Bongaloo

My cat snores when she sleeps sometimes...

2012-01-24T22:44:00.000+11:00

I find it hard to imagine a cuter sound in the world. She licks me after a nap sometimes too.

Son Kol

2011-11-17T20:16:00.001+11:00

This will be the last post on our trip to Kyrgyzstan (for a little while anyway...) M was interested in getting in touch with his nomad roots and asked his father to takes us on a trip to the heart of rural Kyrgyzstan. Son Kol is an alpine lake located over three thousand meters above sea level. We got on the road straight after Issyk Kul, when M's dad and his wife picked us up. On our way we

A weekend in Issyk Kul

2011-09-30T23:50:00.001+10:00

So next Monday is a public holiday and M and I had been planning a camping trip for months, quite literally months, only to arrive at this: Which only means that it is probably a good time to blog and add a few more pictures from our trip to Kyrgyzstan. M and friends decided we should all go for the weekend to Issyk Kul, which is a beautiful (and huge) mountain lake in the East, and

How to choose a sheep (and a dinner party)

2011-09-11T19:39:00.000+10:00

"Goats and sheep for sale" On my second day in Bishkek we were given the mission to go and choose a sheep to kill, chop and eat at a party the next day. As surprising as it may seem, I knew nothing about how to choose a sheep for food (or for anything, for that matter) and neither did M, M's mom, or M's friend. So in the end we just chose (mainly, I think) based on price. Everyone raved

I'm still alive!

2011-09-01T18:25:00.001+10:00

We are still in Kyrgyzstan but internet speed is a bit slow here so I've decided to wait until next week when we're back in Sydney to post more about the trip. In the mean time, enjoy a photo of a cute kitten. M's mum picked it up from the street, gave him a bath and food, and a warm slipper to sleep in. It was teeny tiny!!! It could easily fit in a shoe. It made the cutest noises and I

SYD -> KUL -> ALA -> FRU

2011-08-23T14:50:00.000+10:00

Accounts of a journey. Getting my dork on at Sydney airport. Hair is clean and ankles are of normal girth. Sub par meals on the Sydney - Kuala Lumpur leg. KL airport. Malaysian Ringits. Feeling Malaysian rich. Hair already showing signs of grease. A well deserved Malay breakfast. For the outrageous price of $21. Funny signs in airport toilets. Kuala Lumpur

I'm famous! (yet again!!!)

2011-08-03T23:21:00.003+10:00

That's right. Miss bongaloo, the queen of the bongo strikes again (after this one). And what am I doing with my three and a half seconds of fame? Well I'm stuffing my face of course! What else is new?... eh. Thanks to my lovely Suntory-employed friend for inviting me to the gin launch!

On living without boys...

2011-07-30T20:56:00.003+10:00

M has been away in the last couple of weeks -he's coming back tomorrow!- and I had some time to reflect on the current state of things... Pros of living without boys 1. It can be incredibly productive 2. EVERYTHING around the house stays cleaner longer 3. Having to do only about a third of the usual amount of laundry 4. Getting the cat's undivided attention 5. Being able to get deep, sound,

Parry Hotter

2011-07-17T19:48:00.002+10:00

I just came from seeing the latest and (so far promised) last Harry Potter movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I should admit that I never read a single HP book. At the time the first one came out, I was too busy being a rebellious teenager to subscribe to fads. Everyone in school was reading it, which only meant that I wasn't going to. By the time all my friends were on book 3,

Candied Orange Zest

2011-06-29T22:17:00.000+10:00

We had too many oranges at home :-) Step 1. Cover (loosely) he bottom of a pie dish or baking dish with caster sugar. Step 2. Wash your oranges really well and dry. Use a citrus peeler, thin or thick, up to you and peel anywhere between 1 to 5 oranges. Step 3. In a small sauce pan bring 1 cup of sugar, a half cup of water and 3 tablespoons of Cointreau (optional) to a slow boil. Stir to ensure

Plagiarism?

2011-06-06T20:17:00.002+10:00

Does the melody in Coldplay's new single sound familiar at all? Try... Mmm? ************ Edit: Here's the answer to our questions.

Adorable things my cat does #27

2011-05-26T21:00:00.000+10:00

She keeps you company during breakfast.

How to Make a Manhattan

2011-05-24T21:56:00.001+10:00

M and I put this together. Make sure you watch in HD if possible! Not for the faint of heart ;-)

It's May!

