Summer recap

Gotten so lazy with this blog. Probably because I'm not trying to kill time at work anymore. :P

Beginning of June, went to Boston for 10 year reunion. Got to see some of hubby's friends that we haven't seen since the last time we were in Boston. Took a tour of Fenway Park as well as attended a Red Sox game (which they won). Good shopping - found a non-see-through white skirt that I had been looking for for a long while now. Also found a cute BCBG dress, no-nipple-showing sports bras, and very much needed sunglasses. :)

End of June, conference in New Orleans. Afterwards, we stayed a few more days for a mini vacation. Fun city to walk around in - lots of art galleries, antique shops, and of course, Bourbon Street. It was an eating vacation. The only things I really wanted to do was eat at certain places. :P

• Cafe du Monde: every morning, beignets and cafe au lait
• Mother's: juicy po'boys
• Gumbo Shop: dinner of gumbo, red beans and rice with smoked sausage
• Aunt Sally's: praline making and tasting
• Pat O'Brien: dueling pianos and virgin hurricanes
• Mardi Gras World: one of our non-food stops although we got to eat a slice of king cake and see gigantic floats
• Charles St streetcar to Garden District: walked around in the pouring rain to see historic homes
• Napolean House: great bar atmosphere and very affordable food
• Central Grocery: flavorful muffuletta

End of July, we visited my in-laws because hubby's sister was visiting with her three kids from Switzerland. Since we had seen them last year, there was no shyness this time. :) Played a lot of Candyland and swam a lot.

In August, helped one of hubby's friends from Taiwan organize a baby shower. So exciting to help someone with their baby shower! :) The couple with the most experience would've have won every game if the wife hadn't declined participation in the last few games. hehe.

Also in August, went indoor skydiving for a friend's birthday. So much safer than real skydiving. We each got two times to get into the wind funnel with the instructor and on the second time, he would take you up really high while spinning around. Fun fun!

Being a government worker is not bad...

...if you know which department to go into.

Take a look at the state's top earners

Top overall earners mainly come from the Public Employees Retirement department.
Top overall overtime pay comes from Correctional and Mental Health departments.

There must be only one staff psychiatrist at San Quentin because this chick hauled in close to $400K in 2007. As a RN in the prison system, you seem to be compensated really well.

This proves not all high paying jobs are in the corporate/private sector.

:p

Houston, Texas

Woke up for an early early flight to Houston for a friend's wedding. This will be the first time we've ever visited Texas - layovers in Dallas/Fort Worth do not count. The bride emailed all the out-of-towners saying that she always takes people to the Galleria. We asked the lady at the front desk of our hotel and she also said "definitely, the Galleria". Apparently that's the big thing to see. hm...

We had booked a hotel in downtown Houston so we after lunch, we wandered around. Found the Aquarium and spent the afternoon there. Downtown Houston is very strange. It's empty on the weekends because no one lives there. The city is trying to change that by building new condos and apartments but still, a very quiet downtown. (Except in the evening when the clubs open up.)

We attended the rehearsal dinner which was a full-blown Chinese banquet. The main difference was the starter platter in Houston is full of fried food (egg rolls and crab rangoon) while the banquets here start with cold meats. Regardless, very yummy food. I was completely shocked when I saw my friend's younger sister for the first time. They look like identical twins!!! So uncanny. Anyways, dinner was fun. We sat with a few of her aunties and uncles and another couple from college. The bride got to go around and visit each table during the banquet. It was good to be able to catch up with her since I don't expect to speak to her much on the wedding day as is with most weddings.

The day of the wedding was Daylight Savings! Got to go to the Galleria and ate at Ninfa's (supposedly the originators of tex-mex). They gave HUGE portions. We could've ordered just one taco dish and it would've been enough for both of us. The tacos were gigantic! Incredibly juicy too! The Galleria is also ginormous. I guess we should've guessed since it took us a long time to drive out of the airport. Everything is Texas-sized.

Wedding was at a country club in Houston's ritziest area where the homes are $4-5 million. One of the homes we passed looked like an art museum. Also lots of homes that look like Southern plantation mansions. Beautiful wedding!! Sat at a table with more college classmates. There was even a sister I hadn't seen since college graduation! And one girl was apparently my "interview buddy" at Oracle. haha!

