4th of july at the white house… no, really

when my lovely friend ying asked me if i wanted to spend the 4th of july at the white house, i said, why yes, i would. this, the day after purchasing a patio set for my balcony to watch the fireworks at the park across the street from my condo. while i really wanted to spend the 4th with my new neighbors at this bbq potluck, i had to break the news to them and let them down easy. needless to say, they were understanding.

the journey there was not as smooth as one would hope (my connecting flight to dc from dallas was canceled due to the tropical storms so i was stuck in dallas for a night), but it was all worth it. and yes, i did see the president! granted it was from a distance while waiting for popcorn without my camera or phone, it happened in a split second (okay, a little bit longer than that). i could see him wearing white and waving at us. it was quite exciting. the celebration was a lot of fun and i think we all felt very patriotic.

there was beer, wine, ice cream, popcorn, cotton candy, and of course, commemorative cups! that was the best part. we got one of each color (blue & red) but i could see others totally hoarding them. i think i saw 20 cups at one table! as a government employee, she could only bring 2 guests and her office wasn't invited last year so chances are, she won't be invited next year. the security wasn't bad considering the scope of the event. even the transportation home wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. we took the metro and didn't make it into the first train but with some forcing and squeezing our way in like sardines, we made it into the second train. after a few stops, the train emptied out.

the next day, we headed into dc to have brunch with my friend stephanie and see her two babies. i think the last time i saw her was at her wedding back in 2008! i hadn't realized it was 6 years ago that i was last there. i used to visit more often.

anyway, there was the annual folklife festival that weekend. it was actually the last weekend for the festival so i lucked out. they highlighted two countries, kenya and china. showcased at the festival were food, culture, and their respective performance arts. there was a stage in a tent for each country with singing and dancing. it was fun and educational!

when asked what i wanted to do on my last day there, i looked up "things to do in manassas." and what was the #1 thing to do? the battlefield of manassas. why yes, please. it was fantastic! out here in california, we have missions to visit. on the east coast, they have battlefields! apparently, there were two battles at manassas. the history there is amazing yet unimaginable.

i had so much fun! and i hope to be back soon!

next stop: victoria, canada

caroline and i left for canada very early the next day. the night before, i stayed up late catching up with fred, her husband. he and i have very similar taste in music so we had a lot to talk about. our ferry was leaving seattle at 730a but we had to get there by 6a. on the ferry, there were four older women sitting next to us in a section of six seats. they told us they were childhood friends from missouri and in their retirement days, they take an annual trip with just the ladies. they asked if we were still in college! they were super nice.

the woman sitting directly next to me kept staring at caroline as she read her us weekly magazine. caroline looks up at her and smiles. she tells caroline, you know everything in that magazine is untrue, right? we agreed that it was trashy. then she continues to say, i know, my son is an actor. caroline proceeds to ask, is your son famous? the woman looks to her friends and they all give each other knowing looks. caroline then asks, can you please tell us who your son is? she answers, my son has six children with angelina jolie. her friend sitting next to caroline says, i changed his diapers. omg! it turns out that i am sitting next to brad pitt's mother!!

after we arrived, we checked into hotel oswego just down the street from the ferry terminal. it was very conveniently located. plus, we were able to check in early.

we were then off to make the most of our overnight stay and see as much as we could before our afternoon tea reservations at the empress hotel. we shopped, bought candy and fashion jewelry from a street vendor. we also came upon a street fair of chalk artists. finally, we arrived at the empress hotel for afternoon tea. our spread was lovely. it was a good thing that caroline thought ahead and made us reservations!

clockwise: they start you off with fresh strawberries and cream when you are seated. the top tier included french macaroons dipped in chocolate imported from paris, pink princess cake among other delightful desserts. the middle tier had scones with jam and butter. the bottom tier was the first one we worked on with a variety of five different tea sandwiches. the very best was the egg salad on croissant sandwich (the second to the last on the right in the image). mmm goodness.

for dinner, we intended to go to the brasserie l'ecole but got there 10 minutes after they opened and no tables were available for another two hours. we were too hungry to wait and looked for another place. the one thing i really wanted to try was poutine, which is a canadian specialty. i had poutine in a san francisco restaurant but it is nowhere near what it was supposed to be. we ended up at the local kitchen off of wharf street. they had poutine and there wasn't much of a wait. in the top right image, it's a close up of the poutine which is french fries smothered in cheese curds, bacon and gravy. it is extremely rich. that is why i ordered a salad for dinner but the poutine was too much. i barely touched my salad.

i was hoping to catch the ghost tour they offered after dinner but i didn't think i could walk for another 90 minutes, despite my comfortable shoes. on the way back to our hotel, the house of parliament is lit up. it was a beautiful end to a full day.

on the ferry ride back to seattle, guess who tapped me on the shoulder? that's right, mrs. pitt. turns out, she and her girlfriends sat right behind us so we hung out with them for the 2-hour ride sharing what we did in victoria and seattle. fun fun fun.

seattle in september

i have this friend, caroline and i know her from my san diego days after i graduated and worked at the scripps institution of oceanography. she was hired as my student assistant. i left my job and san diego some months after she started. after i left, we'd become friends.

in 2002, she was abroad studying in london and i'd gone there to visit her. and in 2006, after a breakup, i took a trip to chicago and saw here during my stay there. eventually, she'd gotten married and had a little boy. she introduced me to my good friend funie. in 2008, her twin sister grace, moved to the bay area so i'd gotten to know her as well. five years ago, caroline and her husband moved to seattle for his job at microsoft. on a recent visit to san francisco, she mentioned that they wanted to move down to the bay area. since i'd never been to seattle, i had to visit her... soon.

i booked a flight a month later scheduled to leave on the 14th. the only non-stop flight was one leaving at 6am. so i arrived there very early. it was so early that pike's place wasn't as packed as sardines, or as it usually is on a friday morning. caroline was very pleased about that.

we hit her favorite french bakery first to get some coffee and french macaroons. she showed me the original starbucks just a couple of stores away and we went across the street to pike's place. i went a little crazy at chukar cherries and watched fish being sold at the market. it was quite entertaining and impressive when they threw fish at each other. i kept my distance when we saw the walls of spit, i mean gum. that was truly disgusting.

