Life on Phinney Ridge

Meeting Great Grandma!

2011-07-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

Evie is lucky - she has two great grandmothers that shower her with love and affection! She met Tai Poh (Great Grandma Lim, my Mom's mom) over the weekend when we drove down to Portland for a visit. Evie was in a great mood all weekend too; she seemed to enjoy all the attention from Great Aunt Daisy and from Tai Poh as well as the Portland sunshine. Hopefully, Evie will be able to meet her other Great Grandma - Granda Jeanne (Scott's Dad's mom) when we go down to LA later in the year.

Here's a few pics from the weekend:

From Evie

Four generations!
From Evie

Happy birthday Evie!

2011-07-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

Our little baby girl turned 1-month old on Saturday, July 9th! I can't believe it's already been a month - seems like just yesterday we were taking her home from the hospital and staring at her wide-eyed, trying to figure out how to hold her head up properly so that it wouldn't roll around. Fast forward one month and though she's not holding her head up on her own just yet, we're a little more confident with our parenting. She's smiling and cooing much more now and has gained a pound or two so it seems like we're doing something right!

Happy birthday Evie!

Just minutes old, bonding with Mommy.
From Evie

1 day old.
From Evie

1 month old, and adorable (IMHO!)
From Evie

STP

2011-07-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy weekend! First up, Scott headed off early Saturday morning on the Seattle-to-Portland bike classic ride - a grueling 204 mile 2-day bike ride between the two PACNW cities. It's the main bike event of the year here and there are some 10,000+ riders that do the trip. Scott went with 2 buddies and they were even able to get Living Social jerseys to wear to represent his company. He finished the ride late afternoon on Sunday in Portland where we picked him up. As his reward, we went for a celebratory meal at Gustav's for his favorite - German food and beer!

5:45am on Saturday morning, at the starting line for STP.
From Evie

Pretty pretty princess

2011-07-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

Evie has so many cute outfits to wear. I especially like the one that her Aunt Missy gave her - she looks like a princess ballerina!

From Evie

Sleeping

2011-06-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

Evie has been a pretty good sleeper, but we hear that this is typical of a 2 week old and that the 3 week mark is when everything changes. Most of the time, she'll fall asleep in the bassinet on her own, but she's getting a bit fussier now and wants to be held in order to fall asleep now. Here's a few videos of Scott and me trying to get her to sleep! She's such a cutie, especially when she's sleepy.

From Evie

Summer Solstice

2011-06-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the longest day of the year and we had beautiful summer weather to mark the occassion! We took advantage and took Evie for her first walk around Greenlake in the evening. She did really well and didn't cry or fuss except for just a little when we stopped for some photo ops.

Beautiful night on Greenlake

Proud Papa showing off his baby

Evie not liking our stops one bit.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all the papas out there! And a very special Happy First Father's Day to Scott, who is the best new dad there is. I think it's the cutest thing to see how little she is compared to him, and how protective he is of her already. He's going to have a heck of time when she's a teenager! =)

Daddy time!

2011-06-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

Scott loves being with his little girl. He gets his exercise walking around the house trying to calm her down, and once she's quiet, he likes to hold her while he's reading, playing on the computer or watching TV. It's super cute to see!

Happy 1 week birthday Evie!

2011-06-16T17:22:00.000-07:00

It has been too too long since we last posted but we figured we haven't been doing too many terribly interesting things that you would want to know about... until we had baby Evie last week! Now we have a good reason to update this blog again. We'll try to update it regularly with new photos and videos of the little one.

Our little chick-a-dee is 1 week old today! She was born last Thursday, June 9th and 6:55pm. She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz and measured 19.5 inches. We went to the doctor yesterday and she's lost some of her birth weight and is at 6 lbs 7.7 oz right now, but has grown to 21 inches already! Since we see her all the time I am not aware of the changes she's going through but when I look at pictures from last week, I can see how much she's already changed.

She's starting to smile now although it's just in her sleep and at random times. It sure makes for some amusing times where we all try to get her to smile when she is awake!

Here's a pic of the little girl, all wrapped up in the beautiful pink blanket and hat that PohPoh (Grandma Ada) made for her.

Happy birthday Evie!

Fish Tacos

2010-03-13T20:48:00.001-08:00

I've complained about the lack of good Mexican street tacos here, but I'm pretty sad too at the quality of fish tacos. Fish and chips are great, but that hasn't translated to good fish tacos. So, I decided to take the challenge and make my own. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision while we were in the market. Unfortunately, I didn't know what the cream sauce/salsa that normally goes with fish tacos is made of so didn't buy any ingredients for that. The upside is, I ended up making a killer salsa! Scott will even agree that it is the best salsa I've ever made - and that's saying a lot considering all of the salsa we make at the Yu summer bbq's. Anyway, dinner was a snap since we used the tried-and-true George Foreman grill to cook up the fish. For sure, this will be going into our dinner rotation. Next time, I'll try to make the cream sauce too!

Rainier snow shoeing

2010-02-16T19:13:00.000-08:00

My folks made the long haul this past weekend and drove from Los Angeles to Seattle. After 24 years my parents decided to pass over the reigns on the '86 Volvo wagon to May and I to keep the White Flash alive and in the family.

Saturday we had fun visiting with Scott and his family. After pizza we went on the farm and home tour - always a good time with the little kiddies. We then visited Chateau St. Michelle in nearby Woodinville and then next door to Redhook brewery for brews and Olympics.

My parents have been curious about our interest in snow shoeing so Sunday we rented some gear and headed over to Mt. Rainier. It was a long drive, about 2.5 hours but it was well worth it. We went to Paradise area and went hiking down to a waterfall. The snow was deep and it made for an intense workout combined with the steep slope. Throughout the afternoon the weather morphed from light snow to sun to intense snow flakes. All in all very fun.

Happy (belated) holidays!

2010-01-30T10:13:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since we posted to our blog, partly due to a busy schedule. Without further ado, happy holidays! For Christmas and new years May and I went down to LA to visit family and friends. It was a busy week juggling all the families and friends, but we had a good time.

Some highlights from our trip:

Explored the tide pools in Palos Verdes... tons of star fish and other creatures
Move.com mini-reunion over Indian food
Hot-pot feast at the Yu household
Campbell hall reunion at the Kriegler's home
Building a gazillion Ikea cabinets for Kin's new house
Portland weekend trip...mmm Stumptown coffee & Voodoo donuts
Tahoe mini-college reunion trip
Frozen Green lake in Seattle

Celebrating Winter Solstice

2009-12-22T12:13:00.001-08:00

Our favorite local pub, Naked City, has finally started brewing its own beer and can now truly be called a Brewhouse. Since we hadn't tried them out yet, we decided to walk over and toast the Winter Solstice. We thought it would be a nice way to send off Winter, and welcome the longer days, no?

I started with the Naked City Drifter - very light, slightly sweet. Kinda watery even. Reminded me of Coors Light! Scott had the Naked City Hoptricity, which he said was only okay. It's an IPA, but because it's made from rye, it threw him off. After those, we moved on to schooners of the Black Raven Wisdom Seeker IPA (Scott's favorite of the night), Russian River Pliny the Elder (too piney for me!) and the Rogue Mogul Madness (a nice winter beer).

I think the best part of beer is all the funny names.

Bench project

2009-12-20T22:01:00.000-08:00

After a few hints from May saying, "Wouldn't it be nice if we had a bench in the laundry room to sit on while putting on your shoes?" we finally acted.

This weekend we built a little bench to fit the small spot in the corner of the laundry room. First we trekked to Home Depot and bought some pine wood cut to size then over to Jo-Ann Fabric to get the foam and batting for the seat cushion. I had a ton of fun playing around with the dowel bit set that I got for the project. Each leg now has 2 dowels securing them. In no time the bench was glued and screwed together. Next we sanded all the corners in preparation for paint. After 3 coats of bright white pain we stapled the foam, batting and an old curtain that we used as the bench cloth.

I got flack for the 'architectural detail' I added to the bench legs (notches), and while they aren't 100% symmetrical they do add quite a bit of charm if I do say so myself. Very neuvo-Simpson.

All in all it cost about $25 make. Except now May has ideas for other furniture she wants to make for the bathrooms :)

Christmas Tree

2009-12-14T08:59:00.000-08:00

We've been enjoying our fabulous Christmas Tree! We braved the cold weather last week to purchase a tree one evening after work and our poor little fingers were so cold, having to haul this up on top of the car and then drag it up the stairs and into the house. But, we de-thawed and spent a nice night of decorating the tree while Christmas tunes played in the background. The tree is all decked out with gold ornaments (purchased from Home Depot last year), and while it's pretty, I'm thinking it might need some more color. We'll have to do some after Xmas shopping to stock up on colored ornaments!

Holiday Wreath

2009-12-13T16:57:00.001-08:00

I'm very proud of my home-made wreath! I got my inspiration from Martha Stewart. She mentioned how you can take a few trimmings from your tree and make a free-form wreath, and then pretty it up with some bows and what not. Here's my version. Fun, huh? Now I just wish our door faced the street so all the passerbys can see it!

Sedona!

2009-12-13T16:22:00.000-08:00

Scott had a conference in Scottsdale earlier this week and since I had a few vacation days to burn before the end of the year, I decided to join him. I've been to Scottsdale only once before for work, so this time, with Way joining me, I was able to go explore a bit.

On Monday, we took off to Sedona for a day trip. Sedona is red-rock country, and had the weather been cooperating, I'm sure it would have been as beautiful as everyone says. But, there was a massive storm that day (blizzard conditions in Flagstaff to the north, and so much wind/rain in Phoenix/Scottsdale that four hospitals lost power) and most of the red rock formations were shrouded in mist. And, with the rain coming down steadily, it made everything red, muddy, and not very conducive to exploring and hiking around.

On Tuesday, we hung around Scottdale and explored old town a bit, and then met up with Scott in the afternoon for a small bite before heading to the airport. I was happy to have satisfied my Mexican food craving, hitting up several places for Mexican food. I found most of it pretty good, but a little smokier/sweeter than I am used to. I guess they have more of a tex-mex flavor?

Noodles on a cold day

2009-12-05T20:37:00.000-08:00

After a brisk, frost covered morning spent "winterizing" our yard (yeah, we're a little late) we quickly changed and headed over to downtown Seattle's international district on our way to do a bunch of errands. Last month I made the unfortunate mistake of buying "extra sticky short sweet rice", apparently this is the type they make tasty chinese desserts out of. Oh well, we have a ton now. While we were out and about we decided to go to the Uwajimaya japanese mega supermarket and pick up rice and find some noodles. Both were a hit.

After some intense searching we finally found Samurai Noodle behind the grocery store. It was tiny, eight 2-top tables and a huge line. The ramen hit the spot - hot tasty, porky and fat noodles. It had green onions, soy sauce hard boiled eggs, pork and bamboo. May got "extra fat" added to her ramen bowl, boy was it lip-smackin' good. We'll definitely go back. We heard they are opening up another one even closer in UW area.

Passing back through Uwajimaya we picked up the correct rice and a bunch of a little mochie squishie treats for fun. I love that place, too many funny looking little expensive treats to throw in the cart.

After some intense Christmas shopping we walked over to the Sheraton hotel in downtown so that May could see the Gingerbread house exhibit. It was impressive and surprisingly cool. Made me hungry too.

here comes winter!

2009-12-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

It's been c-o-l-d these past few days! In the mornings, the temps are below freezing and we see many a lawn frosted over on our drive into work. It almost looks like it snowed at night because everything is frosty white. It makes us super excited for the snow to start coming in soon! It's been sunny and clear these past few days (probably why it is so cold!) but we're crossing our fingers that this year will be snowy enough that we can sled down our street again. Who knew that I would like the cold weather so much?

Whistler Pre-Olympics

2009-11-30T21:28:00.000-08:00

Instead of the standard American staple of turkey for thanksgiving, May and I decided to pack our bags and head north for the long weekend in Whistler B.C. The border website that May mentioned in her last post was a lifesaver. We left at around 7am and completely avoided all the border back-up. Brilliant!

We missed all the good snow by a week...54 inches to be exact. By the time we arrived the weather had been relatively warm (40's) all week so much of the snow at the base had melted. We stayed at a hotel right in the heart of Whistler village, walking distance to everything. Instead of a fancy hotel using the Expedia travel agent rate we decided to book a room with a fireplace, living room and kitchenette. We really enjoyed it, much more room to spread out and it was super convenient to just make breakfast in the room instead of dining out for every meal. And with the 1:1 exchange rate, it made a big difference.

