The Case of Elisa Lam - UBC Student Found Dead

So, I've been engrossed over the bizarre case of Elisa Lam, the 21-year old Chinese Canadian (University of British Columbia) student found dead in the water tanks of Los Angeles' Cecil Hotel a few weeks ago.

Maybe I'm intrigued by this case because she's a Chinese female (possibly Toisanese/Cantonese judging from her surname), and the whole case is so strange and creepy. How do you explain her behavior in the elevator security video released on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuzp4H6V9x0.


Was she hallucinating on drugs, mentally ill, or talking to ghosts in the hotel that drove her to suicide or made herself vulnerable to a murderer?  Several people online said they saw the murderer's foot or hand grabbing her hair other within the video frame but I've rewatched it a few times and don't see it. The big news was the fact that her body went undiscovered for weeks in the water tank as hotel guests drank, bathed, and brushed their teeth with the weird-tasting water that she was found floating in (gross!)
I feel horrified and repulsed at this case and hope that the Lam family in Vancouver can seek closure. Hopefully the toxicology reports can provide some explanation for her strange behavior prior in the video (or some surmise that this was Elisa's 'ghost' in the elevator?) It just gets stranger and stranger...

The Perfect Toisanese Gift!

It's that time of year again folks - want a great Holiday or Chinese New Year's gift for your Hoisanese Pang Yew (Toisanese friends)? Mr. Toisan has a unique line of Hoisan-Wah Tee-Shirts just for you!

Order today at: http://www.toisanlives.blogspot.com/

Ben's Toisanese Tutorial & Pigs' Feet Soup

Want to Learn Toisanese (Taishanese, as Mandarin speakers would call it)? Then check out Ben's Cantonese Practice Journal at: http://ipracticecanto.wordpress.com/toishanese-textbook-audio/

The Download Drills in the beginning are just basic tone drills so I'd advise skipping to the Volume (I, II, etc.) Lesson download section to hear questions and phrases in Hoisan-Wah. It seems fairly extensive though there aren't any translations into English but this a good refresher for those wanting to hear the language and who already understand some Toisanese.

Pig Vinegar Feet Soup
Toisan Pride follower Jennifer is asking about a Toisanese Pig's Feet Ginger Vinegar Soup recipe AND instructions on preserving it. Once you cook this ahead of time for baby's birth - do you have to reboil it every few days to keep bacteria from growing (can't you just freeze it and reboil it when you need it?) Is there a traditional method of preparing and storing this concoction? What brands of vinegar should be used?

I never had it after delivering two of my kids so any advice from Toisan Pride followers would be much appreciated for us, thank you!  Post a comment to this blog posting or email me at toisangirl@yahoo.com. Many Thanks!

Let's Learn Taishanese!

iPhone App to Learn Taishanese/Toisanese!

I was googling for a Toisanese dictionary and discovered this app on my iPhone - WAGMob has created an app for only $1.99 to learn Taishanese (Hoisan-wah)!  Just search for it on the App Store on your iPhone.

Hallelujah for all those who want to learn Taishanese! OR you can get it at Amazon for your Android at: http://www.amazon.com/WAGmob-Simple-n-Easy-Taishanese/dp/B007Y8V7J4

It's not bad for a beginner app to Hoisan-wah, there are phrases and flashcards for categories such as Greetings, Colors, Animals,  Food/Drink, Eating & Entertainment, Family, Shopping, Traveling, Dating (lol), Fruits, Emergencies, Medical, etc. 

I just wish every section had audio available so you could hear the true tones. Only the "Phrases" section has audio for interesting phrases in the "Travelling" Section such as: "I need to telephone England" (a little random there), or "Which platform does the train leave from?" to "Is breakfast included?" You get the picture. But there are some useful phrases - now I know how to say ambulance (vu chieh).

The flashcards and other sections only offer Chinese characters and pinyin for pronunciation (no audio). Maybe if we show WAGmob our interest and support, they'll create an advanced Taishanese app! Enjoy!

