Trying to Get My Life Together, Any Advice is Welcomed

Off Topic
61

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:
My girlfriend and her family are from Zhejiang. She mostly grew up here, but her grandma did all the cooking at home, so she was raised on homecooked Chinese food and learned to cook several dishes herself.

I get some great Chinese food at home, but it’s not very similar to the standard restaurant fare. “American Chinese” is kind of its own cuisine, and I’d guess there’s probably a “UK Chinese” cuisine too. That’s probably why I’ve never heard of “Chinese curry”.[/quote]

There’s no real “standard” Chinese cuisine. You may be getting different popular dishes from various parts of China in your menus. My wife is also from Zhejiang(Nanchang). What she cooks may be quite different from what they cook in Shaoxing. My ancestors(shit this sounds like a kungfu movie) were from Fujian and Chaozhou. Our dishes are different. I usually eat Cantonese food when I eat out. It’s hotpot season now. Regarding Chinese curry, it’s probably a new invention like Wasabi Prawns. I remember trying to suck the juice out of a wasabi filled prawn head in a restaurant in Guangzhou. The pain was exquisite.[/quote]

yeah the Chinese curry thing is totally an Anglicised bastardisation of the cuisine. Every hinese restaurant in the UK has the same curry sauce and it’s magnificent. I’m sure it’s not Chinese in any way but god damn it’s good.

Re: the racism thing - I think you and I are cool enough that even if I did say something offensive you know that I don’t really mean it you sneaky little slanty eyed fucker

62

[quote]FlatsFarmer wrote:
I didn’t even know that would be offensive!

Davey Boy Smith wasn’t called The British English Bulldog. Thats my only frame of reference.

[/quote]

lol, I was just kidding. In some parts of Scotland there’s this weird sectarianism where calling the wrong person British is liable to get your ass kicked.

I’m not sectarian in the slightest but sadly there are those idiots here.

63

Oh! Sorry man, I didn’t realize that you were specifically from Scotland. I apologize. I was really interested in the bulldog situation over there, I wasn’t trying to reverse Braveheart you or anything.

Did you ever try to lift the Dinnie Stones?

64

[quote]FlatsFarmer wrote:
Oh! Sorry man, I didn’t realize that you were specifically from Scotland. I apologize. I was really interested in the bulldog situation over there, I wasn’t trying to reverse Braveheart you or anything.

Did you ever try to lift the Dinnie Stones?

[/quote]

haha, it’s cool, man. I really wouldn’t ever get offended by something like that - nationalism is just annoying, in my opinion. I guess the English bulldog thing is just to differentiate between French and American Bulldogs. I’d never really considered why it was English instead of British.

Haha, no I’ve never lifted them but I do actually know a guy who did!

65

[quote]Yogi wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:
My girlfriend and her family are from Zhejiang. She mostly grew up here, but her grandma did all the cooking at home, so she was raised on homecooked Chinese food and learned to cook several dishes herself.

I get some great Chinese food at home, but it’s not very similar to the standard restaurant fare. “American Chinese” is kind of its own cuisine, and I’d guess there’s probably a “UK Chinese” cuisine too. That’s probably why I’ve never heard of “Chinese curry”.[/quote]

There’s no real “standard” Chinese cuisine. You may be getting different popular dishes from various parts of China in your menus. My wife is also from Zhejiang(Nanchang). What she cooks may be quite different from what they cook in Shaoxing. My ancestors(shit this sounds like a kungfu movie) were from Fujian and Chaozhou. Our dishes are different. I usually eat Cantonese food when I eat out. It’s hotpot season now. Regarding Chinese curry, it’s probably a new invention like Wasabi Prawns. I remember trying to suck the juice out of a wasabi filled prawn head in a restaurant in Guangzhou. The pain was exquisite.[/quote]

yeah the Chinese curry thing is totally an Anglicised bastardisation of the cuisine. Every hinese restaurant in the UK has the same curry sauce and it’s magnificent. I’m sure it’s not Chinese in any way but god damn it’s good.

