tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241079456068281752024-03-13T22:56:37.583-07:00How Did I End Up Here?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-89138545037230530992017-07-25T22:04:00.001-07:002017-07-26T23:55:33.977-07:00Anything You Want by Derek Sivers<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591848261/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1591848261&linkCode=as2&tag=enathaniel07-20&linkId=233b67fcc578f1064671d3a7df14f848" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=US&ASIN=1591848261&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL250_&tag=enathaniel07-20" width="141" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=enathaniel07-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1591848261" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />This weekend, I went to the library and accidentally stumbled upon a small pocket sized book with a title "Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a new kind of Entrepreneur" by Derek Sivers.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Since I knew about Derek's work (<a href="http://cdbaby.com/">CDBaby.com</a>) and had read and liked some of his writings in the past, I decided to borrow the book. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The book is essentially a list of carefully selected, probably in chronological order, articles he'd published on his site: <a href="https://sivers.org/blog">https://sivers.org/blog</a>. While you can read them all there, I'm old-school, book is still my preference.<br />
<br />
The book attempts to share Derek's life experience shrunk and condensed into one hour (84 pages) and I thought it delivers. The articles are short ranging from 1 page or at most 2 pages; no aggressive mindset nor world-changing life experience. Simple, easy to read, and full of useful oft-repeated-yet-ignored lessons such as:<br />
<div>
<ul>
<li>Don't do it for the money</li>
<li>Success comes from persistently improving and inventing</li>
<li>Start now (<i>entrepreneur, listen!</i>)</li>
<li>Ideas are just a multiplier of execution (<i>I like this one a lot!</i>)</li>
<li>Trust but verify (<i>great Management advise by the way...</i>)</li>
<li>You can't please everyone (and don't have to), and so on...</li>
</ul>
<div>
Through the book, I observed that Derek is always focused on one thing at a time and he persistently tried his best to finish the task. These are important traits for an entrepreneur: focus and persistent.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
His business, CDBaby.com, was born out of accident because he's trying to help other musicians to sell their albums. He explained how he runs the company and the values that guide his business decisions. He also balanced the positive with the negative experiences by describing a few mistakes he stumbled along the way. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One particular segment of the book that I enjoyed was his story about CDBaby and Apple. How Apple pretty much being a typical cruel mega-corporation by toying CDBaby. It's business after all and it's... well.. Apple and Steve Jobs. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Near the end of the book, he described the thought process of selling his business, CDBaby, and giving away the money that could be his. This part of the book felt like an end of an era (or at least a phase in Derek's life).</div>
<div>
<br />
I definitely recommend to read this book as a counter balance to those big-ideas, world-changing books. This book feels down to earth and humane instead of depicting a bravado type of life. </div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-71371061188995987532016-02-25T00:42:00.004-08:002016-02-27T15:55:36.737-08:00The Day Microsoft Windows Displays Advertisement on Your Laptop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZFiDciOAQtAuyUUxgDRmoj-hEb8Q0u39K76nGHE6gw81FpLdi7kuzWr3Py53I0e7M-79Ko_J-r-OWY0Lskj5jga5Ta5AUlatH2qQ6wQVMrMzM-HSX1IWTODjfMDSXPq2_HxHyYVEah0/s1600/windows-10-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZFiDciOAQtAuyUUxgDRmoj-hEb8Q0u39K76nGHE6gw81FpLdi7kuzWr3Py53I0e7M-79Ko_J-r-OWY0Lskj5jga5Ta5AUlatH2qQ6wQVMrMzM-HSX1IWTODjfMDSXPq2_HxHyYVEah0/s320/windows-10-logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Today I learned that Microsoft <a href="http://www.howtogeek.com/243263/how-to-disable-ads-on-your-windows-10-lock-screen/">displays advertisement</a> on its Windows 10 Lock Screen. This is a very bold move from Redmond considering advertisements are typically displayed on free products instead of paid-for products. I'm not sure how I would react if I was greeted with an ads for a product I fully paid since I have not updated my Windows 7 to Windows 10.<br />
<br />
Our household keeps a Windows 7 installation mostly for transferring pictures and videos via Picasa, a <a href="http://googlephotos.blogspot.ca/2016/02/moving-on-from-picasa.html">soon-to-be-retired</a> product from Google which me and my wife love to use, from various devices to multiple (backup) storage devices.<br />
<br />
On the bright side, some of these events force us to completely move away from Windows Operating Systems to another platform that I have, personally and professionally, been using for the last 3 years: <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu Linux</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmN3y4er9DLPgh_N8mRRw3bueeADlIgZSj-ERzMx9P354Yndy8TlR6tQ8YnCrbHNT1o00sEuXZKHpLvZ8JLGBcTfwe_aMnug90vMO4niMekIQ1eFC5ZfkG7amFgnMmoMQa6zFfUKWUeog/s1600/ubuntu-logo14.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmN3y4er9DLPgh_N8mRRw3bueeADlIgZSj-ERzMx9P354Yndy8TlR6tQ8YnCrbHNT1o00sEuXZKHpLvZ8JLGBcTfwe_aMnug90vMO4niMekIQ1eFC5ZfkG7amFgnMmoMQa6zFfUKWUeog/s320/ubuntu-logo14.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Ubuntu Linux is an excellent Operating Systems for both Server and Desktop systems. It is powerful, extensible, pragmatic, and here's the best part: it's FREE. Free as in Beer. Free as in $0.00.<br />
<br />
I've been following the growth of Ubuntu for a few years and I began to notice that its ecosystems have expanded beyond the typical Linux ecosystems to the point that commercial hi-tech companies, such as <a href="https://www.spotify.com/ca-en/download/linux/">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.hipchat.com/downloads">HipChat</a>, <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/about/">Steam</a>, ship and support Linux native desktop app for their products. These products tend to support Ubuntu Linux exclusively by either providing debian package or prepared their own apt-get repository (which makes life of their users easier because the software will be listed in the Ubuntu Linux Software Center and will be included as part of autoupdate).<br />
<br />
In our household, the number of installed Ubuntu systems have steadily increased by 1 every year. Back in 2013, I installed a Ubuntu Server 12.04 on a very old hardware dedicated for our <a href="https://plex.tv/">Media Server</a>. Maintenance was close to zero: all updates for both Plex (the media server software) and Ubuntu itself have always been smooth without any issues. In 2014, I made another move to dual-boot my one and only workstation (that has Windows 7 installed in it) and I have been using Ubuntu majority of the time ever since.<br />
<br />
At the end of 2015, I decided to resurrect an old Macbook White (also known as Macbook 5,2) by installing Ubuntu 14.04 thanks to Apple for making it harder for us to install its latest Operating Systems past Snow Lion, not to mention that it was as slow as turtle after the upgrade. As Apple is moving toward AppStore model, this does not fit well with me since most of the developer tools and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software">FOSS</a> apps I relied won't be there.<br />
<br />
Apple also has the habit of deprecating older hardware (no longer support) rather quick by my standard: we acquired the MacBook in 2009 (for free) and by 2013/2014, we were having a bit of a difficulty to upgrade the base OSX. Meanwhile, my old workstation has been with me since 2007.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn2eV1Ryhp5edrcuC5Z22qU9rXNUDzrr9YGwXEMSEGhpklSxnDEhYZEmAXQ-obuyZT5yqv_68i-5RVktMO6N3kXC595Bgc5XLQlruFcxk6NmyTOCMsjbgZ1kxUV5vTbOZLi2yekQ8w0EY/s1600/IMG_8898.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn2eV1Ryhp5edrcuC5Z22qU9rXNUDzrr9YGwXEMSEGhpklSxnDEhYZEmAXQ-obuyZT5yqv_68i-5RVktMO6N3kXC595Bgc5XLQlruFcxk6NmyTOCMsjbgZ1kxUV5vTbOZLi2yekQ8w0EY/s640/IMG_8898.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Current Setup</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The old complain that installing (any) Linux distribution will cost you a day or two since you will be fixing the gap to make Linux useful when compared with OSX/Windows is no longer true. I successfully installed the latest Ubuntu Linux in to Macbook without any problem at all. Everything just works. All hardware components continue to work as-is. Yes, that's right, a Macbook: unusual since it's tricky to be able to install a non-Apple Operating System to an Apple hardware and not long ago the only way to install Windows in to a Macbook is via "bootcamp". These days you just need to pop-in a Ubuntu installation CD and you're ready to install that awesome software :).<br />
<br />
My network wireless printer works. I can watch Netflix. The OS can identify my Lumix camera when I attached it to the laptop. I can Skype with my parents fine. My wife does not complain and quite happy to use it. It does not need an anti-virus or firewall setups as the default configuration is good enough for a long period of time.<br />
<br />
As a software developer in the era of SaaS/Cloud, I realized that I am more productive when I'm working on the same environment where my work will be deployed. This is probably the key as to why I chose Ubuntu Linux (could have been my past-time favourite: <a href="http://freebsd.org/">FreeBSD</a> but alas!). And as I use and learn Ubuntu every day, I'm gaining valuable skill, which in turns, will hopefully increase my usefulness and my compensation as a knowledge worker :).<br />
<br />
I've listed why I believe Ubuntu Linux is the right choice for me. If you're thinking to make a move away from Windows (or OSX), I would strongly recommend to give it a try since it's easy to install and you've got nothing to lose other than your leisure time.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-53089539389516449312016-01-19T23:43:00.004-08:002016-02-24T22:43:33.787-08:00JavaScript Function: Overloading<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0gL1_ZZKkv7DlIkXT5aK8soEKGM3WYNyTRlHA2E2k714QGHq63OOzD9iTFaasQMZNQWlK9Md3xLwbh5u9HBeNma8ClCuZzqiUiWcXcOPnMe-rmhH6-n6oW7u2U0o6054-gXgaagnPvQ/s1600/js.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0gL1_ZZKkv7DlIkXT5aK8soEKGM3WYNyTRlHA2E2k714QGHq63OOzD9iTFaasQMZNQWlK9Md3xLwbh5u9HBeNma8ClCuZzqiUiWcXcOPnMe-rmhH6-n6oW7u2U0o6054-gXgaagnPvQ/s200/js.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Many object-oriented programming language supports Function Overloading: defining multiple functions with the same name and return value but with different parameters/arguments.<br />
<br />
Let's use <b>Java</b> as an example:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">public void displayName(String firstName){...}
public void displayName(String firstName, String lastName){...}
public void displayName(String firstName, Formatter format){...}
public void displayName(String firstName, String lastName, Formatter format){...}
</pre>
JavaScript does not support function overloading because the type of the function parameters are not known hence there are cases where the signature of the function cannot be differentiated.<br />
<br />
Let's use the following (invalid) example to describe why JavaScript does not support function overloading:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">// Function with 1 parameter
function displayName(firstName){...};
// Function with 2 parameters, both are string, so far so good,
// JS engine can differentiate them (technically no, but let's just pretend)...
function displayName(firstName, lastName){...};
// Function with 2 parameters, but the second one is a method (or object)...
// JS Engine will not be able to differentiate the difference between
// lastName and formatter as the second parameter while JVM runtime
// knows based on the type information:
// string for lastName and Formatter for formatter.
function displayName(firstName, formatter){...};
</pre>
JavaScript engine will take the last function definition that exist in the code as the actual implementation, throwing out the previous function definition.<br />
<br />
Even though JavaScript does not support function overloading, it doesn't mean JavaScript is unable to imitate the feature. This is when the <a href="http://www.edwinnathaniel.com/2016/01/javascript-function-parameters-and-arguments.html">Function arguments object </a>shines.<br />
<br />
The above Java implementation can be simplified to:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">function displayName(firstName, lastName, customFormatter){
if(arguments.length === 0){
console.log("No parameter passed");
}
// Formatter is always the last one.
var formatter;
if(typeof arguments[arguments.length-1] === 'object'){
formatter = arguments[arguments.length-1];
}else{
// let's assume DefaultFormatter exist.
formatter = new DefaultFormatter();
}
var display = '';
if(lastName && typeof lastName === 'string'){
display = formatter.format("%s %s", firstName, lastName);
}else{
display = formatter.format("%s", firstName);
}
console.log(display);
}
// only display first name using default formatter
displayName("John");
// only display first name with custom formatter
// imagine if the display follows Arabic: starts from Right to the Left
// instead of Left to Right like Roman...
