March 7-12 365 Challenge

March 7 - Lyla puppy in her favorite place. Between her White Bear and her Pig. <3

March 8 - Lyla pups hanging out with Light Bear in the hallway.

March 9 - The new Nomiku. I like how quiet this one is.

March 10 - Our gorgeous new fridge, well new from November of last year. Still completely infatuated with it. I hug it each morning. If you look closely, you can still see my kiss mark from the first day we got it. *starry eyes*

March 11 - As much as I try to like Sweet Hut...I always find myself quite disappointed. It never tastes good to me. Guess I will have to stick with Snow Mountain or Kung Fu Tea for my Taiwan tea fixes.

March 12 - Soon Du Bu (soon do bu? so many different spellings...) We went to So Gong Dong off Pleasant Hill for dinner. I adore their soft tofu soup, and always add ramen noodles. Nom! If I'm not feeling well...this is like chicken soup to me.

Homemade pizza? Why yes...I can do that!

I promised Kitsune that the first thing I would use our new oven for would be homemade pizza. So planning to use our Baking Steel, I made a 72 Hour Pizza Dough and got a peel from Pete and we were ready to go.

We decided to try for 4 min Pizza. Floured up our peel, stretched out the dough ball and topped it up. I messed up and got chunky style crushed tomatoes, so the pizza's were a bit too wet. Picked up hand packed mozzarella from Whole Foods and grated some Fontina cheese, and used a few pepperonis. The first pizza ended up WAY too wet. It was soggy city. I should have listened to the "less is more" that everyone says *sigh* It just looked so sad without all the tasty things on it!

The saddest soggy pizza...

Needless to say, the second pizza was much better, if still somewhat wet because of the tomato chunks I think. Maybe I could pull back on the cheese even more.

Turned out wonderfully yeasty and had a great chew. Didn't get the charring either time that we were hoping for on the bottom, so we may need to preheat the steel even longer because of our oven. I have 2 more dough balls to try again tomorrow and see how changing some things works out.

Definitely worth it in my opinion.

Little Bear and fabulous Smoked BBQ by Pete.

Basically, last weekend was Meat-a-palooza.

Little Bear surveys the carnage 

We arrived a bit late unfortunately, so we nommed a bunch of leftover meats before the fresh and fabulous skirt steak and lamb chops came out. Miss Leanne made some super tasty baked beans, and I brought my sweet and sour cabbage...so it was good eats all around. There were some cheddar biscuits (a la Red Lobster) that were tasty, but not sure who made those :P

Little Bear simply had to get cuddles from some of the pretty ladies in attendance of course.

It was great to see everyone again. Thanks for the invite Pete!! <3

Trying to 'Lose weight' or 'Be healthier'...both suck.

I've made a pact with myself on Sunday. I've decided that before I can play any Overwatch, I have to walk at least 1.5 miles on our tread mill. Since I normally want to play a match or two once Justin has left for work, or started work at home, it basically means I have to walk each morning.

We also walk puppy in the evening which supplies the rest of my daily goal for time and steps per my phone. When we are in Asia, our goal is met pretty much everyday. In San Francisco, I was able to maintain a decent amount of walking each day as well, so when we got home I noticed I had lost some weight. So, if I can lose weight in Asia etc by maintaining that amount of daily activity, I should be able to continue it here.

One would hope.

Not to mention, I don't have nearly as many tasty foods to eat here, except for what I cook, so if I can just not eat what I make for Kitsune, I should be right on track to be able to hike and trek around Asia next year without difficulty. (It was pretty rough this year :P)

Does it suck a bunch? That would be an emphatic yes.

Is it worth it? Again...yes. I truly believe it worth it. I put my headphones on, and just try to get lost in my musicals so I don't notice how sore/hot/tired/sweaty I am. (I will NEVER understand people who do this for fun.)

I'm sick of being miserable in my body, and I'm tired of not having anything change no matter how I switch up my diet. So, even if all this does for me is make me feel better in my current body, it's a fair trade off. Although I really hope it means eventually I will fit back into my closet full of clothes that no longer see the light of day.

