Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Peruvian Eats

One of my hobbies is trying new restaurants. I think D sometimes gets annoyed because I always want to go somewhere new instead of sticking with the tried and true. However, D proved his taste for adventure when he ordered the "Peruvian Punch" made of purple corn at Nory's Peruvian Restaurant a couple of weeks ago. It is an acquired taste. Pictured is D's order of rotisserie chicken. I had chicken fried rice. They also give you some rolls to dip in a small bowl of aji--a light green, spicy sauce that contains peanuts and crackers, according to our waiter.

I just got the Orange County Entertainment Book for 2006, so that will be dictating our dining choices in the upcoming months.

Monday, January 30, 2006

LOL

If you need a good laugh, read Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. It really is an encyclopedia, from A to Z, of observations of her life. So many of them rang true with me, and many of them are about things that no one bothers to talk about. My favorite entries are "Drying Off" and "Love". I was literally laughing so hard I could not tell D what I was laughing about, which never happens when I'm reading.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Lovin' Our Oven

Old Oven
Old Oven

New Oven
New Oven!

I'm excited about our new oven/range, but it is so nice and clean, I am kind of afraid to use it. I'm sure I'll get over it, though.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

LA Auto Show, Part...j/k

OK, enough about the LA Auto Show. More about last Sat., though. After spending 3 hours at the show, we ventured out to the SGV to meet up with Derek's ex-roommate at IU who was visiting from NJ. We had some time to kill, so we ate lunch at a place called Ajisen. I had some milky pork ramen and D had some CA rolls and gyoza. Then we met up with Dan at Tea Station. Thankfully, there were no plastic tops to contend with at this boba place! Then we ate dinner to celebrate my little sis' birthday. Afterward my family played a game of Apples to Apples and it was actually fun! My mom always tries to get us to play games without much success. However, she read about this game on Amazon and one of the reviews said it's good even if you don't really like games, and I must agree.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

LA Auto Show Part 4

Here are yet some more pics from the auto show.

Monster Truck
D & a Monster Truck
Electric Car
L & the Mini
Look, my shirt is the same color as the electric car!
Lexus
NICE!
Camaro
Melissa, this one's for you.
Cayman S
Dad, this one's for you.
Back to the Future Car
Michael J. Fox, this one's for you.
Suzuki
Suzuki...gotta love those Japanese!
People Car
D & ATV
Box Truck

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

LA Auto Show Part 3

VW pod
Water Display
Porsche Lounge
Volvo Blue Suit
Since watching The Apprentice, I've become more aware of the thought that goes into marketing campaigns. Here are some of the more creative set-ups at the auto show. The top picture is of a pod at the VW display. When you turn around in it, there's a video screen and there's surround sound. The second picture is a water display by Buick. The third picture is in the Porsche "lounge". Lastly, I can't believe Volvo made their reps wear these turquoise suits with white shoes...so not cool. D also used the Chevy penny machine to make a penny stamped with the Chevrolet logo, but the picture didn't turn out very well.

Monday, January 16, 2006

LA Auto Show, Part 2

Subaru Outback
D & Outback
Before the CX-7 came along, D was obsessed with the Subaru Outback (It has AWD! Look at the ground clearance!) So, of course we had to check it out.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

LA Auto Show Part 1

CX-7
D & CX-7
Yesterday D & I went to the LA Auto Show (shout out to K for getting us tickets). This will be a multi-part post because we took a lot of pictures, and the thought of one big post is too over-whelming. Anyway, D was excited to see the new Mazda CX-7, (a cross-over) which had its first unveiling at the LA Auto Show. D was disappointed that the doors were locked, but he liked how it looked from the outside. Now he says we are going to get one in a year and a half, but we'll see how long that lasts! :)

Sunday, January 08, 2006

The Boba Mishap


Last night, D and I went to eat at BCD Tofu in Garden Grove. We shared the short rib combo, which comes with soon tofu, pictured here (we also ordered one extra stone pot of rice). As you can see, it was a cauldron of bubbling spiciness, sputtering out onto my paper place mat. We requested "medium" spiciness, and it was quite good. The ribs also came piping hot, served on a sizzling plate. It was a good amount of meat, so I'm glad we shared. While we were waiting for our food, the restaurant played "Arthur's Theme" by Christopher Cross, a favorite of mine. Good times. The waitresses also tried speaking to us in Korean--haha.