displayName("John", new RightToLeftFormatter());
// display first and last name using default formatter
displayName("John", "Doe");
// display first and last name using VerticalFormatter
// imagine if the name is displayed vertically instead of horizontal ;)
displayName("John", "Doe", new VerticalFormatter());
</pre>
From the above example, it appears that the JavaScript solution to imitate Function Overloading looks simpler compare to Java.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-56730863197552237212016-01-18T23:53:00.006-08:002016-01-18T23:55:23.932-08:00JavaScript Function: Parameters and Arguments<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0gL1_ZZKkv7DlIkXT5aK8soEKGM3WYNyTRlHA2E2k714QGHq63OOzD9iTFaasQMZNQWlK9Md3xLwbh5u9HBeNma8ClCuZzqiUiWcXcOPnMe-rmhH6-n6oW7u2U0o6054-gXgaagnPvQ/s1600/js.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0gL1_ZZKkv7DlIkXT5aK8soEKGM3WYNyTRlHA2E2k714QGHq63OOzD9iTFaasQMZNQWlK9Md3xLwbh5u9HBeNma8ClCuZzqiUiWcXcOPnMe-rmhH6-n6oW7u2U0o6054-gXgaagnPvQ/s200/js.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
This article will cover JavaScript function parameters and arguments. Please refer to the previous article for an introduction to <a href="http://www.edwinnathaniel.com/2016/01/javascript-function-introduction.html">JavaScript Function</a>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Function Parameters</b></span><br />
<br />
In JavaScript, a function declaration can have 0 to many parameters, for example:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">// function body is excluded for brevity
function clear_dom() {...} // function declaration with zero parameter
function display_car(car){...} // function declaration with one parameter
function add(a,b){...} // function declaration with two parameters
</pre>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Function Arguments
</span></b><br />
<br />
The function arguments refer to the variables/values being passed into the function when it is invoked. For example:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">// 1 and 2 are number literals being passed
// as arguments to the add() function
var result = add(1,2);
// the {...} is an object literal being passed
// as arguments to the display_car() function
display_car({ make: "Honda", model: "Civic"});
</pre>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Function Arguments variable</span></b><br />
<br />
Within the function body, JavaScript provides implicit variable called "<b><i>arguments</i></b>". This implicit variable "<b><i>arguments</i></b>" refer to an object that contains a list of values being passed as function arguments to this function. This is very handy if the number of parameters are not known beforehand, for example:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">function sum(){
if(arguments === undefined) {
return 0;
}
var result = 0;
for(var i=0; i < arguments.length; i++) {
result += arguments[i];
}
return result;
}
var noResult = sum(); // noResult is 0
var sumResult = sum(1,2,3,4,5); // sumResult is 15
</pre>
Note that while <b><i>arguments</i></b> function variable appears to look like an array, it is not an array object. Here's the defining characteristics of the <b><i>arguments</i></b> function variable:<br />
<ul>
<li>It is <b><i>an object</i></b></li>
<li>It derives from Object prototype (not array)</li>
<li>It looks like an array but <b><i>it is not an array</i></b></li>
<li>It always exist within the function body</li>
<li>It scopes is <b><i>Function Scope</i></b> (once it leaves function, it's gone)</li>
<li>It has 2 properties: <b><i>length</i></b> and <b><i>callee</i></b></li>
<ul>
<li><b style="font-style: italic;">length: </b>refers to the number of arguments being passed</li>
<li><b><i>callee:</i></b> refers to the method/function itself (in above example: sum() function)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Function Arguments Variable Optimization Killer</span></b><br />
<br />
One note when it comes to Function <b><i>arguments variable</i></b> is that it must <b style="font-style: italic;">never be passed around </b>to avoid "leak" (leak refers to <b>optimization killer</b>, <b>not </b><i>memory leak</i>)<b style="font-style: italic;">.</b><br />
<pre class="prettyprint">function leakOptimizationKiller(){
return arguments;
}
function leakOptimizationKiller(){
var args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments);
}
</pre>
The reason why this <b><i>cancels out JS engine optimization</i></b> is that the arguments variable is originally stored in the <b>stack</b>. In the above examples, JS engine is <b>forced</b> to create a reference of the arguments object in the <b>heap</b> as well.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-85974532299620144082016-01-16T00:46:00.001-08:002016-02-24T22:44:53.085-08:00JavaScript Object: Array<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0gL1_ZZKkv7DlIkXT5aK8soEKGM3WYNyTRlHA2E2k714QGHq63OOzD9iTFaasQMZNQWlK9Md3xLwbh5u9HBeNma8ClCuZzqiUiWcXcOPnMe-rmhH6-n6oW7u2U0o6054-gXgaagnPvQ/s1600/js.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0gL1_ZZKkv7DlIkXT5aK8soEKGM3WYNyTRlHA2E2k714QGHq63OOzD9iTFaasQMZNQWlK9Md3xLwbh5u9HBeNma8ClCuZzqiUiWcXcOPnMe-rmhH6-n6oW7u2U0o6054-gXgaagnPvQ/s200/js.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
JavaScript has a few built-in objects. One of the most-used objects is Array. Array stores a collection of ordered values that can be accessed via its index (a number).<br />
<br />
Some of the characteristics of JavaScript array are as follows:<br />
<ul>
<li>untyped (multiple types in the same array)</li>
<li>zero based, use 32-bit indexes</li>
<li>dynamic memory allocation (dynamically shrink or expand)</li>
<li>does not support multi-dimension (but can hold array of arrays)</li>
<li>sparse (can have gaps, multi-dimension can have varying length in the second dimension)</li>
</ul>
There are 2 ways to create an array: <b><i>Array Literal</i></b> and <i><b>Array Constructor</b></i>.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Array Literal</span></b><br />
<br />
Array literal is the simplest and the most well-known way to cr// will throw Error, not a valid index numbereate an instance of an Array object in JavaScript and probably in most mainstream programming languages.<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">var arr = []; // create an array with zero element
var arr = [1,2,3,4,5]; // create an array with 5 elements of the same type
// array with 5 elements: a number, an object, a string, a boolean, and an array
var arr = [1, {}, "This is a string", true, [1,2]];
// sparse array that contains 5 elements:
// a number followed by 3 undefined and ended with a number
var arr = [0, , , 3];
</pre>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Array Constructor</span></b><br />
<br />
Array constructor is probably less used and less well-known. It is also <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7375120/why-is-arr-faster-than-arr-new-array">slower</a> than Array literal.<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">var arr = new Array(); // create an array with zero elements
var arr = new Array(1,2,3,4,5); // create an array with 5 elements, same type
// array with 5 elements: a number, an object, a string, a boolean, and an array
var arr = new Array(1, {}, "This is a string", true, new Array(1,2);
// sparse array that contains 5 elements:
// a number followed by 3 undefined and ended with a number
var arr = new Array(0, , , 3);</pre>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Modifying Element, Accessing Element, How Many Elements?</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
Here are examples how to modify/access element of the array and also to know how many elements in the array:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">// declare an array of 4 elements, all numbers
var arr = [1,2,3,4];
// modify the value of the first element
arr[0] = 5;
// how many items in the array currently
var arr_length = array.length;
// modify the value of the last element
// (array index starts from 0, last element means n-1)
arr[arr_length - 1] = 10;
if(arr[1] + arr[2] === arr[0]){
console.log("The sum of array index 1 and 2 are equal to array index 0");
}
// modifying length property of Array is allowed in certain situation
// Example #1: increase length from 4 to 10,
// we'll have 6 undefined elements added to the end of the array
arr.length = 10;
// Example #2: decrease the length from 4 to 3
// hence arr[3] = 4 no longer exist, we reduce the size of array
arr.length = 3;
// Example #3: invalid index number
// will throw Error, not a valid index number
arr.length = -1;
</pre>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Iterating Array Elements</span></b><br />
<br />
There are 2 ways to iterate over Array elements: <b><i>for-loop</i></b> and <b><i>forEach array method</i></b>.<br />
<br />
<b>1)</b> Example for <b><i>for-loop</i></b>:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">var arr = [1,2,3,4,5];
// NOTE: arr.length is evaluated at every iteration
for(var i=0; i < arr.length; i++){
console.log("Index " + i + " : " + arr[i]);
}
</pre>
<b>2)</b> Example for <b><i>for-loop optimized</i></b>:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">var arr = [1,2,3,4,5];
// optimized because arr.length is called only once
for(var i=0, len; len = arr.length, i < len ; i++){
console.log("Index " + i + " : " + arr[i]);
}
</pre>
<b>3)</b> Example for <b><i>forEach array method</i></b>:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">var arr = [1,2,3,4,5];
arr.forEach(function(element, index, array){
console.log("Index " + i + " : " + element);
});
</pre>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-24317242365941281312016-01-10T00:32:00.000-08:002016-01-11T23:28:35.787-08:00JavaScript Function: Introduction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
My previous article covered 1 out of 2 important concepts in <a href="http://www.edwinnathaniel.com/2016/01/javascript-object-introduction.html">JavaScript: Object</a>. In this article, I will cover Function.<br />
<br />
Function, in any programming language including JavaScript, contains a set of statements (or contains code) that will be executed when the function is invoked.<br />
<br />
In JavaScript, functions are first-class object; they can have properties (those key-value pairs) just like object as well. The thing that separates function with object is that function can be executed (as it contains code).<br />
<br />
Here's the defining characteristics of function:<br />
<ul>
<li>has properties just like object</li>
<li>executable</li>
<li>has an internal property [[Call]]</li>
<ul>
<li>internal properties are not exposed to the public in any way</li>
<li>Because of [[Call]] internal property, <a href="http://www.edwinnathaniel.com/2016/01/javascript-operators-introduction.html">typeof operator</a> knows this is a function</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
There are 2 forms of function in JavaScript: function declaration and function expression.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Function Declaration</span></b><br />
<pre class="prettyprint">function print_car(car){
console.log("Car Make: " + car.make);
console.log("Car Model: " + car.model);
}
var car = { make: "Honda", model: "Civic" };
print_car(car);
</pre>
Rule for function declaration:<br />
<ul>
<li>function name (e.g.: print_car) is required</li>
<li>function starts with { and ends with }</li>
<li>semicolon to terminate the function declaration is not needed</li>
<li>function parameter (e.g.: car) is optional</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Function Expression</b></span>
<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">var display = function(car){
console.log("Car Make: " + car.make);
console.log("Car Model: " + car.model);
};
var car = { make: "Honda", model: "Civic" };
display(car);
</pre>
Rule for function expression:<br />
<ul>
<li>function name is optional (although recommended)</li>
<li>function starts with { and ends with }</li>
<li>semicolon must exists after the closing curly braces (})</li>
<li>function parameter (e.g.: car) is optional</li>
<li>function is to be stored to a variable for referencing purpose</li>
</ul>
<div>
The above function (created using the function expression technique) is also known as a<b>nonymous function</b>: you cannot refer to the function itself, you can only refer to the function via the variable that holds the function.<br />
<br />
Notice that the function is stored in a variable. This is doable in JavaScript because a function is an object. Since we can store a reference to an object in a variable, we can do the same with function as well: storing a reference to a function in a variable.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Function Return Value</span></b><br />
<br />
In JavaScript, function <b>always have a return value</b>. This could be confusing or even weird when compare to other programming languages like Java/C/C++/C#. The above examples returns <b>undefined:</b><br />
<pre class="prettyprint">var returnValue = print_car({ make: "Honda", model: "Civic" });
console.log(returnValue); // this will print "undefined"</pre>
If the last statement of the function is a return keyword followed by a variable or literal value, then the function will return the value of the variable or the literal value itself.<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">function add(left, right){
return left + right;
};
var result = add(1,2); // should return 3
</pre>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Function as Object method</span></b><br />
If a function is a property of an object, the function is now known as a method object.<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">var car = {
make: "Honda",
model: "Civic",
display: function display(){
// this refers to the current object: car
console.log("Car Make: " + this.make);
console.log("Car Model: " + this.model);
};
};
car.display();</pre>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-17576128401059063092016-01-09T00:19:00.001-08:002016-01-10T22:26:56.785-08:00JavaScript Object: Introduction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
There are 2 very important concept in JavaScript: Object and Function. This tutorial will cover JavaScript Object.<br />
<br />
Object, in JavaScript, can be viewed as a container that stores a collection of values. Object can store both <a href="http://www.edwinnathaniel.com/2016/01/javascript-types.html"><span id="goog_839490311"></span>primitive values and object values</a>.<br />
<br />
The following are some characteristics of an object:<br />
<ul>
<li>key-value pair</li>
<ul>
<li>key can be either string or number</li>
<li>value can either be a primitive value or object value</li>
<li>key is known as "property"</li>
</ul>
<li>mimic known data structure: "hash", "hashtable", "dictionary", "map"</li>
<li>dynamic</li>
<ul>
<li>property can be added at any time</li>
<li>property can be removed at any time</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
There are 3 ways to create an object in JavaScript: </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>object literal</li>
<li><a href="http://www.edwinnathaniel.com/2016/01/javascript-operators-introduction.html">new operator</a></li>
<li><a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object/create">Object.create()</a></li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Creating an object: object literal</b></span></div>
<div>
<pre class="prettyprint">var car = {
make : "Honda",
model: "Civic",
attributes: {
doors: 4,
passengers: 5 // comma not needed here to end the key-value pair
} // comma not needed here to end the key-value pair
};</pre>
</div>
<div>
Rules for object literal creation: </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Starts with { and ends with };</li>
<li>key followed by colon followed by its value and a comma (unless it is the last key-value pair)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Creating an object: <i>new</i> keyword</b></span></div>
<div>
<pre class="prettyprint">var car = new Object();
car.make = "Honda";
car.model = "Civic";
car.attributes = new Object();
car.attributes.doors = 4;
car.attributes.passengers = 5;</pre>
Rules for new keyword object creation:
<br />
<ul>
<li>Use the keyword new</li>
<li>Use a "special" function (in this case, Object) known as "constructor"</li>
<li>Add key-value pairs one by one</li>
<ul>
<li>these pairs can also be initialized inside the constructor just like in mainstream Object Oriented programming languages</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Creating an object: Object.create()</span></b></div>
<div>
<pre class="prettyprint">var car = Object.create(Object.prototype,{
make: { value: "Honda" },
model: { value: "Civic" },
attributes: {
value: Object.create(Object.prototype,{
doors: { value: 4 },
passengers: { value: 5}
})
}
});</pre>
</div>
<div>
Rules for Object.create() object creation:<br />
<ul>
<li>Use "static" method "create()" of Object.</li>
<li>First parameter: the prototype object that the new object will be based on</li>
<li>Second parameter: an object that define the properties attributes, in this particular example, we initialized its "value" attribute (more detail in another blog post)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">When to use each technique of Object creation</span></b><br />
<br />
Use <b>object literal </b>technique when:<br />
<ul>
<li>you need a one-off data structure (similar to C-struct) on-the-fly (not a template)</li>
<li>you need a simple singleton-like object (unfortunately a mutable singleton)</li>
</ul>
<br />
Use <b>new keyword</b> when:<br />
