Mapo Tofu Goes Vegetarian

    After reading an article in New York Times about mapo tofu (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/dining/mapo-tofu-goes-vegetarian.html?rref=dining&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Food&pgtype=article), a classic Chinese dish involving tofu and meat, becoming vegetarian, I have to say, my mouth started watering. I totally agree, even if you switch out the beef or pork for shiitake mushrooms, the dish will still keep you satisfied. With the rich black bean paste flavoring up the tofu, highlighting the natural taste, it is something that almost everyone will like. But as good as it is, I don’t think mapo tofu is not the ever healthy dish that New York Times hints it might be, vegetarian or not. It basically taking salad (tofu), a healthy ingredient, and adding fattening ranch(black bean paste) to it, leaving a concern about how good this dish is to your body.

    After combining my personal knowledge of Chinese condiments with a bit of research, I figured out that Doubanjiang, or bean paste is “naturally” made through a process of fermentation, something that takes about six months to happen. But if the process takes that long to happen, then why is the sauce essential to Mapo Tofu found almost anywhere? I really don’t believe that all those little plastic packets of Pre-mixed Mapo Tofu sauce is made through half a year of hard work.

    A little more research revealed that the sauce is now rarely made naturally, but by adding little bit of this chemical to make mold grow faster, and a little bit of that chemical to make some decomposing bacteria working faster, and even more bits of chemicals into the sauce to keep it from spoiling. All this adds up to a recipe that takes less than a day to finish, giving the customers an affordable but loaded with scary chemicals that does who knows what to your body. Even through natural processes, it’s a product with high sodium, and puts a lot of stress on human kidney, and also increases some people’s high blood pressure. If it’s that bad even through natural and traditional ways, then can you imagine how many times worse the chemically enhanced one will be? It definitely won’t kill you if you eat some once a month, which was probably what NY times was talking about doing, but this dish is not as healthy as you think it is. Then, on the package, the company puts the label “Fermented Black Bean Paste,” making customers believe that this fermented product will last forever, because it’s technically made from decomposed material. But it’s not true. MSG is usually added to the unstable bacteria, along with some other flavors and even artificial additives, which makes the paste stable, but actually makes it deteriorate faster. Not a lot of people know this, though, and end up eating bad bean paste that been sitting in the back of the fridges for years.

    From the moment I finished reading this article, I thought I just had to tell some people the truth about Mapo Tofu, vegetarian or regular. Although a great Chinese dish for the whole family, it still is not the most healthy choice. So everytime you might want some Mapo Tofu, just keep the true nature of Doubanjiang in mind and eat wisely.

Letter of Civil War(Fictional)

Remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms and rights that we enjoy on this Memorial Day weekend!

July 12, 1861

Dear Mom,

It’s been so long since I’ve heard from you, all the way in California. I hope you and dad are still healthy and kicking butt. Thanks a lot for the that huge yellow scarf you got me. I had no need for it back at home, but here, up North, it’s one of my top ten most needed items. Try to say hi to our neighbors for me if you can. You know, like old Kingsley, Ms. Patty...... and the dog, Bonny. I miss everything there.

You know about the war that’s brewing, right? Everyone’s taking sides, North or South. I am supporting the North, just like you told me. Now I see the sense in your reasons about not helping slavery continue. I mean, African American people are still people. We can’t just let them continue to be treated like animals. I have a new friend, Billy, who’s from a rich South Carolina plantation family. He and one of his brothers came up to support the North, and he’s told me the truth about the slavery in the South. Billy says that his dad is a harsh man, and deaths among the South’s slaves were common. As far as Billy could remember, six slaves have died on his family’s plantation, four from infections due to beating, and two from disease. I know this isn’t happy talk, but I just thought you’d like to know that I am more assured about the choice we made in this war.

For the past six months, I have been working at the main telegraph station where President Lincoln and his advisors send messages to the Union’s field commanders. Usually, the messages are about the overall strategies of which towns to take and things like that. President Lincoln seems like a nice enough man, although he always has a lot of information for us to tell the field commanders, keeping us working most of the time. The amount of work pressed upon us was to the #1 reason I couldn’t write to you sooner. But still, the pay is surprisingly good, as I am one of the primary telegraphers, and the load has slackened, as the oncoming battle is Bull Run, one that every Union general thinks is going to be an easy victory. By the time you receive this letter, Bull Run will most likely have been already won.

