mmm...dahl!

Recently I have taken up cooking. You know - moderately - once a week. But once I make something - I make "for a village". So I am reasonably well-fed these days.
Today's topic was DAHL aka Lentil and Spinach curry.
I have been wanting to do it for ages. The love for it comes from amazing veggie-restaurant "Perfection. Satisfaction. Promise", where Leslie and I occasionally go. I always get half-half of Dahl and Avocatofu on sweet potatoes. It's SO delicious!
Anyway, when I saw Dalh recipe in this super-awesome cook-book of Sujeeve's, the plan was "cooked" - I will make it.
The lentils I purchased already the day I bought the wild rice. And today was the day to make it.
Here's the recipe, if you wanna try it too.
You need:
1 cup of yellow split peas (soak overnight)
1 ounce of spinach (226 grams)
1 chopped onion
1/4 cup of tomato paste
1 teaspoon of turmeric
salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons oil
4-6 cups of water
1 tablespoon of ground garlic and ginger
garam masala - it's a magic indian spice mixture. I think it means "everything". I made "my own" version of it due my kitchen lacking it. It contains: cumin, coriander, cardamom, black peppercorns (who are they?), cloves, cinnamon, grated nutmeg. I added all of the above (except peppercorns and cloves) in a grounded form (cardamom I had in seed form and they were too tiny to crush them) and in random quantities.

How to make: Fry onions until soft. Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add tomato paste. Add lentils. Mix well. Add water and stir well. Bring to boil. Add spinach. Add all the spices that you have not yet added. Cook on medium heat for 30 min or until lentils are soft.
And voila - ready!
It is DELICIOUS!
So delicious that I forgot to take a picture.
***

Otherwise life is good as well. Saturday was just gorgeous and so warm (as I said). I went shopping and bought a beautiful skirt. So now all I need is a dinner invitation. And then later we went to Dorota's to have the first burger of the season. It was delicious. And we had equally delicious sangria and chatted. We celebrated the Earth Hour and played the game called "What". Lots of fun!
But I did/do miss Kullionu... I have not seen this girl for way too long.

Sunday was gray and rainy. But I did some cleaning and worked out. Over the last week I worked out 4 times. The crazy thing is that my virtual trainer actually guilt-trips me when I miss a work out. Crazy. Little cartoon character and so powerful.
Later I met up with Ali-Chuma and we played pool and had a beer. I was on some sort of lucky strike - I won 5 games out of 7. And once I even got two of the balls in at the same time. Good times playing and it was good to catch up with Ali.

Today I had a meeting (clinical review related) and after chatted with Juzer. I have not talked to him for a long time either. He has lots of great ideas:) Even my future brightened up:)

Kullionu sünnipäev

Today is Kullionu's birthday!!!
It's a GORGEOUS day in Ottawa in her honor. It is super sunny and it is SO warm - like plus 14 degrees. It's amazing!
Kullionu - soovin, et Su sünnipäev oleks päikseline ja rõõmus! Ja soovin Sulle hästi vahvat uut eluaastat! :)

And I'm heading to Dorota's place for some delicious sangria and snacks. And for good company!

my bed misses me

it's almost 7 am... I had a short nap last night - from 11 pm to 2 am or so. I guess, actually it's not THAT bad...
But the nap was required after I had spent another short night last night plus I worked all day with my manuscript. First on my own, then from 3-4 we had a meeting and from 4.30 to 9 pm I was working on it with my Supervisor.

I am tired...

and at 8.30 I have to be in the lab teaching... these students better behave.
and then - then I will re-submit my paper:):):)

another good weekend

This last weekend was good. I did lots of non-work stuff.
I went for another run.
I cleaned my apartment (even washed the floors).
I made a delicious red curry with pork, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, pineapple and pepper. So good!
I worked out with my virtual trainer Maya.
I went for a lunch with Amber, whom I haven't seen for ages (she's in medschool now). We had lots to chat about. And most importanly, chatting with her helped me to decide about my future. I am so much more clear now:) And my confidence is back! (after it was gone for a few weeks).
I also read a bit fiction.
And I analyzed close 2000 EST sequences - aka did some science too.

