Chicken Fajitas

After I had fajitas for the first time I wanted to make them at home.  At that time they weren't that popular and neither was the internet, so I had to figure out a recipe.  My ingredients are alittle unconventional but sure makes the meat & veggies taste yummy.

Chicken breast or beef (flank steak) sauteing with red and green bell peppers and onions.  The meat is cut in thin slices. (not tiny). Want it spicy?  Add some fresh sliced jalapenos.

The marinade - equal parts orange juice, tequila and Pepsi with a good splash or 2 of olive oil. 

I brown the meat first to get it cooking and to give it some caramelization.  Then I add the peppers and onions with some of the marinate so they cook in the liquid and not fry that long.  Once the liquid is evaporated the veggies will start browning too.

Heating a tortilla on the comal (flat cast iron insert from an old wood stove)

Guacamole is traditionally served with the fajitas along with sour cream and pico de gallo or salsa.

 I have what I call an Anglo mouth - meaning I can't eat hot, spicy food.  So I cook mild - no spice but then add the heat in for Gene in the salsa or by adding chile  / cayenne to the meat veggie mixture.

On The Run - Takamatsu (Day I)

Read my previous "On The Run" post too after finishing this. I had Yokohama and Yufuin posted up earlier.

We arrived Takamatsu quite late the night before and I hadn't had the chance to recce the route for my run. But lucky for me, the port is only 1km from our hotel and it looked like a good bet for a good running place for me.

Started out at 6.30am and it was still dark outside. I'm so used of vacationing in Japan on other seasons that had the sun rising at 5.00am, it was rather a bummer for me to see the still dark sky at this time. It's like going out for my early morning run in Malaysia. Except it's colder. Waaaaaaaayy colder.

Walked the 1km as my warm-up and after seeing a few runners passed me by, I started my run from the Kotoden Takamatsu Chikko Station, past this art installation,

past by the rather quiet jetty with only a few ferries about, with passengers boarding them

up to the pier where the red lighthouse is, passing by men intently watching their fishing poles or putting baits on that cold Monday morning and plenty of people having their morning exercise and then double back and ran towards the apartment complex by the port area and then, head back to the lighthouse for a few more loops.

I was huffing and puffing doing my run yet many doing their rounds look so relaxed and they were way faster than me! Oh gosh! I probably looked like a lumbering bear there. (T_____T)

I probably won't see such scenery if I'm not into running and willing enough to wake up early. Watching the sun rises over the horizon while doing something I enjoy - priceless! And being able to share my experience makes me happy.

And that's why folks, I always run with my compact camera in hand. Yes, while running in road races too. ^^. Saying that, I probably should get myself a waterproof camera soon. I don't know how long my compact can withstand being drenched in my sweat. xD

WOW: Transforming this Blog into a Book

My fifth and final resolution for 2012 is to write a book. 

When I retired about 8 years ago from the Philippine business landscape, I  wanted to teach some, cook some, paint some, and write some. Well, my report card shows that I passed! I taught in three Seattle learning institutions in 2006-2008, married Bill in 2008 and have cooked  our meals since (I am so glad Bill eats anything!), and have sustained this blog for almost 2 years, satisfying my artistic bent with photography and my literary desires by thumping thousands of keystrokes on my laptop. Looking back, this cruising lifestyle has been just a shade less hectic than my driven years. And, I have 3 options for the future: continue this, truly retire, or try something even bigger!

A bigger idea is to transform this blog into a book! Now that we have some 2 months left in Florida, I might find the time to come to a decision point. After all, I already have about 160 pages written into this blog. I just have to find a good thread that will weave the posts and tie everything together. As I reviewed the books on RVing that are out in bookstores and Amazon, they all fall into 3 types: a compilation of adventures and commentary, a personal story, or a ‘how-to’ book. You cannot depend on me about how-to’s (Bill says my mechanical IQ hovers around 28) so which of the first two will it be?

Just Compile the Posts or Tell the Underlying Story?

There are many things unique about our situation that can be a springboard for good weaving. I am a late-age immigrant from 10,000 miles away here in America in a late-age marriage. We both retired from previously very driven lifestyles into the American RV community that is 95% white with many constraints: cozy living (115 to 350 square foot cozy), few sustained friendships, constant changes, no consistent health care or ministry and the distance of family.

Will a straight compilationof the two different kinds of posts in this blog (1) our lifestyle adventures, OLA, with the vivid descriptions of places, people, and activities and the 2) wonderings on wanderings, WOW, which are candid commentary on the cruising lifestyle be a workable thread? Will our unique perspective prove interesting for the melting pot of an American audience? Judging from the mild reception to this blog, it may not be good enough!

Or would adding the personal story that is going on behind the scenes be a better hook?  Does the excitement of RVing (seeing many interesting sites, learning about history, discovering great institutions, and good products, meeting interesting people, showing our children more of the country) compensate for the constraints of this lifestyle (health issues, immigration problems, emotional and social conflicts, financial constraints)?  Will it make or break our quest for a happily married life?

But even if the personal ups and downs will make the book very exciting, shall our personal problems be too uncomfortable for me to share?  More precisely, will Bill, a very private person, like my accounts of them? Do we have what it takes to write a book about the reality of our ongoing struggles behind the hoopla? The first option is definitely much easier to achieve! Maybe it should be somewhere in between!

Self-Publish or Seek a Publisher?

