vickypham.com

Interest rates are at their all time lows, and it’s unfortunate that people can’t take advantage of that. Why? The whole subprime mess caused by banks have drastically reduced home values. Reduced home values have raised the loan-to-value ratio way over 105%. Who gets punished? The good homeowners who are looking to refinance.

Let me back up. Here’s my understanding of this whole subprime mess and correct me if I am wrong. The whole subprime mess was started by banks. They lent out loans to people who couldn’t afford them by enticing them with low interest rates on ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) with no money down.  Once interest rates started resetting and skyrocketing, all these people unsurprisingly couldn’t afford their mortgages and foreclosed their homes. When these foreclosures happened, buyers came in and got these foreclosed houses at dirt-cheap prices. These dirt-cheap prices caused home values of surrounding neighborhoods to also plummet, making it difficult to refinance.

There are a few criteria to refinance. You will need good credit, show that you have sustainable income and have a loan-to-value ratio that’s less than 105%. This last criterion is very frustrating. Because of the whole subprime mess caused by banks (I can’t emphasize enough that the whole subprime mess was caused by banks), most likely the loan-to-value ratio on a home exceeds 105%, especially if you purchased the home within the last 5 years.

The loan-to-value ratio is simply the value of your loan compared to the value of your house. You can’t take out a loan that is over 105% of your home value. So lets say, you want to refinance a loan of 300K. In today’s market, the value of a house is 200K. That means, you can’t take out a loan that is over 210K. Well, that doesn’t help because the loan needed is 300K.

I totally understand the need for the loan-to-value ratio to be below 105%. It is to minimize the loss in equity for the bank (yes, it’s always about the banks)  if a house potentially forecloses. However, this criterion doesn’t make sense in this market. When a good homeowner is denied to refinance in today’s low interest rates, they will look around and realize that they can dump their homes, get a newer home for a great price and best of all, lock in today’s low rates. This, in turn, increases the number of foreclosures and we are back to square one.

If I were President Obama or a bank executive, here’s what I would do. Take out the loan to value ratio criterion and give good homeowners a chance to lock in today’s low rates. This would deter them from just abandoning them homes, and keep home values of surrounding areas intact. The number of foreclosures would decrease and we can start making progress out of this mess.

It is kind of funny how the banks started the mess, and how it is also
the banks who are making it worst.

Next post: Loan modifications with Bank of America. Oh joy.

Pho is pretty much all about the beef broth. Master the beef broth and you got yourself a smashing dish. To master the broth, you need to give yourself a couple of hours. Slowly simmering the beef bones is key. After that, everything else is pretty easy.

The Broth

• 6 quarts of water
• 20 small shallots (leave intact, rinse off dirt)
• 1 large piece of ginger (unpeeled and halved lengthwise ~1/4” thick)
• 5 lbs of leg beef bones with marrow intact (marrow is where all the flavor is)
• 1 lb of brisket
• 1 package of spices in a mesh bag: 5 star anise,3 cinnamon sticks, 5 whole cloves
• 1/2 cup salt
• Golf ball size chunk of rock sugar

Preparing the Broth

Bring your water to a boil and toss in your bones and brisket. Wait until all the suds floats to the top. Empty the pot content into a strainer and rinse the bones and pot thoroughly. This will get rid of all impurities.

Bring another 6 quarts of water pot to a boil. Back in goes the bones. Add the salt and sugar.

In the meantime, put your shallots and ginger onto a baking sheet and broil on high for 5 minutes; flip and then broil for another 5 minutes. Toss the shallots and ginger into your pot.

Simmer for 3-4 hours.

At the last hour, toss in your mesh bag of pho spices.

Adjust your flavor as necessary by adding salt and sugar.

When done, remove everything from the pot: bones, mesh bag, shallots, ginger, and brisket. Toss everything except the brisket. Thinly slice the brisket. This meat will be eaten later.

Noodle

• 2 lbs fresh rice pho noodles (found in your local Asian supermarket)

Sauces & Condiments

• 1 batch of basil
• 1 batch of chopped green onions
• 1 batch of white onions (sliced thin)
• 1 lb of bean sprouts
• 2 limes (cut into wedges)
• Hoisin sauce (found in the Asian aisle of any supermarket)
• Sriracha sauce (found in the Asian aisle of any supermarket)

Meat (Optional)

• 1 lb sirloin or eye of round (get the butcher to slice thin)
• 1 lb brisket (from the broth; sliced thin)
• 1/2 lb of  tendon (cut into smaller pieces)
• 1/2 lb tripe (cut into smaller pieces)
• 1 bag of cooked beef balls (found in your local Asian supermarket)

Putting It All Together

Bring a small pot to a boil. This pot will be used for blanching the rest of the ingredients.