Ah, and on Monday I had fried platan (wild friend of banana) with honey. It was delicious!

And now I still have to do the final touch-ups on my manuscript... I have put A LOT of work into thisone. And I think it's quite a nice piece of work, too :)

clink my glass and drink, unless there's poison involved

So apparently when you are following the "continental etiquette", you are not supposed to touch any other glasses after the toast. One should just gesture their glasses upwards, look the other guests in the eyes (something people in North-America never do, and I try hard to educate them), and smile.
But the interesting part is the origin of the clinking glasses (I found it from Sarah's note).
Imagine I was Hundionu, some impressive general and I met Alexander the Great during my travels. If for whatever reason we happened to have supper together, I’d have my wine in a small wooden cup while he’d be given an enormous golden goblet. Before drinking, Alexander the Great would likely smash his goblet into mine, mixing the contents of our two glasses together. It turns out that this gesture is an ancient poison detection method. He could tell immediately by looking at my the fearful in my face, coupled with my refusal to drink that I had attempted to poison him….
Neat, eh?
So yeah, next time you drink with me, better taste your drink:)
And look into my eyes before you cheers:) I wonder what is the origin of that... I guess the same poison story - it's hard to look into someone eye, when you are about to kill them...

happy spring

The spring is here!!! And not just on calender, but outside too. So nice!
I celebrated the spring arrival with the complete exhaustion. I had to finish a draft of my revised manuscript by Friday. I had a meeting with the co-authors. It was Thursday at 6 pm, and I had almost nothing. Then it was 9 pm, and I couldn't still focus. And the time kept going and I was too stressed and couldn't calm down. So I had the fight with myself until it was 4 am, and I finally got into the groove. And I did have stuff to present at 1 pm. There still work to do though...

I also participated in an experiment as an subject. You know, the commercials sometime say, that this product kills 99.9% of known bacteria/viruses? Well, one lab on my floor actually does this kind of studies. And they test it on humans. So they put Hepatitis A virus on my fingers, then applied the product for 15 seconds, and then eluted it. And this is how they will determine, how many virus particles dye and how effcient the product is. That was my good deed of the day.

After work we went shopping with Dorota, Nat and Teodora. Nat found a 30% coupon from Esprit, so we went. I found a really cute and comfy shirt. Originally $50, but outlet price was $34, and I got extra 30% off. Excellent deal, me thinks. And then we celebrated in Starbucks.

I got home at 7.30 or so and headed straight to bed. I was really tired. I wanted to get up at 10 pm and do something Friday-appropriate, but thought then - what is the point. And continued sleeping. At 4.39 some people decided to make fireworks on Nelson st. It scared me quite a bit. Crazy people.
But my dreams were so nice! I was down-South at some place. With Dorota and a bunch of other people. And there was a big ocean and big waves and a beach. And our hotel was like 50 m from the ocean. And there were palm trees. And some people played volleyball. And there was a big ship with hardwood floors and it was like a restaurant. The sun was shining. It was all so amazing! I hope it will continue tonight!

kiss me, I'm Irish

Ok, ok, I'm Estonian, but that's almost like Irish. So kiss me :)
Happy belated St. Patricks day to everyone!!!
It was yesterday, March 17.
The day here was amazingly beautiful - sunny, +11 degrees... very nice. Last year, and actually past 6 years the temperature has still been in negatives and even snow has been falling.
Yesterday I was wearing my green-brown skirt and a green sweater that matched so well. I think I looked quite chic.
There was lots of house/yard parties and "happy" (beer induced happiness) people in my neighbourhood.
For my European friends - St. Patricks day is the celebration of Irish in everyone - so it's an excuse to wear green and wear shamrock (prefereably the ridiculous-one and on your head) and leave work at noon to get very drunk. Ah, and they serve green beer too.
So it's a happy day.
Usually after 6 there is not much point to go to Irish Pubs, as they are simply too full. That's why I haven't been much part of these celebrations after the 2003 incident where someone stole my stuff...