But the other dilemma is this: should I self-publish or seek out a publisher that will be willing to invest in the idea? Self-publishing will print a book faster but marketing will be more difficult. But then again, I really am not dreaming of producing a best-seller! Seeking a publisher requires patience and determination and may take months or years. But, then again, you get a lot of professional and expert advice and marketing from an established platform will be a lot easier. This is the decision point where I will be more stuck, I believe. It is a hard call to make.

Truly, this is one time that your comments shall be most appreciated! They may just get me unstuck!

Cover Story - Yokohama

and random stuff found under our feet walking in Yokohama

The real Nippon Maru is located a few hundred metres away from where I found this manhole cover. The ship is now on permanent display in front of the Yokohama Maritime Museum.

The Yokohama Bay Bridge; a cable-stayed bridge opened in 1989. Can't help but think of our very own Penang Bridge when I see this.

By the way, I managed to get a few people at the office excited about entering the Penang Bridge International Marathon this year but I have yet managed to convince my own family to at least drive over to Penang and be there in Nov 17 -19 this year!

p.s. this is another series I've got, after Autumn Reminiscences and the ongoing On The Run series. ^^

1950s Comic Books / Part One

After we inherited my parents house one of the things we found was a stack of old comic books that must have been mine back in the 1950's.

Most are yellowed and I do not think there are any that are collectible ones.  They would be fantastic for scrapbooking or crafts like decoupage. 

These comic books will all be listed on eBay over the next few weeks. 

Beetle Bailey

Archie's Joke Book - Also has Betty & Veronica and Leroy

Blondie - Plus the Flop Family

Dagwood

Elmer Fudd

Aunt Fritzi Ritz, Nancy & Sluggo

Zane Gray's King of the Royal Mounties. - Ha - my Dad must have stuck this one in!!

Little Audrey - With Tiny

Little Lotta - Includes Richie Richie and Jerry the Jinx

Tom and Jerry - Also has Droopy, Mouse Musketeers, Wuff Prairie Dog, Fuzzy Wuzzy, and Spike & Tyke. 

I hope seeing these titles brings back memories like it did for me.  If they do, please like.  Thank you.  

On The Run - Yufuin

Read my first post of this "On The Run" series at:
On The Run - Yokohama
to know why I'm all excited about doing morning runs in Japan. ^^

I didn't really have running gear suitable for the colder season and buying new ones would be such a waste since I'm only using it a few times so to keep me warm, I just put on my Uniqlo heatech shirt and another shirt on top it and my usual capri pants.

Started later than I wanted because I overslept. I trust my body-clock to wake me up and I'm usually  awake by 5.30am but somehow only managed to be up at 7.00am that day!

Zaini and I went out at 8.00am (after having a soak in the hot spring water to warm up my muscles. heh) and headed off to nearby Lake Kinrinko. Had an hour of leisurely stroll around the lake area and decided to return to our hotel when tour buses started disgorging tourists to the area.

Zaini returned to our cottage, while I started my run along from the hotel along the small river that leads out from Lake Kinrinko and made a bit of detour towards the paths towards the fields but I didn't stray too far from the river. Don't want to get lost now, do we?

I don't know what it is with people and asking me stuff, but I have had encounters when I ran around Presint 5 in Putrajaya (where people might come and visit the Pullman Hotel and Putrajaya International Convention Centre) and gotten stopped a few times either for directions or being asked to take their photos. Heck! I've had a guy asked me for the time when I was running in the Putrajaya Night Marathon! Like, seriously?

So while pounding the road there, which by 9.00am were already busy with visitors in tour groups with guides armed hailers and the like,  I avoided any eye-contact with all of them. Yes, nobody got a "ohaiyou gozaimasu" from me when I'm running. Though plenty when I was walking with hubby.

45 minutes later while I was doing my cool-down walk towards our cottage, two Japanese ladies with a map asked me for the way to a temple (or something of similar nature) nearby.  I was naughty. I let them finish their sentences before going with my usual "aaa.... Nihongo de wakarimasen".

Sights Around Albuquerque, NM

New Mexico State flag - the Zia symbol.  In Jan. 2012 the 100th year of state hood was celebrated.

I was so fortunate to live in the "Land of Enchantment" for over 42 years, the longest time was south of Albuquerque.  Each time we go back now there are things that we took for granted when we lived there. 

I could write a whole blog (and may do that one day) on all the comments we got from relatives and friends in NY after we moved 'out west'.  

A few short ones are that we were asked what kind of stamps we used and how could we come back and forth to NY so often.  NM Magazine used to have an article in each issue - "One of our 50 is Missing!'' 

These are just photos from us riding around the city and doing some remembering, a few weeks ago.  There are tons more pretty things to see and do in that whole area.  One is the Tramway at the top of Sandia Crest. 

Chevy on a Stick - northwest corner of Gibson and San Mateo.

The famous McDonald's where the women spilled hot coffee on herself and got paid millions of dollars  in damages.  It is just across street from the Chevy - Northeast corner San Mateo & Gibson.

Frontier Restaurant - across from UNM on Central.  Best Cinnamon rolls on the planet.  When we lived in Los Alamos my SIL would bring a box of these up to us when she came to visit. 

Los Cuates - a NEW Mexican restaurant - on Lomas. When I was one of the managers at a hotel in Abq., the crew of Air Force 1 would stay with us. Clinton was President then and they would always have our shuttle take them over to Los Cuates to get take out for the President.  This happened several times!!

I just can't mention Albuquerque without saying AmerAsia - a Diem Sum restaurant.  It is usually the 1st place we go to after our 6 hour trip down there.

And framing the city to the north east is Sandia Mountain.  The tram goes up from the west side and there is skiing on the east side.