Preschool

Preschool? Really? Do I have to start the process of looking and applying for a preschool for Chloe already? I have no idea where to start! I have never felt so lost before. Should I look in our city? Should I look in SF? Do I HAVE TO look in our city? Is there a list I can look into? What should I look for when I go on a tour? What questions should I ask?

Does anyone have any tips to offer? Please!

A poor man's house addition

We did a poor man's home addition. Well, sort of. The idea was to add covered space to our house for Chloe's upcoming 1st birthday party. We have a lot of guests to invite but we have a dinky little house. If her birthday was in a warmer season our guests can simply hangout in the backyard. But being in late November, we are destined to deal with unfavorable weather.

The options we have for her birthday party are:

(1) have it at some restaurant with the venue and food all taken care of. But this can be impersonal and expensive.

(2) rent an indoor space somewhere and bring in the food. Space rental is a big one-time charge. We will have to pay this money again next time we have another party.

(3) have the party at our house and somehow increase covered space to enhance the comfort of our guests in case the weather doesn't cooperate.

We are opting for option 3. If we find a good solution to adding covered space for people to gather, we can reuse it every time we have any sort of party. Let's face it, just Chloe's birthdays itself will forever be during fringe weather season.

So we set out to look for a canopy to turn a portion of our abundant outdoor space into pseudo indoor space to shield people from the elements. At first we had in mind a temporary canopy to put up when we need it and take down when we don't. But while shopping at Costco, Randy came upon this steel frame canopy meant for long term use. As you can see in the picture of the packaging, it is sturdy enough to use as a long term carport. It comes with heavy duty steel frame and coverage on all 4 sides in addition to the roof. This looked much more appealing than the temporary ones with aluminum frame and no "walls". Our area can get really windy so the 4 walls will be useful to block out the wind. This seemed like the perfect solution for our needs.


The only thing we had to consider was the rather permanent nature of this addition. Do we want this huge 10'x20' structure to be added to our backyard on a long term basis? How obtrusive will it be? How much natural lighting will it block off from our house? After some consideration, we decided to give it a try. We can always return it if it doesn't work out.

I am happy to report we do not plan on returning it. It turned out even better than we imagined. The design of the product is impeccable. We were more than amazed as we were assembling it. The ingenuity, the design, the quality, the ease of assembly all exceeded expectations. It's been up 3 days now and it is standing strong. It definitely fulfills all of our needs.

In addition, the dimensions of the canopy are so perfect it is as if it was custom made for our house. Because of it's perfect size, it does not feel nor look obtrusive at all. Since the roof is at a triangular slope, even though it butts up right next to our kitchen and bathroom windows, it still manages to funnel a good amount of sunlight into the house. Hence our concern of it blocking off natural lighting to our house is a non-concern.

On top of that, the cost of the canopy is a mere $200. $250 if you add the cement blocks we added to anchor it down. A $250 poor man's house addition. That's something worth blogging about.


Exterior view with awning closed.

Interior view from the garage.

Too early for punishment?

I punished Chloe this morning. She refused to finish her milk so I sat her in her highchair and confined her in it without toys while we got ready for work.

Lately she hasn’t been drinking all her milk. She would gobble up all her solid meals but would always leave an ounce or two in the bottle. I grew up with a mother who made me eat all my food before I was allowed to leave the dinner table and attended an elementary school whose cafeteria staff didn’t allow any student out to the yard to play until they finished their lunch. Not finishing your food was a big no no in my childhood. And don’t forget the cliché “with so many people starving in this world, it is a sin to waste food”. All this shaped me into a parent who will make sure her kid finishes her meals.

During her 10+ minutes of confinement, she never cried but she did moan and groan to be let out. She raised her arms and pleaded for freedom each time Randy or I walked passed but ignored her. When I finally freed her, I picked her up and told her in a warm voice, “Mommy had to punish you for not eating all your milk. You need to be a good girl and finish your milk okay?” She babbled her usual “dah dah wah wah” in response.

That led me to wonder…does she understand punishment at this age? Are my efforts to impose a punishment and follow with a verbal explanation still too advanced for a 10-month-old infant without language capabilities? Is it cruel to punish a 10-month-old who doesn’t know right from wrong? Does she know right from wrong?

Comparison Photos

It's not that we need to prove she is our child. Neither is it that we need to verify the hospital gave us the correct child to go home with. Comparison photos like these just melt your heart and amaze your mind that you indeed brought an offshoot of yourselves into this world.

Here I Am Once Again

My abandoned blog...I am so sorry. I abandoned you after I became pregnant with my now 10 month old baby. One would think I would report to you more often during my pregnancy to document the progress. What with the fatigue associated with pregnancy and all the things you have to do to prepare for the arrival of the most wonderful gift ever bestowed upon you that took away all the time and energy to keep a blog active. Here I am, returning 1 year and 7 months after my last post.

A Proposal That Went Awry

Have to share this article I read about a proposal that went awry. As cute as it is, I'm glad it didn't happen to me. :P

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29462344?GT1=43001

A Good Review

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/06/DD9915MEGE.DTL&type=movies

This is a review of the animated film "Coraline" I read on SFGate. This writer can write! I am more intrigued by his writing than by the film itself. But because of his exceptional writing, I now want to watch the film to confirm or disconfirm his thoughts.

Bravo to good writing.

The Human Race

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28873370/?GT1=43001

Things like this make me want to cancel my membership with the human race. A company wants to sell a doll named and modeled after 2-year-old slained Caylee Anthony. How can anyone want to profit from a poor little girl's murder?

The company defended the doll, saying "in addition to raising money for a national missing and exploited children's organization, the doll would help promote awareness. We want to give … we're not trying to get rich. We're putting ourselves at a whole lot of risk... She'll be a banner for missing and exploited children, and people will know and have a better idea how to handle those situations or stop those situations from happening."

That's a bunch of BS. Money, not social awareness, is what they're after. They've suspended the sale of this doll for now. I hope they downright take it off the market for good.

On top of that, this company has been rated with an "F" by the BBB. This pretty much sums up the poor business practice and/or ethics this company has. If this doll does end up getting back on the market for sale, I truly hope no one buys it. The idea is just disgusting and disgraceful.

BATS Improv
Last night we went to see the BATS Improv show at Fort Mason. The tickets were one of my two anniversary gifts to RF. Since the 1st anniversary is symbolized by paper, my paper gift to him was the tickets to the Improv show.

RF had told me about BATS Improv a long time ago. He had watched it once before many years ago and he really enjoyed it. We’ve been talking about catching a show for quite some time now. At one point we even asked our friends if anyone was interested. But we didn’t have any takers. I figured we would go on our own this time on a date.

BATS has been performing in SF since 1986. Besides improvised performances, they also offer improv workshops training improvisational performance to individual or groups. The current run is from January through February and have performances every Friday and Saturday nights. Called the Rock & Roll Theatresports, it divides the BATS cast into six Rock & Roll-themed teams to compete for the Theatresports championship. Each night, two teams compete in performing improvised games, songs, and scenes inspired by audience suggestions. At the end of each challenge, judges award points to each team and the audience screams out the name of the team they think did better in that challenge. That team gets to throw a big dice for extra points. The team with the most points wins and moves on to the championship round at the end of the run. The teams lastnight were Rockness Monster and The Swensen 5. The winning team was Rockness Monster, who won by a score of 100 to 83.

We both really enjoyed the show. It was very much like “Whose Line Is It Anyway” but a tad bit more amateurish. But that’s exactly what we expected. These are local actors doing a small intimate show for the local audience. The theater itself is small, which was perfect for the small audience of about 50. But the atmosphere was intimate, as if everyone knew everyone else. The cast asked members of the audience to participate on stage in a couple of skits and people were eager to volunteer. At $15 per ticket, this is an affordable show for two hours of fun and laughs. I will definitely be back for more. I highly recommend it to others as well.