we did a little shopping downtown and went to the space needle for our lunch which caroline made reservations to ahead of time. we started our lunch with wild salmon fritters. it was amazing. she recommended that i get something from the sea since that's what seattle is known for. so, i ordered the wild king salmon sandwich and fries with my bloody mary. mmm delicious. after lunch, we took the tram back downtown for more shopping. then we headed back before traffic was terrible. one thing i forgot to mention which you might notice is that the weather was fantastic! i was very lucky that my first trip to seattle was not a rainy one. i finally met her son, victor who recently turned 3. he is adorable!

labor day weekend in reno

finally, my high school friend with whom i have known since 1990 (and was a bride's maid in her wedding), invited me to her house in reno for the long weekend. originally, it was planned for the end of july which fell around the time of her husband's birthday. i can't remember when they moved to reno but it has been a while since they became nevada residents.

at my recent 20-year high school reunion, i sat with justine and dave and spent most of the time catching up with dave. i mentioned to him that i was interested in coming and visiting them one of these days at their reno house. since they worked and lived in the bay area during the work week and went home to reno every so often, i invited myself to hitch a ride with them. that was in june. despite burning man this year, we left on friday night and arrived before midnight. the way home was a different story. we had burning man spottings all weekend. you could tell because these cars were covered in a layer of desert dirt and most carried furry bicycles.

their house is huge and beautiful. there are two guest bedrooms, one man cave plus one and a half bathrooms on the first floor. on the second floor is their office and master bedroom. inside the master bedroom is a walk-in closet to die for, that was literally overflowing. it was ridiculous.
on my first day there, we dropped off justine's mom at the peppermill and headed over to virginia city. i am told that this is one of the oldest western cities in the country. though it is extremely touristy, people still work and live there. it really takes you back to the west. apparently, mark twain was born there. we also took the old school train (pictured) to where i was able to take a picture of view. also pictured is the old washoe club which is supposed to be haunted. and always fascinating to me though we did not make it inside.
we had dinner at the lodge near their house which is the only restaurant close to them. even though we were planning to go to the rib cook-off the next day, i had myself a kobe burger. the rib cook-off was in sparks, nv (right). apparently, justine and dave go every year. we looked for the longest lines as we hoped that was a sure sign that it was good. i had ribs and a guinness. i meant to take a picture of it but started eating it right away. that night, we had porterhouse steaks by chef dave for dinner. their neighbors ed and christy joined us. more mmm meat goodness.
on the way back (as well as on the way there though we took a different route home), we drove through the altamont pass and wind turbine farm. for some reason, these windmills and turbines give me such peace. i took a bunch of these from the car.

new york food!

after lewiston, debbie and i flew to jfk to hang out in new york city. we stayed in midtown close to hell's kitchen, i thought it would be a fun area for a first timer (my cousin's). we were there for a couple of days for shopping and eating. despite the sweltering heat (high 90's), we survived.

the first day, we came across some issues. baggage issues. apparently, our bags did not get transferred and were stuck in boston. they were not due to be delivered until the next morning. for dinner, we decided to go to becco for some italian which was conveniently located about two blocks away. they had this great prix fixe deal, all you can eat pasta, and $25 bottles of wine. we thought we were hungry enough but we were wrong. at least i was wrong. i could barely have a second helping. there were three different types, all but one was edible. the other two were bland and plain. honestly, we have much better italian food in north beach.

the next day, we ventured out for some shopping in the soho area. it was a lot of walking and a lot of sweating but hardly any buying. i was sorely disappointed. however, we coincidentally ran into debbie's friend, fred and his girlfriend kate, whom we were planning to meet up with anyway. after shopping, we met up with an old friend of mine, avi at barcelona bar in midtown. we had harry potter shots there. when avi asked what was in it, the bartender who was dressed as harry potter, answered 'magic.' for dinner, my cousin was in the mood for ramen. luckily, totto ramen was on the way back to our hotel. it was an hour wait but definitely worth it. as you can see below (in the center image), i had my ramen with avocado. it was mmm good.

clockwise from center: totto ramen in midtown; spring rolls, egg rolls, phở bánh mì and phở, all from nhà tôi in williamsburg.

on our last day, i thought it might be interesting to do something touristy, for debbie. we decided on going to the empire state building. i went to the empire state building previously in 2003 during my first trip to new york city. it was in february and freezing. i seem to only go during extreme weather. when i was there back in 2003, we went right before closing so there was really no line. this time, i was not so lucky. the wait was at least an hour and it was pretty packed. we managed to get some good pictures anyway. see my empire state building collage below. afterwards, we headed over to williamsburg in brooklyn to check fred's place, nhà tôi. as you can see in the food collage above, we had quite the feast. his specialty is the phở bánh mì. bascially, he puts the ingredients that you get in phở sans the noodles. it was quite delicious. so much so that i ate the entire thing plus some of the other dishes. the phở was quite hot to have in the heat we endured. his place is tiny and like an open stand, quite authentic feeling if you ask me. very good for people watching. we stayed for several hours hanging out with carl, the brooklyn artist and drinking margarita/mojito drinks. it was a tuesday during the summer and his shop was consistently busy. the next day, we left new york with a full stomach and money in my pocket from the lack of shopping!

new york... finally!

sorry for the delay... i've been quite busy.

this past summer (specifically at the end of july), i actually went on a summer vacation. it was the first real one since 2009. i went to new york for a wedding and a summer break. new york is not ideal for a summer vacation as it is excruciatingly hot. definitely not the weather for two spoiled, girly californians. i had a wedding to go to in lewiston, upstate new york. my dear dear muffin was getting hitched. and my lovely cousin came as my date.
lewiston is next to niagara falls. and we were very excited about seeing the falls. it was quite humid and cloudy at first, but the sun eventually came out and it was beautiful. we went on one of the tours and our bus broke down in the middle of the tour even though they promised we'd be through with the tour in time to get to the hotel and get ready for the rehearsal dinner. during the tour, we ran into ness and tahu who i haven't seen in ages! they too were coming for the wedding. if you look closely (or just click on the image with the terrapin point horseshoe falls sign) at the picture on the left, you'll see ness with her little ones and tahu walking along.
we eventually left the tour before it was over. at least we saw most of the sights.
the wedding was fabulous and conveniently located across the street from the hotel we were staying at. the after party was also a lot of fun. it was at a bar outside of the reception and next to the lake. the next day, debbie and i left for new york city. and the lovely bride and groom left for france very soon after.