<ul>
<li>you need an instance of an object (analogous with mainstream OOP language like Java or C#)</li>
<li>you need multiple instances of a type of an object with different values</li>
<li>more details will be covered in another article that covers "prototype" as well.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Use <b>Object.create()</b> when:<br />
<ul>
<li>you need more control over the property attributes (will be covered in another article) of the newly created instance of an object</li>
<li>for example: set the car.make property to be read-only (can only read, but can't modify)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Accessing and Modifying properties</span></b><br />
<br />
There are 2 ways to access/modify a property of an object (assuming the property can be accessed and modified): dot notation or square bracket notation.<br />
<br />
<b>Dot Notation</b> example:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">console.log(car.make); // "Honda"
car.make="Toyota";
console.log(car.make); // "Toyota"
</pre>
<b>Square Bracket</b> example:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">console.log(car["make"]); // "Honda"
car["make"]="Toyota";
console.log(car["make"]); // "Toyota"
</pre>
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">When to use each technique of Accessing/Modifying properties</span></b><br />
<br />
Use <b>dot notation </b>when:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>any time you can</li>
<li>know the property name before hand</li>
</ul>
<br />
Use <b>square bracket</b> when:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>property name is pre-computed or pre-calculated during run-time</li>
<li>creating an object that maps a range of keys/properties to a set of values</li>
<ul>
<li>for example, mapping A-Z or 0-9 to a set of values</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Using Number as Key/Property Name</span></b><br />
<br />
Technically it is legal to use number or a string representation of number as the key/property name but in general, try not to as it may tricked people to think that the object type is an array.<br />
<br />
For example:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">var one = { 1 : "One" };
var two = { "2": "Two" };
console.log(one[1]); // "One"
console.log(one["1"]); // "One"
console.log(two[2]); // "Two"
console.log(two["2"]); // "Two"
// The following will throw SyntaxError error,
// a number is not a legal identifier
console.log(one.1);
console.log(two.2);</pre>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Summary</span></b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
An object is an aggregate of property-value pairs. There are 3 ways to create an instance of an object in JavaScript. Each technique is useful in certain situations. There are 2 ways to access or modify the property value. In JavaScript, the key/property name can be a number.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-5286999929549444252016-01-05T23:23:00.001-08:002016-01-06T12:41:43.168-08:00JavaScript Operators: Introduction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
In this article, I'd like to cover briefly the JavaScript operators. JavaScript operators can be grouped into 3 categories: unary, binary, and ternary operator.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.4">1 Unary Operator</a></span></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The unary operator only requires 1 value in order to invoke it. The unary operator takes form of both symbols and word. Its members are as follows:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.4.1">delete</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.4.2">void</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.4.3">typeof</a></li>
<li>increment (both <a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.4.4">prefix</a> and <a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.3.1">postfix</a>): ++</li>
<li>decrement (both <a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.4.5">prefix</a> and <a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.3.2">postfix</a>): --</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.4.6">positive sign (convert to number)</a>: +</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.4.7">negative sign (negate number)</a>: -</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.4.8">bitwise NOT</a>: ~</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.4.9">logical NOT</a>: !</li>
</ul>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">2. Binary Operator</span></b><br />
<br />
The binary operator would need 2 values in order to evaluate its results: one value before the operator and one value after the operator. The members of the binary operator category can be grouped further by its capability:<br />
<ul>
<li>Arithmetic Operator</li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.5">Multiplicative Operator</a></li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.5.1">Multiplication</a>: *</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.5.2">Division</a>: / </li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.5.3">Modulo</a>: %</li>
</ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.6">Additive Operator </a></li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.6.1">Addition</a>: +</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.6.2">Subtraction</a>: -</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<li>Bitwise Operator</li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.7">Bitwise Shift Operator</a></li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.7.1">Left Shift</a>: >></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.7.2">Right Shift</a>: <<</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.7.3">Unsigned Right Shift</a>: >>></li>
</ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.10">Binary Bitwise Operator</a> </li>
<ul>
<li>Bitwise AND: &</li>
<li>Bitwise XOR: ^</li>
<li>Bitwise OR: |</li>
</ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.11">Binary Logical Operator</a></li>
<ul>
<li>Logical AND: &&</li>
<li>Logcal OR: ||</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.8">Relational Operator</a></li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.8.1">Less-than</a>: <</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.8.2">Greater-than</a>: <</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.8.3">Less-than-or-equal</a>: <=</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.8.4">Greater-than-or-equal</a>: >=</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.8.6">Instanceof</a>: instanceof</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.8.7">In</a>: in </li>
</ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.9">Equality Operator</a></li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.9.1">Equal</a>: ==</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.9.2">Does-not-equal</a>: !=</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.9.4">Strict-equal</a>: ===</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.9.5">Strict-does-not-equal</a>: !==</li>
</ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.9.4">Assignment Operator</a></li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.13.1">Simple assignment</a>: =</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.13.2">Compound assignment</a>: +=, -=, %=, *=, /=, &=, ^=, |=</li>
</ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.14">Comma Operator</a></li>
<ul>
<li>Short summary: op1, op2 where op1 will always be executed but the result will be discarded, and the results of op2 will be the returned value of the comma operator.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>3. Ternary Operator</b></span><br />
<br />
The ternary operator works on 3 values and it only has one member, the question mark and colon operator:<br />
<pre> var answer = true ? "True" : "False";</pre>
The ternary operator is also known as the <a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.12">conditional operator</a>.<br />
<br />
I will discuss most of these operators in future posts.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-24401755461496861272016-01-03T00:31:00.003-08:002016-01-05T23:26:39.740-08:00JavaScript Types<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div>
<br /></div>
JavaScript has <a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8">6 basic data types</a> per <b><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/">ECMAScript 5.1</a></b>. These data types can be categorized into 2 groups: <i><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-4.3.2">primitive value</a></i> and <i><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-4.3.3">object</a></i>.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The six basic data types are:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Primitive values</li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8.5">Number</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8.3">Boolean</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8.4">String</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8.1">Undefined</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8.2">Null</a></li>
</ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8.6">Object</a></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>0. Primitive values</b></span></div>
<div>
<br />
Primitive values work like in any other programming languages: they are <b>immutable</b> (can't be changed) and can only store one value at any given time.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8.5"><b>1. Number</b></a></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
JavaScript only supports one type of Number: <b>floating-point</b> (other mainstream programming languages support integer, float, and double at least). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Number has <b>3 extra special members</b>: <b>Infinity</b>, <b>-Infinity</b>, <b><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-4.3.23">NaN</a></b> (Not a Number). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In order to test positive and negative Infinity, a built-in <b>Number.MAX_VALUE</b> and <b>Number.MIN_VALUE</b> should be used. Anything <b><i>greater than</i> Number.MAX_VALUE</b> is considered <b><i>positive infinity</i></b> while anything <b><i>less than</i> Number.MIN_VALUE</b> is considered <b>negative infinity</b>. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For example:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">
var positiveInfinity = Infinity;
if(Number.MAX_VALUE < positiveInfinity){
console.log('Positive Infinity');
}
var negativeInfinity = -Infinity;
if(Number.MIN_VALUE > negativeInfinity){
console.log('Negative Infinity');
}
</pre>
<br />
Verifying that a number is NaN is slightly simpler: use the built-in Number.isNan() method.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8.3"><b>2. Boolean</b></a></span><br />
<br />
Boolean has exactly 2 values: <b>true</b> or <b>false</b>.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8.4">3. String</a></span></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
String represent text. JavaScript supports double (e.g.: "This is a string") and single quotes (e.g.: 'This is also a valid string') to denotes a string literal. String contains a series of characters in which each character is of <b>16-bit unsigned</b> integer values (hence JavaScript string <i><b>supports UTF-16</b></i>).<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>NOTE:</b> The common practice is to use single quote whenever possible.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8.1">4. Undefined</a></b></span><br />
<br />
Undefined has exactly one value: <b>undefined</b>. Undefined is not the same with Null. Undefined refers to a state in which a variable is not even declared (i.e.: can't find where the variable has been declared with "var" keyword anywhere in your script).<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8.2">5. Null</a></span></b><br />
<br />
Null has exactly one value: null. Null is not the same with Undefined. Null refers to a state in which variable is declared (i.e.: var x;) but not initialized to a value (or initialized to null). <br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8.6">6. Object</a></span></b><br />
<br />
Object in JavaScript is a collection of properties. By comparison with other mainstream programming languages, JavaScript object is more like a Dictionary or a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_table">Hash table</a> or an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associative_array">Associative Array</a>.<br />
<br />
A <b>function</b> is a special type of Object that can be called and executed. Function contains additional property that act as a marker for the JavaScript interpreter to denote that this particular object is of a function.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-8770982461872738932012-07-29T17:10:00.000-07:002015-12-29T14:28:07.460-08:00Ubuntu, PostgreSQL, pgAdminI've been interested to play with <a href="http://www.postgresql.org/">PostgreSQL</a> for a while and it looks like now is the right time to have fun and go mad at it since my new work requires it.<br />
<br />
My machine/initial setups is as follows:<br />
<ol>
<li><a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a> Server 12.04 64bit running on <a href="http://www.virtualbox.org/">VirtualBox</a> (love free stuff!)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.postgresql.org/">PostgreSQL</a> 9.1 as part of Ubuntu Server installation</li>
<li><a href="http://pgadmin.org/">pgAdmin</a> installed in OSX</li>
</ol>
<div>
I've encountered a few hiccups when trying to connect the pgAdmin to the PostgreSQL server and here are the steps to avoid that in the future.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">0. Configuration Files</span></b><br />
<br />
The locations for the main configuration files <b><i>specifically for Ubuntu Server</i></b> is at:</div>
<div>
<pre class="prettyprint">/etc/postgresql/<version>/main </pre>
</div>
<div>
For example, because at the time of this writing I installed the PostgreSQL 91, the configuration files are located at:</div>
<div>
<pre class="prettyprint">/etc/postgresql/9.1/main</pre>
</div>
The content of the configuration directory should contain the following files:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">enathaniel@ubuntu:/etc/postgresql/9.1/main$ ls -la
total 52
drwxr-xr-x 2 postgres postgres 4096 Jul 29 00:34 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 postgres postgres 4096 Jul 28 23:50 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 postgres postgres 316 Jul 28 23:50 environment
-rw-r--r-- 1 postgres postgres 143 Jul 28 23:50 pg_ctl.conf
-rw-r----- 1 postgres postgres 4693 Jul 29 00:28 pg_hba.conf
-rw-r----- 1 postgres postgres 1636 Jul 28 23:50 pg_ident.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 postgres postgres 19250 Jul 29 00:24 postgresql.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 postgres postgres 378 Jul 28 23:50 start.conf
</pre>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">1. Modify the PostgreSQL configuration file: postgresql.conf</span></b><br />
<br />
Find the <b>listen_address</b> entry, uncomment if necessary, and modify its value to asterisk (*), which means to bind the PostgreSQL server service (daemon) to any IP Addresses of the server machine:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint"> listen_address = '*'</pre>
</div>
<div>
The default PostgreSQL installation does not bind itself to any particular IP Address of the server. One can also bind the PostgreSQL server service (daemon) to a specific set of IP Addresses if the server has more than one by using comma between values:<br />
<pre class="prettyprint"> listen_address = 'localhost, 192.168.0.114' # my server address is 192.168.0.114</pre>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>2. Modify the PostgreSQL Client Authentication Configuration file: pg_hba.conf</b></span><br />
<br />
Insert a line to <b>pg_hba.conf </b>file to grant client access to the database.</div>
<pre class="prettyprint">host all all 192.168.0.0/24 md5</pre>
In short, the above lines will do the following: grant client, via network connection <b>TCP/IP</b> <b>with</b> or <b>without SSL <i>(host)</i></b>, access to <b><i>all</i> (first)</b> database for <b><i>all (second) users</i></b> from the IP addresses of 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.0.255 and use <b><i>md5</i></b> password encryption.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">3. Change password of the postgres user</span></b><br />
<br />
Access PostgreSQL via command-line "psql" and update the password<br />
<pre class="prettyprint">enathaniel@ubuntu:/etc/postgresql/9.1/main$ sudo -u postgres psql postgres
psql (9.1.3)
Type "help" for help.
postgres=# \password postgres
Enter new password:
Enter it again:
postgres=# \q
</pre>
The psql command must be run as <b><i>postgres</i></b> user (hence the <b><i>sudo -u postgres</i></b>) because that is the only user that has an account in the default installation of PostgreSQL.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">4. Install adminpack extension</span></b><br />
<br />
pgAdmin typically would give warning when it detects that the PostgreSQL instance does not have adminpack installed. To install the adminpack extension, the following psql command would do the trick<br />
<pre class="prettyprint"><span style="background-color: white;">enathaniel@ubuntu:/etc/postgresql/9.1/main$ sudo -u postgres psql</span></pre>
<pre class="prettyprint">psql (9.1.3)
Type "help" for help.
