Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Foglie di Basilico polvere di sapone

Back to my friend with a broken foot's place and I decided to try out again.... the Blue Mediterraneo Basil soap power by Acqua di Parma.

I googled all around and the only place I found that sells the Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Foglie di Basilico polvere di sapone is an online store in Italy.

I used it once before and sort of like it...

So I added some of the soap powder to my Epsom salt bath today, the way it smells... it makes yours grumpy old hen feel like a happy baby after a nice hot bath!

Vitello Tonnato

Tried quite a few new Italian dishes nowadays cooked by my friend with a broken foot...

Vitello Tonnato is one of the specialty dish she cooked for my mom and I.

Essentially, Vitello Tonnato is veal with tuna sauce.

To prepare this dish, my friend cooked the veal she got from Freshdirect and cooked it with all different kinds of vegetables and herbs for over an hour or so at low heat.

The funnest story about the veal she got was that it was already sliced into pieces-- wrapped in paper to keep them seperate.  It was not until when all was ready did she realize that... oops... the meat was still frozen, which makes it difficult to take the paper out.  So, we simply cooking all things together... with the wrapping paper.  8-O lol

Regarding the sauce, I think she mixed two cans of tuna, mayo and capers together to make the sauce.

My mom cut the baby carrots and cornichon pickles (Italian baby pickles) in half to serve as decoration.

 What you see in the left is a picture of of the completed dish... veal covered with tuna sauce decorated with carrots, pickles, and capers.

Looking good and tasting nice!

Both my mom and I think that my friend with a broken leg should go with us to open an Italian restaurant in Taipei.  lol

Road Runner Broaderband finally up!

One thing I did after I got home today was to check out the speed of my internet connection.

Still... the speed limit is within the range of Road Runner basic.

So, yours moving really slow decided to call up Timewarner again.

Oops, apparently, the order to upgrade to Road Runner Broadband was still not completed today.

The representative asked me to wait till tomorrow so that he could gather the information to send the case forth to its supervisor.

This time I asked, "Can I please speak with your supervisor directly because I have been calling back 4-5 days in a roll and it seems like the order just can not get completed."

So he did eventually got his supervisor on the phone.

As I was explaining the entire situation to him, he also went over my history and found it sort of bizzard how one would go through such hassles simply wanting to have a service upgrade.

It took him less than a minute to get the order issue resolved and he even added some more speed to my account to compensate for the, I guess, inconveniences.

I restarted the cable modem and the computer....

I tested the speed... and...

Voila!

Packets running and running around!

Slow as I am, my packets goes faster than 89% of US! 8-O lol

Though nothing comparable to the connection speed through Internet 2...

From a residential point of view, Lord, this round, I am really coming out of the dark!

Caffé d'orzo

Back to keep my friend with a broken foot company and she made some Orzo Orzo for me.. as opposed to Orzo and Coffee.

This is the first time I try it out...

What does it taste like?

I think that Orzo along tastes and smells very much like barley tea... or... 麥茶...

So, how does caffè d'orzo differ from barley tea if both can involve the consumption of roasted barley?

So I found a writing about Barley beverages on Italian Wiki- correct me if I am wrong but... it seems like that the differences might reside in people's attempt to either make the drink more coffee-like or tea-like...

Maybe you only need to roast barley for a shorter time if what you want is roasted barley tea? (Feel free to correct me since it is only a guess)

BTW, check out the following link in case you would like to make your own Caffé d'orzo...

Road Runner Broadband again

The lady I spoke with finally was able to get my order completed although, in my account, it is still showing that the current services I am subscribing to is the basic plan.

So I chatted with an agent online while back keeping my friend with a broken foot some company-- so I was informed... yes, the order is completed; yet, unfortunately, "there is an outage of service in your area...."

So I replied, "Thank God that I am not home."

OMG... the consequences of my finally upgrading to broadband--- service outage? 8-O lol

Gotta say though, the 29.99 /mo without contract offer is still valid in my area and I could still view it in My Services... though not sure whether it might be available in your neighborhood... not to mention whether you would have to go through the same grief I have to go through these past few days with a simple pursuit of wanting to switch to Road Runner Broadband.

