Hi, if you are an immigrant to the US and you don't have lots of resources ($ or access to lawyers), I am happy to do a call with you to tell you about what I know, and to also help you look at immigration resources together. DM me
#USA #Immigration
Nothing tells me I’ve learned to cook at a level that pleases me, as when I was finally able to do consistently simple dishes really well. One of my comfort foods is spaghetti aglio e olio, and when I finally made one that felt like something I would pay for, that made me happy.
Like when I finally managed to cook all kinds of rice well
#Food #Cooking
I love seeing old film photos of mine. Reminds me of past lives.
From one of the first rolls I ever shot as a teenager: Cambodia in one of the Angkor temples (around 2004)
Something about the colors and ‘look’ of the film photo makes it more visceral to me, like I can remember that memory better
#BelieveInFilm #TootSea #Cambodia #Photography #FilmPhotography
https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/112/149/050/772/414/788/original/8328a3da1b3407b1.jpeg
I don’t know who spread the rumor in the west that rice cookers are simply ‘unnecessary single use gadgets for foodies who eat a lot of rice’, I think of them more as ‘versatile device for depressed people with no (emotional, not literal) spoons’
Put rice (don’t even need to wash it), water, place vegetables, meat, tofu, eggs. Add soy sauce. Close the lid. Walk away.
And if you get a nice one: cook rice and eat off the cooker even 3 days later.
Even the cheap ones are so handy.
#Food
I’ve had some pretty violent shit done to me for my racial identity here in San Francisco, but I’m actually much more angry about the guy who house sat for me, left it in a dreadful state, but said he couldn’t clean my house after leaving it in a mess because I was an Oriental Beauty and he was simply a white man who could never live up to my exacting Oriental Beauty standards
(In.. 2022)
(I made him Venmo me for cleaning. He.. left like ten fully burnt potatoes in my oven over a few weeks)
When I was in Singapore last week I found myself talking to many younger people who wanted career advice. Many of them felt constrained by the environment they (and I) grew up in: one that demanded returns on investment on every single action we made. ‘Does this internship lead to a prestigious job?’
I know I had a lot of privilege, but everything that eventually contributed to status / career came from the actions I took that I would call ‘returns on experiences’.
#TootSea #Singapore
This is my favorite boba shop *in the world* and they are finally opening.. in Cupertino
https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/chicha-san-chen-boba-18395463.php
Anyone who thinks the city has great boba needs to go there ;)
There's also one in SGV in SoCal
Each cup is legitimately a great cup of Taiwanese tea, brewed properly, not powdered rubbish.
#BayAreaEats #BAE #Boba
There is a guy boarding the plane with me to San Francisco who’s got a bunch of Aryan eagles and other Nazi tattoos. He’s got an American passport. I would make a joke about how it’s incredible that they’ve got passports, but I’m aware that there’s coalition-building across the world for white supremacists at the moment (and Singapore is a transit point to Australia and New Zealand).
I hope I won’t be sitting near him
People who adore Musk, to me, tend to be older straight men who think they deserve be more successful than they are. (Which is a gateway to many other problematic ideas)
My mother uses a lot of Hokkien ‘sound’ words.
“This road has changed until (ping ping ping pong”
“This shop only sells (fee lee fa laa) things”
“Girl, don’t jump like that (ding ding dong dong)”
This device is a communal incense burner. Taoists (mostly) use them for offerings during holy days/ months, and instead of sticking wax and candles into the ground, they put their stuff in here.
(Yashica 124G, Portra 400, dev and scan by Whampoa Colour Centre, Singapore)
#BelieveInFilm #Singapore #TootSea #FilmIsNotDead #FilmPhotography #Photography #MediumFormat #Chinese #Taoism
https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/111/166/412/920/230/723/original/61fc1c7346d205fc.jpg
@7f537d63 They had a hawker then a stand alone near Kallang, which had far more outdoor seating. Could also be a bunch of other spots but feels like 30 years ago a foodie take on chilli crab would be that spot.