For each serving, take a big handful of the fresh rice noodles and blanch for 1 minute. If you are using the dried rice noodles, blanch for about 3 minutes. Place the noodles into a bowl.

In the same pot, blanch the sirloin or eye of round. As soon as the meat turns light pink, take it out and put on top of your bowl of rice noodles. You don’t want to cook it too long or else it would be too tough to eat.

In the same pot, blanch the cooked beef balls, tripe and tendon (~2 minutes). Add them on top of your bowl of rice noodles.

This pot should be emptied and cleaned after for each serving. The water will get too starchy and no one wants slimy pho.

Add the beef broth to the bowl.

Topping It Off

Top of your bowl with a bit of basil, chopped green onions, white onions, and bean sprouts.

Squeeze in a bit of lime juice, Hoisin and Sriracha sauce.

And there you have it. Enjoy!

Not too long ago, I was craving Vietnamese beef noodle soup, pho. What better way to warm myself up on these cold rainy days than a hot bowl of wonderfully delicious bowl of pho? So during lunch at work, I decided to try a new restaurant and headed to Mama’s Vietnamese Food Restaurant on 19th Street in Oakland, in between Webster and Franklin. Three words, "What the pho?!"

I should have known better than to enter a Vietnamese restaurant that was filled with everyone except your Asian folks. Since I was immediately escorted to my seat, I felt my time to escape was forfeited. I browsed through the menu and put in my order for the Pho Dac Biet, beef noodle soup with all the fixings.

The wait was short and out come my bowl of pho. I frowned as I peered down. I waved down the Vietnamese-speaking waiter as I assume he would agree with me that there was a mistake. I ordered the Pho Dac Biet I said. This can’t possibly be it…a bowl of beef noodle soup with a couple of way-too-thick-to-eat pieces of brisket? Where my rare slices of beef, tripe, and tendon? The waiter surprisingly confirmed that it was the Pho Dac Biet. Apparently he was mentally challenged so I continued on with my meal.

I didn’t get far. The soup was horribly lacking and there was no usual "fish sauce" readily on the table to band-aid up the lack of flavor. On top of that, they provided a meager amount of the traditional pho condiments, Sriracha and Hoisin sauce. Not only do I like to add these sauces into my pho, but I like to dunk my meat in them as well. I sent the waiter off to get more sauce. After 10 minutes of waiting, a significant time loss that quickly made my noodle mushier than I liked, I was brought another meager amount of sauce. Thinking my pho would turn into complete mush by the time he got more sauce, I decided to just continue with the eating part of my meal.

After a good 15 minutes trying to chew on my tough pieces of brisket, I gave up, paid for my meal and called it a day.

Lesson learned: Unless it’s a hole in the wall and have pho in their
restaurant name, I will never order pho again.

Next post: My recipe for pho

I have so much stuff on my plate. Sometimes I feel like pulling out my hair.

Not only do I have my own personal matters to take care of, but I have to deal with other people’s personal matters as well, particularly my mom’s.

For some strange reason, I am the one out of my two siblings who gets asked to take care of her personal matters. Ok, I can understand that she cannot speak English very well, and she needs help here and there, but to be constantly interrupted at home and work? That’s a bit much.

On top of that, everything is a life or death situation with her and everything needs to be taken care of right away.

When I object that I just simply do not have the time or tell her to ask my brother or sister instead, I get scolded for not being helpful or given a lame excuse that my brother and sister doesn’t know what to do. Well, you know what? Train them by making them! The same way you make me.

Wasn’t it enough that I was neglected as the middle child? Wasn’t it enough that I got picked on by my parents being the oldest daughter of a traditional Vietnamese family?

Lesson learned: Never show your parents that you are the responsible one. Act like a retard, and they will simply treat you like one.

FML.

I was browsing through the refrigerated section of Costco and found that they carry an assorted selection of pre-cut fruit. Initially, the thought of pre-cut fruit couldn’t be better. I’m always looking for ways to save time and having someone else cut up my fruit, well…there must be a God. Then I looked at the price. Yikes! Does it really warrant a close to 40% mark-up for pre-cut pineapples? No way.

How hard is it to cut up a pineapple, or most fruit for that matter? Hack off the ends, take out the core, and cut off the rinds. Plus, freshly cut fruit retains more of their nutritional values than pre-cut fruit.

Now, other pre-cut fruit is well worth it. Pomegranates. I don’t have the patience to dig out all the seeds of a pomegranate, and I will guarantee you that if I attempt to de-seed a pomegranate myself, I will stain my counter, clothes, and suffer from the emotional scar that comes with a pomegranate seed popping in my eye.