BTW, though the customer representatives told me that the order has been completed and my services have been upgraded.  As you can tell in the screenshots I am providing with you now... apparently not in the online records.

Still fighting to go Broadband

Back a couple of days ago, I mentioned that I found this opportunity to get broadband to the house at 29.99 without contract...

Also... for some bizzard reason, timewarner kept on having problem getting the order completed in their system.

I have been calling them on a daily basis, such as now, trying to get my Broadband set up.... 

May God let it be the 4th call the last.... 8-X

Road Runner Broadband for 29.99 (No contract)

It all started from my pursuit to get the issue of skype video disconnecting all the time... and that was when I realized that the aka high speed Internet connection I use affords me no more than the download speed of 1.5 mbps and .25 mbps for upload...

Ouch... all of a sudden, I fell back to the dark age.... What kinda fiber were my packets traveling on?

Since I was already dealing with the Time Warner people, I decided to clean up the whole mess with all my Timewarner account...essentially spending hours straightening out the username and password issues for payexpress and my services.

I don't know why... just felt like it...

Then, when I finally was able to get into my services, I went to check on the other options I might have for higher speed Internet.

After getting back to NYC, I needed to have Timewarner service reactivated because I was gone for about 10 months.  The customer representative, then, signed me on for the Road Runner Basic, which costs me 33.95 per month, taxes and fees not included.

Strangely, when looking at the upgrade options, I found Road Runner Broadband, which could go as fast as 10 mbps when downloading data, to be at the cheaper price of 29.99.

33.95 for the speed of 1.5 mbps while 29.99 for that of 10 mbps?

After chatting with the customer representative online to make sure that I would be paying 29.99 rather than 33.95+29.99, I had the order submitted.

The best thing about this offer... there is no annual contract... and, thus, no penalty fees of any kind shall I have it cancelled in 2-3 months! Sweet!

The moral of the lesson, it won't hurt for you to log in to "my services" once in a while shall Timewarner provide services in your neighborhood and shall you existing service be more expensive yet slower than 10 mpbs downloading speed.

And, apparently, the offer is limited time only and is dependent on your geographical location as well.

Good luck!

Update on 6/21/2011 8:10 PM: Been talking to customer representatives at Timerwarner because they seem to have some problem getting their system info fixed so that I can finally upgrade to broadband... 8-O lol

Orzo

My friend with a broken foot came from Italy originally and drinks Orzo all the times.

Caffé d'orzo... qu'est-ce que c'est?

Orzo, itself, is a kind of roasted grain beverage made from barley-- thus, caffeine-free.

The kind my friend drinks all the time, though, is Orzo & Caffè, which is equivalent to decaffeinated coffee... I guess...

So I was told by my friend with a broken foot... during the war, there was a shortage of coffee and many more people drank Orzo instead in Italy... such as my friend's parents.  Interestingly, it never became big outside of Italy, if not Europe.

Unfortunately, despite of my diligent efforts, I have some problems finding any info over the Internet to either support or refute the validity of the above statement.  Please feel free to correct me.

The two pictures show you what my friend's instant Orzo & Caffè by Ristora looks like... though the looks might be different, the ingredients are the same... barley 46%, rye, chicory, malt, instant coffee 35 % and low fat cocoa.

Free calling plans within the US and Canada

Never really paid much attention to calling plans since I don't like to talk on the phone.  As a result, there was never really a need for me to look for free calling plans.

Though I don't have a cellphone, I do have a land line... something I have had for the longest time and might as well keep it.

Had the chance to try out skypeout when it was free within the US-- though use it nowadays mainly when I have to make long distance calls... say between the US and Taiwan.

By chance, I rediscovered google voice tonight....and realized that... sweet... google voice allows you to make free phone calls within the US and Canad-- provided that you make your phone calls from within the US and Canada.

