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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Pullea pupu (chubby bunny)

Well actually, since moving to Finland, I've lost some weight. But before any of you get overly concerned that I'm not eating well enough etc. (especially when I have no cooking skills to speak of), let me assure you that the weight loss is from being more active (walking to and from work, climbing stairs instead of taking the elevator, but not going to the gym or anything like that) and eating healthier. Cafeteria food is decent and provides plenty of nutrition. Eating out is a bit more expensive than in the States but I still allow myself that treat once or twice a week.

Escargot at La Bussola Tiramisu at La Bussola

The above were from La Bussola, where I went with a friend to celebrate his birthday. Previously I've only had escargot once in Paris, and I recall it being quite good, but this one was really really good. Dripping in oil, I don't know how authentic it is, but I was definitely sighing with pleasure (and perhaps just a little guilt). The tiramisu was heavenly as well, it was so fluffy and melted readily in my mouth. When I first saw the size I didn't think I could finish it (being already very full from the main course), but it was gone in a flash. I had some pasta dish for the main course and it was nice, but I think my appetizer and dessert were the winners of the night.

My favorite chinese restaurant in Tampere is Lotus Garden. I've heard that Shanghai Ren Jia is better but I have yet to try it, so we shall see. Favorite thai place is Thai Na Khon. Most people only know the restaurant Thai & Laos but that's just above average. For a good hearty steak I like The Grill or Coyote, and for a nice sausage feast accompanied by some great beer I'd head over to Plevna.

Honorary mentions go to a couple of spanish restaurants, Bodega Salud (I want to try their Rocky Mountain Oysters -- hint: they are not really oysters) and Sevilla; as well as viking restaurant Harald.

But right now, I suddenly have the urge to have some Jiao Zi! Maybe I should check if they have some in the asian supermarket. That's one of the few things which I can actually cook. And prepare a dip of soy sauce, sesame oil and vinegar mix. Mmmm....

Update: A jaiku discussion about some great (and expensive) restaurants in Tampere. Most of which I've not been to. Guess I'm staying in Tampere for a while longer! :D

cybette wrote this at 11:27 PM ... Comments (2)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Jaiku digest 23.04.2008

Shiv!!! downloaded & extracted wrong env. now have to wait another 4 hrs before i can work on the probs i wanted to get done today. darn it.

6 hours, 9 minutes ago in Hermia, Tampere, Finland.

Eating some cracker mix, flashing some firmwares, almost picked up a 2GB micro SD card and pop it in my mouth :-Z

7 hours, 59 minutes ago in Hermia, Tampere, Finland.

Had an early dinner (at nokia's expense ;)) with a manager from dallas who's here for some meetings. Lovely weather today, would walk back to work if it wasn't that far...

1 day, 5 hours ago in Keskustori, Tampere, Finland.

Dreamt of an ex-manager who worked so hard at something but nobody appreciated his efforts. Then was the tornado dream yesterday. Hmm

1 day, 14 hours ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

Plevna. With german coworker ++, who has been working in bangalore for the past half year or so, thus needed some german cuisine and boooooze

2 days, 1 hour ago in Keskustori, Tampere, Finland.

Reading up on Re-entry permits, I-131, blah blah blah.

2 days, 6 hours ago in Hermia, Tampere, Finland.

Huomenta! Not sure why I got up at 6:30am. Had a weird dream I think although I can't remember what it was about. More sleep or go to work?

2 days, 17 hours ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

Wonderful dinner -- from escargot to tiramisu... followed by movie Street Kings which was better than I expected

2 days, 23 hours ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

Train finally moving. 15 minutes late. Really packed too. Sitting next to someone with a shiny N95 8GB

3 days, 7 hours ago in Keskustori, Tampere, Finland.

Hmm, saw a car with an American flag under the rear windshield. Looks kinda out of place.

3 days, 8 hours ago in Kaleva, Tampere, Finland.

Got meself some B&J's Cherry Garcia. So delightful! Nom nom nom. Now my sore throat's gone :)~~

4 days, 3 hours ago.

Felt strong enough to leave the house. Had thai for dinner and one cider at kahdet kasvot. Wish my taste buds were at 100% but it was still a great meal. Now back to bed to rest some more :)

5 days ago in Keskustori, Tampere, Finland.

In sauna. Nice. Sickness index down 15%, mental clarity up 20%. Throat still murdering me

5 days, 5 hours ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

Can't stand my own whining, want to kick myself. But I'm still feeling miserable (sick). Don't laugh, but I actually miss work. I want to be

5 days, 9 hours ago.

