Notices by Patrick Lam :tinoflag: (va2lam@mastodon.nz)

@skinnylatte I read "pointer" and was like "huh?" I do very much appreciate having a printer around.

@skinnylatte is it like Costco in some ways? Do you go to Costco? (I don't).

@skinnylatte here's my take on Costco/In N out: good salaries, low prices, often car accessible. The difference is quality of goods? Costco is high quality I understand.

@skinnylatte Costco without a car?

@sindarina @skinnylatte heavy? I optimize for weight with my Sony alpha gear...

@skinnylatte Vietnamese curry is not the same as Japanese curry but closer to it than South Asian curry...

@skinnylatte I've read that good pho broth is supposed to be clear also. I'm not sure I've had that, though it's not really on my actual criteria I'm looking for with pho.

@miado we used to complain about low quality reviews for programming languages venues but I haven't complained recently; people have talked about rebuttals putting some pressure on reviewers to not say false things

@trib @epicdemiologist @lazerwalker a US website says us$179 for 2 with their coupon (!!!)

@trib @epicdemiologist @lazerwalker I recently took a wilderness first responder recert in Canada following the WMA curriculum. They recommend carrying 3 doses; biphasic reactions can occur minutes to hours later. They also recommend (with MD approval) antihistamines and steroids in the wilderness setting.

WMA does the injecting-an-orange lab in case people have the non EpiPen form.

I also found out that in NZ EpiPens are publicly funded.

@atsuzaki @skinnylatte every way?

@skinnylatte my great-grandfather lived in Canada for a few decades but spent the last few years of his life in Vietnam. Health system was surely less good but maybe that didn't matter. He did have family still in Vietnam, though of course lots in Canada as well.

@skinnylatte @mayintoronto this sounds plausible: https://www.parkkitchen.co.nz/menu in Miramar, though no Brussels sprouts currently on the menu?

@skinnylatte @mayintoronto Wellington is not that. There are a couple of places with acceptable banh mi, but I wouldn't write home about it.

Wellington does have a lot of Malaysian places. (https://thespinoff.co.nz/kai/07-01-2025/how-wellington-became-a-cornucopia-of-malaysian-food-2)

Kitchener, Ontario has one quite good banh mi place that has been around for a while, which makes classic banh mi, as well as a decent new place. Maybe others that I don't know about.

@skinnylatte @mayintoronto this was this best banh mi (in Winnipeg)

@skinnylatte @mayintoronto I've had four banh mi's in a weekend.

Spotted today in the Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā before the rain:

1. mama paradise shelduck / pūtangitangi with a bunch of chicks (papa was nearby of course) #BirdsNZ
2. Chris Hipkins #NZPol

No points for guessing which of these is depicted in the picture.

@mayintoronto @skinnylatte speaking of food courts, my friends took me to a really good Caribbean place, Tropical Joes, in the Gerrard Square Shopping Centre in Toronto (total 90s vibe). Jerk chicken and rice and peas good, chickpea curry excellent.

@skinnylatte my parents feel that way about sushi in particular.

Had dim sum for lunch today with them. Definitely not cold sandwiches.

May photos post. Here we go. I processed lots of pictures this month.

https://patricklam.ca/post/20250601-may-photos/

Let's start with some highlights from Aotearoa...