I celebrated it quitely, at the Cafe Nostalgica with a pint and half of non-green beer. It was nice.
Until I got myself into trouble. So there's another thing to be taken care of. Oh well...

weekend not too chabby

I think I can be quite happy with my weekend. To top up yesterdays updates, today I:
* went for a run with Vanja. We did close to a 5 km loop within an hour, and close to a half of that we were actually jogging. I have never done running like that. And it felt good. And the weather was amazing! I felt inspired after a read a book "Up and Out" by Ariella Papa. I guess I'll see how long I can keep it up:)
* updated my CV and actually submitted it to Careers in Europe, who is going to have a Career day in May. That is my VERY first step in applying for jobs. Yay!
* finally sorted the Panama pics and put them up.

So all and all - I have been good:) Perhaps I should have a drink:P

Hundionu does Panama

I am still peeling, so it's not too late to post my emotions from my long awaited vacation.

So, from Feb 25 until March 2nd I was in Panama. It's 4 more hours to South that I have ever been (Niagara falls was the most South so far). I went with Dorota and her family. So there was 9 of us - eight polish people and one estonian. One 5 year old and the rest adults (from 28 to 47 years).

The flight was leaving at 6.30 am from Montreal, so that meant that we needed to leave Ottawa at 2 am, which meant that no sleep that night. But I was too excited anyway. And then - 5 hour flight and 50 degrees into the positive side on thermometer later - we were in Panama! It was SO nice. Warm! And sun! And we got cold beer! Life was amazing! Once we made it to our hotel it was even better. We were served a tasty beverage, got wristbanded and got the keys to our rooms. I got to change into a dress and flip-flops and that was the most I was wearing during the following 7 days and nights. The first night I was so excited that I couldn't go to bed. So Remek and I were drinking and chatting until they closed the bar.

Tuesday
Breakfast I was puzzled over the fruits. Hmm... there are dark orange melon pieces and light orange ones. Well, lets take both. And then I learned that the dark one was papaya! Oh my goodness - I LOVE papaya! It was my nr 1 dietary item for the entire week.
Then we went to the beach. It was overcast, but I still put some sunscreen, as I knew that the clouds do not keep UV away. Well, obviously I was not very skilled in sunscreen applying, as I was half-ready-to-be-served-lobster by the night. But it was ok.
The Pacific ocean was amazing! The water was so salty, that it crystallized on the skin, when it tried.
We had an amazing lunch and dinner at the beach Grill-restaurant. It was right at the ocean. Really nice! And the food overall was really tasty. But what was even better was the unlimited drinks. I consumed a lot over the week!

Wednesday
We went to visit Penonome - a city nearby (circled on the map). It was cute little city. Sort of dirty, but that was because the carnival had just ended the night before. I didn't do much shopping, but just wondered around. I loved the market. There's something about the markets that I really love. There were these 2 dudes having a long chat with me (on the picture). I only nodded and smiled and I was hoping not to agree with something crazy. They probably just wanted to marry me:) And then there were 2 younger guys who peeled an orange for me and gave it to me. It was so tasty. They also kept smiling and chatting. And I understood nothing. When one of them opened the car-door and indicated that he wants to take me for a drive, I thought that it's my cue for "Gracias muchos" and "Ciao" and off I went.
On our way back we stopped at the Cigar factory. It was cool to see the instruments and techniques for cigar making. And I got to smell all different tobaccos from Cuba and Costa Rica and Panama... And got a crash-course how to make a cigar. The neatest part was the final wrapping into this leathery tobacco leaf - it's like true art. Night as usual was spent at the disco. Part of it I spent sitting on the beach with drinks alone and thinking about life.