postgres=# create extension adminpack
postgres-# \q
</pre>
<br />
5. Connect to PostgreSQL instance from pgAdmin<br />
The following screenshot should give some idea how to connect to the PostgreSQL instance.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxkX9Y__KkeFSMbGoTXql-vnLNrtTyLSFJ-l97QzlFKyppSdifoxA3qq5KcGyrbJeW5BlcPozhRkVHBG4iyOig7RDv7D56gXcuLh3aLGqSWoGlAmHZ63cDuLucTISYvEDhMroy5U6gc54/s1600/pgadmin-configuration.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="590" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxkX9Y__KkeFSMbGoTXql-vnLNrtTyLSFJ-l97QzlFKyppSdifoxA3qq5KcGyrbJeW5BlcPozhRkVHBG4iyOig7RDv7D56gXcuLh3aLGqSWoGlAmHZ63cDuLucTISYvEDhMroy5U6gc54/s640/pgadmin-configuration.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Voila, we're done!<br />
<br />
PS: Yes, there's no food, fruits, or traveling story in this post.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-31914226646741453232012-07-16T20:42:00.000-07:002015-12-29T14:14:47.414-08:00Summer Freedom Week Day 1This week will be my last week before I go back to the grind, so we decided to have fun whenever we can. Here are our destinations on the first day of our "Summer Freedom Week!"<br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>1. Granville Island</b></span></div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5tc0OqtszI8/UATBGADauII/AAAAAAAAG6U/LaaRZD1_zSc/s1600/P1130466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5tc0OqtszI8/UATBGADauII/AAAAAAAAG6U/LaaRZD1_zSc/s640/P1130466.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Granville Island entrance</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
We have not been to Granville Island for a while. Our main target here was to have our lunch at "<a href="https://plus.google.com/114362052225497765853/about">Go Fish</a>".<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dKSWQvOREAE/UATAuFbBfCI/AAAAAAAAG50/3-HUl3YpVGU/s1600/P1130456.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dKSWQvOREAE/UATAuFbBfCI/AAAAAAAAG50/3-HUl3YpVGU/s640/P1130456.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be since they have to go fishing on Monday. So instead of feeling sad and depressed, we took a few pictures since the weather was awesome.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-maXchFpn_eI/UATAnzDNL5I/AAAAAAAAG5s/z8kYeR_DKLY/s1600/P1130454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-maXchFpn_eI/UATAnzDNL5I/AAAAAAAAG5s/z8kYeR_DKLY/s640/P1130454.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Burrard Bridge at far</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eDA0_6JNHt4/UATAh9zkAFI/AAAAAAAAG5k/HXEwUoAIFgk/s1600/P1130453.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eDA0_6JNHt4/UATAh9zkAFI/AAAAAAAAG5k/HXEwUoAIFgk/s640/P1130453.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Granville Bridge across the other</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Must be nice to have a waterfront view apartments, wondering how much a unit may cost your wallet.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-649G501vGyA/UATAz5vFwtI/AAAAAAAAG58/bwhSojuhBro/s1600/P1130457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-649G501vGyA/UATAz5vFwtI/AAAAAAAAG58/bwhSojuhBro/s640/P1130457.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Waterfront Apartments</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Since we were hungry, we decided to leave Granville Island. Instead of going straight to the parking lot, we went through a few stores for a quick window shopping.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rDdapY67k30/UATAQSghrfI/AAAAAAAAG5M/q-o1CFw7tSE/s1600/P1130448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rDdapY67k30/UATAQSghrfI/AAAAAAAAG5M/q-o1CFw7tSE/s640/P1130448.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Kids Market</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_0gGIdaE0uY/UATBMn6FcNI/AAAAAAAAG6c/1xDAlRXMVeY/s1600/P1130472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_0gGIdaE0uY/UATBMn6FcNI/AAAAAAAAG6c/1xDAlRXMVeY/s640/P1130472.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Freaky Eyes on top of Kids Market</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xPvSEkBGS3k/UATBejG8s0I/AAAAAAAAG60/_Xkra1ZUxaA/s1600/P1130476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xPvSEkBGS3k/UATBejG8s0I/AAAAAAAAG60/_Xkra1ZUxaA/s640/P1130476.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Car stickers</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We may have buy these stickers soon. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OoKJb-Nw-3w/UATBSiBtFpI/AAAAAAAAG6k/EJV7P73TGx8/s1600/P1130474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OoKJb-Nw-3w/UATBSiBtFpI/AAAAAAAAG6k/EJV7P73TGx8/s640/P1130474.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Sometimes Vancouverites amazed us, there are plenty of them enjoying their Monday as if money grows on their backyard. We can only guess what they do for a living.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qMPQDtIfwgo/UATBrmQpaWI/AAAAAAAAG7E/ggYqL8bUzDw/s1600/P1130481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qMPQDtIfwgo/UATBrmQpaWI/AAAAAAAAG7E/ggYqL8bUzDw/s640/P1130481.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Woofles & Meowz</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Woofles & Meowz? The Z comes from the 90's? Kidding aside, too bad we don't have pets.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fuGDfARj-2I/UATBxm8fAbI/AAAAAAAAG7M/ZKzWbFb3eGQ/s1600/P1130482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fuGDfARj-2I/UATBxm8fAbI/AAAAAAAAG7M/ZKzWbFb3eGQ/s640/P1130482.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Weird Sign</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Came across one shop that we have no idea what it sells because we couldn't find the entrance door nor we can see the inside. Who knows eh..?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n26PpRc4Yps/UATB4OI4A7I/AAAAAAAAG7U/nTMQTn7bvvk/s1600/P1130483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n26PpRc4Yps/UATB4OI4A7I/AAAAAAAAG7U/nTMQTn7bvvk/s640/P1130483.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Yes, I'm the Boss</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Boss sleeps throughout the day, leaving us to enjoy to the fullest!<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">2. SalaThai</span></b><br />
<br />
We went to <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181558/restaurant/Downtown/SalaThai-Vancouver">SalaThai</a> for our lunch because of the proximity and also ever since one of <a href="http://www.thaihouse.com/metrotown">our favorite Thai restaurants near our home</a> has closed due to a new apartment complex is about to be built there, we haven't had Thai.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nobpTiarRsc/UATB-nSM52I/AAAAAAAAG7c/fPJfedwg7gU/s1600/P1130484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nobpTiarRsc/UATB-nSM52I/AAAAAAAAG7c/fPJfedwg7gU/s640/P1130484.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A Bowl of Soup (No Name)</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Wife ordered <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phanaeng_curry">Beef Phanaeng Curry</a> that comes with this unknown bowl of soup (a bit sour and slightly spicy).<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AbOtzaHn1Fg/UATCLqYWpcI/AAAAAAAAG7s/4upD7nqOLLk/s1600/P1130489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AbOtzaHn1Fg/UATCLqYWpcI/AAAAAAAAG7s/4upD7nqOLLk/s640/P1130489.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Beef Phanaeng Curry</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
While I opted for my usual: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Na">Lard Na</a><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6l3QgjvNF3k/UATCFGdno7I/AAAAAAAAG7k/1ZRd1w1mmf8/s1600/P1130486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6l3QgjvNF3k/UATCFGdno7I/AAAAAAAAG7k/1ZRd1w1mmf8/s640/P1130486.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Lard Na</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Lard Na was a bit unusual because typically Lard Na isn't that soupy. But it tastes good, so who am I to judge?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mxPHgyieRnk/UATCYIeDqBI/AAAAAAAAG78/PVyYB3-FnM4/s1600/P1130504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mxPHgyieRnk/UATCYIeDqBI/AAAAAAAAG78/PVyYB3-FnM4/s640/P1130504.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Calamari</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The calamari was a late order because my stomach was not quite there yet and the Boss demanded his lunch as well: MILK PLEASE! Lucky we're prepared.<br />
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Overall the lunch was quite nice and the price was reasonable.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j0-bsAjm80k/UATCdgyVKpI/AAAAAAAAG8E/EYWY8ylSMQU/s1600/P1130534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j0-bsAjm80k/UATCdgyVKpI/AAAAAAAAG8E/EYWY8ylSMQU/s640/P1130534.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Roaming Dragon Food Truck</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Came across one of those "hip" food truck. The last time I tried a food from a truck, it was okay but overpriced. Some of my friends have had similar experience. Speaking of food truck, have you ever watched the <a href="http://eatst.foodnetwork.ca/">Eat St. TV show airing at the Food Network</a>?<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WiZGLXE5DTA" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>3. Vancouver Public Library</b></span> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hLEZJIFKZWs/UATCpBJJYmI/AAAAAAAAG8U/eYGT1QPj6qQ/s1600/P1130537.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hLEZJIFKZWs/UATCpBJJYmI/AAAAAAAAG8U/eYGT1QPj6qQ/s640/P1130537.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Vancouver Public Library</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
VPL was our last destination before heading for home. We had a few books of our interest that we wanted to borrow.<br />
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That's it for our Summer Freedom Week day one adventure. Day two is coming up tomorrow!<br />
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<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-43496484829928577352012-06-22T08:50:00.001-07:002015-12-29T14:17:43.245-08:00Coming Back From Hiatus<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What's Happening</b></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YFXJAUaWxDM/T-R1IR2I-4I/AAAAAAAAG48/QMlrRFBaZno/s1600/baby.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YFXJAUaWxDM/T-R1IR2I-4I/AAAAAAAAG48/QMlrRFBaZno/s640/baby.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>He has captivated us since day one</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ever since we had our first child, our lifestyle has changed drastically. Having said that, we're having TONS of fun spending our time with the little one. This blog may have to change its theme from food and travelling to baby and/or technology related as the latter topics are more relevant to our everyday life from now on. Unless if we travelled with the baby right? (^_^)<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Where The Hell Is Matt 2012</span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Matt Harding from </span><a href="http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/" style="background-color: white;">Where The Hell Is Matt</a><span style="background-color: white;"> posted his latest dancing video yesterday.</span><br />
<b>WARNING:</b> Viewing his videos may trigger your emotion.
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Pwe-pA6TaZk" width="560"></iframe>
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As usual, it's him dancing. But this time he invited/included more people and choreographed (albeit not professionally) the moves. One of the scenes, which showed him dancing in Bali, reminded me of my time there. Bali is a wonderful place to be and I hope one day we will have another chance to visit Bali again.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ab81iR7ZyFY/TKFnBJESwII/AAAAAAAABR4/xzk-LXz9B-Y/s1600/P1010736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ab81iR7ZyFY/TKFnBJESwII/AAAAAAAABR4/xzk-LXz9B-Y/s640/P1010736.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bali</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Judging from </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Pwe-pA6TaZk#t=267s" style="background-color: white;">the last scene</a><span style="background-color: white;">, I have a feeling that this may be Matt Harding last video.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Indie Game: The Movie</b></span><br />
Last week I bought my first indie movie, <a href="http://buy.indiegamethemovie.com/">Indie Game: The Movie</a>.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GhaT78i1x2M" width="560"></iframe>
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The movie is about the people <span style="background-color: white;">behind a few popular indie games(<a href="http://supermeatboy.com/">Super Meat Boy</a>, <a href="http://braid-game.com/">Braid</a>, <a href="http://polytroncorporation.com/61-2">Fez</a>) </span><span style="background-color: white;">and their thought-process building the game. I really enjoy the movie because growing up, I've always wanted to make my own game. That interest drives me to major in Computer Science. Sadly, I have not made one game up until today despite taking a Computer Graphics course at university </span><span style="background-color: white;">(^_^)</span><span style="background-color: white;">. Perhaps it is something to revisit later on in my life. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-90457778746179430302012-05-28T23:33:00.000-07:002015-12-29T14:16:21.618-08:00Facebook Interview and IPOIn 2007, I submitted my resume to Facebook for fun. I didn't think I would get an interview but since I got nothing to lose, I thought why not?
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfswVwUaPSUE3ieScPSLWueU-w5EFjq3zY193Eq2G1OSetUlVXkI0HV-4xWiDaIFR54vnzX5YYogbbD849DL4B1mT8_yRNTZpuhfNFINa3dFXBOSoVm4VVgUt6YCbhX6YZ5rYzhnyf5NM/s1600/Facebook-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfswVwUaPSUE3ieScPSLWueU-w5EFjq3zY193Eq2G1OSetUlVXkI0HV-4xWiDaIFR54vnzX5YYogbbD849DL4B1mT8_yRNTZpuhfNFINa3dFXBOSoVm4VVgUt6YCbhX6YZ5rYzhnyf5NM/s1600/Facebook-logo.jpg" /></a></div>
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To my surprise, I got a reply and an invitation for an interview.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhnUxo5617J5yv46tpsRNWWAt5ZG-AVaIDF96y5L8FyHha81OIl595eI6oy7zq2UD76yFE9dM6KNT8qmP9ux54639cFjjzTch1umIfl3GlRw1DovqkCwXOe58eCGEWBVLJW13BrdIRpw/s1600/facebook-first-interview.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhnUxo5617J5yv46tpsRNWWAt5ZG-AVaIDF96y5L8FyHha81OIl595eI6oy7zq2UD76yFE9dM6KNT8qmP9ux54639cFjjzTch1umIfl3GlRw1DovqkCwXOe58eCGEWBVLJW13BrdIRpw/s1600/facebook-first-interview.png" /></a></div>
<br />
I went through two interviews: one with HR and the other with a technical person (Software Engineer, who else right?). The HR interview was just an opening; they wanted to get a feel of me as a person.<br />
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The technical interview was awful: I got paired with probably one of their smartest engineers. I recalled one of the "big" questions was how would I improve <a href="http://memcached.org/">memcached</a> (a distributed memory object caching system) performance.<br />
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I knew what memcached is back then but since I have never used it, I wouldn't know much technicality of the underlying system. <b>NOTE:</b> the answer was to switch memcached implementation from using TCP to UDP, which, apparently was an on-going <a href="https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=39391378919">internal effort</a> at Facebook to have a faster memcached system in the planet. <br />
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Let's just say that I was not Facebook material :). I don't feel bad to admit that considering that Facebook have plenty smart people.<br />
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Fast forward to the end of 2011, they knocked on my door one more time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAyCVsMkqLj06RAwc1mq3mq1kdH-V-FdxhhMsGBvfCYA0sPxG82YeGu9IA8b7-3xq1OKSrZcM6tcfwe9s39hFfvOecsxxmgXmInONTbfUnrdGCH3HisnS_ZmIxLVfUEYcXZ2bpVqTJXkg/s1600/facebook-second-invitation.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAyCVsMkqLj06RAwc1mq3mq1kdH-V-FdxhhMsGBvfCYA0sPxG82YeGu9IA8b7-3xq1OKSrZcM6tcfwe9s39hFfvOecsxxmgXmInONTbfUnrdGCH3HisnS_ZmIxLVfUEYcXZ2bpVqTJXkg/s1600/facebook-second-invitation.png" /></a></div>
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I politely declined the invitation because I was involved in a long-term project and I enjoyed (and still do) what I do.<br />
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Last week, Facebook IPO-ed with starting price of $38 and peaked at $45.<br />
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Hmmm......<br />
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To put things into perspective:<br />
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<a href="http://www.insidefacebook.com/2012/02/06/facebooks-99-taxes-restricted-stock-units-rsus/">http://www.insidefacebook.com/2012/02/06/facebooks-99-taxes-restricted-stock-units-rsus/</a>
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Such is life. Oh well. As long as you're happy even if you don't win the lottery right? (^_^)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-68106963860054107522012-04-17T08:24:00.000-07:002015-12-29T14:16:40.187-08:00Nitobe Memorial Garden, Cherry Blossom, and Las MargaritasWe went to UBC last Saturday for some errands.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jitgGjaIKhc/T4si9YbCbKI/AAAAAAAAF44/MREKrK9-Jao/s1600/P1080266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jitgGjaIKhc/T4si9YbCbKI/AAAAAAAAF44/MREKrK9-Jao/s640/P1080266.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>UBC Logo</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The weather was a little bit gloomy when we arrived but improved vastly as the day went by.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Nitobe Memorial Garden</b></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/nitobe">Nitobe Garden</a> just opened a few minutes after we arrived and since we had not been there for a long time, we decided to venture in.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r4fvqPFKEDA/T4skXAsPPlI/AAAAAAAAF6k/gF-CoA2LKMw/s1600/P1080419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r4fvqPFKEDA/T4skXAsPPlI/AAAAAAAAF6k/gF-CoA2LKMw/s640/P1080419.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Nitobe Memorial Garden entrance</b></td></tr>
