Biking from Fisherman's Wharf to Sausalito and/or Tiburon, is not just for tourists. If you haven't done that and you live in the Bay Area, it is something you should definitely put on your to do list. If you don't have a bike, do what the tourists do, rent it at a place like Bay City Bike. It's about $27 to rent a bike for a whole day. Great deal for whole day of fun!

Favorite Shots from the ride:

OK, where are the bugs when you need them? I went around looking for them, no luck. I sat around waiting for them to come, no luck!!! Well, looks like no interesting macro photo of bugs as of yet. I did however get to bring home some roses from today's wedding set up! Here'a macro photo of a sexy rose. The rose's a little too centered but it's the only macro shot that is not too blurry. Alan took off w/ my tripod in his trunk! Kinda hard to take macro picture w/o a tripod. Bad DH!


Here's a normal shot.


Here's b&w one.

Pluto is no longer a planet but instead a "Dwarf Planet". I'm pretty sad that it got demoted. Here's a link to more information on this. I need a moment of silence for this.

Macro Photography, it's whole different world! I just got a hold of my new toy, Canon's EF25 II extension tube. The extension tube works really well. The only problem is, I can't take normal pictures when the extension tube is attached.



This weekend, when Alan's playing Halo w/ the Lotz, I think I'll find myself some bugs to take pictures of. Hmmm...where can I find some lady bugs?

Pictures of the Sunol Bike Trail is up. Go here to see it.

Flat tires..., can this be the reason behind that that pissed off look captured by the wifey (me)?? I had one flat tire and Alan had 2 flat tires! Good thing we had llamas to entertain us while we waited to be rescued. The white llama with black spots is Lucy. Isn't Lucy cute? I got to feed them grass hay and apples. Do you know that llamas love apples?

OK, back to the pouty face question, the answer is no. That's the normal "honey, hurry up and pick up the pace" look.

Hmm...I think I should go & apologize to the neighbors tomorrow for hurting their ears. I spent 1+ hour playing karoake revolution! (hehe) Funny thing is when I was singing, the chirps were chirping. At least the chirps enjoyed it, I don't know about Mr. Chirp-Head, he went upstairs soon after I started singing. OW!!!!! WHY DO I KEEP USING MY LEFT INDEX FINGER TO TYPE G???!!!!! SO FORGETFUL..gotta take care of the injured finger......!!!!!

Been working out but not seeing results? You may find this article interesting, go here to read it. Have fun!

Wow, it took approximately 30 minutes for my finger to stop bleeding. About half an hour ago, while cutting cheese, I cut my poor index finger. I cut my finger all the time before and yet it never really puncture the skin or ever go that deep. I think I should stick w/ using blunt knifes or learn how to cut properly. I was wondering if I should seek medical attention as it wouldn't stop bleeding and it was quite deep. It occurred to me that I might need some stitches but I was afraid that the nurses might laugh at me if I go in and my finger was in no immediate danger of falling off. I don't know, I just feel like unless I'm dying or something is chopped off, there is no need to go to the emergency walk in. Anyhow, I went online to see if i need medical attention. This is what I found out. If a straight cut is more than 1/8 of an inch or .3 cm deep (goes through the demis layer), it should be stitched only if the area in resting position pulls the skin back and prevents the wound from closing. It also said that if it's not a not a straight cut and it's jagged and is 1/8 of an inch or .3cm deep, then seek medical attention immediately. Interesting eh? So even though my cut went through the dermis layer and I could see the white stuff, after about 1/2 hour, the wound had no problem closing by itself. Whew, good thing I checked, otherwise I will look like such an idiot. Hehe.

audreywong.com is up! go on, click on it ~ dont' worry, it's rated PG! :)

Which picture did I have a problem w/ auto-focusing and had to resort to manual focusing at the end? Why?

Picture 1:


Picture 2:


First friend to get this right wins a free non-alcoholic drink (pick your own place).

interesting link, go on, click on it. lots of stuff for all those who like supernatural/horror/sci-fi stuff. oh! oh! you can find a 3 part article on Spike under "column" and "coffin". oh heck, here's the link to the section on Spike, the vampire (from Buffy the Vampire - tv series for those who do know - warning..spoiler on there).

If my husband hates ants. I hate ants even more. They turned my husband into an ant killing maniac. When we get home from work, Alan used to help me with cooking, like making the rice, setting the table, and sometimes even cutting the vegetables so that we can have something healthy for dinner. Ever since he turned into this maniac, the first thing he does when he gets home is look for ants, carrying with him his Ortho Home Defense, the indoor/outdoor insect killer (one of these day, it's gonna kill us cuz he's spraying it all over the place..... we'll die from eating minute amounts of ortho everyday). When he finds them, he asks, "Where the F**K are you coming from?", over and over again. That is very annoying. He really keeps repeating that, like once every few minutes. And, I can forget about him helping me with dinner, I gotta cook the rice and cut the veggies myself. Now, that sucks.