If/when I am able to rehabilitate my wrist and knees, I can start Yoga again. I miss the way it made me feel centered and stretched out my back. Kitsune wants me to try doing Hindu Squats to help strengthen my knees and build up some thigh muscle. My knees gave out on me several times in Asia this year on stairs, and were pretty much always sore and achy for the majority of the trip. I tried to also do some Hindu Pushups with Kitsune, but they were just too difficult. I can go from Downward dog to upward dog without bending the arms (which is still quite hard on the core) but my wrist keeps giving out on me unfortunately. I've tried to do them on my fists instead, but of course that makes it even harder. Just going to have to keep working at it.

March 1 - March 6 ; 365 Challenge

March 1 - Loving how Spring makes our Tree so green and full! Not loving how much I need to trim the branches :P

March 2 - Our hair salon we go too. It's neat and industrial inside.

March 3 - Beautiful sunny, blustery day!

March 4 - Where we get our hair done. Go see Jill! She is totally awesome.

March 5 - Gorgeous day, favorite panda shirt, pretty flowers. Can't ask for much more!

March 6 - Neat little shopping center, like the look of their signage.

Neti Pot Adventures...

Neti Pot I bought

Since my sinuses have been hating me WAY to much this year, I finally gave into my parents urging and got past my fear of Neti Pots. The thought of it has always creeped me out.

Why would you willingly pour water up your nose?

Well...apparently because it is supposed to help. Kitsune and I decided to try a make-shift home version before buying the actual pot to see if it was something I would be willing to do often.

Let's just say it wasn't the best of times.

IT WAS AWFUL. Absolutely horrific. I felt like I was being waterboarded. I threw up. Several times.

So, after lots of tears and frustration, Kitsune did more research and found that nasal rinsing won't work if you are too congested.

That made me livid. How the heck are you supposed to clear your congestion with the neti pot, if the neti pot won't work when your congested??

After more tears of frustrated anger and swearing off ever trying it again...I decided to try it again.

Went out and bought a Neti Pot ( I figured, may as well give it the good ol' college try with the appropriate appliances) and waited until I happened to have a not so terrible day of breathing.

Low and behold...it worked! Well...mostly. At least the water came out this time...and not from my eye socket.

It cleared my sinuses, but actually gives me a sinus headache afterwards. Also, it stops up my ears. I can't hear afterwards, and they pop a bunch. It's rather uncomfortable. I start to feel really stopped up again shortly after, but that tends to clear again a few hours later. I still feel like I'm swallowing/breathing salt water several hours after. I'm hoping I will start to adjust to it the more I do it and not have as many side-effects. My father swears by it, he has been doing it countless years. It's only my 3rd day, so I'll give it more time.

Feb 20th - Feb 31th 365 Photo Challenge

Feb 20 - Swarm of pretty Koi in the basement pond at our Beitou hotel.

 Feb 21 - Little Bear found a bamboo forest at IFC! You could go wander around inside it, and they had little stuffed monkeys clinging to the poles.

Feb 22 - Little Bear, Kitsune, Leighton, and I wandered around PMQ (Police Married Quarters) during our last day in Hong Kong. Neat place, filled with awesome unique handmade craft stores and restaurants. There was a green little oasis patio on one of the upper levels where you could sit and relax.

Feb 23 - Leaving Mott 32, heading for the Star Ferry one last time. So sad to leave this beautiful city.

Feb 24 - Lovely view from the plan on our way to San Francisco for Kitsune's work trip.

Feb 25 - Love the view of the sunset from our hotel room in San Francisco.

Feb 26 - View from the plan on our way back home. The snow topped mountains are really awesome to see.

Feb 27 - Little Bear went to Kabob-ish! Kitsune wanted to try this place, and since it is super close to our home, we gave it a spin. I wasn't super wild about it, but Kitsune seemed to enjoy it.

Feb 28 - Lyla fuzz chilling with me in our room. It's such a hard life for a puppy.

Feb 29 - Lyla pups lazing about like a princess slug.

Feb 30 - Really pretty morning sun. Love the look of the rays shooting over the clouds.

Feb 31 - Love my little bag I bought at ESLite in Taipei. It's a handmade creation, and super adorable. I use it as my purse right now. Also have a key-chain attached to it of this little character sipping on a milk tea.

