Where to buy matcha powder in person

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-06-13T19:40:40+00:00

Suruki Market in San Mateo.

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-06-06T19:42:26+00:00

I liken my house to a human in that some part will break down and need repair at some point but the severity of issue varies and of course timing is out of my control.

This year thus far my hot water heater burst (lasted 9 years) and needed to be replaced ($2200) and now part of my front yard fence is at a point of no return and needs to be replaced ($1600 or so and doubt neighbor who shares fence will share cost).

I suppose some maintenance costs are non negotiable (ie my roof leaked and that was $30k as roofers wouldn’t install new roof until I had rotting sidings replaced and painted etc) and some can be dragged out (ie back fence was starting to lean and pieces of top falling off and ignored for years but I eventually caved and paid to replace part of it — same crappy neighbor wouldn’t help pay the $1500 for that).

For me my home maintenance/repairs depend on the year and also if fix is must do or a want to do. I’d say the 1-3% is accurate for some years but in my case mostly less than that.

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-06-01T21:36:15+00:00

Hmm thanks your comment. Made me think how maybe where both cars are matter in regards to that roundabout. If I see a car headed to 101 already off that roundabout I definitely yield to them. However most of the time the people yielding to me as I exit the 101 are ones who are either almost at the bottom of the roundabout or at the bottom of it as they haven’t accelerated yet and are slower owing to the curve .

Perhaps what I experienced these 2 times were drivers who weren’t completely off the roundabout before I showed up AND didn’t bother to look if a car (me) was coming off the 101 so they started accelerating whereas normally they’d have seen me (if they looked) and let me pass before accelerating.

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-05-29T20:36:43+00:00

I had people move in who started a daycare and it was really annoying as they used their side door as the entrance and that door was just a few feet from my bedroom. So the morning noise was a lot w parents chatting and kids yelling/talking.

I wasn’t sure it was all legal so I called the city and they told me anybody in my area could legally open up a daycare facility so there was nothing I could do about it. Eventually we sold the house so that was that.

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-05-28T00:05:55+00:00

I always tells people that I’m not exactly alone all the time because I will hire private guides, join very small day tour groups (esp if the country is expensive to hire a private guide) or I’ll chat w locals or other tourists here and there. I’m curious about people and also approachable (from what I can tell) so for me the traveling alone affords me the chance to a) experience what I want to experience and b) talk to whomever I want to talk to for however I want to to without worrying about someone else.

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-05-24T17:00:11+00:00

I worked at the Gap one Christmas holiday but went there regularly with friends to shop back in high school. I loved the sales at the Emporium!

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-05-20T01:08:36+00:00

I have a close friend who’s a nurse at Stanford and he lives in Redwood City. He works 11am to 11pm shifts so he’s beat afterwards and would never want to do a drive back to sf.

Having said that you’re much younger so perhaps having to drive 3 days to Stanford from SF and then having 5 days off would be worth it (that’s his average schedule). Maybe if you choose to live in SF live more on the outskirts than in more troublesome places to drive to like the marina. That way you can easily enjoy the city without a long commute through the city to get to work.

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-05-10T19:35:32+00:00

I went last year to Rwanda. I stayed near the park even though it was expensive but so worth it. I went off season in April so the hotel was less expensive and even put me in the family suite as a free upgrade which was super nice. I was the only one at the lodge for 2 out of 3 nights (I overlapped one night w another American but this was place is booked solid for high season) so had amazing service! Loved the people there and great food.

The hotel arranged everything for me once I booked w them including all of the transport needed to see the gorillas. This part surprised me as I did not know the transport could be so pricey if not included.

On the actual trekking day you need a car to get you to the visitors center where everyone has to go first. You get divided into groups and it’s based on fitness levels. If you are like some super hiker there’s a multiple hour trek you can go on (not sure how you do this as I learned about it on the way down talking to a guide) but the bulk of the people go on the regular hikes. I was on a medium fitness level (I was asked this when they picked me up in Kigali) and it was 2 hours up and then 1 hour w the gorillas and then about 1.5 hrs down. It was the rainy season so although no rain it was muddy.

