Nefarious Kitty

Catching Up

2008-11-13T00:04:00.008-05:00

Once upon a time, a blog-worthy day is a good day. Now, a sure sign of aging is when posting becomes an afterthought and a chore. Or, more likely, life becomes boring and uninteresting.

Anyway, since I'm old, I think I'm justified in doing a lame recap post.

August highlight:

Consolation for getting older - late summer beauties from co-workers

September highlights:

J-town folk festival, homemade tiramisu (with homemade ladyfingers)

October highlight:

Pittsburgh 250 - Downtown fireworks

Recently:

Before and After: New scarf from soft baby alpaca wool

Today, I discovered the joy of Banh Mi (Vietnamese hoagies). And Mexican jumping beans.

A coworker and I took a field trip late morning for a client visit and decided to swing by the Strip for lunch. While we were there, he wanted to run a few errands, so I tagged along. The first stop was a Mexican grocery store - the mission was tortillas. As he shopped around, I noticed a row of little clear plastic cases at the counter, making clicking noises... there were tiny brown pods knocking each other spontaneously. There was a writeup on bright pink paper next to them - no gimmicks, no trickery, they're... Mexican jumping beans! I scanned the cases for a particularly jumpy group and bought one. There are five beans. I'm going to name them Spunky, Funky, Chunky, Hunky, and Punky. They've been 'jumping' in the box relentlessly all day - when it's quiet, all you hear is the rattling. Makes you think of Miyazaki's kodama (those little tree people) or Geiger counters; sometimes I'd want to tell hubs to stop fidgeting, then I'll realize it's those creepy beans. We'll see how long it takes to drive us batty.

And Vietnamese hoagies are awesome. That's all I've to say about that.

July in a Nutshell - pictures

2008-08-01T23:17:00.004-04:00

The accompanying post with pics!

July 4th Fireworks in Pittsburgh

(Taken with the 75-300 - pre-upgrade)

Wedding

It was a Russian-Mexican wedding - interesting blend of culture, languages, and food. Simple DIY wedding but full of love, as it should be.

Dave's plane

The interior - cozy personal space

Here's a vid of hubs flying over Ohio - recorded with his Macbook Pro

N's Wedding Extravaganza

Thursday evening: Mehendi night. Food, music, conversation, henna. It was a fancy backyard party with lanterns and Turkish divans; they were giving out bindis and bangles too. Pic shows me getting henna done by N's cousin.

My hand on the left

Friday evening: Garba-Raas. Dinner and dance event kicked off by a very photogenic pair lighting candles.

Imagine a ballroom of hundreds of people, many in dazzling colorful saris, twirling and dancing in semi-unison. Later, we picked up sticks and did something like a mass dance.

Saturday morning: Ceremony, Hyatt Regency at Penn's Landing. N - beautiful bride! It was a 2-hr long ceremony that started with the traditional baraat, groom's procession, and ended with a delicious (and posh) luncheon.

Hubs and I during the evening reception. A weekend of Indian food culminated in a deservingly fancy and decadent Indian dinner.

Sunday in Philly

With Le at Cosi over a latte, after a satisfying dim sum brunch in Chinatown

Understated entrance along Chestnut St. So cool!

Giddy little foodie. See neat decor in background - it was the coolest design which nearly distracted us from the food in front of us. Here is another view taken by someone else for official press.

My sucky shot of the place. I was trying to be inconspicuous and not too déclassé with overly touristy behavior.

Coming back to Pittsburgh was hard. No dim sum, no world-famous restaurants, and worst of all, after staying in nice hotels for 3 nights, we realized just how filthy our apartment is. I mean, disgusting - we're such pigs. This weekend's agenda is laundry and some hard-core cleaning.

July in a Nutshell

2008-07-30T23:39:00.003-04:00

Been a whirlwind of a month. Too busy and too lazy to write. You know the drill - sloppy bullet points, then pictures.

What's new:

* Made our first real attempt to catch the city's fireworks display, which means elbowing through a thick crowd on the West End Overlook. Everyone else came prepared with picnic blankets, lawn chairs, and tripods; we simply stood guard over our little plot of balcony space. For the 20 minutes or so, it was worth it (I think).

* Upgraded my equipment! Retired my 75-300mm (no IS or USM) and acquired a snazzy 70-300mm USM with IS. Also got a 50 f1.8 and 430EX Speedlite, filter and stofen. My family grows. (75-300 for sale!)

* Shot my first wedding. Professionally. I knew nobody but the bride, who 'hired' me. Made a few friends by the end of the night, and learned a whole lot.

* Hubs flew to a conference in Chicago on Dave's plane, and this time I got to see it. It was a mosquito, a Piper Seneca with red velvet(?) interior, almost like an old London cab. Discovered that the county airport is a great place to watch clouds and soak in blissful solitude.

* My flip flops betrayed me. Cheap Old Navy black flip flops, my trusty walking companion - I've trekked a hundred miles with it around the world, from San Francisco to New York, DC, Tampa Bay, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Bali, Singapore... The threads are starting to wear down and it gets tricky to walk on wet and slippery surfaces (the locals say 'slippy'). Last week, it was raining pretty hard, and as I walked down a flight of fire-escape style stairs in the back of an apartment, the blasted sandals gave out and I slid down the entire flight of stairs. It hurt like a bad mofo and I got an awful bruise. I gave the flip flops a little time out in the corner... but I love them too much and wore them again the next day.

* Visited Princeton's campus and the art museum. Mad archaeology department - suddenly made sense that Indiana Jones is at Princeton. Oh, and we got a parking ticket.

* Went to N's Indian wedding extravaganza. 3 days, 3 towns, 3 hotels. 4 events, 400+ guests. The grand finale was in Philly's Hyatt Regency at Penn's Landing... very fancy.

* Had dim sum at H.K. Golden Phoenix in Philly's Chinatown with Le. Lounged around and chatted over coffee all afternoon. Then... an early birthday present from hubs: omakase at Morimoto.

1. Toro tartare in dashi-soy with osetra caviar and chives, Japanese peach
2. Whitefish (red snapper) carpaccio with hot oil, yuzu, and mitsuba leaf
3. Sashimi with creamy yuzu dressing
4. Intermezzo: Strawberry-chili jelly(?) and micro-mint
5. Halibut in yuba and seaweed, lobster, with beurre blanc
6. Australian lamb with hoisin glaze, ratatouille
7. Sushi plate
8. Flourless chocolate cake with creme fraiche and miso

Yeah... something like that. I was too shy to take too many pictures or any notes, though in hindsight, I should have. Every course was phenomenal, the carpaccio and halibut in particular being mind-blowingly orgasmic. Our server was discreet but attentive, and quite knowledgeable. Decor was rad. Hubs was equally excited about this pilgrimage to chez Iron Chef, and he agreed that the food lived up to the hype.

Pics in a future post. Bedtime!

Nosy

2008-06-25T23:16:00.002-04:00

Salty knows.

Kitchen Creations

2008-06-25T22:38:00.004-04:00

I have been getting a lot of mileage out of my kitchen lately. The cooking bug comes and goes, but I've been on a roll. Hwah! *flex muscles*

First was dinner with Pete and Kevin (and an empty chair where Kit would've been sitting). Caribbean was the theme, to go with the season.

* Jamaican Jerk chicken
* Rice and black beans, Haitian style
* Avocado & mango salsa
* Papaya, lime, pineapples
* Jamaican Spinach Soup
* Boscobel Beach Ginger Cake

There was even Jamaican hot sauce. For kicks, we made blender cocktails too! Hummingbird: Rum cream liqueur, coffee liqueur, strawberry syrup, banana, milk, ice. Sounds très bizarre but it was very yummy.

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The next weekend, we hung out with some S'poreans at Soergel's Orchard in Wexford. Took a hay ride to the farm and picked strawberries for 2 hours.

Our basket - came out to just over 4 lbs

What does one do with 4 lbs of strawberries? Freeze a portion, and make jam with the rest.

Homemade Amish white bread, lightly toasted, with homemade spicy strawberry jam

After reading several recipes that emphasize strongly on storing in sterile jars, we boiled the jar and the whole nine yards before putting the jam away... but in the end we finished it in 3 days anyway. Hehe.

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After the Jamaican dinner, I was still crazy about those Hummingbirds so I bought a lot of ripe bananas. I figured if they didn't become cocktails, I could make banana fritters to go with the other leftovers. We finished all but two lonely dark bananas. Inspired by the desire to spice up Sunday breakfast, I made chocolate chip whole wheat banana muffins.

I think I've graduated from being a tragic failure of a baker to a mediocre so-so one. Not bad! It lasted for a few breakfasts. Great on the go.

That's it for now. Tune in next time for another episode of Kitchen Creations! *fluttering cape and superhero music*

Go Fly a Kite

2008-06-08T15:49:00.007-04:00

The weather has been brutally warm and humid. Quite unfortunately, we only have one (very old) window unit A/C, which we have designated for use in the bedroom. Everywhere else in the house is utterly unbearable.

Like nomads seeking new pastures, hubs and I wander our neighborhood, laptops in tow, for a cozy spot with free wifi and cool respite from the muggy heat. For now, we've settled down at Te Cafe.

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Last weekend was the first comfortable weekend after a long string of rainy days - not too warm, either. Pete decided to hold a kite-making party, inspired by Daniel Beard's 'The American Boy's Handy Book', a book that was originally published in 1882 featuring fun boy-scouty activities for youth in pre-consumerist times. (Some of the other chapters include: how to make July 4th balloons, kaleidoscopes, fishing poles...)

We gathered around on a blue tarp in the living room, with spools of string, sheets of paper, cutting tools and wire strewn around us. There were some interesting ideas and shapes - in the spirit of experimentation, E and I agreed on a butterfly kite. The kite's structure consisted of arcing wooden dowels, which was a bit of a challenge; hubs soaked a few dowels in the bathtub and still broke some, but he finally got a good frame together. My job was to make everyone pizza for dinner. :)

The next day, we met up at Frick Park with our kites and picnic gear. (Whose kite will fly, whose kite will reign supreme?!) It was a beautiful sunny day with strong winds. A few of the other kites broke from the wind, in fact, before they got any height. It took our butterfly kite a while before it balanced itself and took flight. In the end, it did fly, and it flew pretty high - because of the way the frame was built, it even flapped like a butterfly. People came up to us to comment on the kite and give ideas (use lighter wood like rattan, attach a longer tail).

E's carefully engineered butterfly kite, with pretty streamers

It flies! See curved wooden frame

I was tickled by how serious hubs was about this kite. After the kite-making party, he did a bunch of research on kite-building, how to rig up the "Y" (string), how butterfly kites should look and fly, etc. All that effort paid off.

When we weren't playing around with our kites, we sat in the shade of a tree and just hung out. Bubbles, sandwiches, ice-cream truck, making whistles with blades of grass... Perfect Sunday afternoon in the park.

Dinner was going to be with a new friend, EB, whom I got to know at the movie shoot a few weeks ago (see previous post). They had gone kayaking that afternoon; in the end, the kayaking group and kiting group decided to join up for dinner at Abay for hearty Ethiopian fare.

Straw mesob for a dinner table, and we sat on little wooden stools

Tikil gomen, kay sir dinich, doro tibs, gomen besiga, and generous rolls of injera. Community platter - dig in with your hands!

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Still at Te Cafe sipping on a tall icy glass of ginger lemonade. Air-conditioning is bliss. After all this time, turns out that EB is sitting right behind me in the cafe! Uncanny...

Happy Birthday Hubs!

2008-05-31T13:38:00.004-04:00

... and may we celebrate many more. You know you're getting old when you've to lie about your age to control the skeeze factor. :) But you'll always be 21 to me.

xoxo
Your biggest fan

Igor, E's birthday prez (Lego for grownups)

Oak tree and bluebells - spent the birthday weekend at his parents'

Climbed the oak tree to prove age hasn't made him less limber - E hangin' out

Hot dog roast! We even made our own skewers from tree branches. Had marshmallows afterwards.

Bright Lights, Big City

2008-05-24T00:59:00.003-04:00

Taken at the Top of the Rock

Went to NY/NJ for a wedding this past weekend. Spent Saturday evening in the city; only had time to whirl around Midtown. Getting there was an adventure - we had assumed we would catch a shuttle from our hotel in Basking Ridge, but the shuttles don't run on the weekends (d'oh). After some panicking, we ended up driving towards Jersey City, parked at a light rail station, took the light rail to Hoboken, then a Path train into town, and then we got on the metro. Figured all this out along the way.

Hubs had no other agenda than to 'see the sights'. As a surprise for him, I bought tickets to the Top of the Rock. We got there just in time for sundown, and it was beautiful. I'm not a stranger to city sights or seeing the skyline from the 70th floor, but it's different when the sight includes the Empire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge in a distance. The horizon was blanketed in dense little specks of light. We saw a couple getting engaged. :) Pretty cool experience.

Empire State Building and Central Park with a theme...

Another shot of the view at dusk

Dinner was at Chop Suey in Times Square. We were seated right next to the window with an unobstructed view of the square, where Broadway meets 7th. Hubs was bowled over... it was quite incredible, I've to say. It was like watching TV with dinner, except there were over a dozen giant TVs and they were all flashing the same ads. The food was also phenomenal - I had oyster and bacon lettuce cups with kim chi and ginger chicken, while hubs had a watercress and Asian pear salad and a decadent buttery, eggy lobster entree. Then we finished with dessert, sorbet medley and coffee ice-cream respectively.

Hello!

View from our table

Finally got back to the hotel at about 2am.

The wedding was on Sunday. It was small, intimate, and beautiful. The bride and groom actually had Rock Band and DDR set up for post-reception fun - as if that wasn't enough, we hung out with friends afterwards until the wee hours.

Good trip! More to write later...

A Day at the Movies

2008-05-20T22:44:00.009-04:00

When we last left our intrepid heroine, she was bored and posting kitty pics. Now, she's back, and she actually has a story or two to tell.

Last weekend, I was an extra in a movie. That was a pretty interesting experience that I never want to go through again.

3:45 AM - Hubby crawls into bed after coming home from a night of fun. Zzzz.
4:30 AM - Alarm rings
5:10 AM - Showered, 'hair and makeup ready', drive to the film location at the airport
5:45 AM - Crack of dawn. Wander through a maze of trailers into a huge warehouse/hangar with cafeteria tables. Sign-in. Surveyed the table of hot breakfast for the extras, fixed myself some coffee.
6:00 AM - Lined up like cattle (or convicts?) along the wall to show Wardrobe our 3 outfits. I got a quick stamp of approval. Carry on.
6:30 AM - People still streaming in, bleary-eyed. Some people look like they're in whatever they wore to the club the night before.
7:00 AM - Spotted a group of pilots. Ridiculously good-looking pilots. Impossible, in fact... and sure enough, they were extras too, in clever copies of the real pilot uniforms. I've a serious thing for uniforms, but somehow, knowing they're fake, they lost their appeal.
7:30 AM - Decided nothing was happening for a while, so I whipped out my Sudoku.
10:30 AM - Kicked Sudoku butt. Still nothing, although the hangar got colder and people are getting restless. Craft service offered pretzels, bubble gum, hot beverages, chips.
10:45 AM - Production crew gave stern announcement about no smoking on federal property, the consequence of doing so being no less dramatic than prosecution, wrath of hundreds, and shutting down the movie for good. Random thought that camp counselors would make excellent production crew leaders.
11:00 AM - Finally! Called into action. Hustled onto a coach that drove across the tarmac, with airport authority escorts, to the set. The scene: a live air show.

The air show was probably the coolest part of the whole thing. Even on the coach, while waiting for the approvals to clear so we could drive 100 ft to the film location, we saw raptors tearing through the clear blue sky, flip, dive, and hover. When we got to the set, which was a small-scale replica of the real air show booths (fake drink stand, radio sponsor, snacks, gift shop, etc.), we were strategically positioned around the filming crew clutter and told to wait for instructions. There was a cargo plane open for tour; it was huge in a surreal way, like a beached blue whale. Every once in a while the roar of an F-16 taking off in the runway in front of us would hold everybody's attention, our eyes following it until the barking orders resume from the director's tent and snap us back to the task at hand.

Very quickly, like trained lab rats, the extras learned to listen for the right cues. "Rolling" means we should be in our places, poised at the starting line. When they yell "background", we start walking across the camera casually and pretend we're really at an air show (which was the truth). No talking - pantomiming. No zombie faces either - act lively, just be quiet. During one of these silent walks, I happened to stroll past the main actors and caught some of their lines. All I can say is, what an idiotic movie. It's produced by Dreamworks, but it's going to be one of those corny teen romance flicks. And you know, when you watch a terrible movie and wonder how the guy in the background didn't wince or break out into a hysterical laughing fit after hearing a stupid line... that was me, that 'guy', trying to keep a straight face.

1:30 PM - Lunch! Due to security constraints, we couldn't be schlepped back to the warehouse/hangar, so they brought lunch to us. The box lunches could've been a nice dinner served at a wedding - rosemary chicken or beef tenderloin, asparagus spears, roasted potatoes. A+ for presentation. But we were standing on the tarmac with styrofoam boxes and plastic forks - I stabbed at my chicken for a good few minutes before I got anything. Got tired of eating after 10 minutes. C- for practicality. They were very, very anal about every piece of litter, for good reason.

Being one of only 2 Asians, I walked up to the other (who was tall, slim, gorgeous) and introduced myself. Turned out she's from China - a model - and we started chatting in Mandarin. She's one of those sickeningly perfect and chipper girls you'd love to hate but can't. I will never forget how the still unit photographer, a pervy older guy, hung around her, and when she introduced me to him, he completely and utterly ignored my existence. It's like I was invisible. She was pretty enough to be worth the attention, and I simply wasn't. I define myself by way more than my looks (maybe anything but my looks), yet that was a pretty ego-crushing moment. All of a sudden, I craved to be around friends, hubs.

4:15 PM - No end in sight. Started getting antsy to go home.
5:30 PM - Crew person noted she hadn't seen enough of me - for the next scene, she placed me behind the group of main actors. Yay! Maybe you'll see my face for half a second. Caught more retarded dialogue... tried not to snicker.

At one point, as I was standing near the group of ridiculously good-looking fake pilots, I overheard their conversation and someone was struggling to recall something. I offered an answer - they thanked me, and one of them actually made a joke about how their collective IQ didn't help them. I appreciated the self-deprecating humor.

7:00 PM - By now, we're masters of pantomime. Exhausted and slap-happy, some of the extras have become really creative with their bit roles. A stranger and I conjured a routine where we pretended to be friends meeting up in the middle of the fair. Made gestures towards the planes in the sky, walked towards the fake snack shop. Pretended to buy a bag of chips. Ran into another group and said hello (silently). Maintained conversation while walking... shadow gossip, if you will.
7:45 PM - Lined us up in a row (again - there's a theme here), thanked us for our time. Showed us the way back to the warehouse/hangar and we walked. (No coach?)
8:15 PM - Turned in paperwork to get paid, said goodbyes to my friends for the day. Drove home.

The next day, we had some friends over for dinner. Told them about this bizarre experience, how cool the actual air show was, and the people - the vain wannabes, the production nazis, the sheep. After a normal dinner conversation about normal things with the ordinary-looking but extraordinarily intelligent company, we sat around and watched the telly. Of all the things they picked from our DVR, we ended up watching an hour-long PBS documentary about Jaglavak ants. Ah... it's good to be home.

Haven't been paid yet... the 14 hours of standing around earned me a pair of shoes, perhaps.

5/30 EDIT: Got the check in the mail! Instead of shoes, I went with this baby for my office. Sweet.

Speakers from the $ made that Saturday

Kitty Time

2008-04-15T21:55:00.006-04:00

It's been a while since I posted pictures of this blog's namesake. Taken last night:

Our favorite hobo, lounging on a cardboard box under some newspapers.

And so we're not playing favorites, here's the other baby, taken a while ago:

Lazy Sunday

2008-04-07T19:10:00.003-04:00

Hellooo Spring! It was a beautiful sunny weekend. Still a little cool, but I busted out my capris anyway. Yeah!

Took a nice afternoon walk around the neighborhood. I'm in love with our tree-lined streets. I came back smelling like the outdoors. :)

Dinner was homemade spanakorizo, garnished with a generous sprinkle of feta cheese, parsley and lemon, and baked barley (barley, pine nuts, parsley, onions, mushrooms in vege broth). Went very well with a hot cup of Moroccan mint tea.

Cherry Blossoms in DC

2008-04-01T22:51:00.005-04:00

It's that time of the year again!

For our 4th consecutive year, we drove down to the capital for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Our hostess extraordinaire M moved from Manassas to San Francisco (which incidentally also has a cherry blossom festival), and we didn't want to impose on our non-single friends, so this time we stayed at a hotel.

(Funny story about getting there: we didn't decide to go until Friday night. E had a little too much fun at a wine and cheese gathering that night and, well, the red wine didn't stick with him very long. During the few hours that he was sprawled on the bathroom floor, he insisted on still going and I finalized the itinerary. By Saturday morning, hangover or not, it was DC or bust.)

Took a bunch of pictures, of course. As usual, I'll leave the cherry blossom pics for the finale.

Saturday
We drove straight into the city - first stop, Georgetown. A quick healthy snack at Sweetgreen and a visit to Le Pain Quotidien to pick up jam and pastries, then we waited in line for cupcakes at the local boutique Georgetown Cupcake. (We're still fans of our neighborhood bakery Dozen.) We browsed in a few shops along M Street too.

Dinner: Kaz Sushi Bistro
The sashimi was divine - E and I concurred that the fish just melted like butter in your mouth. Fresh and tasty. E got the bento specially created for the sakura festival, and the dessert course was sweet red bean paste in sticky rice wrapped in salted cherry blossom leaf, with a tinge of coffee. I had a sinfully rich ginger creme brulee. What a great way to start the trip!

Sunday
Packed our touristy things (camera, water bottle, map) and headed for the metro station. First stop: brunch! The DC experience isn't complete without Sunday brunch at the Ebbitt.

Old Ebbitt Grill: Historic oyster bar and grill near the White House

When in an oyster bar, get oysters!

I couldn't resist getting oysters - half dozen Rappahannock River oysters. 'Plump and buttery'. E indulged in the Eggs Chesapeake, a combination of poached eggs and crab cake on English muffins.

After brunch, we walked around the National Mall and Tidal Basin simply admiring the explosion of blooms. Even though it was chilly, it was a beautiful day. Pics in a bit.

We visited the Sackler gallery for the exhibition of Edo paintings, then the National Air & Space Museum.

Grumman X-29

When we walked past this baby, E cooed like a little boy. It was his favorite plane as a child, and he's flown it many times on his dad's flight simulator. The wings face forward; there was a video and writeup on why that kind of instability worked.

Took a break from museum-hopping and headed to ACKC Cocoa Bar between Dupont Circle and Cardozo. Got brioches, hot chocolate (lavender for me, orange for hubs), and took a long walk along Q street admiring the townhouses.

Dinner: Zaytinya
One of our earlier times in DC, we visited Jaleo, a great tapas place; this time, we went to another resto by the same chef, José Andrés. It serves a great selection of mezze, Mediterranean tapas, and even the wine list was authentic to the region.