On Friday morning I went snowboarding while May researched spa treatment options. It was an unexpectedly beautiful day, crystal clear blue skys, not too cold. The skiing on the top of Whistler was perfect, no complaints, but the bottom of the hill was dreadfully icy. I had a blast but the last run of the day proved fateful, I sprained my wrist on a fall and walked down the last bit of the mountain... the bottom had very little snow, just ice patches here and there. After a quick visit to the doc I got a bandage and a clean bill of health.

May and I walked over to a nearby trail that circled Lost Lake and did a little snowshoeing on Thursday and Saturday. Not a ton of snow, but just enough that without the gear your feet would sink a ways into the snow. It's a blast, particularly the downhill sections. Talk about a super cheap sport. We were so excited to get our first snowfall on Saturday morning, but due to the warm weather it melted by the end of the day. I recommend visiting Whistler on Thanksgiving weekend, there really were not many folks in town...hopefully it stays that way for January too!

After scoping the border crossing website we decided to kill some time in Vancouver. What a great city, I keep forgetting how many shops there are there. In fact one might say it's a smaller version of Hong Kong... and colder too. The terrible exchange rate didn't get us excited to buy anything so we turned our attention back to our stomachs and visited a friendly looking steak and fish grill before hitting the road.

What's the next winter moutain trip? Mt. Baker? Crystal Mountain? Steven's Pass?

The internet saves the day!

2009-11-25T22:14:00.000-08:00

It's really amazing the type of information you can now access through the internet. Scott and I were discussing this a while back when we were getting ready for our Deception Pass camping trip. We marveled that the Washington state parks site not only lets you view (and choose) available campsites, but also shows you pictures of each individual site so you can gauge shade, the level of the ground, etc.

Tonight, I'm impressed I was able to pull up archived data of the average wait times at the Washington/Canada border. The Cascade Gateway Data site can chart the average delay time down to the hour of a specific day. So cool! Based on the data for last year's Thanksgiving weekend, we've decided we'll try to cross the border back into the States this Sunday around 9-10pm. If history is our gauge, the average wait times by then should be down to less than 45 minutes. We'll let you know how it goes!

Symphony!

2009-11-21T19:35:00.001-08:00

We have been very bad about posting lately! Sorry about that, we will try to be better. Especially with all the winter activities coming up, we should have a lot to report on.

Last night we ventured out to test the cultural side of Seattle and went to the Symphony. We catch the bus to work underneath the Hall, so it was fun to actually be able to go INTO the building this time. The hall itself is quite nice and far smaller than I imagined. It looks like pretty much any seat would be a good seat in this auditorium.

The headliner was Tchaikovsky's Pathétique, but the standout for the night actually ended up being Mozart's Piano Concert No 21 in C Major, featuring guest pianist Gabriela Montero. It was hauntingly beautiful and, since it's a pretty recognizable piece, we even found ourselves humming it after the show. Montero is known for her improvisations and she wowed us with her encore - she asked an audience member to pick any song and someone volunteered Sleeping Beauty. With that, she improvised a 10 minute piano piece incorporating the famous melody. It was dazzling to see someone riff like that on a piano - she started off playing it classic and then ended it on a jazz note. It makes me wish that I practiced piano more when I was a kid!

Here's the concert list that we heard:
Ludwig Irgens Jensen: Partita Sinfonica, “The Drover”
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, “Pathétique”

Autumn in Yosemite

2009-11-08T21:49:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday morning we set off from Way & Kevin's home in SF to nearby Berkeley to get our indian food fix in before the trek to Yosemite. Vic's Chaat Corner is one-of-a-kind. I normally would beg May to order chicken-tika-massala but this place doesn't serve the normal dishes, they serve "chaat" or street food. No idea what any of the items on the menu are, but the food is tasty... a helpful addition to the menu would be pictures (even better, scratch and sniff).

The drive from Berkeley to Yosemite was only about 3.5 hours with lead-foot-larry (aka Way) at the wheel (jk!). We got there in plenty of time to enjoy the last few hours of sunlight in the valley floor where we stopped to snap some pics of the fall colors and friendly Mule deer. Night #1 we spent in Curry Village (no connection to our lunch) - these are heated and insulated "tents" (more like cabins than tents really). Despite the near freezing temperatures at night we were toasty warm with the heater. I'm not sure why, but I don't think any of us slept that night. The beds were a little stiff and I think all of us were too scared to go outside and brave the bears to use the restroom. Alas, no bears to be found in the morning... good thing Kevin took the threat so seriously, jettisoning all non-essential food, chapstick or anything else that could possibly attract a bear or squirrel.

Day two was a beautiful crystal clear fall day. We decided to all rent single-speed bikes and ride the trail around Yosemite valley. I would highly recommend it despite the $25 per person cost. It was about 12 miles round-trip along flat ground with breathtaking views of the waterfalls, meadows and rocky walls. May enjoyed that the bike trail was pretty far removed from the main roads. Night #2 we spent at the Yosemite lodge which had much nicer accomodations on the valley floor than the cabin... but the bathroom was arguably on-par with the Curry village camp ground. We decided to get a drink at the old and famous Ahwahnee hotel. Beautiful location below the cliffs, but quite a bit outdated throughout... not worth the $400 per night. When we returned to the lodge we decided to eat-in and visit the ol' caffeteria next door. More pizza and burgers for the weekend... the nature was healthy for the sole, but the food in Yosemite not-so-much.

Day three we decided to drive up to Glacier point (7K foot elevation) to take advantage of the beautiful weather and snap some pictures of Half Dome. Unfortunately we spent a good chunk of the morning parked - waiting to drive up the mountain in-between road working crews. But the wait was worth it, picture-perfect views and amazing vistas overlooking the Sierra Nevadas. I can't wait to go back when there is snow on the ground!

Fall is here!

2009-10-18T15:41:00.000-07:00

Fall is here! After a few days of overcast skies and steady rain (uncharacteristic of Seattle), it cleared up enough for me to take a little walk around our neighborhood lake. Unfortunately, the clouds and sun weren't cooperating so it was hard to get good light to take a picture with my cell phone, so this was the best I could do.

I love summer, but I'm looking forward to soups and stews, wearing sweaters and evenings by the fire!

Oyster Fest in the Olympics

2009-10-13T21:51:00.000-07:00

Way & Kevin came up for a visit two weekends ago so we decided to visit the Olympic Peninsula. We started the trip by taking the ferry across to Bainbridge island and ventured through the town of Poulsbo (apparently it translates into "Paul's Place" in viking tongue). After some tasty danishes and a stop by the bottle shop, May was giddy to get back on the road and explore the Oyster Fest in Shelton. We arrived towards the end of the fest so oysters were a little scarce. The oyster shooters were a little warm for me, but the BBQ oysters were surprisingly delicious.

We spent the night at Alderwood resort in the city of Union and I think we were all a little surprised how nice it was. It's set right on the Hood canal with fantastic views of the Olympic mountains and crystal clear water. Standing on the boat dock you could look down and see crabs, fish, starfish and tons of oysters all over. We had high hopes for one of the few restaurants in town, Robin Hood Restaurant. Although the painting of Mr. Hood was lovely the food left a little to be desired, but the local ale (Dick Danger's Ale) was brilliant.

This is some SERIOUS pie

2009-10-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

I've said it before that Seattle is a pizza town. There are a ton of pizza joints in this city, and one of the more famous ones is called Serious Pie. It's a Tom Douglas outpost, but those have been hit-or-miss with us so we weren't expecting too much.

Since the restaurant was recently featured on a show on the food channel, after we picked Way and Kevin from the airport, we headed over for a late night dinner. Even though we got there at 9:30, the place was packed and we had to wait half an hour for a table. And by table, I mean we got 4 spots at one of the several communal tables. Cozying up next to our neighbors ended up being fun though. The guys to our right told us they were visiting from DC and thought this was the best pizza they have EVER had, and had already had lunch there this afternoon. The couple to our left ordered around the same time as us and we all compared tasting notes.

And the tasting notes were:
Roasted Chanterelle and Truffle Cheese: So yummy! Earthy but delicate, and swooning with truffle-ness. I might have to say that this is MY favorite pizza ever.
Penn Cove Clams, House Pancetta and Lemon Thyme: Nice clam flavor, with just a bit of salt from the pancetta to even out the seafood, but I think I'm not a fan of clam pizza.
Wild Boar Sausage, Walla Walla Onions, Sole de Sardegna: Good, but not great pizza. Of all the three we tried, this was the "safest" of the bunch.

Overall, I think the pizza was one of the best I've ever had! It's frou-frou pizza though, so not something that you'd have on a weeknight, watching a football game with your beer buds though. I think what makes it so good is the top notch ingredients and then really good pizza dough. The dough reminded me a bit of naan - really light and airy and crisped just right. Way thought it was a bit too sweet so we think they may brush on a bit of honey, but for me, that was alright and it rounded out some of the flavors.

Mt. Ranier Hike

2009-10-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was an action-packed weekend, there was so much to blog about that we couldn't fit it all in. On Sunday May and I decided to take advantage of the last summer-sunny-day and hike Mt. Ranier... well not the actual mountain, but a mountain inside the national park that had a great view.

We left pretty early in the morning to beat the crowds, and boy was it cold on the drive up. The car said at one point that it was 40 degrees! And it was a long drive...not so much on the freeway, but on the 20 miles of dirt forest fire roads. What a bumpy terrible drive - mental note to buy an SUV.

When we arrived at the trail head there was a pretty cool little campsite, and it was already packed with cars from day-hikers. Our hike began at the campsite as we walked around the west side of Mowich lake. Let me tell you this lake was something else, with Mt. Rainier in the background, huge forests all around and bright blue crystal clear water it was a site to see. May looked frustrated in our pictures as I kept asking her to stop and be my subject for innumerable photos. Our hike continued over the mountains over a ridge to Eunice lake at the foot of a fire lookout station. The wildflowers were nearing there end, but there were still a few pretty meadows left. After resting at Eunice lake, we decided to make the 1,200 foot climb to the lookout station and we were rewarded with breathtaking views of Ranier and all the surrounding mountain ranges. Unfortunately we weren't alone, dozens of hikers also joined for a quick snack at the top. Next year I want to reserve one of the fire lookout forts and spend the night... I can't imagine how clear the sky would be.

All in all a great hike, if we had an SUV I'd do it again in a heart-beat. 4 miles round trip, only 1,500 feet of elevation gain.

Greek and SAM

2009-09-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

We're a bit surprised by how many greek restaurants we have within walking distance to our house. We can think of at least 4, and that doesn't count Pete's Eggnest, which is a breakfast joint owned by a Greek family. In any case, they all have flyers in their windows advertising the annual Greek Festival so, of course, we head over to check it out.

First of all, we were taken aback by the size of the event. It's held at a Greek Church, but I guess the grounds of it are huge because they had an outdoor food tent set up that was as big as a gymansium. Merry greek tunes were being played onstage while we walked around and got a gyro, dolmas, and some greek pastries - baklava (yum!), pastelli (a sesame honey candy that was terrific) and Melomakarona (an orange-flavored biscuit that was ok). It was fun walking around, and made us want to go back to visit the Greek islands!

After stuffing ourselves, we headed downtown to the Seattle Art Museum since Saturday was nationwide free museum day (put on by the Smithsonian). We shouldn't have been shocked to see how long the line to get in was since everyone loves a free entrance fee, but still, we were impressed with how busy the museum was.

Sad to say though, the museum was really not very good. It is 2 big floors of all different kinds of art (paintings, photography, porcelain, scultpures, installation etc) and it covered the gamut of art history (ancient greek, european, modern, native american). But, I think because it tries to cover so much, it didn't really do any particular segment all that well. Oh well, at least we can say been there, done that... for free!

Wurst Festival!

2009-09-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

You just have to say "Bratwurst" to see Scott's eyes light up. Add "Festival" to that and he gets giddy. So, he didn't need much prompting when I said I wanted to check out the Wallingford Wurst Festival.

Turns out, it wasn't so much of a festival as it was a school fundraising fair. In it's 26th year, the festival is put on by this Catholic school in Wallingford and when we got there, it was like the PTC picnic gone wild. The playground had bouncy castles galore, a stage with a band set up, a handful of booths selling food, and then a carnival games area.

Inside the main school building, one of the classrooms was cleared out to hold the used-book sale. We browsed for a while and came away with a bunch of books. At $0.50 for paperback and $1.00 for hardback, we couldn't pass up buying a Northwest Hiking Guide and a SPY book that Scott had wanted to get at Costco. Down the hall in the upstairs auditorium/gym area was the biergarten and dinner area. $4 for brews from Maritime and $12 for a Wurst dinner. We shared a meal (it was ok) and hung out for a bit.