europe - last stop: zürich

st gallen was my first time in switzerland. despite the conversion to the euros, lisa and i still had to convert our money in each country. the swiss use swiss francs because they are special. on friday evening, we made our way to zürich. lisa's good friend from high school (thao) married a swiss guy (martin) and has lived in zürich for about 6 years.

switzerland is a marvelous place. the trains are always on time. everything seems so clean and well maintained. when we traveled from milan to st gallen, the italian train broke down so we had to switch trains and ended up arrived 10 mins late. we had a 3-minute connection that we missed so it took us another hour before we were able to meet up with brianna in st gallen. oh well. at least we made it, right? back to zürich... it was great, martin met us at the train station right as we arrived. he also helped us get our bus tickets and guided us back to their place. thao came home shortly after we were able to settle in for a bit.
we spent the weekend chez thao & martin. i personally had a fabulous time getting to know the couple and look forward to seeing them again either by returning for another visit or hanging out when they are in the states. on saturday, we explored zürich (out and about for gifts). unfortunately, it rained most of the day. the sun decided to show itself on sunday. thao & martin took us to the swiss alps in lucerne. it was a truly wondrous experience. You can find some photos here. we hung out in old town lucerne afterwards. it's interesting how nothing is open on sunday. so we couldn't do much. luckily, the businesses at the train station were open (packed actually) and we were able to pick up food there. lisa and i flew out the next morning back to london for half a day, equipped with enough swiss chocolate to last a year, or so.

after which, we spent a few hours at harrod's and shopping. funny how after shopping in zürich, london seemed cheap. and the next day, it took us over 20 hours to get home between layovers and delays.

europe - stop #3: st gallen

on st. patrick's day, we left venice and took the train with a stop in milano to st gallen. we were there to visit brianna and steve. it was really wonderful that brianna was there, otherwise, i would have never made it to st gallen. *thanks brianna!!*
we were only there for half a day but it was a full day's worth of st gallen. brianna and steve took us to their favorite st gallen eatery: restaurant marktplatz, which is conveniently located up the street from where they live. once our cute swiss waiter found out we were americans, his english came out. even though steve was trying to use his german, the swiss guy insisted on speaking to us in english. i had a big plate of crinkly fries and schnitzel which i nearly finished but couldn't, to my dismay.

the next day, we went to the abbey. the interior of the abbey (as seen in the top right of the collage) is beautifully ornate. the abbey dates back to the carolingian era (8th century). we also visited the library, according to wikipedia, is one of the richest medieval libraries in the world. there is an amazingly detailed ginormous astronomical globe that is an exact copy of the original globe, currently presiding at the swiss national museum. apparently, the original was stolen from st gallen by zurich troops during the battle of villmergen. while they returned some of the stolen goods to st gallen, they didn't return the globe. in 2000, st gallen prepared to reclaim the globe. as a resolve to keep out of the courts, zurich was ordered to make an exact copy of the globe to present to st gallen. honestly, i think the copy is much nicer (compared with pictures of the original). the colors and images are so much sharper, vibrant and defined. unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures.

brianna also took us to café pelikan. brianna and steve were on a quest for the best cappuccino. the cappuccinos at café pelikan, won unanimously. i don't know if i could consider myself a capp connoisseur, but i do enjoy a good capp every now and then or everyday. and not only was the cappuccino quite delightful but the ambiance was uber adorable. both lisa and i agreed. later, we tried to do some shopping but it was slightly disappointing. the style and prices were completely disproportionate. anything i liked, even slightly, was $$$$. :(

europe - next stop: venezia

it was my first time in venice. we had a conference on hebrew literature co-hosted with the ca' foscari university which was the first business university in venice.

lisa and i arrived at the venice marco polo airport around 4:30p. we took a bus to the piazzale roma and checked into our hotel by 5p. we missed the opening talk but thankfully, made it to the dinner reception. the reception was hosted by our very gracious italian hostess at her typical venetian home which was absolutely amazing. something from the 16th century or so. she had this great room where there were about 30+ of us, hanging out comfortably. we had good food and good drinks. it was lovely to finally meet the people i had corresponded with in the last few weeks.
the next day, we headed over to the piazza san marco (st mark's square). we were there a week after the carnevale of which there were still remnants of (confetti everywhere). we walked around for 4 hours and barely made it back for lunch. venice has so many small alley ways that all look the same. it is very easy to get lost. in fact, we got lost every time we went out. unfortunately, it rained very hard on our last day there. so much that we stayed cooped up in our hotel room. it finally eased up in the evening and we decided to set out for some shopping... to our dismay, we only had one hour. it took us quite a while to get back to the hotel but we did eventually get back. luckily, venice is super safe and a great place to get lost, even at night.i bought two pairs of shoes in italy. this pair was the one that was more fun.

europe - first stop: london

wow, i can't believe i haven't blogged about europe... yes, it's been that busy.

in mid-march, my sister and i went to london, venice, st. gallen, zurich, back through london and finally home. there was a bit of a snafu getting to london where we arrived half a day later than planned. but we arrived at london heathrow late sunday night (~9pm) and after about an hour or so getting through customs, we finally checked into our hotel by 10:30p. we hadn't eaten anything since the breakfast that was served on the plane so we made plans to go to the hotel restaurant at 10:45p, before the kitchen closed.

our hotel was conveniently located between buckingham palace and westminster abbey. we got up early and left to go sightseeing at 7 in the morning. we caught the monday workday rush. first stop, westminster abbey. next to that was big ben and then over to house of parliament to the queen's garden next to it. we took some silly pictures with phone booths on our way to st. james park. and more silly pictures through the park on the way to buckingham palace. it was amazing, it took us only 2 hours to see all of this. we had time to go back to the hotel, pack up and then head over to a coffee shop to leisurely have coffee and pastries.

and then at 1p, we caught our flight to venice.

san diego adventures w/ mien

when i was in chicago last month visiting my friend mien, she asked if i wanted to be her date to a wedding in san diego around mid-october. it was a great excuse for me to come down for a visit, so i said, sure! i booked my flight, reserved a car, and contacted some people to see. all this before i knew what a bad 2-3 weeks i would have after getting back from my very fun chicago vacation.

i flew into san diego last friday on the very last flight. it was scheduled to arrive at 11p but to no surprise, it would be delayed. the only problem with this is that i had to get to the car rental place off site before it closed at midnight. luckily, i made it on time.

