Friday, December 14, 2007

White Buddha in the rain


White Buddha, originally uploaded by xopherlance.

I've finally finished uploading all the pics from my recent trips to Vietnam, Macau, and Hong Kong. Jetlag is a bitch. I'm retired for the moment so I have no incentive to shoehorn myself back into the PDT. For the last few days I've been swinging wildly at my target sleep patterns not hitting anything. First I was going to sleep at 15:00 and waking up at 03:00, then I was able to go to sleep at a reasonable hour (midnight) but I would wake up at 04:00 fully alert and unable to drift back off. Today I arose at 09:00, but took an unexpected nap at 17:00...probably a result of eating the #19 at Langer's. Now I'm wide awake and my circadian rhythms are still shot to hell. I'm going to continue posting photos on Flickr...of the last Encontro when I stayed in HK and visited Shanghai.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Hong Kong Phoody

Monday 12/3/2007: dinner at Club de Recreio. When I think of this meal I can only express disappointment at how mediocre the minchi was compared with Restaurante Litoral in Macau. Their minchi was the tastiest I've ever had, and the same goes for the galinha africana.

Tuesday 12/4/2007: Most breakfasts we either went up to the Conrad's executive lounge or ate the plump fruit and yogurt cups Mom brought down if we slept in. For lunch I ordered an orange gunner (orange juice added to the traditional ginger beer, ginger ale, lime, and bitters) and scrumptious Singapore noodles at Shek O Golf and Country Club, as a guest of Uncle Anthony. We ate on the veranda overlooking the golf course and the rocky coast:

Pint-sized Shek O golf course, HK Island

That night we dined in the Kellet Island Bistro at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, where I ate some righteous lamb chops, much better than those at the Venetian banquet on our last night in Macau. I noticed that one of them was a touch undercooked, but it was so delicious that I ate it anyway, and no ill effects followed.

Wednesday 12/5/2007: the family and I met up with Ah Chan by the lions in front of the HSBC building and brought her to Yung Kee on Wellington Street. We rocked out to -- among other dishes -- preserved eggs with pickled ginger, deep-fried prawns with sweet and sour sauce, barbecued pork, pea shoots with garlic, pan-fried fish fillets, and roasted goose, the house specialty. We drank Shou Mei tea as an accompaniment, and for dessert I swallowed a bowl of tzi ma wu, black sesame soup. Afterwards we took the Star Ferry to Kowloon to try to walk off the layers of goose and pig we'd packed on.

HK Island from the Star Ferry Terminal

Wednesday night we had a late dinner without Dad at one of my favorite Hong Kong juhk joints, Tasty Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop. At least I think that's the name; in Chinese it's 正斗, and it's located at 21 King Kwong Street in Happy Valley. I had my favorite preserved egg & beef congee with yau tiu wrapped in a layer of chi cheung fun, and "zha cheung mien", which you can see in a photo on the HK Foodie link above.

Thursday 12/6/2007: We tried to hit Sushi Hiro in Causeway Bay but our party was too big, so instead Uncle Anthony treated us to the best Italian restaurant in Hong Kong: Da Domenico in Sunning Plaza. Alessandro took good care of our party: we started with a ball of the creamiest mozzarella I've ever tasted; it had the texture of a fine chocolate mousse and a delicate but rich flavor. We also ordered the same mouthwatering fried scamorza that I sampled there in 2002 and a fresh spinach and ricotta raviolo the size of my plate. There was also a meat sampler (the meats and vegetables are flown in from Rome twice a week by Cathay) and a savory house-made Italian sausage. JC and I walked around in Central and stopped by Man Mo Temple that afternoon.

Man Mo Temple

I had a luxurious mutton korma that night at the Happy Valley Clubhouse of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Friday 12/07/2007: Uncle Anthony took the four of us to his old local breakfast joint in Happy Valley where I'd eaten on previous trips -- Cheung Hing Coffee Shop. We gorged on Chinese style deep-fried "French" toast with cane syrup, condensed milk on toast, pineapple buns, yin yeung and ngau lai cha.