Their website is www.improv.org

Mystery Solved?
My husband has been sick the last 4 days. A very bad case of the flu knocked him out for 3 days and finally today he was able to get up and go to work. I've been trying very hard not to catch it from him. But we all know how hard that is when you are living in the same house and sleeping on the same bed.

I'm not sure if I'm just paranoid, but this afternoon my head felt a little woozy. It's been like this on and off since about 2pm. About an hour ago I felt my forehead to see if it's warm. It did feel a little warm to the touch. Again I may just be paranoid but to be safe, I took out the thermometer to take my temperature. It read 97.9. That's lower than normal. I think I'm ok...right?

Yeah, I think I'm ok. I think that's my body's core temperature. Several times in the past, at times when I was sick and took my temperature, I often got these below-normal readings. In fact this might explain why I'm always cold. It takes a very warm day to get me to wear a t-shirt. Even hotter to get me to wear a skirt or shorts. If there is any science to this, I believe that due to the fact that my core temperature is lower than usual, I tend to get cold easier than most people. That explains why I can be in a long sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt when my husband has only a t-shirt on. Mystery solved.

Nisei
After MOMA we went to Sakanabune for dinner. We haven’t had sushi in awhile and were both craving it. Again Sakanabune lived up to its “cheap and good sushi” name.

After dinner we went to a nearby aquarium to buy more fish food. (Yes, after we ate fish for food, we went to buy food for our fishes. Ironic? Yes.) Well, besides fish food, we walked out of there with a new Betta fish and a new fish tank for me. That was not in the agenda at all but I saw the tank, liked it, bought it, and bought a fish to go in it. Impulsive buy? Totally. So ladies and gents, introducing Nisei, my 2nd fish. Nisei means 2nd generation in Japanese. Since this is my second fish since Hikari, I named this one Nisei.

MOMA
RF and I went to the Museum of Modern Arts otday. We talked about visiting the MOMA for a long time. Randy had never been there before. I had been there once about 6 years ago. To be honest, I think we may NOT revisit MOMA again. No disrespect to the artists and people who appreciate their work, but frankly, they were too abstract for us. We didn’t appreciate/understand most of the “arts” we saw today. We understand modern art tends to be abstract but this was too much. We scratched our heads to most of the pieces and asked often “how is this art?” The exhibit we appreciated the most was probably the collections of microscopic and telescopic photography. Those at least were things (1) we understood and (2) we thought were hard for the normal person to do. Unlike some of the other abstract pieces which frankly could’ve been done by anyone but because a certain artist did it, it’s art. The one I found most ridiculous was one of 4 black bolts bolted onto a white canvas to form a square. Where’s the art in that??? If I bolted 4 bolts to a white canvas to make a square and submitted it to the museum, would they have taken it and displayed it as “Modern Art by ITF”? I think not. So where’s the art in that???

2.69
$2.69. That’s the price I paid per gallon of gas last night at Costco. I don’t remember the last time I saw/paid a price so low for gas. It must be more than 2 years ago that prices were at this level. Similarly I don’t remember the last time I paid less than $50 for a full tank. Last night my total came out to $44. Compared to just last month when I paid $3.65 per gallon for a total of $58, the numbers last night were like music to my ears.

The question next is will this last?

Happy Article
There was a very good article in Saturday’s Chronicle/SFGate.

Class surprises lesbian teacher on wedding day

This is one of those rare happy stories you wished you see more of on the newspaper. It brought a smile to my face after I read it. Congratulations to the happy couple.

I’ve been in the habit of reading comments by fellow readers to gauge how everyone else feels about things happening around us. This article drew more than 2500 comments. I’m not surprised as Prop 8 is a hot topic lately. I couldn’t read all 2500+ comments of course, but here are a few that either I agree with or I think deserve a mention.


“At first, I was a bit conflicted about the actual term 'marriage'. My confusion was rooted in what I felt that the actual term 'marriage' was at heart an originally religious term signifying commitment between a man and a woman. But that simple term 'marriage' imparts many rights in this country too. So after a bit of thought I've come to the conclusion that 'marriage' means more about 'rights' as far as taxes, inheritance, visitation rights, adoption, etc. than the strict religious meaning, at least according to current Federal and most states laws. So just logically for me* it seems that same sex couples should have the same 'rights' heterosexual couples have. Equal rights under the law would seem to dictate that. I'm voting 'NO' on prop 8....”

“This class field trip is not parents or administrators advancing their own ideologies. It is not a waste of time or indoctrination. It IS an opportunity for these children to get a hands-on experience with a real current event. A good education goes beyond the classroom to the world that kids actually live in.”

"’How many days in school are they going to remember?’ asked parent Marc Lipsett. ‘This is a day they'll definitely remember.’ Totally agree with this quote. I'm happy that the kids got to take part in this event.”

"i am studying early childhood education and we are taught in our abti biased curriculum class that same sex coupleing should be taught/adressed because otherwise you are teaching the children to be biased or discriminatory just like not teaching children about other cultures teaches them bias and racism etc."

“Hey! That's great! Congratulations to the happy couple! But...get those kids back to school! There's plenty of reading and arithmetic to be learned. They're definitely not going to learn any good math in City Hall!”

Two new Yelp reviews by yours truly:

Xyclo (Asian Fusion/Vietnamese - Piedmont, Oakland)
As long as you don't go with a preconception of what Vietnamese food should be, you will enjoy your meal at Xyclo. Authenticity aside, the flavors are full & robust. Overall, good.

Notable dishes are the Beef Carpaccio, Bun Hanoi, and Garlic Herb Noodles. The Bun Hanoi resembles the authentic Vietnamese version the most. The Carpaccio, while nowhere near authentic (capers?), is very tasty nonetheless. I actually enjoy what the capers do to the dish. The Garlic Herb Noodles is a must do to add to the experience.

Dishes that disappoint are the Xyclo Rolls, the Tumbling Dice, and Butterfly Prawns. The Xyclo Rolls are too bland, even with the fish sauce. I think this is mainly due to the lack of meat and over abundance of veggies in them. The Tumbling Dice, while the meat is decent, should not be served with the balsamic vinegarette salad. That's just wrong. But here I violate my own rule of not having a preconception of Vietnamese food. But I can't help it. I would be happier having it with a salad with fish sauce, like green papaya salad. The Butterfly Prawns are almost there. Just a dash more seasoning for flavor would complete it.

Overall this is a chic fusionized restaurant with a nice atmosphere and tasty food.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars


Zanze's Cheesecake (Bakery - Ocean Ave, SF)
I don't eat anything with cheese...but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS CHEESECAKE. That says it all.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Eric Benet vs Double Chin
*Sigh* When I first looked at this picture, I didn’t see Eric Benet. I didn’t see the celebrity singer that came by our station this morning. Instead, I see my double chin! Yes, that’s the one thing that stick outs (literally) at me (or on me) in the picture. Since when has this crept up on me?? My guess is since January as that was the last time I went to the gym. I need to snap back into shape. But…easier said than done. *Sigh*

Boyfriend du Jour
Yes, I’m married. I know. But my boyfriend of the day is Robin Thicke. He came by our station for a live interview this morning. He is so so nice. No attitude whatsoever. No arrogance. Just down to earth and friendly. When I went into the studio, HE came up to ME to shake MY hand and to ask for MY name. Then after we took this picture, HE thanked ME. Oh, I melted. Heehee. And of course, he is so so cute also.

