Friday, May 26, 2006

Where did this week go??

I can't beleive Friday came so soon. Usually is a good thing but I guess I could have used another day in the week. Did you know that people in Hong Kong work on Saturdays??
My japanese class is over and I attended a hiragana workshop this evening with some of my class-mates. In the end, we ended up exchanging email addresses and hope to get together to practice. It was sad to realize that I might not be seeing these people anymore. It was a good group of people, different ages.
ok, kinda late now and kind of tired. Bis bald, a bientot, schusse.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Updates

Progress on baby cardi:
I have completed sleeve 1 of the Baby cardi (Debbie Bliss Easy Knits book) and actually started on sleeve 2 while I was on the train Monday afternoon. I might even be able to complete the cardi this weekend.

Bokashi composting:
I decided that our motto should be "re-use and re-cycle" whenever possible so I went ahead and ordered an indoor compost using Bokashi.
Richard was pretty horrified when I told him about our purchase because he had visions of garbage putrifying inside the house. Well, I have been putting all our veggie and fruit peelings and coffee grinds into this compost for about 1.5 weeks now and have been faithfully draining off the liquid to use as fertilizer for our balcony garden and as a drain cleaner. I can't wait to put the fermented kitchen waste into potting soil and letting it decompose to be used as soil.

Our balcony garden: ( I am growing sage, fennel, chamomile, basil, tomatoes. chives, verbena, blueberries, strawberries, peas, oregano, arugula, rosemary, coriander, and lemon thyme)
The tomato plants are growing like mad. They probably have grown 15 inches since I planted them from seedlings a month ago.
The basil is coming up slowly and it looks like we will have strawberries in about 2 weeks!!!
I saw 1 blueberry on the blueberry bush, fingers crossed for this one!
I just hope that Alicia will come and water our garden faithfully while we are away in June. It would be really sad if they all dried up from thirst.

Travels:
My former highschool crush is currently taking time off to travel South East Asian. He has been using his blog to update friends and family on his travels. I really envy him being able to do that and it sounds like he is having an amazing time. Check out his blog: http://www.colinsanctuary.com/

From my end, only 3 weeks left before we leave for Tokyo and Hong Kong. I have so much to prepare. I finally got the proofs back from the Printing department and, through no fault of theirs, I found that a few of the slides did not print out. I hate using other people's Powerpoint presentations!!! Anyhow, not only do I have to dig up some org charts for various projects to share with my Japanese colleagues but I also have to find some gifts to bring them. There is just nothing unique about New Jersey. My swiss colleagues have the advantage of bringing swiss chocolates and/or leckerlis as gifts. sigh. I can't even bring anything from Dean&Deluca because there is already a Dean&Deluca in Tokyo.

(I am looking forward to going to a yarn store in Tokyo, apparently there are some Noro there that aren't sold here!!)

And for Hong Kong, my mom told me that I have to bring loads of multivitamins for my aunts and uncle! I hope I won't get mistaken at customs as a vitamin trafficker.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Newbie blogger...

The url in the previous post doesn't work and I have no idea why. Here is the url:

http://ynr.blogthings.com/whatcitydoyoubelonginquiz/

Roma, Italia!!!!

You Belong in Rome
You're a big city girl with a small town heartWhich is why you're attracted to the romance of RomeStrolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in handAnd gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better?
What City Do You Belong In?

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Knitting projects

Now if I could only figure out how to make a tool bar on the side so that I could post pix of my UFOs. erg....
I have been trying to finish the baby cardi that I am knitting for 1 of my many pregnant friends. I have been knitting this sweater since Feb and have ripped it up so many times that I am surprised at how un-ratty it looks. I am now knitting 1 of the sleeves. Sure hope to be done this month since the baby is due in June and it will take some time to send it overseas.

List of things to do:
1) Make this blog more interesting with pictures and stuff
2) Book a hotel for our 2 nights stay in Macau
3) Book a hotel for our last night at Narita airport
4) Make sure that the car pu has a car seat for Marlis
5) Make sure that Richard and Marlis has a car for the ride home from JFK to home
6) Re-print the booklets for the training (hmmm, maybe this should be number 1 "ichi" "un" "einz")
7) Get some tailoring done on some suits
8) and the list goes on........

I am hoping that I will have time to knit on the flight but then I was thinking that I really should study for my GREs.
I don't recall ever being this busy when we lived in Basel. Must have been the chirsiwasser or something.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Foreign Language frustrations

The difficulty with learning a foreign language here in the USA is that:
1) No one to practice with
2) No one to practice with

I have been attending Japanese language classes for about 2 weeks now (50% over) and tried out some of what I learned to my Japanese colleague via email. Well, I must have written it well because I recieved a reply in romaji Japanese and now I have no idea what he wrote.
This is the problem with learning foreign languages, if the person replies using the non-textbook answer, you are at a loss of what is being said (written, in this case). I had to take a guess and replied to his email with what I thought was appropriate.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Secret Pal 8 Questionnaire and responses

  1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

    I haven't been knitting for too long, so I don't really have any likes or dislikes yet. However, my current stash so far consists of yarns made of natural fibers.
    I have never used novelty yarns before.
  2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

    For needles not currently in use, I put them in my gorgeous Lantern Moon needle bag and in a whiskey canister.

