BINKY!

Our Mother's Day

2009-05-11T23:28:00.000-07:00

We spent our morning at the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden (affectionately called The Rhody Garden by locals) on Sunday. This was our second time there in just a matter of 2 weeks. We decided to come again because there was a Mother's Day Rhody Sale and Show, and also thought that the garden may be awash in various colors of the rhody blooms by now. Last time we were there, the buds had not bloom yet.

Seeing all these gorgeous flowers with so many color variety makes me want to get one of them. I can only get one, due to the size of this plant which could grow quite big, and even the smaller variety can get as big as 3-4 feet tall and wide. Not only space is the issue in my garden now, but also the vast number of delicious colors available - I'm just too spoilt for choices!! On the other hand, I might get azaleas instead, also from the rhody family but smaller, but their flowers are not as show-stopping as the rhodys. Anyway, I am still contemplating.

As always, one could always find waterfowls in the lake and pond areas of the garden. They are so accustomed to the presence of humans that one could come very near to them and some even begged for grains or eat out of the hand of a boy as in the 3rd picture below.

We only stayed there about less than an hour and then proceeded to the flower sale at the parking lot. We looked around but didn't buy any plants.

It was already almost lunch time when we nearly arrived home. We decided on the spot that we'll eat out at Tualatin. We wanted to try Famous Dave's BBQ Ribs, and just as we reached the their main entrance, we found out that it was still under renovation. They have completed the outer building but the interior was still unfinished. No wonder there wasn't any cars in the parking lot; we thought we were too early!

So we opted to go to the nearby Greek Cusina for what else - Greek food! Greek Cusina has a main branch in downtown Portland that occupies 3 floors of a building (I've never been there, but that's what I read in a brochure). The ground floor is for dining, the 2nd floor is where all the Greek shows (belly dancing, ceremonial plate-breaking and folk dancing) are held and the 3rd floor is a nightclub. The branch in Tualatin, however, is a satellite branch and it is only a diner.

This Tualatin Greek Cusina works like this - grab a menu, browse and make your selection, pay at the counter and a server will bring your food to you. There is no waiting persons to take your order at your table.

We went in there not knowing what to expect, what to order and everything on the menu looked very Greek to us! What the heck, we'll just had to be adventurous, we told ourselves, and so ordered something that seemed edible to our palette (click on the images below to view the menu - front and back - in larger size).

I ordered the stuffed grape leaves with lamb from the small plate category, while hubby had the Moussaka. As for side, we had the classic gyro which is lamb meat.

My stuffed grape leaves tasted tangy and refreshing, although I didn't taste much lamb in it. Portion-wise, I can say it is a little small (since it is from the SMALL plate category, anyway) if you just have that for your lunch, unless you order a side dish to go with it. But then again, I had a bowl of ramen (instant noodles) that morning, so my tummy wasn't completely hungry yet.

Hubby's moussaka is delicious. Firstly, the Greek salad in the dish is freshly crunchy and tangy with a hint of mellow because of the crumbled Feta cheese. My only complaint is that the marinated pitted olives that came in it were too salty for my liking - but I still ate it, because I love olives (I had all of them because hubby doesn't like whole olives)!

And then, there's the main star, the grounded beef that was baked with some vegetables and topped with cheese and I think some filo pastry as well. The moment I put that in my mouth, the top layer melted, giving away to cheesy or buttery but tasty vegetables and meat in it - mmm, it's simply wonderful and soul-comforting. Overall, the tangy salad went well with the cheesy mellow meat and the portion is just nice too.

Finally, the classic gyro. What can I say about this? It was smoked, moist and surprisingly not dry for (grounded?) lamb meat. I am still wondering how they made the texture so smooth - did they add lots of flour and water in it? I think this was a tad salty, since we ate it just like that. They normally serve this with warm pita breads or paninis, which I believe could offset the saltiness taste in the gyro.

As for the ambience in the restaurant, I think it has a diner-feel in it. Interior decorations are are just okay, and neat and clean. There were only 3 employees working at that time, and we didn't need to wait long for our order to arrive. For sandwiches, they prepare it on the spot in front of you like how those folks in Subway do.

Overall, we were pleasantly surprised by the tastes of the food there and were also quite satisfied with the portions for the price we paid ($22 including a large tumbler of drink shared between hubby and I, plus $2 tip). We also thought that the choices of food available are quite healthy, considering that there were lots of vegetables included in most of every dish. Will we come back again? Yes for light meals, but no to this Tualatin branch if we want a heavy meal (perhaps their downtown branch offers a wider variety).

More new cacti

2009-05-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

I just did a minor change to my mini "rock garden" today. I wanted a variety of shapes in that particular pot, so I took out my split rock (living rock) cactus and replace it with a globular, spikey cactus. So now, I have triangular (aloe vera leaves) shape, flower shape, round shape and tree shape in that pot.

(My previous mini "rock garden")

(My updated mini "rock garden")

You can also view more images of my new cacti in my Facebook.