Black Hole
I grew up in SF. Lived practically all my life here. I can say I know the city in and out...except for one area. That's the woodsy area by Glen Park. This is the one "black hole" in my knowledge of this wonderful city. Everytime I drive by on O'Shaughnessy Boulevard I look over to the canyon and wonder what's there. This green and woodsy patch seem so far removed from the metropolis city, but yet, it's smack in the middle of the city. I've always wanted to wander into this black hole and explore. Today there's an article on SFGate.com featuring this rare jewel of the city. It offers information on how to get to the area, how to navigate the canyon, and even where to stop and eat afterwards. Armed with this information, I'm determined to finally pay this gap in my geographical knowledge of SF a visit.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/07/NSJM1238B1.DTL

Gee, this just sucks all the romance out of an engagement doesn’t it?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25846393

I’m not siding with either party here, but the precedence this legal case sets turns the whole notion of an engagement being based on the desire of a couple in love to live the remaining of their lives together into some sort of contract. That’s just wrong.

Hurrah for our station!
The newest Arbitron radio ratings book came out this afternoon and our station got one of its highest ratings ever. In the Bay Area, our station was ranked #1 in the Women Aged 25-54 demographic in the overall category of Mon-Sun 6am-Midnight. Women aged 25-54 is the most sought after demographic in the world of ratings and advertising. That’s where the money is. Armed with #1 ratings with this group, we are sure to attract advertisers. Besides the overall category of Mon-Sun 6am-12midnight, our weekday morning show also ranked #1 in that demographic. Our weekday afternoon show ranked #1 amongst Women Aged 25-49. These are all good numbers. Numbers our sales team is sure to boast to clients. When these numbers reached us this afternoon, everyone jumped up in joy. Needless to say, a couple bottles of champagne also got into the mix. ;-)

Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation (NYOF)
This is a very inspiring story. It shows how one person can make a world of a difference.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/22/MNVJ11RHRQ.DTL

Good Eats
RF and I found a gem of a restaurant in our area. It's an old-fashioned Italian Restaurant called Bertolucci's. It's situated right by the freeway off of Grand Ave. You can probably find us there a lot in the future. Here's my yelp of it:

My husband and I saw the episode of Check Please Bay Area that featured Sodini's Bertolucci's and decided this is a place to try. The old-school Italian flavor appealed to our constant quest for authentic regional foods. And now that we actually live in SSF, there's really no excuse not to give this old-school charmer a try. Last Friday we made the trip there with a friend. Without a doubt all the good things the show raved about proved to be true. From the authenticity of the food to the Godfather-like atmosphere in the middle of nowhere, this restaurant did not disappoint.

Here's list of what we had:

(1) Bruchetta ($8): This is THE MOST DELICIOUS bruchetta I've ever had. The bread initially felt a little hard as I took the first bite, but then after that it was perfectly crunchy. It's a good contrasting texture to the soft tomatoes, which were marinated with a very tasty olive oil and just the right amount of basil and garlic. The amount of garlic on it was perfect. Not too much, not too little. I've had tasty bruchetta before that had too much garlic. So much that I would have to seek the rescue of a minty gum after the meal. But not this one. This one gives you the garlicky taste but not the breath to show for it afterwards.

(2) Linguini with Clams & Mussels ($18): Very tasty pasta served with whole, shelled clams and mussels lining the perimeter of the plate along with clam meats mixed in the red sauce. They did not skim out on the seafood on this one.

(3) Spaghetti and Meatballs ($16): My husband feels this dish can really show off an Italian restaurant's authenticity. Sure enough, Bertolucci's served up a killer one. There were 2 golf ball-sized meat balls with the plateful of chewy spaghetii and meat sauce. The sauce was just perfect in flavor. Not to sweet, not too tangy. Just perfect.

All the pastas came out piping hot and portion sizes were huge. The downside to that is we had no room left for dessert. Next time we will save our stomach's for dessert.

As with the food, the service was excellent. The wait staff was smiley and attentive. Our waitress did make one mistake - she forgot to serve the Minestrone soup our friend ordered. But once we reminded her of it, she immediately apologized profusely and comped us the soup for free. We said that wasn't necessary but she insisted. This got high marks from us.

In terms of value, this restaurant gives you the bang for your buck. For $92, three of us got 1 appetizer, 3 pasta dishes, and 3 glasses of wine. While it doesn't qualify as cheap everyday eat, it doesn't break the bank either. I say this is a good place to enjoy a nice meal with close friends or family. My husband says it's also a nice place for a first date, which I have to say I agree.

Slow Down
I’ve been seeing a lot of CHP out on the freeways lately. They hide behind bushes waiting for their prey. Some even have their radar guns pointed towards traffic. This week I saw two such cops with radar guns active on 101 in the Brisbane area, on both north and southbound shoulders. So slow down everyone.

I’ve actually already been driving slower lately, regardless of the CHP. With gas prices so high, I’m doing anything I can to save a few drops. I’ve been trying to drive 55 mph as most people suggest as the most fuel-efficient speed. But let me tell ya, it’s very hard to do. I feel like grandma going at 55 with people passing me at “regular” speeds. Sometimes I succeed. Other times I just give in and drive 65.

I did notice, however, a couple of good things with my slow driving crusade. (1) Some people actually slow down with me. They don’t mind going slow either! (2) Those who continue to go at their regular speeds do not honk at me to get out of the way. They simply change lanes to pass. This makes me think people are very aware of the benefits of driving slower and they do not mind that other people do it. No more roadraging assholes forcing people to go fast with them. That is amazing.

Anyone else driving slower lately to save a few drops of gas?

This is a good idea, but let's just see if it works. I hope so.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/14/BADA11J69S.DTL

Here's a picture of the charred south side of San Bruno Mountain. The fire line actually went even lower on the mountain (which means the fire got even closer to us!) than I thought. Yikes!

Good Idea
This may be something all parents out there should do.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/24/national/a213405D63.DTL&tsp=1

Good job Madelyn! Smart thinking Jessica.

Another Close Call
We had another close call last night when a wildfire broke out on San Bruno Mt. at about 7:20pm. While the grass fire that broke out on May 21st burnt 7 acres and was contained within a couple hours, last night’s fire grew to 5-alarm and burnt over 200 acres. It was declared under control at midnight but full containment wasn’t declared until 11am this morning, 16 hours after it started. Cause of the fire is still undetermined.

Our house is about 0.5 to 1 mile from the fire site. We had a clear vantage point of it from our kitchen window and our backyard. Here is a picture I took from the backyard. You can see the fire outlining the mountain ridge.

Fortunately for us and especially for all the people in the surrounding neighborhoods, weather conditions last night favored firefighting efforts. Relative humidity was high and winds were considerably calm. With winds blowing to the east and our house being to the south and west, we were confident we were not in the path of the fire. Actually, RF was more confident than me. I was a bit nervous to be honest. Just one wild gust of wind can blow an ember any which way to spark another fire totally unexpectedly. Thank goodness that didn’t happen.

Here is a SF Chronicle report of this fire and all the other fires in the Bay Area over the weekend:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/23/BAS011DN5B.DTL&tsp=1

Every generation is probably going to have a different version of this. Comparing generations may give insights on how the country progressed, or in some (most?) cases, regressed.

Here’s a look at what the folks in 1955 said:


- I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20.00.

- Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2,000.00 will only buy a used one.

- If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous.

- Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?

- If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.

- When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage.

- Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls.

- I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it.

- I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas.

- Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the President.

- I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.

- It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet.

- It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.

- Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more, those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat.

- I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.

- Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress.

- The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.

- No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $35.00 a day in the hospital it's too rich for my blood.

- If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it.