I am feeling conflicted about joining the Army. I have seen many headstrong, impulsive young men charge off into war, swayed by experienced officers’ speeches. The speeches talk about none of war’s bloodiness, pain, and discomfort. They only talk about killing successfully, hardening your personality, and getting educated about “important things.” But even though these inspiring speeches got my spirits pumped up, my feelings toward war changed after the excitement of the speech subsided. I think about peaceful debates between the North and South, instead of solving problems by going onto the battlefield. Why does everyone have to go for a violent approach when people disagree on something? But even though all my instincts and common sense tell me not to embrace the unorthodox method of war, the idea of signing up to be a soldier has its merits. Almost all my friends have signed up except for Joe, only because he was too fat to join. And shouldn’t I support my side by bearing up arms too? I know that telegraphing for President Lincoln and the Union Army is a good, non-violent way of serving the North already; it just does not seem to be exciting enough for me to see myself as patriotic. I am struggling over this hard decision. I hope you can give me some help on this issue, Mom.

I really hope that this war won’t be long and bloody, and that it will blow over soon. I just want the Union to get a swift victory over the Rebels and end slavery once and for all. This war definitely seems easy for us, don’t you think, Mom? I mean, the Union’s got the numbers and the equipment. Well, enough of this war talk. It’s almost time to fill in the shift for my fellow telegrapher, who is in bed with a bad cold. Hopefully I can get you guys to move over here to the East when this hostility is over. I can’t wait to see you and dad again!

Love,

Charles

Jobs Gates

    Of all the rich people on this Earth, the two billionaires that interest me the most are Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Jobs, a rich man who didn’t live a very long life, and came from a poor family, versus Gates, an even richer man who donates to charity regularly, and had a very supportive family.

    Steve Jobs was born in February of 1955. Roughly eight months later, Bill Gates was born, in October of 1955. Whereas Jobs was born in San Francisco, California, Gates was born in Seattle, Washington. But in the same year, two billionaires had been born on the West Coast.

    These two people’s family backgrounds couldn’t have been more dissimilar. Steve Jobs is the biological son of John Jandali and Joanne Schieble, who gave Jobs up for adoption the moment he was born. Jobs was then adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs, a nice couple who worked as mechanic and accountant. At school, Jobs did so well that his teachers recommended that he skip two grades. Even though his grades suggested that Jobs was a hardworking student, he constantly played tricks and practical jokes on other students.

    On the other hand, Gates was raised by his biological parents, William and Mary Gates, and had a happy normal childhood. He was the third child out of four, and had regular problems with his annoying siblings. Like Jobs, he did well in school but did not play tricks on other students. Gates showed a natural interest in tinkering with computer programs, becoming so talented with computer codes that he modified the school’s schedule so that he could be placed in classes with "a disproportionate number of interesting girls”(Wikipedia).

    Although Jobs’s SAT score is a big mystery, it is well known that Bill Gates’s SAT score was 1590 out of 1600, a very good result at the time. Both men were accepted into good colleges, and both dropped out of college, but for different reasons. Jobs dropped out of Reed College after six months because the tuition was expensive, and his adoptive parents could not pay for it. Gates dropped out of Harvard College, not because he couldn’t afford it, but because he and his business partner had found the perfect opportunity to start a company. After hearing how much Gates wanted to have his own business, his parents gave him their full approval to drop out of Harvard.

    Jobs and Gates had careers that were both similar and different. Although both worked with technology, Jobs had a pretty turbulent early career, with many rises and dips. He started off as a partially successful video game producer, not earning much, but working a stable job. But that was not good enough for Jobs. He gathered a couple of his video game-producing friends and started Apple Computers in 1976, inside his parents’ garage. Even after a couple rough years of hard work, this company had not grown much. Again, Jobs resigned, and bought an animated filmmaking shop, Pixar, that did pretty well, producing about half a dozen animated films, starting with Toy Story. Jobs returned to a slightly better Apple, and sold Pixar to Disney in order to support Apple. There, he introduced the successful iPhone series, along with a whole bunch of other iThings. This was when he finally came into prominence, and his name became more well known. He served as the CEO of Apple until the day before he died, on October 5, 2011, at 56 years of age.