On Monday, we drove down to the Johnson Space Center. Lucky us, there were about 300 kids also visiting that day. It was really cute how each class had coordinated t-shirts. When we went on the tram tour, the little kids screamed so loudly when we went through a tunnel. :D It's so cute how little things like that get them so excited! Thankfully we took the tram tour in the morning because it was pouring rain in the afternoon when we left.

We had a obligatory plate of Texas BBQ at Pappas BBQ before heading to the airport. The next time we come back to visit, we'll make sure to a) catch a rodeo since March is rodeo month and b) do the Azalea trail which was also this weekend but we didn't realize. According to all the locals, this weekend was perfect in terms of weather. Later in March, it'll get hot and muggy like Asian summers. *ugh*

Joshua Bell

It was a sold out show and I was on the waiting list. The day they emailed everybody that tickets were released for those on the waiting list, first come first serve, I checked email 15 minutes after the ticket office closed. I called back the ticket office the day after to find out that those ticket were all gone. Thankfully the lady on the phone told me to try again the week before the performance.

And...we got tickets the day before Joshua Bell's performance! :) Great seats in the orchestra section on the aisle. Perfect view.

Most riveting performance: Tartini's "Devil's Trill"
The last part had you puzzled by the abrupt bizarre melody and yet mesmerized by Bell's execution.

Every time I listen to him, I wish that I knew how to play the violin. Maybe one day I'll truly take it up. We'll see.

What was really disturbing about the performance was the audience - between each movement, without fail, there'd be a chorus of hacks and coughs from the audience. Really made you wish you were wearing a medical mask in that confined environment. ick.

Anyway.

He played two more encore songs. (Bonus!) And furthermore, he was available for autographs after the performance. (Bonus! Bonus!) SO COOL.

Parking lot drama

We had some friends visiting this weekend and on Sunday for lunch, we took them to the Cupertino Ranch 99 plaza - notorious for its lack of parking during peak hours (lunch hours on weekends). We warned them that it might take some time to find parking at 1pm but we went anyway. And BOY, did they see drama in the parking lot!

We came up to a potential parking spot on the left side (a couple was returning to their car - a SUV) just a second before another car (Mercedes) coming down one of the aisles perpendicular to our aisle also spotted the couple. We sat their with the blinker on, waiting for the couple to get in their car and leave. However, this Mercedes thought that he had a right to the spot so he waited for the same spot that we were waiting for. We figured we didn't want to interact with a punk so we just thought, "Forget it. It's not worth the trouble." and went to go find another spot.

So we turned right into an aisle parallel to the one the Mercedes was waiting in. We saw a father and son walking towards their car and asked them where they parked. They pointed to a spot right next to the SUV spot we were waiting for earlier. So we U-turned in the aisle and followed them to their car. Unfortunately, right as we pulled up to wait, another chick in a little white car also saw the father-son pair and started her blinker. Another showdown. *sigh*

BUT, the SUV we were originally waiting for pulled out (as the a-hole Mercedes was pulling in before they even pulled out of their spot completely) and hit our rival, the little white car. So she had to step out and assess the damage, so we got our spot!

Our visitors were very surprised to see such a competitive environment for parking in a supposedly nice suburban plaza. :D

Chinese New Year

Mom went to Taiwan this year for the New Year's so this CNY I actually hosted my father and brother to a dinner as traditional as I could make it.



From the top, hot and sour soup, dumplings, chicken chow mein, niang tofu (tofu cubes stuffed with ground pork), fish on the side, and jai (vegetarian dish with fah tsai (black moss). It was the first time we ever made chow mein or jai and thankfully they came out edible. :)

After our new home is built, we can host bigger dinners...but for now, there's only seating for at most four other people around the dining table. So only family, really.

New Year's in Vegas

On Saturday, we had brunch at the Wynn after checking out of our hotel. We had the opportunity to sit next to a lone diner who seemed to be a frequent guest at the Wynn. He and his friends have been spending New Year's in Vegas for the past 25 years! On top of that he and his wife come to Vegas about 4-6 times a year. Anyways, interesting fellow. Our waitress later told us that he was a frequent visitor who is "such a nice man".

From the Wynn, we took a pedestrian bridge to see the new Palazzo hotel only to find it hadn't opened and workers still working on it. Therefore, we continued and went into the Venetian. The shopping area was so crowded!

