An outsider’s description of what Jews look like.

The month of May is Jewish American Heritage Month, and this is actually quite a new thing. It was only officially proclaimed by George W. Bush Jr. in 2006. I read somewhere that as many as 40% of Jews live in America today, the most famous one being Albert Einstein pictured on the left.

Nearby my place, there are many Jewish institutions (Schools, Synagogues, meat markets, grocery markets) all in such a small area! I see Jews almost everywhere, even when I am coming home late at night.

Let me describe the Jews I see in my neighbourhood. The ladies are almost always slim and slender, unless they are 50s and older – of which they are not obese, just rounder. They usually wear dark colors – black is very popular, and skirts or dresses. Sometimes they have a small triangular head scarf, sometimes not – but I don’t know if that’s just something fashionable for them. The young girls are a mirror image of the women in what they wear.

Then young men are also usually tall and slender, but the older ones can be rotund with a budging tummy. They are usually in long sleeve collared shirts (light colored or white) and long black pants. A majority of them wear black blazers to go along with it, and sometimes ties too. Yes, they look like they are wearing formal wear quite often, even the children. So I guess, businesses selling business wear, and cloth makers producing black cloth will never go out of business. It’s cute to see the really little boys in their black suit, white shirt and tie with their little skull cap on their head.

The Jewish children are amazingly well behaved with their parents, walking together as a group. It is a joy to see them walking by. Family time seems very important, and parents usually have more than 1 child. No child is well behaved 24/7 of course, the children play and can be mischievous like any other normal kid when “no one’s” looking. ;-)

On left: French president Nikolas Sarvosky wearing a yarmulke. Another Jewish man to his right wears a hat. (AFP Photo Eitan Abramovich 15 Dec 2004)

But ah! Skull cap is what I call it, but that’s improper. The proper name is yarmulke (Yar-mool-ker), sometimes informally known as kipa (Key-Par: plural; kipot: singular). I think a brief reason why they wear it as a symbol of submission to God. I see many of these caps floating on many heads in my area, which might mean that I have a very religious community here.

The yarmulke are most popularly worn by the Ashkenazim (Ush-ker-nar-zeem: plural; Ashkenazi: singular) who are Jews from central and eastern Europe. There are chances that the Ashkenazim can speak Yiddish, which is the language of Jews in Central and Eastern Europe 'resulting from a fusion of elements derived principally from medieval German dialects and secondarily from Hebrew and Aramaic, various Slavic languages, and Old French and Old Italian’(- The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition).

The Sephardim (seh-far-deem: plural; Sehardi (-dee): singular) probably also wear the yarmulke. They are a ‘descendent of the Jews who lived in Spain and Portugal during the Middle Ages until persecution culminating in expulsion in 1492 Inquisition forced them to leave’ (- The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition). Where did they settle after that? According to Dictionary.com, they ‘established communities in North Africa, the Balkans, Western Europe’ and I believe a lot in the Mediterranean, middle east and India too, because their food is so much like Indian food! More about that in the coming Blog posts.

The Diaspora (dye-as-per-rer) originally referred to the 6th centruey B.C. ‘scattering of the Jews to countries outside of Palestine after the Babylonian captivity’ (-dictionary.com). Today, it would possibly emcompass Jews living outside of Israel like the Ashkenazim and Sephardim, and small scattered minorities in other parts of the world. My guess is that the Diaspora that are neither Ashkenazic nor Sephardic might wear the yarmulke the least.

The Chassidim are a different group of Jews, and they seem to be very religious in appearance! They wear hats (like the guy to right of French President Nikolas Sarkovsky), have long side burns tucked in, or sticking out (sometimes they make it curly like 2 beautifully soft spring coils on both sides of their faces). The older guys sport a long beard. The black formal wear of suits, black leather shoes and a white shirt applies to them too. Solemn, but interesting to see them walking around my neighborhood. I would love to show you a picture of them because they are the most interesting looking of the bunch, but I have a feeling they may not want to have their picture taken for my blog. (I also scared they “hoot” me if I tou tou pai (photograph them sneakily).

All of the Jews above can more or less (or none if they are not exposed) read and write some Hebrew, although the Jews from different locations may pronounce the writings differently, just like Cantonese can sound different in Guang Dong VS Guang Xi in China.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading about what Jew’s look like from an outsider’s point of view. More about their food coming up soon! Here is a video of some American Jews talking about what they wear today. They are probably not so strict in their garb as those Jews in my neighbourhood. ;-)

Hurting others in the name of righteousness?