once i got to the car rental place, there was another problem. the only car they had left in the category of my reservation was a minivan. quickly, i pictured both mien & i stepping out of a minivan in our formal dresses. that was a no. the only other car available was an suv. for $5/day extra, i think i got a good deal talking up the guy at the counter. then again, who knows.

i got lost on the way to chula vista where mien's family lives. i didn't get there until close to 1a. i felt bad for arriving so late but it turned out ok. her family is super nice.

before the ceremony, we stopped by mien's sister's house to visit with her niece and nephew. both very sweet and cute kids. we stayed about an hour and had to stop by the store to get me some make up brushes since i'd forgotten them altogether. ugh. i knew i'd forgotten something.

the ceremony started at 2p and it was at least 30 minutes from where we were. mien has been friends with the bride since high school or before. i guess i met the bride sometime during ucsd but couldn't quite remember it. the ceremony took place in scripps ranch in this very lovely church. it was dome-shaped, almost like the pantheon in rome, with the hole at the very top. it was also a very catholic ceremony. i don't remember when it was over but we left to pick up some fast food at jack & the box. after which we got ready retouching our make up and doing our hair. cocktail hour began at 5p but we didn't leave until 6. we got there in time for the salad portion of the dinner course. it was at the sheraton hotel in the bay tower at harbor island. you can see the san diego skyline past the water. it's really a lovely sight.

the wedding was kinda blah so we left a bit early. the music was so bad that even though we really wanted to dance, we didn't. so we headed downtown to the gaslamp district, which is now all the rage. back when we were in college, it was absolutely pathetic. as we drive onto broadway, we found ourselves next to a car full of cute boys. being in an suv is good for looking and flirting with boys in cars next to you. at one point, the car stopped early at a red light to be next to us. we found out they are cute foreign boys. my favorite... german boys. heehee. we lost them soon after we'd found them. oh well.

after a few times around the block, we parked in the horton plaza parking structure. don't do this if you don't plan on getting validations. it's $$$. i'd only ever parked there while shopping at horton plaza but didn't know where else to park. so we walked around. we walked and walked. finally, we came upon a nice hotel we didn't mind lounging at. it was the us grant hotel. and at the very same moment we were about to go to the bar there, there were two other gentlemen thinking the same thing. except, they beat us to the locked door first.

upon seeing us behind them, one of them mentioned that we ought to find our way in together. but before we could say yes or no, they'd already begun chatting it up with us. turns out that they were two business men from florida. at first, i was talking to ron and mien was chatting with siroos. but later, we switched. i don't remember exactly how it happened. siroos asked me what ethnicity i was. i asked him if he could guess. he answered, does it start with a p? and we ended up chatting together most of the night. they were in the ice cream business. siroos was explaining to me that their specialty was pomegranate ice cream with dark chocolate. in addition to the unique flavor, they put their ice cream in a tin can. then i said, because it stays fresher! siroos said i was right! i was in disbelief and told him i saw this on the food network. he says, we were on the food network! and i respond, well, what show was it then? he answers, unwrapped. he was right. and continues to tell me that he was on that show!

i remember watching the episode with my sister and the part specifically about the tin cans. and how we ought to put our ice cream/frozen yogurt in tin cans. now, this is just the sort of thing that happens when i am out with my dear friend mien... fun fun fun.

last days in chicago

day seven - tuesday, shopping & hancock observatory
lisa and i went shopping on tuesday. actually, i really just went for her. i'd pretty much finished all my shopping. we walked and walked. for hours and hours. we planned on going to the art institute of chicago museum. in the summers, they are opened until 9p and if you go pass 5p, it's free!!
on the way, we went through the millenium park. if you look in the middle of the picture (above), you can see a tiny tiny reflection of me and lisa in the bean. the park is really lovely. there are gardens and sculptures, everywhere. it was a great summer day to be out and about.

upon arriving at the art institute, it turns out that they were closed!! the free summer nights had ended, the day before! what horrible luck. so we did some more shopping while waiting for mien to get out of work.

we had dinner at kamehachi at the streeterville location where angel is the restaurant manager. we got there before mien so i had a drink at the bar. it was a tokyo cosmo and was yummy in my empty tummy. needless to say, i inhaled the edamame. i ate tons, as usual. so so many rolls... we had the dragon rolls, the green turtle rolls, the spicy tuna rolls and the rainbow rolls. on top of these rolls, mien & i shared the steak teriyaki. mmm meat. delicious!

angel mentioned that it was going to rain on wednesday, so if we wanted to see the hancock observatory, we ought to go after dinner. and we did. it was super crowded. i think everyone had the same idea we did. the hancock lounge is on the 99th floor of the john hancock center. as we were seated, this group sitting in a prime viewing booth, got up to leave. our cocktail waitress offered us the table as some much older people tried swiping it from us. denied! ha! stupid old lady said they'd tip better. people suck, don't they? despite them, it was a happy ending to a really long day.

day eight - september 3rd, field museum & white castle
our one day of culture was here, at the field museum. the field museum is chicago's museum of natural history. it took forever to get there on the bus, and then, it took another forever to get tix. there was one cashier talking to these people f-o-r-e-v-e-r. geez. so we got the basic tix figuring we didn't have time for the special exhibits.

seeing all the animals was really interesting. it's amazing to see wild animals up close and personal like that. thank goodness they are long dead and stuffed! the bird exhibit seemed to go on and on and on. if you like birds, this is the place to go to see them. so so many birds. we spent a lot of time looking at the animals. on the other side was chicago history. we breezed through it. it wasn't as interesting as the animals. we thought we'd been there for 2 hours and it felt like they were closing so we rushed out. while riding the bus downtown for some more shopping, i realized we were an hour off. we were only at the museum for an hour or so which was fine because it gave us another hour to shop around.

i found myself back at the water tower place mall since lisa wanted to try out some wow bao buns on the first floor. we tried the coconut custard bun the day before and wanted to try out the savory buns. here i am eating the chicken curry bun which was quite tasty. it was very popular there too. we don't think it would do as well here since there are tasty buns everywhere in california!

