A Hoodie Day No, this is not a tribute to Trayvon Martin and thehoodie. It is a cold day in Dong Bei andthe children by the playground are wearing mitts and neck scarves, and yes, thehoodie is up. The sun is out all rightbut while it's rays hit me on the 2nd floor of my building right straight to mysolarium, the building across shades the park where the children play and theguardians huddle in the benches. My retirement motto says, "Monday to Saturday, I donothing. Sunday is my day ofrest!" It is a Hoodie Sunday. Knowing human nature to always see the grass greener on theother side, those basking in the sun in Saipan would detest my description ofthe cold while they sweat it out midday, or fan themselves with the afternoon breezethat blows in from the lagoon. I, too,am in the same bandwagon of delusion, thinking that anywhere other than where Iam must be better. But I have grown oldenough to know what a terrible illusion that is. Meanwhile, the transiting Pinay nurses who already settledtheir NCLEX and are waiting for their visa to Canada while putting in a coupeof years at CHC, browse through the jackets offered in the Galleria, oftengrabbing many items on sale when a shop discards old inventory to accommodatenew incoming ones. I once saw a closetfull of attires one would not be caught wearing even in December in one of thehotels that lowers the temperature for effect. Later, in Sherbrooke or Quebec, or St. John's in Newfoundland, it will befashionable to put up the hood but looks awkward on Middle Road Garapan. My retired school teacher neighbor in Shenyang already hasher northern China leeks laid out on the ground next to the napa cabbage thatwill make great hot and sour soup in the cold, though with natural cold andrefrigeration available, I still do not understand the culinary necessity ofdrying both into flakes just for preserving the items. Across the Yalu, the napa cabbage is the main ingredient tothe famous kimchi and I understandwhy they ferment them in big jars on the ground in autumn. It not only preserves the vegetable but also,the heavily spiced variety is not only a delight in the palate but also aninternal inferno of warmth in the cold. Eatenin moderation, the kimchi is a requisiteside dish in Saipan's eateries if the olfactory trail does not offend. (Enclosed dining rooms in the starred hotelsforego the dish to avoid the smell, or assign you a table by the porch!) It can only delight the tourists from Japan,Korea, and China! It is the flakes of the dried leeks that are a subtle flavorsavored by tongue licks on the discriminating palate. The romp of the gourmet on this one is a slowboat to China, not to be rushed down the Chiang Jiang through the rapids of thethree gorges dam. Yunnan spices tend todominate and overwhelm, and Sichuan reds tend to have someone see red. But the onion flakes of the leeks dried inthe sun require the disciplined concentration of the samurai consuming his Geisha tea, properly rotated and ceremoniallyserved, before giving a slurp on the shirataki. One might get the impression that when confined indoors on ahoodie day, one indulges in the fine points of cuisine. One can't stray too far afield with the riceand wheat noodles and dumplings in northeast China as a main offering before dippingthe chops into the hot pot, the all-purpose boiling water where the rawingredients laid on the side are cooked and sauced accordingly. The broiling variety is the preferred modeoutdoors in the summer but the Zhongguorenis sabi (casually used to mean "crazy",though the word is also literally sexual) enough to unfold his tables andchairs outside in the afternoon before the snow comes, the charcoal adding hazeinto the smoke and fog of the ambience. The "hoodie" though is the democratizing levelerin many grounds these days, whether it is the gym sweatshirt in Gualo Rai, gonethicker with long sleeves north of the Tropic of Cancer, or the hoods thatcomes along with any decent winter jacket to protect one's earlobes fromfreezing Siberian winds. Unlike residentsin the windy city of Chicago, dealing with the cold is not to get out of it,but to learn how to be in it. Many storepersonnel in Shenyang bring their wares out in the sidewalk, put their hoods tomatch lipstick and legging, and hawk their goods to the pedestrian market. The point of our musing is deciding to live in the richnessof the location one lives in rather than hope to be elsewhere. A Finn friend once narrated how a new coupleretreated to the Lapp lands in the 60s to avoid modern incursion into theirlives until the Russian military started maneuvers in the area. They moved to Barrows, Alaska but not toolong after, the derricks came to gush the oil. They looked for another place and located paradise in the Atlantic some30 degrees south latitude of the Tropic of Capricorn. They discovered the Falklands! So did the armies of UK and Argentina. Enjoy your hoodie day! j'aime la vie pinoypanda2031@aol.com yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. In all, celebrate!