My gardening update

2009-05-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

I expanded my gardening this week to include planting succulent cacti. At first, I just wanted to have a couple of aloe vera for medicinal purposes. Then I got tempted to do a mini rock garden for my aloe container, so I bought a bag of cactus soil mix and three more succulent cacti variety. After I was done with that container, I had some leftover soil, so I went to buy a couple more cacti, and what started as just 2 aloe vera plants became 6 different cacti variety. And then there are the "baby cacti" (leaves) that I scooped up from the shelf (of the store where I bought them) that can be grown as separate individual plants. I planted them in a separate pot which I call it the nursery pot. If the growing of these babies are successful, then I'll have 3 more variety, and so 9 in total.

Some of my vegetables that I planted from seeds have grown now, but still not mature yet to be consumed. I also bought some broccoli and cauliflower plants (grown by commercial nursery) to add to my vegetable corner.

(Cauliflower and broccoli plants)

(Chinese cabbage)

(Chinese parsley)

(Chinese spinach)

(Green onions)

And here's my favorite plant of the year - my miniature water lily. I bought this slightly more than 2 months ago, and it is still in "baby" phase, but it is steadily growing new leaves. The mature leaves will be green in color with each leaves about 5-6 inches in diameter. I am hoping warmer, sunny weather will come soon so that it could elevate the water lily's growth.

In case you wonder, I added special chemical into the water which prevents mosquito breeding and algae growth, as well as acts as water clarifier. This chemical is safe on plants but not for fish. I also added a bunch of floating aquatic plants called hornwort into the water so that they can feed on any algae growth. Hornworts are also used in some aquariums because it is an excellent source of oxygenator, as well as hiding places for fish fry.

Finally, my favorite perennial - the calceolaria a.k.a. pocket book. Since I bought it a month ago (see previous posting here), it has grown very well, and has spread out to cover almost the entire surface of my 6" container. It is also a prolific bloomer because I feed it bloom booster (fertilizer) weekly.

More update on Ian

2009-05-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

Today, Ian surprised me with another one of his progress. He could hold a pen fairly properly now, like how a normal person holds it. Before, he would grasped it in his fist. The doodles that he makes are still quite faint because he doesn't know how to put pressure on the pen yet. The doodles are still mostly lateral lines, and just now, when I drew circles on the paper, he tried to trace the circles too. He also imitated a handful of my vertical lines, but still doesn't know how to draw it by himself.

Update on Ian

2009-05-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

In about 2 weeks, Ian will turn 2.5 years old. He has been on the government-funded Early Intervention Speech Program since 7 months ago (Oct 2008) and we have seen some progress in his vocabulary. His words include:

OBJECTS:
- Car
- Truck
- Bus (for school bus)
- zzrrrrreeww (for airplane)
- Ple-ple (for apple)
- Orange
- Nana (for banana)
- Ju-juize (for juice)
- Dog
- Meow (for cat)
- Neigh (for horse)
- Cow
- Lion
- Tiger
- Flower
- Shoes
- Teeth

NON-OBJECTS / ACTIONS:
- Hi (says this to strangers all the time when he is not distracted by something else)
- Bye-bye (and he waves his hands sometimes)
- Out, we go OUT
- Night-night
- Go
- Boo!
- Uh-oh!
- Wow!
- More (he sometimes signs "more")
- No more (he sometimes signs "all done" and says "no more")
- Yellow
- Green
- Brush teeth
- Eat
- Jump
- Push

UNDERSTANDS AND RESPONDS INSTRUCTIONS:
- Go throw away your diaper
- Go to daddy/mommy
- Hug-hug
- Kiss-kiss
- Sit down
- Sit, then eat
- Go to sleep
- Let's go up
- We are going out
- Close the door
- Fingers out (when he sticks fingers into his mouth)
- Eat your bread
- Drink / finish your milk / water / juice
- Show (mommy or daddy) your teeth
- Press here
- Put (this object) in here
- Pick it up (from the floor)
- No sweater/jacket, no out
- Hold hands with mommy/daddy (when walking together)
- All done and time to say "bye-bye" to park/toys/etc (although there are times he shows his frustrations, but I have seen him improving in his activity transitioning aspect, and the head-banging/rolling-on-the-floor actions are now less than before.)
- Stop! running, jumping, etc (He is getting better understanding this instruction although he may not stop immediately)

THINGS WE ARE STILL WORKING ON HIM:
- He still gets very excited when outside and still unable to focus his mind. The multiple distractions available everywhere is overwhelming for him.
- Sensory integration - he enjoys touching sand, rice grains, dry pastas, water but still doesn't like thick fluid stuffs like paint on his fingers as well as glue or gooey things.
- We try teaching him alphabets and numbers, and he knows how to sing part of the alphabet song but uses sounds ("a-chee, a-chee, a-chee-chee" = ABCD, EFG...) instead of naming the proper alphabets!
- Recognizing the correct colors.
- Sending him to daycare once or twice a week starting June to expose him to school environment as well as opportunity to socialize, share, potty-training, etc.

Weight loss update

2009-05-04T12:40:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to disclose that for the month of April, I have lost a total of 10 pounds - 6 pounds because of sickness (which is abnormal) and 4 pounds due to normal dieting and exercise. Yaaayyy!!!

I haven't lost a dress size yet, but some of my jeans and jackets that used to be quite snug are now a little breathable. So for this month, I am targeting at least another 4 pounds. I don't want to pressure myself too much by setting a high expectation because I want to enjoy my dieting, so that the weight management plan can become part of my lifestyle which can be sustained in a long run. So, I'll keep working on it and will post updates again.

