in the late morning i started preparing my next batch of sichuan paocai. first i took out all the old vegetables from the paocai jar. i made this batch on march 17th, so it's been 2-1/2 months. the vegetables are still edible, although the carrots and daikon radish are a touch soft, but only because they were already soft when i added them initially. there was a tiny amount of yeast floating on top, which i heard is harmless and a sign of active fermentation.

i was scooping out the vegetables with a plastic ladle, but because it didn't have any holes, i had to tediously drain the liquid with each scoop. next time i'm in chinatown i should look for a cheap spider strainer that i can use, or buy a sieve ladle online.

once that was done, i started chopping up the new vegetables: taiwanese cabbage, daikon radish, thai chili peppers, and carrots. the only way to properly fit all the ingredients is by dunking my hand into the brine. the 7 lbs. cabbage was too much cabbage, and i ended up only using 3/4. the massive daikon was also too much radish, and even though i cut it in half, i only used up less than half of that half. i also had some leftover carrots, but as the vegetables settled, there was a bit more space and i managed to stuff the remaining carrots. by the time i finished, my hand was hurting from getting brine in the micro cuts. i vowed to wear gloves next time.

i started at 11am and finished by 1pm. i took a short break, then started on my second fermentation project, making some yangbaechu kimchi. good thing i could use the leftover cabbage and daikon. i chopped up the leftover cabbage and the other cabbage into squares, and the daikon half into cubes. from the combined cabbage-daikon weight, i figured i needed 6.33 tbsp of kosher salt to proper reduce the vegetables (using the ratio 1 lbs. vegetable : 0.54 tbsp salt : 1.3 tbsp of pepper flakes). this part went quick, just half an hour, as i mixed the vegetables and left them to reduce. originally everything was in my large stainless steel bowl, but i had too much cabbage and daikon, that i needed to split the portion with another plastic tub.

so while my vegetables were reducing, i packed up my drone and tablet and took the motorcycle to belmont, to test out the DJI fly app on the new tablet. first thing i noticed when i went inside the house was the second gardenia flower bud had blossomed, after aborting nearly 15 seemingly healthy flower buds. if we're lucky, the remaining flower buds might also open.

when i went into the backyard, i saw a rabbit just hanging out on the lawn. i slowly grabbed a bamboo stick to drive it away, it ran towards the direction of the bamboo grove then disappeared. a rabbit simply doesn't disappear, so i looked for a hole. sure enough, behind the lily-of-the-valleys, was a small hole where we didn't put down any chickenwire. i blocked it with a large rock.

while hunting for the rabbit, i spotted a new bamboo stalk pushing up against the southern fence. i was just going to wait until the weekend to dig it up, but bamboo can grow so fast, if i wait a few more days it'll be even bigger. so i grabbed a shovel and started redding the trench around the bamboo grove. eventually i hit the underground runner and dug around it before pulling it out of the ground. luckily this was a short runner, and i managed to pull out the whole thing, it hadn't yet escaped into the neighbor's backyard.

only then - nearly half an hour later - was i finally able to test the tablet with the drone. the tablet managed to connect with the drone, but i wasn't getting any video feed. i quit the app and restarted the remote, but still no video. only after i played around with the gimbal did the video finally come in. although the screen of the ASUS is very bright, it was still no match for direct sunlight, and i found myself ducking underneath the shade of the maple tree to see the screen. a larger screen meant i couldn't simply just use my hand as a makeshift visor. everything seemed to be going smoothly, until i noticed a video freeze. it was only for a few seconds, and i regained control immediately afterwards. it also didn't seem to freeze my tablet, and i was still able to swipe down to access the menubar. plus, it was at the outermost range, and the video could've froze simply because it lost connection, not an app crash issue. the app did freeze again later, and it actually exited, but i logged back in. i also noticed instances were the video stream became pixelated when flying close to out of range. i nearly used up the whole battery, and by 5 minutes the remote controller was beeping and initially a return-to-home. by the time it landed, the battery level was already at critical with just 3 minutes of flight time left.

so the verdict is still out as to whether or not the ASUS zenpad Z8s is 100% compatible. could the delays also be a processor issue? the ASUS uses snapdragon 652 while the pixel 3 XL has snapdragon 845. i might also want to try flying with the samsung S9+ and the moto G7 again. when i tested them before, it was on a super windy day so i only launch it in the sky and then back down again, didn't really do any stress testing to see how well it does with distance and photo/video.

even though i sprayed some immunox on the grapevines last sunday, a noticed a few suspicious spots on some reliance grape leaves. it may be something else, or the beginning of black rot spots, too early to tell. june is the time i'd normally start seeing disease spots. i'll have to keep an eye on it to see if they develop further.

i left by 3:30pm. i stopped by the cafe to show my parents the new tablet. my mother initially thought i bought an ipad mini. my father had put out the wild tomato seedlings in the parking lot by the sidewalk with a sign that says "free tomato" and already 6 had been taken. i suggested the tomatoes be kept inside, so customers can pick one up when they make or pickup an order. my father made me a bowl of beef noodle soup which i ate before leaving. i hadn't eaten all day (not even a matcha latte), and at one point in the backyard i did feel a little lightheaded.

i got back home by 4:45pm. i started preparing the remaining yangbaechu kimchi ingredients. portions were pretty much the same compared to last time, however i only added a tbsp of shrimp paste because i thought it was a little too fishy the last time. i finally finished by 6:15pm, filling up 2-1/2 containers with kimchi. i only wore a glove on my left hand so my right hand can still take photos, but at one point i had to use both hands to scoop the reduced cabbage and daikon with the other ingredients.

watching WCVB evening news, tonight was the first time the anchors were allowed to sit next to each other, and meteorologist harvey leonard was back in studio, after having been broadcasting remotely from his house for more than a year.

for dinner i ate the last of the leftover barbecue. i started watching the HBO movie oslo. is it based on true events? i purposely didn't look up any info so not to spoil it. i also had that can of pennywort drink i bought a few weeks ago. i was expecting it to be sour sweet, but it actually tasted a lot like sugar cane juice, with a hint of indescribable herbiness. it wasn't bad, but i'm curious if pennywort is actually that sweet, and how do people drink it traditionally.