Category: Slice of Life

Updated Backpacking Kit

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/17 sec, ISO3200
 “Packed Up” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

So I’ve been organizing my backpack kit a bit more, and focusing on weight so that the hiking is as comfortable as possible. It’s definitely not an ultralight kit, but I think it is a reasonable combination of cost, comfort, and weight. It works out to be a ~21 lb. base-weight, which is not too heavy.

It seems that there’s a point (differs from person-to-person) where the price of the ultralight gear takes off and it becomes too expensive, especially for someone who doesn’t camp/backpack often. For a through-hiker who is spending months on the trail, every ounce saved is very important so they are more willing to spend the money to save weight. But for me, I fall somewhere in the middle. There are always chances to save weight in the future as the wallet allows. 😊

I made a spreadsheet in Google Sheets to track all my camping gear, but I also have my stuff on Lighterpack.com which makes it easy to swap pieces of gear and create lists for each trip, scenario, or however you want to group your gear together. It’s really convenient! I’ve embedded my “Solo Pack” below:

Chicken Tikka Masala at Home

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 19mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO5000
 “Homemade Chicken Tikka Masala” Cedar Park, 2019

Tonight I made Chicken Tikka Masala from scratch, using this recipe. It turned out great! The procedure is pretty easy, as long as you have the ingredients. Mariko made naan in the cast-iron skillet, and we also had a pre-made mattar paneer to round out the meal.

I’m not sure if chicken tikka masala’s origin is India or the UK, but it’s delicious and a favorite in our family. It’s so satisfying to cook from scratch too. 😊

Marimba Recital

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 19mm, f/5, 1/8 sec, ISO800
 “Marimba Recital” Cedar Park, 2019

This afternoon we hosted a marimba recital at our home. One of our friends is a marimba instructor, but she didn’t have space to hold a recital, so Mariko offered the use of our home. We don’t have too much space either, but I guess it’s a little larger and we have a nice marimba for the students to perform on so it worked out to be a nice solution. In addition to the students performing, Koa and another high-schooler performed a couple of pieces, and Koa and the instructor even performed a Christmas duet. It was really cool!

I enjoyed the holiday recital, and hope we can host more of these, as long as there are not too many students. 😆

またね～