8 pounds and counting?

2009-04-27T23:31:00.000-07:00

I was thinking hard on the subject of this post, because I'm not sure if my weight management plan this time will succeed or not. I had tried dieting ever since ages ago, but always unsuccessful. And after I gave birth to Ian, I had been putting on more weight to the extend that my BMI index falls under obese category. The weighing scale is not my friend because I don't want to see a depressing number showing under my feet, but out of the blue, one day earlier this month, I suddenly wanted to weigh myself. So it was 174 pounds.

Then, three weeks ago when I fell sick with stomach flu, I had severe vomiting and diarrhea and lost of appetite. While seeing the doctor, the nurse weighed me - 168 pounds. I wasn't that optimistic yet, because the flu was bothering me. Doctor advised me to be on liquid diet, i.e. just soup and Jell-o ("agar-agar"). As days went by, I slowly recovered and I weighed myself again - again, it's 168 pounds. This time, the resulting figure hits me - I just lost 6 pounds during the 6 days of sickness. That's a lot, and a new-found motivation sets in.

I suddenly feel so good inside and I want to continue doing more. So I mapped out a diet plan for myself, consisting of eating 2 regular meals (rice, meat, vege, pasta, kueh tiaw, etc) of half the quantity that I used to eat, and 1 meal of soup only. And since I always bring Ian to the park and he loves to run, I said to myself why not capitalize on his activeness and I run too and let him chase me. This plan seems to work out so far because since then till now, I have lost another 2 pounds. That's already 8 pounds in total. And it's all because I changed my mentality to adopt a more active and healthy lifestyle.

I just bought another pair of running pants to make sure that I run every morning whenever Ian doesn't have a class. So now, my goal of closing in the gap towards my healthy target weight (125 pounds) seems to slowly closing in - just another 43 pounds to go. But I don't view it as shedding 43 pounds at once - I take baby steps and go by 1 to 2-pounder so that I could sustain my motivation in this long journey.

And I admit *cough, cough* sneaking at pictures of Yamapi's toned body (see here and here) from time to time also helps inspiring me too... heheheee!!

A happy me
(self-portrait taken on April 27, 2009)

Cannibalism in China

2009-04-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

I opened up an email this morning only to be greeted by a horrid story of a bunch of people in China consuming dead fetus cooked in herbal soup which their believed can give them increased sexual libido. I did not even dare to scroll down the page to view the gruesome images because just by reading the first few sentences already make me nauseous. And no way would I post the pictures in here - you can just Google the keywords "China baby herbal soup" and you go read yourselves the numerous articles and images of this satanic act.

To those China people who first thought up of this, who killed the baby, who cooked the baby, who consumed this, who were pregnant with their second or third child only to find out they'll have another daughter and then decide to abort the fetus and sell it to the restaurants - these people should be condemned and burnt in hell. These lost souls are downright inhumane, heartless, uneducated and uncivilized in their blind pursuit to better sexual lifestyle.

My husband and I tried many years to have Ian, and even tries more than a year to have a second baby but no success yet. And then there are some people in another part of the world who would just readily abort their fetus just because it turned out to be a girl?! This is already the 21st century and I cannot believe that there are still some people out there that are worst than the lost tribes in Papua New Guinea or the Amazon. Even lions and tigers and other carnivores out there do not eat their own species.

Stomach flu

2009-04-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

Tuesday afternoon: Body ache and shiver

Tuesday evening: Fever of 101 degrees Fahrenheit, but still shivering. Wore double layers of long-sleeved clothing to sleep.

Wednesday 2AM: Still feverish 103 degrees. Feels like head was burning. Sweat.

Wednesday 6:30AM: Woke up with fever 100 degrees. Body ache all over.

Wednesday afternoon: More aching and slight cough began. Vomit and diarrhea.

Wednesday evening: After hubby massaged back with Tiger Balm ointment and did a little "khow sua", my aching body felt slight better. Vomiting and diarrhea continues.

Thursday morning: More cough, vomiting, diarrhea and dry mouth.

Thursday afternoon: Went to see doctor. She said it's stomach flu (gastroenteritis). By now, my vomiting has subside, but cough and diarrhea still present.

No drug prescription from doctor, but she advised me to drink plenty of fluids. For my cough, she said I can still take over-the-counter cough syrup and Immodium for my diarrhea. She also suggested I take electrolyte fluids such as Pedialyte (brand name of such fluid that is used in young children and infant with diarrhea and vomit) for rehydration.

As for food, no heavy solid food for the time being until my stomach can take it. So the allowable food I can consume at the moment are soups, broth and Jell-o (agar-agar), and slowly upgrade to banana, rice and bread.

And during the few days I am sick, I lost 4 pounds!!!!

I'm a baldie!

2009-04-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

For 1.5 hours, we went through fruit snacks, scissors, a Cars movie, hair shaver, haircut while taking bath, flashlights, mustache shaver, lots of struggling, crying and howling just for a haircut.

We first started by switching on a Cars movie on TV so that Ian could sit and watch, and also let him have some gummy fruit snacks while I trimmed his long hair with scissors. I thought by doing so, hubby should have an easier task with the hair shaver.

