San Jo--You Know!

We had one night in San Jose and tried to make the most of it. We actually used to hang out in San Jose during D's Silicon Valley days, but I don't remember much of it. For dinner we drove to Japantown, which is really more like Japanstreet. We made a quick stop into the manju shop. It is amazing to me that places like these can stay in business.

n making another face.

We ate at Gombei, which felt like pretty authentic, Japanese home-cooking.

The Gombei Special--$10 D had his favorite oyako donburi.

For dessert we walked down to Banana Crepe. Although they do serve crepes, we went for the shave ice. This place has good reviews, but no one mentioned the LONG wait. There were only a couple of orders ahead of us, but it seriously took longer than our Japanese food. Maybe they were just short-handed that day?

k kept herself entertained by looking at all the monkeys on the ceiling.


The shave ice was good (mango/passion fruit), but not worth the wait, in my opinion.

For breakfast we walked to Philz Coffee. We tried the Iced Mint Mojito coffee and ordered a hot chocolate for the kids. We asked for them to cool the hot chocolate a bit, and they put a huge block of ice in it, which cooled it down a bit too much. I liked the mint mojito drink, it was very unique. D wasn't as much a fan because he 1. doesn't like iced coffee as much as hot, 2. doesn't really like mint.

Look at all that mint!

k was getting stuffy in the cafe so we walked across the street to San Jose University.

The kids let off some steam. Or maybe it was the hot chocolate.

Afterward we made a stop at A Taste of Paris, which was next store to Philz. The owners are from France. We weren't sure what to get, but once we saw the guy making crepes for other people, we had to try one.

We ordered a ham and cheese crepe. The guy before us ordered a bacon-brie crepe. Wow, that looked rich.

We also bought a baguette to go. We ate some (warm from the oven, yum!), and I stuck the rest in my purse and we snacked on it all morning.


Regarding our hotel, we stayed at the Sainte Claire, where the wedding we were attending was held. We liked its historic, classy feel.


It is connected to an Il Fornaio restaurant.












The ceiling in our bathroom was really pretty:

My favorite was the bar of verbena L'Occitane soap provided in the bathroom. It smelled so good! That one definitely came home with us. :)

Happy Hollow Park & Zoo

This past weekend we visited the Bay Area. We went to a wedding in San Jose and then visited D's family in Napa. The drive to San Jose took six hours. Not too bad, except that k threw up. (I think I passed along my car-sickness tendencies to her). n reciprocated by throwing up on the way home. Lovely. Needless to say, we made many stops along the way. We encountered a newly remodeled rest stop that was pretty nice:



We ate lunch at Huong Lan in San Jose. I had read good yelp reviews on their banh mi. We had grilled pork and bbq chicken. I liked the pork better, although be warned, it comes with peanuts! The bbq chicken was ok, except the bright pink color was a little disconcerting. We also shared an order of spring rolls with really good dipping sauce and an order of mini egg rolls.


Afterward we made the short drive over to Happy Hollow, which I would compare to Adventure City in Orange County. However, the grounds of Happy Hollow were recently refurbished, and much nicer than Adventure City. It also felt more spacious. Happy Hollow also has a mini zoo. Adventure City wins in the rides department though, since they have a better variety. The prices are also comparable...$12 at Happy Hollow v. $14 at Adventure City; parking is $10 at Happy Hollow, free at Adventure City.

There is a cool, newly opened bridge connecting the parking lot to the park.



At the entrance there is a merry-go-round with unique animals to ride on.





n is in a stage where he likes to make funny faces at the camera.


Next, we went to the zoo portion. Mostly small animals, but more interesting than a petting zoo.






k was anxious to go on the rides. n really liked the rides too. When k was his age, she didn't want to go on anything. I guess that's one of the differences between those two.





I think they enjoyed being able to ride together on this one:

The look of sheer joy on their faces was so heart-warming.

The longest line was for Danny the Dragon, a ride for the whole family. We had to wait one and a half cycles, probably about 15 minutes. Not bad at all, but it was getting hot, so D and n stood in line for us while k and I rested in the shade.



Bouncing on the bouncy balls.

We thought we lost k's sunglasses, so I filled out a report at Lost & Found. They turned up later in D's cargo shorts pocket back at the hotel. All in all, it was a nice visit, probably about 2.5 hours total.