We ordered the following:

* Ayran - cool refreshing yoghurt drink. Went very well with all the dishes.
* Fattoush and Portakal Salatasi (oranges, pine nuts, feta etc. in orange blossom dressing)
* Squash couscous with zucchini and tomato-lemon broth
* Havuç Köftesi - carrot-apricot fritters with pistachio sauce which E was over the moon about. Excellent.
* Midyes - fried mussels on skewers with walnut tarator sauce.
* Lamb Kleftiko - spring lamb in phyllo, almost like a spanakopita, with yoghurt dressing and feta. Unusually good.

It was one of the best meals I've had - and that's saying a lot! Finally, we rounded up dinner with Lebanese arak, a strong anise liquor. It's even stronger in flavor than Greek ouzo and Turkish raki, so we sprang for it.

Two tall shots of El Massaya arak

"Keshak!" (Lebanese toast)

The cool thing about arak is louching - like absinthe, the clear liquid turns cloudy when you add cold water to it. 2 parts water, 1 part arak, add ice and enjoy. (Video of arak in action)

All gastronomic adventures made possible by my favorite reservation system, OpenTable - food without a 2-hr wait is the best kind of food.

Finally but definitely not least, the beautiful cherry blossoms.

Yarn-a-licious

2008-03-24T19:10:00.004-04:00

As promised in my previous post - gorgeous yarn and a summer shawl in the making. It's a beaute! (Yarn: Colinette Parisienne, 70% kid mohair)

Randomness

2008-03-19T22:53:00.003-04:00

Hubs was tinkering away on his laptop while we were watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. He was thoughtful for a moment and said, if he had a blog, he would've written about how surreal (ed: and ironic) it is that the show was about stunting the development of AI and stopping robots from taking over the world, while he was doing... quite the opposite to that end. And since he does not have a blog, I'm obligated to document the moment. Note this, honey.

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I have a new knitting project. Poking around my favorite knitting store, I was introduced to a gorgeous vivid blue-green mohair blend. Helloooo. It was love at first sight. Bought 3 skeins and turning them into a lacy shawl for the summer. Pics soon!

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It's oddly reassuring to know that in a world of uncertainty, one thing I can always count on is the incubation of foreign elements in our refrigerator. We are so bad about keeping the fridge clean; gutting it of old leftovers and accumulated junk has become a ritual for us. It's a sensory experience - the colors, the speckling of white fuzzies and green stripes... and then the smell hits you (woof). Bags and boxes of unidentified goo are chucked into the trash.

We cleaned out the fridge last night. I can hear it humming happily, finally able to breathe easy again.

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Going to Johnstown for Easter this weekend. I'll be making my Italian mother-in-law an Italian classic for the holiday: Easter pie. Apparently there are two versions, savory and sweet. Both involve something like 2 lbs of ricotta cheese; the question is whether pepperoni goes better than candied fruit. (I honestly wonder how this is going to turn out.)

Hubs is always funny about going home... I guess it's different. After 7 years of knowing each other, we still discover new and surprising things about each other's childhoods. For that matter, I am still discovering new and surprising things about my own childhood. The view is different from 20+ years later. Time is tricksy.

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We walked past a candy store last weekend and just for kicks, I wanted to go inside. Looking at the buckets of gummies, I couldn't resist getting a little bag of each kind - worms, cola, regular bears. (Gummy bears, by the way, always make me think of those stop-motion videos on YouTube, like this one. And watching those videos always makes me want to eat gummies.)

Well... I don't eat candy. I only got them because I felt like it. Why do I do that? Now the bag's just sitting on the coffee table, adding to the clutter, picked at occasionally by Sweet Tooth Hubs. I'm terrible.

Okay, I guess I should go to bed so I won't be cranky tomorrow...

Chinese New Year

2008-03-16T12:42:00.003-04:00

Belated photo post of the trip home for New Year's.

Fancy red packets; peach blossoms for sale in bustling Chinatown

Kumquat plant at our apartment's entrance; homemade Yusheng salad

Giant pomelos, and the beautiful green rind of a 20 lb one my mum bought

Candies and snacks galore!

Trinkets and accessories too

Rows of steamed chicken at a hawker stall; abundance of lap cheung near People's Park

Hubs shaking the hand of a young God of Fortune (cai shen), in the produce section of Cold Storage (of all places) - we were milling around when a lion dance troupe came through the store to 'bless' it for Chinese New Year. The troupe graced every aisle of the grocery store, to the amusement of its patrons (with a good showing of foreign expats). Hubs waited in line with the little kids to get to the God of Fortune, and got a red packet and a piece of candy. :)

Fireworks by Singapore River

The hardest part about going home in the winter is coming back. I couldn't enjoy the last few days in Singapore just from the sheer dread of returning to Pittsburgh.

Two homes, a world apart

Winter has its charm and I think it's beautiful, but I simply prefer warmth and sunshine. Sigh.

Interlude

2008-03-14T22:26:00.008-04:00

Happy Pi Day!

I had lofty plans to write a long thought-provoking post, a masterpiece, but at 10.42pm this old kitty is sleepy. Now all I want to do is curl up in bed under the covers and knit. (My latest project is a giant heather grey bouclé blanket - it's great brainless activity, and now that it's big enough, I can even cuddle in it while knitting. Hurray!)

Sigh. Another rough week at work comes to a close, another slow lazy weekend begins. But this weekend is different; for one, the snow has turned to rain, signaling the beginning of spring. We saw a robin the other day. Thursday afternoon was a balmy 55 degrees F. It's known to snow even in May, but we're probably past the worst of it.

This weekend, I'll also be typing up my resignation letter. Yup, that's right! New job.

Inside, I'm still a little girl who's terrified at the idea of being a grownup. Responsibilities, expectations, consequences... I miss being a kid. You wake up, spend half the day immersing yourself in whatever fantasy world you dare to imagine, maybe do some chores and homework, and you almost always have someone to look out for you. If you wanted something, all you had to do was ask nicely.

Fast forward to today, as I'm hurtling towards the big three-oh. I wake up tired, spend half the day playing political games, work thanklessly, and nothing comes easily even if I ask nicely.

The only consolation I have is that everyone else goes through this rite of disorientation and disenchantment too, and we all learn from it.

Anyway. I'm excited and relieved - the on-again off-again job search was a learning experience. It was a lot of soul searching, and this new job still isn't the Dream Job... but it's one rung higher. The process made me realize how green I am - thank goodness for generous advice from mentors, new and old.

End of a chapter, beginning of a new one... and all that. Onward!

Breakfast as it should be

2008-02-29T22:43:00.003-05:00

Toastbox breakfast: Pork floss thick toast, soft boiled eggs, strong java

Yakun breakfast: Kaya butter toast, soft boiled eggs, strong java too

I miss breakfast in Singapore.

We used to live fairly close to Killiney Kopitiam (the original, the one on Killiney Rd), and that was my first introduction to kaya toast and the classic Singaporean breakfast combo. Then we moved last year, and Toastbox just happens to be literally across the street. I only discovered Yakun during this last trip - I felt like a traitor to Toastbox. The eggs and coffee are superb at both, and I guess it depends on whether I'm in the mood for buttery thick toast or buttery pieces of kaya toast.

Oh, eggs and coffee, how I love thee. Soft boiled eggs, half boiled eggs, runny eggs... In Pittsburgh, it's called 'dippy eggs'. I don't know what they do with the coffee, but nobody makes it quite the same.

At Yakun

How does the sock do it?

Sigh. Let's not even go into all the wonderful hawker fare (yes, for breakfast!) - chwee kway, hot rice porridge, yong tau fu, nasi lemak... Now I'm back to Cheerios and 1% milk, and spoiling myself with granola and plain yogurt on weekends.

Can't wait to go home again...

V-Day in Singapore

2008-02-20T06:24:00.006-05:00

Back from Singapore! Spent the last 2.5 weeks at home celebrating Chinese New Year with the folks and regressing to my teenage years again. Hubs saw the Real Deal - lion dance performances, street markets, fresh flowers galore, the mad swapping of mandarin oranges, red and gold banners and decorations everywhere...

Lots of pictures, but first, a quick recap of Valentine's Day. (Yes, I know it's a manufactured holiday and a piss-poor reason to get sappy and cutesy for one day, but it was the first time ever that I had a Valentine in Singapore. Tells ya something, dunnit?)

On V-Day eve, hubs came home from the 'gym' with a bunch of flowers in one hand, and dou hua (soy beancurd) in the other. Love! I had spent the last few days nursing a horrid cold, but felt much better by then. On the 14th, he took me out to a fancy Indian dinner at Rang Mahal in the Pan Pacific. (Alright, I found the place, but he bought dinner.) We splurged on the V-day menu (inspired by the Kama Sutra - wooo!); it was a 10-course meal, each plated elaborately and creatively, and came with a glass of rosé sparkling wine. The foodie was thrilled. Here it is:

Welcome drink - Passionfruit Kiss

Amuse Bouche
Enigmatic Masala Puri

Soup: Pumpkin and Pine Nut Shorba Ecstasy
Clove and basil spiced pumpkin broth with roasted pine nuts

Sensuous Casanova Oyster
Juicy tawa seared oyster caressed with light cashew gravy, crowned with precious saffron and a dash of nutmeg

Sorbet: Adam & Eve Sorbet
A refreshing lime sorbet on betel leaf with luscious honey drizzle

Main Course: Desirous Nahari Gosht
Tender lamb shanks slow simmered in a rich stock of Indian spices including fennel, clove, cinnamon, mace and black cardamom to ignite the senses - Royal Nawabi way
Fragrant pulao of juicy green peas and pomegranate jewels
Kukuri rosemary carrot

Accompanied with Sesame Chili Olive Naan (from the bread bar, made fresh)
Boorani raita - Garlic and cumin flavored yoghurt
Dal meloni - Combination of urad, channa & moong lentils

Dessert: Gulkand rasmalai
A romantic pairing of homemade cottage cheese dumplings in reduced flavored milk and Indian rose marmalade

Tea
Kashmiri kahwa with fragrant saffron & almonds

Petit Four
Date & chocolate kulfi lollipop in ice igloo

Everything tasted divine. (The ice igloo was rad.) Some of the descriptions were over-the-top and gave you goosebumps(!); we were even seated in a private booth with rose petals around a candle centerpiece. Towards the end of the meal, we got a gift from the restaurant - a list of aphrodisiacs, most of them found in our dinner, and a little bottle of 'liquid love' (body chocolate). Everything was very well done, I'd love to go back some time.

More later...

Greek Affair

2008-01-22T22:04:00.001-05:00

The way to my heart is music - so I tell many. Those who really know me, however, know that food is the truest way. Oh, where do I begin... How do I love thee? Hubs calls me a wookiee - what can I say, the man knows me.

Saddled next to my love for food is the love of entertaining, and of wine. Had plenty of both this past long weekend. (Sidenote: We've concluded that the only way we'll ever keep our place clean and uncluttered is if we have company over... all the time.)

On Saturday, we invited E's undergrad ~~minions~~ student workers from the lab to dinner. Two of them were Singaporean, so I toyed with the idea of making down home hawker fare (eg. Hainanese chicken rice, rojak). But it's too frumpy. Then I considered local fare, like steak or salmon filet and a casserole, but they can find that anywhere. Finally, I settled for neither here nor there - Greece.

* Olive and cheese platter, black mission fig compote
* Spring mix salad with fig-infused white balsamic vinaigrette
* Melitzanes Imam - roasted Greek/Turkish aubergine with cinnamon
* Spanakorizo - spinach and rice with tomatoes, sprinkled with crumbled feta cheese and freshly squeezed lemon
* Mint-garlic lamb chops
* Tzatziki - cucumber yogurt dressing
(Most recipes from allrecipes.com)

Paired dinner with a good California chard. Dessert was chocolate fondue with an assortment of fruits. (The guests brought an Alsace Gewurztraminer and Michel Cluizel chocolates - good taste!)

The next day, we had a friend over to catch up on Grey's Anatomy. Made more spanakorizo and melitzanes imam, and performed an encore of the chocolate fondue with creme de menthe. Kicked a bottle of Jadot's Macon-Villages (meh).

I had the day off on Monday, so I spent the afternoon reading at the cafe. Dinner was a break from Middle Eastern to Far Eastern - hae du bop at our favorite Korean restaurant. Baked a double-layer white cake with strawberry filling and Cool Whip frosting for a colleague's birthday today.

And... back to Greek today - leftovers. :) Got a 2006 La Crema Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast; my first La Crema, and I picked it over the Russian River Valley version. Very good! I was already giddy with excitement when I uncorked the bottle and caught a whiff of it. It was buttery, silky smooth, oh so palatable.

I'm saving the rest of the bottle to savor later, but I think I'm done with the Greek/Mediterranean/tomato stuff. 'Twas good while it lasted, but the kitchen will be taking a break for now. Phew!

Vignettes

2008-01-07T22:25:00.000-05:00

Pics and stories from Christmas/NYE 2007.

* It was a 10-hr drive from the B&B in South Carolina to Tierra Verde, FL, where we'd be staying with E's uncle for a few days. He lived in New York/New Jersey for many years before moving to Florida. Every stop we made, we noticed the weather getting warmer. As we were unpacking the car, he picked up the snow brush and said, "What's this artifact?" Hardy har har... rub it in. ;P

*
The condo is 5 minutes from Fort De Soto beach

Around the corner from the apartment, where we took long walks, is a nice posh neighborhood of million-dollar homes. (One we passed was rumored to be Kevin Costner's vacation home.) A few Hummers in the driveway, marble columns, grand piano by the floor-to-ceiling panels of glass... Oh, and a yacht in the back.

Canal that runs through the back of the houses

* Tampa Bay was gorgeous. The Florida sun and the sight of sparkling water did us good. We had grouper, yellowtail, and blue crab, the local specialties. Walked around St. Pete and visited the Dali Museum.

Blue crab salad at Fish Tales; boats docked at a marina

* Beaches everywhere! Sugary sand and pretty seashells. We threw around a frisbee at Fort De Soto, walked along Honeymoon Island, and watched the sun set at Treasure Island.

Fort De Soto, Christmas Eve

Honeymoon Island State Park - hubs venturing into the water, sand in his toes

Sunset at Treasure Island

* Orlando Eats: Ate at Wolfgang Puck's in Downtown Disney. Had dinner at Thai Thani on International Drive, one of those Zagat-rated restaurants. Nice atmosphere, but the food was comparable to our favorite Thai digs in Pittsburgh. Lunched at Briarpatch in Winter Park before visiting the Morse Museum for the Tiffany collection. Food was interesting, overpriced. No, we didn't go to Emeril's... (next time!)

* Epcot: 14 1/2 hours! New Year's Eve. We were there till 1.30am.

The famous golf ball... Spaceship Earth

World Showcase - France

Ceiling of China

Shrine in Japan

Epcot's World Showcase features 11 countries from around the globe. (It also does a clever job of incorporating pieces of Disney in each.) Most have short films about the country, performances; each place serves food and spirits, and of course, has a massive gift shop. One can eat at a variety of places, from snack booths to fancy (pricey) sit-down restaurants, all in the country's theme.

At dinner...
(In UK eating fish 'n chips)
In-laws: "Where's E?"
Me: "He doesn't want fish 'n chips, so he went to Morocco."
(A few minutes later, we joined up with him in Morocco. A couple offered us seats, but saved one for their daughter.)
Couple: "She should be back any minute now... she's just in Japan."

Orlando is a little too touristy - the whole place is practically owned by the Mouse. I think I'm Disney-ed out for a while. Overall a great trip though.

Back to reality... (bills! reading! bedtime!)

Ten Years

2008-01-06T20:02:00.001-05:00

Right about now, I've passed the ten-year mark. Ten winters that I've experienced here, and countless lessons learned. Time flies.

Many people have asked me about The Moment, the one decisive turning point that changed the course of my future - to be honest, I don't remember how I decided to leave home and come here. I was 16 and hadn't given my future much thought; I could have gone to the better high schools in Singapore, so why do it any other way. Until one day, my parents suggested something different. Follow the white rabbit! Took the SSATs, talked to relatives and friends about the pros and cons of going to high school in the US. An interview was arranged with an admissions rep who was recruiting in Jakarta - my mum wrote an excuse for school, we hopped on a plane there and back in a single day. We flipped through pages of glossy brochures with smiling Caucasian faces, quaint Colonial buildings, and sweaters, and then the admissions rep took us out to a fancy lunch. Didn't understand much else of what happened at the time.

I got my acceptance letter in the mail. In a time before Wikipedia, I knew little of the place I was going to, except from the brochures. I was 'in', but I still worked hard for the 'O' level exams in case I changed my mind. In the end, it was decided that I was going to America. Oh there are no cats in America, and the streets are paved with cheese...

Jan 1998: I remember the knots in my stomach at the airport. A group of my closest friends had come to see me off with gifts and flowers... I bawled inconsolably. Even after the farewell troop was out of sight, in the departure hall I was still crying a river. (My mum quipped that I should stop so onlookers wouldn't think she was child trafficking. Ha!) It was an unbearably long flight... what a long way from home. When we got to the Land of Opportunity, I realized my English needed some work.

Just like that. One moment I was at home; the next, I was in Massachusetts.

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I learned a lot. Doing laundry, balancing my checkbook, eating well (I was often tempted to skip meals or overeat), being alone. I've never been alone - I mean truly alone, but I slowly learned to appreciate the beauty of solitude. I was so excited when I booked my first trip home through a travel agent (in the time before Expedia and Orbitz). When I started getting to know people, my new friends and I would take the train into Boston for a day, or walk down Main Street in our coats and boots for a hot cocoa and fresh scone. Meanwhile, my old friends in Singapore were moving on with their lives on a divergent path. I questioned my decision almost every day.

Then came college - sharing a common bathroom with 25 other people didn't faze me anymore. I could make instant noodles with my eyes closed. There were many more 'firsts'.

Despite finally adapting to life in the US at the cost of much heartache, I wanted to go home after graduation. E, who was supposed to be a quick fling and last hurrah, became my permanent derailment. My parents had a clue when I insisted that he visit them in Singapore a few summers ago. Then the rest, as they say, is history.

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Ten years is a long time.

The same friends who saw me off at the airport ten years ago are now married too. I regret not being there to witness their ups and downs, just as I wish I could've shared mine with them more intimately than over e-mail and the annual cup of coffee. As for family, I've kept every letter, newspaper clipping, recipe, postcard from my mom. My occasional letters to her have been returned with red ink correcting my Chinese. (Bah!) I still think of home every day.

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Anyway. Hubs and I celebrate our leather wedding anniversary in 2 days, and we go home for Chinese New Year in 20+ days. Yay!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-02T22:43:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

Quick sketch of this year's holiday highlights:
* Stayed at a bed 'n breakfast in Piedmont, South Carolina - Jesse and Amy tied the knot on 12/22. Had lots of grits and sweet tea.
* Visited E's uncle in Tierra Verde, Florida. The weather was perfect; no chestnuts roasted by an open fire, but the spirit of Christmas was well with palm trees dressed up in lights and much caroling and revelry with snowbirds at the waterfront dive bars. Gorgeous beaches. Ate sushi (fresh fish!), German crepes, and co-conspired with FIL, fellow Alton Brown fan, on a 6 lb standing rib roast for Christmas dinner.
* Went to the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg and the Morse Museum of Art (large Tiffany collection) in Orlando - artsy fartsy. Learned a good bit about both.
* Watched Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba. Pretty cool! Dark, beautiful, surreal. The Diabolos performance stole the show, I think; the four Chinese girls were insanely young and talented.
* Spent New Year's Eve at Disney's Epcot. 14 and 1/2 hours on our feet, 2 1/2 of which were spent waiting in line for Soarin' (a 7-minute hang glider simulation). The fireworks at midnight were okay, but the feeling of celebration shared by the 70,000+ crowd, mostly tourists from all over the world, was incredible.

Kitties were excited to see us when we got home. They wouldn't let us out of their sight. After almost 2 weeks in T-shirts and flip-flops, it was hard to come back to the notorious Pittsburgh cold and bundle up like a Yeti. It was 20 degrees F this morning and I had to brush snow off the car before work.

Will post pictures!

Wall-E

2007-12-18T23:28:00.000-05:00

Pixar's new movie, coming out next summer. Cuteness! It's a little bit 'ET meets R2D2', but everybody loves them, so why not? There are definitely other groan-worthy themes and characters that have been redone to death.

I've a feeling this is going to be a tearjerker for hubs... I can tell.

Giving Thanks

2007-11-27T22:39:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

We spent the holiday with E's parents, as usual. This year our dinner company, which has been gradually thinning, merged with another group that had also been declining in numbers; together, there were 20+ people, some familiar and some new. We made baked honey brie in phyllo dough with cranberry chutney and brought 2 bottles of wine. (Turned out that almost everyone brought wine, and there were over a dozen bottles on the kitchen counter... even deadlier than the book club!) Most of the people at dinner were university professors. The hostess and the 'core' group had met in Malawi during their time in the Peace Corps; one couple taught public policy together at a university in DC and flew often to Beijing and South Africa; another was going on a long trip to New Zealand. It was fascinating getting to know them. New traditions this year were pomegranate appetizers (and spraying the juice everywhere) and ping pong tourneys. Overall a fun evening, but it went by so quickly that the holiday was over before I knew it. All the anticipation...

Other highlights of the weekend include spending time in the country, meeting with family friends, and... oh, raking, raking, raking.

Hubs in a babushka, ready for an afternoon of toiling in the yard

Snow on the leaves

Leaves begone!

Two hours later... hubs and his rake take a break

We also took a jaunt through Bedford County just for kicks - visited the Bedford Springs Resort, a posh hotel tucked among hills and gorgeous hiking trails. ('Visit' means walk through the building, fawn over the architecture, read about the history, steal a cupcake or two that were set out in the foyer at 4pm for traditional English tea...) The parents-in-law were quite taken by it. Methinks Santa will give them a night's stay and dinner for two at Christmas.

Then we went to the infamously law-defying Gravity Hill! Hottest tourist spot in Bedford County. Incidentally, it's near the apple orchards we stopped at... (get it? apples? gravity?) The claim to fame is that one coasts uphill on this road, despite what physics and common sense tell us. We were skeptical, until we tried it a few times. There was another car on the little stretch of hill testing the claim too, over and over again. It's a clever optical illusion.

Here are videos that we took (hubs narrating):

Part I:

Drifting backwards ('uphill') while on neutral

Part II:

Uphill again, this time facing forward. The road really did look like an upward slope.

Not the most exciting videos, but now you know how this little hill got its name. We live for cheap thrills.

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And finally, let's give thanks to the beautiful month of November.

Taken right outside the house

Pretty weed that sticks to everything

On the road, near Blue Knob State Park, PA

Dusk, and a full moon rising as we were returning home from our adventures in Bedford, PA

Vino!

