Fobby Chinese Post-Partum Care or “作月子”

I have to admit. I have slacked off big time ever since I became pregnant and it has been over a year since I wrote anything! But now that my son turned 1 today, I have determined to write more whenever I can. So, the first thing I would like to share is Chinese Post-partum care.

What the heck is “fobby Chinese” post-partum care, you ask? It is an eye-opener whenever I tell people from non-Asian background or even non-Fobby Asians. So, Post-Partum Care is a series of customs practiced by Chinese, with variation based on the areas you are from. They follow these customs for 30 days post delivery. However, there are a few customs applied regardless of geography. Allow me to share a few with you.

First and foremost, a woman during her post-partum care cannot and should not take a shower. Yes, you read it right. That means no bath, no shower, no shampooing and no skinny dipping. I have heard from some friends they also cannot brush their teeth! Now, that is going too far in my opinion.

In addition to no shower, she cannot engage in any heavy labor or activities. This means no lifting boxes, carrying grocery bags, working out the leftover fat on her belly, etc. So, if she wants to be like Heidi Klum and loses 40 lbs in month, this is probably not going to work out for her.

Thirdly, she is not allowed out of the house. Plain and simple. The reason behind it is that she cannot risk catching a cold as her body is still weak and recovering from a major event. This is like a house arrest for 30 days. But perhaps this is an opportunity to make the husband do all the leg work?

Last but definitely not the least, she will be drinking and eating all types of nourishing Chinese herbal-infused dishes from Chicken soup to Pig Knuckle stew, aiming to help regain energy and strength as quickly as possible. Again, if you think you can start losing weight now that baby is out of you, think again. You will be eating twice as much because you will be eating around the clock. Unfortunately, you cannot be binge eating on ice cream because anything cold is off limit.

All these customs are meant to help the new mom recover from giving birth as soon as possible. In addition, Chinese believe this is the 2nd chance a woman get in her life to transform her health for the better, the first time being during puberty. Do you believe these Chinese customs actually work? If you ask any fobby Chinese, they will probably tell you yes and that is how they stay looking young!

Tumblr’s Mobile Apps Updated With Improved Search And Discovery, Making Room For More Ad Spots, Too

Just started using Tumblr a couple weeks ago. I haven’t found out how it can benefit my life yet. Still used to post blogs on WordPress.com.

Queens Unique Eats – Salt & Fat

Ever since we moved to Queens, my husband and I have been exploring our new borough with enthusiasm, especially when it comes to the food it offers. One of my dear friends live in Sunnyside and has been raving about her neighborhood gem, Salt & Fat. Therefore, we paid a visit on a weekday night to experience the goodies.

After my first visit, I fell in love with Salt & Fat! It is such an unnoticeable restaurant and only opens during dinner. A place like this in the city will mean long line, high price and hipster crowd. On the contrary, it is very cozy, relaxed and intimate here.

We tried many dishes here and I love everything we got. Isn’t that great? They serve small-mid portion style so make sure you order a little more than the number of people to get enough food. One of the best perks here is their free bacon fat popcorn for the table. Who can resist bacon-infused popcorn? I can think of no one. Now, my favorite dish is their duck breast. It is so fatty and tender I think I can eat all of it by myself. The pork belly is also a winner, another fatty and tender dish. The pork bun comes in 3 and is a great delight. If you love Fois Gras, you have to try their Shaved Fois Gras with citrus. It is probably so far the most innovating and unique way of serving fois gras. It melts right in your mouth in a light and fluffy way. The oxtail terrine is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Their Fried Chicken comes in 4 large pieces and are very tender inside and crispy on the outside. The dipping sauce is sweet and spicy, perfect for deep fried chicken. Finally, if you feel guilty about consuming nothing but fat, the apple prosciutto salad is very refreshing and light.

We ended our dinner with all of their desserts. They are all quite simple but delicious. The rice crispy with ice cream is very good and so is the panna cotta with ice cream. If you love ice cream, you have to try their Ice Cream Trio.

Salt & Fat is a true neighborhood gem and we love each and every dish we ordered here. Also, it is close to our new apartment is easily accessible by 7 Train. I just wish they would open for brunch!

4 Things They Don’t Tell You about Pregnancy

As I approach the end of my pregnancy, I have found that people idealize pregnancy to women for centuries! They talked about how beautiful and amazing it is while in reality, it is bitter sweet

Brunch Cruising on Hudson River

to say the least. People ignore some of the really inconvenient truths about pregnancy. I am therefore, sharing my personal experience with you all so you are not left in the dark.

