Homemade Pasta Sauce

Don't compare homemade pasta sauce with the supermarket version. I have no idea what they put in the factory to make the sauce. In contrast, I use tree ripen and home grown tomatoes for my pasta sauce. "Blanch" is the process of removing the tomato skin by soaking the tomatoes in boiling water. I don't blanch my tomatoes. It is too time consuming and tomato skin actually tastes good!

 

Here is my recipe. Crush all tomatoes in food processor and make tomato puree. Stir fry olive oil, garlic, and sweet onion. Add sliced Italian heirloom "Nardello" sweet peppers. Cook until peppers are tender. Pour tomato puree. To thicken the sauce, you can add carrot puree or canned tomato paste.

Fresh Tomatoes

Today I had the chance taking a photo of fresh tomatoes from the garden. I'm not sure the type of heirloom tomato. I thought it was early girl, but apparently I mixed up the seedling. Obviously it is not early girl! It might be brandywine.

New free music

You can now listen to my recordings of Yamaha Electone (electric organ). I just uploaded several music at acidplanet.com. My profile name is pianoetudes.

 

Start clicking here for Kuda Lumping, a traditional dance from Java. To browse my recordings, click Next and Previous.

 

An Der Schoenen, Blauen Donau click here.

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées click here.

Tomatos and three-tier planter

It's tomato time! This season I started with (a) juliet and early girl tomatoes in large self-watering planters; (b) two window box roma in small planters; (c) brandywine and big mama tomatoes in the earthbox. In the 3-tier planter, I grow the latest "Shockwave" petunia from seeds! ($6 for 10 seeds!) I started the seeds in February 2011. These are very superior petunias. They grow, bloom and fill the planter so fast.

More pictures of Spring Garden 2011

Here is the overall garden picture on April 26, 2011. The orange crown imperialis is attached. It is 24" tall and georgeous but I don't think I'm going to grow it again next year. Crown imperialis bulb is hard to maintain.

Spring 2011

Five months later, I took these pictures when the tulips, muscari and daffodils were blooming (muscari are the short blue and white flowers in the front). Daffodil minnows are the little white and yellow daffodils on the left.

Fall bulbs for Spring

On Tuesday, November 2, 2010, I planted several daffodil, tulip and muscari bulbs along a shady area under the tree in my garden. I took a picture and carefully labeled the location of the tulips and daffodils. Two crown imperial bulbs were placed in the black plastic pots but later I moved them away.

Shared photo book from Lawrence

Click here to view this photo book larger

Photos of Emirates in-flight food

Someone said Emirates in-flight food was better than other airlines. Probably it's true. I always reserve "seafood meal" before I fly. In 2005 I had a shrimp scampi with Singapore Airlines from Hong Kong to Singapore, plus happy-ending... Hagen Daz ice cream for dessert. That's better. Here I share some pictures of Emirates food and tell me whether the food looks good and appealing.

1100+ photos in hard drive

You come home from vacation with 1100+ photos in hard drive. What do you do?
 
The 1100+ photos are already shortlisted from 1300+. Everyone has the same problem. Data storage and hard drives are so cheap that you have hundreds GB to keep all the photos, even you just see them only once. Enough talk... let me share the photos from Bali Budaya 2011 tours: snorkeling and cycling. Remember you need Silverlight to zoom in or out and, click the right corner button to maximize the screen!
 
http://overcookedtomato.com/deepzoom/balibudayatour2011/
 

Currency exchange advise

This is the last blog of my trip. I want to share the "policy" of accepting traveler's check or cash in the countries I visited.

• Dubai: there were 6 money changers in "City Center" mall, Dubai, and two banks near my hotel. None accepted traveler's check. I learn that traveler's check is not widely accepted in Dubai.
• Sydney: I did not exchange any cash or traveler's check. Instead, I withdrawn money from WestPac ATM, one of Bank of America's alliance. The fee or commission is zero.
• Bangkok: the exchange rates between money changers in the airport and downtown do not differ so much. Bank charges $1 commission for cashing a traveler's check.
• Bali: money changers are everywhere. Shop around for the best rate. Avoid the one with too-good-to-be-true exchange rate. They do not disclose the commission on the board. You just realize it when they hand out the money and something is missing. Remember Indonesian money changers or banks are very picky with the condition of the banknote. If the money is old and dirty, the value is less, or even they do not want it.
• Malaysia: money changers accept cash only. For traveler's check, go to the bank. Maybank charges MYR 10 (about $3) commission for every traveler's check transaction. Cash is preferable in Malaysia.
• Singapore: the rate for traveler's check is slightly lower than cash. For example, I get SGD 124 for USD 100 traveler's check, instead of SGD 126 for USD 100 cash.

$10 fee to see a flower

I can get an MYR 6 (USD 2) meal in Malaysia, but to see a flower I have to pay MYR 30 (about USD 10). What so special with the flower? It turns out it is the largest parasitic flower in the world that blooms within 7 days only. It is Rafflessia, named after the British governor who found it in 1800. The 56-cm wide flower (2 feet) was securely fenced and I can see it about 9 feet away. The owner of the land charges MYR 30 for the entrance. Wikipedia article of Rafflessia is here.