Good Year for Cal Alum

2011 has been a good year for Cal Alum

Aaron Rodgers - 2011 Super Bowl MVP
Jason Kidd - 2011 NBA Champion

San Onofre-San Mateo Campground

During Memorial Day weekend (Sun.-Mon.) we went camping at the San Mateo campground near San Onofre. I am pleased to say that our experience was MUCH better than our last trip to San Clemente. Our site (#75) was right across from the bathroom (which is key for k these days), yet still had a private feel due to strategically placed trees/shrubbery. The main positive was having quiet, respectful neighbors!



The back of our site led to a hiking path. I was concerned when a few people used our site to cut through to the path during the afternoon, but it only ended up being two groups during our entire stay, so it wasn't a big deal at all. We saw lots of bunnies/squirrels on the path.



After we set up camp we drove to nearby San Onofre, which I believe is the northern-most beach in San Diego county. The camping reservation is good for parking at any state park/beach for the entire day you check in and check out. One thing I really liked about San Onofre is that the parking is literally steps away from the beach. This is a real advantage when you're lugging beach gear along with a couple of kids.



It was a beautiful day.





After we returned to the campsite, it was time to fire up the grill. We brought a package of "Bool Kogi" from Trader Joe's and it turned out really easy/good.



We also made some fried rice.


Can't go camping without s'mores!






The next morning we had our usual eggs-sausage-hash browns breakfast and packed up (or I should say, D packed up) and went to San Clemente state beach. Then we ate lunch at LaRocco's. They serve NY style pizza, which we bought by the slice.



n enjoying a garlic knot.


It was good, but on the oily side.

Also, I'm not sure why I have so many pictures of n on this trip. Oh well, I guess it helps balance out the "second child, so I don't have as many photos of me" syndrome that we have inevitably fallen into.

"Date Morning": Irvine Ranch Water District Tour

Last month I signed up for the Irvine Water District Tour offered free to residents. Kids under 16 are not allowed, so D and I considered it our "date morning"--haha.

Upon sign-in we were greeted with a free conservation kit (shower timer, low-flow showerhead, etc.) They also had Einstein bagels/cream cheese, coffee and juice. The morning started with a presentation explaining the history and politics of IRWD. Next we hopped on a charter bus and went to a nearby desalinization plant.




Three cheers for reverse osmosis!

Our last stop was the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. We saw a presentation on how waste water is recycled to be used in the "purple pipes" that water golf courses, parks, etc. The most interesting part was looking at the micro-organisms that help clean the water. They are active little critters!


After a short walk around the sanctuary, it was lunchtime.

During lunch someone spoke to us about conservation and how to keep our water bills low. At the end we took a survey and received a reuseable bag.

I thought it was nice that they offer this tour to residents. It was pretty interesting to think about the processes that we take for granted. And it is pretty amazing that our access to water is so plentiful and cheap. The tour also pointed out various water tanks and facilities that we drive by all the time in Irvine and pay absolutely no attention to. D and I want to go on the CR&R tour next. j/k; I'm pretty sure they don't have one, but you know we would go if they did!

The Lost Month: May

I spent so much time last month talking about Japan, I neglected to write about what went on during May. Here are a few snippets:

We went to Taste of Anaheim. We were able to buy BOGO tickets from The Fish. Kids under 5 were free, so we thought we should bring them along. This was the first time we went to the event at the GardenWalk. Let's just say the set-up was not conducive to bringing two kids in a wagon. (Way too crowded). It should've been called Taste of Meat & Hamburgers. The standout was a new restaurant, called The Ranch. D really liked the lamb and I liked the panna cotta with blueberries and pistachios.


We also went to Tanaka Farms for the strawberry tour with my moms' group. This time we went on a Saturday, so dads could come too. D ate 22 strawberries during the 15 minute free-for-all.





I also painted our water closet, aka "toilet room". The entire inside of our house came painted in what I call a "bandaid" color, which I am not a fan of. I've never really painted before, so I wanted to start out in an inconspicuous place of our house. I color matched Olympic Premium no-VOC paint to Benjamin Moore's Stonington Gray at Lowe's. I don't have after pictures, but here is a work in progress pics:


We also a did a large item pickup and had CC&R haul away our crib (we didn't want to give it away since drop-sides are now illegal), a huge HEAVY filing cabinet that came with our garage, along with some miscellaneous items.


We have yet to buy a new bed for k (n will sleep in k's toddler bed), so this is n's new sleeping arrangement: his crib mattress on the floor. Actually, both k and n have been sleeping on a blanket on the floor ever since we went camping, but that will be another post.