AsianLiving.me » Tools http://asianliving.me Asian Living Lifestyle Blog by Ben Fri, 18 Sep 2015 15:23:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.3.1 Robo Ricecookers http://asianliving.me/robo-ricecookers http://asianliving.me/robo-ricecookers#comments Sat, 03 Nov 2012 08:02:15 +0000 http://asianliving.me/?p=1992

Cooking Rice in Style

I’m a little embarrassed to say it, but today I finally bought a rice cooker! Maybe because I’ve been a bread person my whole life I never thought buying a machine specifically for cooking rice was important. But since I’ve been in Asia I have eaten rice just about everyday and loved it. After years of fluffy white rice at restaurants and friend’s houses, I’ve developed a taste for this healthy staple. But when it was time to start looking for one at the supermarket, what I wasn’t prepared for the endless choices in front of me.

There are TONS of rice cooker options on the shelves in Chinese supermarkets, but most of them look pretty ugly. And since I’m not a “heavy” rice eater, I figured the huge 5-6 liter mutha rice cookers wouldn’t be my thing. So, I set out to find a small one that would be an interesting addition to our kitchen here. That’s when I met “Robo”.

Robo Rice cooker!

Robo is my new rice cooker! She’s a Midea FD162 (1.6L) cooker with a steam tray. This kind of cooker is actually common for new mothers who want to make small amounts of rice and congee for their babies, but it’s just the right size for me! And although my girlfriend was worried that it would be too small, I was able to prove her wrong the first time we used it.

By using only 1/4 the capacity of Robo, we had enough rice for both of us to stuff our faces! I love this thing and I think it will stay in the family for a long, long time.

Although you won’t be able to find these 2 rice cookers on Amazon, maybe one of the 5,000+ other rice cookers on there will suite you!

 

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]]> http://asianliving.me/robo-ricecookers/feed 0 Acupuncture Locations in America http://asianliving.me/acupuncture-map http://asianliving.me/acupuncture-map#comments Fri, 02 Nov 2012 04:58:16 +0000 http://asianliving.me/?p=1980
Find an Acupuncturist!

Acupuncture is surprisingly everywhere in the US. You’ll find as many clinics offering acupuncture as you’ll find Asian food markets! But with that comes the difficulty of finding the right service provider. So, take down a few addresses and phone numbers. Contact them and enquire about pricing.

Remember to go into this with an open mind. Before the feeling that this is “too expensive for me” creeps in, just allow yourself to start having the conversation with an acupuncturist. You will probably learn something new today!

The map to the right will help you find your closest Acupuncturist. Just keep clicking in the area of your city or town to eventually find it! If you are good with Google, you could substitute “usa” with “[your town]” to search faster.

Good luck!

]]> http://asianliving.me/acupuncture-map/feed 0 New Threat! Water Armies All Across China http://asianliving.me/water-army-china http://asianliving.me/water-army-china#comments Tue, 26 Apr 2011 06:20:12 +0000 http://asianliving.me/?p=1454

The Water Army is Coming!

Although they  sound like a new villain from a Hollywood movie, they are less scary in person. They are soldiers of propaganda, using whatever free-speech tools they can muster to win the hearts and minds of a voting public. But this is not a political tale, rather, it is a commercial one; and the votes are cast with Ren Min Bi (Chinese Yuan).

So, where does this “Water Army” come from? In fact, it is a Chinese term which has been causing difficulties for consumer protection around the Chinese Internet.  Imagine you go to a forum online and look for information about insurance, a new car, or even a toaster. Hundreds or thousands of these soldiers are hired for cheap, usually ￥0.7 RMB ($.01) per post, and begin a campaign to sway public opinion toward or against various products. In a country where the average worker makes 20-25RMB ($3) per hour, it is economically feasible for Water Armies to exist. PR firms hire them online and pay them electronically. As a result, particular brands can raise awareness through alleged customer “feedback” or other chat discussions. With over 400 million Internet users in 2010[*], there are bound to be pockets of armies gathering across the Middle Kingdom.