Downstairs, the cafeteria was turned into the mother of all bake-sales. A table ran the length of two walls selling home-made treats like pie, cupcakes, cookies and every other baked goodie you can think of. I opted for a ginormous spice cupcake with cream cheese frosting and a molasses cookie while Scott got a lemon bar. All for $2.50!

In the end, we didn't have as much Wurst as we would have liked, but we had fun feeling like a part of the community. It was neat that there were a TON of children there and you could tell that it's the big event the school puts on and alumni come back for it.

Camp'n in Washington

2009-09-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week my dad came up to visit us while mom hung out in Oregon with her high school girl friends. We decided to make it a boys camping trip so we took off on Monday afternoon and drove about an hour north to Deception Pass State Park (right at the tip of Whidbey Island).

Talk about perfect weather, it was a crystal clear gorgeous day. After pitching our tent and unpacking we build a fire and grilled our steak and vegi dinner. The steak turned out a little tough, but the steamed-in-foil veggies turned out perfect. I forgot to mention that we found out pretty quick about the nearby Navy air base. At first the jets were cool, then it got old after a few hours...these suckers are LOUD screaming over the tree tops. Apparently the jets practice a lot. The dense woods and beautiful bay certainly made up for it though. Quite possibly one of the prettiest places on the west coast. Perfect spot for kayaks, crabbing on the pier, and tons of hiking trails. Must go back again, maybe next time we can reserve the park's cabin on a nearby island.

On our way back we drove through Whidbey island and took the ferry across to Everett. We took a slight detour so that I could check out Scuttlebutt Brewery in Everett which was fun to experience, but not a lot of personality inside - right on the waterfront in the marina, but no view!

For dinner we swung by home to pick up May and then went to Elliot's Oyster House on the Seattle waterfront. Of course we had to get a sample platter of the raw oysters and boy were they slurpy-good! All Washington variety, but only one was native to the region. I have to say, May ate one that was almost the size of her hand. It was huge! Kudos May for tackling it.

West Seattle exploration

2009-09-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

After a lazy day of sleeping-in and reading, May and I decided to venture outdoors on this beautiful-sunny-brisk-day. We went over to the Fremont Octoberfest event, but after hunting for parking for 20 minutes we decided to bail after seeing the relatively small turn out and annoyingly high entrance price ($40 for 1 beer drinker and 1 DD).

May hadn't seen West Seattle yet so we decided to take advantage of the weather and head over. Along the coast it reminded us both of Southern California beach towns - flat terrain, limited parking, and tons of people walking along the boardwalk. The Seattle skyline was awesome from Alki beach. We decided to have an appetizer at Salty's restaurant (right on the water). The view was awesome, but the food, music and chilly temperature were all miserable. I'd go back to show out-of-towners the view, but not worth another visit otherwise.

Makes me want a boat on such a nicy lazy day. Commence operation boat planning.

Tigerbait Tigerbait!

2009-09-07T11:14:00.001-07:00

I am happy to report that Scott and I are Husky Stadium virgins no more! Kin and Meredith flew up this weekend and treated us to the first college football game of the season, UW vs LSU's Tigers. Since Meredith is a LSU alum, we decked ourselves out in purple and gold and then took the bus (free ride when you show your game ticket!) over to campus for some tailgating with the LSU Alumni Association. We settled onto the lawn with some oyster shooters, jambalaya and beers and watched as everyone around us chanted "tigerbait! tigerbait!" whenever Husky fans walked by. Then we headed over to the stadium where, thankfully, we were seated in a mostly LSU section. There were some Husky fans among us though and they embarrassed themselves (and Seattle really) by being really crude - within five minutes of the game, 2 fans got into a fight right next to us and got thrown out, and the big dude behind us was obnoxious as heck, yelling obscenities left and right while spitting tobacco onto the floor. We ended up leaving the game early because LSU was winning and because we couldn't stand the guy behind us anymore. The tobacco spitter aside, the weather stayed good the entire night and we had a really great time cheering for the Tigers. Geaux Tigers!

Pok Pok is my version of heaven

2009-09-07T10:37:00.001-07:00

Portland is a great eating town because it has lots of restaurants that aren't too hard on the wallet. As we were driving back from the Ranch last week, it was such a coincidence (heh) that we passed through Portland right around dinner time...! I directed us to Pok Pok Whisky Soda Lounge, a cozy Thai restaurant in the SE section of Portland that holds the honor of having their Fish Sauce Wings named as one of Food & Wine magazine's Top 10 Dishes of 2007. Normally, I am skeptical of any asian restaurant that has a full bar, but since Way recommended it, I tried not to let my prejudice get the best of me.

And oh boy! This stuff was g-o-o-d. We ordered the famous wings, which Scott tore into like a little kid in a candy store. They were salty (a little too much I think), but tempered with some sticky sweetness and a little smokiness from being on a grill. We also got the Boar Collar Meat - the meat was a bit chewy, but was intense with chili-lime-garlic flavor. Lastly, we got a Pork Belly salad since we are suckers for pork belly and I love most any Thai salad. This one didn't disappoint - it was fiery hot and limey.

We left with happy tummies and a vow to return. The restaurant reminded me a lot of Lotus of Siam, the Vegas Thai place that I rate all Thai restaurants against. The menu was different and interesting and it certainly didn't dumb down the heat and flavors of the food. The bar, I thought, actually added to menu with interesting drinks (Thai bloody mary using Thai chilis anyone?) and atmosphere to boot. This place, along with those delectable oysters we had at Jake's and the killer tapas at Toro Bravo, cements my opinion that Portland is a chowhound's dream!

Day 1 of our Oregon Road Trip!

2009-08-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

And we're off!

On our way to the Ranch this year, we decided to take a few extra days to drive through Oregon and visit some places that we've wanted to see. The first day of our trip consisted of making a pit stop in Portland for Powell's and lunch, and then meandering down to the Willamette Valley for some wine tasting.

Powell's was, as always, a treat! We love browsing the bookshelves and left with 12 books! Technically, 3 of them are for Way though. But still, the prices at Powell's can't be beat and we are happy with our loot!

For lunch, we tried out Rogue Brewery in the Pearl District. Lunch was standard brewery fare (I just got a large salad while Scott got a French Dip) so the fun was in trying the beer. I had the Juniper Pale Ale (nice and light) and Scott tried the Captain Sig's Northwestern Ale and the 200 Metre IPA (both very hoppy).

After a short drive, we found ourselves in the Willamette Valley - home of some of Oregon's best wine! Since it was so late, we only had time for 2 wineries: Duck Pond and Rex Hill. Both had lovely tasting rooms; it was a far far cry from Yakima!

Adventure weekend in Seattle

2009-08-17T20:19:00.000-07:00

After a lousy week of rain and cold (first rain for the whole summer mind you!) we got a little break, chalk-full of good ol' vitamin-D, sun to the lay person. On Saturday May and I decided to get a little exercise and kayak around the Seattle Arboretum. We rented a two-seater kayak with a fancy little rudder and headed over to the Lilly pad jungle at the arboretum. It was a lot of fun, but heading back into the wind on the way back was a little greweling - complete with hand blisters. From now on, spray-skirts all the way, makes a BIG difference keeping the water out.

On Sunday we decided to give our lower legs a work out so we drove to nearby Lynnwood and went to Myrtle Edwards State Park. Who knew that something so wooded and pretty was close to the city? It was a 2.5 mile loop to the beach where we had a little picnic. Aside from the flys, it was exactly what the doctor ordered. The puget sound was a little chilly, but it felt good on a warm day.

The best part of the weekend was trekking over to the new "H-Mart" in Lynnwood. A very fancy, huge, up-scale Korean supermarket - with a village of little Korean shops around it. It was like visiting a different planet, I had a hard time recognizing half of the fish, vegtables and canned goods. For the noodle lovers there was an entire isle dedicated to noodles, and multiple isles dedicated to frozen fish - the most exciting were the live fish tanks. I like the idea of staring my dinner down. As a treat May and I stopped by the pastery shop on the way out and picked up a Red bean honey bun. Yum!

Wallingford Date Night!

2009-08-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Scott and I had a date night out last night and explored the little neighborhood of Wallingford!

First stop was Issian Japanese Stone Grill for dinner. I've read a little bit about this Yakitori joint and we were both really happy with our meal. Scott liked the JFC (Japenese Fried Chicken), which was very hot, moist and tasty. My fave was the grilled Kurobata Pork Belly - so fatty and delicious! We'll definitely be back.

Next, we popped into Bottleworks. This places gets mentioned all the time for having a great selection of bottled beers from around the world. It's a pretty small store, but both sides of the wall are lined with bottles and it is a pretty impressive collection. I couldn't find any Australian beer, but there sure were lots of lambics and other specialty bottles that we had never heard of before.

Lastly, we watched (500) Days of Summer at the old Guild Theater. We had been in the Theater before to watch Australia a few months ago and Scott commented that for such an old theater, they charge premium prices ($9.50) and don't seem to be using that money to spruce up the place! I think the theater is fine though - it's old, but clean and since it's never too crowded, you don't miss the stadium seating that the new theaters have. The movie itself was pretty good, but a little depressing.

I love Tacos!

2009-08-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

There's very little out there as satisfying as a really great "Mexico-city style" taco. It's such a simple idea of a dish but so hard to come by a really good one. I liken it to a really great Bolognese - everyone can make it, but few can make it swoon-worthy. The tortilla has to be the right texture of soft and smooth but not too thick. The meat has to be juicy, perhaps even fatty, salty and slightly charred. This all needs to then be topped with a generous heaping of onions and cilantro. No more, no less. Don't destroy this lovely bundle of tastiness with tomatoes or cheese; it doesn't need all those extras! The finishing touch is to douse on salsa - something spicy, runny and home-made. Tapatio is not what I'm talking about here. Next, assemble your plate to have some sliced radishes ready in case your mouth needs to be cooled down from all that salsa. Grab a napkin and a big cup of soda and you're ready to have one fine meal.

I've been missing tasty tacos for awhile now. We've run into some ok places so far in Seattle, but home-made, authentic Mexican food isn't as easy to access as it is in LA. Driving through Toppenish this weekend on our way to the wineries, we noticed the large hispanic population and the numerous taco trucks and that got me super-excited about finding a hole-in-the-wall joint that could give me my taco fix. We randomly pulled into El Charrito and I'm happy to report my tummy left satisfied! I ordered a Carnitas taco and Carne Asada taco. Both weren't the best I've ever had, but they soothed the cravings for now. The tortillas were wonderful and the meat well seasoned, but I wished the salsa was spicier and the carne asada not be so chopped up. In any case, it felt a little like being back in the Valley, what with the hot weather outside. the Mexican radio inside and me munching away on tacos!

Saturday Wine Tasting

2009-08-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday proved to be a nice, warm sunny day for us in Yakima. We started out at a few wineries near Toppenish (Bonair, Two Mountain, Porteus), the most tasty of the afternoon we thought was Two Mountain and the most friendly was Porteus. We spoke to the wine makers at Porteus for quite awhile and they shared tips on restaurants, breweries and pics of last year's snow fall on the valley floor. Quite fun.

We had fun driving around the farm country hunting down the wineries and for lunch we decided to venture into Toppenish for some local Mexican food. Boy was it tasty. The town itself was quite interesting, it is famous for all of the historical murals (on most public & private buildings) and 1800's style frontier store fronts. Made us feel like we were in an old west town from the movies - yeeehaa!

Our timing was impecable, we arrived on "Hop Fest" weekend - the annual celebration for the upcoming hop gathering. We didn't stay long though, there really wasn't much tying back to the Hop theme at the event - huge tractor displays, classic snowmobile show and some cheesy live music. We went hunting at the event for Pickled Hop Shoots (found only at our local pub), but alas no one in town had ever heard of such a thing.

Sunny Yakima Valley

2009-08-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

This past weekend May and I switched plans and instead of visiting the northern Olympic Peninsula (due to some forecasted rain), we decided to explore the sunny Yakima Valley.

Yakima valley is about 2.5 hours away from Seattle, due east. It's known for a few things, namely: the Yakima river which runs through town, it's the start of the Washington wine region and it's the largest concentration of "Hop" vines in North America (approx 80% of hops in domestic beer comes from this little region).