First of all, you literally will pee in your pants. You must think I am joking. Sadly I wish I were. It happens later in your pregnancy and usually when you cough, sneeze or laugh too hard. At a moment like this, I feel like an old lady who loses control of her bladder and need an adult diaper!

Additionally, your belly becomes a magnet for everyone’s hands. Your friends, coworkers and even strangers, man or woman, love to touch your belly, which once upon a time deemed private and unapproachable.

Thirdly, ugly comfortable shoes become your best friends. I was hoping to stay fabulous and elegant during pregnancy. I also witnessed celebrities wearing sexy killer heels during their pregnancy. Therefore, I never though high heels become unbearable when I approached 3rd trimester. My feet are swollen and I can barely walk for more than 2 hours in even sneakers! Consequently, style is out and comfort is in! I am only wearing comfort shoes that in the past only my mother will purchase.

Finally, they don’t tell you having a child is like having another mortgage! You can say goodbye to your urge to buy new bags, jewelry and new designer outfit. While your single or childless girlfriend is debating on whether they should buy the new Louis Vuitton bag or a pair of Christian Louboutin heel, you are struggling with paying $20,000 the first year on a stroller, diapers, crib and more to come.

Now, after reading my blog, I hope you are READY for having a baby of your own. It is a very important decision for you and your partner and should be thought out carefully. It is an amazing experience to say the least. I hope this helps you prepare for your future pregnancy!

Being Pregnant in NYC

Being a pregnant lady is no easy task and it gets harder in NYC. There are several reasons behind it including but not limited to crowded and insane public transportation, lack of pregnant friends, high food cost and intense lifestyle.

If you are like me and thousands other pregnant working women in NYC without a car, you are probably familiar with the commute on subway. If you are large, you are probably in better luck than I am. I don’t get noticed too often and that means no yielding. Besides, you have to watch out for drunk or reckless riders. You absolutely do not watch to get run into. Furthermore, the smell of unavoidable homeless, beggars and sometimes puke from drunk riders will certainly make your ride more miserable.

Even though I am in my early 30s, I have literally no other pregnant friends or moms. The age for people getting married in NYC is high and the age for couples to have children is even higher. So far, I am quite out of luck in this circle. Therefore, I have to seek online support group for advice and suggestions. NYC people, you need to start having kids instead of dating around!

Finally, almost all pregnancy literature advices pregnant women to eat organic. That is just great because everything organic charges am arm and a leg. So far, I am living off FreshDirect and occasionally Trader Joe’s. I just don’t understand why Whole Foods or other organic grocery stores charge so much in NYC? Do they think everybody makes banker or lawyer salary here?

However, it is not all bad living in NYC as a pregnant woman. There are some perks I do enjoy such as highly reputable hospitals and OBs, pampering salons for your aching body, and nice maternity boutiques! I am looking forward to the rest of my pregnancy journey.

Apple to get $6-8 for each HTC Android phone sold — is Samsung next?

I feel really bad for HTC. It has been struggling since last year and now they got slapped with this. Their revenue is going to slide even further downhill. Who really suffers is the employees at HTC and the whole Taiwan economy.

Lessons Learned after Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy has hit New York City like never before. It has wrecked homes, bridges, electricity and many other things that New Yorkers take for granted. I was in the dark for almost 5 days without electricity, Internet, heat and cell phone reception as many other residents in Lower Manhattan.

I felt lost, abandoned and separated from the outside world. I had to walk 25 blocks to get any sort of civilization. I was running low on food and it was getting unbearable to live in our apartment without hot water to shower and cell reception to call anybody. We were lucky not to be directly hit by the flood and surge. However, we still suffered a great sense of lost and confusion as our neighborhood was in complete darkness and the possibility of looting and danger was lurking if the situation dragged on.

Fortunately, we got power back after 5 days in the dark but it has not been so lucky for the others who remain in the dark and have to face the cold and lack of power continuously for the days to come. It is not all bad coming out of the aftermath of hurricane Sandy. Here are some lessons that hurricane Sandy has taught me.

First of all, we can never over-prepare for a disaster. I have enough batteries, candles, flashlights, solar lantern and radio to keep us going and informed. The dried food was also keeping us from starving. Secondly, it is important to have friends. This sounds cliches but without them, we could not stock up on more non-perishables and get hot meals uptown. Finally, it is through this disaster we learned to appreciate more things that we tend to take for granted. The electricity that we have come to get used to, the heat equipped in our apartment and a hot shower that awakens our body and keep us clean.