2011-05-22T21:33:00.008+10:00

To all of you who were in any level concerned that I wasn't blogging much lately, you are so sweet. When even my brother asks me why I haven't been blogging, it means it's been too long. Nothing wrong happened and I am healthy and well. It has been a wonderful month at my new job and I like it more and more each day. I work with great people, the job is fun and interesting, and it makes me feel

Australia's finest

2011-04-23T14:02:00.002+10:00

I am a beer fan. Always have been since that first chilly can of cheap watery beer. Not really, not then at least. I *am* a huge fan of beer, and our love affair started when I moved to Boulder, Colorado to attend graduate school. The United States is the country with the largest number of breweries in the world, and did you know the state of Colorado has the largest number of breweries per

I'm famous.

2011-04-22T20:06:00.000+10:00

While we were in San Francisco this past February, my friend Parisa and I attended a book signing for Bakerella's cake pops book. This woman is a pioneer in the world of baking, and if you bake, you probably know who she is. Bakerella is a lovely and creative soul and I totally have a girl crush on her. Sssh... This makes me a celebrity, right?

New new beginnings

2011-04-13T21:31:00.000+10:00

After 5 long months of application after application and rejection after rejection, I finally landed a full time position in the hospitality industry. I mean a real job, a job with a salary, benefits and other perks. A job where I get to dress up as an adult, and get to meet very interesting people. Needless to say I am jumping-out-of-my-socks excited. Today was my first day and I met so many

Red Velvet

2011-04-11T10:18:00.000+10:00

Last week I met with the ABCD (artists, bloggers, crafters, designers) group of gals of which only a couple I had been following online prior to the meeting. I'll admit, as lovely as everyone was, I felt out of place because I was literally the only one who wasn't trying to grow a business or make money out of their website. Still some of them however encouraged me to try and come up with a

I quit.

2011-04-10T16:41:00.001+10:00

I quit my job at the cupcake shop. Goodbye cupcake shop. Goodbye rude customers. Goodbye non-creative working environment. Goodbye crappy salary. Goodbye annoying children who throw tantrums. Goodbye annoying children who change their minds 14 times before settling on the flavour they chose first. Goodbye annoying children who lick the display window for me to clean afterwards. Goodbye annoying

Sydney Markets

2011-03-27T20:54:00.002+11:00

If you know me, you know I *love* markets. For some time now I have been meaning to visit the Sydney markets in Homebush and I finally got around to it last week. The markets open at 6am (5am for flowers) and I wanted to be there then, so I woke up at the unreasonable hour of 5 on a Thursday morning, to hop on a train for the markets (flemington station, on the inner west line). The first

Bugs

2011-03-22T21:42:00.001+11:00

I ate soup today that had a bug in it. I spotted it right at the beginning of my meal and somehow convinced myself that it was a baby shrimp (I was eating Tom Yum). So I pushed it aside and ate away. Upon further examination I realized it was not a baby shrimp, but a small creature with an exoskeleton. I don't know what it was, if the fact that I was really hungry, or that the soup was tasty,

Maximum wattage

2011-03-17T09:23:00.000+11:00

DIY electric mixer! Courtesy of my friend JM Custardcrusher*. Supplies: a power drill and a fork. Insert the fork into the power drill as if it were a drill bit. Make sure it fits snug so it doesn't come out at all when you pull it hard. Turn on the power drill and durrrrrrr. Disclaimer: this should probably not be attempted by anyone. Instead you should get an electric mixer ;-) *That's

Gift ideas

2011-03-16T19:32:00.002+11:00

Our cool neighbor friend celebrated a birthday last weekend and we discussed many a gift ideas for this chap. We know he enjoys wine and cocktails, but M and I (mainly I) decided that that was too cliche. We thought of many other nice things available for purchase but didn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable about "buying" something... so instead I thought I could make something! The gift

My first Opera: The Barber of Seville

2011-03-14T20:11:00.000+11:00

I forgot to tell you guys! We went to our first Opera EVER last Thursday at the Opera Theater in Sydney's famous Opera House. We weren't sure if we were classy enough for the Opera, but it was a smash hit! We loved it! We went to see The Barber of Seville, and purchased two of the cheap box tickets at $65 per person. The set was beautiful, the props were clever, the costumes colorful, it

Purpose

2011-03-14T19:54:00.000+11:00

Alone again! :( except not really... M left on another "professional" trip, I don't want to call it business or work, because let's be honest, he enjoys it way too much. He's gone for 3 weeks and this time around, as strange as it sounds, I am not experiencing (yet) the typical symptoms of separation anxiety. You know, like when you chew through your furniture and scratch doors and walls? The