mien, linda & lisa go to white castle:
we had quite the adventure going to white castle. none of us had ever gone. mien's been in chicago for about 8 years now. it was our last night so we decided to go. first, mien had to reserve a zipcar to take us there. we did that on my phone. then we had to get a cab to the car from where we were. we got there, saw the red mini she reserved but her card didn't work. so we called in and it turned out that rather than reserving the car at 10:30p, we reserved it on 10/30 as in october. so, she changed that reservation to 11p that night. it was 10:40 or so and we couldn't get into the car until 10 minutes before the reservation. mien decided to walk home to get a pillow. while we were back at her place, she'd left her bag there and just took along the pillow and her wallet. we get back to the car and oops, she'd left her zipcar card in her purse. so, we go back to her place and then back to the car. we get into the mini. this was my first time in a mini which is funny because i wanted to buy one before i got gigi! i pulled up white castle in my vz navigator and it gave us the nearest locations. apparently, it was slightly off. we ended up on the freeway and in an area that mien had never really been to. after countless wrong turns and mien nearly running a stop sign, we made it. we weren't sure that we'd get back in time to return the car after having to go back and forth from her place. we'd made it back just in time with 10 minutes to spare! after passing this house (with a bunch of guys hanging out front) on the corner about 10 millions times, they saw us one last time and i heard one of them say, there, those girls are!

half way through - lisa arrives!!

day five - sunday w/ lisa
lisa was arriving sunday evening which meant, i was half way through my trip. :( but was ecstatic that she was coming! on saturday night (more like, sunday morning), i didn't get to bed until 4a. and i get this call... from nisa! she wasn't surprised that i answered. we talked for a bit and she asked me what i was doing with the men i was meeting in chicago. was i loving and leaving them? or trying to get into a relationship with them? my answer was, loving and leaving them, of course!

mien and i started off the morning getting crepes at la creperie. but before that, we got ambushed. well, mien did. a big friendly-looking guy came up behind her and lifted her up. then, a woman came over to me and said, you must be linda. it was sue and angel, mien's friends. sue was supposed to meet up with us the night before but we got out too late. so, they joined us for crepes.

la creperie was a cute and charming place. they served everything on these very country english (probably french) china. i had the poulet & fromage de chevre (chicken & goat cheese) savory crepe. mien had the poulet au curry (chicken curry) savory crepe which i would strongly recommend. it was so flavorful. both angel & sue were really nice and so cute together. we sat in their outside patio in the back. it was such a lovely day to be outside under shade.

we walked around and shopped a bit afterwards to walk off our brunch. while mien & i took the bus back, sue who is quite the walking machine so she and angel walked back. we got back in time to pick up a zipcar and pick up lisa, except, lisa's plane landed more than 30 minutes early. so we picked her a little late...

we still had the potluck at georges' from avec on thursday. it started after 7:30 and we didn't get there until after 9, or was it 10? as soon as we walked in, clearly looking out of place, people gave us all such a nice welcome. we went in to say hello to georges and then were introduced to everyone else. apparently, georges has this potluck (no politics, no religion) every sunday. rain or shine. even when he's in germany every 4 or so weeks. and the food, was absolutely amazing. there was steak, sausage, salmon, pasta salad, and la pièce de résistance was... georges' paella. made specially for pescetarians sans sausage and shrimp for those allergic. it was so good, i had a second helping. and, i took the paella home. heehee.

we ended up drinking and staying until 2a or so. poor lisa was so tired. and boy, georges was coming on pretty strong to me. after several attempts hinting at leaving, mien finally got it and we left. it was very flattering and fun but i was in love 'em and leave 'em mode!

day six - labor day @ navy pier
we spent most of the day at the navy pier, along with everyone else in chicago. we took a 30 minute boat ride cruising around the lake. it was amazing. 30 minutes was just the right amount of time. i couldn't imagine doing the 1 hour tour.

back! and chicago continued

am finally back! can't believe my vacation is over! :( but it's nice to be back in my bed and with my family. too bad i got back in the middle of a heat wave, yuk. anyway, on to the rest of my trip...

day three - friday night in wicker park
i got off to a late start on friday as well. i planned on going to the shedd aquarium but it's almost $30 to go! seems like a lot. i decided to wait until lisa gets here to see what she wants to do.

i started with a cappuccino from the fix cafe (again) and then off to magnificent mile (again). ha. i went to filene's basement. i always seem to find something there. i got this very pretty purple dress by max studio there. it actually fit, perfectly. i went across the street to the water tower place mall to pick up a make up brush for mien at sephora. there was an mng by mango store there. there's one in the sf shopping center but i've never purchased anything from this store. they have such cute things at great prices too. it's a little nicer than h&m but more along the lines of zara. it's based in barcelona. penélope cruz and her sister, monica, both designed for mango. the dress pictured was my first mango purchase. yay! apparently, purple is all the rage for this coming season.

i met up with mien at pretty much the same place as yesterday. we went to chicago burger for some junk food (aka bacon cheddar fries and burger nachos...mmm). i showed mien my purchases and it made her want to go shopping. so we went to nordies at north bridge. she got a pair of cute shoes. she also got quite a deal at the ann taylor loft store. i was done for the day if not for the week.

it wasn't until past 9 or so that we got back to her place. we watched some tv and putz'd around (as i do) a bit. i don't remember when we finally started getting ready but it was after 10. i did mien's make up using the new stuff i got her. she wanted the smoky eye look. thank goodness for miss pursebuzz and her make up demos. i was able to give mien a look she really liked. she is my first makeover! then, i got ready and it was already midnight.

when i was there back in 2006, we had gone to the lincoln park area, the night mien & i met so so many boys. we decided on wicker park as it is where the "artsy" types go. as opposed to the "frat boy" types we found in lincoln park. the first place we went to confused me a little. but we were hungry and heard that they might still be serving food. so we went to pint, this pub that made me feel like i was in lincoln park. not only were we the only asians there, there were all sorts of typical midwestern cut outs. all the guys looked alike. i didn't really notice the girls. when we first walked in, there were these guys too drunk to know the meaning of subtlety, not to mention charm. they stared at us like... we were the juiciest pieces of meat there. wait, we were. ha. and, do you know how hard it is to look around anywhere else than two feet in front of you to avoid eye contact at all costs?? they got the hint and moved on to their next victims. we moved upstairs to people watch in the dark. after one drink, we decided to get some polish dogs on the corner. we might have been hungry but it really really hit the spot.

on to the next bar, across the street was rodan. it was very artsy here. different types of people and yes, even other asians. hipster types. nerds and geeks. i felt like i needed my glasses there. the music wasn't as hip, then again, maybe it was for chicagoans. it was all reggae, and turns out, is really fun to watch people try to dance to. we weren't there long before it closed, at 2a. we had one round of drinks.