New York city is still in the process of rebuild as residents and local businesses are coping with loss and trying to stand up on their own feet again. We don’t know when the next disaster might hit us again but I hope we as New Yorkers will be better prepared and the government has a better plan to keep New York safe.

P.S. Here is a link to an AP article, in which I was interviewed for my experience when power came back. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Cheers-as-power-returns-to-parts-of-downtown-NYC-4003745.php

Why Are We Americans Overweight?

Just very recently, I was in Paris and Barcelona for 10 days and I did a lot of people watching, shopping and even more so, eating. To my surprise, it appears most Europeans are smaller than Americans.

When I was in Paris, I observed what the locals were eating. They consume a lot of fresh local produce. Their farmer’s market was busy with customers and they look colorful and delicious! Other than fresh produce, we all know that France is known for their strong cheese and wine culture. Oh and let’s not forget about their bread. They have bread and pastry for every single meal. Even I got tired of chewing bread no matter how delightful they taste. Regardless of the heavy cream, butter and carbs in their diet, most French are quite slim, or at least not overweight. Even when I was enjoying a cup of aromatic cafe au lait, I could not find Splenda or any sort of sweetener anywhere in any coffee shop.

When I was in Barcelona, which is also known for their food scene, I still failed to find overweight people. To my surprise, Barcelonians start their breakfast with anchovies in olive oil, some toasted baguette with fresh tomato spread and famous Serrano ham. If I ate this everyday, I am for sure gaining 10 lbs! Furthermore, they also tend to eat very late. They have lunch around 1PM and dinner after 8:30PM. Their cuisine is heavy with fresh local seafood, fava beans, wild games, ham/sausages and wild mushrooms. I do not see a lot of gyms. In fact, i saw only one fitness center and a few people jogging on the street.

I am led by conventional theory that if you eat a lot of butter or and carb and you eat close to bedtime, you tend to pack on pounds. Strangely, it did not seem this way in these two cities. They consume a lot of cheese and butter. They don’t even bother with sweetener and use sugar instead. Furthermore, they also drink plenty of wine. However, their waist size is smaller than that in the U.S.

This got me thinking. How do Americans get so over-sized? I do not believe I consume as much cheese, or butter or even wine in my daily life? What did I do wrong? What do Americans do wrong? Here are my theories. First and most of all, Americans eat huge portions. We are so used to the over-sized food that is being fed to us that we tend to over-eat. Secondly, there is this weird American culture about excessive drinking among adults because drinking is not allowed before 18. hard liquor and beer contains a lot of calories and a lot of Americans drink quite a lot frequently. On the contrary, Europeans drink more wine and treat it as a way of life. They are not trying to make up for loss time. Finally, I think Americans snacks too much. You see Gelato or fro-yo shops, falafel places, bakery and hot dogs everywhere on the street. There is temptation everywhere! In Europe however, I do not see that many food stores other than restaurants, bakery and cafes.

After the trip, I really wish I could control my intake at restaurants and even better, restaurants can charge less and give me less food! So I can save my wallet and my waist line!

NYC Top Italian: Marea

I brought my hubby here for his birthday dinner because he deserves the best 🙂 At any rate, Marea has a great name and we both love Italian and seafood so Marea comes natural to us.

We both got the set menu of $95 each. It is actually a great value. You got an appetizer, pasta, main course (fish or meat) and a dessert. They only made the appetizer and pasta slightly smaller but they keep the entree at the original size. I was very impressed.

For starters, we got the branzino crudo, which is super fresh and tender. In addition we had the lobster appetizer and it was so refreshing and flavorful. For pasta, we both ordered the octopus fusilli with bone marrow. Wow! It is absolutely delicious no wonder Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern both love this place.

We were quite satisfied by now and we got the Tilapia Filet and sirloin steak for entree. The steak was gigantic and it was very nicely done. You do have to pay $17 more than the set menu price. My fish was tender and meaty. It has a great flavor and the marinate sauce was delicious. They actually accidentally brought me the wrong fish dish so I got to have two dishes for the night! It was a nice treat!

We ended the dinner with some really sweet and delicious desserts. Mine was a lemon tart and his was a panna cotta. Thanks to the occasion, the pastry chef provided us an additional hazelnut ganache dessert on the house.

We walked out happy because the storm outside stopped and they gave the lady, aka me a muffin to go!

I will be back Marea!

Astice

Lobster Burrata