tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34233762008-11-14T21:07:01.043+08:00my adventures in TaiwanBertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.comBlogger396125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-1447104853640806242008-11-14T20:56:00.002+08:002008-11-14T21:07:01.058+08:00

With my lovely new-ish Emile Henry stoneware crock (purchased from Costco at about half the average online price) and a jar of active dry yeast found in the fridge, I thought I should finally try the famous No-Knead Bread that has made it's way around the baking blogosphere. It came together well at first: But then, perhaps precisely that the yeast has been in the fridge for an indeterminate

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-76159041627399077012008-11-12T19:28:00.002+08:002008-11-12T19:34:11.173+08:00

About a week or two ago, I was pleased to see a line of red lanterns snaking up the hill to the temple next to my home. "Great!" I thought to myself, "If anyone comes and visits, all they need to do is follow the lanterns." Then, as I turned around the corner on my way home a week ago, I ran into this: The local neighborhood temple had gone Vegas. We had flashing Christmas lights, colored

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-4846491139039153312008-11-05T19:15:00.002+08:002008-11-05T19:23:15.910+08:00

Yay! One big step forward for the U.S. and the world! Congratulations to President-Elect Barack Obama! And lastly, I was struck by this photo on the NYTimes website: To me, it just sums up this election, with the multi-language voting sign and the long line of voters waiting. The caption was: Voters waited for as long as an hour and a half to cast their ballots at the Ronald Emonds Learning

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-52660951455557132452008-10-28T19:35:00.000+08:002008-10-28T19:35:01.116+08:00

Went to the beach for the first time in a long time and boogie boarded. Thankfully, the water is not yet cold! I've fully recovered from my second trek up Jade Mountain. I was definitely less fit this time around, which probably explains my small bout with altitude sickness. But, we had great weather, and the peak was so much more pleasant with windproof gear! It's beautiful up there, but I

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-40951648227167043952008-10-23T19:20:00.000+08:002008-10-23T19:20:00.875+08:00

I've been listening to the Leonard Lopate Show on podcast; a recent episode on the Panic of 1873 was absolutely fascinating. Professor Scott Reynolds Nelson of the College of William & Mary was the guest describing parallels between the current financial crisis with the Panic of 1873. It's completely compelling and alarming. Basically, the start of the crash happened in Europe due to rampant real

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-35184682440093923902008-10-08T19:00:00.000+08:002008-10-08T19:00:02.167+08:00

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-14818593152151830682008-10-07T21:36:00.003+08:002008-10-07T22:09:39.062+08:00

I just got back from my holiday to London and Paris. A big thank you to Eve, Tom, Nicky, Caroline, Camil, and Candice for their hospitality - 'twas a lovely trip! Some thoughts: We walked a lot - we averaged about 20,000 steps a day. Note that the health professionals recommend 10,000 steps a day, so we really went above and beyond. Great weather in London, too chilly for my acclimated

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-66718605800571012852008-09-04T18:38:00.001+08:002008-09-04T19:04:27.683+08:00

Getting over a head cold. Relieved the weather has finally cooled; ~35C (~95F) high humidity is brutal. Unbelievable that Lynn Spears (Britney's mom) was castigated when Jamie Lynn's unplanned pregnancy was announced (bad example for our children! delay Mama Spears book deal!) , but Sarah Palin and daughter Bristol are praised ("it's not that big of a deal, stuff happens") - hypocrisy? getting

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-6760637580702908272008-07-31T00:22:00.003+08:002008-07-31T00:40:57.721+08:00

The one Scrabulous game in which I am finally doing well against my brother (I'm not getting my butt kicked by a 50 point spread! I'm actually ahead!), and Hasbro decides to sue the founders of Scrabulous. Of course, Hasbro's authorized online Scrabble version isn't open to users outside of the U.S. and Canada. Get with the program people! It's the age of the Internet, which crosses borders. The

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-33915581722794377562008-07-04T13:18:00.002+08:002008-07-04T13:39:19.209+08:00

The New York Times recently published an article on diabetes. The article mentions: ...diabetes is anything but minor. It wreaks havoc on the entire body, affecting everything from hearing and vision to sexual function, mental health and sleep. It is the leading cause of blindness, amputations and kidney failure, and it can triple the risk for heart attack and stroke.Last night I went to visit my

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-29609266507655402762008-06-18T09:51:00.002+08:002008-06-18T10:02:29.521+08:00

Nothing new to the technophiles, but as I recently installed Windows Live Messenger on my work computer, the installer asked if I wanted to install other features. I hadn't heard of these, so I looked them up: Windows Live Mail = Mac Mail.app (which has been around for years, with the same functionality) Windows Live Photo Gallery = Mac iPhoto app Windows Live Spaces = The service formerly known

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-31302817828373045362008-06-07T15:58:00.002+08:002008-06-07T16:10:39.503+08:00

Everyday when I get online at home, I read these websites in the following order: The Page by Mark Halperin at TIME (one page summary of what's going on in the election; the Google News page can get too distracting with all the links), McCainBlogette by Meghan McCain (great behind-the-scenes look of life on the campaign trail; while I disagree with McCain's policy views, I respect him and wife

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-56423353074434432532008-06-04T13:53:00.003+08:002008-06-04T13:57:38.388+08:00

Interesting article in the CS Monitor on what Muslims really think, from a Gallup poll.

