Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em Know when to walk away, know when to run. AKA what I learned on my 29th birthday

-you know when you're a geek, when all you can think about is playing "Risk: Lord of the Rings, Trilogy Edition" (and yes, the game lasts just as long as the movie)

-playing poker as if all the cards were revealed is easier said than done

-it's easier to bluff a computer screen than a real person

-you can never cook arroz caldo with enough ginger, garlic, and patis to please everybody

-if you can boil water, you can cook arroz caldo (Dare to try, Eileen?)

-cats hate when chicken bones are shoved in their face

-mah jong tiles look like candy

-my parents never played mah jong, yet there's something amazingly comforting about the sound of the clacking tiles

-mulling spices and sugar make even bad wine taste good

-a really good cigar can change the color of your eyes

-cats are quite entertained by mah jong. more importantly, they like to shoot craps.

-mah jong is a game of shifting desires