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my family and i had dinner at mulan (228 broadway, cambridge). it was mother's day related in that my mother didn't want to cook tonight so she decided we should eat out instead. i was already in belmont in the early afternoon. hailey had been sprayed by a skunk early this morning but my sister gave her a bath in a hydrogen peroxide-baking soda-detergent solution. it's a more effective treatment than the traditional tomato juice, which from prior experience with our old dog, we know it doesn't work. since my parents got verizon FIOS, whenever i'm in belmont i can't wait to watch television (all 300+ channels). i saw a few DVR episodes of freddy's nightmare, a show i loved growing up but rewatching them again i didn't realize how bad they were (uninspiring stories, low production value). it's no wonder the series never made it to DVD, despite being a spring board for some young hollywood actors (brad pitt, mariska hargitay). i also watched a stalingrad documentary on the military channel and spent some time in the backyard digging out dandelions (hundred down, a thousand more to go).

when my father got home from work, we fed hailey and left for mulan. we actually got there early (before 6:00) so it wasn't crowded yet, but by the time we left there were people already waiting in line. mulan is an okay restaurant but i've never been particularly impressed (2005, 2006, 2007). supposedly it's a taiwanese restaurant but the owners seem to be from fujian china and they don't carry some staple of authentic taiwanese cuisine, like smelly tofu (if you claim to be a taiwanese restaurant and you don't serve smelly tofu, you sort of don't qualify as taiwanese in my food book). having said that, tonight's meal actually wasn't bad. the winter melon and seafood soup was excellent (i had two servings, despite also ordering a small hot and sour soup for myself), with finely shredded ginger (supposedly the telltale sign of a good chef). the salt & pepper pork chops weren't bad either although they were a bit sweet for some reason (the best salt & pepper pork chop to be had in the boston area is still the chinatown cafe in chinatown). the house duck had a lot of meat on the bone and a pleasant salty marinade. the chinese squash added some mellowness and provided an offset for the other mostly meat dishes. although the shredded beef was okay, it felt out of place, more like a dessert than a main course dish because it was so sweet. the check came with complimentary bowls of tapioca soup.

i left belmont and returned home to watch the celtics-magics game. a tight battle that was finally decided when big baby davis drained a jump shot to win the game for the celtics with zero seconds on the clock, tying the series at 2-2 as the series returns to boston for game 5 tuesday night. big baby was probably the last person i'd suspect to shoot the game winning shot, but he'd been consistent throughout the whole game, so in retrospect it seemed like the smart move. i think it's funny when i see big baby try to be tough, jutting out his chin and thumping his chest, like he's doing his best kevin garnett impression.

sophia came home from seeing the live onion performance at the someville armory. she didn't know what to expect, but instead of improv, it seemed like it was just an evening with the onion staff writers talking about their development process. she told me she'd write the organizers and try to get her money back because it felt like a ripoff. there was an after party but she didn't go because of her hay fever symptoms.