Now, on to the story for which this entry is named. After our dinner, I suggested that we go to the boba place at the end of the strip mall, called Boba Loca. D tried to poke the big straw through the plastic top, but it wouldn't go through. So, he held the cup steady and jammed the straw with all of his might and broke the whole cup! Milk tea spilled all over the counter, bar stool and floor. D asked for a new one and I tried to mop up as best I could with the paper napkins. We had the cashier poke the hole in our new boba so we wouldn't have a repeat disaster and we quickly left. The cup had a Bible verse on it, just like In-n-out!

Afterwards, we hung out at the Block. They have added a lot of stores recently that I hadn't seen before. There was cool looking gelato place called Melt that we should try some day. D bought a Berkeley sweatshirt at Steve and Barry's. Everything in the store was $7.98! D used to go to that store in Indiana for IU t-shirts, but I guess they're expanding. The t-shirts were super cheap and the iron-on writing would come off after a few washings. However, D's sweatshirt is embroidered, so hopefully it will last longer.

Friday, January 06, 2006

College Football 2006

L says that she is happy that I am "back." Well, just to let you know there will be plenty of internet time that needs to be spend on CAL/Pac-10 football. First we have the final season poll that shows that CAL is ranked 25! Thats 2 seasons in a row where we are ranked in the top 25. And a "Early 2006 Top 10" poll from ESPN that has Cal at #10!

10. Cal -- The Bears' offense exploded its last two games after coach Jeff Tedford finally pulled the plug on erratic QB Joe Ayoob. With Steve Levy or Nathan Longshore at quarterback complementing RBs Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett, Cal's attack could be pretty scary in 2006.

In addition, I need to follow the recruiting process. Which high school players are committing to CAL.

Also IU basketball is heating up. They are ranked #4 in S.I. power rankings! Go Hoosiers, beat Ohio State on Saturday!

Derek's Food Thoughts

What are your favorite foods?

For me, I like...
#1 Rib-eye
#2 Lamb chops
#3 Sea Bass

The first two are easy to describe how I like them prepared. I just need salt and pepper on my rib-eye i.e. Flemings or Outback. For lamb chops, I am not too sure how they prepare it. Probably salt, pepper, and then the famous mint sauce. For sea bass, I am not too sure. I like Chilean sea bass prepared in a fancy American way. However, I also like black bass prepared at Chinese restaurants i.e. soy sauce and green onion.






What is your favorite food?
rib-eye
lamb chops
sea bass


  

Free polls from Pollhost.com


My favorite "show" is college football, but I also like Rachael Ray. Her "$40 a Day" show is like a travel show AND a food show all in one. In addition, she has cute sayings. I like the shows where she goes to U.S. or Canadian locations, because I feel like I can go there. The European ones, I mostly likely won't go to.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Thank You, Vince Young!

When Mr. InVINCEable ran in that final touchdown last night, my heart leapt for joy for two reasons:
1. From a young age, my Dad has instilled in me, a distaste (to put it mildly) for USC. Forget Pac-10 loyalty. I wanted SC to go down!
2. Saturdays no longer have to revolve around college football. D is free at last (until next season, that is). Huzzah!

Monday, January 02, 2006

New Year's Traditions



Today we celebrated New Year's Day a day late by cooking/eating Asian food (Japanese, Chinese, Korean--we don't discriminate). In addition, D and my dad watched football while my mom, sister and I made cards. We started this tradition a while back. My mom brings out all of her card-making supplies (a lot!) and I try to make cards that will last us the whole year. I've got Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays, thank you's, baby, and weddings covered!

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Hello 2006!

We hope everyone had a more exciting New Year's Eve than we had. We didn't make any plans, and when it started raining, that sealed the deal: we were staying in. D & I toasted the new year with sparkling blueberry juice from Trader Joe's (quite tasty). We watched an inordinate amount of television and I managed to pack up all of our Christmas decorations. It was kind of sad to hear Dick Clark in not-so-good health...he finally aged, I guess.

Here's a picture from Cookie Fest 2005:
Cookie Platter

Here's D preparing to ski at Squaw Valley:
Squaw