As soon as I finished trimming his hair short, we transitioned to using hair shaver to give him a crew cut. Now, from past experience, Ian never liked this and this time, it was even traumatic for him. He struggled vigorously and cried and howled much like the chickens being slaughtered by my mom during Chinese New Year's eve dinner 20+ years ago. I hugged him tightly and wrapped my legs around his to reduce his movements, but because he is VERY strong, we didn't get a good haircut. Consequently, we ended up with patchy hair like some anjing kurap (dogs with mange).

We took frequent breaks, but these did not minimize the trauma and instead, even at the sight of the hair shaver, Ian cried. But to let him go out and be seen in public in such horrible haircut, it'll attract too much of unwanted attraction, right? So the only thing I know will calm him down is water. He loves taking baths, so I let him play water in the bathtub while I used scissors again to evenly trimmed his hair out. Of course, there were hair all over the water and bathtub, but Ian wasn't complaining, so as long as he didn't, we can get the result that we wanted. Or so we thought. The shorter the hair, the more obvious the patchiness on his head (because some parts were cut too short than others, but then again, you can't get a perfect haircut with a kid who can't sit still, right).

Then hubby had an idea. He suggested we used his cordless electric mustache shaver to shave Ian's head completely bald once and for all. And so we showed Ian what that thing does by shaving hubby's chin, then let him hold the shaver and let him try to shave hubby's chin. Once he is comfortable with it, we took out something he likes to play with - flashlights - and let him sit and play while hubby shaved his head bald. Finally, we applied Johnson's Baby Oil all over his head to reduce any possible burning sensation on the after-shaved skin.

So after 1.5 hours, here is the end result:

We let out sighs of reliefs after it's all done. That's also partly the reason why we do not want to cut Ian's hair that frequently because he doesn't like the shaver since he was small. It was difficult for him and even more difficult for us to hold him down while trying our best not to accidentally cut into his skin. And getting him have his haircut in a public barber is totally out of question as his cries and screams are too loud. As he grows, he is also getting stronger and it's getting harder to hold him still. (Maybe we should sedate him before future haircuts... hahahahah!!)

My gardening to-do list

2009-04-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

This is another consecutive posting on gardening, and I just can't help it. The weather is getting better and warmer, and the flowers and vegetables are all hollering at me to "buy me, buy me"!

So my immediate to-do list is:
1) get a blueberry bush (only $7 at Home Depot!) and plant it in a big pot
2) solve the clay soil problem in my garden
3) get some fertilizer for my water lily
4) get a multi-tiered shelf for my potted plants at my backyard patio (to create more space)

The second one is the biggest headache for me. I planted some hardy rhododendrons 3 years back, and it only bloomed during the time I bought it. Since then, they are just staying alive and not flowering. And out of perhaps 40 tulip bulbs that I planted in the ground last fall, only about 10 of them came out and even so, not healthy-looking at all. I've been thinking of getting a soil tiller (cultivator) machine to loosen up the soil, but my initial findings tell me that this machine is not cheap. I'll have to look harder or maybe I'll just rent it from the local DIY shop. Anyhow, I just need to do something about my garden soil and it really bugs me.

Calceolaria

2009-04-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

Now that it is middle of spring, more plants came in to the local garden shops, and I am in a near frenzy of gardening activities - flowers and vegetables alike.

Calceolaria is the flower that I just purchased recently. I am attracted to the unique flowers of this plant that has puffed up petals filled with air, which looks like a ladies' handbag with handle. Its nickname is aptly called Ladies' Purse, and it is also commonly called Pocketbook. Calceolaria comes in 2 different colors - yellow with red speckles and orangey red, but I think the yellow ones are more eye-catching. It can grow up to 18" in height, and best of all, this is a perennial plant (plant once, blooms every year). Looks like this plant is also quite a prolific bloomer too. And because it is so unique and being a perennial, it is going to get very special attention and nurturing from me. :)

The week in review

2009-04-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

It was a slow 2 weeks for me as hubby was away in Korea for business (he came home yesterday), so typically on such occasion, I don't have to cook more and I go into lazy mode. So how did I spend my days? I picked up a new hobby (keeping fish), brought Ian to the park on sunny days, went window shopping, take care of and play with my virtual pet at SuperPokePets.com and do more gardening.

I am very pleased to see that some of my vegetables have sprout, and doing pretty well except for one. I planted green onions, Chinese parsley, Chinese spinach, long peppers (chili) and just today, Chinese cabbage. By the way, the soil in my backyard is not that fertile, so I have to plant these in containers (pots) instead.

My chili plant apparently became a delicacy of either the chipmunk or birds, leaving the sprouts "headless" (they ate all the leaves). I removed all of the bad sprouts as I think they can't survive without the leaves to make chlorophyll for them. A day after I took the following pictures of a few surviving sprouts, all of them were eaten up again. So I planted new seeds again today.

A couple of the early bulb bloomers that I planted in my backyard have also bloomed, but because the soil isn't that fertile, the flowers don't look that healthy looking either. Seems like my fertilizer could only do so much, but not enough to feed them.

Luckily the daffodils (also bulb-type plants) that I planted in containers have bloomed nicely. My favorite is the one on the right. I love the little salmon-colored frilled petals against the outer heart-shaped white petals, which makes it looks something like an orchid flower.