Not quite 6am yet. Light out already. Woke up several times thru the night. Bad sore throat. Throbbing headache. Can I haz a sick day today?

6 days, 18 hours ago.


cybette wrote this at 11:51 PM ... Comments (1)

Back to Dallas

Just finished putting a reservation on hold at aa.com. Pending confirmation from managers about work schedule and a couple other details, I'll be in Dallas the last week of May and perhaps also the first couple of days in June.

It's been seven months since I left dallas. Do I miss it? Yes and no. Ok, stupid answer, but I'm just too tired to go into the details, and some details I'd rather not go into. Part of me really look forward to going back there; the other part, not so much. Lol, I'm not being very helpful here am I?

So what have I learnt in the past 7 months? Well, for one, nobody will take care of my heart except myself. It's not that I think people are out to hurt me, but they can and will inadvertently do so at some point. I still believe in love, but I know better than to trust that love conquers all. It doesn't. Cynical? Maybe just a tad. I'll still be very sincere and devoted when it comes to love, but perhaps not with the same degree of reckless abundance like before.

Reading the above you'd think that the cold Finnish winter has frozen my heart or something. Quite the contrary. I've met and befriended so many wonderful people here in this short period of time, it really warms my heart to think of all the help and friendship I've gained so quickly. Plus this winter hasn't been all that cold really. I was kinda hoping to experience some -20C to -30C days (just a few, not too many please), but I think the lowest it got down to was -15C on a couple of mornings. Most days around the -5C to 0C mark, which was quite comfortable as long as it didn't rain or had strong winds.

Other than that, microblogging on Jaiku is about the only blogging I'm doing nowadays, which is why I've decided to add these "digests" to the blog. As you can see, nothing too exciting in my life, but (hopefully) not too mundane either. If you're interested you can also click through some of the Jaikus. Unlike twitter, they usually contain some followups/discussions which has on occasion taken surprising twists and turns ;)

Haven't been able to satisfy much of my wanderlust recently. Flew to London a couple of times last year (first for a party / meetku and the second for work); a Christmas trip to Rovaniemi (10 hour train ride each way!); and then back to Taiwan for Chinese new year and wonderful time with family. Still haven't had a chance to explore more of europe (been to London before so it wasn't new to me). And now my next trip is back to Dallas.

Don't get me wrong, I'm indeed excited about the trip. I can't wait to see my darling sister again as well as many close and dear friends. And drive my car again. I just wish I had more vacation days. Oh well, there's always next year.

See you in Dallas!

cybette wrote this at 10:39 PM ... Comments (0)

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Jaiku digest 16.04.2008

No Peking duck 2nite (have to order it 2 days in advance) but a nice LG dinner with @whiteg, @constantine and my coworker from dallas. Now having a drink in Konttori.
1 hour, 19 minutes ago in Keskustori, Tampere, Finland.

It's 9pm and there's still light out. Wasn't it just yesterday that it got dark around 3pm? Time flies...
1 day, 2 hours ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

Ughh, stupid scar, itching like crazy. Need. To. Resist. Scratching. Help....
1 day, 7 hours ago in Hermia, Tampere, Finland.

Love how fast the N95 battery gets a full charge, hate how fast the N95 battery drains :P
2 days, 1 hours ago in Hermia, Tampere, Finland.

Ouch, is it hailing? No...just the icicles falling from the trees and hitting my big head
2 days, 6 hours ago in Tampere, Finland.

4am, snowing hard, just like yesterday, finally getting to sleep. Loving the new theme on my e90, thanks to @constantine.
2 days, 19 hours ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

Great concert (Värttinä)! Visually stunning, musically intriguing. Cute violinist too! Not sure about the drummer as he's always half hidden behind the cymbals. Intermission now, more to come!
4 days, 4 hours ago in Rautatieasema, Tampere, Finland.

Test post from Sideku, pretty cool, can select icon, set location (with a 'recent location' list): http://www.jakattack.net/projects/sideku/
4 days, 18 hour ago in Test lab @ home, Tampere, Finland.

S60 app is not fetching anything, let's see if posting works... I love LG!
4 days, 23 hours ago in Keskustori, Tampere, Finland.

Just did a usability test and got free Finnkino tickets! whee
5 days, 9 hours ago in Hermia, Tampere, Finland.