2007-11-21T17:12:00.000-05:00

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! The 2007 vintage was released on November 15th, and there was much rejoicing around the world. It's a simple fruity wine that's bottled soon after the grapes are harvested (and meant to be savored just as hastily), made from Gamay grapes in the Beaujolais region of France. A unique method called carbon maceration is employed, which means instead of crushing the grapes first, the grapes are fermented from inside the skin. Because it tastes like alcoholic fruit juice, it's the 'ditzy blonde' of wines - it's one wine that won't be offended if you drink it with ice cubes(!). Probably the only reason wine drinkers even care about the BN is the marketing hype... yeah. (Hard to ignore a wine that's so widely anticipated and celebrated; so well-loved you would... bathe in it? Une piscine de Beaujolais au Japon - sacre bleu!)

Got two bottles - the regular BN from Georges DuBoeuf and a Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau from Leonard de Saint-Aubin. I'm saving the latter, which I'm skeptical about, for our private sipping pleasure and taking the DuBoeuf to Thanksgiving.

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While I was huddling around the wine rack picking out another bottle for tomorrow, I took advantage of the little daylight left and snapped some shots.

My dusty collection

No fear of being thirsty in the House of Meow!

Wine: check. Now, for my Thanksgiving contribution... I volunteered appetizers, but I only have ideas for dessert. Foolish? I'd better wish on my lucky stars that the grocery stores will be open later. What should I make? (Maybe I should pop open a bottle to help me think. ;)) The kitchen calls...

Les Feuilles Mortes

2007-11-08T23:25:00.000-05:00

Another season, another year. Time to don wool coats, strap on high boots, and reckon with my love-hate relationship with turtlenecks again.

The best part of the season is the food. So many delicious seasonal comfort foods, from soups and casseroles to pies and cider... just thinking about fall, one can almost imagine the warm smell of cinnamon and apples wafting through the cool crisp air. We went apple-picking in October, like we do every year, and we're almost through with the 20 lb bag of apples. Lately I've turned from apples to cranberries - I have been in the kitchen (barefoot!) almost every night this week making sauces and muffins. My back hurts and I get cranky after 11pm, but it's well worth it. There's something about the cool weather that makes the kitchen so inviting, and me its (sometimes) willing slave.

I've also been diligent with my needle 'n yarn! Been working on two concurrent projects - Project HubbyScarf and Project FuzzyScarf.

HubbyScarf and FuzzyScarf

The former is a simple green ribbed scarf for E that matches his coat. (Amateur knitters make simple scarves.) The latter, a purple variegated scarf, is a treat for myself, made of the softest yarn imaginable - so soft that all you want to do is cuddle with it. It almost feels like cashmere, until you peek under the label and it says 'acrylic fiber blend'. Yes, plain ole' acrylic, meaning it probably contains vinyl acetate, which has endocrine-disrupting phthalates. Imagine, a toxic cancer wrap around my neck. But it's so soft! It's a blissfully soft toxic wrap that feels like a cloud.

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Thoughts du jour:

* The market is upsetting. When I was younger, I used to think it's funny when people say that being an adult means constantly worrying about money. Well, I guess it's not so funny anymore, and in fact quite sobering. Major sux0rz.
* For that matter, the state of the world is pretty upsetting too.
* I haven't touched my piano in weeks, and the guilt is starting to bite. I had grand plans to read all the Czerny I have, but instead I'm slowly unlearning the pieces I already know, from lack of practice. Sigh.
* On a lighter note, we went to a Bhangra competition last weekend - cool stuff! It must be tons of fun being in a synchronized dance group.

Speaking of synchronized dancing, I found this video of some young Singaporean kids busting out mad dance moves; they must only be 13 or 14 years old, but they're definitely more polished than even the groups I've seen in college. Check it out:

(They even have a blog! Dang, some of them are still in Primary School!)

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-30T00:46:00.000-04:00

Ninja wants YOU...

... to have a fun Halloween. :)

(Pepper will be watching you)

Garden of Glass

2007-10-09T19:53:00.000-04:00

For the last few months, Pittsburgh has been in for a treat - Dale Chihuly is showcasing his exquisite glass art at Phipps Conservatory. As the exhibition is in its final weeks, we decided to check it out a few nights ago.

I've always pictured Chihuly to be an eccentric little old man from a lesser known European nation with a wicked and prolific imagination, churning out fantastic works of art in a little studio somewhere. I've seen images of his avant-garde glass sculptures and the famous glass ceiling at the Bellagio, but know little else. Turns out the master is a stocky gregarious American with an eye patch - seeing only with one eye for the last 30 years, he translates his concepts through canvas paintings and verbal directions to glassblowers that he hires. We saw some of those paintings on display at Phipps, and watched part of a video where he orchestrated the construction of the Wall of Ice in Jerusalem, Israel. (He was quite the prima donna and really cracking the whip, but when his vision finally materialized, everything seemed worth it. An artist's gotta do what he's gotta do, eh?)

It took us about 2 hours to go through all the installations, and we even rushed through some. There were a few I felt lukewarm about, but most were jaw-dropping and incredibly amazing.

Centerpiece at the foyer - whimsical classic Chihuly

Organic installations like these amber cattails make the exhibition visually stunning

Fire & Ice - Fiori Sun and neon blue tumbleweed

The themed rooms were out of this world!

Flower chandelier

Macchia Forest - my favorite installation

Closeups - the curves and colors that make the art worth thousands

There are great pictures on the website too, if my pics don't do 'em justice.

I might even go again during the day - it's an opportunity not to be missed!

Llama llama duck

2007-10-05T22:50:00.000-04:00

Well, maybe not llamas...

We visited an alpaca farm last weekend. Still dreaming of visiting Peru one day, but in the meantime, this will be as close as I'll get to the exotic creatures. A few dozen alpacas roamed the open field, grazing, completely untroubled by the flock of camera-happy tourists on National Alpaca Day (there is such a thing... who knew!).

Alpacas are prized for their incredibly soft fleece; we had a chance to pet a cria (baby alpaca) and feel bundles of fleece that were about to be spun into yarn. Softer than Pepper! (But we won't tell her.) There are two kinds of alpacas - huacaya and suri. Huacaya alpacas have slightly coarser fleece and look like woolly camels; suri alpacas have 'dreadlocks', and the finer breeds look like creatures out of a Hayao Miyazaki fantasy. (In fact, they can be found on some farms in Australia because they scare away the foxes.)

Male alpacas start at $500, but female alpacas start at $12,000, and generally go for higher. Depending on the 'quality' of the animal (color, texture of fleece, etc.), they can fetch anywhere from $25,000 to $250,000. Because they are domesticated, valuable, and so damn cute, some are sold as pets.

Took pics of them, of course:

A mother and her baby

For a souvenir, I got a pair of rainbow-colored alpaca mittens. :D I'll save the fancier souvenirs for when I visit the alpacas that graze on the Andean range...

Back in Pee-Ay

2007-09-14T23:31:00.000-04:00

Ay. Long time no blog.

It's been 2 months since we eased back into the Pittsburgh routine. I've got my yinzer speak down pat again. A few blog-worthy events have transpired since then, but every time I get around to writing about it, all of a sudden it feels like much ado about nothing. But what's a log for, anyway? Here are the past few weeks in brief:

* Been hanging out at cafes regularly in the evenings, particularly this one. I love it. It's got everything a cafe should have: free wi-fi, an impressive tea menu and unpretentious (good) coffee, alternative music, an appropriately indie crowd.
* Hubs finally built the media center; he fixed up my brother's old laptop and installed MythTV on it. It's like a TiVO but cooler (heh, I'm shameless). We have movies, music, photo galleries, and soon, video games, all on a portable 320GB external hard drive... little magic box. I'm surprised that my software guy did such a great job on this hardware project. Go honey!
* Got older. Celebrated my birthday at Soba Lounge (best martinis!) with an Asian-French prix fixe dinner - not quite the same as what I used to get in Boston, but still good.
* On the other end of the food spectrum, I went to Hooters for the first time with the IT guys from work. I finally saw real Hooters girls, in person! They were really stacked. I was the only female patron in the whole place, and I got the manliest salad ever - a giant plate of croutons and fried chicken pieces piled on a skimpy bed of lettuce. The most ironic thing about lunch was that the guys talked about strippers, football, and home improvement projects. (Could it get more cliche than this?) Very educational glimpse into the male psyche, though.
* At a friend's indoor BBQ, we took turns jamming on the guitar - Kevin played this. OMG! He did it! I didn't know if I was going to faint or ask him to marry me. :) (Check out more of Andy McKee's awesome music here: www.candyrat.com)

Took a road trip to Amish country over Labor Day weekend. We stayed at Cameron Estate Inn, and our room was on the third floor of the mansion. It was our third bed & breakfast experience, and I'm still skeptical of old and dingy inns, but this was definitely different. Gilchrist & Soames bath products, Ralph Lauren linens, complimentary sherry for a nightcap... It had lavish Victorian furniture and fine china, but also free wi-fi. Breakfast in the mornings were in the sun room, where we could glance out into the lush green estate and trout stream.

The inn is not only a B&B, but also a restaurant; we had dinner there our second night. I had a chocolate-themed dinner (when in Rome):

Foie gras au chocolat
Salad
Cabernet and basil sorbet
Cocoa rubbed lamb loin chops
Tiramisu

Hubs had the duckling with raspberry sauce, and homemade bread pudding for dessert. When we couldn't finish our desserts, we were invited to bring our plates up to our room, then come back down to nurse a hot cup of mint tea.

For the 3 days we were there, we did something different each day.

Day 1: Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire (Pirates and wenches and gypsies, oh my!)

Virgin faire-goers we were, it was overwhelming. So much to see and do! People really got into it - they dressed in period and talked like Shakespeare. The entrance to the fairground had a huge sign: "God Save the Queen". We drank wassail and ale, watched jousting matches, shopped for trinkets/corsets/swords, and took pictures.

16th century street in the 21st century

Glassblowing demo

Dancing around a Maypole!

The Queen and her entourage

A duel in the Human Chess match to determine the next chess move, and a knight raises his lance at the jousting tournament

Hubs dives into a turkey leg, viking style

With Cap'n Jack Sparrow, on our way to the pirate ship

The 16th century wonderland still had 21st century conveniences; for one thing, many vendors took credit cards. Mastercard and Lady Visa! (Bwahaha!) We brought home a few bottles of mead and blackberry wine from the Faire.

Day 2: Hershey (Death by chocolate in the Sweetest Place on Earth)

Hershey, PA is like one big ad for chocolate. The streetlights were in the shape of Hershey kisses; we drove down Cocoa Ave and turned on Chocolate Ave toward the chocolate factory. Along the way, we passed Hershey Park, a popular amusement park with incredible rides like this:

Taken from inside the car as we drove past

At Hershey's Chocolate World, we took the tour with hordes of other tourists. The ride took us past singing cows and through the manufacturing process, with a quick 101 on the different Hershey brands. (You can tell their Marketing department had fun with this.) To exit the tour, we had to walk through the gift shop, a massive warehouse of Hershey gifts and products. After the 20-minute brainwashing session, how could we resist? We grabbed cacao nibs, organic dark choc, spicy Aztec hot cocoa mix, cherry cordials, Reese's minis... Hubs, my little sweet tooth, was in heaven.

After stashing away our loot, we went to Hershey Gardens for a look. Beautiful place!

Taken in the Butterfly House with the telephoto lens

The roses were my favorite. Over 7,000 roses in 270+ varieties, says the website - it was surreal standing amongst the many rows of beautiful blooms.

Parched and hungry, we then made a beeline for the Fountain Cafe at Hotel Hershey. We had a slice of strawberries and polenta cake with a balsamic reduction and mascarpone, and a tall Grasshopper with vanilla ice-cream. After the afternoon snack, we drove around Hershey taking pictures of over-the-top chocolate-themed street signs before returning to the B&B.

Day 3: Amish country (Virginia may be for lovers, but in Pennsylvania we have Intercourse - Seen in a souvenir shop)

From Intercourse to Bird-In-Hand, the highway we drove on took us through a touristy stretch featuring all things Amish - farmer's markets, pretzels, crafts, pottery, and quilts. Over the years, sights like these have dulled my city girl sensibilities and diminished my agoraphobia.

Acres upon acres of corn fields. So much corn! It's a wonder that the locals eat anything other than corn.

Fresh beef on the sides of the highway

Stealth shot of an Amish farmer - the Amish don't like having their pictures taken

It took us a while to find out the difference between the Amish and Mennonites, and it still is a little confusing to me. Despite the austerity of their lifestyles, the quilts can fetch a pretty penny - up to thousands of dollars for larger fancier stitchwork. From quilts to furniture to pies, they're done the good ole'-fashioned way. Even root beer! E saw a sign for homemade cold root beer on the highway and decided to give it a try. We turned into a narrow path and drove into a little housing community; there was a small wooden shack at the front, almost like a lemonade stand, selling different-sized jugs of cold homemade sasparilla. It was actually very good!

Hubs quenching his curiosity (geddit? aha!)

While we couldn't afford a quilt, we bought plenty of jams, relish, honey, fresh apples and peaches. Hurray for farmer's markets!

Overall a great trip - it wasn't the typical vacation destination but it was a convenient and fun getaway. I've resisted this concept for years, but now I'm slowly willing to admit that Pennsylvania's pretty cool afterall. (Suck it, Ohio!)

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At this moment, on the other side of the world, my best friend of 13 years is getting hitched. Congratulations, and I'm really sorry I can't be there. Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness, and many cute chubby baby Lee's! Welcome to the married fogies club!

The Trip: Part 3

2007-08-29T22:06:00.000-04:00

From Bali, we returned to Jakarta for my cousin's wedding. I haven't seen some of my cousins in years - it was great to be with family again. I felt like I was 14 again, when we spent every holiday with the clan. Many things have changed, but some things never do.

We stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel. We had a pretty nice view from our window, but coming from lush paradisaical Bali to a hotel catered for seasoned business travelers, it was a little sterile by comparison. The festivities began the night before; the kids in my generation went to Eka Ria, a family favorite, for dinner. Some of them met Hubs for the first time. Once upon a time, we sat at the kids' table, told dirty jokes, ran around the restaurant wild and ate pop rocks for dessert... now we're with our respective spousal units, talking about life in Brisbane, the Bay Area, Hong Kong, and Midtown Manhattan, the state of the Asian economy from a first-hand perspective, how their kids are doing in school. Seeing them again, it was almost shocking to see how much they've grown to resemble their parents - I'm sure I look more like my mother every day too.

Wedding morning: 7/7/07. We packed into the coach and headed to the church. Full Catholic mass with choir and string ensemble. Box lunch for guests, then back to the hotel where everyone flocked to the spa and salon to prime themselves for the black tie reception. Formal tea ceremony, group pictures, staring at the 5-foot tall glossy canvas poster of the newlyweds... I had always pictured the reception in a big grand ballroom, but it was actually in the garden. Hanging vines and lights decked the ceiling (a la Babylon), and heavy clear curtain enclosed the space so it could be a cool air-conditioned garden haven. Buffet stations with dishes from Peking Duck to salmon en croute lined the perimeter, and the fountain was surrounded by banquet tables of fresh fruit. Fancy!

Some pictures:

Hubby in Batik!

Army of photographers and videographers

The reception area

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By the time we returned to Singapore, we only had a few days left. No time to waste; time to hit the food!

* My Humble House, Esplanade - We got a table by the window, and the view of the river and skyline was spectacular. Cool concept, great food!
* Gyu Kaku, CHIJMES - Had our fill of Wagyu steak and tongue. Yakiniku = love! For comparison, we also ordered American Black Angus beef... it didn't even come close.

Sizzling meat!

* LOTS of sushi. Here's a priceless moment at Ichiban Boshi in Esplanade:

E built the E-Towers Plaza 1 and 2 with our sushi lids. (I apologized to the waitress for my 5 yr old husband.) Before we left, he even built a mini showroom version for the conveyor belt. :)

Dinner at Ichiban Boshi was actually with hubby and the Ex. Long story, but he was in Singapore too. We went to the Top of the M for drinks after dinner, where the waitress tried to serve us "mo-cheetoh" (I swear it's true!). The drinks were pricey, of course, but I practically got a whole pot of lychee martini. Feeling munchy by midnight, we went to the Swensen's across the street, then shared a cab home. Between E's childhood friend (see previous post) and the Ex, walking around Singapore alongside two ang mohs was interesting; I got the most reaction from cab drivers, ranging from plain cold and unfriendly to one that tried too hard to speak fancy English, even when I put on the friendliest girl-next-door Singlish I could muster. Funny, feeling like a stranger in my own home.

On one of our last days there, we paid the National Museum a visit. It's been ages since I went, and now that it's redone, I looked forward to seeing it again. The inside is amazing! We spent a whole afternoon in the History Gallery and didn't have time for anything else. I'm so proud of how much information hubby gleaned from the visit.

It didn't take long for me to warm up to the new apartment. I realized that too when we moved from the house I grew up in to the last apartment - I guess it really is true that home is where the heart is. I already miss being right across the street from Toast Box!

Plans are shaping up for us to go back again in February. No side trips this time... just lots of shopping, eating, and mucking around at home. W00t!

The Trip: Part 2

2007-07-29T22:11:00.000-04:00

Nikko Bali Resort & Spa

On our last day in Bali, we decided to stay within the resort and enjoy its amenities. No more running around! The pool beckons.

Picking Nikko over the other hotels was an easy choice - it is owned and run by family - and we couldn't be more glad that we came here. The resort is gorgeous. From the location to the landscaping, the hotel always reminded us that we were on vacation in paradise. Balinese gamelan music wafted through the hallways, and you could catch the scent of frangipani even against the salty ocean air. Every elevator lobby had a stunning panoramic view of the pool below and the ocean, it's no wonder we kept missing our elevator. Our room was minimalist and modern; we were on the 10th floor and had a great view of the ocean. My mum and aunt shared a room on the 1st floor, which - get this - had a sliding glass door that led right to the pool. Yes! We had a basket of fresh tropical fruits in our room, which was much appreciated.

For breakfast each morning, we had a choice of American or Japanese. I was quickly addicted to the coffee and homemade yogurt at the Brasserie, and the silky smooth rice porridge at Benkay begged for seconds and thirds.

The gardens were beautifully laid out; anywhere you stand would practically make a great picture. (Placed on a cliff overlooking the ocean, it's hard to go wrong.) My one regret was not visiting their chapel, Wiwaha. One of the managers gave us a pair of Wiwaha champagne flutes anyway, but I wish I had visited the chapel to remember the glassware by.

A picture tells a thousand words; these are some photos we took:

E and I, being the solar-deprived Pittsburghers we were, decided to soak up some sun on the beach with our umbrella drinks. We might have been skimpy with the sunscreen lotion... it had been less than an hour, but later we realized we had been scorched. Hubby looked like a lobster and I had funny streaks on my legs (where I missed the sunscreen). Lesson learned: always use protection.

Before we learned about our need for aloe, we visited Mandara Spa for a spa sampler session. At the reception, we were treated to ginger tea and cool mint-scented towels - not a bad start. We were asked to pick among 4 aromatherapy oils for our massages, and then were escorted to a private villa. It was E's first spa experience and he was adorably shy about disrobing. First on the menu was a foot scrub - big bronze basins with rose petal water, lots of sea salt, and some essential oil. Then we moved to the massage table for a thorough (and authentic!) Balinese massage. Lastly, a warm bath was drawn in a huge stone bath in the garden, with lots of rose petals (we had fun with them); towels were laid out, and each of us got a tray with a pot of ginger tea and shortbread cookies. The whole thing lasted 2 hours.

(Being a photo freak, I had to take pictures of the spa too, of course:)

Hubby soaking in the bath

We really enjoyed our stay, even though we wished we had more time. Onward to Jakarta! (To be continued...)

The Trip: Part 1

2007-07-26T20:45:00.000-04:00

We arrived in Singapore on Sunday. My parents looked mostly the same; my dad lost some weight.

It was our first time in the new place. Our old building has been marked for redevelopment and they're going to convert it into some ridiculously posh condo with lap pools in each apartment - honestly, I think the real estate industry in Singapore has gone mad. For the rest of the day, we toured the surroundings, ate (E wolfed down 4 bowls of chicken porridge), and chilled around the house.

With law-defying odds, E's childhood friend from home happened to be in town too that weekend. (Really, what are the odds?) Microsoft put him up at the Ritz-Carlton (poor kid) but work kept him from sightseeing, so we took him on a quick tour on Monday. He likes durians! He met my parents at our wedding, but there's still something surreal about seeing them in the same room.

Bali Hai

Tuesday: A hop and a skip to Jakarta, then Bali's Denpasar airport. The city was typical of many Indonesian cities, until we got closer to Nusa Dua. The mesmerizing ocean reminded us at once that we were on the Island of the Gods. We stopped at the gate, the security guards circled the SUV with mirrors, we drove in; we arrived at Nikko Bali Resort & Spa. We got a warm and personal welcome, and laid out our itinerary for the next few days.

First, a visit to Bulgari's new hotel in Uluwatu. The resort was located on a cliff; each private villa was its own little sanctuary and had not only an outdoor pavilion lounge with sofas and a bar, but also its own infinity pool. Inside, the rooms were lined with dark wood and crisp white linen. The luxurious bathroom was, of course, stocked with Bulgari products and fragrances. Guests can soak in this extravagance starting at USD1,200 a night. :)

Villas facing the ocean

Luxurious bathroom; the staff spoke fluent Japanese

After the tour, we rode a golf cart to the bar, which was by the pool. The poolside area looked really inviting... the bar wasn't shabby either. We spread out on a plush black divan on the deck, where we had a stunning view of the ocean, and sipped on the most expensive iced cappuccino ever.

Pool area

E and I lounging around

Man oh man... if we had all the money in the world. We savored our coffee down to the last drop, then it was off to the other side of the island for dinner.

Driving in Bali was definitely not for the faint of heart. Our driver, thankfully, was a pro; he managed to squeak past scooters and vans on narrow dirt roads while everyone's going all directions at all speeds. He made good time AND didn't put a single scratch on the car. (E: "Traffic rules? Bah... they're more like guidelines, anyway.") Sometimes it was better not to look outside; there were too many narrow misses to be good for your heart. The gasps and "omg!"s from the back of the car would probably be distracting, and we really didn't want to distract the driver.

Indonesia works in mysterious ways; how we found our driver was one example. Upon arriving in Bali, my aunt simply made a long distance call to her office in Jakarta. In a matter of minutes, a young guy (who?) pulled up in a car (whose?) and voila, he was our reliable escort for the day. During the trip, my aunt complained about the car being too dingy. The next day, he greeted us at the resort lobby with a handsome black jeep. It's definitely not like a limo service; he's a friend of the family of one of the chauffeurs in Jakarta. But where did he get the cars? I didn't ask.

That night, after a seafood dinner at a Chinese restaurant, we retreated to the resort to find this ethereal sight:

Moon rising over the Indian Ocean

Day 2 was another day packed with sightseeing, starting with the iconic Barong Dance.

The Barong

Then it was a long drive to Ubud, the art hub of Bali set among rice padi fields and breathtaking landscape.

Rice terrace along the way; Mt Kintamani, a volcano and its surrounding lake and valley

Lush green rice padi field

Our first stop was a plantation that had vanilla, coffee, and cocoa beans, among others. There were a fair number of tourists, despite its remote location; the staff spoke Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch, English... We chatted (in Indonesian) about their incredible aptitude for picking up languages, and they laughed modestly. Samples of freshly brewed coffee, lemongrass tea, and hot chocolate were passed around; we picked up a lot of souvenirs.