Oh yes, I also spent my time renting $1-per-night movies out of DVD booths at supermarkets, and I watched Australia, Quantum Of Solace, Madagascar 2, Slumdog Millionaire and of course, the much hyped Twilight. Twilight left me feeling nice and like a lovestruck teenager again [ :p ], and my friends urged me to read the novel which they claimed to be so much better than the movie version. So I went to shop at Amazon.com, got a box set of the whole Twilight Saga series, and it finally arrived last Thursday. But... I have still not open the clingwrap that protects the box because I can't bear to "un-mint" the condition! Anyway, I know I still have to do it some day... heheheee!

On the inhibitants of my new tank, 3 of my 7 guppies which I just bought two weeks ago were biten and died one by one every day. Guppies are non-aggressive fish, but I believe those that died were fighting because of cramped space issue (my tank is only a countertop, 2.5 gallon type). You see, the rule of thumb for healthy fish-keeping is one inch (size of adult fish) for every gallon (size of tank). But I let hastiness got the better of me, so that's what I got. So far, the remaining 4 guppies are doing pretty well in the tank, fortunately. Then I felt my original snails are not doing a proper job of cleaning up my tank because they are so small and move too slow to cover the entire tank (and they only "work" at night), so I got them more "helpers" in the form of 3 additional snails! Now I have 2 golden snails, 1 ivory snail, 1 black snail and 1 blue snail in total.

And finally, I also expanded the toys collection in Ian's room by getting more motorcycles, a chopper and 2 fancy cars. When hubby came home yesterday, he also brought home gifts from his Korean colleague, which is a miniature Mini Cooper, and also a whole set of Korean working vehicles (garbage truck, police car, ambulance, taxi, etc - not in the picture). This is how the top of Ian's bookshelf currently looks like:

New hobby

2009-04-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

Some of you may already knew about this, since I have posted one of these pictures in my Facebook. Anyway, I just wanna share in detail on my experience in acquiring and setting up my first new aquarium.

I wanted this for Ian's room, so I got something small but not too tiny. I bought a 2.5 gallon aquarium kit, complete with filter set. For decor, I got a bag of 5lb gravel, fake plants and one stone cave for fish to hide.

A day after setting up the filter and putting in the decor and conditioned water, I went to buy a couple of aquatic snails and one tiny catfish (peppered corydora catfish). To acclimate them to my aquarium water condition and temperature, I left the bag that they came in floating in my aquarium for 30 minutes. Then I added my aquarium water into their water bit by bit every ten minutes, until the next 30 minutes, I finally released them into my aquarium.

As this will be a tropical fish aquarium, maintaining an appropriate range of temperature (72-82 degrees Fahrenheit) is vital, which is why I also keep a thermometer in the tank.

Two days after setting up the aquarium and the water is fully cycled, I went ahead to buy the fish. I decided on getting guppies because they are fun to look at.

And these are my favorite ones from the group (see below). The one on top left, I call it my leopard guppy because of its appearance and also it is a big eater. Whereas the one on bottom left, he is one cheeky fella who is quite playful. The corydora (bottom right) loves its shrimp pellets very much but eats it in such messy manners. (LOL... when you keep watching your fishies for a long time, you will soon familiarized yourself with their personality!)

And finally my two aquatic snails, the ivory mystery snail (left) and blue mystery snail (right). They mostly sleep during the day, and only start moving around during the night to feed.

I wanna see if I am able to keep these fishies for long, and if I really can, then I will go on to get a bigger tank, this time with some cichlids.

Water gardening

2009-03-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, we went to Hughes Water Garden, a nursery that sells water plants and accessories. The day before, I saw some water lily tubers for sale at Home Depot, and I was so tempted to get one of those, but the employees weren't that knowledgeable on water lilies when asked how spread out can the plant grow. Not only that, the tubers didn't look that healthy-looking too. So they recommended me to go to Hughes, which is a specialty store, and because I got so motivated to get it, we went the following day.

Since it is still early spring, there were not many water plants out on display. In fact, we did not see any water lilies at all. We walked around the nursery area, and in it there is an Asian-themed garden with a large lily pond in it. Again, no water lily. But there is a mini waterfall feature, bamboo trees and some large koi fishes in the pond that got Ian's fascination.

After touring the place, I went to the retail store to ask the lady in charge if they have any water lilies for sale, and they really do. They kept it in the nursery off limits to public, and she could bring some out for me if I like. I told her my color preference, which is red (the lilies come in white, pink, red, orange and changeable-color types) and told her my concern about the size, since I have limited space and I want to plant it in a container. She told me there are miniature types (pygmy species) which the leaves grow about 5-6 inches wide each, and the whole plant can grow to as wide as 3 feet. As for the flowers, she said they are not that big too, but are quite prolific and can have many blooms per plant. That sounded like an ideal choice for me, so I asked her to get one from the nursery. I'm quite happy with my purchase (paid $27.50 for it).

On the way back, we passed by a wealthy neighborhood and thought why not check them out. Every one of these huge houses sits on acres and acres of sprawling lands with beautiful white picket fence and horses and stables and nice landscaping. We wondered what do these owners do (occupation) that got them so wealthy to own such multi-million-dollar houses, whereas for us, could only dream on stepping foot in these houses, not even close to owning it! Hahah!