Wagatail review

2011-03-10T17:35:00.003+11:00

While we were away in San Francisco we left our precious fur ball in the hands of Carmen from Wagatail. We didn't feel comfortable leaving the cat in a boarding house because ultimately it came down to her personality, we knew she would hate being left alone, but even more she would hate being put in a small cage with a bunch of other noisy smelly animals around. She is a young and playful cat

San Francisco and food (yes, again)

2011-03-08T12:54:00.000+11:00

We're back in Sydney everyone!!! *the crowd goes wild* *roars* *applause* In one of the recent posts about food someone commented "food? again?!", and the answer to that is yes, food, AGAIN! Both of my parents are amazing cooks and growing up even the left overs were always tasty (except for that time my dad cooked capybara*), so food to me is not just sustenance and guilty pleasure, but

Beautiful illustrations

2011-02-26T12:07:00.000+11:00

I went into the used book shop Book Buyers in Mountain View and while I wasn't interested in expanding my to-read list I decided to look for items that I would normally not notice. I got a book by John James Audubon who is a famous bird illustrator. And why do I need bird illustrations??? Well I don't, nobody does. But I thought the drawings were really beautiful and natural. Then I also

San Francisco sucks*...

2011-02-19T14:07:00.001+11:00

...So far, we had a freezing cold, rainy and windy day. A homeless person called M a dickhead and me a bitch. I'm seeing my brother tonight and hopefully things start looking up soon!! *I'm exaggerating, we actually went shopping indoors to escape the weather for a bit and that was nice.

Hello. Goodbye.

2011-02-17T21:13:00.000+11:00

I hope you had a Valentine's day so sweet that your teeth hurt. M and I are off to San Francisco tomorrow and will be blogging from there for the next two weeks. I will leave you with the android versions of ourselves. <3

More furniture hunting (and reverse garbage)

2011-02-12T22:05:00.000+11:00

The never ending acquisition of old, cheap or free furniture continues. There's a shop run by a very kind man with acute hearing deficiency on the corner of Addison and Illawarra in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville. His shop is a plain cement room and only opens on weekends but the prices are fair and the stuff speaks to me more often than not. I bought from him a bedside table ($10), a

Pros of living in Sydney #47

2011-02-07T22:05:00.000+11:00

The most amazing cabbies. Ok, for the most part they are a hit or a miss. But when they are a hit, oh man. My last taxi conversation with the driver ended up in exchanging emails and him offering me a job selling his imported goods (from www.madeinchina.com and www.indiamart.com, among others, mind you) on Sydney markets. He said we'd go half and half on the profits. Lucky me.

The new baby (and blue cheese burgers)

2011-02-01T16:03:00.004+11:00

It is 2pm and today I have done two loads of laundry, vacuumed the house, cleaned the bathroom, applied to 8 jobs (2 of which already rejected me, that was quick!). It is currently 37 degrees outside and it comes as no surprise that the highlight of my day was the cold shower I took after lunch. I'm taking a break now by blogging (ok, I won't lie, I'll probably take a nap after this and then

Why you should get an electric mixer if you bake

2011-01-25T19:31:00.001+11:00

I have been using my new electric mixer from Christmas and I can see and taste the difference especially on the quality of buttercream icing. Check out this buttercream I made using a whisk, by hand: See how it is all grainy and sorta chunky? Well I'm guessing that the power I am putting in with my arms must be around 40 Watts (tops), and I can only do it at full power for a few seconds at a

I could have spend a Friday afternoon applying for jobs...

2011-01-21T17:41:00.002+11:00

But instead I made pretty buttons for my blog! Weeeee.... See at: bongaloo.blogspot.com

Christmas 2010 (2 of 2)

2011-01-19T10:55:00.001+11:00

So on Christmas Day we invited a few of our non-aussie aka.-no-family-commitments-friends to come over for a holiday dinner. It was our first time hosting at the new place and I really wanted to make it special and grown-up like (no more college student dinners on the floor). We served a few canapes in the living room, a mix of cheeses, crackers, spicy nuts and olives stuffed with roasted garlic

Christmas 2010 (1 of 2)

2011-01-16T20:40:00.002+11:00

I know it has been almost a month but I am just glad I finally got around to it and I hope you are too! I wanted to share our first Christmas in Sydney with the world (because the whole world reads this blog). Get ready for cheesy pictures, oh well, I tried to make them look interesting by adding some cross processing and (over) using the mosaic collage feature. On Christmas Eve, also referred

Grilled cheese

2011-01-07T19:34:00.000+11:00

I found a blog dedicated to grilled cheese sandwiches and started experiencing an uncontrollable craving (similar to the one creeping into you now) to make one. So I headed to my fridge to see what was available. We always have a couple of nice cheeses at hand, but sadly today, not much else was there. My grilled cheese consists of basil pesto, chevre with dill, tomatoes, vintage cheddar and

A birthday cake

2011-01-06T15:40:00.002+11:00

My mom's birthday was yesterday and I decided to bake a cake in her honor. This is a layered cake with chocolate and raspberry swirl layers, covered in chocolate ganache and chocolate buttercream. Mom I wish I coud share this cake with you in person! I promise to make you another one next time we see each other. Happy birthday!