Lunch was at a restaurant called Bebek Bengil, which translates to 'Dirty Duck'. The Dirty Duck Diner is popular among tourists for good reason; it is nestled among rice padi fields (great view), and diners sit in airy outdoor pavilions as they enjoy the duck specialty with sambal. Cool concept!

For E's benefit, we stopped at a Monkey Forest to watch mischievous Balinese monkeys at play.

Being in a place like Bali, we couldn't get away without getting souvenirs for everyone and their brother. We went into town, Kuta, to pick up knick-knacks for co-workers, neighbors, friends. The jeep passed the site of the 2002 bombing and the adjacent memorial; my mum emphatically warned E, "Don't tell your mum I brought you here!" We must've stopped in every store on the street. It was bustling with activity; locals were hawking their wares, traffic was heavy, shirtless Caucasian teens walking with their surfboards (it was a few blocks from the beach)... As the sun set, we gave up on finding the 'perfect' gift for our long list and called it a day.

After a long day of sightseeing and shopping, we were famished; we headed to Jimbaran beach to eat at Ubung Cafe. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. Rows upon rows of seafood vendors, with huge tanks of fish and other short-lived sea creatures ready for your picking; smoky grills fired up with hot charcoal, secret marinades and sambals in dishes. Stepping through the thick veil of grilling smoke, you see hundreds of tables illuminated by candlelight, right on Jimbaran beach, and while you hear the waves roll up to shore, you also hear guitars and serenading. Once you get over the smoke (which was really hard to ignore), it was a surreal beach experience... one of a kind.

Ubung Cafe on Jimbaran Beach

The next day was devoted to relaxing at the resort. Finally!

Reverse Culture Shock

2007-07-26T19:07:00.000-04:00

Just when the occasional reader thinks I've been kidnapped and thrown to the bottom of the ocean... a post!

Yes, I'm back - from the trip, that is. It was the best 2 weeks of the year (apologies to other fortnights, no hard feelings). There truly is no place like home! Now I feel odd being back, a little displaced, even though I've lived in this country for almost the last one-third of my life. Wow. It seems like just yesterday; packing up the car, teary goodbyes at the airport, emergency credit card, holding out for that food craving until I got home during the school hols... I never thought I'd leave home for good. *sniff* (Okay, I'm well-adjusted, really. I'm just PMSing.)

More about the trip later. First, a few thoughts about coming back:

* Americans suddenly look really... unhealthy.
* There are not enough coffeehouses, bakeries, and hangout places here.
* Thank goodness for our car, or we'd be pretty screwed (and bored).

My co-workers threw a little "welcome back" party with bagels, juice, a nice card, and a lot of questions. They loved their batik art, and everyone raved about the Balinese coffee I got for the common pot. (Last year I got tea from China, this year it's coffee from Java... you can say I'm sort of a modern day trader. Haha!) Nothing catastrophic happened while I was gone, my desk was just the way I left it, and a few hundred e-mails waited patiently. Just as a score of random colleagues wished me happy trails, a different set of random people welcomed me back. I thought I would be moody from the jetlag and withdrawal, but everyone was awesome and it made coming back a lot easier than I expected.

The apartment was a giant fur patch when we came back. The kitties have obviously been having a good time, and due to ambiguous feeding instructions, the cat-sitters have been giving them twice as much food. Pepper has replaced her trot with a lazy amble and her belly jiggles more noticeably; Salty just got bigger. Other than the aloe plant that got tipped over and a few disheveled rugs (from the kitties skidding across them), everything was fine.

There were so many things we didn't get to do, people we didn't get to see, but overall I'd say it was a pretty good trip. Hopefully it won't be long before we go back again - Chinese New Year would be fun, then we can introduce E, a REAL-chinese-new-year virgin, to the visual assault of red and gold on the streets, the new year music on loop at the malls packed with shoppers, endless feasting, and all that good stuff.

Pictures in the next post(s)!

Robopup

2007-06-07T23:49:00.000-04:00

Got to take portraits of E's toys at work today for the website, and I snuck in some fun shots while I was at it. This is what he tinkers with everyday... lucky bastard. Here's an old friend, Sony's AIBO ERS-7 - the source of much joy and frustration for hubs, an accomplice in his wedding proposal, an all-around sexy pup.

Sexy Beijing

2007-06-06T17:34:00.000-04:00

I've recently discovered a fun series on Youtube: Sexy Beijing. It's a collection of light social commentaries hosted by a spunky Jewish-American, Sophie aka Su Fei, in a well-done SATC parody (narration and all). Hilarious stuff! She goes out onto the streets interviewing the locals on various subjects from feminism to weddings to Christmas, giving interesting insights into lifetyles and culture in Beijing and beyond.

She speaks crazy good Chinese. (For a 'lao wai', anyway.)

Here's an episode:

Wildly entertaining. Check it out!

Wedding and Birds

2007-05-28T23:07:00.000-04:00

Back from my 2-month blogging hiatus, and I don't have much to report. Life goes on in its non-blog-relevant ways. Carnival, RI Gala, obscene amounts of retail therapy, seeing old friends, discovering simple pleasures... We hosted 2 big dinners: one Indonesian theme with R and 6 of the guys, one major fondue party with the Grey's Anatomy crowd. Hubs went from being ambiguously in his mid-20s to definitively in his late-20s, though he denies that he's any older than 21.

Ben got hitched this weekend. The bride is from Taiwan, and she had an entourage of 30 or so family members that are here just for their American wedding. They already had a big affair in Taiwan, maybe even two. Hubs was a groomsman, just as Ben was a groomsman at our wedding. Between them flipping roles, the relatives from afar, little things lost in translation, and the multiple ceremonies, it was like I was at my own wedding again. It's the cliche of two people from opposite ends of the globe falling in love, much like the Mastercard 'priceless' commercial, but it's such a complicated brew of emotions and it's weird to be able to say I've been there.

Anyway, it was beautiful. The ceremony was at the famous Heinz Chapel, and the reception was at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. When I wasn't ushering, I toted my little Drebel around.

Heinz Chapel and the magnificent stained glass

E's tux and bout, and the bridal party's flowers

I was miffed at my (cheap) zoom lens because I missed a number of good shots. If I had glass with IS, I could've rocked da hizouse. Of course, I'd rather not pay the price... you get what you pay for.

Much to my amusement, E was actually hung over at the wedding. He had a little too much with the guys the night before, and unbeknownst to the bride and groom, he was sick as a dog all throughout the wedding. (Thank goodness he didn't make a scene at the altar.) Of course, the guys sniggered and hi-fived when they saw E and his 32oz. bottle of Gatorade. Nice job, boys.

The wedding was in the afternoon; we took a short break after the reception and headed to Harris Grill with the gang for supper. By this time, E's liver was ready for more, so we went down to Soba Lounge for martinis, then back to PHI. Went to Pamela's for brunch the next morning, before everyone parted ways. Now we're just waiting for another wedding to have our next reunion!

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Went to the National Aviary this afternoon. It was my first time, and unfortunately it was a let-down despite all the hype I've heard. Still sore about my telephoto lens, I decided to get some practice. Got some good shots:

And my favorite:

The penguin was taking a stroll among giants - it was being escorted by staff and curious visitors to its exhibit, I think. Odd but cute.

Now that the sun's out for good, the bike trainer takes a back seat to the open road. Brought the bike out for a ride today - 12 miles through Schenley onto the Eliza Furnace Trail and back again. One of the guys at work has been nagging me to bike to work with him, and the office is just a bridge more from the end of the trail. I felt good today, and I think I may be ready to beat the morning traffic with my silver stead soon. We rounded the evening with Greek food and a hearty smoothie.

Long weekends make the first day back at work suck. Bedtime!

Escapades

2007-04-02T23:27:00.000-04:00

Been giddy with happiness all week.

* The boys had a BBQ fundraiser on Wednesday; we graced it with our geezerly presence. Dinner was a hot dog and a burger, and lots of great conversation.
* Watched Riverdance live on Thursday. It was hubby's first time, my second. Six years ago, I scraped together everything I had in my piggy bank to see it on Broadway in NYC. I still remember the seedy hotel in Manhattan where I stayed (it's what I imagine a nice POW camp would be like), walking around city block upon city block foraging for food, sitting in the back of the plane on the red-eye to LaGuardia, and being completely mesmerized by the dancers on stage when I was finally in the theater. Overall a sucky experience except for the show, which was what I was there for anyway. (It was also my first and last time in the WTC; 9/11 happened 3 weeks later.) Anyway, I was really glad E finally got to see it; he claimed to have always been fond of Celtic music. It looked like a smaller production than the Broadway version (due to a smaller stage), but I enjoyed the flamenco numbers and the dance-off a lot more this time.

By Friday I wasn't just giddy with happiness; I was squealing with joy. On a whim, we decided to drive down to DC for the opening of the 95th annual Cherry Blossom Festival. This would be the third sakura matsuri we've been to, but the first that we've gone at the beginning. It's been a while since we went away for a weekend, and it was a much needed break from the routine.

250+ miles and some highway adventures later, we met up with Ed, Fonda, Jen, Maria, Mike, and 2 of Mike's friends at Mie N Yu in Georgetown. We mingled among the urban sophisticates and took a tour of the place (they have a freakin' Bird Cage!) before shimmying on to Third Edition. Midori Sour in hand, we parked for a while on the rooftop patio by the tiki bar, checking out the beautiful people through the corners of our eyes. The DJ rocked. The dance floor was a mosh pit. At one point, some dude started dancing with me (as people are bound to do in clubs), but Ed (not hubby!) told him to beat it. Too bad, cos I was having fun, and I'm glad E let me have some fun too.

We stayed till closing; it was about 3am and people spilled out into the streets like bees being smoked out of their hives. We parted ways and by the time we got back to Maria's, it was about 4am. Woot!

Saturday: Late start. Rolled out of bed, showered, and got ready for a full day of sight-seeing. Aaron joined us at the metro station; we caught up on each other's lives during the ride to the Smithsonian. Like veritable tourists - camera bag, sunglasses, maps - we trekked down to the monument where the Kite Festival (Tako-age Taikai) took place. People were spread out in every direction on picnic mats, kids running around, little kites and big kites puttering along the grass and soaring in the sky... It was beautiful.

Big lizard kite - I get such a kick out of this picture because it looks like a lizard sticker on a postcard :)

Kite in the sky

Walking around on an empty stomach really worked up an appetite, so we made a quick detour to Chinatown for a bowl of noodles before heading to the National Building Museum at Judiciary Sq. E really wanted to take a picture with the women in kimonos, but even with goading from Maria, none of us had the guts to ask them. Somehow, though, I ended up in a picture with them.

Optical illusion: Between Aaron and E, I look like a midget, but with the Japanese women I felt like a big clumsy ogre.

We spent a good deal of time figuring out directions to our dinner venue, Sushi-Ko. It's the oldest sushi house in Washington, located at the northern end of Georgetown, and I figured it would be appropriate. I've been nutty excited about this place and made reservations for 6.30pm, so when we were lost in Dupont Circle at 6.25pm, I was a little frantic. Still... everything worked out.

We ordered a bottle of 'Snow Beauty' nigori (unfiltered) sake and, in a bold moment of fiscal recklessness, I ordered the omakase. The courses were:
1. Smoked salmon and ikura in lemon dressing
2. Miso soup with oysters
3. Lobster tail with ponzu sauce and sliced avocado
4. Nigiri sushi (including a raw-ish shrimp one - a first for me)
5. Mussels in (?)
6. Creme Brulee/sweet beancurd/flan

It was heavenly. I can't say I've had very many six-course meals, and even though the servings were petite and artful, I was stuffed by the end.

Hubby: "If we're gonna pay this much for the meal, we're going to take a picture, dammit!" That's me picking up my nigiri gingerly.

It started getting chilly after dinner; we huddled at the bus stop as we waited to be whisked back to the metro station. Upon returning to the Mall, I realized we had completely missed the Lantern Walk, but we enjoyed strolling around the Tidal Basin anyway.

(Man, I really should get to bed.) Finally, some pictures of the star of this weekend:

Click on the images to view a larger image

Recipe

2007-03-20T00:03:00.000-04:00

It's funny growing up in a polyglot household. My mum sent me a recipe for pineapple tarts (my childhood favorite, and now one of hubby's too) - it was originally published in Indonesian, but fearing my tenuous grasp of my mothertongue will cause a serious botch-up of the recipe, she translated it into my other mothertongue, even though she knows I'm going to translate it all into English anyway. (For the record, I fare reasonably well comprehending both languages, but I'd have to squint and pause for longer than I'd like. Success in a kitchen is all about expediency.)

Nastar (Pineapple Tarts)

Ingredients:
200g butter
3 egg yolks
50g powdered sugar
1 Tbs milk powder
250g plain all-purpose flour
25g corn flour
1/2 pineapple, crushed
100g sugar
2cm cinnamon stick
1 egg white, beaten

1. Cook the crushed pineapple until the liquid boils off. Stir in the sugar and cinnamon.
2. Mix the butter, powdered sugar, egg yolks, and milk powder until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the plain flour with the corn flour. Add the flour mixture evenly into the butter mixture, removing any lumps.
4. Using a spoon, roll the dough to form a cup and fill with the pineapple pulp mix. Seal into a ball and smooth the edges.
5. Grease and flour a baking pan. Place the tarts carefully in the pan and brush the tops with egg white. Bake for 20 minutes in 350 degrees F or until golden brown.

* Disclaimer: No responsibility shall be claimed for pineapple tarts gone wrong from any misinterpretation of the original recipe.

EDIT:
It came out great! Messy and a bit of a chore, but yummy. Corn flour = cornstarch. I reduced the amount of sugar, like I do with every recipe. The glazing doesn't quite work for me. Anyway, here it is...

Another weekend recap

2007-03-18T22:57:00.000-04:00

Friday: Asian pear martini + mojito + honey wine! Not a bad way to start the weekend. Hung out with the Obi's again.

Saturday: Dinner with P and T; had a close encounter of the baby kind. T is 7 months along and we talked about everything from morning sickness to shape-shifting bellies to saying "heck" to the name game with the in-laws and naming the kid Zorton.

Sunday: Either I'm getting lazy, or I think pictures do a much better job than I can.

Phipps Conservatory

For years, it's been one of our favorite places to visit (and coincidentally, where we got married). They added a new tropical rainforest exhibit, which looks fab. Can't wait for the rest of the additions to be completed.

Thai spirit house in the rainforest exhibit

The rainforest exhibit

When we got home, we had fondue for dinner, then E curled up on the futon for some reading. Reading's a lot more fun with some company:

Boy Meets Pittsburgh

2007-03-14T20:50:00.001-04:00

Beautiful and sunny... I never believed in Punxsutawney Phil, but spring did come early.

We went down to the Point and strolled along the water. It was deserted - just the sun, seagulls, and us.

Cats and Bags

2007-03-11T19:49:00.000-04:00

How to Catch A Cat

E was gone most of the week for a conference. Before he left, he was distracted preparing for a 3-hr long workshop to promote his software, so it feels like he's been gone a week.

It was quiet in the house. I puttered around in the kitchen fixing gourmet meals for myself two of the days, watched TV, surfed the web, read in bed. For 4 days, I was sole guardian of the cats. When E's around, he'd feed them and scoop the litter, and I would play with them. Not that I couldn't do those things either... feeding was easy. 1 cup, 2 cats, twice a day. Once in a while I've to make sure Salty doesn't stick his nose in Pepper's chow.

In the mornings it gets a little tricky. P & S scratch, claw, jump, nibble, trample, and do pretty much anything to get our attention, in the name of breakfast. By 6.30am, E would give up and roll out of bed, with the patience of a saint, and lovingly dole out their kibbles before climbing back into bed. When I have to be up in less than an hour, it's harder to keep a good humor about it. To protect my beauty sleep in my kitty-feeding aide's absence, I decided to keep the whining brats in the office downstairs. I enjoy the fuzzy company when I read in bed at night, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

The charming thing about a townhouse that predates even my grandparents' births is that over the years, the walls have warped ever so slightly that none, and I mean none, of the doors close the way they should. (Except the front door, of course.) It does wonderful things for our sense of privacy. At best, you can wedge a door shut by pulling it tightly against the frame, but the latch doesn't do anything. The problem is compounded by the fact that of the doors that close, the cats have figured out how to open them, and can sashay in and out wherever they please (imagine my near-heart attacks stepping out of the shower). All... except for the office door (dun dun dun!) So right before bed, for 3 evenings, I play hide-and-seek with the cats, trying to cajole/trick them into following me, the Pied Piper, so I can quarantine them behind the single closed door for the night.

Making a cat come to you isn't easy, and I don't feel good about resorting to trickery. Salty had to think it was playtime (his fuzzy toy with bells coyly slithers into the office...). Pepper had to think it was mealtime - I open the closet door where we keep the cat food, and instead of scooping up kitten chow, she gets scooped up (and lets out a confused "meow?") and tossed into the office. In the mornings, when I finally release them from 'prison', they meow frantically for breakfast and attention. I fill their bowls, and peace is restored.

E's back, much to the cats' relief - everything's back to normal. No more crazy woman trying to lock them up.

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I finally finished The Time Traveler's Wife. Amazing story, I gotta make E read it. At the third to last page, the floodgates opened and I started bawling. All of a sudden, I could feel Clare's emptiness and loss, I missed Henry deeply for her. I loved the ending, and I loved that when I finally put down the book, everything made sense despite the inherently illogical plot. Very satisfying read. Now I'm afraid I might not enjoy Love in The Time of Cholera as much - it may be written by a literary master, but it's got a bit to live up to.

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Bag-O-Rama

Went shopping with Liz on Saturday - my last girly hurrah before the hubby returned. We must've walked into more than a dozen stores. She's now well-equipped for the spring/summer, and I procured for myself not one, but two bags: a utilitarian Ann Taylor brown leather shoulder tote, and a cute petite black Coach satchel. A bag for all reasons and seasons! I've never been into bags until the last year; I'm slowly unleashing the inner bag diva and embracing the bag lady in me.

It's nice to have E home again. As much as I enjoyed having time alone, I did miss him. Now if you'll excuse me, we have some catching up to do.... >;)

Games

2007-03-11T13:49:00.000-04:00

Discovered some really cute games - creativity abound in cyberspace. Kind of as exciting as my discovery of these Flash games, but in a different way.

For Boys: SketchFighter 4000 Alpha
For Girls: Orisinal: Morning Sunshine

Cuteness overload!!

Toga!

2007-03-04T21:53:00.000-05:00

Went to our first toga party evvver. Definitely too old for this, but it was somewhere on our list of Things to Do Before We Die, so we had to make an appearance... don't tell. :)

6 yards of silk + 4 safety pins + 2 yards of rope from the drapery section at JoAnn Fabrics = a decent toga!

Pas mal, n'est-ce pas? There are an amazing number of ways to wrap oneself with a large piece of fabric, especially for a picky boy who's modest about his bod - kid in a blanket, Superman cape, beach towel, Buddhist monk, Indian sari, strapless and halter sarong... Looking like Caesar ain't easy. When we finally figured it out, he insisted on rummaging the closet for his plastic Roman sword. And voila, an emperor was made.

Most of the guys were in traditional bedsheets, but there were a few creative ones. No pics of our other toga-clad comrades, out of decency and the kindness of my heart, just this one of the resident pimp:

Sushi, Sugar 'n Skin

2007-02-28T22:55:00.000-05:00

Sick. Ick.

Went to see the new musical in town last Thursday, The Light in the Piazza; it was out of obligation but I was glad I went. Good seats, and the music was fantastic. By Friday I was already feeling pretty crummy; still, E and I went to a Grey's Anatomy mini-marathon at Ling's, who TiVO'ed the last two riveting episodes of the latest 3-part story. We joked about wearing scrubs, masks, and tags like on the show - a red one for me (highly contagious) and yellow one for E. Even though I'm not an avid follower of the series, it's hard not to catch the buzz. Everybody there was a die-hard fan. Okay, so it's not bad.

Saturday was mostly spent recuperating on the futon. I promised E it was time to install Ubuntu in proper, so we dug around my baby's guts, partitioned the hard drive, and had a little installation party. I've officially initiated into the world of Linux and open source. *tiny cheer*

Spending a Saturday afternoon wrapped in a blanket, drinking hot tea and tinkering on computers became vaguely unsatisfying after a while. Bummed about not being able to spend the day in town, we brought the town to us - sushi takeout, Dozen cupcakes, and a tub of Coldstone ice-cream.

Ta-da! Dinner on the town

That evening I felt a ton better, good enough to accept Jennie's invitation to a late night pseudo stitch 'n bitch. Had to dust the cobwebs off my amateur scarf-knitting project I started last summer.

The hosts treated us to Mexican Ibarra hot chocolate with a splash of liquor (I went with Bailey's). The gals huddled around with their knitting needles, the guys with their laptops, and we decided to watch the 1968 classic, Barbarella. It was.. psychedelic. I tried picturing our parents watching this flick in their 20s, making peace signs and eating brownies. Kinda hard to take an erotic sci-fi film seriously, especially when the antagonist is named 'Durand Durand'. Jane Fonda was hot. I know we're grown-ups and all, but all that skin was more than we expected (for something made almost 40 years ago, anyway). Here's a clip of the opening sequence - the unveiling of the heroine, so to speak... the guys really enjoyed it. :)

We stayed up till 4am listening to David Bowie, talking, and knitting. Felt fine on Sunday, but crashed again on Monday.

On the bright side, spring is near! Can't wait for color to come back.

Peachy

2007-02-22T00:37:00.000-05:00

Lou Hei! With the S'porean kiddos at our alma mater

Happy (belated) Chinese New Year! Wishing everyone a prosperous year of the oinkers.

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* The last piece of my V-day gift arrived. It's great. Dianne Reeves is a goddess.
* E is a sick puppy. Oddly, he has been somewhat dependent on my little just-in-case vial of Chinese medicated oil for the sore back and sinuses. Can we say, bwah?
* My mid-year review at work went well. I feel like I hauled ass for a myriad of other projects, but in the end, the only thing that counts is what I can show - consider the behind-the-scenes work for everything else a charitable contribution of my time.
* It was 48 deg F today - it might as well be April. This heat wave could foil plans for snowboarding/skiing this weekend... boo. I guess that means we'll be doing our taxes (joy!).
* I miss home.

That is all.

Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

Iced

Best random day off ever.

Woke up at 8am (oh, the luxury of sleeping in) because last night the weather hotline announced a late start for scores of people due to the treacherous snow and ice. A late start was already nice, but when I checked my work website and saw they announced a snow day, it was like striking the lottery. I slumped back to bed, with an acute appreciation for my satin sheets and a warm husband.

Finally rolled out of bed at 10am (!) and grabbed breakfast in my PJs. Exchanged V-day gifts with E - I got roses and Dianne Reeves, he got earmuffs... the biggest gift, though, was the gift of ditching Windows. "Just say no" - after all the mockery from Mac Boy and continuing general dissatisfaction, I've been contemplating this for weeks, so of all days, I finally made the switch today. Goodbye Windows, hello Ubuntu. Today is Day 1 of my test drive (lily-livered me can't go cold turkey) - I'm running the OS off the DVD for now and I've been playing around with GIMP and OpenOffice. Still exploring options and plug-ins for non-Linux supported applications, but so far I'm a happy camper. E is elated and has been more than helpful with troubleshooting.

