Horticulturally challenged

The wasteland that is my backyard taught me three important lessons about gardening.
1) Knowing is not the same as doing.
2) Trying to do too much will lead to not doing.
3) I am not a gardener.

Too much too soon

I come from a family of scholars. Naturally, I think the best way to learn about something is to read. Better yet, learn from a master. So when we bought a house with a beautiful yard over three years ago, I took a gardening class at City College, read a gazillion books on gardening, got the feed from the hip gardening blog You Grow Girl, and even subscribed to Fine Gardening magazine. At one point, I was growing strawberries, snow peas, lettuce, blueberries, potatoes, and a variety of herbs.

The crash

Now the garden is in utter disarray. Weeds are overgrown. All the new plants are dead. Even some of the original ones—the jasmine flowers, the reeds—have died. I can't even bear to look at the garden without being filled with remorse, guilt and shame.

What did I do to arrive at this disaster? Nothing. I did nothing. I got tired; I got impatient; I lost interest. I'm just not passionate about gardening enough to want to dedicate all my free time to it. I want to make films, to draw, to do yoga, to read, to do so many other things! When my bubble of initial excitement burst, I crashed so fast and so hard that I simply stepped away. I had no exit strategy. I just stopped doing anything. Not even watering the plants.

What next?

But the garden is still there. In the backyard. Looking more miserable day by day. I guess I have to do something. Maybe just a couple of hours every weekend. Nothing big—just weeding, watering, and clearing the dead stuff. That's it. This time, I'm going to start small. Do a little. And then let's see how that goes.

Cappuccino and latte

Our coffee obsession has shifted lately, to our Bialetti Italian stovetop espresso maker and milk frother.

Voila! Our morning indulgence—a cappuccino with a sprinkle of chocolate for me, a latte for Aaron.

Coffee Fetish

I've always been a tea lover. The nuances between different teas, the ritual of brewing a perfect cup, the delight of matching the perfect teaware to the leaf and the occasion—I love the art of tea. To me, coffee is lacking in this kind of rich culture and "delicatesse."

But I've been converted. A new cult of artisan coffee roasters is inspiring a coffee fetish that's drawing me in.

A delicate and fresh way to roast

Where the beans come from has always been important to gourmet coffee drinkers. The new culture of coffee goes further. The belief is that roasting should preserve the beans' unique flavor. Good coffee, like fine wine and tea, should reflect the unique taste of the land, water and climate of the region they come from. The roaster's goal is to accentuate those intrinsic flavors, not overpower it.

These roasters also fuss over getting their freshly roasted beans to drinkers as soon as possible. Why? Because their delicate flavors start dissipating immediately after roasting. That's why, to enjoy this kind of freshly-roasted coffee, you must find an artisan roaster that's local to you. Coffee that's gone through the retail/super-market distribution route, no matter what kind of specialty packaging they have, just won't have the bright, twinkling fresh taste.

Ritual Coffee Roasters is a highly-respected local roaster close to where I live. Other San Francisco Bay Area roasters include Blue Bottle Coffee and Four Barrel.

Drip: a Zen approach to brewing

This new coffee cult also pays a lot of attention to different methods of preparing the coffee. I've always enjoyed the French Press. But recently we've started using a drip filter, and I'm really loving it.

I love the act of slowly pouring hot water for drip coffee—listening to the water fall, watching the grinds bloom, gently stirring, keeping everything in harmony for the perfect brew. There's a ritualistic dance that draws me closer to the coffee; that intimacy makes the coffee taste so much more satisfying. Much like how I feel when I take the time to prepare a proper cup of tea. I may not be able to taste the difference in a blind tasting. But the act of preparation is as much preparing the mind to taste, as it is preparing the coffee for drinking.

Hario: beauty in design

I love the thoughtful details that go into the design of my Hario filter. This piece of art is from a Japanese glass manufacturer (a lovely birthday present from hubby!). It has beautiful spiral ridges to help the water run "around" the grinds and extract more flavor, instead of washing straight down. The waves on the exterior adds a subtle design pattern to the glass that is sensual to touch and beautiful to look at.

All of this, for a perfect cup of coffee to start the day!

Doraemon

Doraemon - wonder if nowadays kids knows about this comic. I love it since when I was small, and I still remember owning one stuffed doll too. 

This blue robot cat that came from the future lives in this young boy - Nobita's house so as to help Nobita to grow up as an successful man. In that miracle pocket he had in front of his tummy, he is able to pull out all kinds of tools from the future. The most famous one is 'Takecopter' (bamboo helicopter). And the one that I love most is 'Dokodemodoa' (door to everywhere). So that I can come and go between hong kong, america & japan easily!! Oh〜 only if all these comes true...

And you know what!! Along with the modern techniques we have now, some of Doraemon's tools had been invented! And there is this exhibition 'DORAEMON's Scientific Future' in Miraikan at Odaiba, showing the tools of Doraemon's!! It is held from 12th June - 27th Sept, 2010. If anyone had the chance to come to tokyo within this time, do go and take a look at an exhibition filled with dreams and excitement.