My film dev uncle in Singapore told me he’s been doing this longer than I’ve been alive (true) then said that he’s going to develop my 10 rolls of film and give me amazing scans today.
He even developed and scanned and returned my bulk roll film cassettes. Here’s a sample of 500T film he did. ECN-2 and BW takes a few more days than C41.
He has the best prices on film purchase, dev and scan (S$12/US$8 per C41 roll); best quality too. Noritsu HS-1800
https://maps.app.goo.gl/dbcFzDzoALwpvbyb7?g_st=ic
#BelieveInFilm
https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/111/163/287/747/769/501/original/c6d50ef14d6c3dc8.jpeg
My life achievement this week was feeding a tofu-skeptic friend 50 types of tofu while she was here, and now she’s tofu-obsessed (people just don’t know how to select, or cook, tofu, is my deeply held belief. There are hundreds of varieties and thousands of cooking styles, and it isn’t a meat replacement!)
In east asia, a tofu dish is also unlikely to be vegetarian unless specified (or a dessert)
There are many things I prefer about Singapore to San Francisco (food, density, transit, sun, weather), but I have to say ‘being able to have a good time for a long time without spending money’ doesn’t rank at all for Singapore. It doesn’t really exist.
*weather isn’t suitable for everyone, but I like sweating and I dislike wind and cold and I hate grey skies
Also in this regard I’m one of the few people who moved to San Francisco and finds it *cheaper* than where I come from
@7f537d63 Nothing remotely comparable or similar in the Bay Area to those styles. Maybe a black pepper style in Vietnamese seafood spots. That’s prob it
The most overrated food in Singapore is chilli crab. The worst places to try those are at the spots recommended to tourists. You’ll get charged $100-1000 (not a typo). The food is not as good as elsewhere.
Black pepper crab, white pepper crab, crab bee hoon soup, salted egg crab, Teochew marinated cold crab. Try those at Eng Seng, JB Ah Meng, Mellben, Uncle Leong, Ah Orh respectively.
For a not-restaurant setting, Chuan Loo Bee Hokkien Food at Old Airport Road, 01-111.
#SgFood #Singapore
For the last 10+ years, I have been advising a team in an Indian education nonprofit that I cofounded. My cofounder in Mumbai is maybe the only street social worker I know turned coding coach. She’s translated many American ‘coding for kids’ resources into Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati. She’s figured out how to teach kids from low income backgrounds with no computer, phones, internet at home. She’s teaching children of construction workers. She has public school pilots going. She’s wonderful.
Being in this island city state country is weird. Some years you come back and there are brand new train lines in places you’d never even heard of. Some days you return from a day out and there’s a brand new part of the neighbourhood that literally wasn’t there this morning. Few of the places or buildings that mean anything to me exist anymore. More and more, I feel like I’m missing a place I don’t even know anymore.
(Pic: brand new station and line in the heart of gay Singapore)
#Singapore
https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/111/136/896/005/135/479/original/faad934216f84f64.jpeg
Got to nerd out with an old Chinese uncle about darkroom practices. In Mandarin. Given that he’s going to develop 10 rolls of film for me, I feel like we are building a rapport.
Also, I’m getting whiplash just changing up my language and film scene. Usually, I only speak in English with American hipsters about film photography. Here, I’ve had to do it in Mandarin (they speak English too, it’s just.. easier?), and also in Indonesian a few days ago in Surabaya. Diff feelings.
#BelieveinFilm
Almost every film lab in Singapore now offfers ECN-2 dev and scan. It just takes a bit longer (a few days?) than C-41. The film photography renaissance is truly upon us. Going to drop off some motion picture film to see how it turns out (usually I do both processes myself)
Same in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia (places I know of and have checked)
#BelieveinFilm
Singapore architecture / planning thread:
(Not all toots are endorsements, just observations! Some things work great, some things are probably not)
1. ‘Dementia murals’ in the Stirling Road / Mei Ling St estate. This neighborhood is very ‘old’ and there is a project to create murals with items that older people will know (like this one is of traditional games). It’s called ‘dementia wayfinding’ murals.
