Personal Dork Assistant

The Enlightened Man

Thanks to modern technology, even four-eyed Asian geeks can navigate the aisles of the 99 Ranch Market, tethered to the hand-free headset receiving instructions from home base. Works great if one has a wife or girlfriend delivering the instructions on the other end.

The latest and greatest item in the store was fresh, made-in-San-Diego, unsweetened soy milk. It was actually still warm at the store. Not quite as good as the freshly made soy milk I had in Taiwan, but close enough. No sugar meant that I could add just enough sweetening without obliterating the soy character. Maple syrup actually works surprisingly well for this. I might pick up more soy milk and some gypsum powder and give tofu-making a try. Fresh 豆花 in ginger syrup, yum.

Meanwhile, SARS continues to crush Asian commerce, not to mention tourism. Now even places where Asians congregate, like 99 Ranch, are also looked upon with suspicion. Mom's already postponed her next trip to Taiwan, and she told me to stay away from 99 Ranch for a while. If the virus starts hitting Shezhen factories, it'll really do some serious damage to the global economy. Heck, it's almost inevitable, I'd say.