Life after travels...

It's hard to get back into writing a blog about day to day life and thoughts, when day to day life and thoughts are rather dull compared to what they are when you are abroad. I always had so much to write about in Asia; constant new experiences and things to discover.

Life at home is just...boring.

The biggest thing I miss most about Asia is how easy it is to walk. I feel so sedentary being back at home. There is no, lets go out and wander. It's always, lets drive to this specific place and walk with a bunch of other people on a trail. Or, we have to walk the dog, go around the subdivision. There is nothing to see, nothing to explore right outside your door.

Exercise was effortless in Hong Kong especially. You never felt like "I have to go workout now". Everyday was a workout. Climbing up the stairs to ascend deeper into Hong Kong Island, walking to and from the Star Ferry...sure your feet would hurt, your legs would get tired...but you never felt like you were "exercising." You were just living.

It's kind of depressing. No wonder America is the fat nation.

Here...any type of movement is planned. I need to do cardio, lets drive somewhere that is walk-able. I need to climb stairs, lets go to the gym and use a machine. It's really sad. Ah well...enough complaining. It is what it is and we just have to deal with it.

True, Georgia Spring is definitely not helping with my wanting to be active. The pollen is especially brutal this year, or I'm just particularly weak to it. Kitsune actually had to buy me a mask that filters out the pollen/smoke/pollution so that I can just walk outside. The only color it came in was black...I look like a gangster going to rob someone. I stuck 2 glitter owl stickers on it to make it less threatening.

Wearing it is not comfortable, especially when out in the heat, but it's the only way I can breath this year.

Mott 32, Hong Kong

Our last night in Hong Kong we made a quick reservation at Mott 32 with Kitsune's brother. We had passed this place a number times on our previous trips, and Kitsune had wanted to try it. You walk into this old building, and are led to a long descending escalator. You meet with the host and they then lead you down spiraling stairs that are lined with mirrors around a crystal chandelier. You come out into a dimly lit, wood lined underground restaurant that is just wicked cool.

The one downside we experienced was that they let the tea over steep massively. We had ordered Jasmine, and instead of either steeping it and then bringing the pot without leaves, or frequently changing the pot, they just left it. Only the first cup was drinkable. The rest were wicked bitter and way to strong. So that was kind of a downer, and frankly, surprising. You would think a nice establishment like this would know better.

Our table was against the kitchen windowed off area, and next to the ovens where they cook their whole ducks. We could see the air chill cooler with the hanging ducks, and when they pulled them out of the ovens and carted them off to serve them.

Mott 32 signature dish was the Iberian Pork. You reserve it when you make your reservation since they sell out of it very quickly.

For good reason.

OMG I have never eaten something like their Iberian Pork before. It was mind altering. They consider it Char Siu, but if I crave char siu, I don't want this. This is in it's own category altogether. You will crave this specific dish.

I only took a few more pictures, I was starting to get the travel nerves and my stomach hates me when that happens, so I wasn't really able to enjoy much after the pork. Which is super sad.

Kitsune ordered a cocktail which was good, but seemed like they were trying to hard to be "hip and cool" with the presentation. Plastic takeaway cup? Not feeling it.

The jelly fish was tasty, and had a nice crunch to it.

It was a lovely send off dinner with Leighton before our misery of travel.

Still Under the Weather :P

Finished my 5 days of anti-biotics yesterday, and was feeling better. Woke up today worse again. Wheezing, and hacking, and thick yucky mucus.

This yuck from hell has a will of it's own. I think it might be sentient.

Anyways, other than coughing up things unmentionable and sleeping, I have been overdosing on Overwatch. Like...hardcore.

I'm lvl 60 already :P

I'm shocked, honestly, that I enjoy a first person shooter so much. I suppose since it is on the computer it makes a huge difference to me (I hate control pads soooooo much). Not to mention, it is Blizzard. They make pretty things.

I'm a sucker for pretty.

I still need to figure out how to get my plethora of pictures from our trip off of Kitsune's laptop so that I have access to them again. My 365 challenge is suffering! I have the pictures, just need to post them.