Yuen Yueng (鴛鴦) at Cheung Hing Coffee Shop
Golden Syrup and French Toast

We hiked Bowen Road afterwards, all the way down through the aviary in HK Park. Check out this crazy giant pigeon we ran into:

Goura scheepmakeri

That thing is just cold foolish and madcap! We hit Club Lusitano for a dressy but disappointing lunch of fish curry and empada; the cheese toast, though, is as good as I remembered.

The Cheese Toast at Club Lusitano

Friday night Deanne joined our group for a hearty and succulent meal at The Chinnery at the Mandarin Oriental. Kumamoto oysters from Washington and a fillet of lemon sole, with sticky toffee pudding for dessert. We consumed two bottles of a fantastic Viognier from S. Africa over the course of the evening.

Saturday 12/08/2007: While Mom & Dad went out for seafood in Sai Kung with Deanne and Uncle Anthony, JC & I met up with Katish at The Press Room on Hollywood Road for blue crab bisque and a frisee salad with bacon lardons. I adore bacon lardons, and while these were good they weren't as supernatural as the sweet and savory bacon at Square One on Fountain. After lunch we took the MTR out to Hang Hau, so we could see Deanne's new house and say good-bye.



We dined that night at The Hong Kong Club, the colony's first. I started with half a dozen oysters (3 Irish, 3 Scottish), and continued with a medium-rare prime rib of beef with Yorkshire pudding and baked potato. We were accompanied by a beautifully decanted Chateau Lynch-Bages (1998). We finished the meal with a selection of cheeses and a delectable Chateau Giraud. Afterwards, JC and I met up with Daisy again for a drink at FINDS in Lan Kwai Fong, where I'd been treated to the Finnish national anthem two nights before, when Daisy and I unexpectedly stumbled onto Finland's 90th Independence Day celebration.

The food all week was intense and almost always unbearably good. It was also constantly being set before me; I never had the chance to be hungry after leaving Macau. Sadly, I'm now home eating American fare. I had some dim sum on Spring Street only a few hours after arriving at LAX on Sunday, to my great regret. Three weeks of fresh and authentic Asian cuisine could kill an appetite for the best dim sum in L.A., and CBS Seafood is far from the best. My new project -- inuring myself to mediocre cuisine -- begins today.

I'm IN

External Wall Maintenance in Progress

Flying into LAX from HKG on United is like eating an appetizer at Urasawa, then driving to McDonald's for your main course and dessert. I took the $4 LAX Flyaway Bus to Union Station and walked home, dragging my bag behind me. I know it sounds arduous, but it was actually the most pleasant leg of my journey, after leaving Hong Kong. According to my new Baume & Mercier chronograph watch -- thank you Uncle Anthony -- it took me 32 minutes and 23 seconds to reach the door to my loft, and the morning weather was gorgeous. I stayed awake until about 3pm, and slept until about 4:00 this morning. I breakfasted early at The Pantry on Figueroa and watched the sun rise over downtown. In the coming days I'll be uploading photos and embroidering them with some blog entries.

The above pic was taken from our room on the 54th floor of the Conrad International in Admiralty.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Kamakura daibutsu in the rain


Kamakura daibutsu in the rain, originally uploaded by xopherlance.

I'm working every day and night. I'm not responding to personal emails. I've retreated into my pain cave. I'm sick to death of Leatherheads. I need to leave the country again. It will all be over soon.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Bumpy antlers


Bumpy antlers, originally uploaded by xopherlance.

another one. wary eye for the gaijin guy.

Bamboo grove


Bamboo grove, originally uploaded by xopherlance.

I'm going through my photos from last year's trip to Japan and reuploading at a higher resolution. I'm also discovering a few that I like but never posted.

riding the train from Tokyo to Nara


I love this bag. I love Japan. I love this photo because it reminds me of both.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Scientific American turns 162

Happy Birthday SciAm. I may not buy your print edition as often as I'd like, but I'm a voracious listener to your daily 60 Second Science podcast as well as your weekly Science Talk podcast, which along with the CFI's Point of Inquiry, I savor all week long.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

My Life Poster

A close up of the poster I made with some pics from my travels, Apple's iPhoto, and detailed instructions on the Mike Matas Blog. You can see how it hangs here.