We booked our hotel last minute, so there weren't many options, but I was able to get a decent deal on the local HoJo (Howard Johnson) hotel. All in all not bad - good location in town and a great shower. For those familiar with California, Yakima wasn't quite what we were expecting having grown up with Santa Ynez wineries nearby with all their charm and breath-taking views. Now, that said, there was a notable distinction we found: wine tasting on the winery properties were usually pretty modest (and free), but they winery staff were a bit more friendly than at California wineries.

On Friday night May and I came across Bert's pub and had a tasty dinner of Jalapeno Mac & Cheese, Burger Sliders and a few of the local brews (Yakima Craft Amber and the Iron Horse IPA). It was good, but I probably would not go again - had a little too much of a true bar feel to it.

Lip-smackin' Crab

2009-08-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

After a full day of snacking and crab trap throwing, we ventured back to our friend's home and prepared our catch for dinner. Thankfully our friends had a ginormous turkey-fryer pot that we used to cook up all the crabs in at once. Once the water got to a boil we flopped the still-alive crabs into the pot and 10 minutes later we had crispy goodness. We decided to crack all the crabs and extract the meat before eating - both fun and a lot of work. Only down side is that the meat is cold by the time you eat it. There were rumors that we might get sick off of eating too much crab. The rumor proved false, I could still eat more of them.

After dinner we visited our friend's chicken coop (big fat chickens looked tasty too), the kiddies went swimming in their little pool and then we went fishing on their dock. Low and behold, I was the only person to catch a fish...it was 2" long.

Neighborhood Thai Place

2009-08-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

The weather has turned from hot hot to pleasantly warm and we took advantage by walking down a few blocks to Tangerine, the new Thai restaurant that opened up in our neighborhood. Verdict: two thumbs up! Since it was warm out, I stuck with a nice light Squid Salad while Scott ordered the Pad Keur (eggplant) with Chicken. Both were really quite nice - good flavor and lots of heat. Me-thinks we will be back soon!

On a side note, like a lot of other restaurants in town, Tangerine doesn't really have windows; instead of windows, it has a see-through garage door. On nice days, they roll up the garage door and the restaurant becomes open air. It's really great actually since it lets in so much light and lets you enjoy the weather!

Crab Goodness

2009-08-01T23:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked the first time May and I went crabbing. Would we do it again? Definitely. One of the most leisurely "sports" in the world. It consists of throwing a crab trap ("pot") in the water, eating lunch and then checking your traps. That's about it. Best part about it was that it actually didn't require a boat.

We joined our friend's Scott & Corrin along with their family on a ferry ride from Edmunds (about 12 miles north of us) to Kingston (tip of the Olympic peninsula). We walked off the boat with a cooler for the crabs, traps and some ropes and walked about 200 feet to the fishing pier. The biggest mistake of the day was using frozen crab bait ("hockey pucks") and removing them from their protective plastic cover. We should have known better, but while we were at lunch they disintegrated pretty quickly. After about 2 hours we returned and found only 2 crabs in all 3 of the traps we were using and no bait left. Bummer. So we headed to the local store and picked up some near-expiring chicken thighs. They worked brilliantly! Within 2 hours (and a lot of crab pot micro-managing) we collected another 7 Red-rock crabs.

Things we learned:

Check pots regularly, numerous times starfish entered the cage and enveloped the bait.
Male crabs have a pointed abdomen, females are round.
Use tongs to handle the little suckers, they move really fast and have mean pinchers.
Everyone loves chicken, including crabs.

Seafood Fest - Cross it off of our list!

2009-07-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

Cross the Ballard Seafood Fest off of our "to-do" list! We made our way over yesterday morning after conveniently dropping our car off at a nearby tire center to get the tire fixed. We were lame and didn't see the Smoked Salmon lunch booth so instead, I got a Blackened Shrimp lunch while Scott ate some Indian food. I gave him a hard time about it - why get chicken when you are a seafood fest? Anyway, then we walked around a bit more and checked out some of the shops in Ballard. It was a pleasant morning since it wasn't too crowded or too hot. Next year we'll make sure to try the smoked salmon!

PNA Summer Beer Taste

2009-07-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend May and I joined our friend Greg for the annual Phinney Neighborhood Association beer taste. It was a beautiful hot, summer evening, chock-full of beer enthusiasts with live music to boot.

Best food:

Barking Dog bratwurst sandwiches

Best beer:

Alpine Brewing - Weizen-Bock
Boulevard Brewing - Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale
Georgetown Brewing - Manny's Pale Ale
Issaquah Brewery - Menage-a-Frog (belgian style trippel)
Maritime Pacific Brewery - Triple Dry-Hopped Islander Pale Ale

To finish off the evening we had a burger-rifick BBQ in the backyard followed by a competitive game of Scrabble (thankfully May was on my team).

Congrats to Erica and Dave!

2009-07-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we flew down to LA for our friend's Erica and Dave's wedding. The weather was typical LA - sunny, hot and dry. Scott didn't like it one bit and I admit I complained a little here and there, but it felt so nice to not worry about bringing a sweater in case the weather turns!

The wedding was held in Calamigos Ranch in the Malibu hills. Erica looked stunning in her custom made dress, and she and Dave looked happy as clams! They're moving to Atlanta after the get back from their honeymoon in Paris and while I'm excited they are starting their new life together, it's also sad to think that my friends are scattering all across the country. Oh well - this just gives me a reason to visit the South!

Baker's Dozen

2009-07-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

It's official, 12 bike rides from home to work. My goal is 25 times to work by the end of the summer. According to my calculations, I've logged about 360 miles more than my brother-in-law who has been longing for a bike (12 x 15 miles x 2 ways). He has a lot of catching up to do.

4th of July

2009-07-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

In honor of our nation's birth, we decided to have a traditional backyard BBQ for the 4th of July. Earlier in the day we took Meredith (first time Seattle visit) down to Pike's Place market and the waterfront. It was a scorching 82 degrees, so we had to lather-up the sun screen and arm each other with water bottles. The streets were packed with tourists, but it seemed like a 50-50 shot whether a store would be open. We walked the market booths and picked up some goodies for dinner. In addition to the fresh muscles May picked up on Whidbey Island, we also grabbed some fresh veggies, Hungarian sausage, Rainer cherries and a couple flowers for good measure.

Places that aren't open on July 4th: Cafe Ladro, Beserck Games, Dry cleaner and 1/2 the other stores in Seattle.

We were going to attend the Seattle International Beer festival, but we were all a little tired after trekking through Seattle and it was getting a bit late. So we decided to bring the party to the backyard and play an intense game of Stratego (I lost). The evening bar-b-que was fantastic; corn, hamburgers, muscle soup, salad stuff and plenty of cherries... now to slowly finish off all the left overs.

On Sunday we explored the Ballard locks, visited the Salmon ladder (with plenty of delicious looking Chinook's), outdoor summer concert and Ray's boathouse for lunch on the Puget Sound. It was the first time I experienced serious hot hummidity in Seattle, and it wore us down quick. After a quick recharge at Fremont's Theo Chocolates where we sampled some intensely good Basil and Jalapeno chocolate, we went back home for a quick soda and game of scrabble (lost again).

All in all a beautiful weekend in Seattle, but alas not enough time. Next year we plan to take everyone Kayaking and crabbing for some summer sea fun.

Long weekend

2009-07-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

This year for the long weekend we were lucky enough to have May's family fly into town and stay with us. Technically May's parents had already been in town for a couple weeks, but they returned from their Alaska cruise and Whistler B.C. trip in time to join the rest of the family in Seattle. Thursday night folks arrived late so we didn't do much except for test-drive the new Adirondack chairs on the freshly minted patio. So far both are holding together.

On Friday, after a bit of a late start (May is working long hours on some super secret T-Mobile phone project), we finally set off on a road trip up north to Bellingham for lunch. Very picturesque town, but about 1.5 hours away. By the time we arrived we were starvin'. We decided to have fish & chips in an old double-decker British bus that happens to be perched in the middle of town. BIG mistake. Fried fish sampler was tasty, it just took an hour for it to be served. Apparently half of the state had the same idea to go there for lunch.

We took the scenic drive along the famous Chuckanut Drive down to Deception Pass bridge (links the mainland to Whidbey Island at the top), slowly meandering through the curvie-swervie roads. Chuckanut drive was built back in 1896, the first road connecting Bellingham to Whatcom county... apparently they didn't think cars would swell to the size of Chevy Suburbans when they designed the road. The weather was gorgeous so I didn't mind the drive - except when a rock hit our window and left a big crack. Oh well. The beemer is a magnet for dings. With little time left before our dinner reservation at Monsoon (fancy vietnamese food in Seattle in honor of May's parents anniversary), we raced through Whidbey Island which a quick stop in Coupeville for an ice cream and walk along the water. Next stop, ferry back to Edmond's.

[ On a side note, my grandmother living in Pasadena just turned 90 this year. Congratulations!! ]

New patio

2009-06-29T22:26:00.000-07:00

At long last, the backyard is finally done! Well, nothing ever done per say... but at least the patio is finished. The crew we hired had a few hick-ups with the slope in the beginning, but in the end it turned out great. Sandstone for the main patio area, new side-yard walkway and a new lawn to boot! Come on May, let's break out some Sangria and celebrate the beginning of a northwest summer.

Over the weekend while we were in Bellevue, I managed to convince May and her folks to stop by one of my favorite local breweries and stock up on a couple growlers of Mac & Jack's (wheat and african amber of course).

Greenwood Car Show... Block Party Style

2009-06-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Phinney ridge hosted a car show on Greenwood Ave. It was 12 blocks full of cars from all vintages, makes and models. It ranged from a jet car to a Stanley steamer. I can't get over how many people showed up; as far as they eye could see it was wall-to-wall people. Food stands all over the place looked quite tasty. All in all good fun, can't wait to do it again next year... seriously, it's that good. The key is viewing the cars early as they are arriving and before the crowds appear. Matter of fact, I should charge for parking.

I forgot to mention that on Friday evening I went with a co-worker for a sail around Lake Washington. The weather was beautiful, the boat was relaxing and I can't wait to pick me up a boat for myself! Hmmm.... what can I barter with to get a free boat.

Hike!

2009-06-23T21:53:00.001-07:00

I had been feeling cooped up so on Sunday, I requested we get outdoors and go for a long walk. We hadn't been to Discovery Park in a while, and had never walked all the way to the lighthouse, so we decided to cross that off our list.

We took the North Beach path and then wound our way around the tip where the lighthouse is (picture to the left) and headed back up the South Trail. We tried to walk pretty fast because we kept hearing distant thunder and noticed how fast the dark clouds in the distance were heading towards Seattle. The skies finally opened up during the last 10 minutes of our walk back up to the parking lot but it wasn't too bad of a downpour. It was kind of funny to see how the people on the trail were still hiking like it was no big deal. It was even funnier to see how many people were in the parking lot getting ready to go on a walk. I tell you - rain doesn't stop these Seattlelites!

Aloha! Ramen!

2009-06-22T19:22:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited that two new noodle places have opened up walking distance to me. Yippee! The closer of the two is called Aloha Ramen and we stopped in last night on the way home from a Summer Solstice nip at Naked City (lagerfest!).

The restaurant is tiny - probably about 6 two-tops and a counter that seats four. Decor was very bare and they were blasting Hawaiian music so the place had a bit of an odd feel. Anyway, we sat down and quickly scanned the very small menu - it only lists 3 types of ramen (Shio, Miso and Shoyu), homemade gyoza and garlic fried rice! Not much choice, but enough for us! Scott ordered the Shoyu while I went with Miso. A few minutes later, out came steaming ginormous bowls of noodles, topped with a few slices of pork, corn kernels, fish cakes and bean sprouts. Scott slurped his up in no time and couldn't stop raving about the noodles. Me, I liked them too, but I still have to say Daikokuya in LA is the one to beat. Aloha Ramen's were good though - noodles were toothy, broth wasn't overly salty and the pork was tender tender. I think I liked the Shoyu flavor better than Miso. All in all, a nice addition to our neighborhood! I was sad though that we were one of 3 tables at 7pm, so I hope their business picks up soon. I would hate to lose them! Summer doesn't usually scream for soup noodles but once it turns fall, I'm sure we'll be heading back.

We did walk by the other noodle joint - New Noodle - and checked out the menu. It consisted of mostly Thai and Vietnamese dishes. I'm going to wait for the weather to cool down a bit and then try out their Tom Yum Noodle Soup!

Fremont Fair

2009-06-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

Summer Solstice was here! Last year, we celebrated by having a drink on Ray's deck, but everyone kept telling us about the crazy Summer Solstice festival that happens in Fremont. We decided to check it out this year and hopped on good ole #5 bus and headed down to the Center of the Universe.