Top: White picket fence surrounds the land
Bottom, left: The gray building on the right is a horse stable.
Bottom, right: Doesn't this mansion look like a castle?

Anyway, back to my gardening project. For my water lily, I wanted a shallow container bowl which I managed to buy a reasonably-sized fiberglass one at Al's Garden Center. However, these pots are used to plant normal plants, thus they have drainage holes in it. But it was the only right size and shape one they carry, so I went ahead to buy it anyway. I told myself I could patch up the holes.

So I set to work on patching up the holes with some leftover latex caulk materials from our recent floor upgrade. After waiting a day for it to dry, I happily filled the pot with water one night and placed my water lily basket in it. The next morning, I was shocked to see the pot has dried up. It turned out that the caulk could not withstand being underwater for so long and had dissolved, thus allowing the water to drain out. I had to quickly put my water lily basket into a pail of water while I find solution for the drainage hole problem.

So I went back to Home Depot, the largest DIY and home improvement store around. I was told that epoxy should be able to stick well on fiberglass material and to be used underwater, I should get an epoxy repair specially for marine use. Got one, and for me to have a peace of mind, I also bought a rubber pond liner. I set off to work on the holes upon reaching home.

This is how the epoxy look like (below). First I cut the desired amount, knead the dough with damp fingers until the colors become uniform. (That thing reeks of sulphur smell.) Then I patch the holes inside and outside the pot.

To double-secure the water in the pot, I cut out a round shape of the rubber pond liner, glued it to the bottom of the pot using industrial-strength superglue typically used for carpets and stuffs.

Next is to fertilize the water lily. The kind lady at the store gave me a sample of the fertilizer tablets to bury in the soil. The fertilizer is time-released which should be re-applied every 30-45 days, and it could also control the growth of algae in the water. I used a screwdriver to make a hole and then finger-pushed the tablets down before covering it up again.

Finally, I placed the basket into the big pot and filled it up with water. All I need to do now is watch it grow and bloom in mid-summer.

There are even some fairy moss water plant that got caught in the water lily basket, which I scooped out and let it grow separately in a used pudding cup (I placed this cup on my window sill).

The lady also told me that there may be tadpoles (yes, you read it right!) to give away in a month or two, so when I go back to get my fertilizer supply, I will also want to come home with some little baby froggies, which when grown, will be my pond's insect-repellent, I hope!

Cute visitors to our backyard

2009-03-22T05:58:00.000-07:00

These came to our backyard yesterday and a few days ago.

The squirrel was enjoying cracking some sunflower seeds inside my feeder. They usually sit on the platform outside the feeder, but this (greedy?) squirrel wanted to empty out my feeder right till the last bit of seed and so went on to sit inside it.

The normally skittish chipmunk eats some shelled sunflower kernels which I put out for him. Initially very wary of my presence, as we "got to know each other", he became not bothered even though my face was just mere inches away from him. In fact, the more the chipmunk stuffed itself, the more it didn't want to move.

And this is just how big its cheeks can get with all those seeds in it (see another angle of the chipmunk's bulging cheeks which I took a couple of months back here).

Seafood night Italian style

2009-03-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

I wanted to eat a different type of spaghetti today, so I took out my Italian cookbook and searched for a recipe with seafood. Found one here (click on the image below to view recipe in detail). Hubby likes salmon, and I substituted the prawns called for by the recipe with scallops, which we haven't had since ages..

I used fresh Roma tomatoes, which I spent quite a long time peeling off its skin and then seeded it. Remember the previous post which I cooked lemon chicken and paired it with a Riesling? we didn't finish the wine because I wanted to use it to cook today's meal.

After lots of hard work with constant interruptions by Ian (who wanted my attention), here is the final result (picture below). Looks good, eh? But let me tell you - I was disappointed that it didn't taste as good as it looks. The salmon's fishy smell is too strong (even though I had removed the dark brown blood part) and I had also thoroughly cooked it. It just tasted too... mellow - no zing, you know what I mean? I think I didn't put enough basil in it, and a little drizzle of squeezed lemon juice would be nice.

In addition to the spaghetti, I also attempted to make a pot of cioppino (Italian seafood stew) from memory, after what I saw on Food Network. Haih... another letdown! That's what I get when I try taking shortcuts! I got a bag of mixed seafood, and the mussels in it tasted different (probably not too fresh anymore), and I added too much wine.

However, these do not deter me from trying out more Italian recipes again. Perhaps next time, I'll try something that calls for fresh clams (we love clams).

The day I swore off chocolates

2009-03-18T23:34:00.000-07:00

I was cooking dinner this evening when Ian came behind me and tugged my shirt. I turned around and without saying anything, Ian handed me something. I asked him what it was, but he ran away. Curiously, I looked at it - it was small (like the size of a pistachio nut), almost round, firm and dark chocolate color.

Hmm... I never gave Ian any chocolate before, and he was eating banana about 30 minutes ago and he should had finished it by then. And it couldn't be any day-old leftover banana that he found hidden in some nooks, because it's too hard to be a banana chunk. So I gave it a sniff, and OH GAWD! It was POOP!

