pittCon/chicago

i've always liked chicago. it never hurts to start a trip with great food. dinner was at delacosta; we had trio of ceviche with hamachi, scallops and "fire and ice" (some combination of tuna and calamari); blue cheese flatbread; lamb ribs; and a uruguayan tenderloin and da cherry bomb. the taste overall was very decent, and the presentation was photograph worthy. the sauce for the scallops, though, was a bit sweet; it overpowers the scallops. the tenderloin was a bit dry. portion in general was a bit too big for tapas. (don't trust a guy when he tells you the portion is small.)

the surprise was in the bread, actually. it smelled fresh, and the crust was crunchy and the inside was warm and tender, with a hint of berry. the service was also surprisingly good. The waitress insisted to give us a new dish of lamb ribs when the other waiter thought we were done and started putting empty plates on top of the ribs. last time i saw this happen was at michael mina when the waiter swapped Leo's lamb, which was unacceptably dry and stringy, with a beef without Leo requesting it.

the second day started with breakfast at Yolk. i was still too full to appreciate the omelette, and i thought the other one (called Eggscellent?) was better. i am glad that i had the big breakfast, though. i needed the energy to go through a whole day of conference.

pittCon was really fun. i always like going to trade shows where the vendors showcase their latest gadgets. the most entertaining demo is a plastic hood (almost looks like a portable closet) where air blows from underneath. this company decided to put a stack of one-dollar bills inside, and invited people to go in and grab the $$ in one minute's time. how effective this game is to increase their sales i don't know -- in fact i'd argue that it's not effective b/c i don't even remember the name of the company, nor what exactly their products are. but it was a good laugh seeing super serious looking scientists very seriously optimizing their money grabbing ability.

another finding is that insolia doesn't really work. my feet were sore by 2pm. it was definitely the right decision (thanks to Eric!) to fly in the night before. otherwise i'd be dead by 11am. a conversation by the bench woke me up though. it's gonna be the quote of the year:

a chief scientist at Thermo Scientific:
"What are you going to do when you grow up?"

me: "... ... ... "

i thought i am a grown-up already!

abe's wedding in india!

all of a sudden i got a summer plan!

stop #1 chicago mid june for sister's commencement
stop #2 hk late jun/early july
stop #3 india somewhere in mid july. don't know where abe's wedding will be yet, but i will definitely visit the big cities and may be sri lanka too. and then back to the US late july.

i'm so excited -- i've always wanted to check out india and now i have the perfect excuse to be excused from work. hm... should start looking for a travel buddy soon..

as for the plan for the first 2 days of chinese new year, i am going up to NH for x-c skiing tmr, and then downhill @ attitash monday. it should be loads of fun -- they got dumped 19 inches+ of snow this week!@!

finally the winter is here; and i am throwing a little cheese + chocolate fondue party at the lab next wed. stay tuned :)

earring converter!?

what an ingenious invention! you can buy it here.