ToisanNERD

Ok, we have DatToisanGuy, I'm Toisan Girl, and now we have ToisanNERD from the SF Bay Area - here's the link to his YouTube video section: http://www.youtube.com/user/ToisanNERD

If I don't post anything else this month - have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Count your blessings and be grateful for our American privilege to VOTE. I give thanks for my family and my late parents for pursuing the dream and immigrating to "Geem San (U.S.)" for a better life and allowing me the opportunity to be an American citizen.

Thank you much for following my blog.
PEACE AND LOVE. Toisan Girl

Happy Halloweenie...

Halloween wasn’t a big deal to me when I was a kid. My mom was a born-again Christian and a 1st-generation Toisanese immigrant to boot, so to her, Halloween was an "evil and satanic" holiday which  meant keeping me out of harm's way and staying home. I was the only daughter and youngest child. It didn't matter that my older twin brothers got to traipse around the neighborhood wearing cut-up sheets for ghostly makeshift costumes and use pillow cases as candy knapsacks. I stayed home.

As I got older, I'd stand at the doorway and dole out candy to munchkin ghosts and goblins who came by our house on North 4th Street in Montebello. After a few years, mom and dad decided to defy American tradition by shutting off the lights and pretending no one was home. On those nights inside our suburban home, I'd read books in the dark with whatever street light filtered into my room, and avoid flushing the toilet for fear of setting off trick-or-treaters who might egg our house.

A few times when mom and dad had to work late, I stayed home alone listening to the sounds of kids yelling through the street, rapping on the door, waiting and talking out loud about whether anyone was home, then shuffling away with their candy loot bags. That seems so long ago. Looking back, I didn't feel like I missed out on anything but maybe that's why I'm not real big on Halloween.

This year, my husband and I will take our kids trick-or-treating door-to-door once again to experience the "Halloween tradition." Last year, I was an In-N-Out Burger server - thanks to all the hats & paraphernalia that my brother in So Cal sent me. This year, I'll be myself -  a tired housewife donning haircurlers, a frumpy bathrobe, scary obake ghostly white facial mask (pretty frightening according to my family) and DHC undereye revitalizing pads for the beat-up look - cuz it's EZ....

Happy Halloween! That's my boy...my scary little 1/2 Toisanese "Mike Myers" lol...

Happy Halloween Everyone!  Be Safe... and I hope our East Coast friends are doing ok recovering from Hurricane/Storm Sandy.

Wonton Weekends

My 1st Attempt at Making Potstickers!

Last weekend, I tried making my own homemade potstickers (but the “pay” posticker wrapping was store-bought) and had such fun with it. When I was a college student, I used to trek home on weekends and help out at my parents’ “Chopstick Inn” fast food eatery that served Chinese cuisine AND Fish & Chips in Fullerton, California.

In addition to refilling soy sauce bottles and condiments, I’d help chop vegetables and wrap won tons for their Wor Wonton soup. I haven’t made wontons since those days and didn’t write down my parents’ wonton filling recipe. I have good memories of spending time with them while they worked to pay my college tuition. My parents came from a generation of entrepreneurs since most immigrants from Taishan didn’t have formal college educations. So many, like mine, toiled away at convenience stores, restaurants, or laundromats and whatever work they could find.

Dad ran a fruit stand in South L.A. when he first arrived in the U.S. at age 15 and went on to run grocery stores, a steak & salad restaurant, a Philly cheesesteak fast food shop, and Chopstick Inn with my mom. Sometimes I envy that independent spirit of entrepreneurship – it never taught or passed down to me. Instead I became part of the next generation encouraged to earn a college degree in order to secure a stable job (preferably with the government for “good” benefits and the promise of never getting laid off or wondering where your next paycheck came from).

They didn’t want me or my brothers to endure the hardships and emotional instability they experienced as entrepreneurs. My dad even worked at a Discount Dollar Store in East L.A. when I was a kid. He’d bring discount clothes for us and worked hard to earn every dollar so we could own our own home, have clothes on our back, and put food on the table.

But alas, I digress. I meant to write about potstickers and wontons so I could ask for input on YOUR recipes. My dad usually mixed in sesame oil (mah-yu), salt (yem), white pepper, egg (ahn), and some soy sauce (see-yu) into his wonton filling. There might’ve been other stuff like shrimp and water chestnuts, but I can’t remember. So if you have any potsticker or half-moon (fan swuah) or wonton (voon hoon) dumpling recipes, please share. Thank you very much!

