Fire Forty Six

I was planning to sign-up for Kaggle further down in my data science learning journey, only after I had built up sufficient foundational knowledge and skills. However, I decided to take a quick look under the hood, and found that it was surprisingly easy to get started.

Installing Anaconda Individual Edition

Learn

August 13, 2020January 22, 2024 Alvin Lee 2 comments

One of the first tasks is to set up a programming environment on my personal laptop so that I can start coding as quickly as possible. For data science purposes, you can’t go wrong choosing the Anaconda Individual Edition.

It’s open source, free for individuals, has more than 20 million users worldwide and comes with all the key components and packages needed to get started in less than 30 minutes.

Nasi padang is our happy meal

Food

July 29, 2020July 13, 2022 Alvin Lee

We discovered Butterscotch on foodpanda earlier this March when we were searching for new places to try, and since then we’ve made seven orders. Which works out to at least once a month, sometimes twice, and by now, we’ve tried almost all their dishes.

Studio Ghibli movies from 1984 to 1989

Others

July 13, 2020February 17, 2022 Alvin Lee

It’s been more than a week since we started on our Studio Ghibli movie marathon and we’ve finished the five movies released in the 1980s. For each one, I’ve created a simple graphic using poster images by Studio Ghibli sourced from the internet, added the year released, director, film duration and wrote a synopsis in 5-7-5 haiku verse.

It’s not just a respiratory disease

Health

July 8, 2020February 17, 2022 Alvin Lee

When the virus first spread, the prevailing consensus was that it was a respiratory disease, but more and more reports are indicating that the virus attacks more than just our lungs. Science published an article on 24 April 2020 that foreshadowed this development. It was morbidly, but aptly, titled “A rampage through the body”.

Embarking on a Studio Ghibli movie marathon

Travel

July 2, 2020February 17, 2022 Alvin Lee

Pop quiz. How many anime movies has Studio Ghibli produced?

Eleven days in Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto

Travel

June 27, 2020May 6, 2024 Alvin Lee 2 comments

After you’ve been to Tokyo and Hokkaido, the next logical region to visit in Japan is Kansai, where the cities of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto are all within a short train ride of each other.

Okonomiyaki so good, we had to go twice

Food
Travel

June 25, 2020July 13, 2022 Alvin Lee

No visit to Osaka is complete without having okonomiyaki, one of the city’s signature dishes. It is greasy, crunchy, tasty and made right in front of you on a sizzling hot plate. There are carbs, veggies and meat in one messy package, making it a complete meal.

Different shades of Kaiseki in Kansai

Food
Travel

June 22, 2020May 6, 2024 Alvin Lee

Kaiseki-ryōri (懐石料理) is a multi-course meal that highlights local ingredients through different tastes, textures and techniques. Each restaurant will have its own take, while still keeping within the broad confines. They don’t repeat, but they often rhyme.