Lesson of the day? Don’t be lazy. Cut your own fruit, save money, and eat healthy. However, if a pre-cut fruit will save you a lot of time, go for it.

The stock market took a pretty big hit today, all week actually. It was down almost 2% in early morning trading. I took that opportunity to jump on some stocks. Many investors probably jumped ship but must keep in mind to buy low and sell high.

Everything else in life seems to be falling into place. Our offer was accepted for a house in Hercules. This house isn’t our first choice but given the price, I am happy. It’s a short sale so we have some time before we have to make our final decision.

We are still holding out for our first-choice house. Well, my husband is, as I’m still trying to figure out how can possibly afford our first choice on top of all of our other expenses. The offer was put in late October and we are still waiting on a response from the bank. Yep, another short sale. I hate short sales. They should really call it “long sale” instead.In any case, I am looking forward to moving and decorating. With a kid, our current house has been completely overtaken by toys. The extra room will be great.

Not everything is going well. The parents are still at each other’s throat, and I think a separation is inevitable and a definite must for their well-being. There’s nothing I can do, but to clean up the mess when all this blows up. For the time being, I have stopped visiting them. No need to expose me and my family to the negativity. I lived with it for 27 years, and 27 years is more than enough.

We thought it would be completely cute (or completely dorky) to dress up in plaid. You decide. Our first family photo for 2010. We wish everyone a great and happy 2010.

Now, some reflections. I can’t believe it’s already 2010. I remember when I was in the third grade, finding it difficult to transition from saying 1989 to 1990. Now to think we are in another new decade. It’s just amazing how time flies and how quickly we age. So I want to take this time to reflect what I have accomplished or not accomplished in 2009 and set new goals for 2010.

Things accomplished in 2009:

Quit my job and got a new job

It was one of the most difficult decisions to quit my old job of four years. After two years there, I knew I had to move on, but the comfort of the routine and the steady paychecks kept me from taking the leap for another two years. Once I finally did, it was the best decision I have ever made.

Started my online store

Yes, I finally opened my online store in mid 2009 with the help of my wonderful husband. However, I shut it down after three months because I didn’t feel confident in the merchandise I was selling and did not want to carry the operating and marketing costs. Until those are accomplished, my online store will remain offline. Was it a completely waste of time? Absolutely not. My husband and I learned so much about setting up an online store. Also, my store and all the programming that we done is still intact. Once I can secure new vendors and merchandise, it will be breeze to go live again.

Saved enough to buy a new home

We have been proactively saving to build up our “new home” fund, and are proud to say we have put in an offer for our dream home. Hopefully in 2010, we will hear word that our offer is accepted. Fingers are crossed.

Settled into the routine of a mother

I hate to admit it but motherhood did not come easy for me. The lack of sleep and everything that comes with caring for a baby hit me like a ton of bricks. I had to adapt to being patient (something I can definitely say I did not have), adjusting priorities (long gone were the days of having quiet time to watch Friends re-runs), and getting through the day on very minimal sleep. After a few rough months and a lot of help from my wonderful husband and mother-in-law, I finally got into the routine. No more complaining, just doing.

Goals for 2010:

Move into a new home
Re-launch my online store
Visit Vietnam
Invest
Get some killer abs

Want a simple and quick meal that also delicious? My go-to meal is Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. What makes it quick is that I use store-bought sauce instead of making my own, and the rest is easy to throw together.

Store-bought sauce:

Classico creamy alfredo

I usually stock up on this sauce at Costco when it appears in Costco’s coupon book. It comes in a three-pack. Each bottle is a perfect single-serving family size, and not the ridiculously large size that I either have to throw away or freeze the unused sauce.

Extras for the sauce:

Parsley
Pepper

To use the sauce straight from the jar is boring so I add a dash of pepper and handful of chopped fresh green parsley for color.

Chicken

I like to use whole pieces of skinless, boneless chicken breasts. For the best deals on chicken breasts, I again shop at Costco. I recently learned that Costco carries frozen chicken breast, which is a lot cheaper than fresh chicken breast. Since I freeze them anyways, I get the work done for me and I pay a lot less. I also like the frozen chicken breasts because they are frozen with a bit of kosher salt to prevent freezer burns, and I find that this little bit of salt makes the chicken a bit more flavorful.

The frozen chicken breast from Costco is a bit thick so I slice it horizontally into two and season it lightly with salt and pepper.

Lightly flour the chicken breast and pan fry until golden brown.

Fettuccine

Bring a pot to a boil and add the fettuccine
Cook until al dente and then drain
Add the fettuccine back into the same pot (who wants more dishes to wash?)
Add the Alfredo sauce (with the parsley and pepper) and mix until the fettuccine is covered in sauce. Save a bit of sauce to top off the chicken.