We missed out on the famous parade, but there was still plenty of nakedness on display at the fair itself. There was also lots of costumes and craziness, and multiple beer gardens. We each had a corn dog and decided it was the worst corn dog we've ever had. Ick.

We didn't have a camera on hand, but if you want to see pictures, you can check out: http://www.fremontuniverse.com/

We both decided that the festival was interesting but very crowded and probably not something we'll have to do again next year.

Bloedel Reserve, WA

2009-06-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

My family visited May and I last weekend for a little summer fun in Seattle. We did all the tourist things visiting Green Lake, Fremont Chocolate tour ("Theo"), Gas Works park, Ivar's clam chowder restaurant and Queen Anne's Hill Top Ale House. On Sunday, we decided to jump on a ferry and head over to Bainbridge Island to see the much anticipated Bloedel reserve.

Bloedel is definitely worth seeing, but make your reservations ahead of time. It's a 2 mile nature walk weaving throughout the property's 150 acres. The variety of landscapes is the most impressive, ranging from 6 foot tall grass fields, to dense forests, to reflecting pools to english gardens. My only recommendation - more benches along the path. Perhaps even Segways for guests. Heck, I was running things over there I'd merchandise it to the hilt, add some zip lines, gift shop and snack bar.

My sister (Missy) and I both had flights early Monday and my folks took off to explore the Olympic peninsula for a few days. This past weekend when my parents returned we decided to take advantage of the sun and go kayaking on Lake Union. Aside from a few heart-pounding moments trying to get out of the sea-plane runways, we had a lot of fun checking out the hundreds of house boats in the marina. We debated for awhile which of the homes was the 'Sleepless in Seattle' home, so I guess that means we need to watch the movie again. In the afternoon we decided to explore Luther Burbank park on Mercer Island. It was surprisingly big, tons of area to spread out, relax and watch the boats pass by.

Tapas En La Espana

2009-06-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

What better way to kick-off Memorial weekend than a visit to Spain? Exactly what we thought too. Actually no, it was a celebration for Dr. "Ojo Yu" and I suppose my birthday too (someone remembered it in the afternoon). It was a whirlwind of a trip, after Way's graduation we took off to Madrid. We meandered through the city, checking out the Royal Palace, gardens, museums and long strolls through little cobblestone streets - sampling the local fare (cervesa, jamone tapas and churros). If I had to sum up the trip in a sentence I would say we ate, had beer and walked (note that I leave out sleep). There is a lot to see in only 6 days, and with the exchange rate as it was, time was too expensive to waste.

After Madrid we took the dawn-patrol train over to Seville (sah-vee-ya). Overall a very picturesque town, home to matadors and flamenco dancers... and the tasty Iberico Jamone (dried ham). Oh yeah, and there was this guy named 'Chis Columbus' who had a tomb which everyone was taking pictures of. As they say, "kind of a somebody". We also saw the tower that was made to store the gold Mr. Columbus found from the new world. Interestingly enough, restaurants seemed to align themselves with one of the five big Spanish breweries. It was rare to see more than 1 beer on draught at any tapas bar. Tasty, but rather ho-hum lagers. Can you say "Cruz Campo"? The tapas bars (in my opinion) were generally excellent, lots of seafood and meat dishes to try. And the siestas, well let's just say it wouldn't be Spain without them... a lifesaver for eating dinner at 11pm.

Last stop before heading back to Madried for the flight home was Granada. I think the droves of gypsys psyched kevin and I out a bit after a flock of them transcended upon a group of nearby german tourists, but we recovered. The town is famous for having the largest/most famous Moorish palace in Europe. Located at the top of the nearby hill, "La Alhambra" was huge - gardens, pools, fountains, palaces galore. It took a good portion of the hot sunny day to explore the grounds. The intricate detail in the walls and ceilings was spectacular.

So what products is Spain known for you ask? We asked the same thing. We came up with olive oil, dried ham and bulls. That's about it. But what they do, they do very well. I think Spain is ahead of the game, if Europe is going to meld into one country eventually, each country has to pick a couple products to specialize in - make it be known, Spain has laid claim to these three.

Would I go back to Spain? Yes, to see more of Seville and Barcelona and the Cruz Campo factory.

Say Cheese!

2009-05-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

Since we love us all kinds of cheese, Scott and I headed down to Pike's Market today for the Seattle Cheese Festival. We had heard good things about it from coworkers and was warned it gets busy but we weren't prepared for the throngs of people that showed up. It was crazy crowded! They closed off the streets right around the market so cheese vendors could put up food stalls. With the "scorching" heat today (yay for 70s!), it felt a lot like walking down 3rd street Promenade in Santa Monica! Only thing was I was unprepared and was wearing jeans and no sun screen.

The cheese tastings were really fun and I think next year, we'd make a longer time out of the event by checking out the wine garden and maybe trying out some of the participating restaurants. That, and we'd go earlier in the day.

More Orcas!

2009-05-12T22:48:00.000-07:00

Scott didn't pick the good pictures to put up for Orcas, so here's a few more! :)

Chillaxing on the lawn of the rental house.

View from Property2. Pretty isn't it?

Property 2. The view was great, but you have some yucky neighbors.

What a cutie!

Property 1 Beachfront. Nice, but it was a hike to get down here!

Out on the little island off of East Sound.

Island Time on Orcas Island

2009-05-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

With airfare dropping recently, my folks decided to jump on the opportunity and head up to Seattle for a quick weekend trip to hang out and visit Orcas Island (part of the San Juan islands). We drove north an hour to Anacortes and took the ferry over to Orcas. It was a gorgeous day and we stopped in the little east bay town for a quick stroll over a wildflower covered island in the bay, lunch and then the local farmer's market. The real purpose of the trip was to look at a few pieces of property with my folks to see if we could find some vacation home potential properties. I think we were all surprised, the least likely prospect wound-up being the best candidate. Fingers-crossed, hopefully the owners lower the price just a little more... After getting our hopes up we went to the local (one of two) grocery store to stock up on food for the vacation rental we got for the night. The rental was awesome, very private and secluded home right on the water, even with its own private beach. The view was mesmerizing, who knew Mt Baker could look so big? After cooking up some salmon filets we went down to the beach snooping around for clams, oysters and other strange sea creatures. It was quite the show, we saw sea otters, seals and even a few deer! On Sunday morning (mother's day) I took my bike out for a ride near the rental but I quickly realized that Orcas Island is quite a work-out for cycling, a lot of really big hills. On our way back home we drove to the top of Mt Constitution (tallest mountain in the San Juan Islands) and took a few amazing pictures from the top of the lookout tower. May and I can't wait to go back!

Dodging the Po-Po's

2009-05-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

May was driving home tonight on the back roads from downtown Bellevue to the 520 freeway (Microsoft alley). For some reason the traffic was abnormally bad and all the city roads were jam packed. Mind you, I distinctly remember on my driver's license exam question #10 ("...can't stop in the middle of an intersection if the car in front is blocking the way"), but the 19 year old Clyde Hill cop that pulled us over felt otherwise. After a fierce debate, the cop insisted that blocking the intersection isn't illegal but turning right from the left lane to enter the carpool lane around the blocked cars in the right lane is. Take me to see the majistrate, but I know we were in the right... I think that's why we got a warning. Question: aren't the Clyde Hill police just Bill Gates' rent-a-cops anyway?

Sunny summer days

2009-05-02T22:31:00.000-07:00

If "May Day" (May 1st) is anything like ground-hog day, we may be in for a nice sunny warm summer. The weather on Friday was perfect, almost 80 degrees, perfectly clear. I kicked-off the afternoon leaving work a little early and going for a bike ride over to Puget Sound, down to Ballard locks, and then back up. The waterways were chalk-full of boats, prepping for Saturday's boating season opening preparation. Hundreds of boats were roped together in a long party line.

We started the evening by heading over to Maggie Bluff's Grill on the bay for happy hour. A bit windy, but it has a beautiful skyline of downtown Seattle and great buffalo wings. Next - Brauer's. They have one of the most impressive bottled beer lists I've ever seen (who stocks a $600 3 liter beer?). Atmosphere is fun, but pretty packed. We followed this up with a little pistacio gellato in Fremont. Hit the spot.

Joel Robuchon Extravaganza

2009-04-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

For our 30th birthday dinner, Way and I decided to treat ourselves to the Tasting Menu at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. Joel Robuchon is a fancy-pants French chef that has has 25 Michelin-stars - the most of any chef in the world. His only US-based restaurant is in Vegas.

I haven't had many tasting menus, and none nearly as expensive as this one, and I have to be honest - I was a mite dissappointed with our meal here. The service was good, but not top notch. The decor was cool, but with the blaring music and all that darkness, it felt more trendy than posh. And, the food, while well-executed, wasn't all that creative. Nor, worth the expense. For example, my foie-gras stuffed quail included a tiny little portion of foie gras. I recall going to Restaurant Zoe in Seattle a few weeks ago with my aunt, and her foie gras appetizer was the size of a fist!

I don't mean to make it sound like the meal was bad though. It was all very good, just not mind-blowing good. I'm glad that I did the menu too. If I hadn't, I would always wonder about this place.

Anyway, pics of our dinner below. Enjoy!

Foie-Gras Parfait with Port Wine and Parmesan Foam: Way loved this one, but I thought the Parmesan Foam was too strong. I waxed on and on about the Truffle Cauliflower Flan at Tilth a few months ago, and this one couldn't compare. I know, truffle is not the same as foie gras, but the textures were very similar.

Smoked Salmon in Herb Gelee with Wasabi Cream: This was lovely! Nice and light, with just a hint of wasabi hot-ness.

Poached Baby Kusshi Oysters: SOOO delectable. Definitely one of the standouts!

Cripsy Langoustine Fritter: Tasted like a very well done Tempura shrimp.

Foie Gras Ravioli: My favorite of the night. The Ravioli was melt-in-your-mouth good, bursting with Foie-Gras flavor. Excellent!

Dover Sole with Warm Leek Salad: Excellently prepared, but a bit boring.

Foie Gras Stuffed Quail: I was really looking forward to this dish, but it fell flat for me. No foie-gras flavor, and the accompanying sauce was too sweet. The truffle mash potato had no truffle flavor either!

Savarin with Rum: Way too rum-y for me!

Strawberry Mergingue with Fennel Parfait: A very good end to the meal. Nice and light with tons of strawberry flavor.

Birthday Surprise! Very nice of them.

Tired but happy after our meal!

Vegas Baby!

2009-04-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

I officially joined Scott in the over-30s-club last weekend. To celebrate, we hopped on a plane and headed to Las Vegas where we met up with Way, Kevin, Rebecca and Patrick. It was SO nice to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. It made me really really miss the dry heat. And, I had a new appreciation for the desert landscape - it's so different from Seattle and very impressive in its own way.

The past few times I've gone to Vegas has been ... different ... and I used to pinpoint it on the fact that we were going with our husbands. But now, I think I might have to lay the blame on the fact that we're just all getting older and more boring. Gone are the nights where we dress to the nines and then stay up dancing until our feet hurt. Now, we seek out good food and then have a few drinks before tucking into bed at a relatively early hour (for Vegas anyway). While I like the good food part, I do really miss going dancing at the clubs. There's nothing quite like clubbing in Vegas!

Anyway, here's a few pics of the weekend. I'll do a separate post on our 30th bday dinner!

Tulip Time!

2009-04-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Skagit Valley's claim to fame is their annual Tulip Festival in April. The past few weeks of April have been dreary but since it is finally warming up all the flowers are in bloom and we made it a priority to check out the tulip fields! The tulip fields were lovely and they really inspire you to want to plant your own tulips. After all that walking around, we decided that our favorite colors were the red with orange tips, red, and dark pink flowers.

First Mariner's Game!

2009-04-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

One of the consulting companies we work with had four tickets to last night's Mariner's game and my coworker Annie snagged them for the MyTMO team! Unfortunately, our two other teammates couldn't make it so we ended up going with some of our friends on the Web team. For Julie and I, it was our first ever Mariner's game and we did it up in style!

First stop was the beer garden at Pyramid Brewery, right across the street from Safeco Field. We downed some beers (I got the Amber but didn't have a chance to try the "Curveball" ale), had some grub and then skipped over to the ballpark. Our seats were terrific - 3rd base, 2nd row! Easily the best seats I've ever had at a baseball game before (heh, I'm used to the $1 tix at Dodger games!). The gentlemen in front of us left the game early and generously offered for us to take their seats so we moved down to sit right on the field. The seats gave us great views but they were also super cold! The roof on the stadium was closed, but the wind was whipping the rain around and being in the first row meant no shield for that water or wind! Still, it felt very "Seattle", and it just gives me an excuse to go back to a game when it's nice and sunny out!