Dear you,

2011-01-02T17:07:00.002+11:00

Oh hai!

2010-12-23T16:40:00.000+11:00

Hello!!! I haven't forgotten about the blog! In fact the thought of it has been hovering over me and weighing me down, it seems like on a good week I will post 3 times, which would be ideal, but on bad a week I don't post anything juicy or at all :-( I bet you were expecting lots of adorable cat photos, but you don't even get that, sorry. I have been busy with something all this time, literally

DIY simple upholstering project

2010-12-14T15:55:00.000+11:00

Before I get started, I wanted to announce that the chosen name for that precious kitty is Murka. It was suggested by M's mom and it is a common name for female cats in Russian speaking countries. It means something along the lines of "girl who purrs". At least that is what M says, and I guess I have to trust him on this one because I really like the name. You see, the cat is a purring machine,

Help us choose a name!

2010-12-11T18:17:00.001+11:00

This little cutie needs a name! She is one year old, female, very cuddly, confident and curious. Some of the names we are considering are: Sheila and Sydney. Please help us choose or suggest a name of your own!!!

Lemon thyme vinaigrette

2010-12-08T11:07:00.001+11:00

As I mentioned on the last post, we had the chicken with a salad of baby greens, rocket, tomato and green beans. I thought it would be nice to complement the lemon chicken with some lemon thyme in the salad, and Google gave me this. Once again, I didn't have all of the fancy ingredients so I improvised with what I had already. I think it came out excellently, it is lemoney and thymey and

A recipe in pictures

2010-12-08T00:11:00.000+11:00

I was amassing large quantities of rosemary and lemon thyme, both of which have been put to fine use. I give you... Rosemary, garlic and lemon chicken. The recipe asked for chicken seasoning, which I had none. So I looked in the pantry and I figured that half of beef seasoning plus half of fish seasoning has to make one fine delicious chicken seasoning. Right? The you put your dish in the

Cons of living in Australia #54

2010-12-06T17:57:00.000+11:00

Most pople dry their laundry outside (so do we) and hence sometimes you will end up with bugs in your clothes :-S

Offline again

2010-11-29T13:40:00.001+11:00

G'day mates, We're going on vacation tomorrow and until Sunday. We'll be in Cairns, Queensland. It is almost all the way north and very close to the Great Barrier Reef National Park. I haven't been to the beach much in Australia since we're still "settling in" and we try to make our weekends more productive than relaxing, so I'm really looking forward to this. I found a casual job at a cupcake

What day is it?!

2010-11-26T20:01:00.000+11:00

Get ready for another ranting post. This week went by in a blink!!! We spent last weekend in lovely Melbourne and after we got back I went to take a nap and woke up on Friday. It is Friday already!!?!? Basically I missed out on free movie Wednesdays and on Thanksgiving. Would it be ok to just eat too much just like any other day of the year to make up for it? This week I have been unpacking

Traveling with Quantas

2010-11-22T14:33:00.001+11:00

Most airlines: "We will be serving refreshments in a few moments" Quantas airlines: "We will be serving morning tea in a few moments" Checking the emergency procedures on Quantas Boeing 767 aircraft: Please refrain from using cel phones, beepers, other kinds of radio transmitters and gremlins. We sure hope you enjoy the oxygen mask in case of cabin loss of pressurization. "weeeeeeee

Weird dreams series #67

2010-11-16T16:06:00.000+11:00

I dreamed I was falling through a seemingly bottomless dark abyss and there were cupcakes all around me. Finally I saw the bottom and realized it consisted of sharp rock, stalagmites and more cupcakes. Right before dying a sweet death I woke up in a jolt, then wiped off all the buttercream and cake crumbs off my face and onto the pillow. Took one last gulp of cherry chocolate ice cream milkshake

Garden update...

