chilipa is a newly opened spicy pot joint in super 88 food court in allston, replacing one of the kind.

spicy pot, mala xiang guo, is a popular spicy sichuan dish in china. you get to choose the ingredients such as veggies, meat, and seafood, and then will stir fry them for you in special sauce/seasoning with a spicy level of your choice. ‘ma’ means the numbingness of the peppercorns and ‘la’ means spicy.

the veggies are sold by baskets and meats are sold by lbs. the choice of ingredients are rather limited at chilipa

got boba from lollicup while waiting.

here comes the food

mala xiang guo should smell really fragrant because of various spices that go into the pot, but when pork belly brought this mala xiang guo to the table, all i smelled was old meat smell. the spices couldnt even cover the old smell of the meat…

Israel ‘executed’ 6 Palestinian youths in Gaza town: Witnesses tell Al Jazeera six youths were taken to a bathroom in a house in Khuzaa and were murdered by Israeli forces.

Ron Giesbrecht, chief of the Kwikwetlem First Nation (formerly the Coquitlam Indian Band) near Vancouver, BC.

‘We’re a national embarrassment right now,’ says councillor calling for chief’s resignation

CBC News, Aug 02, 2014

Some members of a tiny Coquitlam-area First Nation want their chief to resign after damning financial disclosures were published this week.

In filings published under the new First Nations Financial Transparency Act, Kwikwetlem Chief Ron Giesbrecht disclosed he earned an $800,000 bonus last year on top of his salary.

Marvin Joe, who has been head of the 81-member First Nation in the past, says the revelation of that extra compensation has deeply angered many of the band’s members.

Two week retreat at the Lower Farm – a review

“In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.”  – Albert Camus [The Minotaur]

At the Lower Farm there is no TV, no radio, no phone, no computer, no indoor plumbing, no running water and heating/cooking is done with a wood burning stove. That is the beginning of paying attention to all the little things.

I’m all about the beauty of resistance, not just merely surviving through harsh conditions, but finding creative ways to give birth to life when you’re surrounded by (the constant glimpses of) death. That is why I love stories like Darfur Sartorialist, Syrian artists breaking world records in the midst of war, or parkour in Gaza.

It’s about finding freedom within you. It has to work within a limited physical area (like Gaza), yes, but it helps breaking the imposed restraints. Because – you choose to live and not be defeated and not be depressed. It gives you strength to go on in life and – fight back.

This is another story about the beauty of resistance.

Andrew McConnell is famous photographer whose work was featured in most of the world’s biggest publications, he has won two 1st place prizes at the World Press Photo Awards and many other…