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Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Yesterday, I went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art which is a very famous museum with brilliant collections of different kinds of art.
The outside of the museum are very beautiful, from one side, there's a grassland where you can sit on the riverbank and look at the gorgeous sight around. The other side has a sculpture, from where you can see the City Hall.
There are many collections in the library, from paintings to furniture, building elements, sculptures, etc.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
My first Thanksgiving in U.S.
Since it's my first time to live in U.S., so this Thanksgiving is my first Thanksgiving with a significant meaning to me. I set myself some "thanksgiving goals" to explore this cultural events of United States.
First, I have to eat Thanksgiving Turkey. I have learned from some American TV episodes and some other channels that it's a tradition to have turkey in Thanksgiving meal so how can I miss it.
Besides, I want to learn the culture of Thanksgiving, like the original story behind this holiday, and what people usually to in tradition and how do people so to celebrate today.
Last, but the most important to me, is go shopping! "Black Friday" has been a phrase that's repeated and appeared everywhere before Christmas, as a "shopaholic", I can't miss this great opportunity to get a good bargain as well as to experience "American shopping culture".
A student organization called GlobalED in GSE is very nice to prepare international students a Thanksgiving dinner where we can have a taste of turkey meat and some other traditional Thanksgiving dishes (it's a pity that i didn't bring my camera so I haven't got chance to take pictures). The Dean of GSE have introduced us why American people are celebrating Thanksgiving and then we made a toast together. Even though it was not in the usual dinner time (because it was in the afternoon), the food and drinks were still delicious and attractive to me.
On the night before Thanksgiving, I was invited to go to a classmate's home with several classmates to spend the holiday together. My classmate's mom had prepared us very delicious Chinese food, which made me a little homesick:P
And we went to Woodbury at the eve of Black Friday. People are just crazy, i can never imagine the queue can be so long if I didn't go there。
The queue in front of the Coach, people are crazy on Black Friday.
First, I have to eat Thanksgiving Turkey. I have learned from some American TV episodes and some other channels that it's a tradition to have turkey in Thanksgiving meal so how can I miss it.
Besides, I want to learn the culture of Thanksgiving, like the original story behind this holiday, and what people usually to in tradition and how do people so to celebrate today.
Last, but the most important to me, is go shopping! "Black Friday" has been a phrase that's repeated and appeared everywhere before Christmas, as a "shopaholic", I can't miss this great opportunity to get a good bargain as well as to experience "American shopping culture".
A student organization called GlobalED in GSE is very nice to prepare international students a Thanksgiving dinner where we can have a taste of turkey meat and some other traditional Thanksgiving dishes (it's a pity that i didn't bring my camera so I haven't got chance to take pictures). The Dean of GSE have introduced us why American people are celebrating Thanksgiving and then we made a toast together. Even though it was not in the usual dinner time (because it was in the afternoon), the food and drinks were still delicious and attractive to me.
On the night before Thanksgiving, I was invited to go to a classmate's home with several classmates to spend the holiday together. My classmate's mom had prepared us very delicious Chinese food, which made me a little homesick:P
And we went to Woodbury at the eve of Black Friday. People are just crazy, i can never imagine the queue can be so long if I didn't go there。
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Too expensive to eat out? COOK yourself!!!
Before coming to U.S., I never had a chance to "live" on my own. I mean, I stay at school dormitories, where have no kitchen so I can't cook myself. What's more, school in China has very big canteen where students can enjoy food with a really cheap price. Therefore, I have no motivation or facility to cook in my previous school life. It was really a pity because cooking is such an important part of "life", by doing which you can relax and please yourself.
Because I didn't have any experience cooking, I always regard myself as a bad chef. But after coming to U.S., kitchen has become my favorite room of my apartment (even though it's so small). Eating out is necessary and delighted, but the cost will be high compared to cooking at home. So, cooking is a good way to save my budget.
Well, you may think that cooking seems to be perfect, but, it's only true when you cook well and you really like your D.I.Y dishes, which is definitely not easy, as a novice in cooking.
I will just talk about my experience in cooking and learning how to cook, my successes and failures through learning. Only two months in U.S., I found myself improving dramatically in cooking. From the very beginning, I can only cook very simple dishes like dumplings and noodles. But now, I can cook very difficult Chinese dishes and I even have the confidence to invite my friends to taste my work.
