2017: Year of the Dumpling (Part 1)

Since moving to New York City, I have learned many things about myself through exposure to things new, exciting, and mundane.  One of the most important pieces of knowledge I have gleaned is that soup dumplings are one of humankind's greatest inventions.  That is not hyperbole.  They are truly glorious.  Luckily, through careful selection of friends and physical activity, each week we play football in Chinatown and frequently end up at a soup dumpling place.

I am not narrow-minded, however; my love for dumplings extends beyond the soup variety.  Which is why I was super excited to see New York's list of the 50 best dumplings in NYC.  What could be a better challenge for 2017 than to eat as many of them as I could?*  Having enlisted the support of the aforementioned friends, on Thursday we embarked on two of the top 50. These are found at Hao Noodle & Tea House, an absolutely gorgeously designed restaurant on Sixth Avenue.

The dumplings recommended were not, in fact, the stars of the show. I enjoyed the claypot dumplings, which used egg as the wrapper, but I was in the minority.  The bacon siu mai were enjoyable but not particularly exceptional.  Nonetheless, the soup dumplings were lovely; the noodles we ordered were very spicy and tasty; and there was a gorgeous lotus root dish with sweet osmanthus that was, probably, the standout for me - the lotus root tasted like chestnut, and was delicious.  We also had shrimp in fried dough - how can you beat that?

Claypot Dumplings

Bacon Siu Mai

* Although I would like to eat as many as possible, we're concentrating on the Asian dumplings rather than the European ones.  

Some Resolutions

Hello there, 2017!

2016 is done. Dead. Over. So... what next?

1. I am going to eat something green every day - that definitely fell by the wayside toward the end of last year - strangely enough, after the 2016 Elections here in the US.  
2. Do the Read Harder Challenge from Book Riot.  I did the 2016 one, and that was an excellent choice: it provided the motivation I needed to read books that I perceived to be worthy but not always as immediately appealing as something trashier and lighter. The challenge taught me also that these perceptions were not really accurate - so much of what I read was wonderful and easily digested, in part because I chose good books by authors who knew what they were doing.  I might post up the choices I made for 2016, because I was pretty pleased with myself, but that's for another time.
3. Cut down on screen time.  I am not quite sure how I'm going to do it, but some research (sadly, on a screen) will be needed!  But, basically, I spend too much time with my phone and it irritates me as well as people in my life.  I would like this to help with productivity, too.  This is where I'm starting: each year, NPR looks at different ways to disconnect, a little, and I will be looking into some of 2015's recommendations.  It is a little scary, but exciting, too.  I think smaller steps are needed, as I don't really know how to even start!  So I see the plan as this:
1. January: Working out (and being honest about) just how much time I spend doing what - on phone, on tv, and on computer.  
1. After two weeks, work out what is "essential" time, what is "fun" time, and what is "I'm doing this because I can't stop / I'm addicted / being lazy" time.  
2. Then make a plan to cut down on a small part at a time.  I think the Bored... and Brilliant? series at NPR will really help there.
2. February: Make my first cut!
3. March: Check in on how I'm doing; make a second cut, or alter the plan depending on the success thus far.
4. And then we'll see, I suppose, how it is going.
4. Walking!  There are two parts here:
1. Hit my 10,000 steps each day.  I'm going to work on making sure that if I do not have enough steps, going for a ten minute walk before bed, that sort of thing. What should help is...
2. Every hour I'm at work, having a five minute wander. I'm going to set my alarm to do this.  Obviously there is some leeway when I'm in meetings or teaching, but this is the aim.  At least while I'm teaching I stalk around the classroom, so I get some steps that way.
5. USE MY PLANNER.  I often end up feel harassed and all over the place. I have a new class to teach this year, as well as all the other work and personal obligations I have to address.  So actually using the planner will, I hope, help me feel a little more on top of thing.  That would be nice.  It's not going to be easy, and this planner is a little intense, so we'll see how I do.

I know I can do #2; #1 I've done before and is a small but useful thing to do; #4 I'm pretty sure of, too.  The main concern is #3, but I think having smaller chunks to break it down will help.  We'll see about #5 - I am not good about consistent planning and use of the planner, but I know it will help.  A concerted effort to use it should help me determine whether it's good for me.