Checkout the new Sidekick!

2009-04-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

I've been heads down on several projects at work and my first one launched tonight! I was working on the pre-sale of the new 3G Sidekick. This is only the second presale TMobile has done so there was a lot of internal coordination that was needed. It's been very interesting, and different, working for a company that sells a consumer product. I've been so used to working at a company where all of my "products" are online; now I have to take into consideration all the business and operational aspects of a tangible asset and it's been a fun learning experience!

Anyway, if you want to check out the new Sidekick, go to the sidekick.com site. You won't be able to purchase it right now unless you are a T-Mobile customer though. If you aren't a TMO customer, you will have to wait and try to get it when it launches on May 13th. See - being TMO customer has its perks!

Spring is in the air!

2009-04-12T10:15:00.000-07:00

The weather is starting to slowly warm up (if you call 50 and 60s warm!) and spring flowers are starting to bloom. I see patches of daffodils everywhere. Along Greenlake, there are beds and beds of yellow and white daffodils and they look so friendly and cheerful!

We took advantage of a sunbreak yesterday to walk through the Arboretum to see what's going on. If you remember, we were there in the fall when the leaves were just starting to turn and it was gorgeous! We were hoping spring would be just as pretty there. Not everything is in bloom yet though but a lot of the fruit trees were flowering which made for a nice walk. There were lots of trees that looked like cotton candy sticks, there were so full of little flowers! There were a lot of other trees with little buds so we will need to go back in a few weeks again.

Block party... Phinney style

2009-04-10T23:06:00.000-07:00

This evening May and I joined the rest of our neighborhood in the first annual "Summer Street Festival". The city organized an event for all the residents to get together, hang out and visit the local merchants. Who knew so many kids lived in our neighborhood? It was really fun to see hundreds of locals walking around, socializing and popping into the local shops (most for the first time).

In order to accomodate the anticipated crowds, the Seattle police came in force and blocked-off almost 20 blocks on Greenwood to allow for easy roaming on the streets. Okay, so it's the first year of this event and Phinney is the first of many Seattle neighborhoods to participate, but the local store owners really didn't capitalize on the flock of people and set-up stands on the street. I anticipate in future years seeing a lot more outdoor tents, merchandise displays and street food. Hopefully they will pick a warmer day too.

Interesting new stores:
- Strut (walking shoe store)
- Greenwood Space Travel Company (creative writing non-profit - very 1960's space theme)
- Zak & Zoe (fun pet accessory store)

A little taste of Bavaria

2009-04-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

Scott and I have been to Europe a few times now but we've never made it over to Germany or the Bavarian Alps even though it is high on our list of places to visit. Well - we made due last weekend by visiting the little Bavarian village right here in Washington!

Leavenworth is this cheesy little Bavarian themed town about 2.5 hours from Seattle. It's nestled right up against the mountains and is supposedly lots of fun to visit during Oktoberfest or in December when they have Christmas markets. It reminded us very much of Solvang, except German-themed instead of Dutch-themed. We spent a few hours walking around town, checking out the nutcracker shop and doing some wine tasting and had a nice afternoon. We also go out fill of beer and sausage - a very fine German meal! Truthfully though, we were disappointed in the beer selection; the beer on tap were ones you could easily find at the supermarket.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed over to Mission Ridge ski area to test out our snowshoes! We bought these babies a while ago, but haven't had a chance to try them out. The snow was started to melt away but there was lots of it so the sun didn't do as much damage as it probably wanted to. We had a great time stomping around in the snow and definitely plan on doing it again next season. I think I may have found my new winter sport!

New in the Neighborhood

2009-04-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

Happy happy joy joy! I just read online that a new Ramen joint will be coming to our neighborhood! Apparently, they are taking over the King Falafel place that is several blocks away. Hooray! I love the thought of having another noodle joint nearby. Right now, we have 2 pho places nearby. I've seen a sign at one of the Chinese restaurants that they have 'hand-shaven' noodles so I'm going to have to try those out soon. But... you know me - I heart soup noodles so I'm excited that there will be ramen restaurant!

In other neighborhood news, we have a lot of new things going up! Ken's market expansion is well underway and we're really looking forward to having a good size grocery store so close to us. A few blocks south of us, probably around 60th or so, is Phinney Market. From the photos I've seen, the store got a nice makeover and has a nice deli and cheese counter now. And, next door is a new thai restaurant called Tangerine Thai. It's set to open later this month.

Lots going on here!

Arrgh - St. Patrick's Day with a Pirate Theme

2009-04-05T21:50:00.001-07:00

On St. Patrick's day, May and I decided to take a slight departure from the typical Irish pub, instead we opted for some mead and grog! A new pub called "Pillager's Pub" opened up in our neighborhood recently and needless to say, we were curious to visit the place. The Jerk Chicken Wing appetizer was surprisingly tasty which we washed-down with the Cutthroat Red (Baron) Ale. On our walk back home we decided to visit our favorite local tap house, Naked City. To our delight, they were blaring some U2 tunes and it was packed. It's always fun to see what the rotating handles for the week are. Afterward we went back home and some good ol' corned beef and cabbage left overs (can't have enough of this).

Happy Hours

2009-04-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a pretty quiet few weeks, what with the weather being so rainy and cloudy. The most fun we've had has been trying out different happy hours. Unlike LA, we've found that Seattle has a rockin' happy hour life. It's a double bonus that since we take the bus to and from work, stopping for a drink on the way home is do-able since neither one of us has to drink and drive!

Way turned us on to UrbanDrinks.com, a wonderfully simple concept-of-a-website but oh-so-useful! It lists out all of the happy hours, by neighborhood, that are happening right now. We have consulted it numerous times and have even updated it with happy hours that we know of that were missing from their list.

Anyhoo, we had some time last Saturday and were excited to see that there were even happy hours going on during a weekend afternoon! We were in downtown doing some shopping and had time to kill before we watched Watchmen, so we walked up a few blocks to Ruth's Chris to check out their HH.

The HH was actually pretty impressive! Scott ordered a Gin Martini and I got a Lemon Drop (YUM!), and then we split Ribeye Sliders, Ahi Tuni, Kobe Beef Sliders and BBQ Shrimp. It was more than enough to make a full meal, and the Ribeye Sliders were so so so delectable! The service was also really friendly and quick, so I'd give their happy hour an A rating.

2009-03-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

Scott and I met up with friends for Anne's 30th birthday dinner at Kisaku in Tangletown last night. Since Tangletown is just on the other side of Greenlake, we figured we could walk or bus it there. The funny thing is, according to GoogleMaps, the restaurant is only 1.7miles away and the time it would take to walk there (estimated time: 34 minutes) was the same as taking the bus since you'd have to transfer in downtown! So off we went for our walk.

It got me thinking: we hardly ever walked to dinner when we lived in LA! In Sherman Oaks, we walked to the mall or to get sushi only a handful of times. Ventura Blvd was less than a mile to get to, so why did we never take advantage of that? It makes me sort of sad to think about the fact that our old neighborhood was decently walkable, but we very rarely took advantage of that.

Of course, our new neighborhood is a great walking neighborhood! I guess that has put us in the mindset that it's not too bad to walk 15 minutes to get to where you need to go. I'm looking forward to walking to dinner more often when the weather gets warmer and the days get longer.

MusselFest, aka the Best Girls Weekend EVER!

2009-03-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

Scott, Kevin and Patrick have been planning a "Mancation" in Seattle for quite some time now. It was spurred on, no doubt, by Scott's many declarations about how great a beer city Seattle is. I can't argue with that, but when Way and Becca decided to join their husbands up here (since airfare was so darn cheap) and since Emi was also visiting from Hawaii last weekend, we decided to create our our own Girls Weekend. I must admit, beer made a small appearance in our weekend too.

We started off with a visit to Spur, a gastropub in Belltown. Decor was sorta hip, but we were very disappointed - hugely boring cheese plate (nothing soft or stinky in the 3 tiny wedges on the plate!), overly smoked bison burger and high prices. Blech.

Saturday turned out to make up for Spur! The day started off on the right foot when we snagged a box of Thin Mints in the 10 minutes we had to wait to take the short ferry ride over to Whidbey Island. Then we headed over to Coupeville for the great MusselFest, where we gorged on Mussels (SO tasty and plump and fresh!), explored the town to try out each restaurant's mussel chowder and then washed it all down with some brew and dancing in the beer garden. We drove back to Seattle via Deception Pass and the quaint little town of La Conner, and then snagged a table at Purple Cafe in downtown. This meal featured a much more impressive cheese plate (stinky and creamy cheeses = yay!), a delectable lobster mac and cheese, wine flights galore and very interesting desserts (goat cheese ice cream!). After our bellies were full, we headed back to my house just as the snow started to come down! We threw several logs on the fire, cracked open a few bottles of wine, and then gabbed the night away.

Sunday featured a short walk to our neighborhood breakfast joint - Pete's - and then sad farewell as the crew headed back home. I was sad to see my girls go, but was content that we had such a fabulous weekend. I am amazed but so thankful and happy that even after all these years of knowing each other, we can still get together and have such a good time just hanging out. I am convinced that even if the MusselFest had turned out to be a dud, we would have had fun just walking around the town, enjoying each other's company. Can't wait to do it again with them soon!

Mussels at the MusselFest!

Seattle, LA, Honolulu and San Francisco represent!

Flexing my mussel muscle

2009-03-08T19:29:00.000-07:00

Scott and I had a funtastic weekend entertaining guests from out of town. We'll post more on that later when I get our pictures in order, but for now, here's a picture of the appetizer that I made for dinner tonight. I used the mussels that I purchased yesterday at the MusselFest on Whidbey Island, and while my version wasn't quite as tasty as the ones from yesterday, I thought that they were pretty good. Especially considering it was my first time making these suckers! It was super super easy too!

I'm very happy that the PacNW has such great, fresh seafood and I can experiment with cooking it at home!

Whistler Blackcomb

2009-03-02T23:17:00.000-08:00

This past weekend May and I crossed the border and visited our friendly neighbors in the north... Canada that is. I had to work a little late so unfortunately we got a late start and hit bad traffic in downtown Vancouver, but all-in-all a pleasant drive with the assistance of a May's killer iPod mix. Thanks Expedia for the travel agent rate - we got a killer room at the Fairmont hotel in Whistler. Talk about great location, the ski lifts are outside their back door!

May and I woke up early, put on a few layers of thermals and hit the slopes. May and I found out the hard way that many of the "green runs" were indeed a low incline, yet extremely narrow. May did quite well but I think the crowds of people and sharp drops intimidated her a bit. It was chilly, but crystal clear... a Kodak moment day. After a couple falls we were both pretty zonked.

As luck would have it May's high school friend and husband also planned a Whistler trip for the same weekend. We wound-up having dinner at the Brew House in Whistler village which featured tasty pizza, local beer and a good atmosphere. To make things better it started to snow on our walk back to the hotel... in fact it kept snowing all night.

Emi, Eric and I woke up for a dawn-patrol ski run in the fresh powder... and boy was it deep at the top of the mountain. An absolute blast, but exhausting. No one ever mentions that powder takes 3x as much muscle as the hard-packed stuff (it looks so fluffy on TV right?). My cell phone unfortunately suffered a little water damage and never quite recovered. Oh well, Whistler 1, Scott 0. After a quick bite we packed up and headed home.

In our next Whistler trip May and I plan to go snow shoeing and cross country skiing... or maybe a dog sled ride! All in all a very beautiful and fun place that I can't wait to return to soon. Perhaps we'll try the glacier skiing this summer, Ehh?

[p.s. Every muscle is sore today, exercising on a regular basis would probably be a good idea - mental note.]

Tubtacular!

2009-02-23T18:25:00.000-08:00

Scott has been taking every opportunity to use his season pass on the slopes. He probably goes at least once a week, and is definitely getting his money's worth! I usually sit in one of the restaurants/lounges and wait for him. Summit West has a wi-fi lounge with comfy cushy chairs even, but normally I just hang out in one of the restaurants. I'm never alone - there are actually lots of other people waiting around while their loved ones go skiing/snowboarding. Yesterday morning, I counted 14 people in the room dressed in regular clothes (not snow gear). There was even one gal who took over a corner of a table and was scrapbooking, and there was another lady who was knitting.

