Friday morning, after getting enough rest at the hostel, I made plans to meet Nick again so he could show me his beloved chocolate restaurant, Max Brenner. Instead of going all the way back to Saeed's, I just showered at the hostel, using my dirty shirt as a towel and my underwear as a rag. I just used the hand soap as shampoo and body wash. It worked fine.
Saeed and me
Wednesday, I did the library working thing again, and then met a new friend Saeed for lunch. We went to a restaurant called Mos Burger, which is apparently a Japanese burger place. Afterward I found out they have rice buns, which I would have tried. But it was decent nonetheless. The portions were a little small, but that's pretty much how Australia has been... either smaller portions than I'm used to, or the food is really expensive, or both.
The Germans I met at the hostel
I walked inside, feeling slightly intimidated, not knowing the normal process for such places. The receptionist was a girl about my age, and she was quite nice and understanding. She explained the various types of rooms ranging from eight bed to two bed rooms. I think there was an eight bed room space available that night for around $31, but it was booked for the next day. The six bed rooms had spaces for the foreseeable future, and cost $33. So, not knowing if I'd be there one night or 10 days, I opted to purchase a single night in a six bed room. If I figured out I would be there at least a week, the rate goes down about $10 per night.
Nick took me to an Italian restaurant, Amici's
I didn't do much other than work the rest of Tuesday through Friday. Late Friday afternoon, I made the abrupt decision after talking to Daniel to leave Oliver's and go back to Brisbane. I wasn't doing much other than work, and Oliver was keeping to himself, so I thought a change of scenery and getting to know a new friend would be great.
So I asked Daniel to book me a standy ticket for that afternoon, I packed up and headed to the airport. A few hours later I was back with Daniel, and he was very excited to see me.
Brisbane from Mt. Coot-tha
Oliver's day basically consisted of waiting in lines in this barn. And we waited with him half the time. They had one big section for signatures, and another section for photos. The celebrities basically walked back and forth between signing and photographs. It was not super organized, as the times were totally off most of the time, and Oliver even got the wrong photograph for someone to Felicia Day to sign. It was some other similar looking girl. Embarrassing!
Oliver got on a flight around 3:55 or 4:55, but I didn't get on one till 8. Thankfully I got to hang out with Daniel on and off while he was working at various gates around where I was waiting for the flights. I also got to enjoy wearing my silly hat in public. It made a lot of people smile.
Wednesday afternoon I went for what was supposed to be a lovely half marathon length run along the ocean. About halfway through, around mile 7, I started feeling a slight pain in my foot. Throughout my running experience, I've had lots of random pains that always went away after a while and never seemed to cause a problem. Well, this one didn't. Another mile, I took a break to stretch my foot and see what was going on with it.
Our little kangaroo friends
Once I got back and showered, Oliver was about ready to emerge from the house. We took the train closer to downtown to check out a popular eating and shopping area along Chapel Street. We ended up walking mostly to the end without making up our minds about eating anywhere, and then we walked back and did the same thing.
Oliver bathing in color
...until you start paying attention to the roads and signs and talk to people. But overall, that they speak English here makes it infinitely easier to do everything than during my experience in Argentina last year.
Before I get too far ahead, I'll go back a couple of days to Thursday, Nov. 2, the day I was to leave for Australia.
The train
I didn’t finish this book, but I started these notes:
Book notes:
ijtihad, Islam’s tradition of independent reasoning, requires being familiar with Islam’s latest thinkers
The Prophet Mohammad reportedly said religion is the way we conduct ourselves toward others. There’s a distinction between Islam as an …
Today marks my first Movable Type plugin release! I've been working on this on and off for almost a year, so I'm very happy to finally have finished it.
This all started early 2011 when I needed to get my photo blogging workflow nailed down for my impending trip to Buenos Aires. I reluctantly decided to port my Movable Type installation over to Wordpress since there were many more plugins available. Particularly, there was a plugin that made it super easy for me to post photos hosted on Picasa Web Albums, which I was already using. I got a basic WP install up, moved all my content from my MT system, and that was that.
Picasa Express 1.0 settings screen
I need to stop taking naps midday. Or stop being tired midday. Or something. But I hate just getting to work in the afternoon! When I could be almost done for the day!
I started using the app Sleep Cycle last night. We’ll see.
I just sent this e-mail to my dad, but decided to add it here:
I am not one of the people who think Obama was born in Kenya (and not sure if I care), but this Reuters article is interesting, detailing basically the same controversy in the past and on …
Note to self that might be useful for others doing really basic stuff:
Often I use Random Web Service’s API to get a JSON file of data repeatedly, but that file doesn’t need to be refreshed 600 times a second. I can then use a simple PHP script to store the file and retrieve it from disk until it gets to be a certain age.
This template will output content from a blog in the Movable Type export format, which you can use to import into another MT install or perhaps another system.
In Movable Type templates, you can use the AssetThumbnailURL tag to generate a thumbnail of an image asset in the system.
I am me! I’m also a scientist minded software engineer who loves reading, running, listening to music, and recording photos and videos and data of all sorts. After earning a biochemistry degree, I lived in San Francisco and Tokyo, and now I find it difficult to stay put. Read more about me and my online life.
SF: 87% complete; Oakland: 27%
San Francisco Bay Area running progress
Charlie says: “What a wonderful region!”
30 November 2022
In-N-Out Burger (Fast Food Restaurant)
333 Jefferson St , San Francisco , CA
Charlie says: “It was super hot and we got a taste for salty fries, but by the time we walked there it dropped 35° and was cold. Still tasted good!”
28 September 2020 at 20:32
Taqueria Zorro (Mexican Restaurant)
308 Columbus Ave , San Francisco , CA
Charlie says: “Restaurants are hoppin’ around here, feels weird.”
26 September 2020 at 19:42
碼頭老火鍋 (Hotpot Restaurant)
仁愛路四段409-1號 , Da’an District , T’ai-pei Shih
Charlie says: “Delicious spicy hot pot with Harry. I am so full!!”
25 March 2020 at 08:40
桶好呷滷味 (Asian Restaurant)
, Taipei
Charlie says: “We pick a representative set of ingredients and they build out the rest into a braised soup like thing over noodles.”
23 March 2020 at 06:46
Addiction Aquatic Development (上引水產) (Fish Market)
民族東路410巷2弄18號 , Taipei
Charlie says: “Standing sushi bar at a fish market.”
21 March 2020 at 07:03
ACME Breakfast CLUB (Breakfast Spot)
3F., No. 10, Ln. 27, Chengdu Rd., , Taipei
Charlie says: “Brunch w/ Shawn! Was tempted to get the avocado toast kind of as a joke since I never get it in SF, but resisted, sourdough was good. :-)”
20 March 2020 at 22:27
三甲和風創意料理 (Japanese Restaurant)
Charlie says: “Late dinner with Shawn, at a lovely place!”
20 March 2020 at 09:28
中央藝文公園 Central Culture Park (Park)
北平東路與紹興北街口 , Taipei
Charlie says: “Social distance.”
20 March 2020 at 03:42
虎頭山環保公園 (Scenic Lookout)
Charlie says: “Exploring the hillside in Taoyuan City.”
14 March 2020 at 23:49
Abura-Ya (Japanese Restaurant)
362 17th St , Oakland , CA
Charlie says: “Dinner with Beam before Sarah McLachlan!”
24 February 2020 at 18:55
