gnomatic's Profile

$1000 mortgage & HOA on my 650 sq ft 1 bdrm condo in North San Jose, CA. Lived there for just over 5 years, now have it rented out for about the same amount.

Moved to San Francisco this past spring, $1600 for 700 sq ft 1 bedroom apartment on the north side of Telegraph Hill.

These are known as kanelbullar in Sweden, a very popular pastry.

Lychee season starts early summer, I see them in SF Chinatown, but they don't look ripe yet.

They should be a darkish red colour and firm to the touch. If it's still green, it's not ready, brown is usually not fresh (probably refridgerated too long). Try and buy them with the stems attach. You shouldn't need a spoon to break it open. If the stems are still attach, a quick tug will open a small hole, and allowing you the peel it. Else, a slight pinch with your fingers should "pop" open the "shell", allowing you to remove the shell completely.

Similar to lychee is Longan, which are yellowish brown and round in shape. They are in season later than Lychee, usually around late summer, early fall.

Geoducks are super tasty...a very sweet, similar to scallops, with a slight crunch.
Some friends of mine went to dig for geoducks. It's ALOT of work, not to mention, once you get one, cleaning them is a pain.
They weren't always so expensive, in the early 80's, my mom used to buy them to make congee with (much to the shock of my Hong Kong relatives). But later geoducks were exported to asia, and the price went up.
Boiling them too long makes them chewy, it's best raw, stirred fried or added to soup at the end.

I was willing, and planning to drill a bracket into the wall to hold the rod to hide the vertical blinds. So it was a happy accident that the brackets of the Umbra rod (this one http://www.umbra.com/ustore/product/240586/c127/ball_drapery_rod.html) fitted just over the vertical blinds.
I chose the rod because it had a nickel finish, expandable to long enough for the freakishly large sliding door, simple design, and cheap.

The backets are shaped like a sideways 5. The top of the 5 is squarish, and it fitted perfectly over the top of the vertical blind box thingee that has the movement mechanism.

I have the same thing in my condo. I kept the veritical blinds, but got an umbra curtain rod ($25 at Target). The brackets snaps right on to of the veritical blind (so no need to drill holes in the wall). I do have flat linen curtain panels (2 pkg of curtains..2 panels each, also fron Target, total $50)on them, it gives me privacy but lets the light in. And since the veritical blinds are still there, I can get block out the light too (helps with keeping the apt cool in the summer). I suppose you can put up some bamboo blinds from a rod instead...

Dried Gojis are a staple in Chinese herbal soups/tea/medicine. It's very cheap (it's not usually used on it's own, it's always mix with other herbal ingredients), and I was quite amuse to see the huge markup whole foods and health food stores sells them for, now that they are the "miracle" berries.

Chinese supermarkets have them. At chinese herbal or dry goods stores you can buy them in bulk. For those who are worried about chinese imported food.. Gojis are fairly safe, else Chinatown(s) wouldn't be as crowded as it is. We are force fed soup made from these stuff from infancy.

Get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I would totally end up falling into that tub... and it's in a guest room? Oh dear....

I have the Ikea Bjursta table (which uses the same mechanism) for the last 3 years. I use it as a kitchen/dining table and desk. Despite daily heavy use, it's VERY strong and not at all wobbly. It's actually quite heavy (more so then other Ikea dining room tables). The legs are solid wood with veneer. The supports for the leaves are solid wood. It was also very easy to put together. However the table top is a bit worn due to daily use as a computer table, but I have it in the brown/yellow, so it's not noticable, wear might be more obvious on a black/brown.

Scandinavian Designs had the same mechanism in their Beta table. I compared the Ikea & Scandinavian design tables in person, they were similar in quality.

I love the table because of the simple shape, the leaves hide underneath, no lines in the middle of table top when not expanded. It's great when I have a few more people over for dinner.

I disliked the original Karim design too. Sure it looked pretty (the reason I bought it), but it was too big for the little ledge next to my faucet. I couldn't actually put it on the counter because it leaked.
Also the soap was REALLY harsh on my hands. Argh.