    Bill Gates had a much more stable career with his partner Paul Allen. Together, they formed the computer software company, Microsoft, and Gates stayed with the company throughout his adult life. He was satisfied with Microsoft, and didn’t jump around like Jobs, searching and searching for another better occupation. Something that Gates targeted was work specified to software, while Jobs liked to do business where both hardware and software were designed by him and his company. After a slight hiccup with another tech company, MITS, in which MITS took Gates’s basic design of the microcomputer without paying a continual fee for its constant use of the design, Gate’s Microsoft made a deal with IBM, and had much more success. In a few years, the partnership with IBM started to deteriorate, and these two huge tech companies began to head down different paths. But. Gates was now experienced in keeping his business successful, and aggressively broadened the company’s range of products, including the famous Microsoft Windows. Now he has stepped down from the Chair of Microsoft to being one of its Technical Advisors.

    Even though both were rich businessmen that were able to give to to charity, why did only one of them actually show real support to non-profit organizations? Why is only Bill Gates well known for donating to charity and even starting his own organization, the Gates Foundation, when Steve Jobs had the ability to do the same thing but chose not to? No one will ever know, because that died with Jobs. After my research revealed no solid evidence of Steve Jobs ever donating to the public, my opinion of Jobs went down pretty significantly. I think that no matter how big the difference between these two successful men’s families or salaries, the factor that sets them apart the most is the kindness in their hearts.

    Steve Jobs, the maker of almost all the iDevices, changed the way people consume and produce entertainment, allowing us to have more ways of enjoying ourselves through iPhones, iPads, and iMuch more. However, Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, changed the world through technology and charity. His Windows program brought personal computers to homes and families, making the world a more efficient work force. And charity? Well, let’s just say that the $40 billion he’s donated since 2007 has been put to good use around the world. To cap it off, Gates has definitely changed the world more than Jobs, made more money, and given more of it away.

    Oh yes, there was one last thing that I got from these two people. I figured out that no matter how rich you are, the most important thing is to stay healthy and alive. As a 59-year-old billionaire, Gates is still alive and healthy, and is still enjoying his 66,000-square-foot estate with his wife, while Jobs is not. Both men chased their dreams and both achieved them , but without the healthy body and mind to enjoy the reward after working so hard, Jobs “lost the one before all those zeroes that gave them any value”(Fiona Wei, my mom).

Book Recommendation

    I have read many books, from sci-fi novels to nonfiction history recounts. Out of those books, the ones that stand out to me the most are the thick sets of books containing unbelievably imaginative worlds of magic.

    Among these, one of the best is the series Beyonders. Written by the Fablehaven author Brandon Mull, the first book, called A World Without Heroes, was published in 2011. Seeds of Rebellion and Chasing the Prophecy followed, each published a year after the previous one. In my opinion, the gaps in between each publication gave us readers some time to absorb the information of the books and to let us get excited as we anxiously wait for the next book to come out.

    To judge whether this book is worth the money and space on your shelf, an overview of the plot will help. Jason, a normal teenager who only worries about homework, and only thinks about dating and curve balls, is suddenly swallowed by a hippo and gets forced into a different world called Lyrian, when he’s volunteering at a private zoo. Hopelessly lost and already a wanted criminal in Lyrian, Jason meets up with another person who’s just come from Earth, Rachael. They learn that the evil wizard, Maldor, is taking over Lyrian and plunging it into darkness and misery. Although inexperienced and not responsible for what happens in this strange world, Jason and Rachael still set out on an almost impossible mission to try and defeat Maldor

    I specially appreciate the examples that Mull’s books try to set for young teens to take responsibility and not to back away from it. Jason, although ignorant about the things going on in Lyrian, and most likely to be killed the very next day, still takes the responsibility of leading the rebellion. Even though Lyrian has nothing to do with Jason or Rachael, and even though it isn’t their homeland, they are ready to lay down their lives just to save the innocent people. I think reading these sorts of hero books will teach teens like your students to step forward and take the lead, instead of shrinking back whenever things get rough.

    As an elite version of other action books, Beyonders will definitely be an instant favorite. With each new character and scene that I read, I am able to picture it in great detail, surrounded by the descriptive words, and sometimes I even experience a life-like interaction with the characters, set up by my 3-D creating mind. The actual bash and whack parts of the book are always described in great length, giving me almost a movie-like play by play of each the the fighter’s moves. But even as I silently cheer on the good guy, his thoughts of possible defeat still flash through my mind. Then, of course, there are the ever-present sarcastic and humorous jokes, usually said by Jason, mostly to annoy Rachael, and sometimes to vent his nervousness just before big battles. I usually laugh along with him, able to relate to the jokes delivered under extra tension, something I do on a regular basis.