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-11274827717896253802008-05-22T16:25:00.004+08:002008-05-22T16:39:49.750+08:00

At a press conference this past Monday, Warren Buffet said "I think that the US has followed and is following policies which will cause the US dollar to weaken over a long period of time," he said. After voicing support for Obama, Buffett nonetheless noted the US economy had managed to do "awfully well" despite a depression, two world wars and many financial crises. "They say in the stock

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-43267024158720486682008-05-08T14:01:00.002+08:002008-05-08T14:14:20.625+08:00

I read this op-ed in the New York Times and was compelled to share. Click on the title above to read the full article; highlights are below: Our president’s latest energy initiative was to go to Saudi Arabia and beg King Abdullah to give us a little relief on gasoline prices. I guess there was some justice in that. When you, the president, after 9/11, tell the country to go shopping instead of

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-40646964584938997592008-04-02T22:09:00.002+08:002008-04-03T01:19:24.956+08:00

You know those classical Chinese paintings where there are layers of discrete clouds in the midst of hills? This morning when I got up to take my shower, the view outside the window was just that. Very pretty. Unfortunately, by the time I got dressed and got my camera, the mist had already rolled in. But it was a great way to start the day.

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-64470955539592593782008-03-22T12:30:00.003+08:002008-03-22T12:37:13.505+08:00

Last night I came home late for work and really wanted to bake, but not put in a lot of effort. I had a Goodbaker mix that I've been wanting to try, so that's what I used. It was really simple - empty the bag, add a little oil and water, mix, and scoop out. The organic vegan chocolate chip cookies were really good! They did taste healthy, in a really good way. There was good texture, depth of

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-75193535107024788062008-03-12T16:08:00.004+08:002008-03-12T16:44:12.041+08:00

Last summer I was torn. I'd read Barack Obama's book, Dreams from My Father, and found him to be a compelling politician. One of the most compelling and inspiring politicians, in fact. Especially when most politicians say the same old circular nothings, he actually had something interesting to say. On the other hand, I respected Hillary's tenacity and hard work. As a feminist, the thought of

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-78852932501080242442008-03-12T14:35:00.002+08:002008-03-12T14:38:11.037+08:00

The New York Times ran an article yesterday on pollutants from the production of biofuel, the latest in a reminder that corn and soybeans may not be the answer to our fuel consumption. I've also read that because of increasing demand for corn-based ethanol, the price of corn (and thus, tortillas) - staples of the Mexican diet - have increased drastically, making it harder for ordinary people to

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-62455186889083264002008-01-30T17:21:00.000+08:002008-01-30T17:27:19.985+08:00

It's almost February, and we leave for Sri Lanka on Friday for an early start to the Lunar New Year holiday. Meanwhile, here is a photo of Malapascua, a small island off of Cebu in the Philippines, where we spent the western New Year's. While there, we ate at the best restaurant on the island, La Dolce Vita. We were so busy enjoying the food, I forgot to take photos. Thankfully, this blogger

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-10404532860224129272007-12-22T19:19:00.000+08:002007-12-22T19:21:16.787+08:00

Talk about clever advertising for the holidays. Uniqlo has a video clock with cheery music and sweaters and cashmere that just look so light and comfy and cozy.

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-59838246012105105292007-11-09T20:04:00.000+08:002007-12-22T19:24:05.095+08:00

I got to celebrate Halloween exactly the way I wanted to, by baking pumpkin pie brownies, inspired by a recipe for the same from the Post Punk Vegan Kitchen. Except mine wasn't 100% vegan, as I have conventional brownie mix to use up. It was still yummy! Enjoy!

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-44453996120989629402007-10-25T13:52:00.000+08:002007-10-25T13:58:53.940+08:00

Since it's almost Halloween and I haven't posted since last month (where o where does the time go?), I thought I'd post a few photos from my last trip back to the States. Trying to be a Joshua Tree at, where else? Joshua Tree National Park Vegan nachos at Real Food Daily in Santa Monica: The. best. ever. dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), made at the "My Big Fat Greek Cooking Class" at HipCooks

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-63986682843023784042007-09-26T23:30:00.001+08:002007-09-26T23:37:26.701+08:00

I just returned from a last-minute trip to meet the hubs, returning from a business trip to Europe, in Bangkok this past long weekend. Cashed in some miles (that were expiring soon) and flew in style. I've been working so much that it slipped my attention that we would have a 4-day weekend owing to Mid-Autumn Festival. Anyways, the trip was a welcome respite. I did my usual do yoga-eat yummy

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423376.post-86119214963122368072007-08-19T18:01:00.000+08:002007-08-19T18:19:35.262+08:00

July and now, most of August, has blurred in a haze of multiple birthdays and farewells. Certainly time has never passed more quickly, or been marked as multiple periods end. So here's a quick visual summary of my summer: Perhaps ironic, yet somewhat fittingly, I got my Taiwan ID card on Independence Day, and a few days shy of my birthday. Certainly, for me it means freedom from the

Bertahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17690593490652876421noreply@blogger.com0