Next station: Hong Kong and Taiwan

Countdown : 1 day
I will be on vacation to Hong Kong and Taiwan this time.
I will be traveling on Cathay Pacific, that is why Hong Kong is part of this trip although it seems to be rushing it for I will only be in Hong Kong for 1 day. The main point of this vacation is really Taiwan.

I have always wanted to visit Taiwan ever since I started watching Taiwanese TV programs and dramas. It seems to be a very attractive country especially with varieties of food they have in the country. I can't wait to try them all :). I hope I would have enough time to fit everything into 7 days although I seriously doubt I can, I just have to try. We plan to travel around the island, however there are forecast of typhoon might hit during our visit. Still hope that it will not happen. Taiwan, here I come.

Germination process

There is a patch of land on the side of the house which is left empty. Since everyone is talking about organic food, I thought maybe I can grow my own vegetables and fruit as well. It is still a little ironic to me because I'm working in a high tech world and at the same time now I'm thinking about growing my own vegetables.

I have decided to start from the very beginning, seed. I saw the lady's finger or better known as okra here in US and brussel sprout seed while browsing through the shop so I have decided to try them. Being a gardening dummy, after surfing the internet, I learned a new word, germination. I have decided to give it a try instead of just planting the seed out of the package. After a couple days, miracle happens, it actually works. I am expecting that I would have to at least try it multiple times before I succeed, that is why it's a miracle :). Here is what they look like now in the pot.


This is sunflower, I love them since I think they bring a smile to my face so I have decided to grow some at my house to brighten any dull day.

This is brussel sprout, or miniature cabbage.


This is the okra, I still remember I used my brother used to grow them in our backyard when I was little.

I will have to transfer them to the patch of land. Preparing the land now and trying to see what else I can grow. Time to go gardening shopping now for other seed since I'm succeed this time.

Fig time

Remember the fig tree that I mentioned in my previous post? Previously I said I'm not sure how to tell if a fig is ripe or not. Now I think I know.

Last Wednesday, while checking on garden, I saw a bunch of half eaten figs on the ground, oh what a mess. I guess the fig is ripe and those squirrels are the first one to taste it. By looking at what they left behind as an example, I poke around on the tree and pick some before it is all gone. My first time eating fresh fig. I didn't expect that it will be that sweet. What a surprise.


Actually this is ripe enough to be consume.


This one is getting there too.


These are those I picked, however I think they are a little too ripe. Maybe I should have try to pick them a couple days earlier. Trying to beat the squirrel to those fruits are a little tough, just hope there will be plenty for them and us.

Hot Dog Bun

It is a long weekend and everyone is probably at their vacation destination enjoying themselves. As for me, this year I need to work this long weekend so no holidays for me. Oh well, at least I would not have to work Christmas I hope.

Since I'm staying home, I thought maybe I will do some baking. I found a bread baking book that I bought a couple years ago yesterday night while unpacking. After flipping through, I have decided to start with the easiest of all, a dinner roll. Since dinner roll can be a little plain, I have decided to make a hot dog bun out of it. To be on the somewhat healthy side, I decided to go with wheat flour. After 15 minutes of kneading this is what it looks like while I leave the yeast to do their work.



After 90 minutes, this is the end results of the hot dog bun I'm making. Not really what you get from the chinese bakery store, however I think it is close enough although comment I got from my first customer is that the bun is not puffy enough :). I blame it on the yeast being lazy and not doing their work.



I would not give up, hopefully the next time I try it, the results would be a better one.

Happy Independance Day

I'm not traveling this year for this long weekend and no BBQ for me as well. I went shopping today to get things for the house and also did some yard work. There are so much cleaning to do in the yard before it it presentable to people. Not the best July 4th I would say.

At first we were thinking to go up to San Francisco for the fireworks show at the pier, however it was a little too late to drive up there. So we decided to try out luck at the Cupertino fireworks show. The show started before we even got there so we would have to pull over on the road side to watch it. Not the best spot ever so I didn't capture good enough pictures. For those who didn't even catch a glimpse at all, here you go.





This is the best I can do for capturing the pictures from inside the car.
Happy Independance Day, y'all.