Hong Ahn (Egg Rub Remedy)

This is just a cute picture of a chick with the incredible edible egg.

As a child, whenever I fell ill with fever or a nasty cough, my mom would use an ancient Chinese remedy "Hong Ahn" on me and my brothers. She'd boil eggs, crack them open, then slice it sideways to remove the yolk and insert a genuine silver coin in the hollow where the yolk had been.

She'd wrap it in a small square white cloth, twist the ends and rub it against my forehead, temple, chest - wherever the aches or pains were until the egg cooled. My brothers and I would complain about the sticky gunky film that it left on our skin but strangely, it worked miraculously fast because the next day - we'd be good as new (or almost).

The silver coin purportedly sucks out the "bad vapors/air whatever" from one's body. The coin turns different hues of blackish/blue/reddish/orange. Blackish-blue hues meant we had too much "cool" air, and reddish/orangish hues meant "Gnat Hay" too much "hot" air, we'd been eating too many deep fried bad stuff like french fries or fried chicken, or whatnot.

As my mom got older, she'd "Hong Ahn" constantly as an alternative to Western medicine, which doesn't always work, but for her, as an immigrant raised in Hoisan, China - perhaps it gave her special comfort. She'd hoard cartons of eggs in the kitchen and boil eggs every night and rub her belly to quell her pain. However, it couldn't ward off her advanced health problems of diabetes, kidney failure, and heart disease. My brothers, our father, and I continually tried to reason with her to undergo open-heart surgery to save her life. She still refused. Eventually, she succumbed to a heart attack in 2003.

Now, whenever I get sick with a minor ailment, and after having tried over-the-counter remedies - I go back to this old-style egg rub - maybe it's a comforting placebo for me but I swear it still works.

Have you heard of this or did your family use this remedy? If so, I'd like to hear from you - email me at toisangirl@yahoo.com. 

Taishanese NYPD Officer Talks Suicidal Man Down From Bridge

KUDOS to Taishanese/Toisanese NYPD Officer Yi Huang for Saving a Toisanese Man's Life - read on or visit ABC News.com.

By ALON HARISH - ABC News  7/24/12

....A minor miracle on the upper deck of New York City's Verrazano-Narrows Bridge may have helped save the life of a suicidal Chinese-American man. Soon after police responded Monday afternoon to a report of a man who had parked his car on the bridge and gone "over the edge," they learned that the man spoke only Cantonese. They then summoned Officer Yi Huang, a Cantonese-speaking Chinese-American, to communicate with him. Huang, who patrols the Fifth Precinct in Chinatown, quickly arrived at the scene and began speaking with the man, who he learned hailed from his hometown: Taishan village in China's southern Guangdong province. Huang learned that the man, shown in photographs clinging to a bridge cable at mid-span wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, was "despondent over arguments he had been having with his 18-year-old daughter, and also was upset over finances," according to a statement from the New York Police Department.

"Officer Huang … spoke of his own family's experience and asked him to think about seeing his daughter at her wedding, or meeting his grandchildren," according to the statement. Huang, who immigrated to Chinatown with his family when he was 4 years old, had to shout to the man from a distance of 10 to 15 feet — if he came any closer, the man threatened to jump, he said. An ominous thunderstorm approached and winds gathered force as the men negotiated for hours, severely backing up traffic to the bridge, which connects Staten Island and Brooklyn. At about 4:30, the man finally walked over the railing to safety. The man, whose name was not released, was transported to Staten Island University Hospital in good condition, the NYPD said in the release.

What Happens in Toisan Stays in Toisan!

Several followers (Thanks to Mr. Eng of Queens, YeeYee, and Bryce) submitted these YouTube links "What Happens in Toisan Stays in Toisan!" - check it out (warning - there's profanity but pretty funny). Wish I knew as many Toisanese people as this dude "DatToisanGuy" knows... gotta live in NYC or SF though!

What Happens in Toisan Stays in Toisan!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU8HmK6IfJ0&feature=related

Call Me Ming Doi, Maybe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQYbfX32sms&feature=plcp

Enjoy!