Month: August 2007

Pueblo People

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I have to honest when it’s come to Native American culture, I know close to nothing about it. I don’t think my new Native American friends would reckon that my exposure to Dances With Wolf or Pocahontas count. That’s why I completely enjoyed their little Buffalo dance which officially started the conference.

So here’s me with my little Pueblo friends from New Mexico.

Leonard and me

Apart from their art that adorned nearly every other building or their jewellery that’s sold in every other shop, I was completely intrigued with their architecture.

They’re called Adobe because they’re made of adobe, a clay like mixture made of mud and straw. I love the earthy colours and the rounded corners. It’s all over Santa Fe which makes this town so quaint and very different from all the other US cities I’ve ever been. If I ever find my way back to New Mexico, I want to check out the nature bits. That’s what I wish I had time to do. Apparently the desert, lakes and mountains are quite out of this world … hopefully, one day I’ll get to go camping in New Mexico and maybe just maybe I’ll get to bump into a couple of ETs too 😉

Santa Fe by night …

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… along East San Francisco Street. After the welcome reception, I went for a little walk and was enamoured with the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. It’s beautiful by day and even more captivating by night.

Close upFull onAcross the street

It was built in the 1860s and as I stand on its grounds, I couldn’t help but wonder what this little church has seen in it’s lifetime. Other than alien sightings and Georgia O’Keeffe, I’m honestly quite ignorant about New Mexico. So I’m hoping that in the next few days I’ll have some time to find out more about Santa Fe.

Meanwhile, I’m just enjoying the constant inspiration from the numerous art galleries and craft stores.

In Santa Fe

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I’m here in Santa Fe and staying in this lovely quaint hotel, La Fonda.

The room is done in a typical Mexican style and after I settled in, I felt very Frida Kahlo and instead of wanting to explore the streets, I wanted to stay in bed and paint.

Stay tune for more Kahlo inspired photographs from me 🙂

P/S:  Honestly though, I REALLY want to ditch the whole conference and check out Roswell.

SQ38

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Have I ever told you how grateful I am for straight flights to LA? It really makes traveling to the US so much more comfortable. I managed to get 6 hours of sleep and caught up on movies I haven’t seen :-

  1. Spiderman 3 – Topher would have made a better Spidey than Tobey.
  2. Shrek 3 – 1 was great, 2 was still funny but 3 is one you can give a miss.
  3. Meet the Robinson – Like all good Disney movies, it’s feel good but with the intense animation competition nowadays, it’s a straight to DVD vote from me.
  4. Fracture – I haven’t watched a courtroom drama as good as this in a long long time. Anthony Hopkins is amazing beyond words, subtle yet powerful. Ryan Gosling is all grown up and very very yummy 🙂 The DVD is out so go catch it. The script is a smart one too.

The neat thing about this flight is the view from my window.

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Makes me want to be a bird … …

It’s been declared, I’m healthy

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As part of my company doing well last year, we all get a free health screening of sorts.  So despite eating junk and not exercising at all while I was in uni, the last 5 years as a convert i.e. being a vegetarian and eating better (even managing to squeeze in some exercising) has somewhat paid off.

The doctor was please to report that everything was in order even my good cholesterol and protein levels were good for a vegetarian.  Apparently, they are usually low in vegetarians.

So for my parents … actually mostly just my Dad, it is possible to be a vegetarian and be completely healthy at the same time 🙂

Strangely though, the minute I left the clinic I developed an intense craving for a huge bowl of french fries and a root beer float.

Durian Bread

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Last week I had some over riped bananas and instead of throwing them out I thought I’d try my hand at banana bread. And I’m happy to report it went very well, even people in the office thought so 🙂

Then over the National Day weekend, my parents bought us some durian and I had an inspiration to combine recipes (the banana bread one with a durian cake one) to make my very own Durian Bread.

In the beginningBefore the ovenAfter oven

It was kinda chewy at first like those durian kueh you buy in Malacca or Penang. But after a night in the fridge, my family declared it quite yummy and yes, we can refer it to a Durian Bread 🙂

I’m enjoying all this experimenting and I’m starting to wonder if there’s a niche market for organic healthy breads, cakes, muffins, cupcakes, cookies … anyone up for organic baked goodies?

Aikido Lesson #6

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Had my sixth Aikido lesson yesterday and … … I’m not quite sure I’ve got the rolling right.

How to startRollingAt the end

That’s what it’s suppose to look like but you can trust me when I say, I look nothing like that. More like a chicken who is avoiding a puddle, slipping and rolling quite unceremoniously across the path way. Yes, no matter how many times I tried. And you’re head is not suppose to touch the ground at all … … but each time I did it, my head will roll along the floor too … like there’s a magnet between my head and the ground. Oh well, I’m not giving up … not yet anyway, which reminds me I have to book the aerobics room at work so Tessycat and I can practice and be a little more prepared for our next class.

Next time I think I’ll post pictures of the bruises I get from class 🙂

Being an Auntie

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And I’m not talking about the 60something type elder lady who stuffs her hanky in her bra strap and ‘kiaps’ her wallet under her armpit. I’m talking about me in 2003 when I officially became an aunt, it was the year my nephew was born … it was also the year most of my other friends had their babies too, all 7 babies are now cute 4-year-olds. Since then the number has been growing and I’m glad I work in a mummy-friendly office where babies are popping up everywhere 🙂

I love reading parenting blogs and the experiences these parents have with their ever amazing kids so I decided that besides my new found love of baking I’m going to blog about my experiences as an aunt – pseudo parenting … the best kind of fun with a return policy 🙂

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So that’s my nephew sometime in 2005 and my little niece when she was first born last year. I should post a more updated picture of her coz she’s grown into this little cutie. They are siblings but couldn’t be more different than chalk and cheese. He only drinks milk and will eat only french fries (sometimes the odd fried egg) and she will eat almost anything 🙂 but the both of them are sweet, I love it when Gabe gives his little mei mei a hug and smooch for no reason and he doesn’t know that I’m quietly looking from the side.

Till my next pseudo parenting post, here’s some pics of the little ones who through their sheer existence makes it all worth while.

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Cupcake Brownies

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Yes, I’ve been bitten by the baking bug and am trying out all kinds of recipes.  After the success of my wheat-free corn muffins, I tried cupcake brownies a couple of weekends ago.  And I’m pleased to report that I’ll be baking them again for public tasting 🙂

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Next baking update will include a banana bread and durian cake 🙂  Now I can seriously invest in an oven … or should I wait until I have my own place?

Anyway, the cupcake brownies san sugar (sweetened with maple syrup) and other diary products worked out quite well with my tasting group … i.e. no complains and there were no leftover.  So I’ll bring it to a party soon 🙂

Cupcakes, anyone?