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.