Re: the racism thing - I think you and I are cool enough that even if I did say something offensive you know that I don’t really mean it you sneaky little slanty eyed fucker[/quote]

66

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]Yogi wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:
My girlfriend and her family are from Zhejiang. She mostly grew up here, but her grandma did all the cooking at home, so she was raised on homecooked Chinese food and learned to cook several dishes herself.

I get some great Chinese food at home, but it’s not very similar to the standard restaurant fare. “American Chinese” is kind of its own cuisine, and I’d guess there’s probably a “UK Chinese” cuisine too. That’s probably why I’ve never heard of “Chinese curry”.[/quote]

There’s no real “standard” Chinese cuisine. You may be getting different popular dishes from various parts of China in your menus. My wife is also from Zhejiang(Nanchang). What she cooks may be quite different from what they cook in Shaoxing. My ancestors(shit this sounds like a kungfu movie) were from Fujian and Chaozhou. Our dishes are different. I usually eat Cantonese food when I eat out. It’s hotpot season now. Regarding Chinese curry, it’s probably a new invention like Wasabi Prawns. I remember trying to suck the juice out of a wasabi filled prawn head in a restaurant in Guangzhou. The pain was exquisite.[/quote]

yeah the Chinese curry thing is totally an Anglicised bastardisation of the cuisine. Every hinese restaurant in the UK has the same curry sauce and it’s magnificent. I’m sure it’s not Chinese in any way but god damn it’s good.

Re: the racism thing - I think you and I are cool enough that even if I did say something offensive you know that I don’t really mean it you sneaky little slanty eyed fucker[/quote]

67

^ I totally out-comedianed you there. No one can top Louis CK

68

[quote]dt79 wrote:
There’s no real “standard” Chinese cuisine. You may be getting different popular dishes from various parts of China in your menus. My wife is also from Zhejiang(Nanchang). What she cooks may be quite different from what they cook in Shaoxing. My ancestors(shit this sounds like a kungfu movie) were from Fujian and Chaozhou. Our dishes are different. I usually eat Cantonese food when I eat out. It’s hotpot season now. Regarding Chinese curry, it’s probably a new invention like Wasabi Prawns. I remember trying to suck the juice out of a wasabi filled prawn head in a restaurant in Guangzhou. The pain was exquisite.[/quote]
It does sound like a kungfu movie, lol. Her family’s from Ningbo and Jinhua.

This is a fairly standard American Chinese menu: Ming Jiang | Order Online | Indianapolis | Beyond Menu

As far as I know/can tell, it’s kind of a cuisine unto itself. Most of those menu items show up on nearly every “Chinese” menu, except for places that actually cater to Chinese customers. We’ve got a decent Sichuanese restaurant around here at least.

I don’t really know Cantonese cuisine at all. Anything in particular to try?

As far as Wasabi Prawns, I’ll have to try finding/making those. Hadn’t heard of them before.

69

ooohh yeah that’s a good idea!

You two dudes post up some awesome Chinese recipes

70

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:
There’s no real “standard” Chinese cuisine. You may be getting different popular dishes from various parts of China in your menus. My wife is also from Zhejiang(Nanchang). What she cooks may be quite different from what they cook in Shaoxing. My ancestors(shit this sounds like a kungfu movie) were from Fujian and Chaozhou. Our dishes are different. I usually eat Cantonese food when I eat out. It’s hotpot season now. Regarding Chinese curry, it’s probably a new invention like Wasabi Prawns. I remember trying to suck the juice out of a wasabi filled prawn head in a restaurant in Guangzhou. The pain was exquisite.[/quote]
It does sound like a kungfu movie, lol. Her family’s from Ningbo and Jinhua.

This is a fairly standard American Chinese menu: Ming Jiang | Order Online | Indianapolis | Beyond Menu

As far as I know/can tell, it’s kind of a cuisine unto itself. Most of those menu items show up on nearly every “Chinese” menu, except for places that actually cater to Chinese customers. We’ve got a decent Sichuanese restaurant around here at least.