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The entrance fee is $6 for adult, all-day and free for UBC students. Sadly, we are no longer scrappy poor students with the "golden" student card roaming free using the university facilities as we pleased.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zfu1XPoYZxg/T4skPi0M8-I/AAAAAAAAF6c/ya5TVwYqTJw/s1600/P1080418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zfu1XPoYZxg/T4skPi0M8-I/AAAAAAAAF6c/ya5TVwYqTJw/s640/P1080418.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Nitobe Garden wall</b></td></tr>
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Nitobe is a great place to walk-around especially between classes when you've got nothing else to do and the library is over capacity.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XZlshWQ0-Kg/T4sjEGBYD1I/AAAAAAAAF5A/79mAqyFxNX4/s1600/P1080273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XZlshWQ0-Kg/T4sjEGBYD1I/AAAAAAAAF5A/79mAqyFxNX4/s640/P1080273.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The first exhibit right off the bat from the entrance gate is a Japanese-style house.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MRtNm9_MX28/T4sjKRM4KOI/AAAAAAAAF5I/kdImBrMyK0g/s1600/P1080274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MRtNm9_MX28/T4sjKRM4KOI/AAAAAAAAF5I/kdImBrMyK0g/s640/P1080274.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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There seems to be a strong relationship between UBC and the westcoast Japanese-Canadians.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k_5-eKPAQPE/T4sjRVVcAeI/AAAAAAAAF5U/6aaevYM64YI/s1600/P1080276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k_5-eKPAQPE/T4sjRVVcAeI/AAAAAAAAF5U/6aaevYM64YI/s640/P1080276.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Alas, we couldn't explore the house any further. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W6T85_yFtss/T4sjYZ3KLXI/AAAAAAAAF5c/LRLWHoIs9tg/s1600/P1080286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W6T85_yFtss/T4sjYZ3KLXI/AAAAAAAAF5c/LRLWHoIs9tg/s640/P1080286.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Maybe there's nothing inside?<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UvOhHnfp_9g/T4sjscOnW1I/AAAAAAAAF50/UIUqcPdp2pg/s1600/P1080332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UvOhHnfp_9g/T4sjscOnW1I/AAAAAAAAF50/UIUqcPdp2pg/s640/P1080332.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This small waterfall lead to a big fish pond nearby.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u2uR24YiEE0/T4sjlWrZuNI/AAAAAAAAF5s/xp3opdaFh6U/s1600/P1080330.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u2uR24YiEE0/T4sjlWrZuNI/AAAAAAAAF5s/xp3opdaFh6U/s640/P1080330.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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There were stepping stones to go across the shallow stream.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DID8Uydrmq4/T4sj5lOhVuI/AAAAAAAAF6E/wpyTKZGgvK8/s1600/P1080339.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DID8Uydrmq4/T4sj5lOhVuI/AAAAAAAAF6E/wpyTKZGgvK8/s640/P1080339.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The stream passes under a small bridge ahead, near the bigger Japanese stone pagoda.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-15qdzEgp2qc/T4sjy6QubzI/AAAAAAAAF58/-Yor-9x8-mo/s1600/P1080338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-15qdzEgp2qc/T4sjy6QubzI/AAAAAAAAF58/-Yor-9x8-mo/s640/P1080338.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The weather continue to improve, creating a stunning view.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o9yvao54n9w/T4skHvTnz_I/AAAAAAAAF6U/Kidn4X6N__E/s1600/P1080403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o9yvao54n9w/T4skHvTnz_I/AAAAAAAAF6U/Kidn4X6N__E/s640/P1080403.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Center of Garden.</b></td></tr>
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The big fish pond occupies the center of the garden where a small hut with a wooden bridge lies nearby.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q32UzNot4P4/T4sjeSN1g2I/AAAAAAAAF5k/IullqppqGhs/s1600/P1080317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q32UzNot4P4/T4sjeSN1g2I/AAAAAAAAF5k/IullqppqGhs/s640/P1080317.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Koi Fish</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We saw a big, fat Koi fish. Probably as big as my calf.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gzy3QmdIJPY/T4skrDqZCDI/AAAAAAAAF68/HTlZnLMKtk4/s1600/P1080457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gzy3QmdIJPY/T4skrDqZCDI/AAAAAAAAF68/HTlZnLMKtk4/s640/P1080457.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Back in the days...</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The trip to Nitobe brought back the memory of our days being UBC students. For whatever reason, I feel strongly toward UBC than wife. I love coming back here and occasionally "abuse" my alumni status to borrow awesome books.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Cherry Blossoms</b></span><br />
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We came to UBC at the right time, we saw plenty of cherry blossoms.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nZEyWJCJDxI/T4skdwcWLiI/AAAAAAAAF6s/02vVX0_Y7x8/s1600/P1080440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nZEyWJCJDxI/T4skdwcWLiI/AAAAAAAAF6s/02vVX0_Y7x8/s640/P1080440.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Awesome Weather</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wl-uQEYxH9g/T4sk5TriSDI/AAAAAAAAF7M/DLJbYtZ0gCk/s1600/P1080465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wl-uQEYxH9g/T4sk5TriSDI/AAAAAAAAF7M/DLJbYtZ0gCk/s640/P1080465.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Cherry Blossoms</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c9zbTOTdxMQ/T4skxYApdxI/AAAAAAAAF7E/O1060fgMocE/s1600/P1080459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c9zbTOTdxMQ/T4skxYApdxI/AAAAAAAAF7E/O1060fgMocE/s640/P1080459.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>More Cherry Blossoms</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GjsS9IOmF0Y/T4slApjgz3I/AAAAAAAAF7U/5Mqz23yt8rE/s1600/P1080472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GjsS9IOmF0Y/T4slApjgz3I/AAAAAAAAF7U/5Mqz23yt8rE/s640/P1080472.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>... and more</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
That is the best cherry blossoms covered sidewalk I've ever seen so far this year.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ct2i4puv1hI/T4slHOaN6mI/AAAAAAAAF7c/lKK4RjLvSug/s1600/P1080478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ct2i4puv1hI/T4slHOaN6mI/AAAAAAAAF7c/lKK4RjLvSug/s640/P1080478.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Suddenly, we had to leave UBC since our tummies were grumbling and the little one seemed a little bit antsy, signalling mommy to eat lunch ASAP.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o0GISdhzWl0/T4sma_8265I/AAAAAAAAF88/_AfwgH9Lf5E/s1600/P1080516.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o0GISdhzWl0/T4sma_8265I/AAAAAAAAF88/_AfwgH9Lf5E/s640/P1080516.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Complicated Parking Payment machine</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On our way out, we had to face a very complex parking payment machine. Luckily, we were out in a matter of seconds, not minutes.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Las Margaritas</span></b><br />
<br />
Last week we had <a href="http://www.edwinnathaniel.com/2012/04/spicy-weekend.html">Mexican for lunch</a>. This week, due to the proximity and the urgency, we opted for another Mexican at our regular Mexican restaurant: <a href="http://www.lasmargaritas.com/">Las Margaritas</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pmNEECCts8Y/T4smuUvFdeI/AAAAAAAAF9U/-jzVEJ2FyO4/s1600/P1080521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pmNEECCts8Y/T4smuUvFdeI/AAAAAAAAF9U/-jzVEJ2FyO4/s640/P1080521.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Interior</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Las Margaritas has been our go-to Mexican restaurant for a few years due to its location somewhere around Kitsilano, 4th Avenue, and somewhere in our route between UBC and home.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D4VL13isLkI/S8FBMSJ-HDI/AAAAAAAAAUY/JVbthTi-0HA/s1600/P1000815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D4VL13isLkI/S8FBMSJ-HDI/AAAAAAAAAUY/JVbthTi-0HA/s640/P1000815.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pictures</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The interior design of Las Margaritas is quite entertaining.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kZ-ImtqOwyA/T4smiIrU4JI/AAAAAAAAF9E/sbIH71zxqQY/s1600/P1080519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kZ-ImtqOwyA/T4smiIrU4JI/AAAAAAAAF9E/sbIH71zxqQY/s640/P1080519.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tortilla Chips and Salsa</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Wife likes the chips and the salsa. They do make a good salsa.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qvpVwGeCen4/T4smomVyRII/AAAAAAAAF9M/UuIY8re9nvU/s1600/P1080520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qvpVwGeCen4/T4smomVyRII/AAAAAAAAF9M/UuIY8re9nvU/s640/P1080520.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Virgin Margarita</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Virgin Margarita, Strawberry mixed with Lime is my all-time favorite. I always and must order this. I secretly wish I knew their recipe to make my own at home. Time to devise a plan to get it from their kitchen.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NdzBIgKVtTE/T4sm0kHAizI/AAAAAAAAF9c/TBOkOizdm_E/s1600/P1080525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NdzBIgKVtTE/T4sm0kHAizI/AAAAAAAAF9c/TBOkOizdm_E/s640/P1080525.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Deluxe Quesadilla</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My order this time around is the Deluxe Quesadilla with grilled Chicken breast. It came with delicious black beans and salad.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w3vpBjdQW90/T4sm7cEUS3I/AAAAAAAAF9k/H_fxRuHqOwc/s1600/P1080528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w3vpBjdQW90/T4sm7cEUS3I/AAAAAAAAF9k/H_fxRuHqOwc/s640/P1080528.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Beef Burrito</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Wife decided to had her revenge since she didn't get what she wanted last week. Beef Burrito with sauce all over seems to be a great choice after a long walk at UBC in a nice sunny day.<br />
<br />
As always, Las Margaritas delivered and we're pleased. Once the bill had been paid, we went home and spent the rest of the day to rest.<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-76557027942692506692012-04-09T08:05:00.000-07:002015-12-29T14:17:53.839-08:00Spicy WeekendWhat a wonderful weekend: perfect weather, long weekend, and lots of food!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Restaurant</span></b><br />
<br />
We went to Ikea to return an item and on our way back, we were indecisive of what to have for lunch. Initially, we would like to eat Indian buffet but changed our mind because we had some decent size breakfast and were not ready for a buffet, let alone Indian food with lots of rice and flour.<br />
<br />
We passed by a Thai restaurant and were toying the idea of eating there since our regular Thai restaurant, Thai House at Metrotown, has closed down indefinitely.<br />
<br />
We passed by another restaurant, this time it's a Mexican restaurant. We were thinking of having Mexican as well since it has been a while since the last time we had a proper Mexican food aside the street tacos we got from <a href="http://www.edwinnathaniel.com/2012/01/la-taqueria.html">La Taqueria</a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8exFdWEba8c/T4DDMok9WMI/AAAAAAAAFvc/pYjQayQM6ro/s1600/P1080232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8exFdWEba8c/T4DDMok9WMI/AAAAAAAAFvc/pYjQayQM6ro/s640/P1080232.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Outside</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Due to the unappealing exterior appearance of the restaurant, we drove away for a few minutes before I turned back and gave it a try.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hKp1HNuPM-8/T4DCh_N2IoI/AAAAAAAAFu0/TtmsUbS0NPQ/s1600/P1080224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hKp1HNuPM-8/T4DCh_N2IoI/AAAAAAAAFu0/TtmsUbS0NPQ/s640/P1080224.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Apparently they were having their 13th anniversary (or so the sign said).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B_m3-f0S6K4/T4DCpHSN-LI/AAAAAAAAFu8/4dp8Mz-6U7M/s1600/P1080225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B_m3-f0S6K4/T4DCpHSN-LI/AAAAAAAAFu8/4dp8Mz-6U7M/s640/P1080225.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Feels like in Mexico: colorful and bright</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We had our doubts when we were inside because we were the first diners and it took a while for them to prepare the food. But hey, they say not to judge the book by its cover right?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mk3rLl47cNM/T4DC83lKxfI/AAAAAAAAFvU/s-qMhSp79ik/s1600/P1080231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mk3rLl47cNM/T4DC83lKxfI/AAAAAAAAFvU/s-qMhSp79ik/s640/P1080231.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Chimichanga</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Wife ordered Chimichanga. She was expecting the Chimichanga to have some sort of sauce.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-692GVV25VZc/T4DC3OgxC8I/AAAAAAAAFvM/TCrTRN4fcb4/s1600/P1080230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-692GVV25VZc/T4DC3OgxC8I/AAAAAAAAFvM/TCrTRN4fcb4/s640/P1080230.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Beef Burrito</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I got the usual Burrito with mild sauce. I should have gotten the extra spicy instead of the mild. Mild doesn't taste spicy enough.<br />
<br />
<b><i>We. Love. The. Refried. Beans.</i></b> It was so darn good!<br />
<br />
Little did we know, this place has a lot of rave reviews even though it was empty when we came there.<br />
<br />
<b>Reviews:</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181306/restaurant/Vancouver/Ole-Ole-Mexican-Deli-New-Westminster">http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181306/restaurant/Vancouver/Ole-Ole-Mexican-Deli-New-Westminster</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://dinehere.ca/new-westminster/ole-ole-mexican-deli">http://dinehere.ca/new-westminster/ole-ole-mexican-deli</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
We learned that the restaurant really served traditional and original Mexican food. Not the one that has been "adapted" to the local tongue.<br />
<br />
Las Margaritas on 4th Ave is our regular Mexican restaurant but unfortunately it is a wee bit too far from our house so we are very grateful that we stumbled upon Ole Ole very close from our place.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Easter Sunday</span></b><br />
<br />
We started Sunday with a trip to the House of the Man Above and it was jam packed. So packed that they have to open another big room to contain the overflow of people.<br />
<br />
After the sermon, we decided to grab our lunch.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c7mVsbudJDA/T4HnxzWv4qI/AAAAAAAAFyk/Ebn3LcKH2lk/s1600/P1080242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c7mVsbudJDA/T4HnxzWv4qI/AAAAAAAAFyk/Ebn3LcKH2lk/s640/P1080242.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Thanks!</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We've been blessed. The above sign is absolutely a divine intervention. It makes our life easier when it comes to parking lot: there's always some empty spots close to the entrance.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2GDUg7mk1o0/T4Hn4y2IAoI/AAAAAAAAFys/eOyIhche8OI/s1600/P1080244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2GDUg7mk1o0/T4Hn4y2IAoI/AAAAAAAAFys/eOyIhche8OI/s640/P1080244.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Nando for lunch to continue the theme of spicy weekend.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b92s7Wc_7gE/T4HoJyc7B-I/AAAAAAAAFy8/qxmgSWB7bnY/s1600/P1080246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b92s7Wc_7gE/T4HoJyc7B-I/AAAAAAAAFy8/qxmgSWB7bnY/s640/P1080246.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
We happened to have a coupon for this particular combo: full chicken and 2 side dishes for $18.99 (excl. tax). We requested half of the chicken to be hot (left) and the other half mild (right).<br />
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So yummy, we haven't had Nando's for at least 5 years. It's about time!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Snacks</span></b><br />
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We haven't bought snacks for a while so we decided to stock up some for the long weekend.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hp_kwvOnYqo/T4DDhTU7SdI/AAAAAAAAFvs/oTN0AT3L9Gc/s1600/P1080235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hp_kwvOnYqo/T4DDhTU7SdI/AAAAAAAAFvs/oTN0AT3L9Gc/s640/P1080235.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Without us noticing (we did the grocery first before eating out), some of the snacks we bought were hot/spciy.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XKt1_Em80Z0/T4DDmefPO8I/AAAAAAAAFv0/KDw0OwXCr0s/s1600/P1080236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XKt1_Em80Z0/T4DDmefPO8I/AAAAAAAAFv0/KDw0OwXCr0s/s640/P1080236.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
Both snacks taste a little bit similar.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ycx_kcxC3FE/T4DDbao63LI/AAAAAAAAFvk/tttzQVcgdmM/s1600/P1080234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ycx_kcxC3FE/T4DDbao63LI/AAAAAAAAFvk/tttzQVcgdmM/s640/P1080234.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Sunburst is wife's favorite. Once in a while wouldn't hurt :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-71j2sX1mCwM/T4DD7m9iJhI/AAAAAAAAFwM/YgV36kPTLhA/s1600/P1080240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-71j2sX1mCwM/T4DD7m9iJhI/AAAAAAAAFwM/YgV36kPTLhA/s640/P1080240.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Shrimp Cracker was on sale, $0.79, haven't had this since ages.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--eXTZk6R9r8/T4DDtDcXWlI/AAAAAAAAFv8/Iw8h1koYQb4/s1600/P1080237.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--eXTZk6R9r8/T4DDtDcXWlI/AAAAAAAAFv8/Iw8h1koYQb4/s640/P1080237.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
