I'm going to veer off the usual track today and talk about Hexagram 54 -- Kuei Mei, in a cultural fashion, as opposed to what the significance of this hexagram would be on a particular situation or question.  This is due to the fact that I am attempting to answer a question from a reader,... Continue Reading →

(Continued from Change (Part 5):  Sequent Change) It has been awhile since I last posted anything of much substance, having been immersed in, of all things, meditative knitting.  After meditating (and knitting) about this for a bit, I realized I needed to finish out my train of thought about Change, which had taken me five postings... Continue Reading →

A big hello to all my friends. I've been rather busy within the last few days, getting things ready to celebrate the new year.  It seems as if the last new year was just days ago, and now, it's another new year.  We Amerasians have it good.  We get to celebrate New Year twice every... Continue Reading →

Have a wonderful new year, everyone.  Please stay safe. Taobabe

Hi all Taobabes and Taodudes!  This is just a quick reminder to all those who are going to be making Trung Thu cakes to start soaking them eggs! Here's how you do it. Salted Eggs 8 cups water 4 Tbs salt 1/2 cup of wine (any old cooking wine will do) 1 tsp sugar 4 star anise... Continue Reading →

While we are waiting for the right time to 'salt them eggs', we need to start thinking about molds.  Yes, I am talking about cake molds.  No I'm not talking about some fungus growing on dead things. In ancient time (heck, even to this day) we used molds that look like these: The cakes come... Continue Reading →

This is not one of my serious posts, just a few pics of me, doing my pilgrimage through Vietnam. The babe in me cringes, but I'm all about truths, and this is my truth.  These are not glamour shots, so please be kind.  I just thought my readers would like to see me in my... Continue Reading →

(Continued from Bách Việt Barbarians) It's shameful, how utterly barbaric tattoos look on a body.  Of course, no civilized guy is going to go all tribal and ink himself in such uncivilized manner, would he? But I digress.  We're talking about wood--and before you even go there, no, it's not of the male persuasion. Wood: The first... Continue Reading →

August is not high on anybody's list as an important month, but for the Vietnamese, it is not only the ghost month (see my previous post Hungry Ghosts and the Vu Lan Season), it is also the month when we soak our eggs to make our mooncakes. Wanna make mooncakes with me?  We can start by... Continue Reading →