I often wonder what it is that moves a person to finish something. For a very long time, I tried to figure out the best way to push myself so that I could accomplish the goal I set for myself, which could be by miles or by time (15, 20, 25..).... Umm..sorry, forgot to mention what I am talking about here..which is running/jogging. I have a love/hate relationship with this activity. I hate the process, yet somehow towards the end of it, it feels great, and at the end I love it that I crossed the finish line. Needless to say, it's a complicated relationship. For a while, I tried to encourage myself to endure this activity by letting my mind wonder and imagined that I was doing something else. It didn't work cuz I always ended up imagining myself running (running in the desert, running away from monsters)...no matter what it was that I started with. For instance, I could be imagining that I was relaxing somewhere on the beach but then a monster would come out of nowhere and start chasing me and then outrun me and then when that happened, I would give up and stop. Recently, I discovered that if I just imagine myself reaching my goal, it's enough to get to get to the finish mark. A determined mind is that much more powerful. Use it, it's a great tool.

My polarizer filter came in the mail today. Can you tell which picture was taken with the polarizer filter and which wasn't?

How clean are your hands? OK, if you have clean habits and all, you may think your hands are clean. Let's say you wash your hands before you eat. Hmm...very good, if you're at home. Suppose you're at a restaurant and you do the same. You go into the restroom, wash your hands, wipe it dry w/ paper towels and open the door to get out. Clean? Well, let's see, suppose someone went to the restroom to finish his/her business (#2) and decided to not to wash his/her hands and opened the door to get out just before you and you happen to touch the same spot as that person with bad habits? You think your hands are clean? Hmmm...think again. Better open the door with paper towels. That's what I do. But, what if it's one of those not well kept restroom and there is no paper towel or one of those w/ dryers? Sometimes, I wait till the next person pushes the door open, catch it w/ my foot and then let myself out. But, waiting for the next person may take forever. This is where one of those anti-bacterial cleansing hand gel (kills germ without water) comes in handy. If you ask me, I think restaurants should have restrooms with automatic doors. Since that is unlikely to happen, carry one of those hand gels with you. Solves the problem.

Having the right tools in the kitchen does make a difference. Cooking is so much more fun and oh...so much easier too! I've been using the pasta cooker/vegetable steamer from Crate & Barrel . It was a weddng gift from a good friend. I absolutely love it. I love it so much that I've been using it everyday. I highly recommend it if you're into steaming your stuff. Note: It's healthier to steam stuff...and oh..easier to clean too.

Today, I used it to steam tofu and yesterday, I used it to steam eggs, a chinese dish my grandmother often made, called "Steamed 3 eggs" (it has normal egg, salty egg, & thousand year old egg and minced pork) . It is one of my favorite childhood dishes. My grandma made it all the time when I was a kid. When she makes it, it's so much better though. I don't have the touch yet. I got lots to learn.

In the meantime, I gotta go search for more recipes that call for steaming. Steam broccoli, steam asparagus, steam anything! If you got a good steaming recipe, send it my way. I would love to try it out!

After 10 sick days or so, I have forgotten how good it feels to run. Running is funny. When you start, the first few minutes or so, it feels horrible but once you get past the plateau, it starts to feel better. Some calls this the runner's high. And when you reach your goal, you know that you've done something good for your heart and lungs and that's the best part. I love that feeling.

OK, do all homes have to have so many friggin bathrooms? OK, if it's a house meant for a big family, then it makes sense...but for a townhome (about 1174 sq. ft.) like ours (meant for newly weds)? Why in the world would Alan and I need 2 1/2 bathrooms? More bathroom equates to more cleaning! It takes approximately 40 min. to clean one bathroom (approximately 20 min to clean the 1/2 bathroom)...so this translates to 100 min of bathroom cleaning time? 100 minutes?!!! I can get past so many different levels on Prince of Persia III with 100 minutes. No wonder Alan is so much ahead of me!

Speaking of bathroom and toilets, I highly reccommend using the Scotch-Brite Disposable Toilet Scrubbers. Unlike other disposable toilet cleaners, the scrub doesn't fall off the handle easily so that you can scrub as hard as you like and plus, it's got a nifty shape that fits under the rim to allow you to scrub under the rim. Right on Scotch-Brite! I don't know about you, but I hate storing toilet brushes. I wear latax gloves and use paper towels to clean the toilet seats and stuff because I don't like to store sponges that's been used to clean the toilet .....so disposeable toilet srubber, that's a great invention!

Remember that song from J Lo, "Love don't cost a thing"? It goes, "Think I'm gonna spend your cash I won't, Even if you're broke, my love won't cost a thing..." Sounds promising doesn't it? Umm,.. problem is, love doesn't cost a thing but a wedding does!!!!! After you're engaged, it's "...think I'm gonna spend all your cash (on our wedding) I will, even if you're (gonna be) broke, I don't give a damn..."...ok, this is umm...a little exaggerated..but there's an element of truth to it. :)

Speaking of weddings, I love weddings!!! I love going to weddings, whether as a guest or as a hardworking florist assistant. It is after my own wedding that I appreciate weddings so much more. This is probably because now I know how much they cost and how much work goes into planning one. Today's wedding was at the Kohl Mansion. The Kohl Mansion is absolutely gorgeous! Getting married at a national historial landmark. Now that's something! Here's some pictures from today's set up.