Vietnam
Although I didn’t dare to the ride a bike in Vietnam when I visited almost two years ago, I can relate to a lot of the things touched upon by this article. The descriptions of the sceneries, of the people, of the lifestyle along with accompanying pictures, all brought back images from my trip. Reading this article brings the whole trip back to life. Enjoy.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/15/TRFB10URQ6.DTL

What If?
As most of you know, my husband and I purchased our home about two months ago in April. We actually didn’t mean to purchase a home that early. Our original plan was to get married in January, go on our honeymoon in May, then start looking for a home in June. But in February we got teased by the declining prices and decided to jump the gun on our home purchase. By April we found and purchased our current home. At that time we heard all sorts of opinions on the timing of our purchase. “Buy now…it’s a buyer’s market.” “Wait a little longer…prices are still falling.” Yadi Yada. After 2 months, we sometimes wonder “WHAT IF we had waited another two months like we originally planned?” With home prices continuing to drop, would we have gotten a better deal now? That is hard to say. But both my husband and I are very happy with our decision to buy at the time we did and here is why.

The real estate bubble started to burst last August. By April of this year the market had already accumulated a large inventory of unsold homes. With that, prices had already gone down significantly. It’s true prices are still falling as we speak, but how much speculating can one do? We are not property flippers looking for the best deal. Like many middle class workers out there, we’re merely normal citizens who were bitterly priced out of the real estate market since the early 2000s but finally saw a glimmer of hope as the market waned. By April, prices were finally affordable enough for us to consider paying mortgages, property taxes, and whatever expenses that may come with homeownership.

Since the down turn of the real estate market, the country has been on pins and needles about a looming recession. This led the Feds to slash interest rates by 3% in the matter of months. This was another important factor to drive us to buy - interest rates were lower than they had been in a long time. So at that point in time, we enjoyed the benefits brought on by the combined factors of lower home prices and lower interest rates.

Then little did anyone (including us) could predict, mortgage rates have actually been steadily rising again since April. Today the rate is 0.875% higher than the day we locked in our mortgage rate. Do not under estimate the difference of 0.875%. This equates to $235 more a month in mortgage payments. That’s a significant amount.

To analyze if we made a good decision to purchase our home two months ago compared to purchasing one today, let’s put these two factors together - decreasing home prices and rising interest rates. With mortgage rates 0.875% higher than two months ago, a comparable deal today would require a purchase price that is 10% lower than our purchase price two months ago. I don’t know what the statistical numbers are but from what I see in the market nowadays, there isn’t a comparable house similar to ours that is selling for 10% cheaper. Houses in our area that are listed for that price level all require a substantial amount of work to bring up to par. So in retrospect, we made a wise decision to purchase our home two months ago versus now. Versus one year from now? Who knows. The bottom line is we are happy with our purchase and we thank all the forces that came into play to make it happen.

Call Me Skeptical
I was at Costco again yesterday. Although I wasn’t there for gas (I learned my lesson already), I couldn’t help but take a peak at their gas prices to compare. A gallon of regular unleaded went for $4.40 a gallon. Compared to $3.99 on May 27 (the last time I bought gas there), the price had gone up $0.41 in 2.5 weeks. 41 cents in 2 and a half weeks!! That’s beyond ridiculous. Call me skeptical, but I cannot ignore any suggestion of price fixing in the oil industry.

Miracle Baby
This is the kind of stories I like to read. The kind that leaves me smiling. The kind that leaves me to believe in miracles and hope.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/24999650/?GT1=43001

Costco Gas
Costco is raking in the money as drivers flock to their gas stations for their lower-priced fuel. Since moving to our new home, we’ve been considering fueling up at the nearby Costco to save a few pennies at the pump. At our old place we never made a point to go to Costco for gas. We would get it if we were there, but never did we purposely go there for it. But now that we are so much closer to a Costco, we thought we can now fuel up at Costco purposely.

Last night we made our first trek to Costco for gas. Bad idea! The line was 20 minutes long! I’ve never waited more than 2 minutes at a regular corner gas station. The line to get into the fueling area snaked around the warehouse’s parking lot. I had to do a double take to make sure I was in the correct lane to be in line rather than to get into the parking lot. It was ridiculous. We almost decided to leave when we saw the line. We probably should’ve.

What we saved - $2.56. Yes, we saved a measly $2.56 while waiting idle in line for 20 minutes. Instead of paying $4.15 a gallon for regular at the Chevron near work, we paid $3.99 at Costco. I’m wondering if we SPENT the $2.56 we saved just for being in idle for 20 minutes! Then add to that the 20 minutes we could’ve spent doing something else. That’s an opportunity cost that I don’t even know how to calculate. Not to be snobby, I don’t think it’s worth the agony to save $2.56. So lesson learned for us. Forget Costco. Just fuel up at the corner gas station and save ourselves the agony.

For Costco though, they are laughing to the bank with this fuel crisis we are in. Look at our case last night for example. Within the 20 minutes we were there, I estimate the line was 4 cars deep at each of the 10 pumps (that’s 40 cars) plus another 20 cars snaking around the parking lot. That’s 60 cars, each fueling an average of let’s say $65 per tank. That’s $3900 in 20 minutes. I can’t even fathom how much they make a day!

Shopping to Save the World

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24622958/

The title of this article drew me to read it. It’s about what small choices we can make to be more environmentally friendly. One big insight the article offers is that spreading the word about being eco-friendly is probably the first big thing we can do for the environment. Hence I am here spreading the word.

While I am not the biggest tree hugger on the block, I am taking baby steps towards this worldly cause. I recently brought a reusable mug to work so I don’t have to use a paper cup everyday. Next I’ll be bringing in a set of reusable utensils so that I can also cut out my plastic fork and spoon usage. As the supply buyer for our company, I’ve been searching out recycled products as best I can. Over the weekend, my husband and I opted to buy a Brita water pitcher instead of a new case of bottled water to cut down on plastic bottles. We sometimes use a reusable shopping bag when we go grocery shopping to cut down on plastic bags. Yes, I said “sometimes” because here lies one of our biggest weaknesses. We cannot totally cut out plastic bags from our household. We still prefer to use plastic bags in our garbage bins. They’re just cleaner and more convenient. If anyone can suggest a better way to go about handling our garbage, please do not hesitate to educate us.

Close Call
A grass fire broke out on the northeastern end of San Bruno Mountain yesterday, just a couple miles from our home. Though I didn't think the fire would reach us, it was a bit too close for comfort.

Here's a link to The Chronicle's report of the incident.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/20/BA1210PQ45.DTL&tsp=1

All Moved In
We are all moved in! Yesterday, May 7, was our official move-in day at our new house. Since we were previously in a one-bedroom apartment, we didn’t have much to move. Therefore the move was fast and easy. From the time RF left the apartment to pick up the rental truck (8am) to the time he returned the truck after the move (1pm), it was only 5 hours. That includes going to 3 cities and crossing a bridge. That’s fast. We even got a lot of unpacking done. There’s still more to do but at least the vital ones are done. We can do the rest as we continue to settle in.

Now the painful part starts. We have to look into a couple of repairs soon. That’s the downside of homeownership that everyone wants to ignore but can’t. Oh well, it comes with the territory and we have no regrets.

This Is Our House
We did it! We bought a house. We chased the All American Dream. Escrow closed on Friday (not without drama of course) and we immediately started to work on the house to prep it for move-in. We really didn't have to do anything as the house was in move-in condition, but we thought we give it a little of our own touch before settling in.

On Saturday a few of our dear friends came to help us paint the entire interior, install various items, and cut the over-grown grass in the front lawn. It was a very successful work day. We accomplished everything we wanted to do plus more. With just a few more minor touches, we will be ready to move in in about a week.

We cannot wait until the day the house is complete and we take everything in and say "This is our house."