    Another particularly enjoying part of the book that Brandon Mull depicts is the subtle ways in which Rachael and Jason are developing. After living for a couple months in the harsh environments of Lyrian, during which they lose many good friends, Jason and Rachael become hardened. I am able to observe the changes in their actions whenever they meet some bad guys. Instead of hanging back, Jason and Rachael both charge forward with everyone else. This challenge of noticing these tiny, obscured changes made reading Beyonders even more interesting than it already was.

    If that still isn’t enough to convince you to get the series, there’s still the educational part of Beyonders to persuade you. The content is very descriptive, and contains sophisticated writing techniques that set accurate examples for readers to follow when they need to write something. There are also quite a few advanced words that middle school students should learn. Beyonders is a series with a pretty complicated plot, so I’d think that it’s only good for 4th grade students and up to read it. It should prove to be both entertaining and somewhat educational for elementary and middle school students. I needed all the brainpower I had to keep track of the twists and turns that Mull takes.

Thrilling and filled with action, Beyonders is a series you should think about reading. It definitely kept me magically energized until the finish, and will hopefully do the same for you when you read it.

Poem Series

Lily

A scarlet lily,

Growing wildly, burning red

Sprouting bell-shaped buds.

Although the scent makes me sneeze,

These blooms still lure me to breathe.

Eggs

My favorite food is

fried egg.

With its perfectly golden

round yolk.

The single huge eye

draws me.

I would accept a

poached prize,

Or maybe accept a

scrambled snack.

But my #1 choice:

fried eggs.

It starts my morning

energizes me.

I need you, egg

Don’t leave me!

 

Piano

Playing piano

Music rushes in my ears

As my fingers dance

On the black white gears

 Melody opens windows

Moonlight awakened.

Swishming

I wish I became

a fish,

Swimming around in the

open ocean,

Conquering the seas bit

by bit.

By joining a good

swim team,

Butterfly has allowed me

to fly.

It’s really not the

same game,

But I like my

funny buddies.

We’ll be there for

each other,

With waves and splashes

Throughout the years.

Yelling

    How would you feel if your mom yelled at you like a yeti everyday from the yard? Mad,  right? I feel the same too, and very tight. Why had my mom become a yeller though? Was it because I was not concentrating on my homework, or because I was smashing the house with white, powdery dough?

    When I asked Mom this grave and serious question, she started off with the classic storm starter, “It’s all because of YOU! If you hadn’t butt-flopped on our wood chair and squashed it to splinters, and if you hadn’t been plowing  the front yard with putters, I would be much better! You’re the little needle that always pokes through my overloaded balloon and releases the fiery kindling!” She breathed heavily, giving me the chance to escape stealthily before things escalated rapidly.

    Back in my room, I could finally let my mind roam. I still didn’t understand Mom’s explosive manner. Had I done anything wrong? Those accidents were totally normal, childish behaviors that are at most annoying. Every kid I know has done these devilish deeds. It’s all within the limits. I don’t understand this uniquely annoying circumstance, but in the mean time, let’s try not to bump Mom’s bumptious bubble.

Salad Bar Business

Dear Mr. Martinez,

Hello, my name is Justin Wei, and I’m an 8th grader at El Roble. As you are the principal of this junior high school, I decided to write to you about this issue that came across my mind while eating a deliciously juicy cheeseburger.

The lunches at El Roble are usually satisfactory to me, with reasonable portions, pretty fresh ingredients, and the ever-present salad bar. Variety in the lunches is diverse, and the portions are usually just enough to get me through the last two periods of class I have before I go home and pig out on snacks. The salad bar next to the snack store is also a great place to go at lunch. There is always salad, ham, and yogurt, all very nutritious items that complement and balance the not-too-healthy cheeseburgers, orange chicken, tacos, and burritos that I can get in the lunch carts.

As always, one of the goals for schools is to get us students to eat a big variety of nutritious food. But I’m not sure if even half of the students are eating the correct amounts  of veggies and fruit. I think the problem is with the salad bar, which should be the carrier of healthy things. The variety is just not great enough to attract most students. Sure, a lot of people are seen getting carrots and salad on their trays, but it is still a tiny percentage of the school. Most of the people I see just carry their low-on-nutrition food items, without any sign of fruit or veggies.