Reflextively, my face screwed in disgust, and I quickly tossed that piece of shit (no pun intended) into the trash bin. While my chicken was left frying in the pot, I hurried over to check Ian's diaper and sure enough, he pooped! My instinct suggested me to check his hands and there were only a faint stain of poop on his right fingers, which I thought he may have reached behind to scratch his butts only to find something extra in there...... Okay, I also examined his face and his tongue seemed to be moving, but I couldn't be certain if that is my worst nightmare in his mouth. I don't want to think about it, so I grabbed him to the bathroom, cleaned him up and made him drank lots of water.

And to say that I am now chocophobic is an understatement! How GROSS! *shudder*

Simple dinner

2009-03-18T22:06:00.000-07:00

On the menu for tonight's dinner was lemon chicken. Bought one packet of Lee Kum Kee ready-to-use sauce for this.

I used boneless, skinless chicken thigh meat which I cut into bite-sized chunks. Next, I marinated it with one beaten egg and left it in the refrigerator for a few hours. I didn't add salt to the meat, by the way.

To add color plus fresh, crunchy texture, I cubed some red and green capsicums.

Then I dredged the meat in some cornstarch...

... and deep-fried it.

After finished frying, I tossed the fried chicken with the capsicums and lemon sauce under low heat.

Final result...

... which we paired it with a (cheap) Aussie Riesling (it's just my excuse to drink wine... bleh~!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T12:10:00.001-07:00

A little history and fun facts of the symbols of St. Patrick's Day here:

HISTORY:

_St. Patrick was born in 385 AD somewhere along the west coast of Britain, possibly in the Welsh town of Banwen. At age 16, he was captured and sold into slavery to a sheep farmer. He escaped when he was 22 and spent the next 12 years in a monastery. In his 30s he returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. He died at Saul in 461 AD and is buried at Downpatrick.

_St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD. It is also a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SYMBOLS OF ST. PATRICK'S DAY:

Shamrock
The shamrock as symbol of Ireland and St. Patrick's Day is partly due to the natural abundance of clover plants in the country, but largely due to its strong association with Christianity. According to Robert Mahony, Professor of English and member of the Center for Irish Studies at Catholic University, legend has it that St. Patrick used the shamrock to visually illustrate the concept of the Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) when trying to convert polytheistic pagans to Christianity.

"A clover is one plant with three leaves, but the three leaves are necessary to make it [complete]," explains Prof. Mahony. "[In Christianity,] God is three persons, but it's not the same as three gods." The simple analogy is thought to have helped non-Christians understand a fundamental element of the Christian religion, facilitating conversion.

It was through the retelling of this story that the shamrock became associated with St. Patrick and Ireland's conversion to Christianity. As a result, the shamrock is a widely used to commemorate Saint Patrick's Day, and in modern times has been appropriated by secular institutions as a symbol for the Irish.

Four-Leaf Clover
Although clovers are most often found in nature with three leaves, rare four-leaf clovers do exist. Finding one is thought to bring someone extreme luck. The folklore for four-leaf clovers differs from that of the Shamrock due to the fact that it has no religious allusions associated with it. It is believed that each leaf of a four-leaf clover represents something different: first is hope, the second is faith, the third is love, and the fourth is happiness.

Leprechauns
Just what does a mythical leprechaun look like and why are they so special? A leprechaun looks like a little old man and dresses like a shoemaker with a cocked hat and leather apron. A Leprechaun's personality is described as aloof and unfriendly. They live alone and pass the time by mending the shoes of Irish fairies.

According to St. Patrick's Day: Parades, Shamrocks, and Leprechauns by Elaine Landau, the legend is that the fairies pay the leprechauns for their work with golden coins, which the "little people" collect in large pots--the famous "pots of gold" often associated with leprechauns.

If you listen closely for the sound of their hammer you might be able to capture one. If you do you can force him (with the threat of bodily violence) to reveal where he's hidden his treasure. Be careful! Do not take your eyes off him for if you do he will surely vanish and your hopes of finding his treasure will vanish with him.

Green
So why do we all wear green?

Probably because you'll be pinched if you don't! School children started this tradition. Green is also the color of spring, the shamrock, and is connected with hope and nature. Historically, green has been a color used in the flags of several revolutionary groups in Ireland and as a result it appears in the official tri-color country flag, adopted in 1919.

In addition to that, Ireland is often called the "Emerald Isle" due to the lush natural greenery found on the island. Says Prof. Mahony, "One of the things that strikes people all the time is how Ireland is incredibly green--it's very far north, but it doesn't get frozen. When people say that 'Ireland has 40 shades of green,' they are right!"

The luck of the Irish
Want to be lucky this St. Patrick's Day? Follow this advice:

1. Find a four-leaf clover. 2. Wear green (so you don't get pinched). 3. Kiss the blarney stone. 4. Catch a Leprechaun if you can.

In honor of the festivities we leave you with this Irish blessing: May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow and may trouble avoid you wherever you go

(source: http://holidays.kaboose.com)

Portland a.k.a. Pourland

2009-03-17T07:47:00.000-07:00

That's a normal weather for Portland - rainy and wet during winter and spring seasons. It has been like this since last week. Spring break is next week, and I hope the rainy weather clears soon, or it'll just be no fun at all. :(

A trip to Jantzen Beach Center

2009-03-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

We went to the mall called Jantzen Beach Center located at Hayden Island last Saturday. The mall is something like the mall at Cedar Hills, Beaverton, where there are lots of different individual retail buildings in the area, and one big shopping mall with Target and Ross in it. Nothing fancy and looks a bit old, in my opinion.