After geeking about my laptop, we bundled up and ventured out into the icy wonderland for lunch. I love the sight of pristine, freshly fallen snow. The neighbors' yards were coated in inches of it; everything was so bright 'n white. That's one of my favorite things about winter - the snow, that is. Oodles and oodles. It made me want to make a hundred little snowmen.

We crossed the slushy roads, found refuge at a cafe and settled in a cozy spot. Nothing like bagels and hot coffee along with a good book. E later left to spend some time at the lab, and I continued on to Coffee Tree Roasters for more coffee and more reading. I finally started 'The Time Traveler's Wife', after holding Will's copy hostage for months, and I'm really enjoying it. By page 103, I've fallen in love with Henry. (I've finished half the book now, and am sorry that the story will end soon.)

Dinner was at Bangkok Balcony, as promised, and we had our usual. The place was packed. The guy at the next table planned an elaborate surprise with roses and balloons; his girlfriend reciprocated with lots of kisses. Valentine's Day may be a pathetic Hallmark conspiracy and gimmick, but sometimes I do get warm fuzzies.

The whole day felt sinful; it was weird bumming around on a Wednesday, and I kept worrying that when I return to the office tomorrow, my co-workers will give me a look and say, you're in trouble you skiver. But it was an awesome day and E is... well, I'll do everyone a favor and save the mush. No wild monkey sex, but that's okay.

The weekend approaches. To bed!

Flaming Kitchen

2007-02-12T22:57:00.000-05:00

One week before Chinese New Year, and I've already begun gorging myself! What can I say... you can take a girl out of Singapore, but never Singapore out of a girl.

Presenting the food orgy, in chronological order:

Wednesday: Neesha was in town, so Courtney, Mel, Chris, E and I joined up at Pinati's for some Middle Eastern fare. The place has the best hummus in town - we think the secret's in the tahini. Warm pitas fresh from the oven... mmm! We ordered shish kabobs and rounded dinner with the most decadent chocolate souffles.

Thursday: Had L & W over for dinner. I made the usual Chinese - pork with black soy beans simmered in a clay pot, baby bok choy - and a stray Indonesian dish, fried tempeh with kecap manis (E's favorite). We munched on edamame and broke out a semi-sweet table red. The highlight of the evening was the dessert that L & W had brought - cupcakes!! Not just any cupcakes, these were gems from the new bakery up the street that I've been craving for.

From Dozen: Orange Blossom, Snowball, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Vanilla Vanilla, Milk Chocolate

Friday: We invited Liz over for dinner. After a hurried trip to Whole Foods to fetch 2 lbs of yellowfin tuna and packed-'n-ready haricot vert (I'm a lazy bum, I know), I whipped up pepper-crusted seared ahi tuna, short-grain rice, the beans, and chopped salad, while E gave Liz the grand tour of our teeny apartment. We opened the organic pear wine from Four Chimneys (Liz raved on about it) and, even though we were stuffed, managed to have rich brownies (laced with chocolate ganache) for dessert.

It had been a rough week at work, and toiling in the kitchen after hours wasn't the best way to decompress, but I was pretty psyched... iron chefs never shy from a challenge!

Saturday: Another night with Liz, this time trading the kitchen for a huge tabletop grill - hibachi at Yokoso. There was a long wait, so we hovered at the bar and ordered a Sakura (sake + cherry brandy) and Malibu coconut martini. The martini was bliss in a glass. Our chef at the grill looked kinda young and new, and he took things slow and simple. Basic knife-flipping, easy does it with cracking the eggs and slicing the shrimp. The part during dinner where the lights go off and the flames go up, we had a tame baby flame. :) At least he made a little onion volcano.

Sunday (finale): No company for dinner, but it was fun all the same. It's the time of year for fondue; instead of the classic Swiss, we made one with gorgonzola, port, and walnuts. Dippers include seared beef tenderloin, granny smith apples, and cubed Italian bread. We had generous servings of port with the meal. Delicious - definitely will do it again for company.

Gorgonzola, port, and walnut fondue - recipe from Rick Rodgers

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Watched Pan's Labyrinth on Sunday. I walked in expecting a fantastical journey a la Chronicles of Narnia, but left feeling somber, shaken, and a little depressed. It was well done, and at parts I felt like I was cuddled up with a good book, though I couldn't stand to watch the gory scenes. The two realities were cleverly woven; I can't decide if the story ended well or not.

The Spanish definitely added to the enchantment (pun). Whenever E recognized a phrase, he'd lean over and repeat it excitedly in a whisper, "Vamanos!" "Un poco!" Pretty funny. Dark theater, dramatic scenes, and a boy shows off his vocabulary with vim. :)

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Countdown to Chinese New Year begins!

BFF

2007-02-10T23:34:00.000-05:00

The cats had been wrestling viciously with each other this morning. It was a neck-biting, paw-flailing, body-slamming, fur-grabbing, full-out rumble. Then the kids decided to take a break... nappy time.

Salty's paw resting on Pepper; Pepper stirs

BFF!

Artsy fartsy

2007-02-04T22:53:00.000-05:00

Went to the art museum today - lately I've had this strange urge to walk around aimlessly and watch people and things... no reason at all, just feel like it. It's too cold for the park, so I headed to the galleries.

E was a good sport and tagged along. We got in free; he as a student, I as a former docent. As soon as we walked through the double glass doors, I felt a sense of calm wash over me. The polished hardwood floors, tall sterile white walls, bright lights, and space... the art therapy begins.

The first few galleries we walked through showcased stuffy Victorian and Renaissance paintings and elaborate furniture. I learned a new word: garniture. Dictionary.com says it means something that garnishes (heh, duh), but an art buff will say it refers to a display of Chinese porcelain, in odd numbers, atop a cabinet or mantle. It's a European thing. Strange, no? A series of tilting helmets led us to a hallway filled with ancient relics from Asia and Africa. Ancient art is sometimes cool, but mostly creepy.

As we progressed on through the eras, back to the Renaissance and onwards to Expressionism and Surrealism, I became convinced that I will never understand art. Torn muslin, a wrangled piece of aluminium, paint splashed arbitrarily, and my favorite - an utterly blank, white, piece of canvas - these all have some abstract message behind them, from the atrocities of the Holocaust to the profoundness of life, the artwork being the physical expression of that epiphany. My 4-year old nephew could easily be the next Jackson Pollock, but his spaghetti scrawls won't be selling for millions of dollars.

Anyway... despite not being able to grasp some of the art (we are but common folk), we had a good time.

Giant dandelion: An exercise in futility

Great Love: My eyes hurt if I stare for too long

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Tried to make something fancy for dinner - rabbits with prunes. It's a popular dish among small restaurants in the French countryside, I was told. Except, since I was too lazy to pick up rabbit meat at Wholey's, I spared the bunnies for chicken and substituted the prunes with apricots (both swaps are totally acceptable, according to the recipe). So it's more like chicken with apricots... doesn't quite sound the same, but one can use some imagination. I didn't have enough of a pyromaniacal streak to do the flaming cognac bit, but nobody can tell anyway after it's soaked in red wine. Turned out well! I made sauteed potatoes and a simple romaine salad to go with it. This one's a keeper.

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I've jumped on the 'Heroes' bandwagon, and I'm officially a fan. The plot is riveting and the characters are well-cast; Hiro Nakamura is definitely my favorite. House and BSG currently take a back-seat - am I fickle or what?

Something about the weather

2007-01-29T19:49:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been hooked on a song that I always hear on the radio coming home from work. Totally dig it. It stays in my head and plays on loop for the rest of the night, but I don't mind. The lyrics could use some tweaking... personally, I'm tired of this weather, but I can see its charm. Boston is nice. :)

All work and some play

2007-01-24T00:37:00.000-05:00

Been busy - too much to blog about, too little time. Short trip to Erie, Feuerzangenbowle, more wine, virtual shopping in Australia, plans for the Jakarta trip, fleeting thoughts on various topics...

Jack is back - everyone's really psyched about the new season of 24, but personally I'm more excited about the mid-season return of Battlestar Galactica. Sunday's episode had a nasty cliffhanger - who are the final five?? Some speculate that Starbuck is one of them, despite it being highly implausible. My money is on Cally. Now that the D'Anna model series has been boxed, it'll be fun to see how Baltar will convince the others to rescue Xena, so the final five can be revealed. Ooh the suspense...

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Discovered this website lately. Cool beans! I was hooked on the Flash games, notably this one and this one. Very clever. Much like this series of games, though a lot more forgiving.

Time for bed... hope I'll be able to write more soon.

Appetite for the World

2007-01-13T12:12:00.000-05:00

It all started with our cotton anniversary.

E and I celebrated 2 years of not killing each other yet by going out to dinner. Last year we went to Casbah, a Mediterranean place with a stocked wine bar, which was pretty good. This year we decided to split one fancy dinner into 2 nice meals, for the heck of it.

First, we went to Abay, Ethiopian cuisine on S. Highland Ave. Very neat. There was regular seating, as well as tables that looked like oversized rattan tagines. We got a platter with kay wat, doro tibs, kay sir dinich, and tikil gomen, along with a steaming pot of yekemem shai (very much like chai tea). I was so proud of E, Mr. I-hate-eating-with-my-fingers, who dove in enthusiastically with the injera, Ethiopian flatbread. The stews were arranged neatly on the injera like paint on a palette. It was amazing; we're definitely going again.

The next evening, we went to our favorite sushi joint for the usual chirashi. Best sushi in town!

Then things got a little crazy. Two of E's associates from work flew in from Atlanta; we had to take them out to dinner every night they were here. First, we took them to Joe Mama's for hearty American-Italian - I had to get the giant tiramisu-in-a-mug. Then we had South/Southeast Asian fare at Spice Island Tea House, where I had to get the Belgian raspberry wheat beer. We took a break the next evening (phew), then picked up again with Greek/Lebanese/Middle Eastern food at Aladdin's (the grape leaves are to-die-for!).

From injera to nan to pita, from Africa to Japan to Italy to Burma to Lebanon, our tastebuds toured the world in 5 days. (We now have leftovers in the fridge to last us a week, and I can't bear the thought of walking into another restaurant for quite some time.)

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Last night, after eating Rice Krispies for dinner (see above for why), I headed to Lauren's for my first book club meeting. It was a meeting of a dozen or so impeccably dressed young women, all from the glamorous world of marketing and publishing, to talk about this month's read, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, a movie in making and virgin novel by local writer Michael Chabon when he was 21.

I put my contribution of a Louis Jadot Chardonnay on the table, together with 16 other bottles already there. I wondered how much we would be drinking... (book club? wine club?) I was the only one who didn't know anyone else besides the hostess, and NOT being from either marketing or publishing, I felt pretty out of it. I wished there were "Hello, My Name Is" tags for everyone. I bonded with a writer at Whirl, whose office was a few blocks away from mine. It was a fun estrogen fest where we spent 10 minutes actually talking about the book, and the rest drinking and picking at hors d'oeuvres and gossiping.

The fiances and husbands started streaming in around 10pm, E included, to make fun of all the drunks and drive them home - not before a rowdy video game on the big screen in the basement. At the end of the night (12.30am), we kicked eleven bottles of wine (not counting the 4 or so bottles that went into the mulled wine) - damn. The next meeting will be in March, reviewing Shoot the Moon, a murder mystery by Billie Letts.

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Congratulations to my best friend, my mentor and tormentor since we were 13, who recently got engaged to his gal of 8 years. It's about damn time! :) I wish the two of you nothing but the best for the future. Come visit us when you get the chance!!

Christmas/New Years post

2007-01-07T14:58:00.000-05:00

Feliz Ano Nuevo to one and all! First post of 2007. Feel like I should take a moment to revel in this moment. Mmm. Okay.

** I added "tagging" to this blog, awkwardly I think. The pesky thing about porting a Wordpress template to Blogger is that it looks like Wordpress, but is still confined by Blogger rules, meaning no category tagging. I resorted to a crass del.icio.us hack - not the most elegant solution, but it'll have to do for now. **

Spent the holidays in Connecticut again. We packed the minivan full of wrapped gifts, food, snacks, suitcases, and zipped down the Interstate eastwards. We heard our hosts got a dog, and were worried that Tweety, the family cockatiel, had kicked the bucket at the ripe old age of 22, but we arrived to hear barking and incessant screeching. Good to see the bird again.

Nothing terribly exciting (other than the Boston sidetrip - see previous post), it was another PG-13 family vacation with a few things of note:

Every year we have a theme, and this year it was 'Down Under', complete with didgeridoos, aboriginal clapsticks, costumes, and a scavenger hunt, where we needed an Aussie slang dictionary to decipher the clues.

Jess went to the Bahamas and brought back some local rum. Our eggnogs were noggin' real fine.

We tried cranberry panettone for the first time, and it was incredible! Can't believe what we've been missing all this time.

Made our own pizzas one night - a regular chicken and vege, and a Hawaiian. To my surprise (horror?), the in-laws have never tried the latter. Sacre bleu! Unfortunately, after trying a piece, they didn't care for it.

Got a glimpse of how house-training a dog can be fun and a pain in the butt. Lulu, the new dog (Jack Russell/unknown breed mix), has only been there for 3 months; getting to know a dog can be tricky business (pun intended). One of E's aunt's Christmas gifts was the Dog Whisperer training DVD set with Cesar Millan. We watched the entire first disc (after showing the folks the South Park episode with Cartman - we just had to)... wow. Other than being unnecessarily dramatic and a little far-fetched, it was pretty entertaining. But I'm glad we don't have a dog.

I tried my hand at pottery for the very first time! Very cool. I loved the feel of cold wet clay; making something out of a pile of mud is a lot harder than it looks. My first pot turned out kinda gimpy, it's definitely not symmetrical but my mentor generously said it's "got character".

First pot!

And since I'm fond of lists, here's another one for my Christmas loot:

Sudoku puzzles and... a Sudoku Rubik's Cube! *evil*
Silk Pashmina wrap
Fresh Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans - just add rum/vodka to make my own extract (neato)
Fuzzy socks!
Barbara K toolbox
Cool pieces of pottery
Assortment of fancy tea
Swarovski pendant
Homemade honey from Jesse the beekeeper
2 Haruki Murakami novels in paperback

Hubby went all out this year. The first gift I opened was a Sigma bike computer - spot on. I rattled the next box, which was pretty light... After undoing the tangle of wrapping paper, the package revealed... an iPod Nano! Probably the most overrated and common gift this holiday, but whatevs. Back when MP3 players haven't become a mainstream must-have, I had gotten E the 4th generation iPod. Recently, I've been taking it with me to work, so I guess this was a clue that he wanted it back. :) Just as I was bubbling with joy, E pointed out the engraving he had ordered on the back, and I started bawling. (Okay, so I'm a girl.)

My gift for him was outdone by the wee music stick, but he still jumped for glee - 1GB of extra RAM for his new laptop. I got 4GB of memory, and he got some too. Fair's fair! (Though it was uncanny how we spontaneously got each other tech toys. A pair made in geek heaven.)

Boy's gift to me

My gift to boy

C'est ca, the Christmas line-up. On NYE, we toasted with the Spumante from our trip to the Finger Lakes and played with too many sparklers outside.

Phew. Mighty post, I'll say... so there you have it!

Beantown for a Day

2006-12-29T23:47:00.000-05:00

This oughtta be a Christmas post, but it'll have to wait.

Decided on a whim to make a day trip to Boston, which is only about a 2-hour drive from where we are in Connecticut. Haven't been there in over 7 years (holy cow!), but much was still the same.

Jesse and hubs came with me, as we took the little Jetta through wind, snow, ice, and finally sun again. We stopped at Concord, MA, home of the American Revolution, to visit my alma mater. Bittersweet memories. I was 16, it was cold, I was on my own. I learned a lot pretty quickly.

Entrance to the campus; my old dorm, a little spiffed up but still the same

Chapel where we spent every other morning

We wanted to walk down Main Street for a bit, but our little butts were freezing, so we set off for the train station. The commuter rail ran less frequently than I remembered... we piled back in the car and drove to Alewife, the western end of the T's red line, and took the subway into Chinatown for lunch. No more little gold tokens; the MBTA now had CharlieCards, similar to DC's metro cards and named after the Kingston Trio tune. (Jess' second subway trip ever, so he was a little apprehensive. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?")

Chinatown was still filled with interesting smells, as I remembered. I recall many Saturdays wandering aimlessly in the Common and that section of town, and I knew Chinatown like the back of my hand. Naturally, I was embarrassed when we had a little trouble with directions, but we finally found China Pearl, the best dim sum I could find during my high school days. Hubs and I ate like wolves, while Jess poked his food around suspiciously with his chopsticks, awkwardly held, and the Southern conservative in him raised all kinds of alarms as he surveyed the banquet hall full of Asians. Poor boy was like a fish out of water. Still, gotta give him credit for trying my favorite dim sum dish ever, feng zao (chicken feet) - although, when he originally guessed the stringy meat could be testes, anything's gotta be better.

Satisfied, we hobbled out of the restaurant and walked around the park. There were kids skating on the Frog Pond, dog-walkers, peacoat-clad Bostonians with their iPods...

Boston Common

After we had enough of the cold, we sought out a bar for an afternoon drinkie drink. Nothing more appropriate than a Sam Adams - even better, at the Cheers pub. Between the actual bar the sitcom was based on, and the replica of the set, we arbitrarily decided to visit the replica at Faneuil Hall Marketplace (also by Quincy Market). Even though I had gone to school where the Minutemen were, a few minutes from Walden Pond and home of American legends like Emerson and Thoreau, I had never been to Faneuil Hall, the Cradle of Liberty. Similarly, I had never been to the Boston Market!

Sam Adams stands tall in front of Faneuil Hall; Quincy Market across from Faneuil Hall

Like a true Bostonian (or tourist) - Sam Adams in a Cheers mug

Quincy Market at dusk

We checked out the shops along the row before heading back on the subway to Porter Square in Cambridge. Porter Exchange was one of my old haunts, for the plethora of Japanese goods and the Japanese grocery store that has almost everything. Sushi at Blue Fin was a must, and it was easy on a student's budget. We browsed the stores briefly and reluctantly ruled out sushi for dinner, although I had already been looking forward to revisiting Elephant Walk, chic Cambodian/French cuisine on Mass Ave.

We were seated by the brick wall, and I promptly ordered a glass of the house Cab to warm up. The boys ordered from the prix fixe menu; I got a salad with beets, oranges, fresh Italian basil and blood orange vinaigrette, and a Cambodian Loc Lac. Very tasty.

The walk back to the train station was brisk (28 degrees!), and while the streets were still bustling with activity, the rush hour crowd had definitely dissipated. We rode to the end of the line and just like that, we concluded our little impromptu day trip.

If it hadn't been for the holidays and short notice, I would've liked to meet up with old pals from back in the day... well, next time!

Pilots

2006-12-10T01:54:00.000-05:00

Paper mosaic of an airline cabin

I have a little thing for men in uniform - it's largely why I enjoy my layovers in Frankfurt, because the boys in green are such a pleasant pick-me-up. Spotting one is good; seeing them in droves is better. (It actually wasn't until those German boys that I realized I even had a thing for uniforms at all.) Still, as uniform-fetish neophytes are, I'm picky about what kind of men in what type of uniform. Pilots and bookish doctors in lab coats, hot. Donut-munchin' power-tripping rent-a-cops, not so much. Men in camo, studs and duds alike, don't really do it for me. There are a myriad of reasons for loving those dress blues on a guy, and most don't require explanation. *wink*

So anyway - a few days ago, through the wondrous magic of a popular social networking site, I reconnected with my first crush (let's call him K), and found out he's a pilot. Saw a picture of him, in his uniform, standing proudly next to a Learjet. 10 years ago, I would've melted into a puddle of mush. I waited to become smitten all over again, but nothing happened. If it was possible, he became less attractive. (Oh, the follies of youth...)

Yesterday, we went to a party themed "Snakes on a Plane". (Woot!) Leis for guests, costumes encouraged. I was an air stewardess, complete with black stockings and scarf, and - funny coincidence - E was a pilot. I told E about K and his flying career, and didn't get much of a reaction, as he taped black paper epaulets on his white dress shirt. Who knew... E made a really hot pilot. If I had to choose between E and K, purely on looks, I'd pick E a million times over (though I won't trust him in a cockpit).

With the cap'n, and with Jim

The party was kickin'; I got groped and licked, though what really took the cake was getting hit on by a 20 yr old. (Poor fella!) Girls were eyeing my pilot, and he got his butt grabbed a couple of times. I threw in the towel at 2.30am, and E didn't come home till 5am. (We spent most of today recovering.)

So, I guess the clothes do make a man. Or not? One's just a costume, one's worn everyday to work, but they transform the man who dons it to different degrees, in opposite ways from what I'd imagine. Does that even make sense? I don't know.

Captain's back to being a dorky student again as he scrambles to prepare for his semesterly evaluation on Monday for his doctorate. No more parties to look forward to for a little while...

Lawrence 'n Mac

2006-12-05T01:25:00.000-05:00

Pics from Lawrenceville.

Patriotic mural; Allegheny Cemetery on Butler Street

(Strangely, I didn't take a single picture of any of our stops on the cookie excursion, but I couldn't pass up the fantastic mural and the cemetery.)

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Christmas came early in Squirrel Hill; E was so excited he couldn't contain himself. His MacBook Pro arrived today. We thought it'd be another 2 days, but like Christmas morning, there was a package on our doorstep waiting to be ripped open. (First, when he saw 'CN' on the origin address, he thought "Oh, Cincinnati! It'll be here in no time. Wait.. Connecticut? No... Shanghai.. China?!?" Hubs missed a few geography lessons as a kid, but he knew that when the package was in Tennessee yesterday, it won't be much longer.) Finally, after a weekend of agonizing, he got his Christmas splurge today. Thing of beauty... I couldn't help drooling too. E was on cloud nine. It's been a long time coming and he really deserved the upgrade from his 20GB hard drive, 700MHz (bwahaha!), 12" screen iBook. Now, with the MacBook Pro's 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, he has absolutely no excuse to slack off while his code is compiling.

Then & Now: 9 yr old E with a MacPlus, his first computer, and E this evening with the machine of his dreams

Late night ruminations

2006-12-02T01:05:00.000-05:00

*Shameless plug alert* I'm gonna be on TV! Kinda. There will be fleeting glimpses of me on 2 TV ads that will begin airing this weekend, as part of the new marketing campaign at work - my 1.5 seconds of fame. We filmed 3 weeks ago and were told today that they're ready. (Also did some photos - don't know when the print ads will be done.) The commercials are kinda cheesy, of course, but still exciting. The top brass at marketing has given me generous doses of good career advice over lunch, I felt obligated to return a favor. :)

Been watching a movie on cable... god it's late. (2.52am!) I'm blubbing like a baby and hubs has moved to the study to let me wallow in my hormones. I should get to bed. It's chilly; it was 65 degrees F this morning, and after some rain and gale, it's plunged to a frigid 25 degrees. The weather is finally back to normal for this time of year, though we've been spoiled by the Indian summer. Hope there'll be some sun for the cookie tour this weekend! It'll be a reprise of last year's trip, except this time we're going with Liz and others. Looking forward to visiting cool shops and cafes while sampling sweets and picking up recipes. (Mmmm!)

