I spent a lot more time than usual this year in Palo Alto over winter break because my cousin was visiting and Grace came for a second visit. (Personally, I think Grace should just give up the East Coast and move over here so she can eat yogurt and good asian food all the time…)
We tried out Little Sheep Hot Pot, which I’d been looking forward to for a very long time because of the promise of hot pot (duh) and 羊肉串 (lamb skewers). The hot pot was Mongolian style, supposedly, so it didn’t have the 麻辣 flavor that I’ve been craving. However, this did make the broth very drinkable. I despair of ever finding the sichuan hot pot that will make me hate and love my meal at the same time in this country.
Mike and I did the usual food visits – pho, beef noodles, sichuan, etc. My cousin, Grace and I watched K-dramas by night and went out to eat (always on the lookout for the perfect pot of 水煮鱼) and shop during the day. Not to mention, worst of all, I’ve fallen to the wiles of Torchlight.
All this means I wasn’t as productive in my own work as I wanted to be, although I did spend some time at Parc before Grace came. There’s a lot I need to do in January. It’s going to be a pretty short amount of time to do all the writing and data crunching that needs to be done in time for the Feb deadlines, but what’s life without challenges?
I think I’m too cynical to make resolutions, but I will endeavor to be a better grad student and graduate before I’m too old to remember anything before grad school.