Just had coffee with a coworker from Dallas. Lots of changes there since I left. Major organizational change aside, someone got engaged ...
6 days, 9 hours ago in Hermia, Tampere, Finland.

cybette wrote this at 11:20 PM ... Comments (1)

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Jaiku digest 09.04.2008

First JA meeting of 2008 now in session. Please join us in channel #jaikuholicsanonymous ;)
1 hour, 20 minutes ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

Stupid rain. No umbrella. At least it is not as heavy now. Going for the audition. Wish me luck!
1 day, 6 hours ago in Keskustori, Tampere, Finland.

Anyone know of something similar to Twitter Tools ( http://easyurl.net/twittertools ) for Jaiku and Movable Type?
1 day, 11 hours ago in Hermia, Tampere, Finland.

In between finnish classes, doing homework... Nice and quiet in the school canteen. No unsecured wireless ap though :P
2 days, 6 hours ago in Tampere, Finland.

Tooooooooo sweet and cute!!! http://i26.tinypic.com/10mpw2e.jpg
2 days, 8 hours ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

04.07. 04:07. washing my face with tears. (please don't ask. just needed to jaiku this.)
2 days, 20 hours ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

Help @geovoltoss organize a meetku here: http://jaiku.com/channel/meetku/presence/31081970 (also join #meetku if you haven't already!)
3 days, 9 hours ago in Tampere, Finland.

Tampere meetku: we're at 2H+K if anyone wants to join us!
4 days, 5 hours ago in Keskustori, Tampere, Finland.

Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, which is why Engineers sometimes smell really bad.
4 days, 20 hours ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

Hah, turns out next monday is the final lesson, not tonight. But better to have learnt finnish than to have spent money at stockmann, eh?
6 days, 3 hours ago in Kaleva, Tampere, Finland.

So embarrassing: my headphones weren't connected properly to my N95, i started blasting Northern Kings and wondering why the volume was so low... And the whole bus enjoyed half a song with me :P
6 days, 5 hours ago in Tampere, Finland.

Busy day ahead. If you see me on jaiku you have permission to kick me off. Kthxbai
1 week ago in Tampere, Finland.

Staying off jaiku today, don't wanna be a fool. Too damn busy anyway. Two workshops this week, and hullut päivät too! Ahhh....
1 week, 1 day ago in Hermia, Tampere, Finland.

US Jaikuers: can I transfer a number to a prepaid account? Specifically from AT&T to T-mobile ToGo? (I know it works for regular plans...)
1 week, 1 day ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

testing testing blah blah beer blah the quick brown fox jumps beer over the lazy dog beer
1 week, 2 days ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

Two coworkers moving this week (internal transfers, one to London and the other to Dallas). Gonna miss them both. Sob.
1 week, 2 days ago in Tampere, Finland.

Wet and gloomy outside, not sure why i'm up so early. Going back to sleep and trying to recover my lost hour.
1 week, 3 days ago in Tampere, Finland.

Jaikuton päivä, nähdään huomenna! (Day without Jaiku, see you tomorrow!)
1 week, 5 days ago.

hope i don't lose my job!
1 week, 6 days ago.

Hmm... the next Nseries device to lust after...
1 week, 6 days ago in Hermia, Tampere, Finland.

An opportunity for an Integration Engineer position in *Dallas* appeared in my inbox, and I had a sudden urge to apply for that. Why?
1 week, 6 days ago in Hermia, Tampere, Finland.

Värttinä concert, Saturday 12.4.2008, Pakkahuone, Tampere. Thinking of going. Anyone else interested?
2 weeks, 1 day ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

Can you hear the difference: http://mp3ornot.com/
2 weeks, 1 day ago in Hermia, Tampere, Finland.

OMG, the top related word to "jaiku" (at least according to this site) is "cybette"! how did that happen? http://easyurl.net/jaiku.rw
2 weeks, 1 day ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

為什麼我越想要把你拋到腦後﹐你越會遷入我的思維﹖不是想忘記你﹐而是受不了相思的痛苦。M.y.m.g.p.o.a... 你呢﹖你在乎嗎﹖
2 weeks, 1 day ago in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland.

Snowflakes coming down gently, so pretty. Maybe in 5 years i'll get tired of it, but this being my first winter in finland, i constantly find myself looking around me in amazement, happy to be here...
2 weeks, 2 days ago in Hermia, Tampere, Finland

cybette wrote this at 11:55 PM ... Comments (1)