2010-11-15T19:04:00.000+11:00

Harvest day! I know what you are thinking: daaaaaaaaannnnnng guuurl! The coriander grows insanely fast, followed by the lemon thyme, the parsley and the basil. The rosemary is lagging way behind, it honestly grows a bit too slow. My herbs are alive! All of them in fact! they are alive AND delicious, to the point that the pests love them too! Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was freaking out in my last garden

1960's chest revisited

2010-11-12T17:36:00.001+11:00

Remember my Italian treasure chest? Pretty much everyone agreed that the old paper inside had to go, and go it did! It took me a while, and it is FAR from perfect, in fact it was really awkward to cut and glue at times, and for some parts I ended up using many pieces of paper to cover a single area... I didn't want to do a DIY on this precisely because I sucked at it so much, I'm the one who

More cupcakes!

2010-11-11T16:11:00.000+11:00

We are attending a barbecue tonight which will also be attended by lots of men. And since there aren't a lot of men out there who appreciate vegetables, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make a couple of salads. I made a lot in hopes that there will be left overs and then I can eat them for the rest of the week... But who wants to read about salads anyway, let's talk dessert!!! I

DIY cake stand

2010-11-08T14:43:00.001+11:00

I saw this DIY on a different blog, but for the life of me I can't remember which one. I looked it up and it is actually a semi popular DIY, so no ground breaking techniques here. What you will need:A plate (any plate you like, mine was $0.50 from a thrift store) A candle holder (any candle holder you like, mine was $0.50 from the same place) Strong glue: I recommend super glue or epoxy Clean

Public flirting

2010-11-02T17:07:00.000+11:00

I attract the gays and the hippies, oh and my boyfriend, hopefully. More often than not if you are walking around Newtown, NSW between 9am and 5pm somebody from some great organization benefiting humanity will ask you for money. I think it is dumb because if you are walking around at those times, it obviously means you don't have a job. As soon as you pull out the unemployment card they leave

garden help!

2010-11-01T14:21:00.002+11:00

So my herbs are growing at an excellent rate, and I have even enjoyed some basil and thyme already but now I have a problem :-( There is a funny white mould or mildew growing under the parsley, but only under this one, the other herbs are fine. What is worse, there are pests on the parsley too, teeny weeny little green guys. I don't even know if they move, but they are there. This was a short

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T22:00:00.000+11:00

This was my last minute costume. I didn't really like it but when I showed up to dinner with friends and saw that only 2 out 10 people where dressed (including me) I decided that it rocked by comparison. In addition to being lame, it is also undefined. Here are a few ideas I came up with: A. The queen of Halloween B. The queen of bats C. Evil fairy D. Confused teenager E. A girl who tried out

1960's chest

2010-10-30T15:03:00.001+11:00

I hit the jackpot today. Mitchell Road Auction House is a warehouse full of beautiful junk. In the ground floor are items that have gone through some mild to serious tear and wear, but are still functional and/or beautiful in their own way. The items on this floor are very fairly priced and this is where we bought chairs for our kitchen table and a standing mirror last Saturday. We paid $AUD

DIY herb garden

2010-10-27T12:44:00.000+11:00

I want a pet. A cat, dog, rabbit, parakeet, I don't care what. But unfortunately the house is a mess and I don't have a job, both of which are deterring us from adopting a little something furry. I am looking for a job, to those who are interested, I have been applying and making calls, dealing with rejection. Don't give up on me though! I'm coming workforce! But if you do have a job opening in

Sweets

2010-10-22T16:04:00.002+11:00

I like cakes. Even more than cakes, I like cupcakes. I love frosting on cakes and cupcakes. Mmm... I wanted to post some pictures of cakes I made, so that they would be on the web somewhere... And we're going to start right here. I made this for my last birthday: It was chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream frosting. Covered in green fondant and the flowers are made out of marzipan.

My blog, beautified....

2010-10-19T22:00:00.001+11:00

Thanks guys for your feedback on the blog image. I have decided on this (for now... until I learn more about html and css). I hope you like it (I actually like it kind of a lot). Get out of your Google readers and enjoy the new look at least once! <3

Irish Beef Stew

2010-10-19T20:18:00.001+11:00

I'm sick :-( I went to bed last night with a sore throat and woke up this morning with a cold. Yesterday there wasn't a single cloud in the sky and the temperature was warm, today the weather is super gloomy and freezing cold. I stayed in bed, taking my meds and drinking fluids all morning and then came across this recipe. Instant craving, I had to have it. M and I bought a casserole at

Feedback please?