I don’t really know Cantonese cuisine at all. Anything in particular to try?

As far as Wasabi Prawns, I’ll have to try finding/making those. Hadn’t heard of them before.[/quote]
That looks like a standard menu in a random restaurant in southern china and southeast asia. Of course, a lot of dishes and their variations will be cooked according to local tastes with variations in sauces and seasonings.

The “chinese menu” for chinese patrons may be stuff you order with a large number of people or standard sets of dishes for certain occassions like weddings or birthdays where specific dishes are served in a particular order. People don’t order a suckling pig dish on a normal day when they’re out with their girlfriends lol.

The cantonese are famous for dim sum. I’ve not found a place with a good chef around here so I rarely eat it. If you can find a good dim sum restaurant, you should try the shrimp dumplings and century egg porridge. I’ve been having hotpot for dinner at a cantonese hotpot restaurant these past few days. The sauces are what set it aside from other places.

71

[quote]Yogi wrote:
ooohh yeah that’s a good idea!

You two dudes post up some awesome Chinese recipes[/quote]
Wtf you haven’t even mustered up the guts to eat a century egg yet hahaha.

Honestly, I don’t eat much Chinese food. I usually eat big macs and steak everyday lol. The only thing I know how to cook is fried beef rice with oyster sauce. And that’s MY OWN VARIATION. Which means there’s more beef than rice.

72

[quote]Yogi wrote:
ooohh yeah that’s a good idea!

You two dudes post up some awesome Chinese recipes[/quote]
Here’s one.

Red-braised beef with tofu ‘bamboo’ (Fu zhu shao niu rou)
https://cooked.com/uk/Fuchsia-Dunlop/Bloomsbury-Publishing-Plc/Every-Grain-of-Rice/Meat/Redbraised-beef-with-tofu-39bamboo39-recipe

We had that the other night. It’s good.

Ingredient wise, for the tofu “bamboo”, we use tofu skin.
For the “sweet fermented sauce”, we use Lian How Brand Sweet Flour Sauce: afg (I can’t find a UK supplier, but there’s other brands)
For the “sichuan chilli bean paste”, we use Chuan Lao Hui Hong You Dou Ban (Hot Bra http://www.asianmall.co.uk/en/chuan-lao-hui-hot-broadbean-paste-chuan-lao-hui-hong-you-dou-ban-500g.html

As far as curries, this stuff is good: http://www.asianmall.co.uk/en/paste-seasoning-mix-cn/s-and-b-golden-curry-sauce-mix-mild-jin-biao-ka-li-wei-la-240g.html

Comes in mild, medium, hot. Basically just add meat and potatoes to it.

73

[quote]dt79 wrote:
That looks like a standard menu in a random restaurant in southern china and southeast asia. Of course, a lot of dishes and their variations will be cooked according to local tastes with variations in sauces and seasonings.

The “chinese menu” for chinese patrons may be stuff you order with a large number of people or standard sets of dishes for certain occassions like weddings or birthdays where specific dishes are served in a particular order. People don’t order a suckling pig dish on a normal day when they’re out with their girlfriends lol.

The cantonese are famous for dim sum. I’ve not found a place with a good chef around here so I rarely eat it. If you can find a good dim sum restaurant, you should try the shrimp dumplings and century egg porridge. I’ve been having hotpot for dinner at a cantonese hotpot restaurant these past few days. The sauces are what set it aside from other places.[/quote]
Oh I see. I guess that surprises me a bit that the menus read similarly.

Most of the sauces here are primarily cornstarch + sugar. Of course, some are good, but a lot of the places make them as more desserts than actual food.

