This photo was taken in October of 2010 when I was there with my friends Harry and Peter. What an usual scenery taken from Sausalito. It was fast approaching the evening and we could see a cloud cover rolling in and also a very colourful sunset over the bay.
Enjoy the scenery! We sure did.
And I plan to be back there again real soon.
More to come... Stay tuned.
I discovered that peaches come in generally two types - white and yellow flesh. What we typically get here is the white flesh varietal. In this case, we get ours from a local wholesaler who brings in from California from the Wawona Packing Company. Air flown from California, these peaches are the Snow Blaze White Peach variety. Red fuzzy skinned on the outside and creamy white on the inside. To determine the ripeness is to smell the fruit where the stem was. If it smells sweet and aromatic, it is ripe.
I believe the picking and packing is hand done. Peaches are susceptible to bruising during transport if not handled properly. They ripen quickly in warmer temperature so keeping them out of the fridge for a day or two after arrival will ensure a ripe fruit.
All peaches are quoted with edible wax prior to shipping. The box also states it contains Fludioxonil - pesticides used. So it is best to wash them thoroughly prior to eating as one would for all fruits anyway.
The type of peach is called Snow Blaze and I understand there are many other types of peaches all with very unique names. The skin is fuzzy and the peach is firm on the touch.
When the fruit is cut, it reveals a creamy white flesh, juicy and firm to the bite. It is not as acidic as the yellow flesh varietal and definitely adds to the sweetness. The seeds are easy to remove and while my wife removed the somewhat fibrous insides, I eat the half cut fruit the way it is. And make sure you have tissues nearby as they are really juicy!
See how small the seed is?
Some interesting information about fruits - more than 70% of peaches are grown in California and most of them from the central valley area surrounding Fresno. The only difference between peaches and nectarine is in the skin - nectarines are smooth skinned while peaches have a fuzzy skin. But apparently, nectarines are sweeter and more aromatic. See the difference other than the size?
There are more than 200 varietals of peaches and they grow between April-November each year. There is even a law determining the grading of peaches!
In this case, each box contains 34 peaches. In order for any variety to be marked "California Well Matured", the peaches have to meet certain requirements - (i) free from insect injuries, (ii) free from serious damage due to cuts, skin breaks, growth cracks, bruises, (iii) final determinations on maturity through the use of color chips etc. These are some of the stringent requirements to be met. One more look at the peach.
Yum!
The House of Lange is German engineering at its best. I have always admired the brand, technical expertise and the range of watches they have. I yearned for one of their beauties and when I finally got my hands on one, a sense of accomplishment. Here's my favorite Lange piece. The 1815 Chronograph.
Many thanks to my friend Professor Harry Tan who took these pictures at one of our get-togethers. Over drinks, dinner and a nice cigar came these pictures. This white gold beauty has been discontinued and a newer version of the 1815 chrono has been introduced.
And now for the movement side.
I was contemplating between the rose gold black dial version versus the white gold silver dial version and settled for the latter because of the beautiful blued hands.
Taken at the same dinner was a photo shoot courtesy of Prof Harry Tan. Take a look at the poster of some of the collectors and see if you recognize any of them.
The year end dinner was held at CHIJMES, Chef de Tables.
Actually, they do have enough to eat but I still see members of the public throwing food out of their vehicles to amuse their children... They just don't learn.
Picture taken on my regular jogging route along Lower Peirce Reservoir. It is an interesting running route - plenty to see and clean air too. More of that to come in another post.
Thanks to my friend Prof Harry Tan who captured these shots in an earlier meeting with Reed.
The first piece, which I have since passed on to another friend, was a custom dial made to resemble an "aged rusty" dial. So I asked Reed to design a special dial - I left it to him to come up with the design and after several tries, this was the result.
Reed calls this the Pyramid dial. As to how he came about this design, all he will tell me is that it took a lot of hard work and some luck to come up with this dial. Mounted on the watch is a Unitas type movement, slightly decorated and runs well. I believe he sources his movements from China.
Impressed with his effort, I asked that he make another one. So now I have a set - one for me, and one for my wife. Mounted on Number One is genuine croco strap with matching color stitches - courtesy of Jason of JnS Strap. And on the Number Two is strap made from a baseball gloves.
I wear the Pyramid regularly especially on the weekends when I dress down and want something different. I shall be posting more Reedsco specialized dials in future posts. You can visit his website at Reedsco
Since I started collecting cufflinks in 1994, I have amassed more than 1,000 pairs of cufflinks. I house them in several cases - three custom made to house trays of cufflinks sorted by category. Among my favorites are mechanical watch movements and ceramic tiles. Some I made myself too. Today, I am featuring the first part of the mechanical watch movements.