I noticed that Quaker is expanding to snacks as well. We decided to give it a try.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x7ak7UGvYKg/T4DD0t3zfpI/AAAAAAAAFwE/wnFojj0lblc/s1600/P1080238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x7ak7UGvYKg/T4DD0t3zfpI/AAAAAAAAFwE/wnFojj0lblc/s640/P1080238.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
Speaking of Takoyaki, the annual Richmond Night Market is about to open soon.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last but not least, Pringles with less Salt :).<br />
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Happy Easter!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-83526383189295587672012-04-03T08:07:00.003-07:002015-12-29T14:18:06.272-08:00A Cake, a Bread, and a Fiery Dim Sum Manager<b><span style="font-size: large;">Central Station</span></b><br />
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<div>
Had a chance to snap a picture of Central Station when it was not too busy.</div>
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We may go back and explore the inside of the building in the future. </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Bread and Cake</span></b></div>
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Wife is on the roll for 2 weeks straight making bread and cake from leftover.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banana Bread with Chocolate Bits</td></tr>
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She made Banana Bread last week from very ripe bananas.<br />
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Somehow we managed to have a break from hunting baby needs thus able to set aside some time.</div>
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The next on the menu was Steamed Marble Cake that we made yesterday.</div>
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Helping wife is a blessing in disguise. I find these activities as a stress reliever and I also picked up basic kitchen skills as well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FWATLYrF8fY/T3kKzE_jFyI/AAAAAAAAFqw/QCg9okU3hEg/s1600/P1080207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FWATLYrF8fY/T3kKzE_jFyI/AAAAAAAAFqw/QCg9okU3hEg/s640/P1080207.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Steaming the Marble Cake</b></td></tr>
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It was a little bit challenging to scoop out the cake out of the bundt pan despite the extra oil to make it not too sticky<br />
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We had to make a small wedge cut and separate the cake into two big portions.</div>
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All is well, we have our snacks despite our hard work (by our, I mean my wife's hard work... isn't that right?).</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Dim Sum at Po King Restaurant</span></b></div>
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Wife also had a sudden craving for Dim Sum after church yesterday. Driving around Metrotown to try out new places yielded unsuccessful result, we decided to go to our usual hangout place: Po King Seafood restaurant, which is located right next to <a href="http://www.dennys.ca/">Denny's</a>. (Have to admit that we're lucky to live very close to these two restaurants as we can have multi-cultural choices for our breakfast).</div>
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Our all-time favorite is the giant Har Gows (Shrimp Dumpling).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Har Gow (Shrimp Dumpling)</b></td></tr>
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Our next all-time favorite is the Chang Fen (Shrimp as well).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dkFkzfAYK-E/TxOiPpFJjFI/AAAAAAAAEIw/96cx3Qaomyk/s1600/P1070281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dkFkzfAYK-E/TxOiPpFJjFI/AAAAAAAAEIw/96cx3Qaomyk/s640/P1070281.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Chang Fen</b></td></tr>
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Eating in this particular Dim-Sum restaurant can be a surprising experience for North Americans because in this place, you don't wait to be served: if you want a spoon or an extra napkin or chopsticks, you have to walk to the counter and help yourself. </div>
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Perhaps one of the reasons is because the waitresses are too busy pushing the Dim-Sum carts around and nobody is around to help except the floor manager, who happen to be busy dealing with the table and reservations.</div>
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Speaking of the floor manager, check out this funny review from Yelp:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8qVftRsMRaQ_9fhwMKHvS5t1Ouwpiq69VCuRbLtztoDaQ5guHWhtbDiKBc3KzL1myUluGRqwlGM-hwxHNiH8diNwYgebfvGK02EJsGME2fhOe57_2qmH810G9S961v2ch3qinPGF1jQ8/s1600/yelp-dim-sum-nazi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="526" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8qVftRsMRaQ_9fhwMKHvS5t1Ouwpiq69VCuRbLtztoDaQ5guHWhtbDiKBc3KzL1myUluGRqwlGM-hwxHNiH8diNwYgebfvGK02EJsGME2fhOe57_2qmH810G9S961v2ch3qinPGF1jQ8/s640/yelp-dim-sum-nazi.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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There is a very fiery Dim Sum manager running the place and she yells very loud with lots of passions while holding a wireless phone (a very common scene in the 90's Hong Kong movies) to schedule reservations. Watching her in action made us had to hold our laugh and to continue chewing the shrimp in our mouth at the same time.</div>
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Sometimes, if the place is jam packed, you might be asked if you'd like to share the table with another parties or wait for a long time. We learned that this may not be uncommon practice.While others may be offended, we find all of these to be entertaining.</div>
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In case people don't get the reviewer's humor, check out the following video: <a href="http://youtu.be/uVqBzP0xdKk">http://youtu.be/uVqBzP0xdKk</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-3640131359318325482012-03-27T08:08:00.000-07:002015-12-29T14:18:20.353-08:00Saturday at IkeaWe went to Ikea last Saturday to finalize our shopping for the special one.<br />
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There are 2 Ikeas in the lower mainland one in Richmond and the other in Coquitlam. We went to the Coquitlam location because the Ikea in Richmond is about to be relocated and they had a massive sales to reduce their supplies.<br />
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We went there just before lunch so we went directly to their restaurant.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K3enbUBcvXE/T26PMKHs7bI/AAAAAAAAFPs/iPGOelx2kK0/s1600/P1080108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K3enbUBcvXE/T26PMKHs7bI/AAAAAAAAFPs/iPGOelx2kK0/s640/P1080108.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Salad</b></td></tr>
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I ordered a combo: Salad, Soda, and 10 pieces of Meatballs with mash potato and gravy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vu3mYbkDncY/T26PR169LYI/AAAAAAAAFP0/txm_6Ie68Ho/s1600/P1080109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vu3mYbkDncY/T26PR169LYI/AAAAAAAAFP0/txm_6Ie68Ho/s640/P1080109.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Meatballs, mashed potato, Lingonberry sauce and Gravy</b></td></tr>
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Wife ordered Roasted Chicken and mashed potato (with gravy as well).<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9DMDmIgmkiM/T26PZ75_pLI/AAAAAAAAFP8/ZFlo4PdeDaM/s1600/P1080110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9DMDmIgmkiM/T26PZ75_pLI/AAAAAAAAFP8/ZFlo4PdeDaM/s640/P1080110.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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Once our tummies were filled, we wandered around the children section.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4xuZEcevhIE/T26PkBfuccI/AAAAAAAAFQE/I-p9gzbq_KU/s1600/P1080111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4xuZEcevhIE/T26PkBfuccI/AAAAAAAAFQE/I-p9gzbq_KU/s640/P1080111.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Miniature Kitchen</b></td></tr>
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We saw miniature kitchen sink and workbench. Ikea seems to want to hook these kids to become craftsman as early as possible... and if that fails, a visit to Ikea followed by purchases of easy-to-assemble household items would be the next logical step.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--py-xDNYZ6M/T26PuojuNGI/AAAAAAAAFQM/mx2l95fFB2s/s1600/P1080113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--py-xDNYZ6M/T26PuojuNGI/AAAAAAAAFQM/mx2l95fFB2s/s640/P1080113.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Miniature Workbench</b></td></tr>
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We're still undecided whether we want to decorate the special one's room with colorful lights or not.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MpY29-RkLXs/T26QEMgYCtI/AAAAAAAAFQc/QGJNbDPVKGw/s1600/P1080117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MpY29-RkLXs/T26QEMgYCtI/AAAAAAAAFQc/QGJNbDPVKGw/s640/P1080117.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Stars would be a better choice?</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vkfkk-X_NG8/T26P5wurE0I/AAAAAAAAFQU/9dhIPwt7fpU/s1600/P1080114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vkfkk-X_NG8/T26P5wurE0I/AAAAAAAAFQU/9dhIPwt7fpU/s640/P1080114.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Cars</b></td></tr>
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Definitely cars. Non-negotiable, done-deal. Little one must play with cars. Wife told me that the little one couldn't stay still. Perhaps little one had eyes set on this toy?<br />
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We were looking for storage boxes to put under the changing table. We ended up buying the plastic type as the ones above were too soft and might break down easily.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-byUoSfhX3Ek/T26QTueWMZI/AAAAAAAAFQw/pSgVDSZiH54/s1600/P1080119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-byUoSfhX3Ek/T26QTueWMZI/AAAAAAAAFQw/pSgVDSZiH54/s640/P1080119.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Ikea's own Baby!</b></td></tr>
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We bought a mattress but decided to return it back in favor of another one from Sears. Ikea's mattresses are less firm compare to Sears'.<br />
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As usual, we did our grocery before everything else and we bought a few snacks.<br />
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One of our favorite snacks was on sale. So tempting, so delicious, and not so expensive. Must buy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--8Ac0bx8R5A/T26Qlp-fizI/AAAAAAAAFRA/o09lUvNaPPk/s1600/P1080125.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--8Ac0bx8R5A/T26Qlp-fizI/AAAAAAAAFRA/o09lUvNaPPk/s640/P1080125.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Cheetos from our hometown</b></td></tr>
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We also found this snack slipped somewhere in our Snack storage space. We almost forgot we bought it a few weeks ago. It is a type of Cheetos, Grilled Chicken flavor, from our hometown.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mENaCDrprdc/T26QsB8c41I/AAAAAAAAFRI/WPK4lj0GoQ0/s1600/P1080128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mENaCDrprdc/T26QsB8c41I/AAAAAAAAFRI/WPK4lj0GoQ0/s640/P1080128.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Marie Regal Biscuits</b></td></tr>
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Marie Regal biscuits is my all-time favorite since I was a toddler. My mother used to tell me a story that one time when I was a wee little kid, I would not take my eyes away from those biscuits every single time we went to a supermarket. She would hide to "scare" me a little bit ("where's mommy!") and I wouldn't even budge or noticed she wasn't around. Perhaps the packaging attracts children than Fisher Price toys.<br />
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Got our dinner from Curry King Cafe. We're not sure if they're affiliated with Curry King Express in Crystal Mall food court or not but our guess they're not.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZrUCUc_l794/T26VPWWcljI/AAAAAAAAFUg/5QmUojUMZI8/s1600/P1080179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZrUCUc_l794/T26VPWWcljI/AAAAAAAAFUg/5QmUojUMZI8/s640/P1080179.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Hainanese Chicken Rice</b></td></tr>
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I ordered the Hainanese Chicken Rice to compare with other restaurants around and was a little bit disappointed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4wrJqf3wmdU/T26VUheym0I/AAAAAAAAFUo/iKEv3f17LII/s1600/P1080180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4wrJqf3wmdU/T26VUheym0I/AAAAAAAAFUo/iKEv3f17LII/s640/P1080180.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Scallop and Shrimp Fried Rice</b></td></tr>
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Wife ordered Scallop and Shrimp Fried Rice. It was a lot of rice. A lot of rice. A lot... of rice.<br />
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We were very tired that day that we barely did anything, other than to take shower and to go to sleep, after the dinner.<br />
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What a day. The little one seemed happy that day as wife told me the level of activity was off the chart.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-39863551721775021812012-03-25T19:34:00.001-07:002015-12-29T14:17:20.381-08:00Restaurant: Au Wing KeeHad a quick lunch with wife last week in a restaurant near our place because I was craving for comfort food that known as Congee.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TpMgIjb4UTU/T26WEE6xK9I/AAAAAAAAFVU/rRS8NBiLXXE/s1600/P1080096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TpMgIjb4UTU/T26WEE6xK9I/AAAAAAAAFVU/rRS8NBiLXXE/s640/P1080096.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Big Fat Juicy Chicken</b></td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1422934/restaurant/Vancouver/Burnaby-South/Au-Wing-Kee-Burnaby-Burnaby">Au Wing Kee</a> looks very old from the outside and dingy from the inside. The place also smells a bit but we are used to of these kinds of restaurants especially when they have a great speciality.<br />
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Wife ordered Beef Congee while I had the Chinese Mushroom and Chicken Congee. Pay attention at those oil/fat, it's darn delicious!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fqcs-pEKdbw/T26WbsXsUEI/AAAAAAAAFVk/44_QyBWzSPY/s1600/P1080099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fqcs-pEKdbw/T26WbsXsUEI/AAAAAAAAFVk/44_QyBWzSPY/s640/P1080099.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Chinese Mushroom</b></td></tr>
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They prepare various congees ranging from plain until the extravagant. Both of ours are considered one level away from the plain and each of ours cost $4.50/bowl. I'd say it's a catch for a quick lunch!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ydlcMvUQS-s/T26WLT3YaVI/AAAAAAAAFVc/p-1k43FyoiM/s1600/P1080097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ydlcMvUQS-s/T26WLT3YaVI/AAAAAAAAFVc/p-1k43FyoiM/s640/P1080097.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Actual Serving</b></td></tr>
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Vancouver has a few restaurants that prepare Congee of this type where it is almost pure soup and you can't feel the rice anymore. It is different than the congee from our hometown in which it is focused on the condiments, such as: the Chinese doughnut, the fried onion, the green onion, a bit of chicken, and spicy hot sauce, and you can still taste the rice since the preparation is different.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fYgMUSscag4/T2_TqRW9M6I/AAAAAAAAFlk/LIb0ZqPdJDQ/s1600/P1070611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fYgMUSscag4/T2_TqRW9M6I/AAAAAAAAFlk/LIb0ZqPdJDQ/s640/P1070611.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Hometown Congee</b></td></tr>
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We definitely will come back if we were in the mood for a bowl of Congee.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-71885924523024399572012-03-16T23:11:00.000-07:002015-12-29T14:17:31.573-08:00Ramen and Instant NoodlesFew days ago wife and I went out for lunch at our favorite ramen place - Motomachi Shokudo - somewhere in the Downtown area near Stanley Park.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-naXTZNk_l2s/T2_Q2AiI6oI/AAAAAAAAFgE/N1BPRrcBzqE/s1600/P1070924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-naXTZNk_l2s/T2_Q2AiI6oI/AAAAAAAAFgE/N1BPRrcBzqE/s640/P1070924.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>In case people don't know it is a Ramen place</b></td></tr>
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We haven't been there for a while and wife wanted ramen so bad that day and there was nothing that could've held her back. Not to mention that day was cold and gloomy; a good excuse to fill our stomach.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9oOlrFhGOU8/T2_Q-maBzXI/AAAAAAAAFgU/7PsLGq6icf4/s1600/P1070926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9oOlrFhGOU8/T2_Q-maBzXI/AAAAAAAAFgU/7PsLGq6icf4/s640/P1070926.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Those wooden chairs remind us of Chinese noodle shops</b></td></tr>
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It is rather small inside, I believe the maximum capacity is about 20 people. Because of such limitation, we always try to be the first guests - lining up 5 minutes before it opens.<br />
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For some reason, wife was in the mood for their Cold Ramen instead of the hot soupy version.<br />
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While I ordered our usual favourite - Nama-Shoyu Ramen.<br />