it was 2a and most places were closing, except for one. not too far from rodan was nick's. they had an outside patio and they closed at 4a. we had two more hours, woo hoo! we ordered drinks and sat in the back. it was a little empty, outside anyway. not too long after we got there, this very midwestern guy sat down at our table. apparently, when mien went to the restroom earlier, he made her high five him. after chatting us up for a bit, his friend came by. his friend kinda looked like carlton from fresh prince of bel air. he was cute and charming and unlike his midwestern friend, closer to our age. carlton was 30 and his side kick was a mere 22. i don't remember what happened but carlton started talking to a girl in the table next to us and mien was talking to side kick baby (skb) and this random guy started gesturing to me. asking if i was with carlton and skb. i said no and excused myself to talk to the random guy. his name was tony and was a cop. he had two friends with him. a couple. she was in her mid-40s and her boy toy was in his late 20s. tony was cute and turning 32 on tuesday. said he hadn't seen anyone interesting all night until he saw me and he wanted to spend his birthday with me. i wonder if those lines actually work? i told him i couldn't because my sister was coming on sunday and i couldn't leave her. and when he found out i was from california, lost interest. oh well. went back to our table to see how mien was doing. after revealing that she had a bf, skb lost interest and started talking to me. he was tickling and hugging me all night too. weirdo. then 4a came round and we got kicked out. mien was talking to carlton quite a bit while skb was flirting with me. she told me that carlton was really into me and that the girl he was talking to wasn't cute and was just a friend. oh well. i'm not in chicago to find a man, i'm there to have fun.

day four - saturday is for recovering
nisa and i had planned a spa day on saturday. but it turned out she had to work. and mien didn't get up until past 2p. before that, nisa called at 8ish to touch base. i'd gone to sleep only 3 hours before that. i saw the sun rise over the lake. it was so breathtaking, i had to take a picture (see below). doesn't quite do it justice.
we had tac quick thai food for a late lunch. its located near the red L line. it was really good hip thai food, one of which mien frequents. i hadn't had thai in a while. there must have been a cubs game going on because many many cubs fans passed us up as we ate outside. tac quick is between lakeview and wrigleyville.

afterwards, we took a walk and stopped in at the fix cafe. unfortunately, it was closing, forever! and saturday night was the farewell party. we just had to pick up something to bring over to georges' potluck on sunday night and we could then head over to the party. i'm not sure where we walked but we walked long and far. it was a nice walk. some coffee and some shopping, for mien. we got back, had some italian sausages (mmm meat) before we headed out to the fix cafe.

one of the owners was there, eric. mien knows him through a coworker of hers. he seemed pretty interesting for someone who is 26 or 27. he'd been in the military and is finishing school for geology. we didn't stay very long until we decided to head out for some drinks. we went to the bar on buena otherwise known as the bob. they had a great selection on european beer and was very conveniently located a couple of blocks from mien's place. we chatted about boys, like always.

day two - thursday @ avec

happy birthday muffin!

today, i went to the fix cafe. it is literally across the street from park place towers. it's a very quaint, charming coffee shop. i noticed that a chalkboard by the front had "4 days left" on it. mien mentioned it might not be doing so well. i wonder if this is any indication that it will be closing. hope not. it is very cozy. except, i had no reception to watch any vcast videos on my phone. at least there was enough reception make calls. i called my dad and my niece (aka my baby). she told me she loved me very much. such a sweetie but it's not going to cut my trip short. ha.

i went shopping today. i took the 145 (or was it the 146?) to downtown. conveniently located by mien's office. it's only the second day (i leave in a week) and i finally got my arse to the magnificent mile. i always seem to find something at the benetton store there. two brown skirts for work. i bought what i picked out despite all the pieces the lovely sales girl from the ukraine tried to push on me. i seriously had more than 10 things she brought for me to try on. i went to h&m afterwards. i had about 6 plus items in my arm to try on. tax in chicago is over 10%. quite a lot compared to the bay area and nyc. so i didn't want to buy too much. i ended up with 4 items and put a lot back.

it worked out perfectly as i was done with h&m, mien was done at the office. so we walked toward each other to meet up. we met up on this lovely bridge and headed over to avec for dinner. one of my students recommended avec to me. mien had been there a few times but it'd been a while since she last went. it was better than i'd ever imagined.

it was packed when we got there but didn't have to wait too long for table space. i say space because you share a table of about 8. we sat at the end of this table with these three people. as soon as we sat down, one of them said, so, you finally got here. it was the start of something none of us imagined.

we started off with some wine. red and french. the guy who so nicely welcomed us offered his wine glass for some. we asked for a new glass for him. we ordered a whole bottle and had much to share. in turn, he shared some of their red snapper. very good. tender yet crispy. perfectly cooked, if you ask me. mien and i started with a cheese assortment. there was the la tur (made from goat, sheep & cow milk) from italia. then we had the la serena torta (sheep's milk) from espana. and finally, the sao jorge (cow's milk) from portugal. the la tur had the consistency of goat cheese and was our most favorite of the three. at first, when they brought the cheese out, there were 4 pieces. it didn't seem enough but turns out, was more than enough. we enjoyed it with the cheese accompaniments which is a must because, surprisingly, brings out the flavors of the cheese even more so. amazing, really.

we ordered way too many dishes. all so so good. we had the following:

norwegian salmon tartar with yellow wax beans, avocado, cilantro and pickled jalapeno - this was a brilliant combination of tastes and textures. maybe i just really like tartars. who knows.
"la quercia" prosciutto with market peaches, lemon, slivered almonds and marinated manchego - even when i was in milano, italia so many years ago. i shied away from prosciutto with mellon. but this was a special request from mien. so i tried it and it was fantastic. the peaches and prosciutto topped off with cheese. de-lish-shaws. mmm.
pan-roasted hangar steak with rapini, roasted corn, smoked paprika lima beans and beans herbed butter - all you have to know about this dish is... hangar steak with butter. gorgeous. perfectly roasted medium. really.
slow roasted crispy duck with marinated market plums, tarragon, grilled onion and savory streusel - this was unfortunately, our last dish. so we only had a bite of it. but boy do i love duck.

last but not least, we were treated to some splendid muscat by our especially kind table mates. there was john, caroline (they are married, caroline is from manchester, england. home of the best music out there. she agreed with me. john was born & raised in chicago), and georges who is john's bff from 1995. georges is from lebanon. great people to sit with. we had the best table there. they were so pleasant and fun. it was great. we were invited to georges' potluck on sunday which we plan on attending... good times, good times.