There is one thing I have to say, though, about the quality of GV... sometimes the voices are so low that you can barely hear what people are talking about....

Tea and sleep

Those nights of having problems falling asleep and/or staying asleep must have traumatized me quite a bit because, after getting back to NYC, I can't stop rethinking about them things I tried out to shut my head down.

Surely, many things could have contributed to them endless sleepless nights....

For me, it might have something to do with the fact that, for those year or two, I had to cut the dosage of Seroquel down from 500-600 mg of Seroquel to 25 mg..... till today's dosage of roughly 25/4 mg...  Since Seroquel used to knock me down like a charm at bed time, the decrease, surely, would have caused some turmoils to the activities of neurotransmitters in my beautiful head.  

My shrink had prescribed sleeping pills but, unfortunately, I am one of those who would get the sleeping pill hangover- not to mention the risk of developing dependence on the pills. 

That was the reason why-- in addition to drastically cut down the consumption of Coffee, I started to try out all alternatives possible to put myself to sleep. 

This is the time when I started exploring the potential of herbal tea.... starting from Lavender and Chamomile.  

For Chamomile tea along, I had tried out most of the common brands that you can find in the supermarkets or pharmacies such Bigelow, Stash, Celestial, Yogi etc.  One conclusion I have after testing them out is that... just as all animals are equeal... Though all chamomile tea should be equal, some seems to do a better job helping me falling asleep than the others.

Guess, sort of like... although all froggies might be da prince, sometimes you might have to kiss a few en route in order to find da prince... 8-O lol

One kind of tea that I found most potent in knocking me down is the Yogi Bedtime tea... perhaps, it has something to do with the fact that the Valerian has been used for sleep disorders although, if you check the info provided in MedlinePlus, you might get the feeling that scientifically based studies don't seem to provide too much support for its effect.

Regardless what the experts say, the only thing I know is that... something worked for me and it could be the addition of Valerian.

Of course, each person is different and you might have to test it out to see whether the Yogi Bedtime tea might work for you.

One thing I noticed, though, was that, during the time when I have to drink this tea religiously at bedtime, I often wake up in the morning feeling more thirsty than usual.   Although I have to remind you that I was not sure whether it was really the doing of the tea since there were many other things I tried out before bed time during that period for one and only one pursuit-- to sleep.

Just a hunch... I guess...  

Sleep well!

Sleepy time

As I am getting ready to go to sleep, I thought of all the tricks I have tried out during the time when one of my biggest night terror was the inability to fall asleep...

The problem with all of the sleeping aids I have tested out so far is that-- voila... some works while others don't. At the same time, the ones that work might help out for a while and, all of a sudden, its effect ceases to exist.

Among them all, the Night Health bedtime balm by Origins seemed to have done a fairly good and consistent job in helping me "out".  All that I had to do is to put a dash of it on my temples and, most of the times, my head would be ready to shutdown in a matter of split seconds.

Can't quite tell you whether it would still do miracle for me today since I haven't used it for a while.

Yet, for those of you who would go to distance to get that sleep you want without turning and tossing for hours in bed, or, without using sleeping pills, this might be something to consider about.

An alternative to the night balm is the Bedtime Face Cream, which also has the Chamomile, Lavender and Mandarin essential oils as the key relaxation ingredient.

Yet, personally, it doesn't seem to be as potent as the night balm if the sole concern is whether you can fall asleep or not.

Both products are, from your cheapskate's perspective, a bit on the pricey end, 25 dollars a piece for the night balm.  At the same time, just because it worked for me doesn't mean that it works for me now and neither does it mean it will work for you either.

The good thing is that, they do give out small take-home samples so that you can see for yourself whether either one works for you or not.

Wish you a good night sleep!

Hot Epsom salt bath without drying out?

Back to keep my friend with a broken foot company and also have the chance to take a nice hot bath...

It was not until when I was drafting the posting about Epsom salt did it occur to me that...

Oops... apparently, commonsense doesn't recommend hot Epsom salt bath....