Gotta haul my lazy arse to a psych research experiment bright and early tomorrow... at least it pays well (thank you NSF). Bedtime for bonzette!

Home :)

2006-11-28T00:18:00.000-05:00

*sigh*... Good to be home.

Before we could yell at Salty for being on the dining table, he found the salad bowl, hopped inside, and made himself comfy; watching the telly next to hubs and a sleeping kitty.

Gobble gobble

2006-11-27T00:29:00.000-05:00

Pooped and dog tired, but figured I should mark the bloggie with a Thanksgiving recap.

Went to the in-laws' again, and had the turkey feast at dad-in-law's old colleague's up in Westmont. (It was really a test of willpower; it takes steely resolution to deny a second helping, even if you feel you're going to burst at the seams.) Like last year, I contributed a salad to dinner - just a classic Waldorf salad, nothing fancy, but I wanted an excuse to use the mango wood salad bowl set the hosts got us for our wedding. I wanted to give a little more than a lonely salad this year, so I added a mixed berry dish with mint-honey yogurt dressing for dessert, which I think ended up being more popular than the Waldorf. Our table at dinner was a riot; heard about a couple's adventures in Belo Horizonte, which fueled my unshakeable itch to visit that area (Brazil/Ecuador/Peru). Some day!

I skipped Black Friday entirely (*pat on my back*) and laughed while I read about the stampedes at the malls the next morning. Drove 4 hours west to spend Saturday and Sunday with C's family, old and new. When C and I were wee freshmen in college, I used to visit them all the time; now, with husbands and a baby, it was tres bizarre. Worlds collided. We stuffed our faces with incredible home-cooked food, cooed over Baby and played with puppies, huddled over board games and laughed over stories. C's sister didn't fly her dogs over from Texas, but her mum showed me little booties and a leopard print winter coat for her chihuahua. Ridiculous! Anyway, we had a great time and miss them sorely already.

Coming home to our little apartment in the city was a bummer, after what seemed like forever with a full house of family and friends. Still, nothing beats two warm kitties cuddling up to you and purring because they're happy to see you. :)

STG20

2006-11-20T01:48:00.000-05:00

You know you're old when you feel icky and broken after 3 straight days of light social drinking. Bleah. But I got my fill of midori sours, Belgian beer, and a good g&t or two! It's fun when the old geezers come back for a visit - yay for spontaneous reunions.

Pics from White Rose Formal. Happy 20th anniversary guys!

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Surrounded by good men

Hubs got his share of pimpin'. He had fun with the girls, methinks.

With Dean, who is cute and unavailable

Hey hey, we match!

That's all of my non-fuzzy pics. Sigh, yet another manic Monday, and then it's time for tryptophan overload! :)

Little Asian Girls Dumpling Sweatshop debut

2006-11-13T01:51:00.000-05:00

Spent the day at J's making dumplings with IC. We had been planning this for a long time, and even went shopping at the Strip yesterday to pick out the best ingredients. We finally got together, after all the excitement. (Although between the dumplings and Asian chickiness, I think the boys were more excited than we were. E was, anyway.)

The guys were gracious enough to vacate the first floor so we could have our estrogen parade in the kitchen. Once in a while, Marek checked in, brewed fancy tea for us, and put on fantastic jazz - Charlie Parker, Dizzy, Coltrane, Miles Davis, all on vinyl.

What do 3 Asian girls have in common? Let's see - demanding mothers, impossible mother-in-laws, Korean dramas, love of food, boy gossip, the cliche 'coming to America' experience, our Caucasian counterparts and the compromises we make, going home, comparisons of Japanese/Chinese/Korean stereotypes... The hours flew by. Everything about the whole afternoon was so cliche, it shouldn't be a shock if I said it helped me get in touch with my roots. (Cliche!) It was like chicken soup for the soul.

As dinnertime approached, the guys set up the table, chilled the sake, and decanted the wine; we must've made over 250 dumplings, they likened us to a dumpling factory. We dined with Peruvian music for some global well-roundedness.

It was a blast - nothing is more satisfying than a dinner with friends.

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And now, the story told in images:

Once upon a time, there were 3 Asian girls...

... who decided to have a dumpling party...

... and invited their beaux and friends for a jolly good time...

Tasty home brew, lovingly made right in their basement

All's well that ends sweetly:

Home-made apple pie, choc cake, and British bubble tea (made with Earl Grey)

Brit humor and wine

2006-11-06T01:09:00.000-05:00

Spent the weekend observing two different strains of brit humor, a la Sacha Baron Cohen and Rowan Atkinson. On Friday night, we had dinner with L and W at a hibachi grill, then watched Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. What a show - we walked out of it speechless. Between the grossly inaccurate portrayal of Kazakhstan to the raucous scene at the hotel (oh! my eyes!), I wasn't sure if it was possible for me to cringe and sink any deeper in my seat. If I had to pick a 'favorite' scene, it would be the bear on the ice-cream truck. That man has a gift for pissing off large crowds of people without being fazed even a bit. What a transformation from Ali G... and he's engaged to Isla Fisher! Brave woman - the thought of seeing Borat in his underpants... *shudder*

Saturday night, I vegged out on the couch and watched the entire 2nd season of Blackadder. It was okay - I had to experience the show after hearing so much about it. Like everyone else, I thought the Queen was a riot, and I can't wait to see Hugh Laurie as Prince George in the 3rd season.

---------------------------------

Had a low-key celebration of our dating anniversary by stocking up on booze at Stone Villa Wine Cellars, our local winery of choice for years. It was a good day.

Hardy evergreen by the little lake on the winery grounds

A small pier by the vineyard

The lake at dusk

I'm a horrible baker, but I mustered all my efforts and made a little surprise for E. It was almost a disaster, but I'm glad it turned out edible. :)

Happy anniversary, honey!

Halloween weekend

2006-10-31T01:06:00.000-05:00

There were some kick-ass costumes. South Park's Satan, Ninja Turtle, Captain Zissou, robots (with freaky likeness), Gir, Gilligan of Gilligan's Island (complete with coconut drink), the whole cast of Kill Bill... Steve was a leaf-blower - he fixed a leaf on a baseball cap and occasionally puffed at it. I'm impressed at the number of men who are secure in their manhood - Britney Spears and Catholic/Japanese "schoolgirls", Chippendale, masked masochist... M was Beatrix Kiddo in a body-hugging yellow jumpsuit. Ballsy! (no pun intended - ha!)

I met a few celebrities on my rounds.

Jesus armed with a gun (incidentally, he is Jewish)

Jennie gives a scary impersonation

Chuck Noland and Wilson make a guest appearance

Each party had its characters; a fun time was had by all.

Elle Driver, The Bride, and Pai Mei getting it on

With Jamie and her crew of pirates

Happy Halloween!

Les Pommes!

2006-10-18T21:59:00.000-04:00

What's fall without admiring the foliage and... picking apples! Pictures from apple-picking last weekend at Simmons Farm.

Pumpkins galore! Adopt-a-Jack for Halloween?

Faces on display

Apple-picking time! A Jonagold apple tree brimming with fruit

E picks apples...

... I eat them. (I look worried here)

Bountiful harvest - half a bushel of apples for all the pies and crumbles our little hearts desire

First apple dish - honey-filled baked apples with crumble topping. 'Twas goooood.

Had an apple kick after watching an apple-centric episode on Food Network while on the bike. (Watching Food Network during a workout... am I sick?) We're down to less than half the apples we picked, and we're slowing down. There are only so many apples one can eat, y'know? Still, you gotta be crazy to deny fresh homemade apple pie. Mmmm!

Lettuce wraps and kids

2006-10-14T23:22:00.002-04:00

Salty is adjusted. He terrorizes every rug in the place, eats out of Pepper's bowl, and knows how to get E to do his bidding. I think he's doing fine.

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Went to PF Chang's for dinner tonight - we've had a hankering for the chicken lettuce wraps. As we were digging in, the couple seated next to us very casually turned their conversation to our lettuce wraps.

Guy: "Ooh, those lettuce wraps look really good."
Girl: "Yeah, they do. Looks yummy."
Guy: "What are those green things? Chilli?"
Girl: "No, I think they are green onions. Chopped up, you know."
Guy: "I guess so. What else is in there?"
Girl: "Ground chicken, and they put those crispy white rice noodle things underneath..."
(long conversation about our wraps ensued)

The couple literally sat 5 inches away, which punctuated the strangeness of it. Now, I'm no priss, but that's weird, knowing that strangers are gazing longingly at our food and watching us carefully bundle up our wraps, picking it up and biting into it. It was blatant, unabashed looking of the zoo exhibit kind. As much as I enjoy eavesdropping on neighboring conversations or feel the burning desire to comment about something or someone when I eat out, I'm at least discrete about it. E the friendly creature sometimes sniggers at other people's jokes, and I don't waste a second in kicking him and telling him it's creepy. Every party has their own little bubble, and the boundaries of the bubble should be respected. Our bubble was trespassed. Should I have offered them some?

Bizarro.

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There is an episode of Sex and the City where Charlotte throws a fit, because while she was at a friend's baby shower, she found out that the friend stole her 'baby name' that she thought up when she was 11.

I've always wanted to name my daughter Aubrey Mae - 'Aubrey' after the song by Bread, and 'Mae' cos it's simple and pretty. (Kinda Southern, though.) Well, it just so happens that C, my freshman year roommate and matron of honor, named her newborn daughter Audra Mae. D'oh! That's too close. I wonder if she'll forgive me if I still name my future daughter Aubrey. Audra. Aubrey. Doesn't it sound the same? It's like finding a dress twin at a black tie event, except the awkwardness lasts longer than just one evening. Well, I might not even have a girl (jinx!), so it's all moot anyway.

Since C and hubby chose to wait to find out the sex of their child, everyone else had to wait too, and they are lacking in girly nursery things. Today I bought a fuzzy pink cap with little bear ears, and a super soft pink fleece blanket with silk lining. Also got a gift card for the new parents - some spa pampering goodness from Bath & Body Works for the mom, and maybe another memory card for the camera from Best Buy for the dad.

E was at the cafe in Barnes & Noble, working on his laptop, when I walked towards him with the brown Baby Gap bag. He was genuinely anxious and confused. "Honey, do you have something to tell me?" Finally I decided to let the poor boy go and told him it was for C. Guess we're not ready yet! At least he's doing his paternal thing with the kittens. One step at a time...

-----------------------------------------

M and J aren't ready for more either, but they recently adopted 2 little kittens and named them Leela and Fry. One step forward. It's been over a year since they moved in together, and things for them are peachy.

C is a mother now. Wow.

It's scary how lives change so drastically in a few short years. If I had told myself 10 years ago that this would be my life, I would've laughed. Sitting in PF Chang's, looking at the mass-manufactured terra cotta warriors standing in the American Chinese bistro filled with yuppies on Saturday night, dining on overpriced food in oversized plates, talking over John Mayer and Anna Nalick while sipping on Pinot Noir. Almost exactly 10 years ago, I was peering over the real terra cotta warriors in their pits at the Museum of Qin in Xi'an, China, with 60 others in my class for a history field trip. I listened to Michael Learns To Rock, I had never kissed a boy, and all I wanted was to do well in my 'O' levels. All of a sudden, I'm here on my own, driving to a job every morning, married with 2 cats, eating at yuppie chain restaurants with fake Chinese relics. Trippy. It really feels like just yesterday.

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I caved in and bought the book by Anchee Min. It's not brilliant, but owning it means I can lounge in my PJs and read it in my own time, instead of hovering around the bookstore.

Time to read!

Salty

2006-10-09T21:56:00.000-04:00

His brother Paco, the tuxedo one, couldn't let him go - Paco kept pawing him through the kitty carrier. His mother and the other white one, Corky, were taken a few days ago; Paco was all he had left, until now. It was a heartbreaking moment, but it was for the best. Off Paco went, while the little guy stood at the bottom of the stairs squeaking his little heart out. It was just him and Pepper.

------

4 days later, the little guy seems quite acclimated. He's gone through several names - Untitled, Tu Madre (Tengo Nada), Tomato... finally, we decided to name him Salty. Get it? Salt 'n Pepper. Their coats are color-appropriate too, so we couldn't resist.

Now, when I come home from work, I hear the pitter patter of 8 paws, and see 2 furry heads peeking from behind the door.

I think they're going to be great friends.

Oopsies

2006-10-03T22:27:00.001-04:00

Gotta watch out for cuffed pant legs. Lesson learned.

Sashay to water cooler. Fill mug with water. Return to desk. (Pants go swish swish.) See the director (my boss) and senior VP chatting in her office. Smile. Heels get caught in pant cuffs, trip and flail, mug throws water on face. Conversation halts, all eyes on me.

Boss: "Are you okay?" Senior VP looks amused.
Me: "Yup I'm fine." Flash big grin. Water dripping from face, secretly wishing I could die.

@#%$*#%.

Simple pleasures

2006-10-01T01:19:00.000-04:00

Sigh... rough week at work. Colleagues concur. Heard at day's end yesterday: "Time to go home... and drink, very heavily." Amen.

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For some time, I've been itching to uncover the title of the piece my dinky digital piano plays for its demo. I've always assumed from the style that it was Chopin, and I managed to mimic the first dozen measures or so. Finally, on E's brilliant suggestion, I checked the manual. Voila - there it was. Not Chopin, but Liszt, Consolation No. 3. Simple, light, unpretentious, beautiful. After procuring the sheet music, unfortunately, it proved to be a tougher feat than I expected. 4/4 instead of the 6/8 I assumed (so it wasn't just the rubato); like a hemiola, with 2:3 syncopation. (Every time I think of 'hemiola', I always want to say 'hernia'.) Merdre.

Anyway, today I made an equally bizarre discovery - I found Horowitz playing this piece on YouTube. Holy smokes! Horowitz, the man every serious pianist worships, playing a rather obscure piece that I happen to be obsessed about, on the same medium that broadcasts SNL skits and amateur home videos. (I guess anything goes!) I dug up more videos of concerts with Martha Argerich, whom I grew up listening to, and other heavyweights like Sgouros, Yundi Li, and Lang Lang. The close-ups! The action on the keys! There was even one of Sgouros when he was 17 or some obscenely young age, banging out the Rach 3.

YouTube has newfound respect from me. I will be back... again.

--------------------------

Went to the bookstore today to unwind. I thumbed through Anchee Min's Empress Orchid and ended up reading a fair bit of it. The last time I tried reading two books at once, it was an utter failure - I ended up losing interest in both. We'll see how far I get this time, though The Time Traveler's Wife takes priority. (Must finish!)

Off to read in bed...

Fall

2006-09-29T01:11:00.000-04:00

First week of fall. It's been the longest week ever. Maybe it's the dark, cold mornings... or the evenings that end so much earlier than I want them to. Lethargy all around, sweaters and knee-high boots, talk about Halloween and turkeys and such crap.

The good news is, it's symphony season again. Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1 this weekend, featuring Leila Josefowicz; Shostakovich next week, and more excitingly, Bruch's Violin Concerto during Thanksgiving weekend.

Finally, at long last, I'm embarking on The Time Traveler's Wife. I was promised a good sobbin' in the last twenty pages. Need to finish reading Love in the Time of Cholera before the movie comes out next year.

Ugh. TGIF.

Kitty networking

2006-09-23T21:22:00.000-04:00

I started an account on Catster for Pepper. Look! Within 4 hours, she already has 17 kitty friends. What a ham.

Breakfast matters

2006-09-22T00:16:00.000-04:00

This morning, like every morning, I brought my trusty oatmeal raisin breakfast-on-the-go to work. Don't know why I never tried this before - the package said to try zapping it for 10 seconds in the microwave for warm oatmeal raisin goodness, and it sounded really yummy. So I stuck it in the oven in the office's kitchenette, and set it for 10 seconds. Beep! Pop crinkle fizzle. Fearing the worst, I stopped the oven and yanked the door open, hoping to save my breakfast from anything untoward before too late. Alas, I already was too late. What a sight - the wrapper had clung to the poor cookie like it was vacuum-packed, and the sorry block of toxic oatmeal looked like a piece of purple tempeh. Grudgingly, I tossed it out, and with that moment of stupidity, I gave up breakfast. (Edit: In small font on the back, packet read "Remove from wrapper." Me dumbass.)

I know starving in the morning does evil things to one's metabolism, but somehow, because I missed breakfast, I felt vindicated in scarfing down a giant sandwich at lunch. Dinner was at Spice Island Tea House, where I had pad thai and raspberry wheat beer (tasty!). After that, we made a pit stop at Dave & Andy's for choc chip cookie dough ice-cream. Confession: I have not had a lick of ice-cream for over a month. Oh, the humanity. I had forgotten how sinfully good it was. Calorific, too.

After being a pig all day, I was determined to bike for 1.5 hours tonight, an extra 30 minutes for good measure to expunge the extra calories I acquired from my delinquency. I couldn't even do that - after only 50 minutes, I started winding down cos I was getting bored. (To do: find better work-out distraction than TV.)

Moral of the day: Never go without breakfast.

Everyday Decisions

2006-09-18T00:40:00.000-04:00

Corky and Tu Madre

We knew it was going to come to this: we have to decide if we want a second kitty. Pepper rubbed noses with Tu Madre, which I take to be a good sign. Two cats means one each for us to cuddle with on the couch. Pepper is pretty, Tu Madre is friendly. We have the means to take care of Tu Madre. Pepper might like a friend. But should we? E has been agonizing over this all weekend. (To be continued.)

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Got a new phone - a sleek candy-bar Nokia. Dare I admit, it's also my first camera phone. Didn't need an upgrade for over 2 years, when my old trusty phone worked just fine (until I flung it down a flight of concrete steps). After envying the cool kids for so long, I'm finally catching up. To be fair, E got a new RAZR*, the object of his lust for some time.

*On a semi-related note, can you believe that the RAZR has become so iconical of this generation, a benchmark of today's technology and pop culture, that it's immortalized as a token in the new Monopoly? So have the Toyota Prius, and New Balance shoes... Corporate branding at its best.

I've been playing with the FM radio and camera. Practically like a neanderthal fascinated by fire. I hate to be a clueless twenty-something; I've a lot of catching up to do.
-------------------------

3 weeks and counting, still going strong. Spiffy's got well over a hundred miles on 'er now. 1 hour on the trainer everyday (medium-high resistance), 20 miles downtown and back on weekends. I can see and feel a difference; my goal is to eventually be strong enough to do a century ride. Won't be hopping on the triathlon bandwagon any time soon - not much of a runner, and I'm happy just treading in water. Still, this pedaling addiction feels pretty good and I'm feeling a growing sense of accomplishment.

--------------------------

This vid speaks to me. Aug 30th installment of the mrbrown show - of all people, I found out about it through Lee, my Taiwanese Singapore-schooled American-bred friend. I can relate on so many levels. (The episode with Hossan Leong is pretty funny too... wildly appropriate choice of song.)

Sleepless in Squill

2006-09-10T01:39:00.000-04:00

Nursing a hot cup o' tea, surfing aimlessly, reluctant to go to bed. Just came back from the lamest party ever, and I feel vastly unsatisfied. Hubs has gone to play a very late night impromptu scrimmage of Ultimate with his friends, who quit the party early too. So here I am - tea, laptop, kitty, some peace and quiet.

The new biking regimen is going well. I think I will call my silver stead Spiffy. As evidence of my zealousness, within the first 3 days of acquiring the bike, I put well over 15 miles on it already. It felt like death, especially when climbing the hilly streets of Pittsburgh, and yet it felt so good. It was strange to cross over from cyclist-hating motorist to furious pedaling car fodder, nearly overnight. I became instantly grateful that we live between 2 of the city's major parks, so I don't have to piss off more drivers and pedestrians than I would otherwise. Schenley and Frick each have scenic trails that go on for miles. Spiffy's virgin trip was to Frick - sadly, I was so winded just from getting there (4 sloping miles) that we only dabbled in circles before turning around. The next day we tried Schenley's Bridle Path, a winding gravel trail that took us through the woods, minorly interrupted by a 6-way intersection, up along a lake (the same one where we buried Mojito, our pet fish), and ending back where we started. That was almost 9 miles from start to finish! Been building resistance and stamina on the new trainer for an hour everyday. Last weekend, we ventured a little further and went on the Eliza Furnace Trail. Still don't have a bike rack for the car, so we biked it to the trailhead, did the whole stretch and back. Feeling good - maybe in a year, we'll be ready to do a century ride.

L and W planned a vacation in Nicaragua last week, so they left their summer 'charity project' with us. They took in a stray teenage cat for foster care, whom they later found was pregnant. Three kittens and a vet trip later, they are *almost* ready to be put up for adoption. Pepper hasn't been too pleased with the guests, and the feeling is mutual with the mother cat (she doesn't have a name yet - used to be called Skanky McKnockUp, now she's just Little Girl). Growing up, I've heard cats fighting in my neighborhood, but it's not the same at 2am right outside your bedroom. Out came the guides to handling multi-cat households and mediating kitty conflict.

On the other hand, raising kittens has been fun. Of the 3 kittens, two are snow white with grey patches like the mother, and the third's a tuxedo kitty (must be what the dad was). Tuxedo kitty is Paco, from 'apocalypse', and the twins are Corky and Tu Madre (short for tu madre es nada, 'your mother is nothing'). Watching the 3 of them play, tumble, nibble, is beyond fascinating. The finer points of cat psychology probably has enough substance for a doctorate thesis. Each kitten has a distinct personality - Corky, for instance, has an unmistakeable middle child complex. They are smart, cheeky, aggressive, and yet they're barely old enough to mew (so far, they can only manage squeaks - the cutest squeaks, that can melt the hardest of hearts). Poor Pepper, unfortunately, has been exiled in her own home; she hides like a felon and dashes (only when necessary) between the bathroom and kitchen. Guess she hates company. She purrs like mad when we scoop her up at the end of the day to the bedroom, where she redeems her dominance for the night.

Tu Madre is curled at my feet, napping... Having 5 cats scampering around is kinda fun, I'll miss them. L and W will be picking them up tomorrow, and it'll just be Pepper again. We haven't decided if we're ready to adopt a second kitty.

Think I'm ready to hit the sack. 'Night!

It's here

2006-08-25T01:33:00.000-04:00

Worldly possessions ++

2006-08-20T00:37:00.000-04:00

On Saturday I discovered that when given the chance, I'm just as likely to buy a pair of wide-leg pinstriped pants for work as I am to buy, oh, a bike. (The power of consumerism compels me!) No regrets, but I can't help feeling a little post-splurge guilt, and am dreading the next time I check my bank account. My justification is simply that I've thought about both for a long time, and there's no use dragging my feet any longer. Besides, the pants were on sale, and the longer I wait to get the bike, the more days of warm nice weather I will miss. (Although, I spied the trainers at the bike shop, which can come in handy during the winter.) The bike will even help me get in shape for the pants. Does it get better than that?

