Hello Boy!

I called home yesterday and a little voice of 'halo' answer the phone. It was so cute and it just melts my heart. Next thing you know he is baby talking to me, not that I understand a word of it. It is time like this that I miss home so much. I would like to be just like any aunt to see their nephew grows up, babysit when their parents need to go out for whatever reason and etc etc.

Mom said he is growing up so fast that now he throws tantrums so much and sometime even gets mad at his daddy for scolding him. Like father like son I would say, since both has the same tantrums. Oh, how I miss being there seeing it all. Maybe it is a good thing as well that I'm not there, else boy, he is going to get even more pampering.


This is around 19 months old
Wonder what sort of new tricks he is going to show me when I see him next time. Probably he would be able to talk much more by then.

Only For You

Normally, we always see bride-to-be making their own hand bouquet for the special day. Would it make it more special if you get a hand bouquet made by your husband-to-be? Recently, a friend and husband-to-be made this hand bouquet for his bride-to-be. It is so touching that a guy would actually take time to come up with something from the heart.



Action always speak louder than words. Doesn't it just make you envious of the bride-to-be?

Korean Night @ Home

I was looking over photos that I took over the past one month and came across the following photos. It was a korean dinner I made at home, since I was really craving for it and had been wanting to get myself to try some korean recipes at home instead of taking the easy route to go to a korean restaurant. Those recipes are courtesy of My Korean Kitchen.


Stir Fried Rice cake with Gochujang Sauce (Ddeokbokki in Korean)

Pickled Cucumber

Seasoned Green Bean Sprouts (Sukju Namul Muchim in Korean)

I made a tofu stew as well however didn't capture a photo of it to show here. I'm also not sure since when I really fancy korean food. Another one of my all time favorite korean dish is Bi Bim Bap. It might be nothing fancy, maybe I just have weird sense of taste.

Have you cast your vote?

For the past couple days, I have been asked this question over and over again by different people.

Co-workers or friends : "who do you vote for?"
Me : "I can't vote yet."

I have been here for over a decade now and been through 2 previous Election Days and this will be my third. Today is the most anticipated Election Day in the US, a much talked about event. Either way, today Nov 4th 2008, it will be a historical event for the US be it the first African American President or the oldest first-term + female Vice President.

Who would I really vote for if I have the rights to vote? With everything that is going on with the economy, I probably would cast my vote for Obama I think. No matter who becomes the next President, I just hope that economy wise we would be in a better shape and middle class people will get the much needed break from the government. Everyone wants a piece of the American Dream however, it seems like that as days go by it becomes even harder to reach.

Reflection

Recently there are many things that goes on at work.

Some of them pleasant and some of them really unpleasant. It is true that with more responsibility, there will be more stress added as well.

There are times when I really doubt whether it is still the right decision to stay put at my current job or it is time to move on. However with the current situation of the economy I probably should be thankful that I still have a job instead of feeling unsatisfy most of the time. Probably reflection is what I need right now. A quiet time just for myself.

Over 30 miles biking

Yes you didn't read it wrong, it was over 30 miles of biking we did that day. It might not be a big deal for those who do it on a constant basis however to me it was my first. A hell of an experience and heap of fun.

We started off from the Caltrain station in San Francisco as usual. From there we took the trail by the beach and up the slope to cross the Golden Gate Bridge.

Here is a picture of victory after climbing the first slope.


Here is one where boys act like boys, showing off their machoism.
From there we continued on to Sausalito for lunch. We had lunch at this family run small cafe called The Lighthouse. Of course since all of us had light breakfast, we can't help it but ordered up a table full of food.

After a very satisfying lunch, since time is still earlier we decided to continue on to Tiburon and make that our last stop of the day. From there we catch a ferry ride to take us back to San Francisco. On the ferry ride back, I have the opportunity to catch a closer look at 'The Rock'.