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Motomachi Shokudo is the sister "Ramen Shop" of Kintaro, which is located about 4-6 shops down the road. While Kintaro is known for its sinful pork fat (not so healthy) and a budget-friendly menu, Motomachi is the total opposite. It's more expensive, uses organic ingredients and chicken broth (instead of pork), and is not as greasy Kintaro. Still sinful though, but it's probably the place to experiment with some mod style Ramen.<br />
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VanMag wrote an article about the chef/owner behind both Ramen shops back in 2008: <a href="http://www.vanmag.com/Restaurants/Chef_Profiles/Mr_Noodle">http://www.vanmag.com/Restaurants/Chef_Profiles/Mr_Noodle</a><br />
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We saw these funny looking mopeds on our way back to the parking lot. This shop rents out bikes for people who want to enjoy a day in Stanley Park without the hassle of bringing your own bike from your home to Stanley Park. Solid business model I'd say!<br />
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Speaking of Ramen, not too long ago we replenished our stock of instant noodles for the rainy days in case we were running out of food. We normally don't eat them unless we really really have to (which is very rare). I have been reducing my instant noodles consumption probably since a few years ago while wife isn't big on them except on a few rare occasions when she had a sudden craving.<br />
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This time around, we decided to get some of the unusual flavours of our favorite brands.<br />
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We also bought a few more because Ramen Rater had asked us to send him a few exotic flavors not available around his neck of woods. I was a little bit hesitant to do this at first due to the strict rule of U.S. customs and to know that there was a big chance that they will be confiscated but no pain no gain I suppose. Luckily he <a href="http://ramenrater.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/676-indomie-mi-instan-rasa-mi-celor-spicy-coconut-shrimp-soup-flavour/">received them all</a>.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-66927587228037805772012-03-05T20:03:00.001-08:002015-12-29T14:18:33.860-08:00Restaurant: Daimasu at MetrotownWe went to <a href="http://www.daimasu.ca/burnaby/">Daimasu</a> Burnaby on Saturday because I've been craving for a Japanese food (and surprisingly was not in the mood for any other ethnic foods that day).<br />
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Ordered Katsu Don because I miss this dish a lot. I believe this is the first time I had a Katsu Don garnished with Glass Noodle. Typically the condiments are just the Eggs and Sliced Onions.<br />
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Wife ordered bento box (or known as combo box). It comes with a bowl of Chicken Teriyaki (which unfortunately has too much sauce, as you can see from the picture), a bowl of Udon, and Tempura (2 prawns and 2 veggies).<br />
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I helped wife to finish her dishes and take most of mine to go for dinner later on (probably a little bit more than half of the Katsu Don bowl).<br />
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Total cost comes to about $21.57 (including tips and tax) and could probably be cheaper by 2-5 Dollars had we ordered the typical Rolls instead of having to deal with excess Katsu Don.<br />
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Daimasu is apparently a part of restaurant chains owned by the Kamei Group, the people behind Kamei Royale in Downtown Vancouver. They have quite a few Japanese restaurants spread all over Greater Vancouver.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-48117474313748729882012-02-28T19:17:00.000-08:002015-12-29T14:19:00.842-08:00Coconut SundayLast Sunday we had a coconut party almost all day long until.... well until we did not want to be anywhere near a coconut any more (seriously).<br />
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Once we finished our morning tasks, thanking the Man for the blessings and another (failed) Ikea trip for a special person, we headed up to <a href="http://www.508bistro.com/aboutus.html">508 Social Bistro</a>. We chose this place because we were in the mood for some Taiwanese food.<br />
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508 Social Bistro used to be <a href="http://www.mychill.ca/">Chill Restaurant & Lounge</a>, but was closed for a period of time and re-opened with a new name. The interior design and everything else stayed the same while the menu had changed a bit.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sUYgmiBtpGE/T2_PdMwuSFI/AAAAAAAAFdA/zn_CSGyJp48/s1600/P1070960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sUYgmiBtpGE/T2_PdMwuSFI/AAAAAAAAFdA/zn_CSGyJp48/s640/P1070960.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Curry Udon</b></td></tr>
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Wife ordered Curry Udon since she was craving for it for some reason. Unfortunately the Curry Udon was bland that day and it wasn't presented as nice as it used to be. The Curry Udon was prepared using a thick sauce instead of the soupy version.<br />
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The best Curry Udon we had before was when we were at CKS Taipei International Airport for a layover. There's a cafeteria (forgot where exactly is) that makes the best Udon Curry soup: hot and spicy!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0vp-ObGs4m4/T2_Pk-avsKI/AAAAAAAAFdU/FEtK096x76E/s1600/P1070962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0vp-ObGs4m4/T2_Pk-avsKI/AAAAAAAAFdU/FEtK096x76E/s640/P1070962.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Taiwanese Chicken Nuggets</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Deep-Fried Calamari</b></td></tr>
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I chose two items: Taiwanese Chicken Nuggets and Deep-Fried Calamari. Alas, they both were also a bit bland compared to the usual. Normally, Taiwanese Chicken Nuggets are spicy, peppery, and aromatic due to the five spice powder used.<br />
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We were somewhat disappointed with the decrease of quality of the restaurant. Somehow, it was not the first time things have changed not for the better.<br />
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Back in the Chill Restaurant & Lounge days, we loved their Taiwanese Beef Noodle<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gSQO8F1XRp0/S7_nKkGqejI/AAAAAAAAAIw/K9hThJTE22M/s1600/P1000640.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gSQO8F1XRp0/S7_nKkGqejI/AAAAAAAAAIw/K9hThJTE22M/s640/P1000640.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Taiwanese Beef Noodle</b></td></tr>
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But one day they decided to change the soup base of the Taiwanese Beef Noodle from the original recipe to a mix of beef and tomato broth. Yes, tomato! Definitely not our favourite.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rqUSbmo3h3k/S7_nE-g6f2I/AAAAAAAAAIY/mUnjIuo2nfg/s1600/P1000634.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rqUSbmo3h3k/S7_nE-g6f2I/AAAAAAAAAIY/mUnjIuo2nfg/s640/P1000634.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Beef Wraps</b></td></tr>
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They used to have beef wraps (forgot the actual name of the dish) that we also enjoyed but is no longer part of the menu. It could also be that there were the only select few who enjoy it.<br />
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It is unfortunate that we enjoy less and less of what they can offer in each of our subsequent visit lately. We would love to support local businesses around our neighbourhood but somehow things just did not work out with this particular spot.<br />
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We headed home afterwards to take a break for a while before Wife's usual Sunday Cooking Dash session. I took some time to prepare the coconuts we bought on Saturday to be consumed before the NBA All-Star 2012 and <a href="http://www.edwinnathaniel.com/2012/02/travelling-from-departures-to.html">Descending</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Left: Older, Right: Younger</b></td></tr>
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Bought two coconuts, found out that one is older than the other one.<br />
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The older one was definitely more "rough" looking than the younger one.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oDj7I_eIiuY/T2_QE7EKJXI/AAAAAAAAFec/u2luNBuJep8/s1600/P1070979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oDj7I_eIiuY/T2_QE7EKJXI/AAAAAAAAFec/u2luNBuJep8/s640/P1070979.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Old Coconut with thick meat</b></td></tr>
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The coconut flesh of the older one was also thicker and less enjoyable while the juice was a wee bit salty.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rR1N14_fpFc/T2_QIam0OhI/AAAAAAAAFek/XlYa0UDAk_c/s1600/P1070982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rR1N14_fpFc/T2_QIam0OhI/AAAAAAAAFek/XlYa0UDAk_c/s640/P1070982.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Young Coconut with firm and soft meat</b></td></tr>
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The younger coconut had softer flesh and sweeter juice.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9ggJGkN-QNk/T2_QOxfZY8I/AAAAAAAAFe0/Ho1qiCsMVWk/s1600/P1070985.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9ggJGkN-QNk/T2_QOxfZY8I/AAAAAAAAFe0/Ho1qiCsMVWk/s640/P1070985.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Right before <a href="http://descendingtv.com/">Descending</a> started.</b></td></tr>
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In this episode, the crew dove to a few spots in New Zealand to explore a sunken cruise ship and the Poor Knight's Island marine reserve. I kept flip-flopping between Descending and the NBA All-Star.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HUrK8WvSvK4/T2_QXNhLrjI/AAAAAAAAFfI/215tq1fO-CA/s1600/P1070992.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HUrK8WvSvK4/T2_QXNhLrjI/AAAAAAAAFfI/215tq1fO-CA/s640/P1070992.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Hainanese Chicken Rice</b></td></tr>
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Wife made Hainanese Chicken Rice and fortunately I still had some Prosciutto left. Remember: always have Prosciutto ready in the fridge just in case and also when you put that Prosciutto on a plate, make sure it is the closest one to your mouth to avoid thieves.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-11468465507816982112012-02-24T08:31:00.002-08:002015-12-29T14:17:09.506-08:00Travelling: From Departures To Descending<br />
As previously <a href="http://www.edwinnathaniel.com/2012/02/travelling-blogs-clips-tv-shows.html">mentioned</a>, we're big fans of "<a href="http://departuresentertainment.com/">Departures</a>", a travel show that was on TV between mid-2008 to mid-2010 for about 3 seasons before the crews called it "done". <br />
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The pilot, titled "Ocean to Ocean", started with the trio road trip from the east of Canada and ended on the west of Canada (Vancouver). The last destination was Australia, right after visiting <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali">Bali, Indonesia</a>.
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<br />
Take a look the videos below to have a taste of what these guys had to offer:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/21y6NUdHnlM" width="560"></iframe><br />
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They were also the few people who had a chance to visit and to document (to some extend due to the country's policies) the mysterious North Korea:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Moq6ZkKZJm0" width="560"></iframe>
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We both learned a lot from watching these guys travel around the world.<br />
<br />
There are a few reasons why the show has made us big fans:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Soundtrack:</b> superb, majestic, emotional (we bought all 3 albums)</li>
<li><b>Hosts:</b> entertaining, down to earth</li>
<li><b>Shots</b> Andre is probably one of the best cinematographer in Canada (he won a <a href="http://www.geminiawards.ca/">Gemini Award</a>)</li>
<li><b>Locations:</b> Antartica, Mongolia, North Korea, Ascencion Island, Jordan, Amazon river, Chile, Cuba, and lots more!</li>
</ul>
<div>
Have I mentioned that the combination of Andre cinematography skill and the music are mind blowing?<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/83lXtPTNDsU" width="560"></iframe>
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I don't think we had seen a travel show that explored the untouched and off the beaten path as far as possible and took absolutely stunning pictures (moving or not) the way these guys did.</div>
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<b>(All pictures below belong to Departures Entertainment 2 Inc).</b></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G2cW6VdxO3A/Tz2TZrr8ZzI/AAAAAAAAEw4/P1sqkDpivwQ/s1600/Departures_Wallpaper_Antarctica_1500x1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G2cW6VdxO3A/Tz2TZrr8ZzI/AAAAAAAAEw4/P1sqkDpivwQ/s640/Departures_Wallpaper_Antarctica_1500x1200.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Antartica</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Oet31mfkUTE/Tz2TWQzcVcI/AAAAAAAAEv4/WLmVXjCgoS0/s1600/Departures_Wallpaper_Brazil_1500x1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Oet31mfkUTE/Tz2TWQzcVcI/AAAAAAAAEv4/WLmVXjCgoS0/s640/Departures_Wallpaper_Brazil_1500x1200.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Brazil</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fCNHWukd1jU/Tz2TWs0_Y4I/AAAAAAAAEv8/MQfsqa0wxu8/s1600/Departures_Wallpaper_Chile1_1500x1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fCNHWukd1jU/Tz2TWs0_Y4I/AAAAAAAAEv8/MQfsqa0wxu8/s640/Departures_Wallpaper_Chile1_1500x1200.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Chile</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PwV_zBLeLeM/Tz2TXNJlZbI/AAAAAAAAEwM/dscF_LJZKR4/s1600/Departures_Wallpaper_Cuba_1500x1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PwV_zBLeLeM/Tz2TXNJlZbI/AAAAAAAAEwM/dscF_LJZKR4/s640/Departures_Wallpaper_Cuba_1500x1200.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Cuba</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gd9jXgCocz0/Tz2TXqr3H6I/AAAAAAAAEwY/KJhNeeQd4qw/s1600/Departures_Wallpaper_Iceland_1500x1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gd9jXgCocz0/Tz2TXqr3H6I/AAAAAAAAEwY/KJhNeeQd4qw/s640/Departures_Wallpaper_Iceland_1500x1200.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Iceland</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G69RVsQGkk8/Tz2TYNVsdoI/AAAAAAAAEwc/U0GSBqAFONI/s1600/Departures_Wallpaper_Jordan_1500x1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G69RVsQGkk8/Tz2TYNVsdoI/AAAAAAAAEwc/U0GSBqAFONI/s640/Departures_Wallpaper_Jordan_1500x1200.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Jordan</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GRW013s1Qd4/Tz2TYsihk6I/AAAAAAAAEwo/oSiAyOcQpT8/s1600/Departures_Wallpaper_Mongolia_1500x1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GRW013s1Qd4/Tz2TYsihk6I/AAAAAAAAEwo/oSiAyOcQpT8/s640/Departures_Wallpaper_Mongolia_1500x1200.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Mongolia</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Tte5-HLmn4/Tz2TYmlCKjI/AAAAAAAAEwk/6EeJx9RrLlE/s1600/Departures_Wallpaper_NewZealand_1500x1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Tte5-HLmn4/Tz2TYmlCKjI/AAAAAAAAEwk/6EeJx9RrLlE/s640/Departures_Wallpaper_NewZealand_1500x1200.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><b>New Zealand</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Some of the episodes are available online at CityTV website (<a href="http://video.citytv.com/video/show/departures/Season2/episodes/4294966445+4294966577/19/">http://video.citytv.com/video/show/departures/Season2/episodes/4294966445+4294966577/19/</a>)</div>
<div>
<br />
Even though the show had ended in 2010, OLN has kindly re-run the episodes from Season 1 to Season 3 every morning at 7AM PST. We watch the re-runs whenever we have time before we embark to our office in the morning.<br />
<br />
Fortunately, Scott and Andre decided to continue their passion in travelling and producing documentaries. They have been working very hard in 2011 to travel around the globe and to explore the "other 70%" that have yet to be explored by them.<br />
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Enter "<a href="http://descendingtv.com/">Descending</a>". A new travel show that covers under the sea exploration (via diving, not submarine).<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/30918223?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/33164058?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
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They also got a new travel (dive) buddy, a kiwi by the name of Ellis (also appeared in one of the "Departures" season 3 episodes when the crews traveled to New Zealand).<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/36053048?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="560"></iframe>
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We are very excited to see them again.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/36936373?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<a href="http://descendingtv.com/">Descending</a> airs every Sunday at 6PM PST on <a href="http://oln.ca/">OLN</a> and I don't think it is available anywhere outside Canada yet but the crews have been working hard to make it available worldwide so stay tuned!.<br />
<br />
We watched the first episode last Sunday and were elated to see them again! The first episode was a little bit "slow" for us since it began with a few introductions of the new crews, the dive buddy, and a few "tutorials" about diving that ate a portion of the show. Having said that, they managed to dive a few times and showed the audiences the view through Andre's eyes.<br />
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Overall we're quite satisfied as it was clear that the crews were very passionate at what they do and it showed from the quality of the show.<br />