Thursday
My anniversary - six years in Canada. I celebrated by deep-relaxing on the beach and drinking cold beer all day. The dinner was had at the Mexican restaurant.
By the end of the night I almost went to sing karaoke. If only I would have found a song a knew... the only one I recognized was "Gaudeamus igitur" (the anthem of students in Europe, in latin), but I thought that perhaps it's not appropriate. But the disco was dead that night. And by the time I got there even Carlos had left... So I went for a "walk on a beach" (nothing besides the actual walk happened).

Friday
Relaxing on the beach all day!
After lunch Dorota and I decided to go for a quick trip to the nearby National Park in Anton Valley (circled on the map). I had figured out that we can just take the normal bus and go on our own (the organized trips were 40 USD). All we had to do was to walk from the resort to the Pan-American highway. It was a nice day and at the beach it was breezy. However, about 5 minutes out of the gates of the resort it was VERY hot and the sun was just melting. We forgot to bring water. And so in the end we just walked until the star on the map, and then turned back. I think it was the smart decision:) But at least we had an initiative. But it's so hard to motivate yourself to hike through the crazy heat, if you could just lay at the beach and have a cold beer...
So we continued with swimming and drinking. The best part was swimming in the ocean at the sunset! I could have just stayed there forever. Or until I would have turned into a mermaid. It was just so beautiful and peaceful!
At dinner with my "te con lache" (tea with milk) came a note from one guy who was working at the buffet restaurant:) I think he has big hopes... but we have this language barrier on our way.
Later at the disco: I was dancing with a little older guy Fernando. He was married and had kids and knew English, since he had lived in the States. At some point he suggested a walk on the beach. We went. And then he decided it was the best moment to make this huge leap in our relationship and kiss me. I was not too impressed nor interested... so we returned to the disco shortly and I escaped. Later I met this doctor from NYC. He asked me to guess who he was, and I guess that he's a car salesman. It was a good guess in a sense, that this dude had way too much confidence in himself. Perhaps I am just evil.
Later that night I went skinny dipping in the Pacific ocean. It was so much fun!
And on my way back to my room I was offered a ride to my buidling by a security guy. I was not sure (due to language barrier), whether I am in trouble (for being out late and not wearing my bikini) or does he want to make friends. I never really found out.
The theme of the night was "Kapirovski" and "Bahalamama". The first one was this drink with rum and lots of lime and some sugar. Very tasty. And I think that also very healthy! Lime is good for you, right?!

Saturday
Dorota and I went to visit the Panama Canal and Panama City. The Canal was quite impressive. It's HUGE (80 km long) and it was built 100 years ago. Quite an elaborate project. It used to belong to the States, but since 1999 Panama has the rights its canal. And it's good for them! In average, for one boat to go through, it costs $200 000 US dollars. It has to be paid in cash before and if you are late, you lose your money and spot in line. About 40 boats can go through the canal per 24 hours. It takes about 10 hours to get from Atlantic to Pacific or vice versa. And currently they have crazy expanding plans, so that they could let more boats go through and that they could save some water. Currently they use the fresh water and with every boat about 197 million liters are being flushed into the ocean. Not very environmental, is it? So in the future the Panama canal should be more efficient.
Just to compare - it takes about 3 weeks to go around South America and it's about 2 million dollars in cost.

