Miette Cupcakes

I am not much of a cupcake eater - my friend Sylvia is a big cupcake fan. Quite frankly, the ones I've eaten so far are mostly those made from a Betty Crocker box. So I didn't know what a "real" cupcake tastes like...until I ate from Miette Cakes. OMG! Their cupcakes are divine! I got a chocolate one today with Vanilla buttercream frosting and it was really really really good!! It was great! The cake itself was moist and the frosting creamy. Not too sweet ~ perfect! There are a handful of other flavors like a raspberry frosting, which I shall try next time. There is a Miette Cakes in the Ferry Building...close to work ~ Dangerous!

Spoiled

When it comes to traveling, I must admit that I am spoiled. Having travelled mostly for work, I usually travel in luxury. To start things off, I have a dedicated travel agent who will book everything for me - down to details like airline seat and meal preferences to hotel non-smoking bed sizes. Only dates needed and everything is taken care of. And then I get to fly on business, take advantage of airport business lounges, stay in nice hotels, dine at fancy restaurants, call room service, take taxis everywhere and tip generously.

BUT then when I have to plan for my personal travel, I get soooo lazy. I dread having to plan where to go, where to stay, what to eat, and what to do. I am spoiled. I am spoiled rotten when it comes to travel planning. I wish someone can do it all for me....research for the best airline fares, the best hotel for the best price, everything. I guess I seriously need a butler, or like a personal assistant. Oh yeah right, what are the winning lotto numbers again this week?

Food-Filled day!

The Fourth is definitely a Food-Filled Day! SQ and I woke up late today, did some garden clean-up and went for a late lunch at the Outerlands. It is a nice, sweet little cafe in the Avenues (Judah and 45th). I always like to patronize our local eateries whenever we can. The Outerlands has an unique decor - their walls, tables, chairs, benches, and floor are all made from re-claimed wood. It not only has a very rustic feel to it, it is environmental-friendly. Since today is a holiday, the cafe served a limited menu selection. We shared a corn chowder, which was really really good. Not too heavy, filled with fresh sweet corn, potatoes and my favorite, roasted bell peppers. Yum! It was so good that the bowl was gone before I remembered to take a pic of it! We also ordered a Roasted turkey open-faced sandwich, complete with cheese and granny-smith apples. It was delicious! I would definitely come back to try some of their other dishes... Yelpers said that their Mac and Cheese is to die for!
As if we didn't already have enough food, we ended up going to Bi-Rite Creamery for their specialty ice cream. They have the best ice cream in town...yes, IMO, even better than Mitchell's. I got the Balsamic Strawberry and SQ got Toasted Coconut. Both flavors are first timers and keepers! Enjoyed the ice cream with a free show at Dolores Park.

Bi-Rite Creamery is also associated with the Bi-Rite Market on 18th & Guerrero. They are very well-known in the neighborhood, because they promote and sell only organic and locally and sustainably-raised meats, poultry and seafood. It is actually a very small market, but check out their cheese selection!

While in the neighborhood, we would be shot if we didn't stop by Tartine Bakery. It was close to 3:30pm by this time - and we were both very stuffed, but we still managed to chow down their famous bread pudding and a cup of latte. The peaches are in-season and extra-delicious! I am not a big fan of bread pudding but this is indeed quite good. SQ loved it!!! Next time we have to come back on an empty stomach.

I wonder if we will skip dinner tonight, having eaten more than we can possibly eat? Chances are, probably not! We love food too much!

Others go out of town on the 4th. Others BBQ. Others go watch the Fireworks. For SQ and me, we chow down on the 4th!!