A recent change that made the students go to the salad bar less was the fifty cents charge on carrots. Who would want to pay extra to eat something healthy when you’re already paying $3.25 for lunch? Before the new charge, I would get the carrots at least two times a week. I had seen a lot of other students get the carrots too, crunching loudly, enjoying them. Now, I have not seen anyone eat carrots in weeks, and I haven’t gone to get any either. Mr. Martinez, I think that leaving the carrots free as part of the lunch would definitely help with having a more diverse salad bar.  

Here are some suggestions for how to improve the salad bar. The ingredients are usually fresh, which is good, but they’re just not diverse enough. Every day, the food is exactly the same. This is why the students and I are not eating the salad bar as much as before. Apart from having the same salad bar food every day, there are the separate containers that hold mysterious-looking things, and olives and radishes that no one touches. It would be a great idea to switch those out for a greater variety of food, like crackers, peaches, and dried berries. Accordingly, you could have the food director change up the items every couple months and switch the style slightly.

Mr. Martinez, please consider this idea. Please understand why our current First Lady wants all schools in our country to have a salad bar. The reason is not just to throw one together really quickly, and announce, “We have a salad bar!” Putting some thought into making the salad bar more diverse will make the students happier, and make the nation a healthier one.

Thank you,

Justin Wei

Scouting Helps

    Many things in my life are important to me. My family, my Clash of Clans account, and my eggs are all essential . But the one thing that has changed my way of life the most is Boy Scouts. Not only has this extracurricular program taught me ways of survival, but also good working habits.

    To me, one of the greatest lessons that scouting gives is survival skills. Knowing how to start fires, how to carry and use the ten essentials, and how to build shelters is knowledge safely stored in my brain. These skills could come in handy one day, during an unexpected occurrence on some camping trip with family or friends. But scouting doesn’t only teach us how to sustain ourselves in the wilderness. Survival in the competitive society is emphasized strongly in Boy Scouts. We get many chances to practice our leadership skills by filling troop leadership positions. Practicing being a leader will help us gain experience, strengthen our responsibility and communication skills, and will lead us to success.

    It almost seems as if Boy Scouts was designed especially for me, because it always targets my weaknesses and makes them strengths. Apart from communication skills, the one thing I really lacked was consistency. Before Boy Scouts, I was just a chubby, lazy boy. It would take me more than two hours to memorize twenty Chinese characters back then because I would always have eraser fights and daydream, the perfect example of inconsistent. As fun as Boy Scouts is, it also has some of the hardest challenges I’ve come across in my life. The ranks that I need to constantly advance, the merit badges I need to get, and the leadership I need to show in every meeting forces me to be consistent. This consistency will become of use when the homework amounts get overwhelming, when I have a pressing deadline during work, and when I have to deal with a group member who’s being fat-and-lazy-Justin.

   Probably the most enjoyable life lesson from BSA has been learning the ways of camp cooking, creating a variety of dishes, both simple and complex. I thought this was a good lesson because I do not know anyone who can last long without food. I certainly can’t! With the Cooking Merit Badge, I was able to figure out the correct foods that I should consume in order to stay healthy. For now, I am content with my mom’s way-too-bland-diet, but there will be a time when I need to strike out on my own. When I do, I need to have the knowledge of how not to starve.

    Boy Scouts has become an integral part of my life in a few short years. It has taught me much, and apart from all those things I’ve talked about, another has been the caring for the community and most of all, family. As great as Boy Scouts is, family is immensely important too.

We Love Grading Teachers!

             Ever since I started school, I’ve had at least one bad teacher a year. For Kindergarten and 1st grade in China, both of my English teachers were monsters, yelling and giving time-outs every other minute at the smallest sounds that we made. Through elementary school, my even number grade teachers were awesome, while the odd number teachers were not satisfactory at all. For example, my 5th grade teacher gossiped for at least an hour everyday about the opening premieres of the Hunger Games, Twilight, and  about another dozen movies. In 7th grade, my English teacher was very unproductive throughout the school year. Although some people loved her, I have to confess, I think that free days every week and around 40 total assignments for this class at the end of the year didn’t seem to meet my standards of a good teacher. If these kinds of teachers get to criticize our work, then I, along with many other students, believe we have the right to criticize their work, too.