My Fairy Tale Wedding



I could not have asked for a better wedding. It was beautiful, warm, and blessed with sunshine and happy faces. A heartfelt THANK YOU to those who attended and to those who helped make it turn out the way it did. Here I'm sharing a portion of the ceremony with everyone.

Alicia Keys
I don't usually post my own pics on my blogs, but I thought I'd share this one.

Alicia Keys stopped by our studio for an interview and a short meet & greet with the staff yesterday. She took pics with everyone and signed autographs as well. From my short time with her, I would say that she's very down to earth and nice. Lately I've been hooked on her song "No One", which she said she wrote out of the blue. The song just suddenly hit her and it wrote itself. Wish songs would suddenly "hit" me like that.

Brain Gyms
There is an interesting article in today's SF Chronicle about an emerging industry - the Brain Gym. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/13/MNMETNGMV.DTL

In summary, as our population age and continue to work later into our senior years, we need to keep our brains as physically fit as we try with our bodies. The physical gyms where people go to exercise their bodies have been in service for many years, but now there is an emergence of "Brain Gyms". Like conventional gyms, seniors can pay for a membership with these brain gyms and go regularly to exercise their brains by participating in cognitive activities. As the article says, this is sort of like WD-40 for the brains.

Kudos to the people behind this idea. I think it's wonderful. Sure one can say it's just another gimmick to earn money from the vulnerable, in this case seniors. Seniors can exercise their minds for free by playing chess, crossword puzzles, or otherwise engage themselves in cognitively beneficial activities without paying a dime. But isn't that the same with the conventional physical gyms? Sure we can simply walk more each day and do more physical stuff to keep fit. Who needs a gym? Those who don't have enough self-discipline to walk more each day and be more active on their own. That's who. Some people just very well need to join a gym, pay the dues, and then make a point to go for a workout however many times a week to make their gym dues worthwhile. I see the same thing happening with these Brain Gyms. I can see some seniors going for their cognitve workouts (however reluctantly) because they paid money for it. But in the end, they reap the benefits of a fitter brain.

I also see this as a form of recreation and companionship for seniors as (1) their life partners pass or (2) their children "abandon" them as they live their own lives with their own families. Brain Gyms have much to offer to lonely seniors as these.

I look forward to seeing how this new concept will take shape. In the meantime, since I'm not admitting to being a senior (and frankly I'm not), I shall engage myself in more MJ games to exercise my brain.

Only a baby unaffected by the stress of life can laugh this whole-heartedly and genuinely. So very precious. If the video doesn't come up, here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HttF5HVYtlQ

The Excused Absence Network
This is an actual product that people can buy and use, and frankly, I think it’s ridiculous. It’s a computer software that let’s you print out a fake doctor’s note, jury duty summons, or something of the sort to get you excused from going to work. What has this world come to? It’s appalling that people will go to this extent of dishonesty and fabrication. I put this in the same category as people who use a mannequin to use the carpool lane. And one word describes them all – shameful.

Click on this link to read more about this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21459535/

Jalapeno Burn
I’m almost embarrassed to tell this story, but hey, there may be people out there as clueless as me about cooking with/handling jalapeno peppers. I learned it the hard way last night and I want to prevent others from having to go through it. While the following blog entry is sort of a crybaby’s whining, it is also a spreading of information for the otherwise clueless. So the story goes…

I made a stuffed jalapeno dish last night similar to one that my mom makes every so often. She cores the jalapeno peppers and stuffs them with fish or shrimp paste. Since RF likes spicy food, I thought I’d try making that dish.

I cut up about 10-12 large jalapeno peppers. Cored and seeded them. Stuff them with a mackerel paste I bought from R99. Then I pan fried all of them on high heat and added oyster sauce, garlic power, minced onions, and chicken bouillon for flavor. The dish came out pretty tasty and spicy. Just like mom’s.

BUT! Of course there’s a “BUT” with an “!”. This is an “almost embarrassing” story remember? So what did I do wrong to turn this otherwise happy story of a successful cooking venture sad? The answer is… I handled the jalapenos with my bare hands all through the cutting, coring, seeding, and stuffing process. 3 hours later my hands started burning...intensely. It felt like a 1st degree burn. Not that I know what a 1st degree burn feels like, but it might as well have been a 1st degree burn. My hands were just flaming with heat. To clarify, my hands FELT like they were burning and in heat. But in actuality they weren’t any higher in temperature than the rest of my body. RF touch my hands and he said it felt normal. But to me, my hands were surrounded by fire.

I put ice on them to soothe them but that served only as a temporary relief, not a cure. Another thing that gave me instant relief was running it under cold water. But less than a minute after I took my hands out from under the faucet and my hands began to dry, the burning came back again. RF and I had no idea what to do to take the burning sensation away. I thought of tiger balm, but we didn’t have any. RF offered to go to the drug store to get me some. But right before he was about to leave, he decided to look online for information regarding this type of burning. Sure enough he found a plethora of information regarding this thing called a Jalapeno Burn.

The first link that came up on the search was, believe it or not, Yahoo Answers. Apparently a lot of fellow Yahoo users had suffered this condition before and wrote about it on this site. Isn’t the WWW amazing? Anywa, back to the subject. RF read about several home remedies people suggested for dealing with Jalapeno burns. Many of them suggested soaking and washing the affected area with milk. Milk acts as a base to counter the acid in the oil of the pepper. So he poured some milk into a large bowl for me to soak my hands for 5 minutes. I did as the “doctors” ordered. After that I rinsed my hands in cold water. A minute later the burning came back.

Next he read that rubbing alcohol helps to wash the oil away. Someone on Yahoo Answers said he called the paramedics and the paramedics washed his hands out with rubbing alcohol. RF confirmed this method by looking at some paramedic site. So he poured rubbing alcohol into the bowl for me to soak and wash. 5 minutes of soaking and a rinse later, the burning sensation came back.

Next he read that vinegar also helps to dissolve the pepper oil. You guessed it, 5 minutes of soaking in vinegar and a rinse with water. Same result. Burning came back.

As I was about to give up and decided to give sleeping a try, he said a lot of people also suggested coating my hands with a mixture created with baking soda and water. He made me the pasty mixture and I coated my hands with it. I didn’t leave it on too long because the grainy texture of the baking soda did not do anything to taper off the heat. My hands were so tender and sensitive at that point that the grains felt 100% larger that they were. So I quickly rinsed off my hands and declared a lost battle.

I went to bed with stockings on my hands to prevent myself from rubbing my face in the middle of the night. The last thing I wanted was to transfer the oil from my hands to my face or eyes. No more than 5 minutes after I got into bed, my hands were flaming like mad. There was no way I could’ve slept with the burn. RF pulled the stockings off my hands saying I need to let my hands breathe.

Unable to sleep, I went out to the living room to apply an ice pack on my hands once again and laid on the couch to watch TV. I usually fall asleep watching TV so I was hoping that might do the trick. But it didn’t. The burning was too intense. I got up every half an hour to run cold water on my hands. By about 1am I made RF go to sleep without me. He wanted to stay up with me and keep me company. But knowing how tired he gets at work if he doesn’t get enough sleep, and knowing that the top CEOs of his company are in town this week from their parent company Australia, I told him he needs his rest. Since there wasn’t anything he could do to help my situation anyway, better just one person lose sleep over it than two. He reluctantly listened to me and went to sleep.

I continued to ice my hands and intermittently ran cold water over them for another 2 hours or so. It finally got too cold in the living room and I became really sleepy. So I took a brand new ice pack with me and crawled into bed. It was difficulty to refrain from moving too much in fear of waking up RF. Through the rest of the night I heard the neighbors’ automatic sprinklers spraying and by early morning, I heard a car pull up and then several thump thumps. It was the newspaper person tossing newspapers to people’s doorsteps. That was the first time I heard the newspaper delivery person while living in this apartment.