Many of these cufflinks come elaborately engraved and some skeletonised. One of my favorite is this pair of skeletonised movement cufflinks. Wind the crown and the balance wheel will oscillate.
A close up of the movement.
This one is the automatic version. See how the rotors are engraved? Not exactly Swiss standard of engraving but then again you can't tell from a distance. These cufflinks are made with China movements - likely Seagull movements. Each cufflink is 2cm across.
A pair of steel and rose gold plated automatic cufflinks. The balance wheel oscillates when the rotor winds the main spring.
There are those which is octagon shaped - AP looking pieces. Similar ST6 movements mounted on the cufflinks. Comes in four variations - steel, black, yellow gold plated and rose gold plated. Shown here are the steel ones.
These are some of the earlier pieces - round cufflinks with mechanical movements. This one without rim.
And this one with the blue rim around the cufflink.
Then there are the smaller oval shaped ones - also with moving balance wheel when fully wound. This one steel.
And this one rose gold plated.
Then there are those with gears - non-moving though. But a nice addition to any collection. This one here is a square piece.
And the round equivalent.
These are the first of the watch movements type and will be posting more of them periodically.
The Atmos was first introduced by Jean-Leon Reutter in 1928. Called the Atmos 0, is was encased in a bell jar and air tight sealed. However, the Atmos did not take off until JLC took interest and worked with Reutter to modify the mechanism. The first JLC Atmos was shipped out in 1933 and like they say, the rest is history.
This is a simple Atmos with no complications. But the mechanisms look wonderful especially on closer inspection. From what I understand, a single day of variation can power the clock for up to 30 days.
Measuring 19.5 x 17 x 22.5cm (L x W x H), this Atmos requires very little adjustment. The accuracy of this clock is remarkable - I only need to adjust every two to three months. Some remarkable information - the balance wheel of the Atmos oscillates twice per minute and consumes 100 times energy than a wristwatch. Plus, no lubrication is needed for this Atmos and the slow moving parts in seems has very little wear and tear. I just wish wristwatches were like that too.
Another close up shot of the mechanism.
And another look at the Atmos clock. Sits proudly in my living room right beside the Baguette Clock. One day, I look forward to owning another (complication) Atmos.
Many thanks to my friend Prof Harry Tan for lending his expertise in producing these wonderful pictures.
Mangosteens are supposedly "cooling" in property as opposed to the heath fruits like durians, mangoes and lychees. So when one eats too much heath stuff, one needs to balance it with mangosteens. Because it is in season, several stalls sell mangosteens and the purple skin are a sight to behold.
You can see from the green stems that the fruits are fresh.
When you peel the mangosteen, be careful the purple sap. They stain your clothes and it cannot be washed off.
The flesh is soft, juicy and sweet. You can taste a tinge of sourness but overall, they are sweet. The correct way of eating is to wait for the green petals to turn slightly brown and that is when it is at its sweetest.
I was told the rambutans are also nice. But alas, my luggage can only take that much fruits. And I am also not a fan of the rambutans even though I was told these are superbly sweet and in this case, grown by the seller in their orchard.
Rambutans remind me of my childhood years when we used to have a rambutan tree growing in our backyard. Plenty of black ants when the fruits are in season. But when there are no fruits, a good place to practice climbing. Way before rock climbing became a sport!
And I am looking forward to returning to Or Tor Kor Market for another marketing trip. Who knows what's next.
Between Chatuchak and Or Tor Kor, I take Or Tor Kor hands down. Not as crowded and always full of seasonal fruits. How can one forget about the mangoes in Thailand. They have several types of mangoes including some varietal imported from Australia and now grown locally. Red skinned and almost oval in shape, I was told they are grown in the northern parts of Thailand.
Then the regular mangoes. And again several types and sizes but the kinds they have are just so sweet that it is like drinking honey. The flesh is yellowy orange in color and each fruit is about 350 grammes - pretty large and much flesh. The kernel is rather flat so you get a lot more flesh.
And my favorite dessert… Mango with sticky rice and coconut milk.
And the star of this season must be the lychees. These are the varietals from Thailand. As juicy as the ones from China but their seeds are much larger. The Thai varietal are not as sweet as the China ones but they are just as juicy.
The China lychees are packed in a cane basket and weighs about one kilogram each.
And my are they sweet, fleshy and juicy!
Next up will be the post on mangosteens. Stay tuned!