day one - lake michigan & harvey

i started the day waking up after noon. nice huh? it was really 10a for me. i stayed up chatting with my friend until really late. she had to go to work this morning too. bummer. so, i putz'd around for a few hours. i had brunch/lunch. made some phone calls, sent some text messages, replied to some work emails, etc. and headed out around 3ish or so for some coffee at dollop.

then i decided to go to the lake that park place towers overlooks. it took a while to actually get to the lake through the path filled with cyclists, rollerbladers, runners, pedestrians, dog-walkers, breeders (um, i mean, baby stroller-pushing-people) etc. then through the golf course to the lake where people sat and watched the lake as boats sailed by. it was amazingly serene, like a warm cup of green tea. i felt like i was on vacation. just sitting there and not having to worry about time or doing anything. then i met harvey, this nice elderly man who walked by me. i smiled and said hi. he came over a second time and asked me where i was from. then we chatted it up for a good 2 hours. he took me over to the dog beach to watch the dogs play in the water. he was very much a dog lover. stopped nearly every dog that walked by us. he was a very sweet old man.

before i knew it, it was nearly 7p. i'd made dinner plans at 8 and i was getting late. so he walked me over to my street and said, if i see you again, great. we'll say hello and chat. if not, take care. he also added that he thought i was a lovely young lady. aw. like i said earlier, harvey is a sweet old man.

i met up with my friend nisa at cafe iberico for tapas. like the directionally challenged retard that i am, even with my vz navigator, i got lost. i finally made it over and had a delightful but loud dinner. this place was quite happening for a wednesday night. totally packed. we yelled at each other the entire time there. nisa and i ordered 4 tapas (claims, potatoes in special spicy sauce, baked goat cheese wrapped in eggplant and chicken skewers with rice), ½ a pitcher of sangria and we were totally full. the tapas were portioned much nicer than i'm used to. i think we could have just gone with 2 or 3 dishes. we headed over to berry chill for froyo. they are chicago's version of red mango/pinkberry. it felt very pinkberry-ish. i tried their pistachio. ugh. good thing because i ended up with the regular tart with mochi. the cups & spoons were really cute and cartoon-like. nisa walked me to the metro at around 10p. she lived a few blocks away (in river north). it was lovely seeing her. we're going to try to meet up again.

mien came home after midnight. that's right, from work! we stayed up chatting until nearly 4a! and she has to go to work in the morning... yikes!

off i go!

hello out there! i am finally going on vacation! i currently have over 360 hours of vacation time and it is really about time i leave town. will be back on the 4th but may post while i am away! kisses.

palo alto, emeryville, sonoma & sf all in one day...

on august 1st, i took the day off to spend with my good friend from college, mien. she now lives in chicago and was out in sacramento taking the california bar. i went to chicago back in april of 2006 to visit her. oh, the adventures we had together.

i started off the day driving to palo alto to pick up mien's friend justin. then we headed off to emeryville to pick up mien at the amtrak train station coming from sacramento. sonoma was our next stop. it was an hour from emeryville minus any traffic. we had brunch and then were on our way. justin fell asleep in the back while mien and i caught up in front. traffic was pretty bad. our first stop was the ledson castle/winery (see picture). this castle stands out from the sonoma highway. before i knew that was the place, i thought, wow, let's go there!

mien & i did some wine tasting while justin (he doesn't drink) shopped around for some food. we made ourself a picnic out in the back. it was gorgeous out there. really spacious and so calming under these great trees. i'd only had 3 hours of sleep and it was the perfect setting after such a long drive. we took our time eating bread with cheese, fig jam and some parmesan dip. we had time for one more winery. so we headed over to the gundlach-bundschu winery about 20 minutes away. it was a long drive for a very short visit. we got there around 4p and they closed at 4:30p so we skipped the wine tasting and enjoyed a view overlooking vineyards as far as i can see and a dried up lake. it was a nice break but too hot to be relaxing.

next stop was san francisco during prime commute time. we went through sonoma, napa, vallejo and fairfield. it was supposed to be an hour but traffic was stop and go. we went around berkeley to oakland and finally to san francisco. it was the longest day ever and i couldn't wait to get to the hotel to nap. mien slept in the back on the way from sonoma. justin fell asleep in the front. but as tired as i was by the time we got to the room, i just couldn't fall asleep. especially with two people trying to sneak around me and eat snacks. they tried staying out in the hallway and eat but other hotel guests kept walking out and looking at them strangely.

it was an hour before we had to go for dinner. and after a nice hot shower, i was refreshed and renewed. for the night anyway. after dinner, i crashed like i hadn't slept in days. wait, i really hadn't slept in days. good times, good times.

dc trip, part deux

i found this lovely picture of the couple from their wedding website. i really wanted to take a picture of the cake and steph in her cheong sam. despite her being kinda hidden, she still looks gorgeous, doesn't she?tuesday, 22 january
let's see... tuesday was the day i ventured out on my own. i didn't really know what to do. i had dinner plans with terrence that night. i'd been to dc multiple times before. i used to date someone briefly who lived out there. so as far as being a tourist, i'd already been there and done that. it was so cold out that i didn't care to see much. but i had to do something. so i did what i do anywhere and anytime i need to kill time, i went shopping.

the problem was, i didn't know where to go. i went to the mall at pentagon city and the mall next to it. i had lunch at the nordstrom there. i don't know how i ended up at the smithsonian metro stop. i think i figured, if i can't find any shops, i'll go to the museums. i took a quick look at the national monument and took a picture identical to the one i took the last time i was there, over 3 years ago. after walking around a bit, it started to rain. it made sense to take shelter in a museum for a couple of hours but i wanted to shop. from a distance, i could see the very familiar red italicized h & m sign just a few blocks away. yay! to my surprise, zara was next door. i found a cute wool blend dress from zara on sale. i got my shopping fix and started to head back afterwards.

terrence and i went to zaytinya for dinner. apparently, they are the "mezze specialist." mezze are basically middle eastern and eastern mediterranean tapas. to top it off, restaurant week in dc was extended to this week. so there was a prix fixe menu. 4 mezze and dessert for only $30 per person. we had 8 plates between two people and two desserts. needless to say, we were happily stuffed.