"This is the second notice that the factory warranty on your vehicle is about to expire... However, it is not too late... Do not make the mistake of driving without a warranty. Press ___ now to speak to a representative..." HAHA! I am almost able to memorize the entire message I heard on the phone!

I received robo-calls that gave the above message on my cellphone several times this year, along with millions of Americans. Robo-calls also mean robot tele-marketing. A machine auto dials your number and plays a pre-recorded message. If you were interested, they will direct you to a real sales person. The voice-actors (I've heard a male as well as a female version of this message) hired to record this robo-message were very good I must say, sounding polite yet urgent and convincing that there was a real need to extend your automobile warranty.

But it was totally false. There was never a first notice, and the third, forth, fifth, sixth, etc times they called were still the "second notice". They included a number you could press to be taken off the followup list. I pressed that number, but still I did not get taken off the list. I hung up and the robot calls me again the next week.

These robots were just calling random lists of people with untruthful urgency, especially when some Americans who received this unsolicited call did not even own a car!

Irritating? Yes, very. And apparently it angered quite a number of people who congregated on Reddit.com felt they had to take things into their own hands. According to the Wall Street Journal (15 May 2009, pg A1 & pg A10)one of them, Michael Silveira (22 y.o.) rallied others to join him to overload this auto-warranty company's voice-mail. Michael left voice messages containing nothing but a recording of Rick Astley's 1987 hit song 'Never Gonna Give You Up'. Just in case you don't know that song, I included it below.

(Watch for that bartender's stunt of running up the wall! Amazing!)

Anyway that brought a grin to my face because I thought that it is such a funny prank! But shortly as I continued to read the newspaper article, and wiped the smile off my face. Like locusts, serotonin-like anger has prompted many (usually harmless) people who were kept updated on reddit.com to swarm attack the company, taking justice or revenge into their own hands.

Here's what I lifted off the from the WSJ article Peeved at Auto-Warranty Calls, a Web Posse Strikes Back by Geoffrey A. Fowler about what they did:
- left messages of threats and offers of rude services and threatened arson
- entered into the company's voice mail system somehow (trespassing) using the saved messages for more information on the company, and worked on a virtual map to extensions 300 through 490 on the system
- changed voice-mail greetings on the company's system
- apparently some who found the company owner's address honked their car horns outside his home, and another person who lived near the company offered other reddit.com users to go to the office and take photos of people who work there.

'A new generation uses online mobs to launch swarm-style attacks aimed at shutting down Web sites or at disrupting business in ways that an individual never could' - Geoffrey A. Fowler, WSJ Journalist.

The article by Geoffrey A. Fowler whom I based most of this blog post on, also has a comments area, so that WSJ members can post their views. Rather than feeling appeased, many of the comments were still angry comments even though the appropriate authorities are already onto the auto-warranty company. Several comments were directed at the company's president David P. Tabb and his ethically dubious history in business. The comments label him , ask Mr. Fowler the WSJ Journalist to continue writing him down. One commenter put down David P. Tabb's home address for all to see, and included links to expose more of Mr. Tabb's previous crimes.

Other ranting comments range from politicians call, to a remix of the Lord's prayer, to Obama, to other companies doing the same thing, such as this guy Raymond Philips who commented this on the WSJ (my blog readers, please do not contact this guy):
"
Company: Transcontinental Warranty, Inc.
Address: 1700 NW 64th St., #400 Ft Lauderdale, FL 33309
Alt Addr: PO Box 668787 Pompano Beach, FL 33066
Phone: 888-998-9893
Fax: 954-776-3767
Web Site: tawarranty.com
Email: customercare@tawarranty.com
Owner: Christopher D. Cowart - President/CEO
Business Start Date: 6/6/2007
Company ID: 92009212
After a lot of effort, I managed to obtain Mr. Cowart's phone number and called him to complain. I told him every time his telemarketers called me, I would call him. He apologized, took my name and phone number, and promised not to call me again. Six days later his telemarketers violated that promise. I immediately called him to complain once again. If you are being pestered by this dubious scofflaw, I suggest you call and complain to him personally. His personal cell phone number is 954-980-1394
"

I acknowledge and will not deny that these people were very upset. Hurting someone else rarely brings real peace though. Ganging up in swarms, putting other's addresses and private phone numbers in public, encouraging others to harass or stalk the person is a very hurtful thing to do, even though it seems justifiable. I hope more people might eventually believe that in the end, every man has to bear the responsibility of their actions, including actions that were done out of revenge. Sigh~ May we receive divine patience.

