*1127 - san francisco sights

Firstly, the middle row of letters on my keyboard are not working, so while a new keyboard is making its way to me, a temporary solution is this:



... Which sucks.

-

So. A reason why I am loving this city: it's beautiful and vibrant. See for yourself!

Graffiti or murals? Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference.





Some parts are sketchier than others, but that's where you find the life and the beauty too. The "sketchy" Mission district really grew on us and it still oddly feels homely and familiar even though we were only living there a month.





Panoramic view from the top of Coit Tower.











Lovely, no? Sometimes I can still barely believe that I was blessed with the opportunity to move to this beautiful city.

*1126 - computer

Hppy Thngiving!

My ptop ey re not woring. Thi i not coo. Ugh.

*1125 - halloween

Belated but I thought this had to go up first before anything else because the season's practically over and these are getting stale.

I found my hidden talent on Halloween. I think I may need to look into offering professional pumpkin carving services, specializing in cute animals.









Guess whose is whose? ;)

My second pumpkin carving attempt ever, and we were both rather shocked at my dexterity in carving a cute bunny into a pumpkin. I was particularly shocked because my first attempt a few years back was pretty lame and I would rather not resurface memories of it.

His first pumpkin carving attempt ever ... valiant effort, I suppose ;)

The innards were, of course, not discarded but made into delicious pumpkin muffins. My first time using fresh pumpkin instead of tinned pumpkin puree (just chop up and roast with cinnamon until soft) and it was surprisingly fragrant and pumpkinny. Mmmm.

Glamour shot of the pumpkin muffins, which we brought with us on a picnic (more on that later):

*1124 - chan family

And here we are!



Plus a sneak peak of our cute little apartment.

Dirty bum = no sitting on our white couch, please.

So sad that they are gone already. But I will see them again in half a year and it will be glorious! When you live in a different country from your family you learn to think in years--the number sounds smaller than if you think in months, weeks, days ...

*1123 - family in SF

It has been a lovely week - two weeks with the fam (that is, mum + dad + sis) visiting in SF! Exhausting and ... fattening ... but making as much use of their short stay here as possible. I'll see them again here in half a year but it still makes me feel all sad and hollow inside whenever I think about how I am so far from home.

*1122 - flat bread for brunch

Brunch is perhaps my favourite meal, and sitting outdoors in tank-top-and-shorts-and-a-light-sweater weather is the best way to do it.

(Added the light sweater clause because sitting outdoors in tank-top-and-shorts-without-a-light-sweater weather could refer to the sweltering outdoor humid heat in Singapore, which I would not say is quite the best way to do it.)

My brunches usually involve poached eggs, often involve home fries, and almost always coffee. But this brunch choice was a little different:



Flat bread + pesto + feta + mozzarella + squash + zucchini + tomatoes.

I love squash and zucchini in everything I eat (okay, almost) and wish they were available in greater abundance in Singapore so that I could have discovered them earlier in my life.

*1121 - caring about food

Food festival in Oakland. Promoting local businesses, locally grown foods, organic, wholesome stuff. I'm such a fan of anything food-related but even more so when there's an element of sustainability thrown in.



I think the best kinds of pizza involve ultra thin crusts and arugula.


Nothing processed or chemically altered or synthetic about this. A whole lamb being served up. What you see is what you get. Know where your food came from.


And this is what it ended up as:


And just now, two girls: from Singapore, to the East coast, and now to the West coast. An interesting observation shared between us that people here just ... care more. About food and about sustainable living. I like it.

*1120 - if you're into spiders

Trees in Pakistan shrouded in spider webs after flood, with the spiders allegedly having a blast feasting on mosquitoes breeding in the stagnant waters. Spooky natural phenomenon that keeps disease at bay.

Is this for real? How has it not happened before?

*1119 - when the internet is not working

Click on the red X.
Running diagnostics.
Identifying the problem.
Three possible solutions.
Repairing.
(The problem is still not resolved.
Two possible solutions.
Repairing.)
The problem has been resolved.
Close.

If only it was that simple