Number of dry clean only clothing I own: +1
Number of serious recreational purchases: +1

Unfortunately, I've to wait till the end of the week for my bike to arrive. In the meantime, I can look up every park and trail there is in the city.

--------------------------------

Lately I've been obsessed with bikes. I blame the bike fever on E's Ultimate teammate. We were invited to her housewarming party; she's a duathlon champ, and her rugged pro road bike hung on a rack in the house like a trophy, along with her boyfriend's. Her (deliciously hot German) boyfriend is also a serious rider, and partook in serious bike convos during the party. They were really into it. Her friends looked like models out of a fitness mag; they were in crazy good shape. Out of sheer coincidence and misfortune, I ended up being the fattest girl in the group. (I'm not obese - sure, I could lose a few pounds, but next to the girls, I felt like a whale.) After just a few minutes of hanging out with them, I had the sudden urge to bike. I wanted to be buff like them. I wanted to learn all about Shimano and Cinelli. I wanted to be able to talk to other bike enthusiasts about my speed and distance stats. I wanted to go on group rides around the city, parks, trails.

Thus the bike. Can't wait for it to come. E can't wait for the company. We'll be cheesy and have 'his' and 'hers' bike stuff. Psyched!

Futon, dancing on a treadmill

2006-08-17T23:09:00.000-04:00

Proudly presenting... our futon.

Before:

All it took was some sponges, rags, deep ebony stain, and polyurethane to make unfinished wood look spiffy.

After:

Baby gives her stamp of approval

It's comfy! I just need to find/make red paisley pillows. When folded out, it makes a great full/queen bed. Glad we got the upgrade on the mattress.

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Found this video the other day. 4 guys + 8 treadmills = uber cool. Is this the awesomest thing or what?

Finger Lakes: Part 3 (Que Syrah Syrah)

2006-08-13T01:24:00.000-04:00

On the second and last morning at the B&B, we slept in a little (9 o' clock) and took time appreciating the house. B&Bs are an odd concept to us; the idea of living in someone else's house, with other people, and having breakfast made for you by total strangers, is kind of creepy. But somehow everything about Los Gatos was perfect and set up in a classy, non-creepy way. The house was far from old and dated, like I imagined most B&Bs to be - in fact, it was actually kind of like a posh mini-motel, and I'm sure many guests wished it were their house. The furniture was new, the decor tastefully done, there was a heated pool and gazebo overlooking acres of farmland... It was a neat little sanctuary.

When we emerged from our rooms for breakfast, Burney had already put out fresh goodies from the oven. We sat outside again, and this time Susan came to hang out with us.

Dutch babies with peach compote paired with creme fraiche. Also accompanied by bacon, freshly baked blueberry scones, assortment of homemade jams and jellies, orange juice, coffee. What a spread!

Even though check-out was at 11am, we only left a little before noon. We ended up buying a blueberry jam and apple cider syrup. Packed up the car, said our goodbyes, and we were on the road.

First stop: Fox Run Vineyards. There was a garlic festival going on, so it was packed. We did a sampling inside and bought a few bottles before exploring the festival. I have never seen so much garlic in my life.

Who knew there were so many kinds of garlic?

I bought a bag of German white garlic just for kicks. Brave garlic-lovers stood in line to sample different kinds of raw garlic. There was music, food, and little cups of grape juice for the kids.

Next stop: Anthony Road Wine Company. Susan mentioned liking the table red, so we decided to investigate. We were served by a young fraternity guy who was surprisingly knowledgeable about wines. We were also impressed by the vignole - tasty stuff! The place reminded me of our hometown favorite, Stone Villa Wine Cellars. There was a fun little herb garden to the side, which we explored.

Anthony Road Wine Company

Onward: Earle Estates Meadery. When I was planning our itinerary, I got so excited when I saw the word "meadery", because rumor has it that mead is somewhat hard to come by. We finally had the chance to satiate our curiosity - and not only did we try mead, we also tried an apple cyser and several melomels. Mead tasted deceptively like a regular fruit wine, although it had a subtle, unique aftertaste. We stocked up on the mead and melomels.

The meadery

Check out the medals! These guys are not kidding

We also checked out their sister winery next door, Torrey Ridge. Couldn't resist getting a fruit wine or two there. After the meadery, we drove on to Four Chimneys, the country's first organic(!) winery. Au naturel from the vine to the bottle - no herbicides, no preservatives, minimal amounts of sulphites. I could taste the difference. At all the other wineries, the tasting area offered fancy crackers and snacks to 'cleanse the palette', but this one had plain good ole' Cheerios. Cute! I was particularly impressed by a dry blueberry red; E and I agreed that the pear wine was also a must-get.

Finally, we were ready to head back home, but not before grabbing dinner at Castel Grisch. E said it was more "grisch" than "castel". Kinda dated, very German, but overall not a bad place. I had visions of big German women wearing pigtails and dirndl dresses dancing with steins of beer. (I think our waiter actually wore lederhosen...) There was brass music playing in the background. E ordered something he couldn't pronounce, and I had the Schweinschnitzel. We sat outside on the deck for the panoramic view of Seneca Lake, which was just past some grapevines. Beautiful place... a pity about the 80's decor.

The drive back was a little unpleasant, because I did 5 of the 6.5 hours. I drove nicely; if we should ever be pulled over for anything, our stash of booze in the trunk would need some serious explaining. We made it home around midnight, and only needed two trips to unload our booty.

What an awesome trip. It was a great get-away and well worth the drive. Now we just need to get a bigger wine rack...

Finger Lakes: Part 2 (Gorgeous gorges)

2006-08-10T23:25:00.000-04:00

After lunch, we cruised down Rt 45A to Watkins Glen State Park. From the pictures I've seen, I wouldn't have guessed that it was so touristy - the parking lot was packed (and the parking system was as sophisticated as a downtown garage or amusement park), there was a huge gift shop, and shutterbugs with their fancy gear were abound. We got a map, surveyed the vastness of the park, and planned our route.

I read somewhere that there were 832 or some stone steps to climb to get to the top of the gorge trail. We did a few dozen, then skipped right on to hiking up the steep foresty trail. It was about 500 feet to the top, and we took about an hour or so. I was panting like a dog and thought I was going to die from breathlessness. Nothing like that to make me acutely aware of how out of shape I am. E was my intrepid leader and cheered me on like a personal trainer. (At one point, he joked about waving a flag around and calling, "Chan Brothers! This way!" Lol.) The greenery was so lush and vivid, it was surreal. The tall trees were enchanting, and the gorges and glens were fascinating. Nature is a wonder.

I entrusted E entirely with the map, and he did good. He deciphered the map expertly, which wasn't easy because of the stringy mess of trails that overlapped and criss-crossed one another. Hubby led us over bridges, up and down steps, along stone corridors, under waterfalls, through the woods... Quite an adventure. We took a whole bunch of pictures and learned a few tricks on my camera. At around six, after spending pretty much the whole afternoon meandering around the park, we made it back to the parking lot and took off for dinner.

Glenora Wine Cellars looked good on its website, but was stunning in person. It was perched right next to Seneca Lake; it was an inn, a fancy restaurant, and a winery all in one. The winery's tasting room overlooked the lake and its verdant grounds. We tried a number of good wines; the wine list featured local varietals, barrel fermented whites, fruit wines, and really tasty spumante. I was disappointed that their Gerwurz wasn't available for sampling, but at less than 1.5% RS, I think it could be a little drier than I'm looking for. Still, I was pleased to find a good Riesling, and that made up for it.

We purchased our first goodies of the trip, and was about to head to dinner when we got sidetracked by an ice-cream van by the winery, offering novel wine-inspired flavors. A little dessert before dinner never hurt anyone, so I got half a scoop of vanilla with grapes, and E got some chocolate and sherry combination. Brown bags of booze in one hand and ice-cream in the other, we staggered towards the lake and plopped down on the grass.

Hubby enjoying his ice-cream next to a giant barrel, taking in Seneca Lake on Glenora's field

Dinner at Veraisons (owned by Glenora) was fabulous. For starters, we had a little wheel of baked brie en croute covered with fruit compote, made from fruits grown by local farmers. It was so darn good! There was a low-key wedding going on in the next room, and what a perfect evening it was for it. Patrons ranged from tourists in shorts and sneakers, to smartly dressed couples in jacket 'n tie and cocktail dresses.

We took our time with dinner and by the time we headed back, night had fallen. Out in Penn Yan, away from city lights, the stars shimmered brightly in spite of a big moon. Burney came out to greet us when we arrived, and after commenting on how beautiful the night sky was, he brought out his stargazing kit from the garage. Mighty telescope! It was huge, and Burney had all sorts of nifty accessories for it. We all huddled around in our sweaters (it was chilly) and listened as Burney explained the constellations and stars of note. Summer Triangle, Jupiter and 4 moons, nebulas, Albireo, Hercules... We saved the moon for last, because it was so bright. E attempted to take a picture of it through the telescope - it turned out not too shabby. (Moon picture: Click here) Hubby, the little boy scout, asked a million questions. This was his first star party, and he was utterly fascinated. I think I know what his new hobby is going to be...

Just before heading inside, we spotted a moon dog. Ice clouds? Moon dog? I had no idea what they were until then, and felt foolish for not knowing. This picture kinda looks like what we saw - little sliver of rainbow off to the corner. We thanked Burney for the very informative evening, and retreated to our room with our laptops. On to another day...

Finger Lakes: Part 1 (Get your kicks on Route 66)

2006-08-09T23:11:00.000-04:00

It's a wonder what a weekend away can do to refresh one's soul. Last weekend we stole away to upstate NY for our very first bed & breakfast experience and to see what the famous gorges were about. It's amazing how much I found through the web; our entire itinerary was planned with a lot of faith - faith in Google Maps, the Finger Lakes tourism sites, and visitor testimonials. In the end, it worked out quite nicely, I think.

After looking at about a dozen places, I narrowed our choice down to Los Gatos Bed & Breakfast. The owners, Burney and Susan, were incredibly hospitable, to the point of feeling like family. We arrived at 12.30am, and Burney helped us settle into our spacious 1st floor bedroom. It was decorated with antiques and the bed was covered by a quilt handmade by the local Mennonite women. Clean, cute, comfortable.



Our room; Hubby enjoying the free high-speed wireless internet

In the morning, we woke up to the wonderful smell of breakfast. It was a beautiful day; sunny 70s with a cool breeze. We sat outside and enjoyed French toast, sausages, homemade apple cider syrup, juice, coffee... The other 3 guests were from Massachusetts and Texas. (Apparently the inn, though young, has hosted guests from as far as California and Ireland. 'Celebs' like JPL's head scientist have graced the B&B as well... I told E to kiss the ground. :)) Being by the lake with the fresh country air was different; it was a welcome change from Pittsburgh, that's for sure.



The back of the house, where we had breakfast

We hung around the house a bit afterwards and played with Buttercup and Frisky, their two cats. (Cheating on Pepper!) Then following a fellow guest's suggestions, we hit Windmill, the local country crafts and produce market.

Lunch was at Esperanza Mansion, right by Keuka Lake. We had sandwiches - hearty cajun yellowfin tuna for me, turkey and brie with raisin glaze for hubby. Yummy, and gorgeous view!


Esperanza Mansion, and the view from our table

Keuka Lake

Old

2006-08-09T01:13:00.000-04:00

Birthdays are overrated. It's supposed to be just one day that passes like any other, fleeting and unnoticed, but happens to be the anniversary of your birth. Milestone birthdays are the worst, because all of a sudden you are obligated to reflect on the past x years of your life, despite the fact that it's no different than yesterday or tomorrow. You're forced to remember how old you actually are, to pause and think about it and let it sink in.

Still, cakes are a perk. People buy you drinks. And if you tell your cranky ole' neighbor that it's your birthday, she might actually be a little nicer to you. Maybe.

I had a low-key celebration with my two leading men, bro and hubby. We went out to a nice dinner (E managed to embarrass me with cake and a sparkler), and hung out at the bookstore; got a copy of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's short stories. E is still mysterious about his gift, but I know it's a gizmo I wouldn't have gotten myself (camera accessories? new cell phone?). He promises it's not more RAM for my laptop. :) I got e-mails and phone calls, including a serenade, which was really touching. Kind of embarrassing too, because I'm not the type to remember birthdays and I sure don't know when their birthdays are. I'm a sucky friend.

Anyway, here's to lower car insurance rates and graduating into the next age bracket.

Steak

2006-07-30T23:32:00.000-04:00

I took pictures of dinner. What can I say... I take pride in my creations!

At least E cleaned up and did the dishes. :)

Tilt shift

2006-07-27T01:08:00.000-04:00

I recently discovered tilt-shift photography - wicked!! Funny thing is, the post-processed fakes are more appealing to me than the pictures taken with an actual tilt-shift lens. The latter is simply a really expensive lens that lets you control the perspective, create neat DOF effects, correct distortions, etc. The former, however, is an art and a skill. An image is processed in a photo editor and given the illusion that it is a miniature model. The secret is in getting just the right degree of Gaussian blur and oversaturation, to give the plastic toy look and make subjects look like figurines. Example: Before | After

Here's a bunch of great examples of fake miniatures. Some of them are crazy good.

Mind-blowingly cool. I'll have to play around with Photoshop this weekend...

EDIT:
It was easier than it seemed - check out my first experiment! (Original pic is from our HK trip this summer)

Original

Tilt-shift fake

Saturday

2006-07-23T12:58:00.000-04:00

In past blogs, I seemed only capable of chronicling my weekends, and nothing more. Old habits die hard, I guess. I think it stems from a childish desire to tell someone all about my weekend, and since nobody really cares, it gets dumped into a blog. (That's what blogs are for, right? Public trash receptacle for your thoughts.) In my defense though, this was a rather good one, worthy of a lame post at least.

First, it rained. It was a merciful reprieve from the sweltering heat and humidity; the past week had been so hot that I would melt like a candle just walking down the street. Now it's cool and breezy, balance is restored and the world is happy again. E went to his Ultimate tourney despite the rain, won, and came back covered in mud. I sat at the piano for hours, happily, though I wasn't patient enough to work through the rest of the Bach fugue.

Made a hearty lunch - spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette, Gourmandise Kirsch and crackers, shrimp cocktail, and cranberry tuna salad sandwiches. Broke out our new PB pitcher for lemonade. Puttered around the house a bit before deciding to go shopping. E tagged along. Had Chicago-style pizza for dinner (gorgonzola = good), where E revealed himself to be quite a pizza snob. Hauled the shopping home and fixed some lychee martinis. Meant to play BZFlag with E (as DaBlasta and MrsBlasta) but ended up surfing the web. Maybe tonight...

Lunch!

Bountiful harvest - denim jacket, stretchy tube, shirt and cute pumps for work

Lychee martinis with sake and gin

Toasty and stylin' the new merchandise with baby

Steak for din din. Cow yummy. Grocery shopping and more piano lined up for the afternoon. Still not done polyurethaning the futon... gah.

Love is...

2006-07-22T00:45:00.000-04:00

This post is dedicated to the little things that make me happy.

* Skyr - I found this new-fangled yogurt-like snack during one of my rounds at Whole Foods. It's the best thing ever! Brilliant idea. I'm a nut for dairy foods, and this Icelandic creation has me hooked. It's thick, rich, creamy, and best of all, nonfat (imagine that! Can anything be more perfect?). Whole Foods sells skyr as a parfait with berries and granola, and I can't get enough of it. More skyr!

* Karrin Allyson's Footprints - Released in April, this kick-butt album shows up all her previous ones. From Paris to Rio had been a favorite of mine, but it's a different style and at risk of sounding like a traitor, I prefer the classic jazz sound of this newest album. It's odd hearing lyrics to well-known jazz classics not intended for song, but I thought it was a classy twist. I remember when I first heard O Baquinho on the classical and jazz station years ago, when she was still an obscure name... now, Karrin is heard almost every night on NPR Jazz. I love every song on this album, and Karrin is definitely one talented scat cat.

(Herbie Hancock was purchased at the same time; my collection grows. Eeeexcellent.)

* My Canon 75-300mm lens - It's a cheap piece of glass, no IS, but it does good work. Took this last week after one of E's Ultimate tournies:

You can see the freakin' craters! Holy smokes! Okay, so it's really grainy... But hey, you gotta admit it's not bad for a low-end basic telephoto and no tripod.

* Mini weekend trips - Our little road adventure to the Finger Lakes has been finalized. We're staying at a bed and breakfast and doing the usual - hiking, hitting the wine trail, exploring the gorges and waterfalls at the state parks... I'm especially excited about visiting the meadery up there, and the possibility of trout/bass fishing. If the insane heat hasn't done them in yet, we might pick strawberries at a farm. This will be a nice getaway; E is psyched too.

* Curious furballs - I made quiche a few nights ago, and E brought baby closer to steal a whiff (smell but no touch - that sadist).

Cutie + pie! Corny, I know :)

Sleepy time. Lots to do this weekend...

The Ex

2006-07-16T23:49:00.000-04:00

The Ex visited this weekend. He was in Philly for business, and decided to stop by. Heh, stop by. (I guess when you live on the other side of the country, driving across the state in a company-paid rental car is nothing.) He looked good. He just earned his Masters from Stanford; between that and his degree from our alma mater, he's set to make waves. Still working for the same gov't defense contractor on stuff he can't talk about.

We chatted about his impending Southeast Asian tour - Singapore, Jakarta, Bali, Kuala Lumpur. When he moved out to Silicon Valley after college, I gave him the contact information for my aunt and uncle, so he won't be all alone. My family can show him around and help him settle in, until he gets acquainted with the area and finds his niche. It was a favor my aunt was doing, because she knew I cared a lot for him even though she didn't care for my ang moh (ex-)boyfriend. Gradually, however, the ice melted and he became the babysitter, the English translator, the incontestable 4th mahjong partner, the surrogate son. Now, 3 years later and after countless subtle attempts to persuade me he'd make a good husband (despite earlier doubts), they're taking him to the places near and dear to their hearts. I think it will be a great trip for him. My mum thinks it's downright disturbing. E is a little jealous, but he 'won' as far as he's concerned, so it doesn't matter.

We reminisced, of course, and laughed about all the stupid things we did. Fraternity stories, spring break at a beach house in Jersey with our posse of 8, timeless quotes and moments, etc. We didn't talk about other things, the memories between us that we remember vividly but know are moot to bring up. E held his own, despite not being in on a lot of the jokes and "remember when"s.

The strangest moment of the weekend must've been when the 3 of us - hubby, myself, and the Ex - were sitting around the dining table, sipping on mojitos, E surgically transplanting one of our plants into another pot, dirt everywhere, the Ex talking about work, cat sitting contentedly on his lap. I had a moment of "whoa", like in the movies where everything suddenly moved like molasses, as I looked at the two men and thought about the choices I made. The well-built, charismatic engineer, who held my hand through college and whom I trusted with my life, and the slender, quiet programmer, my emotional anchor who I promised to love and cherish, till death do us part. They are so similar, yet so different, in too many ways. I couldn't be more glad that our lives crossed paths, but some memories and people are better left in the past. I was so proud of E for being the bigger man and taking everything in stride, and happy that the Ex and I are still great friends in spite of the odds.

He left before dinner to head to the airport, joking about what a bore his first-class trip back to California would be. We said our goodbyes, and as soon as the door closed, I soothed hubby's ego a little before letting the weekend return to normal.

(E rox my sox.)

How now, Mr. Brown?

2006-07-08T01:22:00.000-04:00

It all began with a regular Friday Mr Brown column...
Alarm goes off for govt bureaucrats; scathing response from the press secretary to the Minister of Information, Communications, and the Arts
Mr Brown suspended from newspaper column - the masses react
Article on BoingBoing
Article on Slashdot
A whole bunch of people write about it
Reporters sans frontieres (RSF) are up in arms
What some commenters find this whole situation seeming like
Singapore ranks 140th in worldwide freedom of press survey conducted by RSF

This is disturbing, unsurprising, and heartening all at once. Disturbing that the government's (over)reaction was compared to communist China; that the newspaper may as well be owned by the government (imagine the propagandistic chow that local minds get fed everyday); that the debate brings out the worst in some people, and it's scary to know what they are really thinking.

But I wasn't/am not shocked; nobody should be. While the ministry's response wasn't the most sensible, I can understand why there is a low tolerance for any opposition to the government. (It's one of many unusual strategies in a handbook that might be titled How To Rule A Small, Young, Densely Populated and Incredibly Diverse Country.) If the people are unhappy, the government might honestly not realize this (huge disconnect common of any government), or choose to sweep it under the rug and dress it up with optimism and fancy statistics for the above reason. **Who knows why Singapore's government is so famously stuffy; I'm taking a generous stance here, though it's hard not to appear either ignorant/docile or a conspiracy theorist.** Anyway - so naturally, if someone were to write about the government/our way of life with even a hint of criticism, they will be on you. (Personally, I find it a little humorous that the ministry's defense was calling Mr Brown a liar and a coward - the article a "polemic" and "distortion of truth" while the author "hides behind a pseudonym". His article rings true for many; the letter and the effective shutting up of any further dissent won't help their case.) Unhappy is as unhappy does and of course, the S'porean blogosphere is shaken up and there is a tremendous outpouring of concern, show of support, etc. for the 'fallen hero'. It must not be easy being Mr Brown right now.

Finally, it's heartening that there is such a furor over this. At the very least, it means that people care. Many responses are the run-of-the-mill "this sucks" whining and echoes from lemmings, but a good number also offer constructive solutions and proposed actions. The people are not dormant; they are aware, and want something better. A few provided insightful comments that were a comforting sign that there is hope yet.

Model 21st century state or 3rd world authoritarian rule? Perhaps both, but we are still young and will need to work through more strife before the perfect balance can be struck.

Spud Wars

2006-07-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

OMG. Leave it to ThinkGeek to come up with this.

Artoo Potatoo

Also: Darth Tater, Spud Trooper. No Luke Frywalker.

I love how Spud Trooper is holding a potato masher. :) Hahahaha!

Futon on the Fourth

2006-07-06T00:13:00.000-04:00

July 4th was a gloomy wet mess in Pittsburgh. Too bad for all the BBQ parties and picnics that never happened (*hint of schadenfreude*). I was happy as a clam inside, with the iPod on shuffle as I stained the new futon a deep dark ebony.

If people knew exactly how excited this futon makes me, they might be a little scared. It's exciting for several reasons - it's a brand new piece of furniture, NOT a cheap dorm futon from IKEA, and we could afford it with our very own money without putting a dent in our wallets. What can be more exciting than that? Almost everything else in the house is second-hand, from college, or both - the dining table, office desk, pantry shelves, bed, dressers... Which makes this our first *real* homebuilding piece. When we move to a *real* place, it can have a special place in the guest room or study, and when we've little tykes napping on it, we can reminisce about how we bought it when we were still renting a place with crooked walls and creaking floorboards.

Speaking in the not-so-distant future, I'm ecstatic that I will finally be able to un-train myself from sitting the way I did on the old couch, for fear of it collapsing. The thought of being able to throw myself on the futon after a hard day's work, lean back during a movie, cuddle up with my laptop... mind-boggling!