Shopping for materials:
Before cooking, the most important part is to get all the ingredients, seasonings, raw materials ready. It's not a easy part because firstly, you can not always get what you want in a market; Second, don't forget you want to lower the costs so choose the right place and right thing to buy is not as easy as you may have imagines; finally, choose the good ones from a bunch of food there in the market is requiring a lot of knowledge about food. So, in a word, preparation is fairly important and it's never easy.
I usually buy food at two places, the first one is Fresh Grocer, at 40th & Walnut, because it's the nearest market where I can buy fresh food. However, the food and seasonings at Fresh Grocer is slightly more expensive than other markets. As the old saying goes, you can't have your cake and eat it too. So either compromise for the convenience or sacrifice the convenience for lower prices. Generally the stuff at Fresh Grocer are very good, so you can buy something that you need immediately there since it's close to campus.
Another place is the Asian Supermarket in Chinatown, yes, it's really far from the campus, but it's really good in two aspects that no other markets can compare. First and most important, you can buy things, especially seasonings and flavorings from Asian countries like China in that market. It's such a good feature because it enables us to cook the dishes in a "Chinese" flavor. Besides, the groceries there are cheaper than other markets. So, my solution is to go to Chinatown every two or three weeks and buy all the things that I need for the following month in one time. (Tips: don't forget to call a male friend to help you to carry the things, or you will be struggling all the way back.)
Food keeping and preparation
It's a seemingly very simple step but I made a lot of mistakes here. In the first place, you have to know where is the right place to keep your materials from being rotten and from mice. Apart from that, you have to be aware of the expiration date of the food. Don't keep the fresh food for too long. Finally, before cooking, you have to melt the food in the fridge from frozen, this may take a few hours so that you have to do it early before you cook.
Learning to cook
You can learn to cook via various methods. Most people will read recipe from internet or books. But I really recommend the way I learned because I think it's efficient, that is, to find a friend who's good at cooking and watch him/her cooking. It's really easy, because after you watch him/her cooking for once, you can cook yourself next time.
Well, I'm really a novice in cooking so I'm just trying to share some of my past experiences here. No matter how good the taste of your dishes is, the most important thing is the joy you get from the process of cooking.
And here are some pictures of dishes cooked by myself. I think it looks awesome myself, what do you say?
Because I didn't have any experience cooking, I always regard myself as a bad chef. But after coming to U.S., kitchen has become my favorite room of my apartment (even though it's so small). Eating out is necessary and delighted, but the cost will be high compared to cooking at home. So, cooking is a good way to save my budget.
Well, you may think that cooking seems to be perfect, but, it's only true when you cook well and you really like your D.I.Y dishes, which is definitely not easy, as a novice in cooking.
I will just talk about my experience in cooking and learning how to cook, my successes and failures through learning. Only two months in U.S., I found myself improving dramatically in cooking. From the very beginning, I can only cook very simple dishes like dumplings and noodles. But now, I can cook very difficult Chinese dishes and I even have the confidence to invite my friends to taste my work.
Shopping for materials:
Before cooking, the most important part is to get all the ingredients, seasonings, raw materials ready. It's not a easy part because firstly, you can not always get what you want in a market; Second, don't forget you want to lower the costs so choose the right place and right thing to buy is not as easy as you may have imagines; finally, choose the good ones from a bunch of food there in the market is requiring a lot of knowledge about food. So, in a word, preparation is fairly important and it's never easy.
I usually buy food at two places, the first one is Fresh Grocer, at 40th & Walnut, because it's the nearest market where I can buy fresh food. However, the food and seasonings at Fresh Grocer is slightly more expensive than other markets. As the old saying goes, you can't have your cake and eat it too. So either compromise for the convenience or sacrifice the convenience for lower prices. Generally the stuff at Fresh Grocer are very good, so you can buy something that you need immediately there since it's close to campus.
Another place is the Asian Supermarket in Chinatown, yes, it's really far from the campus, but it's really good in two aspects that no other markets can compare. First and most important, you can buy things, especially seasonings and flavorings from Asian countries like China in that market. It's such a good feature because it enables us to cook the dishes in a "Chinese" flavor. Besides, the groceries there are cheaper than other markets. So, my solution is to go to Chinatown every two or three weeks and buy all the things that I need for the following month in one time. (Tips: don't forget to call a male friend to help you to carry the things, or you will be struggling all the way back.)