Yet, I have heard of the use of hat pad and hot bath to relief pain.  Haven't heard people recommending lukewarm bath in my life-- not to mention that, based on my personal experiences, lukewarm bath is not as effective in pain alleviation and muscle relaxation.

In addition, don't the physical therapists take the heat pad away when it starts to lose its temperature?

So, the question arises... How do I prevent the skin of my body from drying out while taking a hot Epsom salt bath?

And, I realized that my fondness in product testing might have spared me from turning into an alligator today...

At home, I sometimes would add a bit of the Divine Calm Relaxing Massage Oil by Bodyshop to my Epsom salt foot bath.

Just so that you know... yours truly is a real cheapskate from hell who purchase things only at really deep discount to stretch my money.  Since L'Occitane hardly have discounts and they don't give out samples for you to try it out without purchase, I haven't had many chance to use their products-- in addition, apparently, you don't get the samples either if you get only trial size products.

At my friend's place, she has both the Peony shower cream and the Cherry Blossom Bath and Shower Gel by L'Occitane.

Personally, I prefer the Peonyshower cream one over the Cherry Blossom bath and shower gel at this point.

Why?  Might have something to do with the fact that I happened to use the Cherry Blossom bath and shower gel on the days when I was not feeling too well and the upset stomach of mine was making me feel nauseous all the time. Thereafter, my head somehow associate the shower gel with da nauseous feeling... 8-O lol

The one I used tonight is the Peony Shower Cream.... added it both to the bath and used it in the shower after the bath...

How does it feel?  Can't quite tell you whether I smell like Peony and neither can I tell you what it really does for me.  One thing I can tell you is that, when touching the skin on my arms and legs, it does feel that my skin is fairly soft and nothing alligator-like-- without the contribution of body moisturizer.

On a second thought, it seems like all that I might need is some kind of body moisturizer after a hot Epsom salt bath? 8-O lol

Morocco Black Olive & Argan Oil Scrub by bodyshop

Saw "Morocco Black Olive & Argan Oil Scrub" on the website the other day and I thought that I'd say a word or two about this product.

In case you wonder, yours cheapskate didn't purchase it at the full price of 28 dollars a piece.  Rather, I think I must have gotten it when Bodyshop had one of its 3 for 30 kinda discount when the product first came out last summer.

A jar later, one thing I can tell you is that it does leave the body nice and smooth afterwards.

In addition, it also make me feel all energized after shower... As a result, personally, I refrain myself from using it before bedtime...  The effect of Argan oil, perhaps?

The matter of the fact... if there's another chance for me to get it at a price around 10 a piece, I totally would get it again.... Keep my fingers crossed...

Epsom salt

One thing I did quite a lot when staying with my friend with a broken foot was the Epsom salt bath.

Interesting enough, I have never heard of Epsom salt in Taiwan and even my doctors had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned Epsom salt. Of course, it might have something to do with the fact that I didn't quite know how to translate the term "Epsom salt" then.  


After some googling around, I found that, in Chinese, Epsom salt is called 瀉鹽 or 硫酸鎂 (Magnesium sulfate or MgSO₄·7H₂O).  Must have learned it in school though gave it all back to my chemistry teacher... oops... please don't take my high school diploma back... 8-O lol

Why is it called Epsom salt rather than Poems salt?  Apparently, one of its first discoveries was in Epsom, Surrey, England back in the Shakespearean time.  That's where the Epsom part came from.

Accordingly, you are supposed to add a whole cup or two of Epsom Salt into your bath.  Yet, usually, I don't use so much and it seems to be pretty effective for me as well.

Personally, I love hot bath and I just read it somewhere that... it is the wrong way to do it.  So they say... use warm water instead because, I guess, if it is too hot, it might strip off too much of the protective oil from our skin.

What does it do for me?

Two thing I am pretty sure about.  First, it relaxes the body and alleviates the pain all over my body (Fibromyalgia).  Second, it somehow sedates me and put me into a jolly good sleep.