Eventually I fell asleep. I had no idea I fell asleep until I heard my alarm clock. I estimate I got about 1.5 hours to 2 hours of sleep. RF was still sleeping when I dozed off and he usually wakes up an hour before me. From that I am positive I got at least an hour of sleep. But how much more than that? I’m not sure. When I came to, my hands felt warm. The hot burning sensation had subsided to a warm feeling. As I got up to get ready for work, everything I touched felt amplified. The ribbed cap on the tube of toothpaste felt like rough sandpaper. My tea thermos felt hotter than it normally does. Even at work right now, freshly printed paper from the printer feels hot to my touch. My hands, especially my finger tips, are extremely tender and sensitive right now. But at least it’s not burning anymore.

From about 9:30pm when my hands started feeling the effects of the jalapeno burn to now, it has been a long 13 hours. The most intense feeling probably subsided about 7 hours into the ordeal. That’s a very very long time to endure such excruciating pain. But to think of it the “glass half-full” way, RF read on those links that most people cited 18 hours for the pepper oil to dissolve/evaporate out of the body. I guess I shouldn’t be complaining compared to them. But I did suffer through the night. So I am entitled to complain for as least a bit. In this case, for almost 3 blog pages worth.

To those of you who know about jalapeno burns and feel I was stupid to have handled them with my bare hands, stop laughing. To those of you who didn’t know such pain can come from cooking with jalapenos, beware and be warned. Don’t make the same mistake I did.

Life Was Hard for the Over 30
The following passage was forwarded to me from a friend. It’s one of the funniest email forwards I’ve received in awhile. It’s also one of the few that I can really relate to. I guess this dates me as an Over 30 huh? :P

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ... uphill BOTH ways … yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help butlook around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves,…in the card catalog!!

There was no email! ! We had to actually write somebody a letter ...with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music? You had to hitch-hike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like " Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics sucked! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there was no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire ... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled!!!!!!!!!

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,
The Over 30 Crowd

Why I'll Never Live In LA
RF and I went to LA over the weekend for a friend’s birthday. While I like LA to the extent of visiting for a couple of days every now and then, I would never want to live there. Every time I go I get reminded of why - the smog, the traffic, the people.

The smog…you can see it with your bare eyes. Not a pretty sight. In fact, it’s pretty disgusting when you can see what you are breathing in.
The traffic…there’s no beating/avoiding/getting rid of it. It just comes with the territory. As RF’s friend says, everything in LA is 20 minutes apart…until you hit traffic. At that time it’s anyone’s guess how long it will take to get anywhere. LA’s traffic is so notorious that even Google Maps indicates a travel time with traffic and a travel time without traffic when you ask it for driving directions. From RF’s friend’s place in Valley Village to my friend’s place in San Gabriel, with a total distance of 22 miles, it takes 28 minutes without traffic or 1 hour and 30 minutes with traffic. Yes, Google Maps told us that.

The people…they are too superficial, artificial, self-centered, snobby, and ghetto. I really don’t like using this word but alas, it totally fits the bill in this situation. People do not care about you, your feelings, or what you think because it’s all about them. The world revolves around them. I can raise a few cases from this trip and a previous trip to illustrate.

Case #1 - Ghetto and Self-Centered: I was waiting in a long line to use the bathrooms at Venice Beach. If you haven’t been there before, Venice Beach has two or three bathroom facilities that each has 8 or so unisex bathroom stalls. Each facility often has a line of 10-15 people deep. Since I needed to go pretty badly, I got in line. About 10 minutes my wait, a guy walked up to the stalls and started shopping for an open one. Everyone in line called out to him that there is a line and he needs to get in it like everyone else. He ignored all the screams. Then a gentleman stepped out of one of the stalls and this guy went over and stepped right in. Noticing that the guy wasn’t the next in line, the gentleman who had just gotten out attempted to stop him by telling him “buddy, there’s a line”. The buddy didn’t care. He proceeded into the stall and closed the door behind him to do his business. We all gasped in disbelief. But what could we do? He could’ve pulled out a gun if we pressed further.

Case #2 – Ghetto and Self-Centered: Shortly after witnessing the guy cut us off and still waiting for my turn, an elderly woman (I’m guessing she’s in her late 50s) walked up to the front of the line and said out loud to everyone, “I really need to go. Can I go first?” Still irritated by the previous guy, people ignored her. Someone said softly but audibly, “We all need to go too, so get in line”. Normally I would’ve let her go ahead of me seeing that she’s an elderly person, but since I was already irritated by my surroundings and the previous happening, the situation got the best of me.

Case #3 – Ghetto/Rude/Self-Centered: As my friend was driving along Valley Blvd, a pick-up truck was stopped in the middle of the road blocking all lanes. He seemed to have backed out of a driveway and stopped there diagonally for some reason. My friend stopped up close to the truck and honked. The truck started to back up slowly, inching towards my friend’s car. I was sitting in the front passenger seat and saw that the driver wasn’t even looking as the truck was backing up. His head was down as if he was adjusting the stereo. My friend honked more vigorously seeing that he was about to get hit. The truck driver finally looked up and stopped. He looked back at us and then sped forward. My friend started driving forward as well. Then the truck suddenly stopped dead in front of our tracks. Luckily my friend was able to stop in time to avoid rear-ending him. We looked up at the driver and he laughed and drove off. This case shows how people drive as if they own the road.

Case #4 – Rude: We were walking across a relatively busy street at a two-way-stop intersection. We were already halfway thru the intersection as a car that could’ve and SHOULD’VE stopped to yield to pedestrians drove by right in front of us, narrowly missing our toes. So much for pedestrian rights.

All four cases above happened in one day. In just one day I got a good thorough look at what Los Angeles people are like.

The superficiality and artificiality of people in the LA area can be seen every which way you look. People sporting brand name clothing, the latest trends, the newest gadgets, the most expensive cars, the best figures, the cleanest shaves, the nicest hair styles, the brightest teeth, etc. I saw the most Hummers in one day in LA in a previous trip. In this trip, RF pointed out to me that practically all cars, whether new or old, nice or trashy, have a nice set of rims. Why? To show off of course. For example, we saw an old trashy Corolla that is probably worth no more than $1000 with a set of shinny rims that can probably fetch $2000 or more. The rims are more expensive than the car itself. Go figure.

In a previous trip, I noticed that all girls in Studio City had big boobs. I’m sorry to say, but they caught my eyes, especially those that were attached to a body of a girl no older than 16 years old! No friggin way EVERY girl in LA can be born with nice boobs. Unless you want to tell me the smog-filled atmosphere somehow trickles into the water system which somehow causes the human gene pool to naturally produce big boobs, I’m gonna have to say they are all fake! Those must have been artificially Pamela Anderson boobs on those 16-year-olds hanging out at the Cold Stone Creamery! Maybe I’m just jealous. But I’m pretty sure I’m not.

Anyway, enough of my LA encounters. I need to go eat now. I don’t care if my waist line grows as a result.

Jasmine Lime Iced Cooler
Wanwanha and another friend of mine recommended Peet’s Jasmine Lime Iced Cooler to me as I’m a tea addict. Peet’s describes it as follows: “Jasmine scented green tea is mixed with refreshing limeade and served over ice.” I tried it for the first time today and sure enough, I like it. I like it a lot. It’s very refreshing. As it enters your mouth, the limeade dominates your taste buds. But after you swallow, the tea comes up strong and crisp. It’s an interesting blend of flavors. My only complaint is that they put too much ice. Maybe it’s just the girl who made it for me this time that put too much ice. The ice filled about 90% of the cup and left room for just 10% tea. After a few swigs of my Small cup, I ran out of tea already. I was a little disappointed cuz I was still craving for more. Since I like this drink so much, I’m definitely buying it again. Next time I’ll ask for more ice.

