For the most part, there are two major components that should be prepared separately: the soup and the chicken.  You have it with egg noodles and hard boiled eggs as well, but these two are a bit more involved.

Chicken

1. Debone one whole chicken. Cut up meat and use bones for soup (see below).
2. Marinade overnight chicken with salt and juice from one lemon.
3. Put 1 onion (roughly chopped), 2 inches of ginger, one or two whole chillies and several garlic cloves into blender. Grind down to a pulp.
4. Heat up wok with oil.
5. Add 1 tablespoon of shrimp paste and blended mixture to wok.
6. Add marinaded chicken, 1 tablespoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon paprika and 1 tablespoon curry powder. Cook chicken through.
7. Add 1 can of coconut milk and bring to a boil. Turn down the temperature and allow to simmer.

Soup

1. Put 1 cup yellow split peas in blender and grind to a powder. Put this in the toaster oven or in a shallow pan on low heat to toast until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
2. Heat oil in deep soup pan.
3. Add 1 tablespoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon paprika, 1 tablespoon fish sauce and 1 chopped onion. Cook onions through.
4. Add 1 litre chicken stock (could be prepared ahead of time from the chicken bones).
5. In a separate mixing bowl, dissolve toasted, split pea powder with water to form a thin paste and pour into the soup.
6. Add 1 can of coconut milk and bring to a boil. Turn down the temperature and allow to simmer.

Enjoy with egg noodles and sliced hard boiled eggs. Garnish with lime, coriander and crushed chilli.  Also, for some reason, the soup is much better the next day!

Why is this a historic moment?  Well, my parents moved from Burma to Los Angeles in 1969/1970 and met and married in the US.  For over forty years, they have never traveled alone on a plane — until now.  (Well, my mom did once pre-9/11).  The only other time they have traveled out of the country was for Betty and my wedding in 2008 — to Canada!  Mind you, both of them had to get new passports for our wedding.  That time, I had specifically flown to LA to escort them across the North American border.  This time, was on their own.

As parents, they have always been providers of basic necessities.  So after opening their bags at our home in Birmingham, my mom calls me upstairs to take random gifts they brought filling over HALF their checkin weight.  Chocolates, nuts, toothpaste, toilet paper (??) – simple, but deeply thoughtful gifts.  Here’s a shot of the unloaded things on my dining table, which I affectionately call the “Last Supper” table for its length (but, of course, is stunted by the amount of things on it right now):

First time in Europe, the next two weeks will include local Birmingham attractions, a trip to London to spend time with my dad’s cousin and Paris (yes, Paris).  My parents wanted to take a day trip to Rome too – but I vetoed that.  Next time, dad.  :)

It may look like China (and, indeed, Betty and I took pictures like this in Suzhou earlier this year), but this was in fact taken in San Marino, California at the new Chinese garden exhibit at the Huntington Library.

I recently came across two very interesting news articles that highlight the question of national pride for ethnic Chinese in countries outside of China:

• LA Times article about the celebration of the founding of communist China in Southern California.
• CBC article about the Chinese government funding a Chinese language course in the Greater Vancouver area of BC, Canada.

The question that I want to pose is: is it unpatriotic to the US (which I am a citizen) if I were to be proud of China (which is where my ethnic origins are) and its latest accomplishments?  This is something that seems to come up quite a bit (esp. if you read the seemingly racist comments by some readers of the CBC article).

In discussions about postmodernity, some people have talked about how we should recognise the fact that many of us have a “hyphenated identity.”  Meaning, not only am I an American, but I am a “Chinese-American.”  Or, perhaps, since my parents were born and raised in Burma, I am a “Chinese-Burmese-American.”  There seems to be some warrant to celebrating this “fragmentation” since there are multiple stories that inform who I am (and, sometimes, also confuses who I am).

Then in religious studies, there has been an ongoing discussion about the possibility of dual or multiple religious affiliation.  Some would say that I should not consider myself as a “Christian” but as having a multiple allegiance to Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism since all of these are part of who I am, whether I agree with it or not.

To be clear, I disagree with this second idea.  John Stackhouse has an interesting discussion on this in defining terms like “inclusivism,” but basically I believe the Bible is quite clear that God wants to have our full allegiance and does not like us mixing and matching to our liking.

So I return to the original question.  Can I be faithful to multiple nations at the same time?  I mean, China has done some pretty great things in the recent past (hey, let’s see London top the open ceremonies of the 2008 olympics!).  But there are also plenty of rotten things they have done too.  The same, of course, can be said of any nation like the US or the UK — no nation is perfect.  There’s the classic question: if the US and China were to go to war with one another, which side would you support?  Sure, there’s something to be said about a case-by-case scenario.  But blindly taking that question, I really don’t know how I would respond.

My CEO explains in his blog the very essence of Liferay’s existence: bless others as we too are blessed.  That is what I want all non-Christian institutions to embrace.  It is the gospel message.  It is the Abrahamic calling.  In fact, it really lies at the core of why us humans were made.

This reminds me of the parable of the good Samaritan.  Aside from religious and cultural status, what makes the Samaritan different from the others?  The others were too busy with other things.  The others were too much in love with their own lives to sacrifice some of their precious time to love one who was in need.  The others are me.