AroundTheWorld Life Poster

The loft at Pacific Electric

In the spirit of Dnice's Mashmamdali blog and the paterfamilias' documentation of The Addition to the house in Vienna, I've uploaded some photos of my pain cave. I hung the Ikea tracks and panels over a year ago, but the lanterns above the couch and the curtains around the bed just went up last weekend.
panels open
panels closed wide
window view
skewed bed
bathroom
panels
dining
life poster & bathroom doors
dusk

Friday, June 29, 2007

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

33.33333333

Today, I've been alive precisely 33.33333333 years. I decided to commemorate this mathematically significant anniversary by cutting my hair shorter than it's ever been in all that time.

short hair

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

DZK: Free online Hip-Hop

Finally, an effective neutralizing agent for Christian music has emerged. His name is DZK and the D.C. Metro area is his headquarters. For toothsome hip-hop and superb lyrics, check out WarLab.com. You can listen and even download the tracks for free. My favorite cut is Bow Down; see if you can guess why. The rap is first-rate, and my old friend Dnice produced the website. Enjoy and spread the Word.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Pascal's Wager: useful for a change

Last weekend while pumping gas for Soy at the Arco on Franklin and Gower, the guy at the next pump approached and asked me if I knew Jesus. He launched into his proselytizing with Paley's Watchmaker analogy; I recognized what he was doing when he pointed to an apartment block across the way and asked if it was fair to assume that an architect was behind its design. The problem with the Argument from Design is that it demands a prerequisite ignorance of basic scientific knowledge. Darwin's law of natural selection adequately wounded Paley's argument in 1859; Richard Dawkins' 1986 book, The Blind Watchmaker, should have been the final nail in its coffin. Ignorance is bliss for believers, apparently.

Gas station missionary then proceeded to outline what I recognized as Pascal's Wager for me in broad strokes. Unfortunately, before I could explicate the successful rebuttals (see here and here) to Pascal's flawed chart, the cars behind us began honking for our gas pumps and the evangelist took his leave.

A significant problem with campaigners for Christ is that they don't know science and Enlightenment philosophy as well as most atheists know the Bible. If you're going to approach random strangers at gas stations to attempt a religious conversion, you should do your homework first. One more thing: do not act so smug and patronizing when you learn that I was raised a Roman Catholic. I am atheist because I employ reason in my thinking; not because of the doctrine of Transubstantiation or papal politics (though I do have ethical problems with the latter).

Here is a very interesting (if a bit nerdy) video that repurposes Pascal's Wager for a more pressing problem:

Rudy Giuliani is a demagogue

Pat Buchanan gives his view on Giuliani's vicious and pandering attack on Congressman Ron Paul in May's Republican debate. Paul is the one Republican candidate for whom I actually reserve some respect -- so of course he won't get the nomination.

here's the link

Sunday, May 20, 2007

The Addition (updated 07/02/2007)

The small deck & screened-in porch with its screen torn out:
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Building out the new kitchen:
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Incorporating the screened-in porch:
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The new roofline outlined:
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And a new roof!...
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...shingled out! Like the old kitchen's bay window?
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No bay window! New deck! Like the stairs?
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No stairs for you!
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the patio and door to the new storage room:
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the central vertical pipe is for the gas stovetop:
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arches sans columns:
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the semi-installed cabinetry:
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Avast! Kitchen Island, ho!
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...sailed around to the other side:
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The arch and columns will be fixed:
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New siding, but no door:
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Now there's a door:
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Counter tops installed, matching the hardwood stain:
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The sink, tile, range hood, & pantry door are in:
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Looking out from the dining room's new bigger window:
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the double oven installed & family room painted:
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the second a/c unit installed on the new patio:
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the new bricked-in posts match the old brick:
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a new step up to the deck, for ease of use by senior citizens:
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a better view of the range top and hood:
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An old chandelier is new again:
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Lights installed, hardwood floor finished:
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Widened doorway enables a clear view, back o' the house to the front:
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New paint, new in-ceiling speakers, new room on left, new fan, new mantelpiece, old hearth:
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front of the house to the back; stairs papered 'cause the upstairs closets are now going under the knife...
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the new family room!
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the new kitchen!
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the new 360 degree view!