Lucky for me though, my friends Seng, Erik and Boh (who went to the campfire with us on Saturday) wanted to meet up for a snow day so I didn't wait for very long in the lounge before they got there. While Scott went snowboarding with Eric and Frank, the four of us headed over to the Tubing park!

I have never gone tubing before and was a bit surprised at it. Firstly, it is really fun! The hill is groomed with about 10 lanes so even though we hadn't had snow in a while, there was still plenty of it on the tubing hill. You don't get wet and snowy at all since the tubes lift your booty off the ground. I saw many people just dressed in jeans. Secondly, it was so-crowded! There were tons of little tykes screaming their heads off when they went down the hill, but there were just as many adults out having a fun day. Lastly, it is sort of tiring and repetitive. There was a little rope tow that you could attach your tube to and it would drag you up the hill, but the lines for it were long so we ended up walking up the hill pretty often. You fly down the hill in about 3 seconds, but it takes a gazillion more time to hike back up! I'm not sure the reward of going back down was worth it.

While I had a fun time, we all agreed that for $20 for a 2 hour session, tubing is quite expensive! If there were different, longer tracks, it might be better. I hear that there are such places, so I may have to seek them out after the next snowfall!

We don't need no water ... !

2009-02-22T19:00:00.000-08:00

If you've been following our blog, you may remember a few months ago when we took a stroll through Golden Gardens and saw several people setting up beach bonfires. It looked like fun, even though everyone was wearing big parkas and hats and then bundled up with extra blankets in their laps. Well, the weather turned nice enough that we felt we could brave the cold and have our own little fire.

And what a nice little fire it was! We threw on about 5 logs and had a very nice, respectable fire.... until you looked around and saw other fire pits exploding with flames! Those other fires meant business; they were so big. I wonder how many logs they used because the flames were licking the sides of the bin and were jumping up out of the pit!

Even with the fire going, it was a bit chilly out (30 something) but our skins are toughening up to the Northwest weather and we were mostly okay. We brought along our camp chairs and stopped by The Totem House for some fish and chips and clam chowder so were nice and comfy during our bonfire picnic. Our friends - Seng, Eric and Vo - joined us, and we had a fantastic night of fire and frivolty!

Lions, Tigers & Bears... oh my!

2009-02-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

The weather forecast looked promising for Saturday so we decided to invite our friends (the Molvar clan) over to the west side of the lake for a fun filled afternoon. May made a fantastic (near LA standards) chicken enchilada accompanied by mexican rice, beans and nopales. The enchilada was a tad dry, but tasty none-the-less, but unfortunately the kiddies weren't so bold. We thought it might be the case, so May had some turkey deli meat and 'chippies' on hand to save the day.

After lunch we set off for the Seattle Zoo, about 1 mile away. It was a nice day, sunny but a little crisp (50'ish?). Bringing the little red wagon was a stroke of brilliance, the kids were in toe and we made sure to hit all the major attractions (hippos, monkeys, giraffes and tigers). Mental note: the "nocternal" exhibit isn't the best with all of the creepy crawlies for little kids. (Sorry Liam & Esther hopefully the nightmares don't last long!) We ended our afternoon with a coffee by the gift shop enjoying the sun. I personally found it amazing how young kids learn the term "gift shop". My favorite of the day was Liam's clothing selection, rain boots, placed on the wrong feet, in different sizes... way to push the cultural norms!

Baby Colin was good and didn't fuss all day

Monkeys!

Esther liked being in the African hut

"Whatcha lookin' at" says Liam

Wish we had someone to tow us around like Liam and Esther did!

My Salvadorean Valentine

2009-02-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

We are not very big into the Valentine holiday (we can't even remember what we did last year! and remember one time spending Vday dinner going out for pizza with BK!) so instead of fighting the crowds for an expensive, rushed, and forced-romantic meal, we headed up the street to Mi Chalateca, a Salvadorean restaurant we've been wanting to try.

It was perfect for us! The restaurant has a big neon sign and looks like an old converted Denny's, and we settled ourselves into a little booth. To start, we ordered 2 pupusas (revuelta and chicken/cheese), and they came out pipin' hot. The slaw that came with it was tangy and spicy and a nice way to cut the heaviness of the pupusa. These were quite filling, and after eating them, I wasn't very hungry for my entree.

But, out came our entrees and they looked so good we had to eat a few bites at least. Scott ordered the Bistec Encebollado, and he seemed to like it. For me, I was deciding between the Sopa De Res and Molcajete, and ended up with the Molcajete becuase a) I figured I could bring home any leftovers and b) I'm a sucker for anything with Nopales in it. I think I made a wise decision because the Molcajete turned out to satisfy both A and B! My dish was ginormous! It was beautifully presented though - slices of carne asada, a big flap of Nopal, two generous slabs of avocado, some queso fresco and a hunk of chorizo all swimming in a fiery tomato sauce on a big stone Molcajete. If that wasn't enough, my dish also came with a side of beans, rice and homemade Salvadorean tortillas. It was all good (though the meat was a bit too salty) and I have lots of leftovers for lunch today.

We don't know too much about Salvadorean food, having only gone a few times with Patrick, but we definitely liked this place. Staff was friendly, the food came out really fast, and was priced well - our Valentine's Day meal totaled $35! Next time, though, we'll know to share an entree!

State Park Valentine

2009-02-14T15:43:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's day May and I trekked off to North Bend for a little winter hike at Twin Falls State Park. We compared a dozen different trail options and decided on this one because it was (a) within 60 miles (b) low impact [1,200 vertical feet & 4 miles long] (c) designated as a 'family trail - even your kids can do this one'. It was a beautiful hike, snaking along a river and up to a huge waterfall. But as the trail guide suggested, it was very family friendly... there were a ton of people. Overall it was quite pretty, we walked through mossy forest, river rocks and snow covered ground. The only negative was towards the top you could hear the freeway. Boo. Oh yeah, May and I always forget how warm you get once you start moving... once again, we over-dressed and peeled off all the layers. Now I'm sleepy :)

Living Room Walls

2009-02-07T12:53:00.001-08:00

The wall in our living room has been bare ever since we moved in. We haven't been able to find a nice piece of art (that we can agree on) that covers such a big wall space. In the end, I decided to go with putting up some ledges and then arranging photos and books on them. I just grabbed some pictures/books that we already have to get an idea of how it will look, and now that I think I like it, I'm going to have to think of a 'theme' for this wall. Stay tuned!

BEFORE

AFTER

2009-02-06T10:37:00.000-08:00

I'm still dreaming about it and scheming my way back to get more. The bland-looking circle of jiggliness sprinkled with black shavings at first made me think the dish was going to be boring like tofu. But oh no.... This was exquisite. This deserved 10+ stars on the lick-your-plate o'meter. This would inspire poetry in me if I were a poet. I wanted to call up every single one of my chowhoundy friends to say "THIS is what makes moving to Seattle worth it!" I'm talking, of course, about the Truffle Cauliflower Flan I had at Tilth last night.

Tilth is a restaurant in Wallingford known for its emphasis on organic and locally-raised, seasonal ingredients. It got a ton of press last year since it was named in the NY Times Top 10 Restaurants and chef Maria Hines was nominated for James Beard award for best chef, Northwest region (the award ended up going to Holly Smith at Cafe Juanita, another place I've heard great things about). We headed over there last night with my cousin, Brandon, who is a sophomore at the University of Washington. He had tried going to Tilth last year with his dad but they were turned away when they didn't have reservations. They were told the restaurant were booked 3 weeks out. Could the restaurant really be that good?

If the Truffle Cauliflower Flan is any indication, my answer is yes! I can still taste the creamy cool texture, the pungent earthy flavor. This little custard was exploding with truffle goodness, and if you know me, I swoon for truffles. Paired with it was a delectable fennel salad - slightly crunchy, nice sweet flavor offset by the little bit of lemon cream drizzled on the plate. I say A+ for this dish!

The rest of the meal was definitely good, but not as awesome as my Flan. We started with a 3 cheese plate, and my favorite was the triple cream, which was gooey and satisfying. Brandon's clam chowder had a wonderful presentation, and from the way he drank every last drop, I think he liked it. For mains, we all shared the St Jude Albacore Tuna With Israeli Cous Cous, Slow Cooked Pork Cheek and the Beef Short Ribs with Lacinato Kale. Scott and Brandon liked the Tuna, and while I thought it was good quality, I was grabbing at the couscous. The Pork Cheeks were a bit disappointing - wonderfully tender, but not enough flavor. The Short Ribs were terrific - nice and meaty, but not too heavy. With the kale, it was a very wintery dish.

Listen to the Rain!

2009-02-05T14:19:00.000-08:00

I can remember the exact moment when I crossed the barrier and decided I liked sparkling water. Scott and I (and Way and Kevin) had just got back to our hotel room in Cinque Terre, Italy after having hiked along the cliffs all day. It was hot and sunny out and the only drink provided in the little cube fridge was sparkling water. Since we were dying of thirst and the bottle was oh-so-cold, we twisted the cap open, heard the little fizzzzzz and gulped down. What a revelation! The clear cool liquid, ice cold, was perfection in our bellies - it wasn't sugary sweet like coke/sprite but was a treat like soda is to a little kid AND it hit the spot like only water can.

So now, I'm a convert. I had previously thought it had this weird taste and was drunk by very adult people who were trying to make a point about their wealth when they ordered this at restaurants. I mean, if I want water, tap water is free and tasty. If I want something bubbly, I'd rather pay for something with flavor like a Coke! But now, when Scott wants to buy soda at the market, I try to steer him towards getting sparkling (flavored if need be) water instead.

I don't know if other people have always liked sparkling water and I've just moved into that stage in my life (much like listening to NPR!), but I have noticed that people at work go bonkers over Talking Rain, a Washington-based soda company that produces sparkling water. We have free drinks at work and the fridge is always stocked with Coke/Pepsi, Root Beer, Apple Juice etc. I never have to fight for one of these drinks, with one exception: When there's Talking Rain on the shelves, there's practically a stampede to get to them. I normally get in around 8am and there's probably 2 dozen cans of Talking Rain in there. By the time I head back to the kitchen an hour or two later to get a refill on tea, they're almost always all gone. I've seen people horde them and even hide them behind other things in the (very cluttered) fridges! It's sort of amusing. I've learned my lesson when come lunch time, there are no more Talking Rains so in the mornings, so I've even gotten to grabbing one and sticking it in my lunch bag!

Ski bunny

2009-02-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday, while most folks were cleaning their big screen TV's and microwaving hot wings for the big game, May and I decided to head for the hills! It was an overcast day, a big contrast from all the beautiful warm sun on Saturday. After some coercing, I managed to convince May that we should stop for food at McDonald's (I love those little hamburgers). With full and greasy bellies, we made it to Snoqualmie and got on the ski lift for the bunny slope. We had a lot of fun and after 5 runs, I can definitely tell that May is ready for the advanced runs... I think her confidence grew as people left the slopes.

I made some tweaks to my bindings and after a few nose plants, I got re-acquainted with my balance. I just need 4 more sessions for the season pass to pay off... I just need my bruised buns to hold in there for a few weeks longer!

Meaty meat pie

2009-01-29T08:44:00.000-08:00

While I was getting my hair cut yesterday, Scott decided to check out a pub down the street from the salon called Pies & Pints. It's a place we've been wanting to try since we figured we'd both be happy there - I like meat pies and Scott likes beer! That, and we like the weird joker guy on their logo.

I joined him after my hair was cut and we opted to split the Lamb and Potato Pie and the side of Mac and Cheese. The Pie was DEEEE-lish! Nice and wintery, but not too heavy, with a light, buttery, flaky crust. Too bad it was so tiny! As you can see from the picture, the side of mac and cheese dwarfed the little meat pie. I washed it all down with a good 'ole standby: Pike's Kilt Lifter.

Verdict: Good eats! If this was walking distance to our house or if our local Naked City served these Meat Pies, we'd be there all the time! Scott is already looking forward to my next haircut appt so he can have that as an excuse to go back here.

Getty Malibu

2009-01-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

This isn't technically in Seattle, but we thought we'd post anyway!

Scott had not been to the newly reopened Getty Villa in Malibu, so when we were home this weekend, we made reservations to check out the museum. The weather was a bit dreary in the morning, but cleared up just a bit while we were in Malibu and we were able to walk around the pretty gardens and take in the (small) view of the ocean. The objects in the museum were interesting - probably the best part were the exhibits that showed how they restore and piece together the sculptures and vases/cups.