All of the teachers in my education experience had small faults that could have been easily changed. If we had been given the chance to critique our teachers, it would have been so easy for them to recognize their mistakes and correct them. In making changes to their old teaching technique, their original experience and knowledge would be allowed to resurface, giving the future classes a better learning experience. This will lead to a better foundation and better overall test scores. Future students will have teachers who are constantly improving and who will provide more productive educational experiences year after year.

Teachers need to be professional about their jobs, and they need to match the standard criteria to stay in their positions. So schools need an efficient system of evaluating teachers’ performances. Yes, the principal, vice principal, and superintendent come occasionally and judge the teachers’ classes for about 10 minutes, but they usually don’t see the whole picture. We students do. We are in their classes every day and understand their teaching style. Overall, I think that students’ evaluations of teachers will be much more effective than administrative ones.

Some protesting teachers will definitely counter with, “What if the students just hate me for no reason and comment on me very unfairly?”  I suggest that the teachers look through their evaluations carefully and take note of the points that the students raise. You might find our comments very helpful, making you a better and more productive teacher.

             Please consider allowing us students to evaluate our teachers at the end of each grade cycle. We can help them grow professionally, like they have helped us improve throughout the year. Help us support this cause!

Late; Loot; Food; Cold

    As a very contented and simple child, I really have no huge pet peeve. After painfully racking my brain for almost half an hour, I was able to come up with a couple of small things that irritate me a little.

    Have you ever noticed that when some adults reach the age of around 40, their memory goes into a sudden rapid downfall? Well, my mom is the perfect example of very short-term memory loss. And that’s also what gets on my nerves, making this my number one pet peeve. Usually, it’s when we’re almost late to someplace that my mom’s memory loss is triggered. The most common example is, when it’s already 7:50, and we are just getting ready to leave our house for school. I’m already irritated at how long it takes my mom to be done with her iPad business (downloading Korean drama videos). After Mom’s been driving for a couple minutes, she suddenly gasps, turning to look at me. “Did I close the garage door?” I usually roll my eyes and reply, “I don’t know, just drive.” She’s already forgotten if she closed the  garage door after two minutes. When Mom isn’t sure, she always goes back to check, but every time, it’s closed. And every time she finds the garage door closed, I yell, “See? It’s closed! Now step on the gas!” When we get back on the road, we only have 5 minutes before the first bell, making me very “peeved.”

    Another peeve of mine is shrimp - a small free-swimming crustacean with an elongated body, typically marine and frequently harvested for food. That’s the definition I got from Google. This is the definition of shrimp (the correct one) I found in Mister Justino Wei’s brain engine: a squirming ball of disgustingness. This exact definition is what goes through my mind every time my mom forces me to eat shrimp. This “peeves” me off  because shrimp and my stomach have very big disagreements. When two pieces of shrimp are placed on my plate, and mom gives me “the eye,” it’s like the end of the world for my poor belly. Mom’s saying, “It’s healthy for your body! Eat it!” makes me even more sick. As if the spoiled seafood smell and squishy appearance that reach my two senses don’t scare me, the taste makes something primitive in my belly want to come up and see the outside world. This pet peeve, the most annoying on the physical scale, definitely drives me mad.

    My third and not last pet peeve, most likely shared by millions of people around the world, is losing large amounts of precious loot. After spending hours and hours on a game, gaining loot by breaking other players’ hearts and taking their loot, it irritates me to have all the hard work in gaining the loot destroyed. Although the game isn’t real, and it’s a small thing to lose virtual money, it still annoys me greatly.

    Finally, my last pet peeve is having a cold toilet seat. Our toilet seats all have warmers, but my mom always turns them off, saying it “wastes electricity.” The freezing seat tortures my sensitive buttocks, which send signals to my brain, telling it the huge discomfort that my bottom is feeling. The sensitive skin of my bum freezing up destroys the otherwise comfortable feeling of getting rid of body waste.

    Overall, my four pet peeves are all very small things, with no lasting negative effects. Still, they are very irritating, making my good mood crash down. For a thorough list of my pet peeves, please go to www.justinosbrain.com.   

Sanamluang=Best Thai Restaurant in L.A.