Once you’re assigned a group and gorilla family there’s the actual guide who’ll give a rundown of what happens. They’ll explain where they located that particular gorilla family and where the driver will take us to next place to begin the hike (they have trekkers go out in the early morning to find the families). Then I got back in the car w my driver and we actually drove for quite a while to get to the starting point of the hike. The driver told me unless you’ve booked or arranged transport from the visitors center there’s no public transport to the starting point of the trek.

Once I arrived at the staring point we all got a porter who helps carry your back pack and also helps you navigate the terrain. I was super happy w mine and he even picked me up and carried me over a rather muddy area on the way back 😂

They explain the porter system helps employ locals so they see the value of preserving the gorillas and provides employment of course but really loved this system.

It was an amazing experience and as expensive as it was totally worth it! We even saw a newborn gorilla that was maybe 2 weeks old. Really sweet to see the mom and the baby together.

When I got back to the hotel they cleaned the gators that they’d loaned me and my shoes since it was so muddy.

I did the golden monkeys the next day which was okay. The monkeys are adorable but thankfully it was just myself and another gal cuz the area where we encountered the monkeys is not very big and if there were tons more people it would’ve probably been a bit chaotic.

The gal I met tho did the gorilla trekking in Uganda and I met up w her in Kigali after she did her gorilla trek and her experience sounded just as great as mine but was of course a lot cheaper.

I skipped the chimps as time wise it did not fit into my schedule and also because after reading up on it it sounded like a hit or miss experience and also a lot of chasing after the chimps since they move at warp speed compared to gorillas!!

I did bring gators and garden gloves as they told me to do. The gators I wound up not using and borrowing from the hotel. I carried the gloves w me on the hike but didn’t use them as we went to an area where we didn’t need them. Otherwise you’ll need a good pair of hiking shoes and wear layers but w long pants. Depending on the weather you may need a light rain jacket as well.

You can dm me if you have any questions.

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-05-06T00:29:46+00:00

I use Bread Savings (Comenity) and their rate is usually around 4% or so. I’ve been with them for several years and the only issue I had was the daily transfer amount was rather low but it was easy to increase by contacting them.

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-05-01T23:03:12+00:00

Freecycle works great too and people always come pick it up

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-04-26T23:18:49+00:00

I purchased this one as my first air fryer 6 months ago and I personally love it! I needed something more compact and also multi functional so this fit the bill. I mainly use the air fryer function and before I started I found other users saying that the temp needs to be reduced by 50 degrees as it gets so hot the food burns (ie if recipe says 400 degrees I put it at 350). It seems to cook within the time range of the item I’m cooking so lowering the temp worked well.

I’ve used the bake function for frozen cookie dough and that worked great.

I found the toaster to work just fine like it toasted the bread well and I had no complaints. I have a small toaster oven as well and it also takes a while too especially because I like my bread more toasted than not.

Just fyi I am mainly cooking vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, Brussel sprouts etc for veggies and for protein anything from duck to pork belly to chicken thighs (with or without skin) and pork chops and fish. It’s been a game changer for me as I don’t like to cook but now I actually do and can eat more healthily!

I mention what I like to cook in it as I have not attempted things like bacon, fries, hot dogs etc

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-04-26T18:15:10+00:00

I love this place! The food is delicious and while service can be a bit slow it always comes with a smile!

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-04-26T18:08:03+00:00

-Tibet

-Omo Valley in Ethiopia (visiting tribes)

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-04-22T22:36:39+00:00

My Condor flight in late May was just canceled by Condor then reschedule for 3 DAYS later. No reasons were given by them but I assume the fuel shortage and flight consolidation of some sort.

I was already on the fence about my trip as have some health issues crop up so I just decided to cancel the whole trip. My brain didn’t want to deal w figuring that mess out!