Transformers
If you are looking for a good time at the movies this summer, I highly recommend Transformers. For the price of admission, you get 2 hours and 20 minutes of action, fun, and humor. As a kid in the 80s, I loved the Transformers cartoons and action figures. Heroic Optimus Prime and adorable Bumblebee were my favorite and probably many people’s favorites. They’re back in this 2007 summer blockbuster and to no disappointment to this old time fan. From the very beginning scene to the last, the movie is action packed and humor packed. While I expected the action, I didn’t expect the witty humor. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Besides the action and humor, other elements of a good movie such as realistic CG, good acting (especially from young Shia LaBeouf), and fitting soundtrack, all came together in this one and gave me the best time I’ve had at the movies in a long time. I give it 4.5 stars out of 5.

Half a star is subtracted for the overuse of product placements. The entire movie is a Chevy commercial. Even Bumblebee somehow became a Chevy Camero instead of the VW Buggy. That aside, there were also numerous references to Ebay and a few shots of its website. Apple’s MacBook laptop appeared onscreen two or three times. Then there was a reference to a Nokia cell phone and a quick shot of a Panasonic SD card. If your Marketing 101 instructor gives you an assignment to point out some of the products placed into this film, you will have no trouble coming up with all I’ve mentioned. They were just too blatantly obvious.

As Chevy was a big sponsor of the film, it was not surprising that some of the cars that ended up being destroyed happened to be BMWs, Mercedes Benzes, and Volvos. Figure that.

Though there was a bit of a “cheesy” factor in some of the dialogue, it didn’t amount to much. It was not enough to take away from all the positives that made this movie as good as it is.

Abuse of Executive Power
Here we go again, another blatant disregard of the law. Bush insists his executive authority trumps all else. (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/20/MNG52R3U681.DTL) After using executive power to commute Libby, he once again abuses his authority, this time to prevent the Justice Department from pursuing contempt charges against White House officials involved with the wrongful firing of nine U.S. attorneys last year. Bush once again tells the U.S. public, “Screw all of you. Whatever I say goes.”

Words to describe my general feelings right now: Astonished, Annoyed, Disbelief, Frustrated, and most of all PISSED OFF.

I don't know much about laws and politics. My question now is how and when can we charge Bush for contempt. Forget about his friends and pawns in the White House, we need to go after him.

The Wii
My fiancé and I have been hooked on the Wii since he bought it about three weeks ago. Every night after dinner and before going to bed we are playing on the Wii. In place of surfing the web and watching TV, we play tennis, baseball and bowling; we train on various training exercises; and we take a daily fitness test to find our “Wii Age”. So rather than sitting motionless in front of the computer or TV, we are swinging our arms in response to the various sporting requirements. Clicking on a mouse or a television remote doesn’t constitute as bona fide motion if you ask me. Swinging your arm with the Wii controller to simulate sports play doesn’t constitute as bona fide exercise either if you ask real athletes, but at least the motion is bigger AND sometimes we actually do break out in a sweat, especially when we engage ourselves in a heated match of tennis. It’s heated because I get mad at him every time he beats me, but that’s beside the point. The point is that we actually are moving more because of the Wii. It’s sad, but it’s true. And I dare say this is true for many of the other Wii owners out there. I highly praise Nintendo for developing this console and all its interactive games.

Now I patiently but eagerly await the release of a new game called Wii Fit. Combined with a new controller called the Wii Balance Board, players can engage themselves into heart-healthy activities as:

• Yoga exercise
• Step aerobics, including a game in which the player steps on and off the Wii Balance Board in rhythm to the background music
• Hitting on-coming soccer balls by leaning forward
• Press ups
• Hula hoopping
• Ski Jumping, in which the player squats as low as possible while maintaining balance and then quickly stands as fast as possible to gain a good jump

The steps aerobics game sounds similar to the Sony PlayStation’s old Dance Dance Revolution. The concept of stepping to a musical rhythm sounds similar even though one has a dancing connotation while the other simulates aerobic exercise. If this is true, I definitely will be playing the Wii steps aerobics often. Back in the heydays of DDR, I was a hard-core fan and “danced” out a sweat almost every night. I still have that game tucked behind our main entertainment unit and I can switch out the Wii for the PlayStation anytime I fancy a good dance. But if I can get the same sort of exercise/satisfaction with the Wii, why go through the trouble of switching? On this note, I hope Nintendo develops more active games for the health of all its gamers.

My oh my. It's been almost a year since I last blogged. I'm surprised this account is still active. I'm glad it is. Would definitely hate to lose everything I posted in the past.

I was writing a review on Yelp today and thought, "this review sounds like my old rants on Blogger". So here I am, logging in for the first time in a year and about to rant once again. Here goes...

I'm a big fan of the original Osha on Geary, but I have to express my disappointment with the one on 2nd Street. This one serves the same kind of food but for couple bucks more. While that eats into my pocketbook, it's understandable given the posher location in the SOMA area. What is NOT understandable or tolerable is the poor management demonstrated at this location. I was there with 5 friends a couple of weeks ago for lunch. The place was packed and we had to wait for a table for 6. No problem. We waited, and waited, and saw smaller parties after smaller parties pass us by and get seated first. The final straw was 30 minutes later when two 4-seater tables opened up right next to each other and the most obvious thing to do was to pull them together to seat the 6 of us hungry and late-to-return-to-work souls. Nope, the manager didn't think so. He let 3 women who just walked through the doors take one of those tables and left the other one empty! Empty! While we continued to wait to be seated! After already waiting 30 minutes! It was another 5 minutes or so before we finally got seated. I wanted to complain really badly but refrained from doing so in fear of retribution from the kitchen crew.

Mr. Manager at Osha on 2nd Street: Three blocks from you is City College's downtown campus. Enroll yourself in the Hotel/Restaurant Management course cuz you sure have lots to learn in that realm.

A little ingenuity stretched out with the power of the internet and broadcast brought great returns to a Montreal man. On July 12, 2005, a man started his quest through his online blog site (http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/) to barter up from a red paper clip to a house. The man first traded his red paper clip for a pen. From the pen he moved on to things like a camp stove, a beer keg, a snowmobile, a truck and so on. As his venture gathered more steam, he eventually got himself booked for appearances on national television. 14 trades and exactly a year later on July 12, 2006, he is trading for a house in the town of Kipling, Saskatchewan.

Several factors took part in making this man's venture a success – the power of the internet, the power of broadcast, the power of marketing, the power of negotiation, and the power of creativity. The question now is can I exercise these powers to my benefit as this man did? Like any other Netizen, I have the power of the internet at my finger tips. I have a B.A. in Broadcasting and am currently working in the field. I have a Minor degree in Marketing. Creativity is obscure. It happens when it happens. As to negotiating, if that's the same as bargaining, I really didn't show much of a bargaining flair when I was overpaying for rubbish souvenirs in China.

Let's work on my negotiation skills shall we? Does anyone want to trade a house for my…my…hmmm…my pretty little bird paper clip magnet??? It's colorful and it even chirps when you move it.