    People who actually know my mom will definitely say that she is a good cook. But only the people of the Wei family know that she also gets very lazy when told to cook during the weekends. That’s how my mom and I ended up at my favorite Thai restaurant in Claremont, Sanamluang. After almost four hours of “showing love” to our Boy Scout supply shed (organizing equipment and cleaning up) on Valentine’s morning, I was at zero percent on belly juice. My mom said she was tired too, even though all she did was sit there with the other parents and drink coffee. Mom didn’t want to cook lunch, so I was getting myself ready for a hard afternoon of loud stomach thunder. But going past the 10 freeway on Indian Hill, something in my guts told my eyes to look to the right, I made solid eye contact with Sanamluang, a great restaurant that we found a couple months before. Ever since, our family’s been going once or twice every month or so. My mom seemed to notice it a second before I did and pulled into the plaza before I could say anything. At first I was surprised, but after I got out of the car I figured my mom was pretty hungry too. Two hours later, feeling delightfully sleepy and contented, we walked out of the restaurant.

    The best part about Sanamluang is the rich and flavorful food. My favorite side dish is the fried pork ribs. Marinated to the perfect savory taste, the outer layer is crunchy, while the inside flesh seems to melt on my tongue, sending the juice down to fill my mind and body. Combo fried rice is also a course that we never miss. Filled with squid, shrimp, chicken strips and eggs, the rice seems to take on the seafood’s flavor, easily sending our taste buds into overdrive. I like the rice with a little traditional fish sauce that’s usually on the side of the table, adding to the already complex taste. Although General Noodles is an aromatic noodle soup that has good ingredients, the soup’s taste seems very unnatural, contrasting with the mild flavors of the other dishes we ordered, which makes me wonder what was needed to make that........ My favorite noodle dish at Sanamluang is the Pad-Thai, a flat rice noodle that is stir fried with eggs, chicken, shrimp, and different veggies. It is served dry, even though the need for water never arose for me when consuming these peculiar flat noodles. With the food alone, I would definitely not regret taking time from Clash of Clans to eat at Sanamluang.

    The greatest thing about Sanamluang after the food is probably the welcoming environment. No matter what time you go, the noise is never over a moderate tone. Although some people disagree with me, I think the food service is great. The dishes come quickly every time I’ve been there, and the servers are always there for us when we need them. The interior design of the restaurant is a perfect mix of modern and traditional.

   Although this may sound weird, an important factor that allows me to enjoy my time at a restaurant is having clean restrooms. When using the restroom, any sort of graffiti, stalls that are plugged up, and/or lumpy blobs of toilet paper on the floor make me nervous, causing me to get distracted and not do my necessities. Toilets are important to me, so I appreciate it when they are nice and clean. Sanamluang’s restrooms, with their gleaming stalls, purely white toilet seats, and shiny mirrors, set the perfect precedent for my expectations of future restaurant restrooms.

    Even after visiting Sanamluang almost half a dozen times, it still never bores me to see the awesome dishes being served and the Asian style of the restaurant as I relish every bite. Even though some of the dishes aren’t the healthiest for your body, they won’t hurt you too much. I recommend Sanamluang to anyone of any ethnicity 10,000%. Please try it out. You won’t regret it.

Burmese Python (continued)

               The invasion of the Burmese Python is now a gigantic worry for the federal government, and the citizens of Florida. Many ideas have been proposed and disputed. The two main points of view are whether to kill the pythons or capture them.

              After a search team has captured a python, what actions should they take? Should they kill it, or bring it back to animal centers for lab tests and maybe return it to its native habitat? The “killers” argue that killing the pythons on the spot would save a lot of time and  money in transportation. As for bringing them back for lab tests, “killers” say that scientists already have more than enough Burmese Pythons for testing. Capturing the snakes and killing them allows the search teams to track down and dispose of more pythons in a day. Without a heavy load of pythons, the teams can move and search more quickly. But even with these arguments, the action taken by most teams is still capturing, instead of killing.

              “Capturers” have a strong stand of their own. They say it wasn’t the Burmese Pythons’ fault for escaping into the wild; they were just trying to survive. So these people think that it is the right thing to capture them, and bring them back where they belong. The “capturers” maintain that although these predators should be stopped, bloodshed should be avoided, for these reptiles are just innocent animals surviving in the environment. Also, if there were bloodshed, other predators or scavengers could be attracted to the scene. That definitely would not help the search teams.

               Some of the ideas that crossed my mind regarding the control of the Burmese Python population included inventing robotic machines that could work day and night to capture and deliver pythons. These robots could be programmed to sense Burmese Pythons with their acute computers. They definitely would work faster than humans, because they have no need to sleep or eat, and don’t get tired. But after a couple seconds, I knew that idea was impossible with the technology we have right now.

