A Simple Story

I recently got back from Portugal, where I went for spring break. We spent a couple of days in Lisbon then rented a car and visited some smaller towns (Sintra, Cascais, Setúbal, Tomar, Coimbra), and were in Porto the rest of the time.

Some of the architecture and the Moorish-inspired mosaic walls were very pretty. Unfortunately the non-historical parts of country seem to be in some state of disrepair. There was graffiti everywhere in the cities and apparently no effort to clean it up.

As for the food, Portuguese cuisine is known for bacalhau = salted cod. I was salted cod-ed out by the second day. I also learned the hard way to not order the açorda = mushy bread.


On a brighter note, we went on a hike in Peneda-Gerês National Park which was beautiful. The person at the tourism office recommended that we go on this "moderate" 10km (6mi) trail, the Trilho dos Currais. It turned out to also have a 3000ft elevation gain on rugged terrain. Got to the top and rewarded myself with a pack of Haribo gummy bears, canceling out whatever number of calories I might have burned.


Before Portugal, I unexpectedly had to go to Hong Kong for a week. I had to fly back from Hong Kong to Vancouver to New York to Boston then to Madrid to Lisbon all in 40 hours. The tally of airports that I have flown/will fly to/from/through in 2010, up until September:

HKG-JFK-BOS-JFK-HKG-YVR-JFK-BOS-MAD-LIS-LHR-BOS-JFK-YVR-JFK-BOS-JFK-YVR-JFK-BOS-JFK-YYZ-GLA-OSL-BER-HKG

A lot for me, considering what I do doesn't involve much (or any) traveling. The lesson from this list clearly is to live in a major city with direct flights going to it.

On the knitting front, I'm currently working on a pair of socks (pattern: Rockyview Socks) for my grandma. She wanted something green so I got BMFA sock yarn in a colorway called County Clare (which I would love to visit one day). The yarn is self-striping, and this particular skein curiously is giving me radioactive green stripes.


Also finally blocked a shawl (pattern: Dane Shaw) that I had finished weeks ago. I knitted this in Malabrigo Sock in the Archangel colorway, the yarn is soft and the colors are gorgeous.


For now I'm back at school in Boston, with only a month to go before my final set of exams (ever! not counting the bar exam) so must buckle down. I'll be going on a hike in Mount Monadnock State Park in New Hampshire next week, maybe after that I'll be able to post some Quatchi-in-the-woods pics :)

I almost feel like that's non existent. Last night was the second time I missed dinner with the same friend within a span of one week because I just couldn't leave work.

Now there's Quatch In A Box! :)

My newest obsession: Quatchi the sasquatch, Vancouver 2010 Olympics mascot. For one reason or another, I'm going to have a small, medium, and large Quatchi, plus a pair of Quatchi slippers, coming in the mail (yes, excessive).


the official Quatchi



my brother's and mine

So there seems to be something a little off about each Quatchi, even tho they're mass produced. My brother doesn't like how his Quatchi's nose is higher than his eyes, which I admit does look a little weird. He says mine has a strangely long left leg.

I did a search on flickr and apparently there are many ppl who bring him around town and pose him in pictures. Can't wait til the small one arrives (he's more portable), there just might be a litany of Quatchi travel pics appearing here soon after.

I can post from my iPhone now! Maybe I'll write more. :)


- Posted from my iPhone

Can post from my iPhone! Maybe I'll write more now.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

So much has happened in the last few months, and I guess we got lazy.. well really lazy in updating our blog. In D’s defense, she’s in law school, and in my defense.. well I guess I don’t have an excuse..

I’ve been on the move again for a new job but hopefully this is the last time in a while (unless I get laid-off..haha). I looked back and realized that I’ve moved five times from city to city in 2008, and now I’m ready to stay put, at least for a little bit.　

I moved out here to Shanghai a week and a half ago and just started my second week at work. I cannot say I have much of an opinion on this city yet since I’ve pretty much just stayed within the distance of work and home. Not having much of a work-life balance means all I want to do after work is fall asleep. Though yesterday I did get off early (around 7:00pm) and realized I have no idea what I should do with my time. Not sure where this post is going but.. I’ll write something more meaningful next time and hopefully posts some pictures of Shanghai (meaning I’ve actually ventured out of my area!).

Oh! It’s Chinese New Year in two weeks and a rush of people with boxes of decorations just came into the office, now they’re on ladders and such making our office red and gold J