#TootSea #Singapore
https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/111/129/204/663/440/168/original/98891e94705de7d5.jpeg
I was never much of a 'nature' person. I grew up in a big city. Then I moved to the Bay Area. Now, I wake up early and look at birds. And even take photos and videos of them!
Here, my first 'nature' video: my trips to the Farallon Islands
https://youtu.be/oDU_oPIzWVw
#Birding #BirdPhotography #FarallonIslands #Nature #Wildlife #TouchGrass #SanFrancisco #California #NorCal
Remember how yesterday I said my fave bánh mì spot in the Tenderloin is at a place that’s more like a Vietnamese senior community center, that I’m not sure I can recommend coz it’s hard to order without Vietnamese?
This is what it looks like.
I love this place.
#TootSea #Vietnam #SanFrancisco #MakanApaToday #BayAreaEats #BAE
https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/111/076/295/352/516/633/original/3263aac47a606111.jpeg
Every time a cyclist gets murdered, someone says ‘but have you thought about how cyclists are also assholes’
Fuck this car brain shit. If being an asshole was enough to be murdered over, most drivers deserve far worse. Most of them can’t even let a pedestrian cross a road properly.
Here's a cool picture from my Olympus XA2 the last time it worked (I dropped it, exposed this frame, and the meter has been wonky ever since. It's now in the shop, but I actually kind of love this pic.
(Olympus XA2, Fuji Superia 400 + lots of sun)
#BelieveInFilm #FilmIsNotDead #FilmMistakes #FilmPhotography #Photography #SanFrancisco #California
https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/111/060/266/104/624/269/original/1e927a2280dd046b.jpeg
In some queer spaces, people speak of running away to ‘better countries’ when things become really bad but (1) things are also bad in many of those countries (2) I don’t think all of you will legally or financially be able to go to those countries. The idea that fascism is an immigration hop away downplays how relentless fascism is, and how difficult immigration is
Historians and digital archaeologists of the future: in the 2020s, humans enjoyed posting about every infraction and query in their minds onto a site called Red-something (entire name of site is lost). Other humans then responded and told them, yes you are the butthole, or no you are no, in acronyms.
Ahahaha American urbanists and transit advocates get VERY salty when people point out that they should also look to East Asia, not just Europe, for transit inspiration
We adopted this lovely cat at a shelter 5 years ago. We’d just dropped off our dog for grooming, and Petco had a little area for shelter cats. She let out the cutest little meow. We had no experience with super senior cats (she was 11/12 at the time), but knew that she wanted to be with us. She’s now 17 and she is our precious Mila. She loves chicken, hates rabbit, loves tuna and she sounds like a gremlin when she plays. Senior cats are so rewarding to love.
#CatsOfMastodon #Cats #Torties
https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/111/054/439/661/098/723/original/5abc6f41e6009364.jpeg
Five film photos from Camp Mather, a summer camp run by the City of San Francisco for both residents and non-residents alike. Also some photos of Yosemite (Yosemite is a few miles away)
https://micro.popagandhi.com/2023/09/08/five-frames-in.html
#BelieveInFilm #FilmPhotography #CampMather #NorCal #Yosemite #Outside #TouchGrass #California #Mountains #NationalParks #Nature
My wife @f1d150d5, a psychology student, created a card game that helps therapists (and people) talk about grief, end of life care, and perspectives on life.
I am soooooo proud of her!! Currently it’s a prototype for class, but she may publish it in the future. Thanks to folks who helped on Mastodon! We got it printed on GameCrafter
#cardgames #gamedev
https://media.hachyderm.io/media_attachments/files/110/267/606/200/135/685/original/c4bdc30030c7ebe6.jpeg
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