Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Hits And Misses

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I'm in the process of going through all of Oriental House's lunch specials. Since they're all the same price, I might as well try all of them and see which one is my favorite, right?

Well, make that almost all of the lunch specials. As I may have mentioned once or twice already, I don't like bell peppers. Make that I really don't bell peppers, so I think I'll give the pepper steak a pass. And before I try any of the hot and spicy selections (such as General Tso's chicken), I'm going to see if they can crank down the heat just a little.

In any case, last week I tried two more selections. First, there was the sweet and sour shrimp. I was both pleasantly surprised and slightly dismayed. Surprised, because they used some of the biggest shrimp I had ever seen. These would probably qualify for that oxymoronic description, "jumbo shrimp." Dismayed, because in spite of the fact that I distinctly specified "no bell peppers," . . . you guessed it, there were bell peppers in it. But they did remember the fortune cookie, with this fortune:

"When in doubt, just take the next small step."

The following day, I decided to try the lemon chicken. This time, I didn't have to worry about bell peppers. Just chicken, either batter-dipped or breaded (I don't remember which at the moment), then fried, on a bed of lettuce and topped with a lemon sauce.

I had a slightly different problem this time. They forgot to include a fork with my food. I tried using a couple of straws as improvised chopsticks, with somewhat mixed results. The straws just weren't sturdy enough to be used as chopsticks, unfortunately.

An hour or so later, the lady who had taken my order came by my store. I told her that the food had been delicious, but mentioned the shlight problem I had encountered. Her face immediately twisted into an expression of surprise that almost screamed, "How could that have happened?" She did promise that it wouldn't happen again.

At least they didn't forget the fortune cookie. This one said:

"Walk with a good heart and you will run with success."

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Friday, January 9, 2009

Double-Take

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I waited a few days before trying Oriental House again. I tried the sweet-and-sour crab again, and this time I knew to ask them to hold the bell peppers. They did, and quite frankly, it tasted much better.

I had a surprise when I opened my fortune cookie. For the first time I can ever remember, I got a fortune for the second time:

"Working together works."

This was the same fortune that I mentioned in Entry #0012, for the record.

I wonder how often that really happens. Somehow, I suspect that people get fortunes that they have had in previous fortune cookies. It's just that if they aren't keeping track the way I am, it isn't as noticeable.

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Thursday, January 8, 2009

The Fortune Next Door

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Last time, I mentioned finding a fortune at work that more than likely came from Oriental House, the Chinese restaurant next door. I received a couple of glowing endorsements from some of my co-workers, so I decided to give them a try.

The first time, I tried their moo goo gai pan lunch special. The food was good, but I was disappointed by two things. First, all of their lunch specials are supposed to include an egg roll, but there wasn't one. Second, there wasn't any fortune cookie.

The second time I went to Oriental House, I tried another lunch special -- sweet & sour crab steak. (Well, that's what the menu called it.) This time, I specified both an egg roll and a fortune cookie, and I got both.

Again, the food is good. I learned the hard way that they included bell pepper, which I absolutely detest, and I spent quite a bit of time picking it out. I'll have to remember to specify no bell pepper next time.

And of course, there was the fortune:

"You are open-minded and quick to make new friends."

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Monday, January 5, 2009

Working Hard For The Fortune

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I was at work about a week or two ago, and I found a fortune from a fortune cookie on the floor. More than likely, one of my co-workers had ordered something from Oriental House, the Chinese restaurant next door. (That's the most likely explanation, anyway, and I tend to follow Occam's Razor in matters like this.)

Since the fortune was on the floor, I'm assuming that the co-worker had intended to discard the fortune after reading. In any case, it was now mine, and I share it with you:

"Your fortune is not something to find but to unfold."

A couple of my co-workers have told me good things about Oriental House, so they may be a source of future entries.

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