Adventures in South Indian Food

In my recent visit to Bangalore, I discovered that Indian cuisine was way more diverse than the typical Tikka Masala and Tandoori that we get in California. It's like Chinese food; for those in the know, there is Shanghainese food, Cantonese food, Szechuan food—way more variety and specialization than just Kung Pao chicken and potstickers like we get at generic Chinese restaurants.

Since Bangalore is in the south, most of my food discoveries were in South Indian cuisine.

Yummy savory breakfasts

I love South Indian breakfasts. It's wonderful when I make time to start the day with a slow, warm breakfast and hot masala tea—often as day breaks and the sky slowly lights up.

Idlis, steamed rice cakes, became a major love affair! I love the warm and soft spongy texture, and its mild sweet taste. From the large ones that you dip in sambhar (a savory dal stew) for breakfast, to the small ones tossed in some sort of red chili powder, I love idlis of all sizes and flavors!

Talking about idlis was a great ice-breaker with locals. My driver was pleased about my idli obsession; there was a sense of camaraderie that we both had the same thing for breakfast. During home visits, a research respondent's wife was excited to show me her family idli mixture, and the utensils she used to cook idlis in the morning.

Another great breakfast is dosa, a rice and lentil crepe. You can have it plain, and dip it in sambhar. Or you can have ones that are stuffed, like this Masala Dosa with spiced potatoes.

Beyond Nan

On menus, there's usually a nice long list for breads that go beyond just nan.

The many-layered parathas are a favorite. They remind me of the roti pratas I grew up with in Singapore.

Then there is appam, a bread made from rice that kind of looks like a pancake. I love the soft and spongy middle!

Rice

Idlis, appams—these are all made from rice. That's because rice is an important part of South India cuisine. Locals will tell you that they don't feel right if they don't eat rice for a while. That's probably a big reason why I love South Indian food so much—rice is such an important part of my life too!

Besides the typical basmatic rice, I discovered the amazingly fragrant Nellore rice. Even plain, it smelled so wonderful and tasted so delicious!

Sweets

I find a lot of similarity between South Indian desserts and Chinese desserts.

This is one of my favorites, Bebinca—a many-layered soft, spongy cake. It reminds me of the thousand-layered steamed cake that you get in some Chinese dim sum restaurants. This one is technically a Goan dessert, so it's really West Indian rather than South Indian.

Warm sweet soup is another common dessert. I love this milky sweet soup with yam. Next to it is a picture of Karshu Barfi, a cashew sweet cake. It's super sweet, like some of the thick sweet paste cakes we get in some Chinese cuisine. Can't say I love it, but it's nice in small bites with tea.

Crazy about their surveys

At the end of your meal, before you get your check, be prepared to fill out a survey. Yet for all the diligence in getting these distributed and filled out, there's little concern about research accuracy! Waiters stand by watchfully, with a huge smile, as you fill them out. Some go so far as to encourage you to fill it out a certain way, and to put their names on the form if you like the service. What else can one do except fill out "great" on every column?

If you want to find out more about South Indian food, here's a link to a pretty-exhaustive Wiki page.

DNA

Yesterday, there was this tv program talking about DNA where I found it quite interesting. Since technology have improved so much... they are now able to know the connection of DNA with one's ability and maybe even characteristic!! 

Through yesterday's program, we happen to know that it is very common now in China that parents have their children's DNA tested, so as to know what are their abilities where they can focus in educating that then allowing their kids to learn this & that!! And eventually, they will become a genus at that ability!!

For example, while each strand represents something, they are able to know if you are good at music notes, or have sense in rhythm. If you have these strands and have a high rate in it, then you may become a genus in music!! With these results, the parents will focus on bringing the kids to music training schools, hoping that they will have a success in music in the future.

This association was run by the government where 1 test will cost 4100rmb. Which will be around 1-1.5 month salary in china. But still, lots of middles class parents done this test for their children. There is no such test in Japan, how about in your country? Do you think this will be a good thing and a short cut to success for your children? Indeed it is very efficient, like I still sometimes doubt on my ability... if I'm able to know what I'm good at, maybe I can be more successful and have more confidence in myself. But at the same time, because I have been through so many things, trying this & that to ensure myself, the path is what that helped to make me 'Me'... 

Design discoveries in Amsterdam

Thanks to Iceland's volcano, I got a few extra days in Amsterdam after my work was done. I love the city's daring design and individual style, from fashion to home decor. Here are some things I saw that inspire me.

Droog

This exciting place is more art gallery than store.

United Nude

Shoes here are designed by Dutch architect Rem D. Koolhaas. Take a close look at the heels, which are based on architectural/engineering concepts. I love how each shoe is lovingly displayed like an art object.

Specialty boutiques trump franchise stores

Often, when I go shopping around the world, be it Hong Kong or Tokyo, I see the same stores everywhere—the Gap, Guess, Levi's. Even if the names are different, designs look like copies of one another as they probably come from the same factories who just tag on a different label. So I love that Amsterdam has kept the franchise stores at bay. The city is full of little stores filled with interesting, unique items.

Here is a workshop at the back of a clothing store, where the store owner designs and sews his own creations.

Here's a particularly creative window display!

Design at home

Design is not just for the super rich—everyday Dutch folks put a lot of effort into decorating their house. Here's a stunning chandelier at a home we visited.