I wanted to get back to work fast so I made a super fast soup just now in 10 minutes flat. It was so tasty, it's all gone. I want to remember this soup on horrible days when I don't feel like cooking.

1. Heat the wok to a high temperature.
2. Add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
3. Immediately add some cumin and dried chillies
4. Add chopped red onions. Stir around till coated with the cumin, chillies and oil.
5. Add chopped ripe tomatoes. Stir around for a minute or so. Smash the tomatoes.
6. Add pre-roasted acorn squash. Stir till incorporated into the tomatoes and onions.
7. Add pre-cooked quinoa.
8. Add a generous quantity of fresh basil.
9. Add some water (preferably water that has been used to cook beans or lentils)
10. Salt to taste.

And you are done. Best soup ever!

Behold... and then behold some more!

Puffy and gorgeous

I am exploring options and wondering whether to switch to mobile broadband completely. I looked at these plans:

I don't have a data plan for my smartphones yet because I use them as fancy alarm clocks and never really carry them around. I don't like having a "phone" on me. I guess it's because I don't like talking over phone AT ALL - which is a funny excuse considering only a handful of people actually have my phone number and I don't talk to them using the phone at all.

I exclusively voice/video conference through Google's services or very rarely through Skype. I am subscribed to pre-paid international talktime via Google which enable me to call family using any internet access anywhere. {I think it doesn't work without internet access - in which case, I have emergency international call minutes from Reliance.}

According to this tool:

• I occasionally stream videos - almost all from youtube.
• I seldom stream music. If I do, it's from pandora.
• I never use apps or play online games.
• I send and receive photos, files and documents all the time (with more documents than any other kind of files - but they obviously don't factor this in).
• I surf the web all the time. Eh? Who doesn't. Everything is online. I wonder what their definition of "surfing the web" actually is.
• I check email all the time. I am always connected.

My monthly estimated data usage is 8.27 GB/month. Does that make me an average or above-average user? I wonder...

I still don't know if I really need mobile broadband internet access. If I do get a mobile internet plan, I am not sure it makes sense to have the wired plan as well. I am thinking about this because mum wrote to me today about how she has finally ditched traditional wired access for a 3g/4G enabled USB mobile broadband access - as the primary home internet connection. She wondered if I could do this in US at reasonable costs.

Do any of you use 3G/4G networks for internet access at home through your laptops? Do you find these mobile broadbands completely replacing the need for your wired DSL/cable-modem access? What are your data estimates like? Which mobile and traditional internet providers are you with?

I am not entirely sure exactly when it is but I think this is about the right time.

First, I got some random people to pose for you.


Then, I baked some cakes.
Cake 1

Cake 2


I got kind of carried away. Two more.
Cake 3

Cake 4


Then I realized they are not really good for your teeth anymore. So I threw a party on your behalf because I don't like cakes too much either. These people came.


Thankfully all of them were very fond of cake. When it was all gone, we realized we HAD to do something special for you, our birthday boy in absentia. So we then did some communal and healthful art for you.


One of my guests decided that was not personal enough. So you got this mugshot:


Some of the younger guests thought all that was too sterile and made this instead:


Overall, all our sentiments are summed up (in a non-fire-hazard way) as:

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NB: Stolen from around the web. You know who you are if it is yours. Quit whining.