boon's log 4505.01 (supplementary): Happy Halloween!

It's end of October and almost all of the United States (especially the children) is celebrating Halloween, and out "Trick or Treat"-ing.

Well, I had my fair share of scary incidences this season... so here are some of the scary moments that I've captured for

boon's 2005 Halloween Scary Moments


Caught this when I was being driven around while looking for a place to have lunch whilst in Oregon last week. Yeah, we were LOOKING for a PLACE (i.e. building) for lunch and this lady (a mom-like-looking lady) just munched her way through her pizza while taking a sip on her soda... WHILE DRIVING!!! "Look son, no hands!" (as opposed to "Look Ma, no hands!")


Okay, this is one too many moms driving hands-free on the road. Except that this time, instead of a pizza, this lady was having one-half of a nice hot bagel in one hand and a plate of the other half in the other(!!!). I took this, this morning. I guess they need to start a "Don't Eat and Drive" campaign... goodness...


This was posted outside a Burger King restaurant. Wonder how they determine which portion of your attire you need to have before they will serve you food. Well, from this sign, you can choose not to wear anything else except shoes and shirts and still get food from this Burger King... kinky...

Well, there you have it. My short collection of boon's 2005 Halloween Scary Moments. Drive safely and eat responsibly...

And last but not least, HAPPY DEEPS! to all my friends/readers who are celebrating Deepavali! Have a good one!

boon out...

boon's log 4505.01: Back in Oregon

I was in Oregon last week. Haven't been back there since 2003. Well, it was a fruitful trip, with trainings and meetings with people. For sure the weather did not change - :). Somehow, being back in OR, give me the homely feeling, as I did spend some significant amount of time here before... anyways, it's great to be back and catch-up with old friends and colleagues.

Well, I guess one of the reason that I feel "at home" in Oregon is because the weather there is pretty similar to that in London - the weather's "fantastic", you cannot expect much sunshine, though (especially at this time of the year) ;P. But it is a really beautiful state, with nature in every turn and greens in every corner. And the air is so much fresher - you can almost feel the difference the moment you step off the plane.

It's nice to be back... looking forward to going back again. :P







Portland, Oregon; the final 4 pictures were taken from Portland's Rose Test Garden (whatever's left in the season...)

... and if only they would expand highway 26 - it's expansion is WAY overdued!

And of all things, this has to happen to me...


"Pamcit" (Punctured tyre)

Had to change the flat tyre in the dark, in the carpark, in the rain, with temperatures dipping down to 45F. Brr...

boon out...

boon's log 4405.01: Batteries not included

I was reading through PennySaver during one of the TV commercial breaks (yeah a diversion from the electronic commercials to paper commercials). Anyways, this one ad caught my attention... well, not that I am looking for a car anything, but it did stand our, somehow.


Batteries not included

Yeah, I know the guy is seeling the Volvo for its parts, but thought that it was an interesting way to put the ad - and looks like the ad did work and caught my attention - classic case of US commercials, batteries not included :P

boon out...

boon's log 4305.04: There is something about Chooi Cheh...

I was in Arizona for meetings again for the past few days. Had one of the dinners with Chooi Cheh, HK, ML and "Sushi" (???) at Famous Dave's (though at first, it was agreed that we will go crabbing at Joe's Crab Shack, but was later voted out due to the distance and the ladies being too hungry to travel the distance...). Anyway, during dinner, Chooi Cheh was saying that if you do a search on "Chooi Cheh" on Yahoo!, you can find it in one of her friend's blog and it came up first on the list in the search results. So, I got the *hint* and I agreed to include her name into my blog so that she can have more hits with her name – well never mess with a pregnant lady, okay? :P

Dinner was enormous with baby back ribs and briskets and jacket potatoes and chicken fingers and sausages... more like feeding, then dining... man. A truly hearty meal. Couldn't sleep after that. Chooi Cheh also asked me to take a photo of her outside the Famous Dave's - I wonder if I should post it here also...:P




"Chooi Cheh" count: 5

boon out...

boon's log 4305.03: Clouds and sunset

Cloud-watching and a sunset. Here are some cloud and sunset pictures as seen from the balcony of my apartment. Clouds are starting to accumulate more and more as Fall (and Winter, later) sinks in with temperatures dipping down to the low 60-s.