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OLN has kindly provides re-run of the previous episode on the following Saturday, 5PM PST.<br />
<br />
2012 just gets better with <a href="http://descendingtv.com/">Descending</a>.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-46233417614796516832012-02-20T21:37:00.001-08:002015-12-29T14:19:14.567-08:00Injured WeekendHad a knee injury last week that slowed down our mobility over the weekend. We did the grocery later than usual and did not do much over the weekend other than enjoying our time at home.<br />
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We had sushi for lunch but not front a restaurant, instead from T & T Supermarket. I think T & T Supermarket nailed another business model: a supermarket that provides ready-made food as well. We don't know if they use leftover items from their shelves do we? (^_^). This reminds me of a post from 37Signals: <a href="http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1620-sell-your-by-products">Sell your by-products</a>.<br />
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Last week was a special week and we didn't have time to celebrate until the end of the week thus we decided to buy a few goodies.<br />
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Wife wanted mochi cakes so wife should have them.<br />
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Those mochi cakes were meticulously packaged that it took us a while to decide whether we should keep it or eat it at the moment.<br />
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We also bought two Korean Onigiri: Unagi and Spicy Beef for Sunday breakfast since we need something fast and efficient to fill our stomach before embarking on our usual Sunday morning destination.<br />
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Wife decided to make the Sweet Martabak as we have been craving for it and could not wait for supply from back home.<br />
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Hidden Cheese and Crouching Chocolate Sprinkles is the nickname of this thing.<br />
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It's rather unhealthy due to the large amount of cheese, margarine, and chocolate sprinkles but once in a blue moon wouldn't hurt. I think this Sweet Martabak somehow healed my inflamed knee.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-43395756165138348472012-02-17T07:22:00.000-08:002015-12-29T14:19:27.520-08:00Travelling: Blogs, Clips, TV ShowsI have a sweet spot when it comes to travelling. I have been travelling to a few countries in Europe, Asia, North America (major cities both east and west of both U.S.A. and Canada), and a few islands in the Caribbean and I always try to travel somewhere away from home once a year whenever I have the chance.<br />
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Aside from travelling, I spend a lot of time reading travel blogs, scouring travel short clips on YouTube/Vimeo, and watching travelling TV shows to entertain myself and get ideas where to go next or what to expect if we were to visit the places we saw/heard/read.<br />
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The first travel clip I saw a few years back was by Matt Harding, a video game designer who quit his job, dropped everything, travelled, and recorded himself doing "the ugly dance" in various places he visited.<br />
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Matt Harding first video was taken around 2003/2004 and posted online in 2005:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7WmMcqp670s" width="560"></iframe>
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He continued to produce the second video in 2006 with a bigger success:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bNF_P281Uu4" width="560"></iframe>
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And he saved the best for last in 2008:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zlfKdbWwruY" width="560"></iframe>
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You can visit his website at <a href="http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/">http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/</a> where he documented all the things about his travelling up until today (it looks like he's making another video).<br />
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Here are a few other "creative" clips of travelling around the world:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/27246366?color=ffffff" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="550"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/27246366">MOVE</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/rickmereki">Rick Mereki</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://kienlam.net/">Kien Lam</a> quit his job as a Strategist in a financial firm to travel around the world and made this wonderful video from the collection of pictures he took during the trip:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UGnrT0F-Igs" width="560"></iframe>
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Looks like Kien Lam switched gear and now he's a professional photographer. To see his work, you can go to his website at <a href="http://kienlam.net/">http://kienlam.net</a>.<br />
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I don't read too many travel blogs as sometimes they're too long and detailed to my liking. The few blogs I'm interested typically focus on pictures. Here are a few of my favourite past-time blogs:<br />
<ul>
<li>Everything Everywhere (<a href="http://everything-everywhere.com/">http://everything-everywhere.com/</a>)</li>
<li>Stuck in Customs (<a href="http://www.stuckincustoms.com/">http://www.stuckincustoms.com/</a>)</li>
<li>A few others that I forgot :)</li>
</ul>
<div>
Some of the picture arts from the blogs above:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPYQbm2vJBBX-e4W9zCKsotR_OtF0DKbTjYpiazno-HmEPym5QaJfHc4eQnll7xfMiYOqX_a7to31bdIH66jgHrY3fiuFx-JJnASNeAue_MfG0qcQzZQT1Aq0BsvzBNpp-oDofoMz6Gg/s1600/2336220351_9cfe9c36fa_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPYQbm2vJBBX-e4W9zCKsotR_OtF0DKbTjYpiazno-HmEPym5QaJfHc4eQnll7xfMiYOqX_a7to31bdIH66jgHrY3fiuFx-JJnASNeAue_MfG0qcQzZQT1Aq0BsvzBNpp-oDofoMz6Gg/s640/2336220351_9cfe9c36fa_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Borobudur, Jogjakarta from Stuck in Customs (Trey Ratcliff)</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIDJScDhRCfKIithwtrj6tOenC8KDqKs9UA3u4nj9twTvKR53mnW5fR0c4bSGKcGDirxeuTcLkm-Pnxg7snRFNWEIMP9GcAUxeQ2WRVzTUnm6kcc5rghyphenhyphenVTR0kduJ66a-mS6yD4vs2L0/s1600/the+the+hindu+mist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIDJScDhRCfKIithwtrj6tOenC8KDqKs9UA3u4nj9twTvKR53mnW5fR0c4bSGKcGDirxeuTcLkm-Pnxg7snRFNWEIMP9GcAUxeQ2WRVzTUnm6kcc5rghyphenhyphenVTR0kduJ66a-mS6yD4vs2L0/s640/the+the+hindu+mist.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Prambanan, Jogjakarta from Stuck in Customs (Trey Ratcliff)</b>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Rice terraces on the island of Bali, Indonesia" src="http://travelphotos.everything-everywhere.com/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/2276600434ca37871daao/482828333_sGcMt-1000x1000.jpg" height="428" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Rice Terraces, Bali from Everything-Everywhere</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here are a few travelling shows my wife and I have watched in the past few years:<br />
<br />
1) <a href="http://www.ricksteves.com/">Rick Steve's Europe</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Wv-sIyaR_QM" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
Rick Steve typically goes around Europe old cities to cover a more historical building. His show seems to be targeted for retirees who would like to travel in a more slower pace and specifically to Europe.<br />
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2) <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1702042/">An Idiot Abroad</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vPA6-E0b15k" width="560"></iframe><br />
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This travel show has a little bit funny back story. Karl Pilkington (the traveller) does not want to travel but was forced to do so by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Gervais">Ricky Gervais</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Merchant">Stephen Merchant</a>, well-known U.K. celebrities. Both Ricky and Stephen monitor Karl's progress from London, U.K while Karl made fun of himself doing odd things around the world.<br />
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Most of the time, we found "An Idiot Abroad" to be funny, and occasionally we felt less entertained due to the nature of the show trying to mix between (more) stupidity/stubbornness and (less about) travelling. Overall this is a funny travel show which we enjoy.<br />
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3) <a href="http://wordtravels.tv/">World Travel</a><br />
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Two travel writers exploring the world. We found this particular show to be a little bit dry for no reason. Some of the shots of the places were nice, but the overall feeling of this show is somewhat a little bit on the average side. I feel the show is a bit cheesy as most of the activities they did were predictable.<br />
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4) <a href="http://www.departuresentertainment.com/about.html">Departures</a>.<br />
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Here we go. This is the <b>best</b> travel show we have ever watched. <b>The Best Ever</b>. Period.<br />
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We stumbled upon this show one day as I flipped through channels and fell in love immediately. Justin Lukach and Scott Wilson were high school buddies who, with Andre Dupuis as the cameraman, decided to travel around the world and document everything (literally everything).<br />
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This is the show that definitely will make you want to travel.<br />
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<b>Side note:</b> Scott and Andre were college buddies who own a <a href="http://www.echobaymedia.com/">multimedia business</a> focusing on television programming, commercials, etc even before undertaking the Departures project. Perhaps that explains the quality of the show.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3324107945606828175.post-38874759303695638122012-02-14T11:34:00.000-08:002015-12-29T14:19:48.044-08:009 to 5 Weekend: Kettle Cafe Restaurant, Home Office RearrangementOn Saturday we went out from early morning up until 5 PM. It felt like we were working during the weekend except we were not glued to the desk.<br />
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Started the Saturday like any other Saturday by doing groceries. This time we decided to go back to the healthy option: almost no snack on the list since <a href="http://www.edwinnathaniel.com/2012/02/snack-attack.html">we got them all</a> <a href="http://www.edwinnathaniel.com/2012/02/daiso-2-dollars-japanese-store.html">last week</a>. Having said that, I sneaked one up because it was on sale.</div>
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Wife also bought hers (somehow, I didn't notice until I emptied the grocery bags).</div>
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Hers is weird. Title said "Calorie Balance" but it contains a lot of fat (40%). Nice marketing package though (notice the "Save the Children" on the bottom left corner).</div>
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We went to two financial institutions to "diversify our portfolio" (says the business marketing guys) after ward. <a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/rrsp-reer/rrsps-eng.html">RRSP</a> deadline is approaching and a few financial institutions gave a more aggressive rates so we tried to seize the opportunity. For example: <a href="http://www.bmo.com/">BMO</a> offers 2% rates for a 1 year RRSP, Scotia Bank offers 2% for both <a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/rrsp-reer/rrsps-eng.html">RRSP</a> and <a href="http://www.tfsa.gc.ca/">TFSA</a> (haven't checked the terms though). </div>
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We normally are interested with short-term (1 year) and up to 3-years term deposits as well. We're not big on Mutual Funds or 5 years steppers as we would like the flexibility of getting the money in case we have to move away from Canada (not that we're planning to...).</div>
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Went lunch at Kettle Cafe once we wrapped up our business. We normally ordered noodle soups but we decided to do something different and got ourselves Hong Kong (or Taiwanese?) styled Pastas.</div>
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Wife ordered a spicy Pasta.</div>
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I ordered Ham-Chicken-And-Mushroom Pesto Sauce pasta.</div>
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The portion is humongous. Absolute monstrous. And as always, we didn't finish and had to take them home for dinner. Not bad, saved us some money too. Overall, we prefer their noodle soups. The pastas taste good, but not as good as their soups.</div>
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We went back home after lunch to take a short break and quickly noticed that <a href="http://www.oln.ca/">OLN</a> did a mini <a href="http://departuresentertainment.com/">Departures</a> marathon so we decided to watch one re-run episode. I really enjoy watching Departures since a few years ago. It is the best travel show I've ever watched so far.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Courtesy of Departures Entertainment Inc.</b></td></tr>
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Once the episode came to an end, we had rest enough and ready to be on the move again to a few (secret) places after lunch to do a few (secret) things before we call it a day. (That's all I can say for the afternoon activities).</div>
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On Sunday, I had a big task to clean up the home office. Currently it looked like this:</div>
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Bookshelf contains often-read books (think of it like an L2 cache whereas another big bookshelves on the first floor is our RAM or something and the remaining books in the basement are stored in the hard-drive).</div>
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Noticed the cables beneath the desk? Not Pretty despite my attempts to make them not tangled up.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>From another angle</b></td></tr>
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I didn't like the location of the printer as well, one must bow down and scan/print something. I decided that changes were coming.</div>
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First thing I did was to remove everything from the desk as I also wanted to remove The Simpsons poster as well since well, it darkened the desk's bright colour.</div>
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While we were at it, might as well cleaned up the glass top as well.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>800lbs glass top</b></td></tr>
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Ah... looks much brighter and cleaner isn't it?</div>
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Now let's do something about them cables.</div>
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Took out the All-In-One printer first.</div>
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Then the WiFi router.</div>
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I tried to move the table around the room to see if I could come up with a new location of the table. First target was the window front view.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M7-l0DXwsAk/TznbVoJ8EeI/AAAAAAAAEuI/H0Z0XVYGdsI/s1600/P1070845.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M7-l0DXwsAk/TznbVoJ8EeI/AAAAAAAAEuI/H0Z0XVYGdsI/s640/P1070845.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The problem with this set up is the proximity with the wardrobe. </div>
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Let's move it to another location.</div>
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How about beside the wardrobe? </div>
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Still not suitable due to the location of the installed wall jacks. At this point I've given up and put it back to the original location.</div>
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At the moment, my goal was to de-clutter the previous set up and hopefully also be able to solve the cabling fiasco. To achieve this goal, I decided to put the items back to the desk in priority order: phone, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and workstation.</div>
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I toyed with the idea of putting the workstation behind the monitor rather than next to it. The advantage of this layout is to minimize the space used by the workstation. The downside is the need to move the monitor closer to me. </div>
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With this layout, the printer will go back to the bottom since there is not a lot of space on the table.</div>
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Tried another layout by moving everything to the left corner and put the printer at the right corner. It feels a little bit odd since the monitor is no longer at the centre of the table, instead it is diagonal to the keyboard.</div>
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This set-up eliminates two problems I had previously:</div>
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<li>Cables issue below the desk</li>
<li>The need to bow down to print</li>
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I moved the bookshelf to another corner of the room to give space next to the table. I'm still unsure if this is a more comfortable set-up for me but I'll try for a few weeks before making further changes. </div>
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While I was busy with the home-office tweaks, wife cooked (Indonesian) Yellow Coconut Rice and Deep Fried Chicken for dinner.</div>
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We were longing for the Yellow Coconut Rice for a while and at last we can enjoy it peacefully :).</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997946245662326855noreply@blogger.com0