The Panama city is basically one big construction. It's mainly due to having all this money now. And the taxes are only 5%. Not bad, eh. Lots of canadians have bought a condo or something like that in Panama. It's not a bad place to live.
The mall was quite similar to Canadian one. Lots of similar stores. And they had all the fast food places that Ottawa has. But the Artisans market was amazing. Lots of "molas" (the pictures made of fabric). I bought a few molas's too:)
The night - we had an amazing dinner and then Dorota and I had lots to drink. The theme of the night was "Cosmo on the rocks". We enjoyed the show with all the flames and stuff - very neat! And later we met Martin from Chech Republic, who may come to work in Ottawa. Dorota and I danced and it was a great night:)

Sunday
Relaxing at the beach. Drinking beer and kapirovski's. Enjoying pool and ocean at sunset.
There was no disco, but I finished the night just at the bar. There was the Eastern-European crew and a few more people. Carlos left at 1 am, but poored me and Jonathan a few more drinks ready:) We enjoyed the beach and chatted. Too bad I didn't meet him earlier... Eventually I never made it to sleep that night:)

All and all it was an amazing vacation! I loved it! I thought that I am not someone who could be just on the beach for 7 days, but yes, I can. Even for 14 days, if possible:)

And here is the progress and the proof that I did tan over this week: Also, as I am a biologist by heart (next to being microbiologist of course), I do love all the birdies and animals and plants. The pelicans and tucans were the highlights for me:


And - there are much more pictures :) (<--click on the word "pictures:). I only took about 650 and I only managed to reduce the number to 187... But still:)

are you a white person?

Everyone has their set understandings of some ethnic groups. All latinos are always happy, always late and they dance very well. Asians tend to be slim, well diciplined, not tolerating alcohol, often geeky. But what does define a white person?
One guy started a list of things that you should do/like if you think you belong to this category. If you have time, it's a pretty funny read: stuffwhitepeoplelike.com
There are some things that I highly agree with.
Such as:
* Tea - I love tea! Especially all the "cool" sorts, not just the simple "red rose" or "lipton"
* Traveling - no extra comments needed
* Microbreweries - I like my beer and I like it well done
* Not having a TV - I don't have one. And I have recently met a number of people who do not have one. I guess it's becoming a trend of a sort.
* Theatre plays - I really like plays and used to see a lot. But Ottawa does not provide too much theatre wise.
* Apologies -this is something I need to cut down of. And apparently it's a common train of a WP.
* Study abroad and Grad school - well, I'm the living example
* Grammar - I do look for spelling mistakes everywhere (not that my own spelling skills are excellent), and I feel accomplishment when I find one
* Appearing to enjoy classical music - I like it. Now. But I still should do it more often.

And there are some things that defines me like non-white.
* Ugly Sweater Parties - Even though I like costume parties I haven't understood the point of this style. So, no, I don't like them
* 80's night - everyone seem to like them, but I am not a fan... perhaps I got overexposed during the real 80's.

restless

I had an awesome tropical dream last night... But now I feel so restless... I've done almost nothing, but I think it must be spring. In short my recent endevaours:
- I did 15 minutes of yoga (and some other exercises too)
- Vanja and I enjoyed the sunshine and had a splendid tea on the market
- I participated in a social experiment in the Rideau Center
- I receievd an awesome postcard greeting from Luxembourg:)
- I had drinks with Anastasia and Co at the Chez Lucien and then headed to her place to have a delicious meal of Baltic sea seabass (e.k. = ahven) that Paul prepared and some amazing spicy Cesars and wine. So very nice evening (Friday).
- I made a delicious wild rice and grape salad from Sujeeves cook-book (page 29). Really tasty! And of course, as usual, I made enough for a village. Almost made enough for an anrmy, when I misread that take 3 cups of rice instead of 3 cups of cooked rice. Cooking multiplies the rice significantly.
- I had to be a genetics expert for one project which is lead by MDs (me? an expert? well...). So I had to do some hard-core preparing to know some stuff about thiopurine methyltransferases and needed to bug my good friend about Hardy Weinberg equilibrium (Thursday)
- I had a fun night with Sophie at the Cafe Nostalgica with food and drinks (Wed)
- I had a drink with Adam at the Cafe Nostalgica (Tue)