… … … Alright, I'm probably better off getting back to work instead. :P

The Power Of A Penny
Oh the power of a penny. Actually, in this case a woman's power was cut off when per payment to the power company was short one cent. After going to the power company to pay the penny, the woman's power was turned back on - seven hours after she was blacked out. How much is a penny worth? In this case, seven hours of power outage and immeasurable amount of agony. Poor woman.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/05/16/national/a061601D50.DTL

Recognizing Grandmothers on Mother's Day
Over Mother's Day weekend, I had the joy of watching one of the most heartfelt movies I've ever watched. This is a Korean film called "The Way Home (Jibeuro)". A brief synopsis on the film: Sang-Woo, a spoiled little South Korean boy, is spending the summer with his mute grandmother who lives up in the mountains. Over the course of the summer, Sang-Woo gets used to his grandmother, whom he used to make fun of, calling her a "retard." He also gets used to the simpler ways of life in the country and learns the importance of love and respect for one's family and elders.

This movie made me laugh and it made me cry. It's cute and it's touching. The best family comedy I've seen. Best of all, I happened to have watched it on Mother's Day. In no way was this planned. The movie was recommended to me based on the fact that I like foreign films. In a bizarre coincidence this all happened around Mother's Day, a day for us to celebrate not only our mothers, but also our grandmothers. As I watched this film, I remembered my grandmother and how she cared for me in my childhood years.

If you want to watch a funny and warm movie, go for "The Way Home". No matter what age, gender, or nationality you are, I promise you will love it. It's in Korean with English subtitles. But since one of the two main characters is mute, there is not much dialogue to scramble to read. If you have children, I highly recommend watching it with them. They can surely benefit from it also.

The California High School Exit Exam
I am amazed by all the recent oppositions to the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). Today, an Alameda County judge threatens to rule the exam to be unfair and strike down its implementation (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/09/MNGSVIO7NI1.DTL).

The two strongest arguments against the exam I've heard so far are (1) it deprives a diploma to students taught by substandard teachers/school systems and (2) it discriminates against English-learners who do not have enough command of the English language to perform competently on the exam. (For information on the CAHSEE, click on here)

An attorney who brought on the lawsuit challenging the exam said, "There is overwhelming evidence that students throughout the state have not been taught the material on the test. And many students have been taught by teachers not credentialed in math and English." From this argument, we can see that the problem lies not in the exam itself but in the substandard education some students in this state are receiving. The exam tests students on 7th to 10th grade-level English and math skills. If our 12th graders cannot pass an exam that tests them on things they should have already been taught, then something is wrong with our education system. Given this, energy should be put on ways to improve our schools, not on the alarm-sounding exam itself. The exam is a good wake up call for us to step up our education standards. Perhaps hire better qualified teachers? Impose higher quality curriculums? Shunning an exam that tells us our students are not properly taught is not a fix to our problem. It's an avoidance of our problem.

I rarely agree with the Governator but here I have to agree with him. The Governator said he was "disappointed" at the tentative ruling and said that "delaying the exam's implementation does a disservice to our children by depriving us of the best tool we have to make sure schools are performing as they should be."

As to the argument that the English-based exam discriminates against English-learners, my counterargument is that this is, after all, America. The primary language used here is English. One should have a basic level of English proficiency to succeed in this society. The CAHSEE is not asking for Shakespearian literacy in our students. It asks only for a 7th to 10th grade level of proficiency in reading and writing, a bare minimum of prerequisite for the next levels of challenges our high school students are bound to face, first from college-level courses and then from the dog-eat-dog world of employment. If they can't pass the CAHSEE, then frankly I'm not sure if they are ready for the "real world". And to further support the CAHSEE, it recommends procedures for English-learners to take to acquire enough skills to pass the exam and to ultimately attain the diploma.

True the CAHSEE is still new (it was first used in 2004) and its effectiveness is still being tested. But I do not agree with these two primary arguments being used against it.

The Moussaoui Verdict
Zacarias Moussaoui, who admitted to conspiring on the September 11 attacks, is sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. The jury chose this in lieu of the death penalty, which supposedly would cost the US more money to execute than the life prison term. Here I still don't understand how a one-time execution costs more than years of food and life support.

Anyhow, when asked "Did the jury get it right?", no one said it better than A. Wright of Redwood City. "There was no 'right' to be had. If they chose death he became a martyr, achieved his goal and we became guilty of the same crime he attempted: murder. By choosing life they have demonstrated that you can come to our country, conspire to kill thousands and in exchange we will commit to paying thousands of dollars to house you for the rest of your life in better conditions than you faced before you came here." (SF Chronicle Two Cents)

I can't agree with this comment more. Moussaoui won in all directions.

How Appropriate?
The judge presiding over the Da Vinci Code plagiarizing case had embedded a puzzle of his own creation into his ruling of the case. The judge spent 40 minutes to create the puzzle utilizing the Fibonacci sequence and another 40 minutes to embed it into his ruling using randomly placed italicized letters. A lawyer not involved in the case noticed the puzzle while studying the ruling and solved it in a day. But this came nearly a month after the ruling was originally handed down. How appropriate it was to have such a good-humored judge preside over such a case. Here's a link to the article.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyid=2006-04-28T133451Z_01_L28316444_RTRUKOC_0_US-DAVINCI.xml

The Da Vinci Code Quest
For all you Da Vinci Code fans like myself, Sony Pictures and Google are hosting a game online to test your intellect, skills, and perseverance. I am a big fan of the book and eagerly await the movie’s release on May 19th. From now until then, I am participating in this online challenge. Skeptical as I am of my skills and intellect, I will persevere. If you think you have what it takes to crack the code or if you simply want to partake in the fun, visit http://flash.sonypictures.com/movies/davincicodequest/

6.5 Billion & Counting
A lot of babies have been born lately. Sure many babies are born in the world everyday, but here I'm talking about babies born within my immediate circle. In the last two months, a small bundle of joy had been born each to my sister-in-law, a friend, a coworker, and a cousin. That's four in two months. A fifth and a sixth are arriving soon as another friend and another coworker are pregnant. Talk about population growth! According to the United States Census Bureau, the earth's population hit 6.5 billion on February 25, 2006. Three of the four babies I mentioned above were born before that date, thereby contributing to that number. The other one is contributing to the estimated 6.8 billion by 2010. Cheers to all these little ones-in-a-billion! Ones-in-6.5billion-and-counting actually.

To top this off, even my boyfriend's two guppies gave birth to three baby guppies this past weekend. Babies everywhere! Even in the fish tank!

Here is my result from the How Evil Are You test Bpsnake directed us to. Beware...I am "the most dangerous kind of evil". :P

You Are 30% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

Geez, I haven't logged on to this site so long that I even forgot my login.

Have a little time free at work today so decided to read Wanwanha's stories of her trip to Switzerland. Of course now I want to go too. I always have a big travel bug in me and reading about other people's travels stirs it up big time.

My next destination is to travel to Vietnam, the country where I was born. Ever since immigrating to the US with my family at the age of 4, I have never gone back to Vietnam. Since I left at such a young age, I do not remember anything about the place. Furthermore, I don't even speak the language or know the relatives who still live there. My parents are planning a trip back "home" this October to take care of some business. This would be a good opportunity for me to tag along and take advantage of their company. For starters, they can help me commmunicate with the locals. Secondly, they can reintroduce me to the relatives I no longer remember. Their help in those two areas would definitely make the trip more enriching.

Although I am looking forward to this trip, at the same time I am also a little apprehensive about it. Vietnam's climate is very hot and humid. Having grown up in the Bay Area, I am used to dry and pleasant weather and thus do not handle humidity well. Fortunately I've always preferred warmer weather over colder weather, therefore the warmness may not be an issue. It's the stickiness of humidity I fear. Second, I do not like dirty areas/situations. With Vietnam still being a developing country, I predict I may have some sanitation problems to deal with, either with the environment, the practices of the people, and/or the food.

Having said this however, I pro of this trip (refamiliarizing myself with the place where I was born) still outways the cons (temporary humidity and insanitation). With a little preparation (mainly mental) I should be able to tackle those two "obstacles". I really look forward to this trip.