wednesday, 23 january
my last full day in dc came at last and as with most vacations coming to an end, the 5 or so days i was there felt so short. the end came so suddenly. i wished i had more time there. i had to remind myself that my vacation wasn't coming to an end, i was leaving for nyc the next day. i spent most of wednesday doing laundry and packing up. and making plans with bernie. when you sleep in until noon or so and then do laundry for a few hours, 4pm comes up really quickly. i met up with yung-mei after (her) work at oya for happy hour. oya is a japanese restaurant/lounge. very cool inside. i guess it's usually packed but turns out, wednesdays are the days to go because it wasn't too bad. i was on my second drink when yung-mei showed up. i decided to have some sushi rolls to soak up the alcohol. the first drink i had was pineapple goodness. the other two where soju cocktails. the last one was this cucumber and lime soju drink, it was refreshing and quite delightful.

after we were done with our rolls and drinks, we headed over to matchbox for vintage pizza and miniburgers (aka sliders, very popular on the east coast). it's a lot of fun hanging out with yung-mei. she's so much more friendly and talkative than me. so you make lots of friends when she's around. i left to use the restroom and came back to yung-mei talking to two guys at the bar. and after we sat down, we made friends with the guy sitting next to us. poor thing, he ordered the crab cakes and failed to notice the pizza and miniburgers piled high surrounding him. i guess the waitress is to blame too. we teased her and gave her a hard time about it. and shared our miniburgers and pizza with him. he bought us drinks. what a sweetie.

that was a fantastic end to my dc trip. i was a bit sad that it was over. i'm hoping to head over to the east coast again sometime in april or may. after my last body scan, i'd go to celebrate... in addition to having a huge bash here, of course. yay!

dc wedding

initially, my east coast trip was just for dc. but then bernie came into the picture and well, how can i say no to adding a leg to new york?

friday, 18 january
i arrived at dulles on the 18th and found my way to arlington where my dear friend yung-mei lived. i was staying with her for the duration of my dc holiday. she was also my date to the wedding. i know yung-mei from work. except, i never worked with her. she was the predecessor to my former position and whenever she came to visit, i'd always go along. we got along very well. it turned out that we are both tigers and sagittarians. plus, she's half chinese. in 2003, i visited her in manhattan while she was there for grad school. i stayed with her then as well. she had this great apartment that was clearly an administrative mistake. that was my first new york trip.

by the time yung-mei and i met up, it was dinner time. she lives right by the mall at pentagon city. she suggested some places including ruby tuesdays. i'd never been there but have seen countless annoying commercials for them. so we went there for mini-burgers, chili and salad bar. it was yummy. saturday, 19 january
the big wedding day. we squeezed everything in before. like shopping. and more shopping. and getting ready. we got there just in time for the ceremony. the wedding was at the washington club on dupont circle. it was built in the early 1900's. apparently, the building was originally a residence and later housed the first women's club in dc. there is so much history there. it's really amazing. and it's been kept up beautifully.

the ceremony was lovely. from the dresses to the officiant's speech. steph, as you can see above was breathtaking. there were a couple of opera singers performing. i don't think i've been to a wedding with opera singers. fancy. the reception was right after the ceremony. after cocktail hour, that is. i was on antibiotics so couldn't partake in the alcoholic beverages. the reception was in the room next to the ceremony. i think there were about 150 people there. i'm really bad at gaging things like that and height (random). it was a good amount of people. what was interesting about this wedding was all the single women there. yung-mei tells me that there's a huge population of single women in dc and new york. i guess it's a good thing i'm in the bay area. less competition i suppose. hahah.

back to the reception... the speeches were awesome. there were 4 total and a couple of them brought tears out. her father's speech was super sweet. her best friend's speech was the big tear jerker. fantastic. the best man speech was, to say the least, entertaining but the most inappropriate. and finally her sister's speech was quite nice too. the slideshow lasted a bit longer than most but i enjoy seeing childhood pictures of my friends. the food wasn't as bad as i've had at weddings. i had a great time. i just wish i wasn't on antibiotics so we could've gone out afterwards.

sunday, 20 january
steph and erik had an open house as a post-wedding event. they have a 3-level home with this great backyard. there was still a lot of snow out that day. it was one of the coldest days, mostly because of the wind. i'd left yung-mei's with wet hair and the wind chill went right through me. i think i got wind burn on my cheeks. they were still red the next day.

i didn't get to talk to steph or erik much at the wedding so it was nice to catch up with them there. i chatted a bit with her parents, his cousin ilsa from minnesota and ate way too much. a former student and friend of my mine, terrence, was there was his lovely wife gayle. we met up at the open house and has dinner afterwards. i'd never really got to know gayle previously. they invited me to their wedding but i couldn't go. damn that ted. anyway... they are having their first baby so it's very exciting. for dinner, we went to this yummy pizza place (fomerly the thai room). at the wedding, i was seated next to them at the reception. and spent a good amount of time catching up. terrence (as he knows) was one of my favorites when he was a grad student. i'm happy that we've been able to keep in touch through the years...

monday, 21 january
i spent monday in annapolis, md, visiting an old coworker and her family. i worked with danie at scripps in san diego. i think she was there for her bf at the time (husband now), chris. my ex and i used to house sit and dog sit for them when they were away. they were part of my san diego family when i lived there. she was like my big sister.

the last time i was in dc was october 2004. danie was pregnant with her second child. before that, i hadn't seen her since i moved from san diego to the bay area. that was 2001. i decided to spend the day with her and the rest of her family. her kids are now 6 and 3 and totally adorable. at first as with most kids their age, they were shy but by the end of the day, her 3 y/o was telling me she loved me. super sweet. ugh, i wished i'd taken more pictures...

we ate at this sushi restaurant in downtown annapolis. it's right by the water so it was freezing there. i know, i'm such a wimp. the kids were running all over the place but well behaved. it's nice to see what a wonderful mother danie has turned out to be. and get this, these kids eat raw fish. they were eating the sashimi like chicken nuggets. it was amazing to see. i didn't start eating sashimi until well into my adulthood. crazy. at one point during dinner, danie says to me, wow, leaving san diego was the best thing for you! this is the absolute truth. when i think about who and how i was back then, i think, who is that girl? yuk, yuk, yuk.

when we said our goodbyes, it was a little sad. after spending the day together, it made me want to visit more often and keep in better touch with them. they are really good people.

i think i'm going to finish the last two days in dc later...