Too close for comfort

It is very disturbing to me that things go missing and things appear in our front yard mysteriously. I think people are getting a little too close to our house… A few months ago, we were seeding some California poppies in 2 small plastic containers. The leaves have sprouted but there weren’t any flowers in bloom yet. We left the containers outside on our front yard planter for some sun. Then one day when we came home from work, the containers disappeared. Someone has taken them / “stole” them. They were just gone, without a trace…

The other day, we came home and noticed a suspicious plastic carton behind our trash shield. Inside the area where we keep all our trash/recycle bins, we saw this blue plastic square carton. Inside the carton was an empty Tide laundry detergent container, an empty apple juice container, and other miscellaneous recyclables. We had NO clue who left it there and why. They just appeared out of the blue. While it is no big deal for us to recycle these things, this is really too close for comfort … and to think about how close to our house this person got when we’re not there, and what else they could have left in front of our house?

So this morning, as I do every Saturday morning, I watered the flowers we have in our 2 planters outside. The flowers are growing quite nicely and we want to keep them alive. But today, I noticed that one of our lavender plants was missing. Yes, missing! The entire plant was gone, pulled out of the dirt. I could hardly believe it. How can a plant gone missing? Yesterday I vaguely remember it was still there. At first I thought the culprit was a gopher, who might have dug from underneath and pulled the entire plant downwards. But Sean said that the traces of dirt & mulch show that the plant was pulled from the top. Then I thought it was probably a dog. If it is really a dog, then the plant itself and the dirt would be messily scattered around the planter. But nope, we didn’t see any of that. Now we believe that a human had done it. Someone shoveled it out. I am sick to my stomach if this is true. Why would anyone do that??

These series of events are both disturbing and annoying. I don’t understand why we are being targeted. Since we are living in the middle of a residential area, and our street is not a main thoroughfare, we think the person(s) responsible are some of our neighbors. Maybe not the “immediate” neighbors but someone who lives closeby. We think we might have to set up cameras… we need to catch these people!

A Short Course on Relationships

I ran across a random blog on Wordpress and saw this - thought it's very cute (and true) so I want to post this "short course on relationships" here:

The six most important words:
I apologize, I made a mistake.

The five most important words:
I am proud of you.

The four most important words:
What is your opinion?

The three most important words:
Can you please...

The two most important words:
Thank you.

The one most important word:
We

Up

Holy Cow, did you know that movie tickets cost $11 now?? 2 adults + popcorn + drink = $30. Holy. Things are getting pricey out there! The last theather movie SQ and I went to watch was Wall-E. (1 year ago!) Yesterday night we had a movie date to see Pixar's newest movie, Up. Ok, you probably got the gist that we like to watch Pixar films...





I briefly heard that Up was good, but don't know anything about the storyline or the plot. I guess that's sometimes a good thing - I go in with no expectations and get a nice pleasant surprise. I really like Up. The story does a great job tying everything together - it actually made me cry a few times! I know, how can a "cartoon" make someone cry? Watch it for yourself, there's a deep love story in there. The Asian boy, Russell, in the movie, was actually quite adorable - though maybe borderline annoying in some scenes. But overall, it's a good movie - thumbs Up from me!

New Beauty Skincare Products

Below are some of the hot new products in the Beauty world! I was able to try these products and think that they are quite nice. Unfortunately, I haven't used them long enough to realize the benefits of their beauty claims! P.S. General rule is that you have to use the product religiously for 30 days before you can say if it works or doesn't work...

Clarins High Definition Body Lift

Clarins High Definition Body Lift redefines the hips and thighs, minimizing the appearance of cellulite.

Retails for $65

Lancôme Genefique Serum

Lancome Genefique Serum is a Youth Activator that boosts your genes' activity to stimulate the production of youth proteins.

Retails for $78

La Prairie Skin Caviar Crystalline Concentrate

This luxurious serum contains plant extracts, peptides, amino acids and even diamond, mica and quartz crystals to give your skin youthful glow, to make it firmer and increase skin’s elasticity, and to soften appearance of wrinkles.

Retails for $375

Airplane movies

SQ and I haven't watched movies in ages - there is really nothing showing in the theater that interests us all that much and rentals are kinda blah at the moment. When we had Blockbuster, we did watch a lot but now we're kinda on a dry spell.