Later in the afternoon, we went to the grocery store to pick up snacking and breakfast supplies. Then we returned to our friend's house to a) watch the Patriots game and b) wait for our other friends to arrive. The Pats won and our friends arrived safely.

Dinner was at Firefly's where we found out that DO was pregnant!! AC jumped upon DO's denial of alcohol to ask the "are you pregnant" question - so quick.

For the rest of the week:

• guys played a LOT of Rockband, including the "beloved" Roxanne five times in a row
  
• tried out Red Mango - DH and I liked it a lot more than Pinkberry
  
• Christmas present exchange and guessing of who was who's Secret Santa
  
• lots of games like the Scattergories, Pictionary, Naked Game, and Catch Phrase
  
• shopping where some of the guys tried to figure out the difference between $50 jeans and $200 jeans
  
• discussions about future engagements, weddings, babies, etc.

For New Year's Eve, we dressed up and went to Social House in TI. We had a 6-7 course meal of sake and sushi for a tidy sum of money. Food was good - DH enjoyed it a lot even though he normally doesn't like non-don non-curry Japanese food. The great thing was that since we had dinner reservations, we got to park in TI. We avoided the crazy streets near the Strip because we had a local with us that knew which roads to take. At the end of dinner, our server handed out noise makers and party hats. Stood on the restaurant's balcony with heated lamps to watch the countdown and fireworks across the street. Yay!

On New Year's Day, we went to the outlets and had dinner at Rao's.

Day after, time to head home. Of course, before we left, we had to make a stop at the bundt cake shop. hehe.

Christmas Present

The Friday before New Year's, we drove to Vegas in the early morning. The drivers that morning were SO FAST! We were going 90+ and the other drivers were passing us quickly. So crazy! When we arrived, we dropped off extra luggage at our friend's home and then took a nap. In the afternoon, we checked into NYNY. Wandered around and got a bite of pretzel to tide us over until dinner.

Dinner was at Le Cirque. Small cozy dining room whose windows looked out on the Bellagio fountains. Circus themed decor and matching china. Very filling, delicious food. I had a foie gras dish for appetizer and venison for entree. Venison itself is gamey but eating it with the fruits they included in the dish really helped. Dessert was a very strawberry souffle - so light!

Watched Zhumanity - really well done show and I was surprised by the humor. Actually didn't expect it to be funny at all considering the content. But I guess since it's a "Cirque" show, they had to have clowns.

[Dinner and a show was our Christmas present to each other this year. We couldn't really think of any gifts we wanted so we decided an experience would be our gift this year. :) ]

Christmas Week

For Christmas, we drove down to the in-laws since my parents were flying to Vegas on Christmas Day and my brother was planning to enjoy his few days of blissful solitude at home. We played mah-jong daily which was quite a mental trial since I didn't win any games for two straight days! I FINALLY won on the third day only to be thwarted by my own hubby. I won later on that day though so I guess it's ok.

The Sunday before Christmas, my mother-in-law threw a small family party. Got to play with step-niece, a vivacious flaxen-haired girlie. She's incredibly beautiful! And outgoing, on top of that. Also got a chance to hang out with DH's cousins who are pretty funny. I only really get to see them at family weddings so hadn't really held a conversation with them before.

Hung out with one of his cousins the day after. Went bowling - I bowled a 112! Watched I Am Legend - totally not what I expected. If I had known what it was going to be like, I probably wouldn't have seen it. Great movie, just never going to watch it again.

On one of the days, I went to see Juno with my in-laws while DH played an entire day of tennis and bridge. Later when my brother-in-law arrived, there was more bridge playing. I guess one of the most significant things that happened, outside of opening Christmas presents (j/k!), is that I took a walk with my mother-in-law. Just the two of us. Never did that before. Usually, DH or someone else is always around so we've never really spent any time together by ourselves.

LA Visit: Day 3

Woke up without any dogs jumping on us. Left the place the same time as our hostess, a little after 8am. Didn't get caught in too much LA traffic but the cars coming into LA on 405 South got to pass two accidents that weren't far apart from each other. Ugh.

We had such a smooth ride that we went outlet shopping in Gilroy before heading home. :) It was actually DH's suggestion - I hadn't even thought of it!! haha!