Walking around the museum brought back a lot of memories from Art History class in high school!

Fuzzy Falls

2009-01-18T10:10:00.000-08:00

Snoqualamie Falls is only an hour drive from us, but we had never gone to check it out. It's supposed to be a gorgeous waterfall and with all the crazy snow/rain we had about a week ago, we decided to finally head over to see the falls.

We headed over early on Saturday morning and this time, the drive out there was so different than a few weeks ago when we went skiing/snowboarding! The sun was shining, and there was no snow on the side of the roads. As we slowly made our way through the town of Snoqualamie and towards the falls though, fog was creeping in.

Lo and behold, we should have planned better. The crazy fog shrouded EVERYTHING! We couldn't see any bit of the falls! You could hear the roar of the water, but could see nothing but white mist. What a letdown! We hiked down to the lower viewing platform and the fog cleared up a bit there, but you still couldn't see much of the fall itself.

I was disappointed, but I perked up quite a bit because I had made brunch reservations at Salish Lodge - this luxury hotel perched right next to the falls. It's known because it served as the exterior for the Great Northern Hotel in the TV series Twin Peaks. It also supposedly has a very good dining room.

We were led to an intimate two-top right next to the window which SHOULD have had a lovely view, but instead again we were cheated and could only see mist! No matter though, the brunch ended up being very good. The coffee wasn't hot enough for me, but I liked the little coffee bar it came with and I loaded up on fresh whipped cream and chocolate shavings. My Crab Benedict (on toasted brioche) was decadent and rich and Scott's Smoked Salmon Hash was terrific. I kept stealing little bits of salmon from his plate. The best part of the meal was we had a buy-1-get-1-free dealio so it wasn't nearly as expensive as it should have been. Yay for our Passport Unlimited card!

Friendly faces at Green Lake

2009-01-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

While on a large loop from our house around Green Lake, May and I stumbled into our friends Lauren and Anne (and Auggie the puppy) whom we had dinner with the night before. It just proves, if you wait long enough, you can see just about anyone people-watching at Green Lake.

May and I enjoyed a nice la-za-roni weekend with the rain. Due to an enormous amount of rain causing avalanches and washing away the mountain snow, May and I decided to do some after-Christmas-sale shopping at the mall and REI to get out of the rain. There were plenty of sales, a bit too dangerous... I'm all stocked up on shirts and Gore-Tex.

Ski season

2009-01-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

After a week and a half, May and I returned to Seattle to enjoy a day without snow on Saturday. Enough of this, I need more snow! On Sunday, I convinced May to join me on the nearby slopes at Snowqualmie Summit. May rented some ski's and did quite well... I think she actually enjoyed herself before the 12 degree cold got to her. Brrr. Next time, we'll bundle up more. I managed to slip in a few more runs before calling it a day. It was a slippery ride home, and to our surprise, it had been snowing in Seattle. Three whole inches! Alas, it was short lived. It started to rain this morning and the snow quickly melted.

The aftermath

2008-12-22T21:40:00.000-08:00

The snowstorm has passed and dumped yet another few inches on the ground yesterday! A big branch in our backyard didn't survive though, and now it is laying on the ground, waiting for Scott to chop it up so we can feed the toasty fire!

The sun even came out for a few hours, but with the temperature still below freezing, everything just ices over. We went for a walk this afternoon and saw good 'ole #5 stuck on Greenwood. With the streets still a mess like this, we're a little worried about how we're going to get to the airport tomorrow. Not only that, but we're worried about whether our flight will even be able to get off the ground! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-21T11:57:00.000-08:00

I found this wonderful old article on how Greenlake froze over in the winter of 1930! There was enough ice (13 inches thick) that someone even drove a car across the lake. The article goes on to describe how pretzel and hot dog stands sprung up, and how everyone came out to go skating on the lake. It would be so neat to see that happen again!

Since we've had at least a week of below freezing temperatures, we woke up bright and early and decided to go for a little snowy nature walk and check out Greenlake. With a Herkimer in hand, we trudged our way down.

The walk around the lake was gorgeous! Lots of snow everywhere. We saw many cross country skiers, a couple of snowshoers and lots of other people out for a stroll to take in the scenery. We lucked out and found several patches along our side of the lake that was frozen over too. It isn't too thick, but still, pretty exciting! Poor little duckies were still swimming around the un-frozen parts of the lake, and I bet their little tooshies are cold cold cold!

Snow Update

2008-12-20T23:10:00.000-08:00

The big storm that was predicted to barrel down is well under way! The snowflakes are much smaller than the previous storm, but there's lots of them and the wind is whipping them everywhich way. So far, we have several inches of nice powder. The snow is supposed to let up sometime tonight, but tomorrow afternoon we may get some more snow showers.

Scott was unsuccessful in finding a sled today, but no matter - he decided to snowboard down our street! His idea has caught on, and now there's probably about half a dozen other snowboarders/sledders going down the street. Fun at (close to) midnight!

Winter Storm Watch

2008-12-20T17:32:00.000-08:00

From what we have found, Seattlites take snow storms very seriously, the city literally shuts down... and for good reasons, including:

Hills, lots of them. We were sliding all over the place today.
People have no clue how to drive on snow. ALL Subaru drivers think they can drive fast on ice. Stupid. (there are more Subaru's banged up sitting outside body shops than any other vehicle).
Clueless when it comes to putting on snow chains (hint: those little bungee cords that come in the box, they aren't 'optional' equipment).
The local weather stations weild more power than the state governor. Take Wednesday for instance, ZERO snow fell yet their dire warnings caused ALL schools in western Washington to close, as a result, most parents had to stay home too. And today, people were panicking at the mall to scramble to get their shopping done because the snow was predicted to hit at 3pm (which it did).
Buses can't maneuver well; we have the extra-stretched buses up here, I watched a bus drive past and the middle wheels were off the ground, not turning... I can only imagine the scene when the driver tried to turn. Most local routes close with the snow, except for good ol' #5!!! Woohoo! (Our bus driver is fearless).
No snow plows, I guess with our budget deficit it's a good trade off. But the city doesn't even have much salt to de-ice the roads.
Seattlites value their snow days, who doesn't? It's like a national holiday, only better.

May and I decided to step up our snow game today. We went to REI and got May completely outfitted for a blizzard. Gloves, hat(s), snow jacket, neck warmer and snow pants. Gore-tex mania! All 15% off on top of the sale prices.

We had fun driving home from REI back home in the snow... it's now 5 degrees with the wind-chill factor (pretty steady 20 mph winds so far). Brrrr. Start up the fire and turn up the Christmas tunes!

Hoooray for Seattle!

Snow Day(s)!

2008-12-18T14:38:00.000-08:00

We've had a really chilly front this past week (the high is below freezing!) and the weatherman predicted that we'd get a big snowstorm yesterday. Their warnings were so dire that schools were closed in anticipation of the snow, and Scott and I decided to work from home so we wouldn't have to deal with traffic. Well, turned out Seattle saw a 'donut effect' yesterday - because we're boxed in by several mountain ranges, all of the surrounding areas got tons of snow but the city saw nothing. Nada, zilch. In fact, I saw patches of blue sky yesterday! We were sad we didn't get any snow and felt sorta cheated.

When we woke up this morning though, we were greeted with snow slowly falling and about an inch on the ground already! I guess our weather from yesterday got delayed a bit; it has been snowing steadily all day and the snow just keeps piling up! As of 3pm, we have several inches on the ground. Not much, but enough to make snowballs! Some of the neighborhood kids have even gone sledding down the street. We ventured outside for a short walk around the neighborhood to stretch our legs and play with the snow. I think everyone else is staying home today and feeling cooped up too because the streets were packed with people walking around. So far, these snow days are really fun! Can't wait to get more of them!

p.s. I realize now that I need some waterproof/snow gloves because when I wear my knit mittens, I just can't make many snowballs!

Lobster goodness

2008-12-15T18:29:00.000-08:00

Last night May and I dined like kings and queens while feasting on a few lobster tails. May saw an ad in one of the mail fliers for a sale on lobster tails. Hook, line and sinker we fell for the bait and went out of our way to find an Albertson's. It was worth it, the little guys were indeed very tasty. Next time we know to buy more. May broiled them for approximately 10 minutes. (Word to the wise for visitors, try and come on lobster sundays!)

Snowflakes in Phinney

2008-12-14T09:34:00.000-08:00

Last night May and I watched "Fred Claus" while monitoring the snowflake density outside. The movie was pretty bad, but our fire was warm. Around midnight the snow fall started to pick up, at one point the snowflakes were the size of a Canadian Loonie (May says they were nickle size, I admire her patriotism). Unfortunately, it looks like 1.5" is the most we'll see from this storm. It's looking like it will clear up today, settling in to a brisk 20 degrees!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

2008-12-13T19:58:00.000-08:00

We went for a walk around Greenlake tonight becuase it is the annual Pathway of Lights night. They line the path around Greenlake with luminarias and everyone in the neighborhood comes out for a little stroll. It was VERY chilly out, but no one seemed to mind. Families were out decked out in christmas gear and everyone was singing christmas carols as they walked around. On our way back though, the snow started to come down a bit harder and even starting to stick to the cars and trees! I'm so excited! Hopefully, it'll stick through morning and we can take some pictures to document our first snowfall in Seattle together!

pizza pizza

2008-12-10T22:22:00.000-08:00

I have decided that Seattle is a pizza town. They don't have a type of pizza that they've made their own (like Chicago style pizza or California pizza), but still, there's lots and lots of pizza places in the city. I wonder if there is some sort of correlation between number of pizza places and number of microbrews!

Anyway, since my good friend Barb was in town for a few days, I looked up a few good restaurants we could try to meet up at and Via Tribunali, a Neapolitan-style pizza joint in Capitol Hill that I've heard about, was walking distance from her hotel. Her sister had been before and gave it a nod of approval so off we went!

From the outside, the restaurant looks small and cozy, but when you walk in, you realize that the brick walls are VERY tall and that the room extends pretty far back. With all of the dim lighting and tall booths though, it actually felt quite cozy. It somehow felt old-world European, and just right!

We each ordered a starter salad (I got a classic salad of arugula + parmesan) and then split 2 pizzas: the Via Tribunali and the Salsiccio. Both were very good, with top-notch ingredients and a nice thin, but chewy, crust. The Salsiccio was the better of the two and I have a sneaking suspicion that it may have been due to the tasty little sausages on there.

So now, I think I've tried most of the big pizza joints in town except for Serious Pie (which I've heard good things about and I am trying to find an excuse to go!). My general assessment so far is people take pizza pretty seriously here and load the pies up with good, interesting toppings. I don't mean they use funky combinations like you can find at CPK, just more like high-quality types of salami. Probably because of that, pizza isn't a cheap meal here though.

Winter Beer Fest

2008-12-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

Last weekend May and I went with our friend Eric to the 4th annual Winter Beer Fest at Hales Ale Brewery in Ballard. Who can pass up an event with that name? We started our adventuresome evening by hoping on the nearby #5 bus and taking it to down to Fremont. We climbed out and walked a 1/2 mile in the brisk evening air to the Hales Brewery backdoor. We joined a few work colleagues from Expedia who called ahead and mentioned there was a long line to get in. Thankfully, by the time we arrived it was a short wait.

All in all it was a fun event where you could try local winter beers, but way too crowded. My usual style is to go to each beer brewer booth and try a sip of their suds, I mean that's the whole point, right? Unfortunately, the lady (most likely owner) of the Big Al brewery made a very snarky comment that we "tried" two of their beers and then instructed her staff not to let us sample any more.

Well, let me be the first to tell you Mrs. Big Al, this household is boycotting your beer and spreading the word! Hope it was worth it.

My favorites:

#1 Lazy Boy, Mistletoe Bliss
#2 Lazy Boy, Dubble (Naked City private label)
#3 Whoop Pass, Double IPA
#4 Chuckanut, Schwarbier
#5 Northern Lights, Winter Ale (newbie brewer)
#6 Red Hook, Double Black Stout

See the full beer list here.

NKOTB!

2008-12-07T15:25:00.000-08:00

This is a long overdue post. I couldn't NOT write about this though, so better late than never!

Several weeks ago, I joined Way and several of her Berkeley colleagues to watch New Kids on the Block at TacomaDone. It was a fabulous night! We were surrounded by NKOTB fans who knew all the words and the steps to the songs, and their exuberance was contagious. Before we knew it, we were swinging our arms back and forth and whoo-whoo-ing at the top of our lungs too! Here's a few pics and videos from our night: