry until fragrant.
7. Beat the egg, drip drop into the wok, and stir rigorously in one direction.
8. Add the oats, fry till they turn crispy and golden brown (instead of Nestum oats, which was recommended on the internet, I could only get my hands on Quakers Oat. They taste alright, but were not as crispy as I had wished).
9. Add cooked prawns and mix well. Add a pinch of salt and sugar.

The prawns were yummy and so crispy that we could crunch the whole prawn, shell, head, everything!

.

Photo: Honey dew sago...................................... Photo: Thai papaya salad

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

We had a feast tonight. For starters, we had wanton, fish cake and thai papaya salad; followed by fried black olive rice accompanied with grilled chicken, minced turkey basil, stir fry sweet pea, and of course, the crispy oat prawns. We ate honey dew sago for dessert. We round up with a delightful raspberry pie, homemade by Sharon.

We Worry Too Much

The picture below was taken by one of my ex-students who visited Mongolia in September 2007. What do you see in the picture? Play or Danger? Fun or Fear? The answer depends on which perspective you are coming from; that of an adult or a child.

Can you remember when life was joyful? When we were younger, we were ignorant of many things. But we were happy. “I neither expected much nor needed much. Life was meant to be enjoyed, not endured. When did everything get so serious?” , asked Swindoll (p.11). He answer? When we become an adult, we are told that we need to be responsible, and this includes “... living in a world of reality, and not everything in the real world is funny. Some things are extremely difficult." ... Adulthood being synonymous with responsibility, and reality includes difficulty; thus, we have no business enjoying life.

Yesterday, I came across a tongue-in-cheek article, "How to Waste Your Time this Year?" in which five proven time-wasters were presented. That’s right, if you follow the author's advice, you will make absolutely no progress this year. Guaranteed! On top of the list of the time-wasters is:

.
Photo: Courtesy of CHZ (Mongolia, Sep 07)

Worry a lot.

.....

Start worrying earlier in the morning and intensify your anxiety energy as the day passes.

He even provides some tips if you are short on a supply of things to worry about?

• Check the newspaper, television, or Internet. You’ll have enough bad news, doomsday reports, human tragedies, and late-breaking calamities to keep your heart and mind churning all through the night.
• Something he has found helpful is to do a lot of reflecting on your failures and mistakes. If you’re a parent, think long and hard about what you should or could have done for your children. That will give guilt the green light it’s been waiting for. To add a touch of variety, you might also call to mind some things you should not have done. Regret fuels worry in many creative ways.
• Make a list of the things you don’t like about your marriage or your job.
• Consider the possibility of a leaky roof, car trouble, and aging.
• Hanging around negative people is another secret you won’t want to forget this new year.
  

"If you plan all this right, you’ll be loaded with a full pack of worries long before February comes. Start now! Those potential ulcers need fresh acid" - Charles Swindoll

Really, who wants to do that? No one aims to run in circles—it just happens. So, let’s get serious. Beware of the time-wasters! Instead, pray more than worry. Be flexible. Give more. Be content with the way God made you. And let the oil of forgiveness loosen your grip on those grudges. In other words, make this year your most productive ever.

Source: http://www.insight.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=9033&news_iv_ctrl=1961

Photo: No worry, peaceful Froggy

Scripture for the Day: Philippians 4: 6-7

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.

...

Watch children running around the playground and you will soon be thinking, “they’re having so much fun”. Why aren’t you having more fun? Children run around and play as if by instinct. They do not question whether they should have fun, they just go out and do it. Adults have responsibilities, we are serious. Sometimes children know better than we do. Having a little fun, a time for pure silliness and happiness, is an essential part of everyday (Niven, p. 148).

Reference:

Swindoll, C. (1992) Laugh Again – Experience Outrageous Joy.

Ice Scupltures

Photo: A glorious winter day @ PennState University

Below are photos of some ice scupltures taken during the First Night Carnival in State College. The two most popular ones (at least with the kids) were the tractor and the ice throne.

.

We also managed to record how the ice blocks are artistically scupltured.

Play video below (dinosour ice scuplture).

Another popular station at the First Night Carninal was the resolution tree, where visitors were encouraged to write their resolution on a silver plate, which will then be hanged up. Still remember your resolutions for 2008? What did you wished for the new year? Most resolutions tend to be centered on the theme of self-improvement ... e.g. how to increase my efficiency, make every moment count, or invest my time wisely and productively.

"Wishing well" ice scupture

Now that we are two weeks into the new year, how are you faring in terms of keeping up with your resolutions?

Authenticity (Not Fake!)

Plastic trees, artificial flowers, pirated DVDs, imitation handbags, replica branded watches, counterfeit jewelry, artificial fireplace, phony American accent, implants, plagiarism, exaggerated ads .... and you can add on to this list. E.R. Beadle once said, "Half of the work that is done in this world is to make things appear what they are not." .

.

When we were in New Orleans, my wife and I only wanted to try the Central Grocery's muffuletta ... even though extra effort was needed to track down the store, despite that there were many other stores in town selling the same bread, and at a cheaper price too. Why?

Humanity seeks out the real thing... authentic, genuine, bona fide! Meaning "being actually and exactly what is claimed," or in computing term, wswyg - You see what you get. In the dictionary, authentic implies being fully trustworthy as according with fact, such as an authentic account of a journey. Genuine implies actual character not counterfeited, imitated, or adulterated. It also connotes definite origin from a source, eg. genuine maple syrup. Bona fide implies good faith and sincerity of intention.

The sign outside the Central Grocery store reminded me of an incident several years back - A friend gave me a "Mont Blanc' pen as a souvenir from his visit to China. It looks like the real stuff, but somehow it didn't feel right (too light). And guess what? The pen konked out after a few days. It is no wonder we doubt the quality of imitation goods!

.

It is not easy to distinguish between real and fake stuff.

• A best selling book, "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" by Malcolm Gladwell opens with what reads like a detective story about the discovery of a statue that initially fooled one group of art experts for being genuine and was later shown to be a fake by another group. The first group had exhaustively studied and analyzed the statue. Members of the second took one look—"blinked" (I call it intuition!) — and declared it suspect and ultimately a forgery. And they were right (ref: wikipedia).
• Go to a newly renovated hawker center in Singapore, say the one at Bt.Timah where there used to be a stall famous for its carrot cake. After the renovation, every other stalls in the center that sell carrot cake carry a sign claiming to be the original one!

There is a warning in the bible!

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.” – Matt 7:15-16.

False prophets and teachers were common in the Bible times. To gain favor and popularity, they prophesied only what the king and the people wanted to hear, claiming it was God’s message. False teachers are just as common today. Christians are to beware of those whose words sound religious but who are motivated by money, fame, or power.

We are exhorted to evaluate teachers’ words by examining their lives. Just as trees are consistent in the kind of fruit they produce, good teachers consistently exhibit good behavior and high moral character. In the context of Christian teachings, you can recognize who they are because in their teaching they minimize Christ and glorify themselves (LAB, 1653).

.

How to be genuine? The first step is removing our mask. Stop the masquerade, “This above all — to thine own self be true” (Shakespeare). Whilst authenticity is easy to talk about, it not so easy to do in real life. Nevertheless, Mother Theresa once said,

"Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway".

.

Lastly, "no one ever become great by imitation!".

New Orleans - Muffuletta

This will be my last blog entry on New Orleans.

One of the great sandwiches of New Orleans is called Muffuletta. It is a Sicilian flavored, layered monument consisting of three major elements: fresh firm Italian round loaf of bread, top-quality cold cuts of salami and ham, and olive salad with a kick. The place that claims to have done it first is the Central Grocery on Decatur Street.

.

This Italian deli-grocery is a shrine to old New Orleans. It serves the best muffuletta in the city. The Central Grocery is actually a neighborhood store, the air inside smelling of garlic and sausage and provolone cheese. The front of the store is jammed with mustards, sauces, pastas, and all kinds of Italian deli items.

Rating: ** (not to be missed) - Delicious, but towards the salty side. The half muffuletta we purchased was big enough for the two of us to share.

New Orleans - Dining

It’s a dieter’s nightmare but no one comes to New Orleans to abstain. A port city for the better part of three centuries, New Orleans absorbed culinary influences from all over the world and distilled them into what may be country’s most distinctive regional cuisines.

The city is famous for two cuisines: Cajun and Creole.

• Creole cuisine evolved as the European immigrants – French, Spanish, Germans, and Italians – adapted their cuisines to local ingredients, and incorporated Native American and African flavors.
• Cajun cooking, which is the other famous cuisine in the city, arrived with the French-Canadian Acadians, who introduced their more rustic single-pot style of cooking, using the traditional blend of flour and oil as a base.

On our last day in New Orleans, we patronized the Gumbo Shop, which evoked a sense of old New Orleans. We had to wait in a queue for nearly an hour before we managed to find a seat in the restaurant. Like many old buildings in New Orleans, it has a nice courtyard.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The menu is chock-full of relics. My wife and I shared one set meal. We had Seafood Okra Gumbo (spicy, thick soup is made with okra, peppers, shrimp, crab, oysters, and sometimes chicken or sausage and served on a bed of rice) for starter, Alligator Andouille Sausage for appertizer, and a Creole combination platter comprising Shrimp Creole (shrimp cooked in a spicy Creole tomato sauce – served over rice), Jambalaya (Creole version of Spanish paella; mixture of smoked sausage, shrimp, vegetables and chicken in a seasoned sauce, and cooked with rice) and Red Beans and Rice (a flavorsome combination of red beans, rice, smoked pork, hot sauce, onions and garlic), accompanied with a small bowl of garlic mashed potatoes. Dessert was a serving of hot bread pudding (prepared with French bread and custard served with whiskey sauce), which was very sweet. Overall, the meal was heavily flavored but light on the wallet. Total cost including a small local beer (Abita draft) was US$32.36 excluding the obligatory tips of 15-20%.

.
There are also plenty of good quality restaurants in town. During our stay, we dined at several restaurants at the top end of the food pyramid. The full dinner meal costs between US $50 and $80 per pax. In total, we spent approx. US $500 on our dinner meals.

Our favorite was the Red Fish Grill – this restaurant offers a festive yet casual atmosphere, a giant-sized oyster bar, and every kind of seafood you could ever want. Awarded the best seafood restaurant in town, it has an interesting marketing tagline, "friends don't feed friends with frozen fish."

The hickory smoked red fish (served with tasso and wild mushroom, lyonnaise potatoes, topped with Louisiana crabmeat and lemon butter sauce), was exceptional. We also enjoyed the other specialties, such as house salad, barbeque oysters and crab cakes.

Its signature dessert, double chocolate bread pudding - a rich dark and semisweet chocolate bread pudding served with white and dark chocolate ganache and chocolate almond bark, is sinfully rich but spectacular.

New Orleans - Beignets

No visit to New Orleans is complete without a stop at Café Du Monde, in operation since 1862. On the menu: cafe au lait (made with ground chicory root) and beignets (three mouthwatering pieces per serving). Each order costs US$ 2 including tax. The historic 24-hour, open-air coffee shop is an ideal place to sit, relax and watch the world go by. After attending a full day of conference, I find the cafe atmosphere much more serene than the wild Bourbon Street.

.

.

.

.

Beignets – deep-fried & sugar-dusted, these doughnuts are served all day at Café du Monde. They are delicious and the texture reminded us very much of "ham chim peng". I think "yu tiao" will be popular if it is introduced here.

I ordered "kopi-O", whilst my wife had "kopi-C". The wife commented that the meal would be complete if they sell soft-boiled eggs. Truly, Cafe Du Monde is New Orleans' version of "ya kun". During our stay, we patronized the original cafe three times. We also visited its branch outlet at RiverWalk, where I managed to record how beignets are made.

Notes: From the last video, you can understand why the beignets at this outlet are not as good as those served in the original cafe. Like "yu tiao", beignets must be served "hot" and eaten immediately after they are fried. Coffee at the RiverWalk outlet was also lukewarm. Overall, a huge letdown compared to the main outlet.

New Orleans - Sights

Few American cities pack in so much food, music, nightlife and history. New Orleans covers a 365-square mile-stretch of former swampland – most of it, as the world now knows, below sea level. The oldest and most scenic parts of the city are compact and perfect for strolling, with cafes and quirky shops providing pleasant distractions.

.

The French Quarter, which is the city’s most famous neighborhood, is a vibrant commercial and residential hodgepodge, with wrought-iron balconies, courtyards, and meticulously restored homes.

The lively Jackson Square, with St.Louis Cathedral in the background, – an attractive and lively meeting place. At the center stands a statue of General Jackson on a rearing horse. Outside the park, there are plenty of artists waiting to draw your portrait or caricature, or "read" your fortune.

.

Bourbon Street is synonymous with sin. The name has noting to do with bourbon, despite the string of bars that line this legendary street; it is named after the French royal family of Bourbon. One bar after another proffers vats of lethal concoctions such as “Hurricane” (which I can testify is potent! Half a cup and I was already tipsy) …, most often to the accompaniment of blasting rock or blues…

The balconies above the sidewalks literally sag from the weight of drinking revelers, throwing beads down to the pedestrians below.

“You haven’t really experienced New Orleans until you walk down Bourbon Street after dark. It is loud and crazy, but great people-watching. You have to see it to believe it. Stay nearby but not on Bourbon Street, so you can get away from the craziness when you feel like it." - Rhonda (Fodor’s New Orleans 2007).

New Orleans

As mentioned earlier, my wife and I will be visiting New Orleans on Jan 2-7. We leave early this morning. During this period, I will not be updating the blog.

New Orleans is known for unforgettable dining, intoxicating live music, Old World charm and good time living. It is the birthplace of jazz music, and the food is excellent. My wife and I are looking forward to "fresh" seafood. But we have been warned that the city is one of the "dirtiest" (in all sense of the word) cities in the U.S.

.

I will be presenting a research paper at the ASSA conference, which is held annually on the first weekend of the new year. The conference is attended by the top brains in various fields of economics in the world, including those in finance and real estate. In the presence of greatness, one can either feel inspired or intimidated! For me, I attend these conferences with the view that "friends who bring their ideas together can help each other become sharper."

.
Proverbs (27:17) reads, "as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." There is a mental sharpness that comes from being with good people. And a meeting of minds can help people see their ideas with new clarity, refine them, and shape them into brilliant insights. This requires discussion partners who can challenge each other and stimulate thought - people who focus on the idea without involving their egos in the discussion; people who know how to attack the thought and not the thinker.

.

It will not be all work though. We will be arriving one day earlier and departing one day later. So, we have two free days to explore the city. As the city is located in the southern region, the weather will also be warmer than Pennsylvania.

.