Even with technology, it still feels far away

Last week, my mum and I skyped for the first time. Sure it was nice seeing her. She looked pretty as always in my eyes, as if time has not changed much. Seeing my very young niece still being very attached to my mom, (my mom helps care for my niece with my brother and sister in law are at work) brings me back to the time I was in a high rise home, looking out of the window at my clean and green island country. Skyping with mom was not so fun though. It required too much Internet savvy-ness which was was a bit too tough for mom to handle.

My little niece is able to talk and sing a lot more now, proving that time in Singapore has moved on without me. I have another niece born recently, and soon I'll have another nephew in a few months time. My close secondary school friend has gotten married while I'm away, and I miss my best friend (of almost a decade) very much. She's the one I reflect with the most before the creation of this blog. Of course I now have my husband to remain accountable to, and the rest of my reflections are now contained electronically to a voluntary audience whom I may or may not know. It would not be surprising that with the natural occurrence of time, best friends can fade out into normal friends.

Still, I am thankful for technology, because it has increased communication accessibility for long distance relationships. Long distance telephone calls are been much cheaper in recent years. Using an Internet phonecard, I spend less than a dollar per hour when I call Singapore. 018 from Starhub allows my family to call me at local rates too. Social networking websites like Facebook are especially useful to know what your friends are up to.

My brother also bought my mom an itouch, so that we can correspond via emails. Steadily my mom learnt how to use it, and progressed from email messages that looked like abbreviated SMSes, to really impressive letter writings. I am so proud of her.

But still, why... Why do I feel so far away? This is the feeling I get recently. I did not feel this way when I first moved here, naively thinking that with up to date communication, it is easy to keep up. And with so much to do and appreciate in America, we would have much to talk about. However we do not call each other as often as if I were in Singapore although the calling rates are so cheap. Perhaps the misconception of phone calls being expensive is still stuck in our minds?

So why do I feel so far away? It is because relationships are more than just about "keeping up with the news" of your friends and family. I miss just being beside you. I miss enjoying the night breeze with you as we share heart felt thoughts. I miss being of service to you, helping out whenever I can, or having us check on each other to make sure all is well. I'm sad when I miss once-in-a-lifetime events. I miss the relationships that we have built after so long, after going through so much, and I do not think I would find such a relationship here in NYC so soon. Nevertheless, Thank God for Love.

NYC's Doughnut Plant

This will probably be one of many food entries I’ll be posting up soon. So look out for them!

I’m not a doughnut fan, but via some e-letters with my cousin (many thanks!), I figured that I ought to try some famous ones since I’m in NYC. He asked about this shop that he saw on television with the black sign board outside it. It’s supposedly “Famous" with branches in Korea. Wow. If there are doughnuts famous enough to get TV air time in the tiny island of Singapore, I should try some! Hee. ;-D

As one of my friends gave me and my husband a book ‘Time Out 1000 Things to Do in New York (Time Out Guides) (Paperback)’ before we left Singapore, I remembered reading some thing about doughnuts in there. A quick flip, and there it was on number 975-978! It listed Alpha Donuts (45-16 Queens Blvd, Sunyside, Queens), The Donut Pub (203W 14th St), Doughnut Plant (379 Grand St), and Peter Pan Bakery (727 Manhatten Ave, Brooklyn). Since there were only 2 in Manhatten, a quick google identified Doughnut Plant as the one my cousin was talking about. Mark Israel, the owner of The Doughnut Plant was born into a family who had an affinity with baking for the past 2 generations, and found original recipes for making doughnuts left behind by his grandfather.

The Shop (image from Rob Tallia)

From the outside, it looks ordinary and small. Stepping inside, the area to serve customers is possibly about 12 to 20 sq ft (like 3 by 4, or 4 by 5)? There was some renovation going on inside. I wonder if there’s gonna be some sort of expansion? Maybe an area for customers to hangout? Hahaha…. That would be nice, because currently I have to sit on a bench or stand outside the shop to munch on a doughnut – luckily I was wearing something warm. The man who served me was chubby and dark-skinned. I can’t tell what his race is though. As I was deliberating what to buy, I decided to ask him for his opinion on the doughnuts. Apparently, he thinks that by telling me which doughnut is nicer, sales of the other doughnuts would be affected. :-/ “You’ve got to buy to try it for yourself lady! It’s just doughnuts, not life insurance! These are top of the line doughnuts!” Well dude, it’s not about the money, I just wanna limit the calories consumed. So fine, I bought 4 doughnuts. The Square peanut-butter glazed with strawberry jam filling, the Valrhona Chocolate, the Blackout, and the Rose Petal Doughnut.