Things are still quite busy with catch up mode, trying to get all the maintenance things done. Kitsune's brother will be bringing his lady down soon and staying with us as well. (Lyla puppy is not going to be happy :/) Looks like things will continue to be crazy for awhile.

I just wish I would finally feel better.

Finally Home with the Blasted Cough of DOOM

The travels are finally finished. The clothes have been washed (if not put away :P) and suitcases mostly emptied. The Kitsune was off to work this morning, and I was in a crazed cleaning frenzy.

The puppy comes home tonight!

But...the puppy comes home tonight, so I have to make sure I pick up all the crap on our floors, and vacuum so she doesn't get into anything she shouldn't.

Accompanying it all...the sounds of my hacking.

GAH! This bloody cough just will not go away. It's not even productive anymore. Just slightly chesty, and enough to make me not be able to breath deeply.

To breath is to cough.

I don't often get coughs. Colds, and sinus junk sure, that is a given. Coughs however don't really happen much, nor linger.

This bloody thing seems to have a life of it's own. Honk Kong smoke and smog refusing to let me be. Whatever it is, I am soooooo over it. Drinking hot water like it's going out of style, and applying Tiger Balm liberally. My throat and chest don't even hurt that much with the hacking. It's my sinuses!

My head feels like it will exploded with each cough. That sucks so hard core.

Happy to be home, happy to have my puppy with me soon, but sooooo not happy to have this miserable chest thing.

Feb 18 & 19th 365 Challenge

Feb 18th - Little Bear and I sitting outside anther coffee place in San Fran (The Coffee Bean this time) reading and listening to the city.

Feb 19th - Pretty display in Central that Kitsune and I came across on our final day in Hong Kong.

Wanderings of a Bear in San Francisco Bay

Little Bear chilling while we wait for the BART at the airport. My first time riding public transit other than MARTA in the States.

It was terrifying.

The States public transit is so very inferior to Asia's. I did not enjoy the rocking, the noise, the shaking, all of it. I'm sure it is quite safe, and I am just a wuss, but still. I think I would just allot the time needed to walk anywhere I need to go, if possible.

The view from our hotel room. Really cool! I love the lights they added to the bridge.

While Kitsune attended the con, I explored the city. Each day I picked a direction, and paying attention to street signs, I walked. There are SO MANY coffee places in San Francisco! It's kinda of ridiculous. The Starbucks are like 7-11's in Asia. They are everywhere. Almost in sight of one another in some cases. Ridiculous.

While finding my way back to the hotel from the convention (I rode the shuttle with Kistune, but was not allowed inside at all. So, I ended up walking back) I stopped to eat at a pizza place. Their Mocha was really tasty. Little Bear and I chilled and read while I ate.

The Caprese sandwich was alright, really messy. I kind of wished I had just ordered a slice of pizza.

I stopped and sat outside Peets Coffee on Howard and 1st Street for awhile after lunch, then eventually made my way back to the Hotel. Was rather proud of myself for being able to navigate back without any GPS.

The next day, I picked a different direction to wander, and started to climb uphill into the city. Apparently I look like a local, I was asked for directions several times :P I could only laugh and say I have no idea where I am, let alone where you need to go. Ironically, I ended up in China Town. Made me miss Hong Kong, such a pale comparison.

I continued on horizontally from there, and then went down back toward the coast.

Pier 14 was windy but the day was warm from the sun. Little Bear and I chilled and read while sitting on one of the swivel seats along the edge. Spent about an hour just relaxing. Surprisingly it was rather quiet out on the Pier.

Kitsune and I went to dinner at Tadich Grill, and tried their Cioppino dish and clam chowder. Kitsune chose this place as I wasn't very hungry (I don't like shellfish). I shared the chowder with him so as not to be rude (we were sitting at the bar) and didn't want to take up a seat and not eat. My main complaint about clam chowder is how gritty it is. Every time I eat it I'm always crunching sand and I find it repulsive. Unfortunately, their chowder was extra gritty. Even Kitsune agreed that he wished it was less. Ugh. The Cioppino was tasty (according to Kitsune) I just dipped some bread into the sauce and ate that. The sauce was good, I can say that much.

Tonight we get to meet up with Kitsune's Aunt Diana for dinner. It will be lovely to spend some time with her again.