Finding Nemo in Borneo

I'm not in the Great Barrier Reef to find Nemo. I'm in Borneo, the second largest island in the world. The temperature is 80 F, slightly cooler than Bali. It was a mix of excitement, eerie, and nervous to discover scuba diving for the first time. I had difficulty equalizing my ear pressure under the water. Look at the photo of Nemo here. I posted the best photos from my Canon PowerShot D10 .

 

Ketut Liyer Fortune Teller

A trip to Bali is not complete without a visit to Ketut Liyer Fortune Teller. Liyers read Julia Roberts' palm in Eat, Pray, Love. Since then, his consultation rate jumps to 3 times more (USD 25 each consultation).

 

Here are excerpts from The Jakarta Post article:

Liyer began by asking his patients' names in English, and was seen observing the shape of their ears, eyebrows, noses, lips and cheeks.

"Oh, your ears and eyebrows are beautiful. Your lips are as sweet as sugar," he said.

 

Liyer then read people's palms, explaining to people the differences between marriage lines and love lines and predicting the number of children they would have. He then moved to inspect shoulders, backs, calves and legs. Liyer began by asking his patients' names in English, and was seen observing the shape of their ears, eyebrows, noses, lips and cheeks.

 

"I bring three to five tourists every day. Some even book from overseas, asking to be taken here," travel agent Komang Putra said. "They are curious about Ketut Liyer after seeing the movie. They want him to tell them their love lives. And most of them said they were happy after meeting the fortune-teller."

Photos of Balinese Tropical Fruit

Just ask if you do not recognize any fruit in the photos. The thorny one is durian. The purple mangosteem is not in the season and very expensive, $1 for each small fruit.

 

Boat wreck snorkel in Bali

I bought Canon PowerShot D10 camera for this trip. Canon says "The Camera Tough Enough for Your Next Adventure". It is shockproof, freezeproof, waterproof without plastic shell and can be used until 10 meters under water. The photos are pretty good for a point-and-shoot camera. The coral reef was not as spectacular as Pulau Redang Malaysia that I visited 6 years ago. It may be caused by coral bleaching (dying coral), a sign of global warming. The Japanese boat in the photo was sunk after being hit by Dutch naval craft during the invasion of Bali in World War II.

Food Photos from Cabbages and Condoms, Bangkok

"Our food is guaranteed not to cause pregnancy"

 

Cabbages and Condoms is an odd name for a restaurant. But the food is really good. Everyone gets free a condom after dinner. For its history, read here or here.

 

Three dollars Drunken Noodle

Drunken noodle is THB 80 (about USD 3) at a higher class restaurant, not a food center. At breakfast, a guest from New York told me that he just visited Laos (it is a name of neighboring country, in case your geography is not good). He paid LAK 16,000 for a massage. The exchange rate is USD 1 equals to LAK 10,000. The massage is cheaper than my food!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

One Dollar Pat Thai

Food is so affordable in Bangkok. I stopped by the food court in near Vimanmek Teakwood Mansion Museum in Bangkok. I ordered Pat Thai (a noodle dish) for only THB 30 (USD 1 = THB 30.41; THB = Thai Baht). The noodle was made in front of me. Very fresh. See the photo.

Native Australian Animals

It is interesting to know that Australia was isolated from the rest of the world hundred millions years ago. Such isolation produced unique animals that cannot be found anywhere else. Today I visited Tarango Zoo to see them.

• Koalas eating the fresh tips of eucalyptus leaves
• Female kangaroo exposing its belly pouch (where the baby stays)
• Large kasuari bird
• Tasmanian devil sniffing around (the dead body was a dummy kangaroo)

Last dinner in Sydney

Year 2011 is the year of rabbit. Let's eat the rabbit, like I did today for dinner. It was Macleay Valley rabbit braised in balsamic with fregola (a type of pasta), pecorino (Italian cheese), rosemary and marjoram. It tasted like chicken, but it had "mammals" taste, not bird taste. The sauce was so overwhelming that I could not recognize the meat.

Trip to Manly beach

I took a ferry to Manly beach today, about 30 minutes north east of Sydney. All of sudden the dark clouds covered the sky and it rained. The temperature turned to 70, not really perfect for beach. A short walk from Manly beach was Shelly beach, famous for snorkeling. I stepped my feet into the water. Bbrr... Too cold. I wished I had come to Shelly beach yesterday when the temperature was the hottest.

Breathtaking view from Sydney Harbour Bridge

I was out of breath when taking this breathtaking photo of the Opera House and Circular Quay from the bridge. Outside temperature was 109 F and I had to climb hundreds of stairs to the top of the walkway of Sydney Harbour Bridge. Notice the shadow to the bridge on the bay. I also realized I left my Canon 250-mm zoom lens at home!

Sydney Bridge and Opera House

Sydney reminds me of Vancouver, Canada. It is beastly hot today! (34 C or approximately 95 F). Not sure why everything is so expensive. A bottle of Coke is $3.50. A doughnut is $2.50.