I also haven't mentioned yet that last Saturday was the 7th Wild Game Dinner. The porcupine and bear balls were my favourites. But there was also llama and emu and rabbit and elk and bison etc. It was a wonderful night!
And the night before it was Miss B's birthday. Leslie and I attended and it was fun with lots of good acadian food (poutine - aka potatoe dumplings with pork and seafood chowder and a chocolate cake). We also met Miss B's mother:) I hope our road trip to Acadian Wolrd Congress will happen this summer. And the highlight of the night was Leslie and I making pillow-houses on the couch with a little 5 year old girl who only spoke French:)

here again

So - talking to smart people may be incredibly useful. I had two somewhat official talks with 2 profs (one from my thesis advisory committee and other one from my floor) and this made me feel significantly better.
I feel much more clear at what I may like in the future and a have slight idea how to start with my future. So this is good. And I am making dinner. That is a big achievement! It's lasagne.
And I love how there is so much more light after work now!

So now I just gotta keep it up:)

Song of the moment: The Cat Empire "Hello"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vW7eLX2EXc

no longer there

Ah, what a "lazy" day... I am so out of motivation. It's is BAD. I have a list of things to do. Important things. And I just cannot make myself to do them. I seem not to care. Even though I do care. I'm just too overwhelmed by everything so I just stand, eyes wide open and watch.... the life pass by.
I need help, but I even don't know where the help is or how to get it. I need this daze/haze to pass.

Happy Womens Day

To all my girlfriends - I wish a wonderful and sunny and beautiful Womens Day!

Estonia is an European champion

Again! We are GOOD!
This time Mike Pahapill got a gold medal in heptathlon (like decathlon, but with seven different things/seitsmevoistlus) and Ksenija Balta got a gold medal in long jump! I am so happy and so proud of my country:)

wanna go to Estonia? Try this and you may make it for free:)

If you are not an estonian, then you are free to try your skills in Estonia-related trivial pursuit. Here is the link to visit: http://quiz.mfa.ee/quiz
It is really simple and you may win a free trip to Estonia.
Two years ago Neil gave it a try and a few weeks later Mrs. Moose gave him a call with good news. He went to Estonia and had an amazing time! Even though it was winter at the time:)
So try it and spread the word!

From Panama sun to Canada sun

Wow - such transition from +30 Panama to -15 Canada is harrrrd. At least it was sunny and not too too cold in Ottawa on Tuesday. I guess I also brough quite a bit of heat with me from Panama - a part just stored as in a battery and a part in a form of a sunburn. It's 5 days later now, and my legs are just starting to look normal (and tanned):)
But I do look pretty good in my tan, I think. I have not been that dark for a long time. Or perhaps never. It feels good!
But, besides dealing with the temperature changes, I got a bunch of bad news... First, there was a sexual assualt on my street in my block. So now I have been worried at nights. Second, my manuscript got rejected (first I felt devastated and worried for my thesis being rejected too, but then re-read the comments and the manuscript got rejected mainly due the grammar and clarification issues. Still sad though.). Thirdly, I had asked my friend to book me the physiotherapy appointment for any time after 4th and She had booked it for the 2nd. I was still in Panama then. Thus I missed it. And the fourth e-mail was from a boy...
Im sorry i havent responded, im just really busy, and I think this is a problem in all my relationships. I need to tell you that i am not ready for a serious relationship, something I feel you are looking for. You are a wonderful person, which is why I think its best to stop things at this point before we went any further, before I disappoint you further. I know this email is a cowards way of doing things, but it would be worse if i saw you and left things unsaid, as i think i would. I hope you understand... i am really sorry. (Why, oh why? And why does it feel like I have seen this already and not only once? At the same time though - the earlier I know the feelings of the other side, the better. I'm disappointed, but would have been way more disappointed, if the same note would have arrived after many dates. Anyway. Moving on, I guess...)

Ahh, how amazing it is to be back! ...Not.

Anyways, as the week progressed, I started to feel better about stuff. And I received an e-mail regarding my other manuscript, saying it needs revisions, but is nevertheless somewhat interesting. So moving on with my life.
And I am oh so ready for some bigger steps.