However, on my recent Transatlantic flights, I had nothing better to do than to watch a few movies. Between the 2 long flights, I watched 4 movies:

1. Confessions of a Shopaholic

This movie is adapted from a book by Sophie Kinsella, which got quite popular. Poor acting, bad plot, everything is so stupid. Not even worth a DVD rental. This girl shops and maxes out her credit card. She gets a job, and then she impresses everyone with her silliness? Who cares? Her character is annoying. Kinda reminds of Legally Blonde but at least Reese Witherspoon can act.

2. He's Just Not That Into You

In addition to the fact that there are tons of big stars in this movie, the movie itself is very good. It is totally a chick flick, but I loved it. I find it very funny and heart-warming. I especially liked Ginnifer Goodwin's character. She's very cute and portrays so many girls out there - dreaming of finding Mr. Right and trying to read & overanalyze very little "sign" the man gives out.

3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ok, one word to describe = BORING!! This is the stupidest movie I've seen. Very poor acting by everyone in this movie! Brad Pitt nominated as best actor? You've got to be kidding! Cate Blanchett was also bad. The movie consists of flashbacks as Cate's daughter reads a diary left by Benjamin Button to the dying Cate in the hospital. So really boring and stupid.

4. Coraline

This is a 3-D animated show based on Neil Gaiman's novel. While the computer graphics were amazing, the plot is only so-so IMO. Dakota Fanning, of course, does a fabulous job being the voice of Coraline Jones. Despite it being animation, this movie is quite dark and scary. It's not really a young kid movie - teenagers yes, kids under 10, no.

United 747 Business Class

United Airlines just recently rolled out new business class seats on their Boeing 747 airplanes. They are currently only available on 3-class International flights. On my way to Paris via Frankfurt, I got onto one of these new planes. There are a lot of business class seats – because there is an “upstairs level.” I’ve been on the 2nd level on Singapore Airlines before, but this is the first time on United. The upper deck has 26 business class seats. 1/2 of them are back-ward facing (kinda like BART), so that was new. I didn’t like the backward facing seats – when you’re airborne, you don’t feel much since the airplane is so still, but on the takeoff and landing, you notice the difference.

The new seats are very comfortable – they lie FLAT. The ones on Singapore Airlines recline but is not a 180 degrees flat.

Each seat comes with a 15 inch screen and can play movies, TV shows, music on demand. You can play, stop and rewind anytime. So that was nice. The only bad part is that if you sit inside (window seat), it is very difficult to get out to use the bathroom if the person near the aisle has his/her seat reclined. You literally have to hop over and it’s a very TIGHT space. There is also a center island between the 2 seats that hold beverages, so as if it’s not hard enough to get out, you have to make sure you don’t knock anything down!

Musée d’Orsay - Paris

I spent my free Saturday roaming around Paris. There is really nothing not to like about this city. Tons of museums and places of interest. Today I went to the Musée d’Orsay, which houses French Art of the 1800’s, picking up where the Louvre’s art collection leaves off. This means Impressionism. The Orsay has the best general collection of Monet, Renoir, Degas, and van Gogh. I saw the famous paintings below.

Claude Monet – Garden at Giverny

Edgar Degas – The Dance Class (1873-1875)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Dance at the Moulin de la Galette (1876)

Vincent Van Gogh – Self Portrait (1887)

I don’t pretend to love Art and don't exactly know how to appreciate them like some people, but it’s nice to walk in and learn a little bit of history on these famous paintings. I feel like it makes me a little more knowledgeable about the Art culture.

It's a toss-up between the Louvre and the Orsay. I like Impressionist artworks so that part I like about the Orsay, but the Louvre has so many more "famous and well-known" artwork and sculptures like the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo so it's a must-go. I went to the Louvre last time, but would love to go again. I think one can spend 3 solid days there and still won't be able to see everything.