2010-10-15T16:55:00.001+11:00

Can everyone please comment on what you like/dislike about my layout? Check out the new and less busy background! I mostly hate everything about the layout but I was wondering, from 1 to 10, 1 being nothing happened, 10 being bleeding occurred: how sore are your eyes after reading any one of my blog posts? Is there something you would like to have changed immediately? kthxbixoxoxoxo

Weird dreams series #256

2010-10-15T11:20:00.000+11:00

I dream quite a bit, and more often than not I am able to remember my dreams, at least for a few hours in the morning and if I am able to re-tell them to someone I can remember them for a lot longer. While M was gone, I had the privilege of renting and watching the 2nd half of the first season of a little show called Glee. I don't know what it is about handsome geeks and show choir that is so

Australian English Dictionary

2010-10-12T17:05:00.001+11:00

Sometimes I have a hard time understanding the thick Aussie accent. In young people it is very mild, exotic and pleasant. In the older generation it is thick, mumbled and completely unintelligible by the likes of me. So much in fact that yesterday when a plumber came to make a few repairs to our house, he mumbled something or other about the bathroom. Of course the bathroom needed a few fixes and

Ranting... I think I need more human interaction

2010-10-09T18:16:00.001+11:00

Dear decently-sized-lizard who was playing dead in our garden right up until the moment I got close to you, F**k you. Dear spider who keeps knitting webs every night in the back yard after I clean them off, You win. Dear everyone else, Hello hello!!! I totally got started on my list of things to do this week. I bought fabric and I already cut it for my cushion and my curtains *** Then I

Uh-oh

2010-10-05T12:35:00.000+11:00

M has had it with me and he's decided to leave me. For 9 days. I am feeling something like this: The first part is a joke, or half a joke anyway. He is indeed leaving, to visit his family and also to speak at a conference about some really cool stuff he works on. It feels like in our relationship we go through periods of lots of fighting and then something at work comes up and he must travel,

Out, about and hard at work...

2010-10-04T22:17:00.006+11:00

First, the BIG news... WE OWN A FRIDGE!!!! :-D!!!! :'-D! After a long and arduous afternoon of appliance and furniture shopping, we went to Sydney's Factory Theatre for the Delta Spirit concert. They were not the main act, but they were the main act for us, and really the only reason we bothered. After a fabulous show (check out the beautiful song called Vivian, above) we ventured back

Hair woes

2010-10-01T17:14:00.001+10:00

M and I both have long hair. We both are losing it an alarming rate. You think household dust is a problem? No, we have a household hair problem. You should see our pillows in the morning, or the bathroom in the evenings. I think one, or better yet, both of us should cave in and buzz our heads. It will make cleaning a whole lot easier around here...

DIY desk renovation

2010-09-30T11:47:00.004+10:00

For the few of you (sad) who were puzzled about my last post. It's all good now, I took a chill pill and I feel great, in fact I have had a pretty darn nice couple of days since then. So as promised, my first DIY project. Supplies for this project include: a desk, paint, knobs, glue and pretty paper. We purchased this beauty from the Salvation Army in Tempe: $50 bucks, and overpriced trust me

Stressing

2010-09-27T19:11:00.000+10:00

I don't know if you know this about me, but stressing is one of the things I do best. We finally moved into the new place last Saturday. It is beautiful, but also scary (oh, and also dirty). Everything is so uncomfortably unfamiliar and empty. I am not yet fulfilling my dream of finding cheap stuff. We went to the Salvation Army store, their biggest store around here, in Tempe, and while we got

Our first week in Sydney

2010-09-19T15:49:00.000+10:00

Sydney is still rocking my socks off. We found a great place to live, actually M found it, and he has been complaining about me not giving him enough credit ever since I tweeted "I found an apartment". Next week we will be moving to a lovely little house in the heart of Newtown, a trendy, hip, artsy neighborhood in Sydney. We will have 2 bedrooms (well, a bedroom and a office/guest room), a gas

No longer homeless!

2010-09-16T18:14:00.000+10:00

We have found a place to live! And it is cute and beautiful and open and perfect and I can't wait to get my hands on it!!! Oh thee beautiful white canvas... We are staying in the hotel until Saturday the 25th, then moving into the new home. We have nothing but the clothes on our backs. First item on the list: a mattress. On different news, I started tweeting: http://twitter.com/missbongaloo

A message from the future...

2010-09-13T09:32:00.000+10:00

We made it! This was officially one of the suckiest trips of my life. The trip started off with lots of hiccups and we were both in a bad mood the entire time. Not what I had in mind for the first day of my new life. [I had written several paragraphs on this page about everything that happened. But I think it is best to leave it behind and rejoice on the fact that we are here, together] OMG

D-2 Day

2010-09-08T14:05:00.000+10:00

I have been up since 5 am and I cannot sleep. I have a big knot in my stomach and I don't know if it's all that Vietnamese food I ate too much of, or if it's the thrill of moving. The apartment is EMPTY. Weiiiird! And awesome, I am happy I never have to see that furniture again :) 6 am living room shot

D-4 Day

2010-09-06T23:13:00.000+10:00

Welcome back! It's been a long time and I am happy you stuck around. As I write these few words I am thinking to myself that I don't know what this blog is going to be about from now on. However a few people convinced me that given the current situation, I should try to revive it and I am going to do just that. For now it is just going to be about me. And my boyfriend (M). And my future cat.

Aardwark and the experts on Hating Your Job

2009-11-21T00:59:00.004+11:00

From Wikipedia:Aardvark is a social search service that connects users live with friends or friends-of-friends who are able to answer their questions. Users submit questions via email or instant messenger and Aardvark identifies and facilitates a live chat or email conversation with one or more topic experts in the asker's extended social network. Users can also review question and answer history

More Swiss fun facts

2009-08-02T23:29:00.002+10:00

5. People don't have "fridges".The word for closet in German is schrank, the word for fridge or refrigerator is kühlschrank which literally means "cooling closet". If you go to any Swiss apartment or house you will see that the refrigerator never looks like the typical fridge, instead it is sort camouflaged into the kitchen cabinetry (I think I made up this word) and follows the same style. If

I'm alive!!!

2009-07-31T06:02:00.007+10:00

I made it to Zurich!!No, it didn't take me this long to get here, but it did take me this long to put my thoughts together and sit down without any distractions in order to be able to just write.I have to be honest, even if it sounds really corny. The last 2 months have been some of the happiest days of my life. I am in a great city, surrounded by great people, have a great (erm, unpaid) job and

Don't cry for me America! We had a good run!

2009-06-06T02:37:00.004+10:00

I forgot all about May! So sorry! In short: I graduated, I went on a roadtrip to Portland (awesooooommmme++), I moved out of my apartment.I am writing this from Denver International Airport, as alas, I am moving again (7th time!). This time it's Europe, the old world, Zurich to be more specific. I will be learning German in the mornings, working at a startup company in the afternoons and getting

Design and Implementation of Module Integrated Converters for Series Connected Photovoltaic Strings

2009-04-25T02:24:00.004+10:00

The University of Colorado put my thesis for sale. I am not even sure where it is exactly, but in any case I don't see why anybody would ever pay $55 or any amount of money to read a master's thesis.In the event you thought you would find something useful in it*, but like me, are against organizations trying to privatize what should be public work, I am posting it here (for free!) on my fully

The New Constantinople

2009-04-22T05:02:00.013+10:00

Last year, despite my full time McDonald’s employee salary, I somehow managed to save a little bit of money. Given the economic crisis and all, I thought the most sensible thing to do was spend it of course; I wanted to help America by buying American-made. I took one for the team, if you will. So I decided to buy myself a pretty little plane ticket… to Turkey.I spent 10 amazing days in Istanbul,

Increase H-1B visa quotas!!!

2009-04-09T04:02:00.003+10:00

The last time I was at the airport in New York City's JFK, I was standing in a chaotic line to check my baggage. There was a wide variety of languages spoken and skin colors around me, then an old lady standing in front of me turns to me and says:"What is going to happen to this country, my beautiful country, if we keep letting so many people in? There will be a scarcity of food and water!"To

Dark Was The Night

2009-03-05T08:27:00.005+11:00

No, not the Batman movie, but all my favorite artists compiled into a single 2-disc set. This is album is pure symphony, totally awesome and music-tastic/gasmic. Oh, and profits go to AIDS awareness! All 31 tracks that comprise this delicious ear candy are available for a mere $11.99. The website lets me promote the album by playing 3 songs off my blog. Just... listen. "Dark Was The Night will be

DC Diaries: The aftermath | Stars of Leo

2009-02-23T07:57:00.004+11:00

Helllllooooooooooooo!!I am back home now. Friday was a really terrible day. I developed a full blown cold and I've been rushing through all stages of it throughout the weekend.Friday it was general mal-being, fever, head aches, stuffiness, runny nose. Saturday was that fake-feeling-better day, and I had adopted the sexy sick voice. Sunday (today) it was coughing, which I believe is the final

DC Diaries: Day 4. D-Day.

2009-02-21T06:53:00.009+11:00

I woke up with a sore throat this morning after only sleeping 5 hours. I was still practicing in the shower as I was getting ready. Then headed downstairs for the author's breakfast. I was feeling pretty awesome, not nervous, really perky, really excited, joking, being charming. My advisor even asked me what was wrong with me and said that even he gets nervous sometimes.On the way to the lecture

DC Diaries: Day 3. I'm psyched.