Posted on April 27, 2010: TOMORROW!

Take a look at one example of a blogger using Water Armies recently. This blogger wrote about the concept of The 50 Cent Party (a digital, political “army” deployed since 2004) and Water Armies on his blog. Then, with the help of a time machine and over 3000 of his best friends, he was able to secure 3,332 responses from April 14 until the day of posting this article. (There’s no way I’m linking to his blog, but you could Google search the headline to check it out.)

Thousands of Comments from Last Week!

In the end, it is quite a “clever” way to play the Internet, although this fraud is beginning to be confronted by the national government in China. It is hard to avoid the double standards involved when it is well known that the the 50 Cent Party also contributes to molding public opinion through a water army of its own.

The question is… Should these armies exist? Do netizens even have a say about it? If it is acceptable, then what is the future of social media for business?

]]> http://asianliving.me/water-army-china/feed 0 Fire Cupping and Back Scraping Could Save Your Life! http://asianliving.me/baguan-guasha http://asianliving.me/baguan-guasha#comments Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:46:50 +0000 http://asianliving.me/?p=1368

Fire Cupping (bá guàn)

Back in 2005 I thought I was going to die… literally, it was the worst Flu I had ever experienced. Maybe it was from the new environment in China, or perhaps it was a random winter bug! No matter where it came from, it kept me in bed very achy muscles. I couldn’t get out of bed to visit the bathroom- it was that bad. I quickly decided that I would need help or else I’d be a goner. At the time I was dating a Vietnamese girl who was studying at the Southern Yangzte University of Wuxi, which is what I called home for the first month I was in China. After a distress call she immediately came to my apartment, flipped me face down, and started scraping my back with a washed coin. She poured White Flower Oil (白花油) all over my back during this process. It sucked. It burned. And I could be forgiven for thinking that she was helping the flu kill me even faster!

Back Scrapping

Back Scraping (guā shā)

After about 15 minutes of this I actually felt a bit numb. I could tell that my back was fully swollen red. The medicinal smell had already soaked me to the bone. This was my first experience with Gua Sha (刮痧) and I was hoping I would never need to go through that pain ever again. A few years later I noticed glass cups being used on some guests at a local spa. I also noticed big round dots on the backs of beach-goers. When I probed further I realized they got a procedure done called Ba Guan (拔罐). As you can see in the first picture of this post, Ba Guan uses suction to pull tight on your skin. This, according to thousands of years of practice, extracts impurities from your skin and blood. When you are feeling ill for a few days with symptoms such as tiredness, upset stomach, cough, sore throat, or even acne, you may consider having one of these two procedures done. It is not magic, however, it is imperative that these techniques be part of a healthy lifestyle. Remember, most Traditional Chinese Medicine is part of the cure, not a silver bullet.

]]> http://asianliving.me/baguan-guasha/feed 5 It Takes Two to Tuangou http://asianliving.me/it-takes-two-to-tuangou http://asianliving.me/it-takes-two-to-tuangou#comments Mon, 04 Oct 2010 11:45:07 +0000 http://asianliving.me/?p=1425 Well, honestly speaking, it takes at least a few more than that to really Tuangou! Tuangou (团购) sites have been around for several years now, stemming from chaotic “mob shopping” and then civilizing into “group buying.” The phenomenon has taken off around the world, with thousands of sites opening in China alone in 2010.

Any time I want to go see a movie for $4 or get a hot pot for $10 or get a massage for $8, I can always trust one of the many tuangou sites online to have a bargain waiting for me. My girlfriend is all about these sites now and we usually check Meituan or Lashou before making any plans.

Here is a monster list of sites based in the US, with increasing sites located in other countries. Following this list is a recent listing (June 2011)of current Chinese tuangou sites.

And here are loads more that exist in China… most have closed by now I’m sure…
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