Musée Rodin - Paris

You can buy the ticket for the Orsay Museum for 9 euros or buy a Museum Pass for both the Orsay and Rodin for 12 euros and save 3 euros so I decided to pay the Museum pass. What a nice surprise at the Musée Rodin! I really had NO clue who this person is/was. So here is what I found out:

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) was a modern day Michelangelo and is most famous for his sculpting of human figures, revealing through the body their deepest thoughts and feelings. As I said, I don’t know Art well, but I really say that I actually the emotional connection to his pieces. The Audio guide and explanation definitely helped to make that connection ... or maybe I'm just a sucker into romantic stories? Some of my favorites:

The Kiss (1888-1889) : A passionate woman twines around a solid man for their first, spontaneous kiss. In their bodies, we can read their thoughts, the words, and movements that led up to the meeting of lips.

The Museum also houses the works of Camille Claudel, who was Rodin’s pupil, colleague, and eventual lover. Camille was 18 when Rodin was 44. They had an affair, but at the end, Rodin remained committed to his wife and left Camille. Camille did not take this break-up well, became mentally unstable and died at an institution. Perhaps this below sculpture by Camille Claudel can explain it all:

The Maturity (1895-1907) : A young woman on her knees begs the man not to leave her, as he’s led away by an older woman. The center of the composition is the hole left where their hands drift apart.

Back to Rodin, his most famous piece is The Thinker.

The Thinker (1906) : Rodin’s people are always moving. Even in this sculpture, the man is seated solidly, but his mind is millions of miles away.

I thoroughly enjoyed his museum, which is inside the historic mansion Rodin once lived and worked. There is a beautiful garden outside, filled with roses and perfectly manicured lawns. It was beautiful and would recommend this to anyone visiting Paris. It’s less popular and also less crowded, but it will not disappoint.

Just trying to help...

There are issues out there that most people would agree with, but may be too afraid to say it, let alone do it. I ran across this news article on cnn.com and thought it was somewhat hilarious.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/23/china.suicide/?iref=mpstoryview

Story in short:
Man in China owes a lot of money and threatens to kill himself by jumping off the a bridge.

Traffic was held up for 5 hours as police tries to talk the man out of comitting suicide.

A passerby, despite police's refusal, climbed onto the bridge, shakes the man's hand and pushed him off the bridge.

The passerby was fed up with the man's 'selfish activity.' If the man really wants to commit suicide, all he did was help him out!

I know this may sound mean, but I was like "YEAH!!" I'm sure thousands of people think the same way - but just too afraid to admit it...

My new best friend

I love my Roomba. Just press 'CLEAN' and the i-robot just does its thing. It goes from wall to wall, corner to corner and sucks up all the dirt on the floors and carpets. I try to clear out as many "obstacles" (i.e. shoes, books, things on the floor that really shouldn't be there in the first place) ahead of time so Roomba can be more efficient.

So far I am really happy with it. Yes, it does take a while to have the room cleaned, but I don't pay attention to it at all. Most of the time, I set it on when I'm about to leave the house. The Roomba knows how to dock back itself into the charger when it's done. The floors are clean, clear of dust. I love to walk barefoot in my house so no more sticky feet!! The BEST part is that the Roomba can go underneath our bed. That's the one place that we can never vacuum. The only downside though, is that you will need to empty the dust compartment often because it's not big and fills up fast. Otherwise, it works great!!! It's fantastic and me heart my Roomba!

My Favorite Flowers

I love Tulips. They are my favorite flowers. I love them because they remind me of Spring and they bloom around my birthday. They are so simple yet elegant, clean and colorful. I love it when they droop down and become lazy and relaxed. I love the fact that when you drop a penny into the vase, the flowers stand up again. I love tulips because they make me happy.

JROTC 92nd Spring competition

SQ and I spent a sunny and warm Saturday in the Presidio watching SFUSD's JROTC Spring 2009 competition. We are there to support my nephew, who is in Lincoln High School's Boys Flag Drill team.

