Digging for geoducks: Work is hard, but rewards are big

I was invited by my friends to join them digging geoduck on July 4th. The geoduck is one of the oldest and most impressive clams. It can weigh up to 10 pounds and live as long as 140 years. Its name originated from a Native American word meaning "to dig deep." The place we been is called Lawson's Landing in Dillon Beach, California. Lawson's Landing is a great place for camping, fishing, boating and of course clamming. The clams are found on the mudflats just off the shores of the campground, which means you must have a boat.

We got up on 4 am in the morning, almost 2 hours to drive.  We start to work round 6:30 am. Our only tool was a shovel.  Only problem is that the hole starts to cave in.  So, dig fast, get on your knees reach down and work the last foot with your hands until you can grab it.  The clams we got were decent sized, but not 2 lbs.  If they are that big, they've got to be DEEP!!  Not sure if this is urban legend or truth, but heard a story about guys using garbage cans with the bottom cut out to prevent the hole from caving in when digging for big ones.

We cleaned them by cutting off the long neck, peel the dark brown skin off and cut the very tip off.  Run water through it to get the sand out, split in half and fry them.  They taste very good, considering the smelly dark sand, which they come from.

Just give me a dish of soy sauce, lemon and a plate of thinly sliced fresh geoduck, and I'm happy as a clam at high tide.

It’s really great experience for me. Hope you guys have great holiday. 

Hope you guys also have a great holiday!!

Indonesia Cuisine

Indonesia is a diverse country.  It has over 300 ethnic groups and each province has its individual language, history, and religions.  Indonesians’ mix of Chinese, European, Indian, and Malay has been a major contribution to the diversity of religions.  Even though Islam is the most popular religion, there are some other religions such as Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism that are recognized by the government.  Indonesia also has one of the largest percentages of Muslims in the world.

Similar to other surrounding Asian Countries, Indonesians have three standard meals a day.  An Indonesian meal usually consists of soup, rice, and couple of dishes with red meat, chicken, fish and vegetables.  Indonesia cuisine is a healthy cuisine that includes the use of grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts and fish that are accompaniment served to rice.  Most dishes also incorporate spices, herbs and other seasoning to add special flavor combination to make the dishes worth to try.  Contrasting flavors such as sweet spicy or hot sauce over white rice is a popular meal throughout Indonesia.

            The main characteristics of Indonesia cuisine is spices.  Due to spices trade, many kinds of spices and flavorings were introduced from other countries like India and China.   Spices became an important ingredient in Indonesia cuisine.  For example, soy sauce has a major role in Indonesia cuisine.  Compared to Chinese soy sauce, Indonesian developed their own sweet soy sauce and used with barbecue meat or fish dishes.  Peanut sauce is another key ingredient used in many popular Indonesia cuisines.  Peanuts were used to variety of dishes and used as dipping sauce. Peanut sauce represents as a seasoning rather than a sweet sauce and it balances out with other sweet, sour and spicy flavors.

            Beside spices, there are many other herbs commonly used in Indonesian cuisine. For example, kaffir lime leave is a famous herb that was used in Southeast Asian cuisine such as Thailand, Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia.  Kaffir lime leave can be used as fresh or fried.  In Indonesia, the leaves are used in Balinese cuisine and Javanese cuisine which is served with chicken and fish.  Also, the traditional medicine can be made from kaffir lime leave’s juice and rind.  Since the oil from the rind has strong insecticidal characteristics, the rind is used as cleanser for clothing.

            In Indonesia, people usually drink tea and coffee as their daily drinks.  Coffee and tea are usually served hot, and ice tea is favorite amount Indonesian too.  There are many types of fruits produced in Indonesian markets.  Jackfruit, durian, banana, and mango are the most indigenous fruits in Indonesia.  Fruits can be used into Indonesian diet or made into juice and desert.  One of the most popular fruit desserts is called Rujak Medan that is sweet and spicy.  Another kind of fruit dessert is Kolak which means fruit in coconut milk that usually served cold.  Fruit can be eaten as fresh, or mix into thick juices, shakes, salad, and ice cream. Fruits are usually enjoyed in dessert.

My first car accident...

Well, the title about says it all. Last week on my way to school, I didn't even remembered what happened. My brain was empty & blank. Someone hit my car; it damaged the whole back section of the car. That is so scary... At first, I was really upset and worried, but now I'm glad everyone is okay though. I've had a license for about 5 years now without a ticket or accident. My hands are still a bit shaky thinking about it.

After that, I called my insurance company. My insurance guy said that I can appeal the surcharge for my policy, and I have a good chance of winning it. So, it wasn't nearly as bad as I could have been.

That experience thought me a lot about auto insurance and what to do and not do in order to maintain a good insurance record. And I learned my lessons.

The first thing that I learned was to never take my eyes off the road for any extended period of time. Tending to a simple thing like my stereo coasted me big time because subsequently my insurance premium went up. Also, it could have been worse if I was going at speed and became distracted by adjusting the stereo.

The second thing that I learned was to never take anything for granted while on the road. If ever in an accident, always get the other drivers vehicle and insurance information.

Finally, always call your insurance company and file a report no matter the severity of the accident.

I know this accident will remain me all the time when I am driving. Drive Safe everyone! No just say so.

Anyway, I got my new car cause obviously my TOYOYA is gone. 

Good Bye Camry.....Welcome Mini...

I will take good care of you^______^