Here’s a place that does a couple different styles:
The Sichuan menu: http://www.ctwokrestaurant.com/szechuan-cuisine.html
And the “Chinese” menu: http://www.ctwokrestaurant.com/chinese-cuisine.html

By shrimp dumplings, you mean the ones in that translucent wrap? Took me a long time to get over that texture. I think I tried century egg congee (from my girlfriend’s bowl), but neither of us are sure. Congee’s not really my thing either (again, texture). So, I guess I’ve had some dim sum. I do love good bbq pork buns though. I’ve got a good bbq pork recipe, and I had, but lost a good bun recipe. Need to put them together.

I’ve never seen Cantonese hot pot. We have a Chongqing hot pot place here though; that was good stuff.

74

[quote]LoRez wrote:
Oh I see. I guess that surprises me a bit that the menus read similarly.

Most of the sauces here are primarily cornstarch + sugar. Of course, some are good, but a lot of the places make them as more desserts than actual food.[/quote]
The sauces I’m talking about are peanut sauce, tofu sauce, sesame sauce, garlic sauce etc. These are for dipping. Some places with a long history have secret recipes that they won’t reveal to anyone. Your girlfriend should know what it’s like. They’ll either take it to the grave or pass the recipe down to their first born sons lol.

[quote]Here’s a place that does a couple different styles:
The Sichuan menu: http://www.ctwokrestaurant.com/szechuan-cuisine.html
And the “Chinese” menu: http://www.ctwokrestaurant.com/chinese-cuisine.html [/quote]

That’s a restaurant specializing in food mainly from Sichuan. I have not been to one outside of China so I don’t know what it will taste like. Still, you will be getting selected dishes that are (hopefully) universally tolerable or at least modified to suit local tastes. I have eaten at a Sichuan restaurant in Shenzhen before and it was the most awful meal I have ever had.

The Chinese menu is quite common. Ho Fun alone has multiple variations across Southeast Asia.

Lol. People have different tastes. That’s why menus are limited. I love pasta. The first time I took my wife to a pasta joint here, she actually vomited because she couldn’t stand the cream sauce.

[quote]I think I tried century egg congee (from my girlfriend’s bowl), but neither of us are sure. Congee’s not really my thing either (again, texture). So, I guess I’ve had some dim sum. I do love good bbq pork buns though. I’ve got a good bbq pork recipe, and I had, but lost a good bun recipe. Need to put them together.

I’ve never seen Cantonese hot pot. We have a Chongqing hot pot place here though; that was good stuff.[/quote]
Hotpots are mostly the same regardless of origin. It’s the soup base, sauces and perhaps how they marinate the meats that set them apart. Places like Chongqing will have fucking spicy soups because it keeps people warm during the winter season.

75

[quote]NotD wrote:
I want to eat like a fat ass one more time. I don’t really have any interests other than browsing the internet and playing video games, I do have good friends and am talking to a really sweet girl so I do have that going for me.

[/quote]

do you enjoy playing video games?

“time you enjoy wasting is not wasted at all” - john lennon.

video games are cool. and fuck any1 that wants to pretend theres something lesser about people who enjoy them.

lifes about more than being slim. its cool youre thinking of your future but if you try make massive diet changes then youll get nowhere. for start, maybe find a sport and thatll lose some weight natural. then you shape your diet.

as someones who has been trying to diet for 8 years (with various periods of success and no success) - heres a tip. if you love food it will never go away. so any diet aimed at completely removing your favourite foods will fail.

id recommend looking up iifym and layne Norton. he that famous now I don’t know if I feeling silly suggesting him as youll likely have heard of him…

76

[quote]Aggv wrote:
“Decide how you want to live and then see what you can do to make a living within that way of life.”

Not being fat should be the easiest part of life. [/quote]

any yet theres an obesity crisis?

think you’ve got this one wrong.

77

[quote]NotD wrote:

Thanks for that reply man, it made me think.

[/quote]

Good. That’s certainly one of, if not the most important step. Awareness and perspective is the vast majority of the battle.

Glad to hear it’s little d. Keep grinding man, you’ll get there if you truly want it.

[quote]CarltonJ wrote:

[quote]NotD wrote:
I want to eat like a fat ass one more time. I don’t really have any interests other than browsing the internet and playing video games, I do have good friends and am talking to a really sweet girl so I do have that going for me.