The Doughnuts
I don’t have a picture of the square peanut butter glazed with strawberry jam filling, because I ate it before I reached home – I was hungry! The glaze was too sweet for my liking, but all glazes are like that right? And it’s not peanut-y enough. I’d like a richer peanut butter taste please! The jam was nice, especially when I researched that they make their own fruit jams without preservatives. Health-conscious mah! Hehe. ;-) Btw, they have 2 main types of doughnuts. The yeast type, and the cake type. This square doughnut was the yeast type, costs $2.75, and it is the size of one’s hand.

The Valrhona Chocolate is another example of a yeast type doughnut. You can tell by the taste, and the holes in the doughnut-bread. But once again, I’m not a big fan of the glaze, it’s just too sweet. I’ve read raving reviews of the Valrhona Chocolate, but I really can’t take the sweetness leh. The Valrhona lacked the chocolate-y taste I was hoping for. I probably won’t buy it again. I would guess that this doughnut costs $2.75 too, hand-sized.

The Blackout is a cake-type doughnut. And my, this one is great! It’s like a moist-chocolatey-cake-plus-cookie-crumble, and mine appeared to have some liquid chocolate in it. Not sure if it was chocolate sauce, or just uncooked batter. But it tastes heavenly! It’s sweet of course, but not over whelming like the glazed ones. I loved the richness of the chocolate, and it’s natural mildly bitter taste. Definitely better than the Valrhona Chocolate if you’re a chocolate lover. The Blackout costs $1.75 I think. I think there is the bigger version of it, but I bought the small version (palm sized) because I didn’t want to eat too much.

The Rose Petal Doughnut is a mother’s day special item. This is a glazed cake-type doughnut. And wow, the taste is wonderfully fragrant. It’s weird that what I tasted is “fragrance” but it’s true. When I take a bite of it, I smell roses. As mentioned previously, I don’t really like glazes (like the Peanut Butter glazed and the Valrhona Chocolate) because it just tastes like a coat of sugar, but this one is good because of the roses. And yeah I might buy it again. My guess is that it is $2.50. A larger sized one would probably cost $3.50.

Pros
- Their cake-type doughnuts are very well made! I think this is where they excel!
- According to their website, all doughnuts are trans-fat free, preservative free, and contain no eggs and no artificial flavorings. All glazes are made with fresh fruit and fresh roasted nuts! Now that’s something notable.
- Doughnuts I’ve seen are usually glazed at the top half. But in Doughnut Plant, it seems that most doughnuts are covered on both sides. A cashew nut doughnut has glaze and cashew nut bits on both sides.
Cons
- Their yeast-type doughnuts are similar to most doughnuts I’ve eaten, not special.
- The glaze is too sweet for my liking.
- These doughnuts are much pricier than any other doughnuts I’ve bought in NYC or in Singapore. Yikes...Other than the cake-type Blackout I’ve tried today, the rest don’t really seem worth it. LOL

All in all, it is highly likely I would not be visiting the Doughnut Plant often, because I’m health conscious and it’s just too much sugar! Unless I have a chocolate craving… the small palm-sized Blackout would be apt.

Get the Daily Groupon

Groupons (= Group + Coupons) utilizes collective buying power to give great bargains to consumers, and gives a "guaranteed" minimum volume of customers to the participating merchant. And the deals seem to be pretty nice! Take a look at this:

Groupon from The Point on Vimeo.

Today's groupon was for a classy french restaurant where you pay $20 for a $50 bill, groupon open for 1 year. The minimum needed for this restaurant Le Périgord was 20 people, and by 2.30pm there were already 70+ people who bought the coupon. There were other interesting deals as well such as a 50% off to watch NBA Chicargo Bulls groupon last year. 20 people signed up so i guess the NBA groupon may not have worked out as 25 people were needed. Of course sometimes, nobody bought the groupon at all...there was one groupon I saw that said $45 for an accupuncture session (U.P. $100), and nobody bought it... ;-) Here's a screenshot of some groupons, not all are located in NYC.

So I've signed up for the mailing list at http://groupon.thepoint.com/new-york/. If I use any of the bargains, I'll tell you how it went. Hey if you're around here, you should sign up too. ;-D