serene’s posterous

I am not sure what to make of this movie.  I think it was way too long - lots of setup and things that don't quite make sense (all probably explained in the comic series source).  I have not read the comic, so maybe it would have been a better movie for those who already know what's going on.  It was also too grisly and gruesome for me.  But at least it made me interested enough to want to read the comic series at some point.

Loved this movie. We picked this DVD up from a rental kiosk at the
supermarket. I wouldn't say it was a groundbreaking movie, but I
haven't watched such a breezy and sweet movie in a while. Kristen
Stewart is surprisingly good as the edgy girl-of-interest. I also
liked that the comedic bits were not overdone, and there's no real
villain. Also not forgetting the cool 80s music...

Not having internet access for the past few weeks in the new apartment meant that in my downtime I do a lot more reading, rather than surfing the web.

This book, by Rose George, is one of the books I finished.  It was an thought provoking and engaging read, with lots of quotable bits of information.  For example, do you know an average American uses 57 sheets of toilet paper a day? 

Sanitation is one of the biggest problems in the world, and poor sanitation is not confined to developing countries.  It is just not as cool to say we want to bring sanitation compared to bringing water to the people (perhaps that's why a charity is named "WaterAid" - not "SanitationAid").  Water and sanitation are intricately linked. We probably also don't want to think about sewage overflowing or why we shouldn't swim at some beaches.

I liked this book a lot more than Bottlemania, which is about water.

I have heard about this restaurant from various people.  About how it is a hole in the wall and it serves excellent brown rice sushi.  The restaurant is about 2 blocks away, down the street from our new apartment.  We had a craving for sushi, so we just called the restaurant to order a combo, a nigiri deluxe, hamachi and sake hosomaki, and went there a bit later to pick up the food.  It was all very tasty.  This is the first time I have had brown rice sushi, but the nutty flavor of the rice does bring an interesting dimension to the sushi.  The fish was very fresh too.  We would definitely be indulging in sushi more frequently now.

Before moving, I decided to reduce some of the pantry items we had lying around by doing some baking.  It was my first attempt at banana bread.  I used a recipe that was oil based rather than butter based because I didn't have any butter left at home.  I didn't add the lemon rind, reduced the sugar to slightly over 1/2 cup and used a mixture of chocolate chips and walnuts.  It didn't turn out perfect because I think I overmixed the batter causing the bread to be a little heavy.  I tried the same recipe again in the new apartment, but I guess the loaf browned too quickly in the smaller oven, and I ended up with not so great banana bread again.

I think I am going to try a butter based banana bread next.  Perhaps this recipe that came from Molly Wizenberg's book.

We haven't been to Bangkok Cuisine in years.  It is entirely possible that the last time we went, we were still undergraduates.  We sat out back in the patio and it was nice and cool despite the steamy hot weather.  We even saw a hummingbird flying around us as we waited for our friends.  The food was good.  We had Thai iced tea, and between the four of us, shared fresh spring rolls, som tam, panang curry, sweet basil chicken, a fried noodle dish and a rock cod dish.  I liked the spring rolls, but the sauce is a bit too weak.  The iced tea was a little too sweet too.  But overall we had fun chatting with friends and enjoying the good food in a pleasant environment.

I guess I have a sentimental streak.  We finally moved out of our old loft EV apartment on Sunday evening.  Lots of great memories there, despite the once-in-a-while ant problem, lots of spiders, a near flooding, and the lack of a bedroom door.  I definitely felt a pang as I biked past the area today on the way back to the new apartment.  Given a choice, we probably would have stayed longer on campus.

Paul Midler wrote this fascinating insider's account of Chinese manufacturing.  But I am not sure all that he writes about is representative of the whole industry.  There were a lot of personal anecdotes about the "quality fade" that happens once the factory gets the business - how the manufacturers actually make money from apparently low profit contracts, and the general short term thinking of the Chinese manufacturers.

The performance night of the Top 4 finale was only ok.  The standouts were probably Jeanine's tango-flavored solo, and the Louis van Amstel-choreographed Paso Doble danced by Brandon and Jeanine.  I loved Jeanine's control of her pirourettes in her solo and it seems like out of the top 4, she was the only one who really went for it in the solo, to have a difficult and yet musical solo.  The Paso Doble was eye-catching, but I am not a big fan of its techno-music from the Matrix.

On the results show where the judges' favorite routines were revisited, I thought the two Mia Michaels couple dances were the highlights.  The "butt dance" was danced better this time by Evan and Randi.  And the "addiction dance" by Kupono and Kayla was probably one of the best dances, if not the best, this season.  I was a little disappointed by the Jason and Jeanine piece because they kept dropping the darn necklace, and the smooch at the end was too long and awkward.  I also wished they had revisited some of Wade Robson's pieces, such as the quirky "Crash Test Dummies".

Troy Chin of drearyweary created 3-part web comic based largely on his life and how he felt like a "resident tourist" returning to Singapore after many years in the US.  Since it is National Day in Singapore, it seems vaguely appropriate to post this.