騎單車上班日

今天是騎單車上班日(Bike to Work Day)，平日很少騎單車的我今天把封了塵的單車拿出來，騎單車上班去。

我家在晴朗城(Sunnyvale)，公司在山景城(Mountain View)，全程9.5英里，騎單車要1小時。尾段走Stevens Creek Trail，沿小溪走，風景很好。如果我住在Stevens Creek Trail旁邊的話，我想我會常常騎單車上班的。

我九時半到達公司，洗個澡，之後就開工啦～

我最喜愛的壽司店

我最喜愛的壽司店叫Momoya Sushi，位於山景城(Mountain View)的一家超級市場旁邊，外面看起來一點兒也不起眼，裏面的裝修也平平無奇，可是壽司做得很好吃。

Momoya店內貼滿一張又一張的手寫海報，介紹Momoya特有的壽司。我們初來的時候都是點餐牌上的壽司，後來才發現餐牌上並沒有牆上的壽司，才開始到處看，點海報上的特別壽司。現在我們差不多全部壽司都吃過了，不看餐牌不看海報也知道想點什麼。

今天我們又去了Momoya，一行四人點了六款壽司：

毛毛蟲卷 Caterpillar Roll

先來一客毛毛蟲卷，裏面是香甜的烤鰻魚，外面是一片片的牛油果，還有橙紅色的飛魚子，好看又好吃。

上：哥斯拉卷 Gozilla Roll
中：三劍客卷 Three Amigos Roll
下：雙鰻卷 Double Unagi Roll

接着來的是Momoya特有壽司三款：哥斯拉卷、三劍客卷和雙鰻卷。哥斯拉卷裏面有吞拿魚和油甘魚，外面用天婦羅炸料炸香。三劍客卷內有三文魚、吞拿魚和油甘魚，故名「三劍客」。雙鰻卷，外面是牛油果和烤鰻魚，裏面是炸鰻魚，雙鰻合壁。

重金屬卷 Heavy Metal Roll

之後來的是重金屬卷，也是Momoya特有的壽司。重金屬卷的特別配料是松果，咬起來脆脆的。

彩虹卷 Rainbow Roll

最後我們點了彩虹卷，相信大家也吃過這款由多種魚生組成的壽司了。

我們差不多每兩星期便來吃一次壽司，壽司師傅已認得我們，差不多每次都會送我們一客免費壽司呢！今天也不例外，壽司師傅送了一客炸藥卷給我們。

是日免費壽司：炸藥卷 Dynamite Roll

這兒的壽司師傅常常試做新的壽司，也會請我們吃，然後問我們覺得如何。所以我們除了是Momoya的熟客之外，還是他們的beta tester呢！

Switch to Chinese

I've decided to switch to use Chinese to write my blog, in the hope that a language using closer to my heart will help me write more. If you don't speak Chinese, don't despair, there is always my photo album, which doesn't speak any language in particular :)

Spring is here

A rose in my front yard in full blossom.

Bang Appétit

Today we went to Petaluma for the treasure hunt Bang 15: Bang Appétit. Unlike most BANGs, this one was not in the Bay Area, and it was not a Night Game. The theme was food, and my favorite puzzles were #3: Spice Rack and #6: Cubist Cuisine. We were very far from winning, but had a blast nonetheless. Check out the photos I posted, and be sure to try the maps version too.

On the ski lift

I took this picture with my phone when I was on the ski lift.

Dismounting a camel

Here is a video from our India trip, hosted by Google Video. I've cut out the audio since all you can hear is the sound of the blowing wind:

Games, games and games

During the four-day weekend of thanksgiving, we spent three nights playing games. We played St. Petersburg, Attika, Tickets to Ride and Shadows Over Camelot.

My favorite out of all these is St. Petersburg. The lack of resources means that you can to plan carefully, and it is very satsifactory when you finally build that expensively card that you've been saving up for.

Tickets to Ride was great too. The rules are simple, but the hidden tickets make the game unpredictable and interesting.

At first we liked Attika quite a bit, until we played one game when there was so much blocking that the only way to win was to build all the buildings. That made the game a bit of a drag.

Shadows Over Camelot is quite different from the others since it is a co-operative game. The fact that every player (except the traitor) is aiming for a common goal diluted the game control a bit, and I ended up wish that I brought a book while I was waiting for my turn.

All in all, we had a great weekend of games :)

Seen on a car with a "I ♥ Canada" Sticker

Wallace & Gromit

Just went to see Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Like the other Wallace & Gromit movies, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit was very entertaining. As a bonus, the short movie Madagascar: A Christmas Caper was shown before Wallace & Gromit. That was very nice too.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

To celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival, I digged into my box of random stuff and found my Chinese lanterns, plus some Christmas lights. I mounted the Christmas lights on the fireplace, hoisted the lanterns beneath it, and let the lights sink into the lanterns. The effects are quite good :)

Raging Waters

We went to Raging Waters today. We went at the opening hour, and it was not crowded at all. We tried all the slides, and my favorite is the Blue Thunder where I often got lifted from the slide a tad. Dragon's Den was also very neat.

After lunch it got quite crowded, so we only played a little bit more before heading home.

Triskaidekaphobia

The English language has a lot of specialized vocabulary. On this Friday the 13th, I discovered that there is a word for "the fear of the number 13" — triskaidekaphobia. There are even words for "the fear of Friday the 13th" — paraskavedekatriaphobia, paraskevidekatriaphobia, and friggatriskaidekaphobia.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

We saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at the theater last night. The story deviated a bit from the book, but the spirit was intact. We enjoyed it a lot.

John Hargrave's Credit Card Prank

It is a well-known fact that no one checks your credit card signature in the US. What I did not know was how crazy it can get!

Most Densely Populated Island

According to Guinness World Records, the Most Densely Populated Island in the world is Ap Lei Chau. Hey, that's where my grandma lives!

California High-Speed Rail

From KESQ:

The California High-Speed Rail Authority today adopted routes and station locations that will be used in detailed environmental reviews for the 700-mile system, which would link San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield and San Francisco with trains running at top speeds of more than 200 mph.

I went to check out the official web site of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, and this line really caught my attention:

With bullet trains operating at speeds up to 220 mph, the express travel time from downtown San Francisco to Los Angeles is just under 2½ hours.

That will be so cool!

A gasoline-saving sticker

Via Denver Post:

The disc is to be taped or glued to the bottom of your car's gas tank. Promoters say it significantly increases gas mileage and improves air quality. They don't say how it works, beyond claiming it sends "holographic frequencies into the gas tank and changes the molecular structure of the gasoline."

Yeah, right.

My favorite patent, #5443036

Method of exercising a cat:

A method for inducing cats to exercise consists of directing a beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus onto the floor or wall or other opaque surface in the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser so as to cause the bright pattern of light to move in an irregular way fascinating to cats, and to any other animal with a chase instinct.

Eyezmaze Grow

The Grow game from Eyezmaze is so addictive! There are all these interactions between the objects, and you have to install them in the right sequence to make everything grow to the max. A very well done game.