2009-02-20T03:42:00.006+11:00

-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> Jeff overheard me saying I would love some chocolate over lunch and bought me a gigantuous chocolate bar depicted below. It was supposedly my good-luck-at-your-first-talk present. What a nice guy. I just found out

DC Diaries: Day 2. Moving on.

2009-02-18T16:15:00.004+11:00

Something I learned today: If you ever want to publish anything in the field of Electrical Engineering, and I can only speak for the area of power electronics, there are a few keywords that MUST be present in your publication title. A bad title may be the sole reason your paper gets rejected from a conference or journal. These keywords are: "novel", "new", "improved", "sensorless", "optimized", "

DC Diaries: Day 1. It was all going so well...

2009-02-17T12:54:00.007+11:00

I arrived in Washington DC around 1:20pm this afternoon. The group proceeded to the hotel, and because I am the only female out of 10 students from our group at this conference, I was given the option to get a room for myself, which I took. For some odd reason my room ended up being in the far end of the building, an old wing of the hotel where nobody else was staying. This turned out to my

DC Diaries: Day 0

2009-02-16T15:47:00.008+11:00

The date is finally here! We get to go to Washington DC!!!1! By we I mean Aaron, Barry, FuZen, Jeff, Luca, Quing, Raj, Ryan, Thurein, Xu and I!! Woo-hooo!!!! partaaay! It's going to be madness!... not. Are you kidding me? We're going to a power electronics conference people! in Washington DC, not in Rhodes, Greece (where PESC was last held), it'll be nerdy as hell!I have low expectations. During

Thanks for your visit! Come again!

2009-02-03T14:46:00.001+11:00

Whoever you are... :-)Visits from the last 2 months.

Panama Vacation

2009-01-20T13:51:00.006+11:00

I scribbled the following on the sick-bag in the plane ride back from Zurich:(Yes, I went to Zurich)(Yes, in Switzerland)(Nuff said)It was last summer when I decided to visit my parents' for the holidays in their new house in Boquete, in the Chiriqui Province in Panama. Now in order to guarantee sanity (or maybe insanity?) I also invited a few of my closest friends to come with me. It was

22 days...

2008-12-01T14:41:00.007+11:00

Now that the paper was submitted I can focus on really important things. Like my upcoming trip to Panama to spend Christmas with my parents and hang out with my favorite posse. I talked to my dad today for a while about things we could do while there and got really excited. So I spent most of the day researching Panama and Boquete, the town we'll be staying in.I am a big dork (and maybe a bit of

Saving the world, one solar panel at a time

2008-11-17T13:19:00.012+11:00

If you saw my previous post you probably thought "wtf is this?". I'm sorry that I did such a poor job of labeling anything on the graph, but I was really excited and it was sort of a rushed post.Anyhow, as all of you know I've been stressing out over my research project because I still hadn't gotten any solid results worth publishing (deadline is less than 2 weeks). But now we did! and I want to

:'-D

2008-11-16T06:33:00.002+11:00

*sigh*

A comparative study of two useful discrete-valued random fields for the statistical modeling of images*

2008-11-06T05:32:00.008+11:00

*Is the title for a Computer Science paper from the late 80's. No I didn't read it, just borrowed the title.I did this yesterday:Which is a huge improvement from this:When I am done with what I'm doing right now, I will share it with you.Some free publicity:My friend Dan Hill is a "modern day prophet denouncing the hypocrisies of our time". He is also a very talented artist, writer, filmmaker,

Older AND Wiser

2008-10-17T12:17:00.007+11:00

I was certainly ready to write a post full of bitching and whining because I lost my phone, hate AT&T and am currently frustrated, embittered and resentful with my research. So overwhelmed in fact that I am hardly getting any work done.But instead, I am going to tell you about something else. It has been a little while since I wrote anything of substance (who am I kidding? this blog has no

There she is!

2008-09-30T01:50:00.003+10:00

Waldo, I found you!

Fugitive Friends Forever

2008-09-25T04:46:00.002+10:00

Parisa, what did you do?!

Minor milestone

2008-09-20T06:43:00.003+10:00

Today I gave a short presentation to our research group about my work. I felt like it went relatively well, though I wasn't in the audience, so it may have been garbage. In my presentation I tried to make up for whatever lack of substance with entertainment, thus I used lots of clip-art. People welcomed it more warmly than I expected. Who doesn't love clip-art?If you want to be in on it, my