Put it all together

Make a nice pile of fettuccine Alfredo on a plate and top it off with the chicken. Drizzle a bit of Alfredo sauce on top of the chicken and you got yourself a simple and delicious meal.

In the picture above, I made a bed of steamed spinach for my chicken to add a bit more vegetable to my meal.

Fees. Oh, how I hate that word. I don’t like the thought of our hard-earned money going towards something that could have been avoided. With the recent economy, you may have noticed that credit card interest rates and late fees have skyrocketed. So not only are you paying for something that could have been avoided, but you are paying double or triple the amount in this economy, and that can quickly burn a hole in anyone’s wallet.

Money that goes toward fees could be put to other uses such as growing in an interest account or entertaining me with dinner and a movie after a long work week. So when I have to pay fees, I’m not a very happy camper. For the most part, my husband and I are good on payments so we pay very little in fees or none at all throughout the year. However, for that the small percentage of our income going into fees, there are simple ways to avoid them.

1. Ask the creditors to waive it.

Sounds simple enough, right? Well, it is. Never be embarrassed to ask for your fees to be waived. Creditors are quick to take your money so you must be proactive to keep your money. Being proactive can be simply asking. I have never paid a credit card fee that I didn’t ask to be waived. 99% of the time, the customer rep always waive our fee as a courtesy for being a good customer. Keep in mind, they will rarely volunteer to waive your fees so you will need to ask. You might be lucky enough to speak to a nice customer representative who’s more than happy to waive your fee. Other times, you may not be so lucky. If it’s the latter, move onto step 2. 

2. Hang up and call back another time.

In calling back at a later time or later day, you might end up with a rep who doesn’t have their undies in a wad. Then, ask again for your fee to be waived. I have done this a few times with my creditors and it worked wonders.

Day 1

Hi. I am calling to ask about the fee that was recently charged on my account. Can you please consider waiving it? I overlooked the due date, and unfortunately didn’t pay on time.

I’m sorry, but I do not have the authority to waive your late fee…blah blah blah…

Oh, ok. No problem. Thank you for trying. You have a nice day.

Day 2:

Hi. I am calling to ask about the fee that was recently charged on my account. Can you please consider waiving it? I overlooked the due date, and unfortunately didn’t pay on time.

Since you are usually good on your payments, sure, we will waive it.

Thank you (skipping joyfully to seize the rest of my day)

Keep in mind that there’s no black and white rule to waiving fees. There are always ways around it and the success of a fee waived is based on the person you are speaking to (unless of course you are always late on your payment but that’s your own fault and another story). Remember that customer reps do not have to do anything for you, so be nice, courteous, and ask the fee to be waived again. If that fails, move onto the step 3.

3. Ask if your account is entitled to certain number of waivers.

As much as I would like to list the last step is to throw a tantrum and threaten that you will close your account, I’ll try to keep it positive. If step 2 doesn’t work, hang up and call back another day. This time, take a different approach. Do not ask directly if your fees can be waived. Instead, ask if your account is entitled to a certain number of waivers. Depending on the terms and conditions of your account, you may be entitled to get your fees waived a certain number of times per year or a certain number of times per account. Ask your rep if this is the case and if so, tactically mentioned that you just had a late fee charged on your account and if this new found knowledge of your account can be applied.

To end this post, here’s a recent picture of my son and his cousin, Logi, enjoying the snow.

It’s that time again. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and every year, people list what they are thankful for. That’s all good and dandy, but frankly, it’s the same ole boring stuff. This year, I’ll do it differently. I’m going to list all the stuff that pisses me off and hopefully, my bitching and whining will trigger some great, practical gifts that I will certainly be thankful to receive.

1. Clothes that slip off the hangers

Don’t you hate it when browsing through your closet, clothes slip from their hangers and fall to the ground and you take a minute or two of silence to mourn the loss of perfectly hung clothing, then clench your fist and wave it in the air shouting, “Why do bad stuff happen to good people?”?

2. Toilet paper that doesn’t roll out smoothly

Have you ever tried unrolling the toilet paper and instead of rolling the whole sheet out smoothly, you get hold of a small strip and you keep on rolling that small strip in hopes it all unwinds smoothly, but you end up having a roll of toilet paper that looks like it’s been attacked by a very unhappy cat?

3. Being cold

I hate being cold and my house is cold, cold, cold. Putting on the heater doesn’t do much good as all the heat gets trapped near the ceiling, and unless I walk around in stilts, there is no relief in sight on these cold winter days. But I do see a solution to this problem. Snuggie! I keep seeing those stupid Snuggie commercials and as much as I like to make fun of the people in the commercials who are constantly raising the roof for no apparent reason, that cult-like-clothing doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

To be continued…