Another idea that came to mind was getting rid of  the pythons’ eggs. As Burmese Pythons are able to lay up to 50 eggs at a time, the reproduction rate is a huge factor of the snakes’ growing population. By getting rid of the pythons at the base is probably a good idea. But after more thought, I became pretty sure that the idea had already been put into action.

              But one idea appealed to me: introducing a new species to balance out the whole food chain. Environmentalists and scientists could go to Asia to find species there that are able to keep the number of Burmese Pythons low. Perhaps the species they find can become prey to the alligators of Florida. That way, the new food chain would be complete, with the new species controlling the pythons, and alligators controlling the new species.

             Something that I only recently learned about invasive species was that all these were started by something small: Burmese Python pets released, or a storm that freed a couple of misplaced 20-inch-long pythons. All these things were small, yet after 20 or 30 years, this instability in the environment that could cause extinction is the result.

           The experience of writing this article taught me how fragile the environment is, and how small actions can have huge consequences. The environment is delicate, so treat it delicately.

Burmese Python Part 1

             Of all the invasive species in the world, one that I found especially intriguing was the Burmese Python. I wanted to learn more about it the moment I saw that this huge reptile could eat alligators. Also, the reptile VS reptile fight seemed pretty interesting.

The Burmese Python, already one of the largest snakes in the world, can easily grow up to five meters in Southern Florida. Although these pythons are interesting, I shake about the thought of meeting an agitated or hungry one that could quickly snap me in half and consume me. The python is tan in color, with dark puzzle-like blotches, similar to a giraffe’s. Its head is a typical snake shape, wide at the neck and tapering to form a rough triangle, ending at the nose. With jaw structures that can be disconnected, this python can fit any animal into its mouth that is about five times the length of its head.

    The Burmese Python’s natural habitats are the semi-aquatic areas of India, lower China, the East Indies, and the Malay Peninsula. Being a good climber and swimmer, this type of python is able to hunt for a variety of prey, making it a formidable hunter.

    Every invasive species in the world is caused by a small mistake. A citizen of Southern Florida bought a small Burmese Python as a pet. After about two years, the python had grown so much that its master thought it took up too much space. So he released the gigantic snake into the wild, thinking that it wouldn’t do any harm to the environment. But that one snake survived and probably found another python, probably displaced from a conservatory after a hurricane, and mated. Since then, Burmese Pythons have reproduced madly, setting a deep anchor in South Florida’s Everglades. Since the marshy environment is similar to its original home, there was no real need for these pythons to adapt, making it even easier for them to survive.

    The main problem of almost every invasive species is the same. They offset the delicate balance of the environment, and cause extinction in some cases. It is the same with the Burmese Python. Because of their big size and great agility, along with the huge mouth, these fearsome reptiles eat almost anything, such as a variety of birds and mammals, and even alligators. Burmese Pythons have been caught eating endangered Key Largo wood rats and grasshopper sparrows. As a foreign species, no large predator has moved to Southern Florida that has the ability to take on the job of controlling the number of pythons yet. Even the alligators have trouble with these pythons, suffering casualties among the young and inexperienced, and sometimes even the adult ones. Apart from humans and adult alligators, the Burmese Python is invincible.

    Environmentalists, scientists, and local park rangers are hard at work to control the number of Burmese Pythons. Like the lionfish issue, the pythons have such a stronghold in Southern Florida that destroying all the snakes is Mission Impossible.

Some things that the people have been doing are limiting the import of Burmese Pythons as household pets. There have also been human and dog search teams responsible for tracking down and killing Burmese Pythons. Another not-so-successful idea was trapping. But since pythons do not move around extensively, trapping was not as useful. Another idea that was considered was the use of gas specifically targeting Burmese Pythons as a biological control. The action was not performed, because the risk of killing other endangered species was too high. Having python catching contests didn’t prove too successful. As cunning reptiles, pythons are hard to catch. A month-long contest of 1,600 participants only resulted in 68 pythons caught. Hunting Burmese Pythons for food was also not a great idea, unless some crazy person wants to be poisoned by high amounts of mercury, as most high-level predators, including pythons, have a preponderance of this element in their bodies.

               So far, there has been no overly successful way of controlling the number of Burmese

 Pythons. But we humans are intelligent creatures, and I believe that we will find a solution some day

in the near future.