[/quote]

do you enjoy playing video games?

“time you enjoy wasting is not wasted at all” - john lennon.

video games are cool. and fuck any1 that wants to pretend theres something lesser about people who enjoy them.

[/quote]

There is nothing wrong with video games, and yes they are fun. I play them from time to time myself.

No one is saying not to play them. What (at least I’m trying to say) is that they are a distraction from reality, and if someone is lost as to their place in the world and their self identity, maybe playing hours and hours of reality escapes isn’t going to help them find their direction and self.

The fact of the matter is the video games may very well help OP find direction, but not because of the distraction they provide. But because of the clues to interests they provide.

He doesn’t have to “quit” gaming, just needs to not have it consume him to the point where he is paralyzed from any sort of self development because it’s easier to just escape into virtual reality. Don’t race right to the extreme. OP needs to establish a more solid and positive reality, then he can escape into virtual ones will little to no guilt or any negativity, because he has his real life on point. Never working on his real life, and only escaping into a virtual one isn’t the answer.

78

[quote]countingbeans wrote:

[quote]NotD wrote:

Thanks for that reply man, it made me think.

[/quote]

Good. That’s certainly one of, if not the most important step. Awareness and perspective is the vast majority of the battle.

Glad to hear it’s little d. Keep grinding man, you’ll get there if you truly want it.

[quote]CarltonJ wrote:

[quote]NotD wrote:
I want to eat like a fat ass one more time. I don’t really have any interests other than browsing the internet and playing video games, I do have good friends and am talking to a really sweet girl so I do have that going for me.

[/quote]

do you enjoy playing video games?

“time you enjoy wasting is not wasted at all” - john lennon.

video games are cool. and fuck any1 that wants to pretend theres something lesser about people who enjoy them.

[/quote]

There is nothing wrong with video games, and yes they are fun. I play them from time to time myself.

No one is saying not to play them. What (at least I’m trying to say) is that they are a distraction from reality, and if someone is lost as to their place in the world and their self identity, maybe playing hours and hours of reality escapes isn’t going to help them find their direction and self.

The fact of the matter is the video games may very well help OP find direction, but not because of the distraction they provide. But because of the clues to interests they provide.

He doesn’t have to “quit” gaming, just needs to not have it consume him to the point where he is paralyzed from any sort of self development because it’s easier to just escape into virtual reality. Don’t race right to the extreme. OP needs to establish a more solid and positive reality, then he can escape into virtual ones will little to no guilt or any negativity, because he has his real life on point. Never working on his real life, and only escaping into a virtual one isn’t the answer.
[/quote]

That’s what I’m thinking, I don’t play too much, I play with my friends maybe for about 2-3 hours every other day or something. It’s not really a hindrance but I could definitely use that time better.

I don’t think I’m figuring out much as far as education goes, it’s in December. Should I just take another semester off and go hard on self improvement until the summer? Maybe do some job shadowing and try to get a better job while I’m at it?

79

[quote]NotD wrote:
Should I just take another semester off and go hard on self improvement until the summer? [/quote]

No one can answer that but you. Two things to consider are:

  1. Will it truly be a waste of money? Can you at least take a pre-req or two? Are your core classes all wrapped up?

  2. The longer you stay out of school, typically the harder it is to go back. If school is for you and not, say a trade, keep that in mind.

Better jobs are never ill timed.

80

[quote]countingbeans wrote:

[quote]NotD wrote:
Should I just take another semester off and go hard on self improvement until the summer? [/quote]

No one can answer that but you. Two things to consider are:

  1. Will it truly be a waste of money? Can you at least take a pre-req or two? Are your core classes all wrapped up?

  2. The longer you stay out of school, typically the harder it is to go back. If school is for you and not, say a trade, keep that in mind.

Better jobs are never ill timed. [/quote]

I have my core classes all wrapped up in that associates degree. I’m still mostly directionless on what educational path I want to take.