Biofuels not as clean as it may seem

The New York Times ran an article yesterday on pollutants from the production of biofuel, the latest in a reminder that corn and soybeans may not be the answer to our fuel consumption. I've also read that because of increasing demand for corn-based ethanol, the price of corn (and thus, tortillas) - staples of the Mexican diet - have increased drastically, making it harder for ordinary people to afford their traditional groceries.

La Dolce Vita

It's almost February, and we leave for Sri Lanka on Friday for an early start to the Lunar New Year holiday. Meanwhile, here is a photo of Malapascua, a small island off of Cebu in the Philippines, where we spent the western New Year's.



While there, we ate at the best restaurant on the island, La Dolce Vita. We were so busy enjoying the food, I forgot to take photos. Thankfully, this blogger did.

uniqlock...like unique clock

Talk about clever advertising for the holidays. Uniqlo has a video clock with cheery music and sweaters and cashmere that just look so light and comfy and cozy.

Pumpkin pie brownies

I got to celebrate Halloween exactly the way I wanted to, by baking pumpkin pie brownies, inspired by a recipe for the same from the Post Punk Vegan Kitchen. Except mine wasn't 100% vegan, as I have conventional brownie mix to use up. It was still yummy!

Enjoy!

Joshua trees, dolmas, stomach flu, oh my!

Since it's almost Halloween and I haven't posted since last month (where o where does the time go?), I thought I'd post a few photos from my last trip back to the States.

Trying to be a Joshua Tree at, where else? Joshua Tree National Park


Vegan nachos at Real Food Daily in Santa Monica:


The. best. ever. dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), made at the "My Big Fat Greek Cooking Class" at HipCooks (highly recommended!)

One night in Bangkok...

I just returned from a last-minute trip to meet the hubs, returning from a business trip to Europe, in Bangkok this past long weekend. Cashed in some miles (that were expiring soon) and flew in style. I've been working so much that it slipped my attention that we would have a 4-day weekend owing to Mid-Autumn Festival. Anyways, the trip was a welcome respite. I did my usual do yoga-eat yummy food-get massages routine.

On my flight back, I started reading the September issue of GQ. Skip the girls and the silly fashion spreads - go directly to the cover story on Barack Obama, which is one of the best written political profiles I've read. It doesn't just profile a candidate, but goes into the strategy and calculus behind the long march of a presidential campaign. Also very good: an article on early-onset Alzheimers - an article I thought I'd just skim while trying to find the continuation of the cover story in the back pages of the magazine - turned out to be an incredibly moving portrait of not just a man, but of his incredibly selfless wife as well, as well as a philosophical discussion on self and identity. Good reading, folks.

Of independence, IDs, birthdays, and cakes

July and now, most of August, has blurred in a haze of multiple birthdays and farewells. Certainly time has never passed more quickly, or been marked as multiple periods end.

So here's a quick visual summary of my summer:

Perhaps ironic, yet somewhat fittingly, I got my Taiwan ID card on Independence Day, and a few days shy of my birthday. Certainly, for me it means freedom from the bureaucratic rules that shackle foreigners here.



Then it was a combined mass birthday celebration and farewell dinner at Din Tai Fung, followed by a quiet weekend that included hiking.

The following weekend was a farewell party, art show closing, and another friend's birthday. Plus, we mustn't forget Harry Potter mania!

More farewells, and birthday parties followed. (Will people stop being born in the summer, and stop leaving Taiwan?) ;-)

I made a surprise birthday cake for Neil:





Complete with crushed coconut cookie "sand," palm trees, a surfboard riding a cake wave covered in foamy "ocean surf" frosting, and Goldfish crackers frolicking in the sea.