Here, Ian played with the kids rides.

As we strolled further in, we saw a long line of girls (and some accompanied by men, families) which most of them looked to be around the age of late teen or early twenties. I estimated the line to be around 100-150 people. Some even had blankets and pillows on the floor, suggesting that they may have queued overnight.

Most of them were dolled up in heavy make-up, dressed up prettily, if not sexily (for some) and wore high, high heels. They were on average about my height (5'2) or only slightly taller (< 5'7).

Only then when we saw the poster below did we realized that it was a casting call for Tyra Banks' America's Next Top Model Cycle 13.

A wannabe doing a practice catwalk.

Determination and dreams filled the air around these young girls as they waited for their turns to show their stuffs. On the other hand, hubby thought he sympathized these (he added pitiful) girls for having to wait so long in uncomfortable shoes, not knowing whether they would get into the next round or not. Aah, women have strong willpower to get/do what they want/love, don't you know, honey??

And I thought there were already so many girls for this casting call in Portland, but that was before I saw the one in New York (held on same day) on TV, which turned into a riot/stampede (go here for the news and video).

We continued walking and further in the mall, there is a huge historic carousel (built in 1921?). The first time when we saw it, it was not in operation yet, so we just snapped a few pictures of it.

After leaving the mall, we went to check out the nearby Barnes & Nobles store. As we left B&N and were about to get into the car, Ian saw the carousel was in operation and pointed at it. So we went back into the mall again. We were unsure if he wanted to ride on it, because previously, we let him ride on a smaller carousel at a mall at Seaside, he was afraid and cried. So this time, the experienced parents let him watched by the side first. We saw that he was quite delighted at the other kids riding the carousel and kept pointing at the horses. Once we knew he wasn't afraid anymore, hubby went to buy the tokens for the ride.

Ian finally got his ride, but here, he was impatient because the carousel hadn't started moving yet. So this little boy complained lah!

Once it started moving, he was so happy and squealed in delight that when it finally stopped, he didn't want to get off! I think the ride was about 5 minutes long.

My Portland photography project

2009-03-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

So I stayed away from the computer lately because of my "injury". But I spent the time instead on books, magazines and tourism catalogs, poring over attractions in and around Portland and its twin city, Vancouver.

This coming June 26th will be our 4th year in Portland (also in USA), and we realized we haven't really gotten around to explore Portland in depth yet. And since we have spent our first annual vacation this year in Vegas recently, and another week-long holiday (spring break, Mar 22-28) coming up, we thought we should use this chance to travel locally instead. Hence, that's how my project idea was born.

Starting middle of this month, we have already explored places we've never been too. Like last weekend, we went to see the houseboats community on Columbia River - they are so interesting and unique to look at.

My favorite photo from last week's outing

Then yesterday, we went to Hayden Island's Jantzen Beach Center - I'll write that in a separate post. So up next in our list for next weekend and the spring break are these (in random order):

OHSU cable car ride
Free ride on Portland streetcar (maybe?)
Pearl District
Portland Classical Chinese Garden
Oregon Maritime Center and Museum
Tom McCall Waterfront Park (I want to see the cherry blossoms!)
RiverPlace Marina
Portland Saturday Market
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Governor Hotel
Ira Keller Memorial Fountain
Japanese Garden
International Rose Test Garden
Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden
Reed College
Sauvie Island
Pittock Mansion
Nob Hill
Eastbank Esplanade (one can get a great view of Portland city's skyline, I heard!)

I've planned to explore the Portland area in sections (northwest, downtown and southwest, northeast and southeast) and the great thing about Portland (according to the guide book) is that the city is compact and one can easily do walking tours around it. Now, the only thing that I hope is for beautiful, sunny weather next week.

Too much internet-surfing...

2009-03-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

... causes arm and wrist "injury". I was on a little hiatus recently because of this.

As we have wireless internet at home and my computer is a laptop, I can lounge on the couch with my laptop and surf internet easily, and I don't use the mouse to move the pointers/cursors. Instead, I use the touchpad, and rest the bottom of my hand on the laptop while I let the (right index and thumb) fingers to do the "walking". Limited movements on my arm and overworking my 2 fingers cause the muscles on the wrist and near the elbow to strain. So lately, I plastered some medicated Salonpas patches (jee poon kaow eeok) on the problem areas and wear wrist and elbow brace to cover the patches (to prevent it from detaching).

I better start taking up a new hobby soon... like kendo perhaps? :-p

Can it get any messier than this?

2009-03-11T15:46:00.001-07:00

While I was having my lunch today, Ian was happily going on a dumping rampage of his toys throughout the living room. He moved his Lego table to the dining area, overturned it to dump out the blocks, and proceeded to take out the basket and container that hold the smaller pieces in another part of the living room and emptied it out onto the floor, which all of it came tumbling down with a loud crash. As he was doing that, he paused for a while to see my reaction, an innocent but playful look plastered on his little face. Never mind, you messed it, you clean it, young man! (No wonder this mommy's back aches at the end of every day!)