Mangosteen

Last week I put together a game for work. It was an exotic fruit/vegetable identification game. Every said it was too tough. I had to admit that I did not know all of them but I knew most of them. What is the difference between durian and jackfruit? They look similar but taste very different.

I included mangosteen as one of identification items. I had mangosteen for the very first time last May when my little sister graduation from UC Berkeley. We visited the Oakland chinatown and I came across a strange looking fruit that I have only seen pictures of. Everyone exclaimed that it was the best tasting fruit on earth. My dad, my mom, my aunt, my uncle, and even my little sister have all had this fruit. My little sister said that when she was studying abroad, she ate mangosteen every single day (she was in Thailand for almost a year). She sat on the stoop with all the other international students and ate mangosteen after mangosteen.

I refused to be the last person on earth to try this heavenly fruit. I grabbed a large bag. It was $7 per pound. Not bad. I read that some stores we selling them for as much as $45 per pound. When we got to my sister's apartment, we laid our findings on the table.

My aunt bought huge bags of cherries and longan. My mom came back with a case of mango. My sister bought a few pounds of rice. She says rice is too heavy to carry on the bus and since we had a car, she bought a few pounds to get her through the rest of the month (she was moving).

I tried a piece. I didn't like it. It wasn't bad but it wasn't that great. The flesh was all squishy. I left the rest for my aunt and sister. They love the stuff. I stuck with the longans. I've decided that I do not care too much for some of these exotic fruits. I went home one day and found dragon fruit in my mom's refrigerator. My mom said that they are growing it up on the hill (their backyard). I cut one open. Yuck! It tastes like cactus!

Time to stop writing. I am thoroughly frustrated with this magnetic power cord thing. At first it was one of the selling points. I killed my very first Vaio laptop when I placed my laptop on the bed and got out of bed to retrieve something. The thing came crashing down and at that time the thing did not have a built in wireless card. The wireless card was sticking out of one of the slots. It landed on the protruding wireless card. I managed to destroy the motherboard. The last laptop died after 18 months. During the 18 months I had repeated AC jack repairs. The darn thing would just stop charging. The repair shop said the jack probably became disconnected with the motherboard when I tripped on the cord. I never trip on cords. So the newest addition works fine except for when I need any PC-based software.

My daddy, the little sister, and me at the hotel lobby. My dad is really happy. I know it is hard to tell. My dad is actually really happy. The little sis was the last one to graduate. He sent all three kids to college. Not a small feat for an immigrant who left everything behind and fled from a small town in southern China to Laos, then Thailand, and finally to the US. My dad always wanted to go to school but he never had the opportunity. It is the one thing he regrets. He vowed to educate all his kids. My dad is pretty cool. So is my mom and my grandparents.

Monica, the little sister. This was at one of her many commencement ceremonies. This was the larger Political Science one. Ain't she pretty? Not only is she pretty but she has a very kind heart. Her friend (on the right) didn't have a lei so she gave him one of hers. I guess the lei at graduations is a California thing. No one else seem to know anything about it. A co-worker said that when her daughter graduated from USC, the kids all had leis. It is a little interesting to watch as all the out of state parents come to these commencement ceremonies. They all start to notice the numerous leis and then they flock to the lei vendors at the entrance to purchase leis for their graduating children. They then run to find their children to give them their leis.

A nice toothy grin.

I wasn't at this commencement. I think this was her favorite. It was the Southeast Asian one. We split up the ceremonies. I took my parents and my aunt and uncle. The little sister's bf was also there. We did the Poli Sci honors reception and the Poli Sci commencement. My brother, his fiance, my grandparents, the little sister's bf, and the little sister's bf's parents went to the Social Welfare and the Southeast Asian commencements.