Yes although I have been in the area for a long time, I have not been to the island myself. Don't ask me why, maybe I just don't think there is a need to after all. I had been to Pudu Jail when they opened it for public visit and don't think I will ever want to visit another jail. Since we are heading towards San Francisco, here is the famous SF skyline from the ferry ride.

It was a complete fun day full with exercise and views to savor in. It gives me a different perspective of these places that I have been to so many times before. Lesson learned, if we slow down a little we might just discover things that we miss along the way. Weather wise, it is getting colder, probably won't be able to do this again until next summer. What a bummer.

Fig Jam DIY

This is a back dated post, been wanting to put this up for a while already.

A while ago I mentioned that I have a fig tree in my backyard. This season the tree was blooming with figs and figs that I am not able to finish. Been giving it out to friends who love them and since there are still leftover that I'm not able to finish at all, I got the idea from the farmer's market to make them into fig preserves. This way it will be able to last a little while longer and I don't have to spend extra $$ to buy preserves from the shop.

There are many version of fig jam and preserves out there and since I have decided to keep it as simple as possible, and also reduce the amount of sugar in the jam, the recipe is pretty basic.

Fig Jam Ingredients:
Bunch of figs
1/2 cups or less of sugar depending on the sweetness you prefer

Take a bunch of figs as many as you like, and cut them into half. Scoop out the flesh and be sure not to include too much of the outer part (white color) of the fig because it can be a little bitter tasting.

Combine those flesh and sugar into a pot and cook them on medim heat in order to reduce the liquid in the flesh.

Once it get to the consistency that you prefer, cool them down before you put them into sterilize jar. You can store them in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

It wasn't as tough as I thought it would be to make jam. Of course mine might not taste as good as those sold out in the market but I'm glad I give it a try. Fig season is almost over and there are barely any fruit on the tree now and it is ready to be trim for the next season.

A Bowl Of Comfort

On a cold rainy day, what else can be better to comfort and soothe your soul than a bowl of hot ramen noodle. We went to this place quite often whenever I feel like having ramen. HALU is the name of the restaurant. It's a small restaurant tuck in a plaza that you would never thought to go for dinner.

A friend introduced me to this place and I have been loving it since. The decor of the restaurant is simple however it made you feel at home. On the ceiling you will see fishes swimming, photos that capture the various moment of the seas and surf board that grace the wall.


They hand made their ramen noodles and for the healthy folks they also wheat noodles on the menu. They also have various side dishes that you can order as well to go with your bowl of ramen, something that is not so common in other ramen noodles shop.


Try it out if you are in the area next time, Ramen HALU.

It's a Girl

Wait... don't misunderstand just yet. I'm not pregnant.

I just want to share my joy after reading the text. It was news from home that is is going to be a girl this time around for my brother's baby. Daddy must be really happy to get a baby girl and that little girl is so going to be a daddy's girl.

Indeed, I'm very happy to get a niece as well. Now I get to go shopping and by those cute, pink color dresses and not to mention those tiny baby girl shoes *grin*. Cuteness overloaded, all of them. They are just so eye catchy compare to baby boy clothes. I can't help myself, of course the baby brother will still get his pressies from this aunt.

May the baby continue to grow healthy in mama's womb.

Fleet Week Weekend

The annual Fleet Week started last Thursday and will last until tomorrow. Over the weekend they have the air show, it's one of the major attraction of Fleet Week. Every year for the past couple years, I have plan to go and see the air show however for one reason or another I have never made it. So, when a friend asked me whether I would like to tag along to see the air show this year, of course I said yes without any doubt. I have to go this year since it was given so much rave review by everyone who go to the show each year.

Rise and shine early on Sunday since we have decided to bike as usual and need to take the first train in the morning to beat the crowd. Surprise, surprise we made it to the train station with more than 10 minutes to spare instead of the usual late arrival or just in time arrival.

We got to San Francisco an hour before the show schedule start time so we decided to brunch at 'In & Out', my favorite burger joint. If you are here in California and you do eat beef burger, it is a must try. Instead of my usual cheeseburger, since I don't feel cheesy that morning, I had a hamburger instead.