It was a beautiful feeling, lathering the unfinished wood with TLC. Lying in a corner is the mattress, which we splurged on an upgrade for; picked out cream covers to go with it. *does a little dance* So far I've finished staining.. well, everything, and all that's left is the polyurethane. 'Before' and 'after' pics are in order - coming soon...

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I ran out of stain halfway through, and E, who was blasting marauders on EV Nova, made a run to Lowe's to get more. The poor guys there worked till 8pm (on the 4th!) because Home Depot was open that late. Tough. E swung by the fireworks tent along the way and picked up a bag full of goodies. No outdoor grilling for us, but dinner was satisfying all the same - buffalo wings, mac 'n cheese, hot dogs, corn on the cob. :) We snuck up to Schenley Golf Club's green and watched the fireworks in a distance, before setting off some of our own. Some kids in the neighborhood wandered over when we set off the whistling rockets and sparks, and a few guys opened up their windows and cheered... our own little fireworks show on the street corner.

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Muddled some mojitos tonight. Best drinks ever.

Kibbles 'n bits of randomness

2006-07-02T00:52:00.000-04:00

I love warm summer nights. Sitting in bed with my laptop, the A/C humming, jazz playing, hubby typing away on his laptop...

* Been hooked on Firefly lately. Borrowed the DVD set from a friend, and we've been pacing ourselves with the episodes - only 2 or 3 a night, save the rest for the next day. We're down to the last 4 episodes now... sad. It's hard to understand why it only had one season - I mean, look at Stargate SG-1. Corny, plots are predictably about mind control or alternate dimensions, yet it's going on its 10th freakin' season. Firefly is so cool; the cast is great, the script is clever, the plots are fairly original, fun to watch, and I get a kick out of the random Chinese mutterings. Why no Firefly? :(

* E was on a business trip to VA, and as usual, his boss flew them in that little puddle-jumper of his. I've always been skeptical and a little disapproving (it's so small! looks unsafe). What's wrong with taking a commercial flight, like everybody else?

I arrived early when I went to the county airport to pick E up. Wandered around the parking lot, which was separated from the tarmac only by a low fence. The sun was setting, there was a gentle breeze, and the horizon was so... uncluttered. There were little planes parked nearby, but my view was mostly sky. Standing there, I felt so small, and it was such an amazingly refreshing and tranquil feeling. I would spot a light in a distance, and a few minutes later, a little jet would touch down gracefully on the runway. The powerful roar of the engine and the smell of jet fuel with that peaceful backdrop left quite an impression; no glass panes between me and the planes, like at big airports... just the sky, mini servings of brilliant engineering, and me. So damn cool.

Now, I guess I don't mind it as much when E flies on his boss' plane. And I totally understand why girls dig pilots.

* We bought a futon today! Finally. It's been a long time coming, and we're sick of patching up the sad, old, second-hand, cheap Ikea couch that's broken in 10 different places, with metal braces to hold it together. The metal braces look like bandaids. We've been hemming and hawing about getting a futon for months, and at last, even though we had no intention of buying or even hauling it back today, we did it. As we carried the 130 lb mattress to the car, people at al fresco cafes stared on like we'd just returned from a fishing expedition with a baby whale. The mattress and frame took a little brain-wracking (and sheer brute force) to stuff in the modest car. Afterwards, we celebrated with a little Italian ice from a place down the street. While we were getting gelati, I can't believe I actually worried that somebody would break in and grab the futon from the car, which was a block away, in broad daylight.

E: "I don't know who would be masochistic enough to steal a futon. I mean, he can't get very far... just look for the guy with a mattress on his back, hobbling down the street."

Ha! Picture that. And our futon was indeed safe.

* Not that this is news, but I love Pepper.

Furry ball of mischief and infinite cuteness

Baby and me

We recently put her on a weight management diet cos she's getting puffy. Still shedding like crazy. Since we came back from S'pore, even though she was in a friend's care, she would purr like a motorboat every time we came near her. It makes me fuzzy knowing that she missed us.

Baseball fans are nothing but trouble

2006-06-29T18:06:00.000-04:00

I hate the Pirates. (Never mind this post.) Especially when they have a weekday afternoon game. Who the hell watches baseball on a Thursday afternoon?? Don't people have to go to work? The worst part is, the game ends right around evening rush hour. How retarded!! So thousands of angry yinzers sit in their cars, trying to squeeze past those baseball-loving skivers, while sitting on 50-yr old bridges with deteriorated supports, praying that we don't make headlines in the evening news. ("Thousands die as bridge collapses into river") I just want to get home dammit. Baseball season has quickly taught me the only proper use of the horn - liberally. There is no reason why it should take an hour to travel 7 effin' miles.

Bah! Aggravating.

Materialism

2006-06-26T22:05:00.000-04:00

ma·te·ri·al·ism
n.

1. Philosophy. The theory that physical matter is the only reality and that everything, including thought, feeling, mind, and will, can be explained in terms of matter and physical phenomena.
2. The theory or attitude that physical well-being and worldly possessions constitute the greatest good and highest value in life.
3. A great or excessive regard for worldly concerns.
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Every day you learn something new. Just when you think you know it all, have seen it all, life throws a new one at you. And sometimes these lessons aren't the kind that can be neatly summed up in sing-songy phrases people teach their children.

At the ripe old age of 25, the shock of friends getting married, buying houses and popping babies is slowly wearing off. It's a rite of passage. We may still be living in a rented apartment without a dishwasher, and the word 'baby' conjures images of a raisin with flailing arms and legs in E's head, but we know we'll be ready for a house, closing cost and mortgage and all, with mini-me's running around and wrecking it, some day.

Last Saturday we visited with some friends at their townhouse; every time we visit, there's always something new, whether it's new wall color and fixtures, a new 17" iMac, or a home theater in the basement. This time, however, we were certainly not expecting to see a black 6-ft grand piano in the middle of the living room. It complemented the charm of the room well, except for the scale of size, which made the house feel a whole lot smaller and us, the hobbits dwelling in it. I mean, the piano was huge. At first I thought somebody had left it in their care for the summer (now that idea seems ludicrous), but they confirmed that it was their newest baby. Apparently, they have been looking for a few months - second-hand, decent condition, budget around... oh, $10,000.

(I could go on a wordy tangent about what I would do with ten grand, but whatev, to each his own. The point is that even I, the crazy piano geek all through school and been playing since I was 4, would think twice about spending that kind of money on a piano. Well okay, so I have a piano too, but a 6-ft grand is a far cry from a Clavinova, and I only spent a fraction of that amount.)

As we sat around sipping Pinot Grigio, E noticed the fridge looked different. Guess what? That's new too - not that there was anything wrong with the old one. The French door stainless steel baby must've cost a pretty penny. We migrated to the basement, where the home theater was now stocked with 10 plush chairs to maximize the 'theater' experience; to make room for the chairs, the $1,500 sleeper sofa must go.

Enter the Green-Eyed Monster. Questions form. Both of them are making very comfortable salaries, but they are still our peers, and I can't fathom how they got ahead so far so quickly. All this.. stuff, and no debt in sight. How do they do it? What aren't we doing right? Everybody knows the post-graduation checklist that goes job/spouse/house/family (or some permutation), but I'm also aware now that I missed the memo about the other checklist, the more subtle one, that goes piano/pad-pimpin'/pool (perhaps?). We don't even own a place yet, so the idea of dropping ten grand on a piano sends my mind reeling.

It's a befuddling emotion: drooling envy, mixed with guilt that I'm equating stuff with happiness and success, dabbled with a little fear that I won't ever have that luxury myself. The house and kids will come in time, I'm fairly certain, but I'm not sure if the piano, pool and German convertible will ever come at all. Or should they matter? Needless to say, this lust could be good and bad - good that it fans my motivation to work harder in the name of a better life, bad that it could only lead me down a path of hollow and insatiable greed.

And the quarter-life crisis rages on...

Homecoming

2006-06-22T21:57:00.000-04:00

Okay, so much for Carnival Part 3. Suffice it to say that a good time was had by all.

Just came back from Singapore - it was so very good to be home. I can't imagine I haven't been there in over 2 years. My old bedroom was the same way I left it, cluttered with memories from my young teenage years. Same glistening blue pool, same kid practising the drums every evening, same busy kitchen that keeps churning an endless supply of my favorite foods. New maid, new TV (brand spankin' new, arrived the day before we did... 42" plasma screen). Parents looked older. The neighbors got new plants for their rooftop garden; it looked like a jungle. Despite the heat and humidity, I hadn't felt so refreshed in a long time. There's no place like home indeed.

We hit the typical tourist spots - Esplanade, Jurong Bird Park, East Coast Park, Orchard Road, Botanic Garden... No Sentosa this time, cos honestly I was a little sick of it. The in-laws were impressed, but they got a migraine weaving through the suffocating weekend crowds in City Hall. They probably haven't been anywhere that urban for a very long time. E and I revisited Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar with them, and tagged along for the river boat cruise downtown.

Spent four days in Hong Kong and one in Shenzhen - regrettably, we stayed in Kowloon this time instead of Causeway Bay, though we made a point of taking the subway there often enough. The hotel in Shenzhen was uber cool. Our room had a spa bath with a glass window that looked out into the city, which was lit up and pretty at night. It was a walking distance from shopping in Luo Wu and a slew of massage parlors. After an evening of shopping, E and I headed to the least sketchy one and each got a 90 min full-body massage for USD15 total. Sweet deal.

The only drawback of all this jetting around was that we were doing it with E's parents, a choice usually reserved for the masochistic. There were moments where my hand felt the impulse to fly across cheeks, or where I just needed to scream, but I had foreseen this a few months ago and cleverly suggested that they take the Australia leg of their trip early, leaving E and I peace and calm for a 8 full days after Hong Kong. Sanity saved, crisis averted... and we actually had real fun in those remaining days.

Met up with Glenn for lunch at Kuishin Bo, an interesting concept for great Japanese food. He's the best guy friend a girl could ever ask for, and I'm lucky to have had him for 12 years. Talked about the past, present and future, looked at pictures, then joined up with E (who was sweet to give us private time) at the arcade. I nearly shed a tear of joy when the two boys played a shoot-em-up together.

On another day, we went to Secret Garden with Del and caught up over tiramisu and a latte. It was fascinating to hear who's doing what these days: the stewardess, the scholar, the singer, the straitjacketed. Then she took E and I out for a giant (like, 24oz) mango margarita at Cafe Iguana in Clarke Quay.

I ate so much food on that trip, E had taken to calling me "Chewie", although he vowed to find a more apt female Wookie name. Boy did I pack the pudge... :( I swore to go on a Cheerios diet when I got back. Not holding up that promise too well, but I'm a lot less crazy about food now. I miss home, but I know it's just the withdrawal symptoms kicking in and that it'll get better with time.

Went back to work the day after we returned - couldn't ask for too much after a paid vacation. I was glad to know that I still had my job, and that everyone was actually really excited to see me back. I must have been asked a million times how my trip was, and made a million promises to show pictures. A co-worker had also just returned from a week-long trip to the Outer Banks; he caught 104 lbs of tuna while deep sea fishing, and we agreed to trade my fancy green tea from China for a few fresh tuna steaks from North Carolina. Tea for tuna.

Life is slowly going back to normal. Summer in the 'burgh, movies in the park, good books and Italian ice.

Carnival! Part 2 (pics)

2006-04-24T00:01:00.000-04:00

Friday started off warm and sunny - it was the perfect day for tank tops and flip flops. I slept in to recover from the previous night, but was still able to seize the day. Wandered around Midway for the better half of the afternoon, running into friends and acquaintances while taking pictures of the booths. This year's theme was 'A Different Time And Place', and there were a few outstanding booths:

Carnival on Midway

Everything from Aztec ruins and Atlantis to Chinese noodle house and Star Wars

What makes the booths so impressive is that the construction is solely a student effort. Beginning as early as January, the architecture and civil engineering majors in various organizations draw up blueprints of the structure; the materials are ordered from a hardware warehouse, and unskilled grunt workers (such as myself, when I was in college) were handed power tools and instructions. It was a giant 3D jigsaw puzzle for us. The art and design majors then get working on their part, calling the artistically competent to help with painting props, walls, etc. It's a major production and everybody invests a lot of time and energy into building these Disney World-worthy carnival booths. In the end, the booths stay up for 3 days, only to be torn down with sledgehammers on Sunday.

The weather turn ugly when ominous grey clouds rolled in and raindrops the size of ping pong balls threatened to dampen everyone's moods. By that time, I couldn't be fazed, but walking around in soggy flip flops is never fun. At 6pm, it was the dinner reunion with my adopted family at Harris Grill. We waited forever, but the food and company were worth it.

After dinner, we were on our way to the bars when C called to say she was... 4 months along! I screamed my head off. It was weird when she got married, even weirder when she bought a nice house in upstate NY, and now it's so weird it's incomprehensible. I'm so happy for her. :) I made her promise that I could buy junior all the baby clothes and toys I want.

I changed into less 'sunny daytime' wear and reconvened with the girls in Oakland. We hit a few bars before I left to pick up Alice at the station. Getting lost in Pittsburgh means meandering to the other side of town; I blamed the pouring rain. Alice joined me in the search for my husband, who had also regressed to his college days at his fraternity. We stayed up a little bit before throwing in the towel... old is old, we didn't have the stamina we used to.

Part 3 tomorrow...

Carnival! Part 1 (pics)

2006-04-21T02:20:00.000-04:00

It has begun.

Even yesterday, I was already antsy - Josh and Mark had flown in from California and New York respectively, and we had begun our big cleanup of the apartment. Josh, E and I had dinner at Green Forest, a Brazilian BBQ place in Penn Hills. So good! I miss raw oysters, and boy do I miss hunks of cow grilled to perfection. Mmm mm. Today at work I was counting down the minutes till I could let my hair down and regress to my college days again.

First on the itinerary was the CS50 gala reception at the National Robotics Engineering Consortium. It was out in the ghettos of Lawrenceville, I was starting to feel overdressed... but they did the place up really nicely. Alumni, students and friends of the #1 ranking school for robotics/computer science rubbed shoulders among butler-passed hors d'oeuvres, chocolate fountain stations, and displays of 'celebrity' robots/autonomous machines created by students. There even was a 15-piece jazz band - it was Roger Humphries' group! How cool. After our fill of coconut shrimp, sushi and chocolate-dipped strawberries, we shimmied back to our neck of the woods and prepared to meet up with everyone at our favorite watering hole, PHI.

And *everyone* was there... I got so caught up talking I didn't even get my Midori sour! It was wild, man, wild.

With Angel and Angie

Hubby and Mags. She drinks jet fuel for breakfast.

J and J sandwich; Mag thinks it looks like fun and joins in

I love how even though everyone has moved on (busy jobs, spiffy cars, mortgage... being adult? what's that?), we can still come back to the place where we met and made so many memories, and create more memories just like old times. No distance is too great for friends. (Figuratively and literally - Fabric convinced his company to fly him back from Beijing! Impressive.)

This weekend is going to be so awesome. I just know it. I can't wait till tomorrow...

Happy Easter!

2006-04-16T14:33:00.000-04:00

For the past few years, the one thing I've done for Easter was tag along with friends to mass, the other big church event besides Christmas. Last year I stepped it up and had Easter dinner with E's godmother, complete with Pashka and a very easy egg hunt. This year, however, Easter has gone to a whole new level.

Chickies on the Easter Eggspress caboose

When I woke up this morning at the in-laws', there were over a dozen boiled eggs sitting on the table. They were dyed turqoise, purple, pink, blue, yellow, green... So Easter-like, it amused me. I decorated the eggs with stickers of hats, chicks, wings, and fluffy tails; the eggs sat in painted wicker baskets, a paper box, and a paper train humorously named the 'Easter Eggspress'.

Instead of getting a basket chocked full of candy, E and I, still in our PJs, got a bag stuffed with practical goodies. The bag had everything from TSA-approved locks for our big trip this summer to lint brushes for our cat-hairy coats. It was like opening presents at Christmas - never knew Easter could be this fun too. Of course, it wasn't the same as getting marshmallow peeps or chocolate bunnies... :)

At the end of the morning, we reluctantly peeled the eggs so they could sit and chill with the pickled beets (yum!).

Eggshell confetti

A hunk o' ham is in the oven; cranberry bread is on its way. Looking forward to dinner...

Take me out to the ball game

2006-04-11T23:56:00.000-04:00

Cool picture taken by fellow Flickrite - Pirates' opening game on Monday

Sakura Matsuri

2006-04-10T22:12:00.000-04:00

Drove down to DC this weekend for the final weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival. We stayed with M in Manassas, in an uppity neighborhood populated by townhouses, condos, and strip malls. E and I were reminded of the simple delight of owning a dishwasher, and we spent a moment marveling at how long we've survived without one. (We're practically neanderthals, I know.) Despite a late arrival, we sat around talking till 3am.

On Saturday, it was 40 degrees F, drizzling and windy. It was pretty effin' miserable. The metro parking lot had cars from as far as Ohio and Florida, people who traveled hundreds of miles to see the famous imports along the Potomac River. I feel bad for the families with little kids that came all this way to experience the festival, only to be greeted with dismal weather. I guess they could go to the museums, but seriously, between picnicking on the mall on a sunny day reveling in spring, and walking for hours learning history... If I were a kid I'd be wailing.

First on the itinerary, by request, is dim sum in Chinatown. Most of the restaurants are pretty seedy-looking, except for Tony Cheng's. It was a Mongolian restaurant on the first floor and a Chinese/seafood place on the second, built in the style of an authentic Cantonese restaurant. I thought the food was okay; for not having had chee cheong fun in forever, anything goes, but I did wish they had more of a variety. I tried not to think that the food was shipped from NYC and zapped in a microwave oven. E enjoyed it, though M merely poked around the food on her plate. (M is Jewish. I took her to dim sum. Oops!) Fortunately they had some kosher food (like chicken dumplings), but I was still pretty embarrassed. Thanks for being a good sport!

We braved the wind and rain and trekked from Gallery Place to Federal Triangle. There were about three blocks of tents set up, and it wasn't nearly as packed as last year. Still a decent turnout, some even in cosplay gear (from the Katsucon?). The arts and crafts booths were predictable (bonsai, dolls, origami, bamboo furniture), but there were some really neat displays. Origami sugar creations attracted a fair crowd - there were sugar cranes, butterflies, business card-sized edible Hokusai prints that looked like stained glass... Cool beans! Even though I was stuffed from brunch, I couldn't resist getting a box of warabimochi from a food stand. Then it seemed like a good idea, naturally, to wash it down with real sake - for a pretty penny, we each got 4 oz. of Kuromatsu-Hakushika (a Junmai Ginjo brewed by Taatsuma-Honke). Not bad... far better than the domestic Gekkeikan, to say the least. We bounced from booth to booth in the remaining time before they closed up early because of the weather. By the end of the street festival we were popsicles, but happy popsicles.

As we approached the Washington Monument, we realized that we weren't going to see cherry blossoms. We had missed the bloom's peak by about 10 days, we later found out, so all we saw were bare branches and scattered sprigs of green.

Sparse cherry blossoms against the backdrop of Washington Monument and grey skies

K's birthday party was that evening - it was the second instalment of 'The Great Gatsby' parties. Her parents got a folksy bluegrass band; there was gin punch, wine, finger food, and great company. Friends we haven't seen in ages were there, and my how we've grown. Some cake and trick candles later, around midnight, the ten of us were still lounging around K's living room even though K and her family had retired for the night.

On Sunday we spent most of the day at the International Spy Museum. Cool place! The museum shop was stocked with Nancy Drew novels, Pink Panther plush, James Bond paraphernalia, spy board games... everything from shot glasses and survival handbooks to $450 gadgets. It took us 3 hours to wander through the museum, which was well laid out for a small-ish building. I have to admit it was quite educational. We stopped at Gordon Biersch, the microbrewery across the street, before going on our merry way back to Pittsburgh.

It was a good trip. No good photos, just a lousy T-shirt. :)

Peekaboo

2006-04-02T23:00:00.000-04:00

Baby buried under a blue blankie

Asian food (and how I married an Asian)

2006-04-02T13:09:00.000-04:00

With depleting rations and nasty cravings that couldn't be ignored, a trip to the Asian grocery store was in order. I was elected the designated shopper.

A city this size and demographics doesn't really have the market to support a full out Chinatown like SF or NY, but the Strip District is a temporary fix, and we make do. It's an amalgam of Polish, Italian, Greek, Korean, Middle Eastern, Chinese, Japanese, and everything-in-between cultures, with food and specialty items sold in stores lined up shoulder to shoulder along a strip near downtown. (Imagine what a perfect image of ethnic diversity tourists see.) My favorite stores to hit are Lotus Foods, a Chinese grocery store that has two dozen brands of soy sauce and an assortment of kitschy household items, and Sam-Bok, run by an elderly Korean couple, where I get my naeng myun and homemade kim-chi.

Lotus Foods has really come a long way since my first visit there a few years ago. My mother always made me smuggle food from home, from Thai fish sauce and chili paste to dried shrimp to rice porridge seasonings, just because she knew I couldn't get any here. (We never really tried to do it with durian products.) I would cherish my supplies like gold; once, I was reaching for my kecap manis on the top shelf when it fell and broke on the floor. I think I cried. I couldn't stop lamenting how deprived I was; if I couldn't find my favorite Asian food in restaurants, then this godforsaken place should at least let me recreate it in my kitchen, but I couldn't even do that.

So much bitterness, until I strolled down the aisles of Lotus yesterday and found them stocked with things I never thought would ever be found in a 200-mile radius of Pittsburgh. Fermented rice (tapé ketan), red fermented rice, durian ice-cream, banana leaves, Hong Kong bakery style pastries, dried shrimp, Khong Guan crackers, every rice porridge seasoning you could imagine, Owl instant coffee... I was speechless. Where did they come from?? Maybe people wrote to the manager and asked for them. Maybe they realize that as the only decent Asian grocer in town (Lotus is Chinatown), they have a responsibility to be well-stocked for homesick lads 'n lasses like myself.

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I came home with a carload of food that I paid a pittance for. Hubby greeted me excitedly and hovered over the bags like a starved puppy. He only asked for dried mangoes, red bean buns and instant soybean pudding, so his eyes widened when I showed him all that I got. He was practically jumping for joy over the Japanese gummy candy, Khong Guan Square Puffs, spring roll wrappers, Lee Kum Kee sauces... I've never seen anyone so genuinely excited about Sriracha hot sauce. The flurry of excitement upon my return from the store could be best described as if he were, hm, Asian. (Intriguing!) As we shared a mung bean pancake freshly grilled from a street vendor, he admitted that his discovery and growing passion of Asian gastronomy might turn him away from frozen dinners for good. Knowing him, that's saying a lot. :)

This morning I noticed the soybean pudding bag was already opened, before I got to it. One red bean bun and some longan red date tea is missing. I can almost guess what the hubby had for breakfast. If I make kaya toast and egg for myself (a la this cafe in Singapore), he'll be sure to mooch some.

How a boy from the rural hills of Pennsylvania raised on meat 'n potatoes can appreciate chilled sweet mung bean soup, char siu buns, pork floss, and bubble tea more than me, will always be a mystery. But that's why I love him, and hopefully we'll be able to inspire our brand of gluttony in our kids some day. :)