Food keeping and preparation
It's a seemingly very simple step but I made a lot of mistakes here. In the first place, you have to know where is the right place to keep your materials from being rotten and from mice. Apart from that, you have to be aware of the expiration date of the food. Don't keep the fresh food for too long. Finally, before cooking, you have to melt the food in the fridge from frozen, this may take a few hours so that you have to do it early before you cook.
Learning to cook
You can learn to cook via various methods. Most people will read recipe from internet or books. But I really recommend the way I learned because I think it's efficient, that is, to find a friend who's good at cooking and watch him/her cooking. It's really easy, because after you watch him/her cooking for once, you can cook yourself next time.
Well, I'm really a novice in cooking so I'm just trying to share some of my past experiences here. No matter how good the taste of your dishes is, the most important thing is the joy you get from the process of cooking.
And here are some pictures of dishes cooked by myself. I think it looks awesome myself, what do you say?
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Eating in Philly (Ctd)
I went to a very famous noodle restaurant in Chinatown last weekend. It's at 927 Race Street, the name is Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House. This noodle house has been recommended by many of my friends so I decided to try it. It's a very small place with only about 10 four-people tables inside, but it's really crowded because the waiting queue is long. Not only Chinese people are eating there but Americans as well.
They have many choices for noodles on the menu and the price is really good. The taste is even better, making me feel like being in China.
Really recommend.
They have many choices for noodles on the menu and the price is really good. The taste is even better, making me feel like being in China.
Really recommend.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Eating in Philly
Searching for the delicious food has always been one of my hobbies. Since I came to Philly, I went to several restaurants in Philly, some are in the campus, some are off-campus, and I will recommend some places that have great taste in my opinion.
Shanghai Sakura Restaurant at Chinatown, 11th & Race.
They have Chinese food and Japanese food there. The Shanghai food there is what I like the most, the taste is really as good as ones in Shanghai. The choices of the food are plenty and the price is really reasonable.
New Delhi, 40th & Chestnut St.
Great Indian food, you can choose to order or choose to have a buffet. The buffet is really a good bargain, food have great taste and you can get plenty of them while the price is quite reasonable. They have buffet at both lunch and dinner, the price is slightly different, lunch buffet is a little bit cheaper.
Geno's Steaks and Pat's King of Steaks has been said to be the best two cheese steaks in Philly. It's said that Pat's is No.1 and Geno is No.2. The interesting part is that these two are on the opposite of each other on the same street and have always been competing with each other. So, if you really have a big stomach, try both of them and see which one do you like better.
峨眉山庄, a Sichuan Restaurant located in Chinatown, a very famous one in Philly.
If you are a spicy food fan, you must try it. It's tasty, but really spicy, Sichuan taste of food.
It's a goof place where more than 4 people eat together, so you can order more dishes to share. Eating there with only 2 or 3 people might not be a good idea in my opinion.
There will be more introduction about eating in Philly after I explore more places in Philly.
P.S. On Nov. 12th, we are going to have a on-campus Info Session, welcome to learn more about GSE and meet the faculty and staff and current students there!
They have Chinese food and Japanese food there. The Shanghai food there is what I like the most, the taste is really as good as ones in Shanghai. The choices of the food are plenty and the price is really reasonable.
New Delhi, 40th & Chestnut St.
Great Indian food, you can choose to order or choose to have a buffet. The buffet is really a good bargain, food have great taste and you can get plenty of them while the price is quite reasonable. They have buffet at both lunch and dinner, the price is slightly different, lunch buffet is a little bit cheaper.
Geno's Steaks and Pat's King of Steaks has been said to be the best two cheese steaks in Philly. It's said that Pat's is No.1 and Geno is No.2. The interesting part is that these two are on the opposite of each other on the same street and have always been competing with each other. So, if you really have a big stomach, try both of them and see which one do you like better.
If you are a spicy food fan, you must try it. It's tasty, but really spicy, Sichuan taste of food.
It's a goof place where more than 4 people eat together, so you can order more dishes to share. Eating there with only 2 or 3 people might not be a good idea in my opinion.
There will be more introduction about eating in Philly after I explore more places in Philly.
P.S. On Nov. 12th, we are going to have a on-campus Info Session, welcome to learn more about GSE and meet the faculty and staff and current students there!
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