Doesn't it looks good ? Yummy, yummy...

Along the way you will see stalls like this, a little souvenirs for the tourist and food for the empty stomach.





As for the air show, they have aerial demonstrations by the Navy's Blue Angels, Team Oracle, and the Air Force's F-16 Demonstration Team. Here are some photos of the air show, a little blurry of course since I'm using PnS instead of DSLR. I didn't bother with my DSLR as I don't have an ultimate zoom lense :(.




The Blue Angels flying


They even make a heart with a cupid over it
It was not as crowded early on in the show, compare to when the Blue Angels is schedule to fly. The Blue Angels are the highlight of the air show. Whoa, everyone was cheering on when they flew in. It was so loud and fast.



For more information about the event, visit the Fleet Week Official Site to see whether you plan to attend the event next year.

Oktoberfest by the Bay

BEER TIME!!! Last weekend we went to Oktoberfest by the Bay for beer and fun. Had a little incident at the train station. I got there right after the train arrived and didn't make it up the train. Worst thing is he made it up the train and the door close right when I try to board the train. I was standing there looking helpless. Ended up waiting an hour for the next train. However I still made it there which is the most important and not miss the beer session :)

We decided to bike there since it's not that far away. The festival is held at one barrack in Fort Mason as seen below. I thought it was going to be an outdoor festival so didn't expect it to be in a barrack.





There was a tent that sell German clothing and accessories, even those sales person are dressed up in traditional clothes. After looking around it seems like there are many of people attending the event dressed up in traditional clothes.




I was a little disappointed when we got in there, there wasn't that much to do in there other food and drink. Since there is nothing else we might as well eat up and drink up. There are pretzel, bratwurst hotdog, pork leg and dessert.






There are so many trucks in the barrack to serve beer. As you can see the beer is coming out directly from the truck and in the truck there are so many kegs of beer to serve everyone endless beer :)




There are couple kind of beers as well and of course we have to try every single one of them.


What is better than an orange hair lady serving you shot of beer? Are you not tempted to buy one shot from her? Would you be able to resist the charm?



What do you need the most after drinking non-stop beer for the afternoon? A breath tester to make sure that you are within legal limit before you head out and drive home. It's very considerate of the organizer to think of putting a couple of them in the venue. First time I see one of this machine ever.


All in all, it was a great day of fun and food with friends. Even the weather was incredible that day at this time of the year in San Francisco.

Harvesting Tomatoes

After 2 months, at last I have harvested my first batch of tomatoes from the garden. However, there are only 11 of them in the first batch, barely enough for one person. Nevertheless, I'm very happy to be able to eat tomatoes planted by myself. Hopefully in couple more weeks there will be more to be harvest.



There are a second tomato tree that is growing now, although I did not plant it myself, it's growing healthy by itself. It's already flowering however I am not sure whether it will bare fruit since winter is almost here. Hopefully it will turn out to be ok.

Jakarta, Indonesia

A little disappointed with myself during this trip because I did not take enough photos. I was too busy playing with my little nephew rather than my camera. Jakarta is not even remotely close to what I picture in my mind before I got there. In my imagination, it is very similar to KL since it is the capital of Indonesia. Reality is, it is still far from it. When I looked down from my hotel room this is what I see, not many high rise buildings and most of them are crowded together.




On the street, there are a lot of those motorbike pedicab zooming in and out of the traffic. The one thing that capture my attention is their public bus stop. It looks more like one of those subway, or train platform and it's covers so you do not need to stand under the sun and smell the bad traffic emission gas. Too bad I do not have one to show you here.

Majority of this trip we spend exploring food. Aside from food, we went to visit a safari park, a volcano and outlet in Bandung.





It was a great trip to be able to spend time with family, although we did not visit a lot of tourist spot. One thing that is missing from this trip is a visit to buy some handicraft souvenier since I heard it is really cheap to buy handicraft in Indonesia. Next trip I shall go and visit Bali for the thing that I miss out this time.