    For WIP, I put each into ziplock bags.
  3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

    I have been knitting since December 2005 and my skill level is somewhere in between beginner and intermediate.
  4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

    I do!!!
    An Amazon.com wishlist: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/3UEZEA4TD9YXG
  5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

    freesia, jasmine, ylang-ylang
  6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

    I have a sweet-tooth but trying to control it! I don't eat anything with aspartame in it.

    Favourite candy: Marks&Spencer's fruit pastilles, wine gums, and Basler Dyblis. I also like dark chocolate.
  7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

    I like to cook and bake and enjoy tending to my container garden (we only have a balcony).

    I do not spin but am curious to try one of these days.
  8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

    This a tough question! When I look at my music collection, I find that I have a rather ecletic assortment of music: classical, jazz, folk, world music, Benedictine chants, acid jazz, movie soundtracks.

    I don't really listen to popular radio as such so I am quite behind in my knowledge of which bands/singer is at the top of the charts. I guess I am less "cool" and "with it" nowadays, don't really seem to have the time to keep up with the latest.

    We do not have a television at all so we also don't have much knowledge about the latest and greatest sitcoms.
  9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

    I like a variety of colours. Reds and greens seem to look best on me. Yellows and beige kind of makes me look washed out. Must be cuz of my asian colouring.
  10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

    I am married and have a 2.5 yr old daughter. Her name is Marlis and she is such a womderful little girl with a great attitude.

    No pets. We are allergic to cats although I am sure Marlis would love to have a real cat around the house.
  11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

    I love wearing hats, scarves, and mittens. The wilder the colours, the better. I don't care if they are colour-coordinated either.

    I have a poncho but I have only worn it a few times. I find that they don't keep you warm when you are outside and they make you overheat when you are inside. Ponchos look nice though.
  12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

    Sweaters for my daughter!
  13. What are you knitting right now?

    If my friends would stop having babies all around the same time!
    I am knitting 1 baby blanket, 2 baby sweaters, 2 sweaters for my daughter, a scarf for my friend, Hour Glass sweater for me, and a zipper sweater for my husband.
  14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

    YES!!! But I have to be honest and say that I probably won't be able to reciprocate with a handmade gift, unless I can post baked goods. It takes me forever to finish something.
  15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

    I seem to have a lot of Addi Turbos circulars in my collection as well as a lot of straight Bamboo needles. I bought the Addi Turbos for a great price from a seller on Ebay.
  16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

    No, I use the back of a chair and sometimes spend hours trying to work out the tangles.
  17. How did you learn to knit?

    By looking at some photos on the internet.
  18. How old is your oldest UFO?

    The scarf I am making for my friend. I started it in January 2006. I hope to finish it by the time she has her baby in September along with the baby blanket too.
  19. What is your favorite holiday?

    I don't have a preference.
  20. Is there anything that you collect?

    Before I was married, I collected men (hahaha, JOKE!!!!)

    I had quite a collection of shoes but maybe this is a female trait? I read alot and tend to have a lot of books so maybe I collect books.

    My yarn stash was growing at quite an alarming rate and I decided to put myself on a yarn diet and not allow myself to buy any more yarn until I complete some of my UFOs.
  21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

    I would really like to have Axelle de Sauveterre's Scoop Neck tee pattern (her yarn as well) but I'd be happy with just the pattern.

    I don't have a subscription to any knitting magazines.

    I used to have a subscription to Mothering magazine but I did not renew it because I found the content to be repetitive. My daughter has a subscription to Ladybug magazine which I highly recommend because it has lots of stories for children and no advertising!!!!

    My subscription to Yoga Journal is also expiring too and I am not sure if I am going to renew either.
  22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

    I am curious about felting.
  23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

    I have never knitted socks before but would like to try someday.

    Foot measurements: about 3.75 inches (9.5 cm) across the widest part of my foot and about 9.25 inches (23.5 cm) in length.
  24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)

    January 12.

Secret Pal 8 Participants

Secret Pal 8 Participants: April 2006

I wonder who my secret pal will be? Here is a list of the participants.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Amy's Bread and Japanese

I started my Japanese language classes last week at Japan Society (www.japansociety.org) . It is really a lot more difficult that I anticipated. The classes are 2 times a week (2 hrs each) for a duration of 4 weeks. I don't know if I am going to have the nerve to actually use what I learned in Tokyo.

sigh...

On another note, I managed to stop into Amy's Bread (www.amysbread.com) on 9th ave and West 46th St last night after my japanese class. I bought a potato-dill bread, whole-wheat pecan oat bread, 2 cashew butterscotche bars, and 2 chocolate-cherry rolls. (I really should try to add some photos to my visually-sterile blog). These breads are amazing!!!! Must go again tomorrow night after class for more brot.

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