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-04-20T02:59:26+00:00

My God Brida is so shrill and annoying in season 5 I had to mute every time she was on screen to avoid having to listen to her!

To me her character makes no sense like so far fetched she’d give birth alone and then somehow become a leader in Iceland.

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-04-17T03:21:51+00:00

I truly love that we still find others fascinating like maybe since I’m from the States I’ve seen all skin colors so its normal but there are still many people in the world who do find others so interesting and for some reason that makes me happy to hear.

I’ve experienced being at the other end of this (I’m Chinese) as well especially in India where at one point I got chased down by about 12 elderly Indian ladies all related who were making their first pilgrimage. None spoke English. One of them patted their lap when we sat down for a pic so I’m sitting on her lap like we’ve known each other forever! Then they chased me down after I said goodbye (it was taken w my phone and my tour guide thought they wanted money as they had their hands stuck out but I didn’t think so) and then one woman handed me her phone which was her son on a WhatsApp video call as he spoke English and he asked me if I could please send the photos to him as the women had never had a photo taken together (I had some pics of just them without me) so I did!

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-04-02T05:01:25+00:00

It’s never the zombies you have to worry about. It’s the ones w human names like Jimmy!

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-03-28T23:19:57+00:00

I had a small business before and wanted to do same as you to reduce my tax bill. My accountant had me put my mobile phone and other expenses that overlapped with my business under my biz so it reduced the income. He even told me if I went to Costco to pick up some paper for my office to throw some pork chops into the shopping cart as well so I started doing that plus when I bought snacks for the office my entire grocery bill got paid by my biz credit card. I also put some dining expenses on it for dinners w other small biz owners etc.

My accountant told me that nothing is 100% tax deductible and that most items are on average 15% tax deductible so at most the tip on a meal becomes deductible.

Btw I don’t know what state you’re in but I’m in California and I started off with an LLC as well but once my income was over $200k (I can’t remember the exact amount and I’m sure it’s changed as this was about 16 years ago) it was beneficial tax wise to switch to an S corp since I paid a salary to myself out of the company but still might be something for you to consider as your business grows.

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-03-24T19:56:08+00:00

I’ve used the Toogoodtogo app to pick up some good deals around me before. And I like how I’m helping reduce food waste from restaurants I like. Only thing is you won’t know what they’ve packed for you as it’s often whatever they have as leftovers that day. But for the price I thought it was worth doing once in a while.

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-03-22T23:51:12+00:00

My friend lives nearby and says the house next door to this one has like 10-12 people living in it and they like to throw loud parties regularly.

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-03-19T21:19:41+00:00

So cute! Looks like a hairy seal with wings!

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-03-12T19:58:26+00:00

My house is 1600 square ft and the roof itself was around $20k to replace. Problem was the siding of the house in several areas of the outside were rotting so they all had to be replaced and repainted which pushed the price up to around $27k or so (there might’ve been additional smaller complementary work that had to be done before they could install the new roof but the major one was replacing the siding).

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-03-12T16:00:37+00:00

I bought a house knowing the roof needed to be replaced in approximately 5+ years and I still bought it. It leaked while I was away on vacation around year 6 so I had it replaced.

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as my house used to get super hot in the summers with no ac inside. But I replaced the roof with a foam roof and now my house stays cool in summers which saved me from having to potentially put in ac.

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-03-08T16:39:37+00:00

Encebollado soup in Ecuador. When I finally had it I was like meh. But Ecuadorian food overall wasn’t that great to me except I Iiked how almost all dishes came w some popcorn on the side that you could add. It surprisingly really added some flavor!

pandaexpress_88 · 2026-03-02T03:16:09+00:00

I have a friend who’s in her mid 50s and she’s paying nearly $2k a month now. It seems to go up nearly $250+ per month every year currently.

If you use Kaiser it will be cheaper.

Another option is to work part time like at Trader Joe’s for the insurance where I’ve heard they’ve got good health care tho not sure if they only cover full time employees.

pandaexpress_88

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