When bathing is not an option, I would do foot soaking with Epsom salt instead and it also seems to have similar impacts on me.

Not quite sure about other places, in the US, you can get Epsom salt from pharmacies and grocery stores or other fancy places.

Yet, for me, all that I needed is Magnesium sulfate and I often go with the most economic kind you can find such as the store brand.

I had tried out the Epsom salt with Lavender fragrance before but have now decided to get back to the simplest form of it.  The reason... seems to be a bit backwards to introduce unnecessary chemical components to a process which might help our body to do this thing called... detoxing.

For more uses of Epsom salt, you can check out the info provided by the Epsom Salt Council.

Kiehl's ultra facial moisturizer

During the week and half when I came to stay with this friend of mine with a broken foot, all that I used for my face was Kiehl's ultra facial moisturizer....

After the first day or two, I started having the feeling that--- something seems to be happening to my skin... sort of getting both softer and brighter, maybe?

Then, after I got back into town, a lot of people who haven't seen me for almost a year said to me...

"You look much younger!"

My reply has been, "Well, I have been using Kiehl's for the past week or two... I think that might be the reason why."

While there is no telling whether there is anything genuine in people's comments, I did have the feeling that I was looking much younger.... somehow... when I looked into the mirror the first time after I got back to my apartment.

If you ask me... is it really the doing of Kiehl's?

Could be or might also be that....

I was indoors for the majority of the day during that period and could simply due to the reduced exposure to the sun, radiation, etc, in the outdoor environment.

Yet, regardless, I like it... because it is light and seems to do a great job keeping the skin moisturized even after a night's sleep in an air-conditioned environment.

Baking soda

Cooked myself some Taiwanese instant noodles- all greasy but yummy- though gonna be bad for that already a piece of crap stomach of mine.  lol

Then, there came the problem... not detergent available in da kitchen of mine yet since I just got back into town.

Seeing that box of baking soda lying around by the sink and remembering the prints on them stating their power in cutting greasy, I gave it a try for the first time... doing dishes using baking soda.

The outcome.... don't know whether it was the new scrub I used or really the power of baking soda... them dishes haven't looked so sparkling clean for a while.... 8-O lol

Yet, based on some info I got through googling, apparently, there is no consensus on whether baking soda kills germs or not.

Free shipping on Walmart beta

Just so happened... after the posting I made yesterday, we found out that Walmart is striking an attack on the territory of online grocery shopping.

Home delivery is free for the first timers with purchase over 50 dollars... unfortunately, it doesn't deliver to Riverdale, NY though we would really like to try it out...

Online grocery shopping in NYC

Yours pretty disabled came to look after this friend of mine who had a foot operation last week.  It sort of makes her place the House of Pains if not the House of Disabilities. 8-O lol

Since I can't carry weight and walks far worse than ordinary grandmas and grandpas, we have been getting groceries through fresh direct... something I have done only once before when freshdirect just came out and had that 50-dollar free grocery deal years back...

An interesting question came up in the conversation today.... inspired by my trip to the A&P supermarket down the hill from the House of Pains in Skyview overlooking the Hudson... 

Which of the stores offer online grocery shopping and how much do they charge you-- provided they deliver to Riverdale, NY?

Took me some hard-core efforts to get the following info compiled..

Company	Delivery+service charges	minimum charges
Freshdirect.com	5.79-6.79	30 dollars
A&P	10.99-5.99	10.99 for 99 dollars and above
Shop Rite	16.95-6.95	6.95 if order over 100 dollars
D'Agostino	9.99-6.99	6.99 if order over 50 dollars

Based on the info provided above, if the delivery-associated charges are the only concern, Freshdirect.com surely seems to give you the best offer.  Though comparison shoppers might have to do their own research on the price of merchandises themselves.

Interestingly, some other supermarkets that I am familiar with don't even provide the online grocery shopping option, including...

1. Westside Market
2. Wholefoods
3. Trader Joe's
4. Fairway
5. C Town

Hope the info is useful somehow.