Heaven-gazing...

boon out...

boon's log 4205.03: What's ringing in my head...

I guess this is what happens when you've sat in front of the tele watching back-to-back series of Friends. Almost the whole morning, this is what's ringing in my head...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Smelly cat, smelly cat
What are they feeding you?
Smelly cat, smelly cat
It's not your fault

They won't take you to the vet
You're obviously not their favourite pet
You may not be a bed of roses
And you're no friend to those with noses

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gosh...

Anyway, if you are interested in downloading the audio for this one, you can get it from this non-official website... The Smelly Cat Page

boon out...

boon's log 4105.07: A walk in nature

I decided to take a walk in nature this weekend. So, I ended up in one of the lakes nearby - like a 10-15minute drive from my place. The lake is part of the State's SRA (State Recreation Area) program and it is well taken care of. I guess it kinda had to do with the outing that my department had a week ago, really enjoyed my time away from the busy-ness of the office and the normal day-in-day-out activites. It's really relaxing to be able to take a stroll in nature. Had a little over two-hour hike around the lake. The weather was fantastic, clear skies and temperature was just nice. Of course, had my faithful Canon with me. Here are some of the pictures:











Images from Folsom Lake, Beal's Point

There are still quite some miles yet to be covered. Definitely will go back again. I'm thinking of how I can ship my camp gears and my bicycle over as well - it would have been nice. There are also bike trails and camp sites, as what most national/state parks have.

boon out...

boon's log 4105.02 supplementary A: Crispy Roast Pork

I've finally succeeded in making my very first Chinese Crispy Roast Pork (or known as Siu Yook in Cantonese or Siu Bak in Hokkien), after failing the first two times. Well, the first two times did not work out because of the recipe. Hold on, before you roll your eyes or whatever, hear me out. There is this common confusion about the Chinese Roast Pork - according to some people, it is known as Char Siu, which is kind of misleading. All these while, I thought Char Siu is actually Barbecue Pork. Anyway, that basically knocked down my first two attempts.

Then, after much searching, I finally discovered the confusion between the two English terms for Char Siu and Siu Bak... and finally landed myself with a recipe for CRISPY Roast Pork. And I gave it a try last night and voila! It worked! Although the after-effect was quite a disaster, especially to the living room, carpet and sofa and well, practically the rest of the apartment as well because of the aroma coming from the roasting, but it was well worth it. I had to FeBreeze the entire place and it was much better after that... guess I'll have to FeBreeze it again tonight...

Anyway, here is my masterpiece...


Chinese Crispy Roast Pork

boon out...

boon's log 4105.02: All work and no play...

... will make you age faster (besides making you a dull fellow). The current group that I am attached to while I am here co-ordinated a quarterly outing on Friday afternoon. Well, bad thing is that this only happens once every quarter, good thing is that it ever happens at all! So, to thank God or not to thank God? ;P

Anyway, we had a nice time connecting with nature over in Sly Park and the smell of the pine trees and the cool breeze was truly refreshing. I'm thinking of doing come camping over there as well, if time permits.

Here are some of the pictures...


"Oooo... mud! Yeah! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme"


Sly Park Lake


Sly Park Lake


Pine trees at Sly Park


Sly Park


Pine cone


Sly Park Lake


Pine trees at Sly Park


Some of them, having a go at volleyball


And finally, something that no outing can go without...

Well, other than the time when my boss started to talk about work, halfway through the outing (while we were having a sub), I had a nice time. We had a good time boating, playing volleyball and meeting up with the people we've never met before from the group. All in all, Sly Park is a nice place and is conveniently located nearby that anyone can just drive there for a breather from their daily stresses at work...

boon out...

boon's log 4105.01: Life is like a box of chocolates...

Received an unexpected courier package last weekend. It was truly a pleasant surprise from IL (who is currently away for a week back in Penang). Well, at the same time - it was also a reminder (of our age) that many of us may not be as enthusiatic about it as we used to, when were growing up, if you know what I mean...



LiFe is like a box of chocolates...

It's nicely seating in the fridge right now, awaiting to be discovered... yum yum... just counting the days ;P

boon out...

boon's log 4005.06: Runaway bride...

Runaway bride...

boon out...