The JROTC program has been under a lot of debate lately. Some argue that this program is too military-like, and is the Army's way to enlist. Supporters say that it is a program to teach kids about hard work, team spirit, etc. This issue got onto the Voter's ballot last November and residents got to vote whether the program should continue in public high schools. The public vote wanted it to stay, and most recently, SF's Board of Supervisors also voted to let this program remain in the curriculum.

Every year, there is the Spring competition held in the Presidio. All JROTC members practice day and night for this big day. It's kinda like the All-City finals for many of the Sports team. There are 3 main competition: the Drill team, the Boys Flag drill team, and the Girls Exhibition Drill team.

The Drill team - they just listen to commands and march. Judged for their unison and how they march.

The Boys Flag Drill team marches but also does tricks with their flags. They are judged on their unison and flag movements.

The Girls Exhibition team marches, sings a song, and does quick moves with their arms and hands.

My nephew is on the Flag team, which many years ago, used fake rifles instead of flags. You can imagine how quickly THAT went away...Lincoln High School's BDT finished 1st last year so there was some pressure to repeat the title. But... they won 2nd this year! :(

Here are the results:

Drill team: 1st_Washington, 2nd_Balboa; 3rd_Lowell

Boys Flag Drill team: 1st_Galileo; 2nd_Lincoln; 3rd_Lowell

Girls Exhibition Drill team: 1st_Lowell; 2nd_Lincoln; 3rd_Balboa

Overall team award: Lowell

I was there to support my alma mater as well - Lowell! Yeah!! Always loved to see the GDT perform. Glad to see that they repeated their title from last year!

Social Security and Medicare finances worsen

Great. Just great. Today's finance story:

Social Security and Medicare finances worsen

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Social Security and Medicare are fading even faster under the weight of the recession, heading for insolvency years sooner than previously expected, the government warned Tuesday. Social Security will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, a year sooner than projected last year, and the giant trust fund will be depleted by 2037, four years sooner, trustees reported.

Medicare is in even worse shape. The trustees said the program for hospital expenses will pay out more in benefits than it collects this year, just as it did for the first time in 2008. The trustees project that the Medicare fund will be depleted by 2017, two years earlier than the date projected in last year's report.

So basically, we're on our own. Don't even think about depending on the government for anything.

Academy of Sciences

Today SQ and I took advantage of Free Neighborhood Day and visited the new Academy of Sciences in GGP. We took our parents there. At first I was nervous whether my parents would enjoy these things and if the walking would be too much for my mom. But we took our time and took short breaks when we're tired. We ended up spending 4 hours there. We went through the aquarium, the rainforest, the living roof, saw the albino alligator and the penguins. We watched the show, Bugs in 3D. We had a great time and I enjoyed spending time with my parents.

The building is a lot smaller than I thought it would be, looking from the outside. I was also not so impressed with the Living roof, maybe because I've seen so much hype on TV about this "green roof." Anyhow, I still enjoyed the visit and do appreciate all the work the scientists are doing there to preserve our environment and to ensure the future generations can enjoy the same animals and plants we see today.

Am I really THAT heavy?

We spent a beautiful Saturday celebrating an early Mother's Day at Washington Park in Burlingame. It was perfect - the park was absolutely beautiful, complete with tons of flat grassy areas, BBQ and picnic areas, tennis courts, basketball court, a baseball diamond, a children's playground and a rose garden! And the weather was fabulous! We BBQ'ed during the afternoon and then played some games. The kids had the most fun, bouncing around and just being kids.


I wanted to take a picture of SQ carrying me... and look at SQ's facial expression. Am I really THAT heavy?

I love Wednesdays because SQ and I get to go back to my parents' place for dinner. If I was shameless, I would go back to my parents' place everyday for dinner. I love my mom's cooking - the best is that her dishes offer both taste and nutrition. That, plus, they are hot and on the dinner table the minute we step into the house!

My mom actually didn't learn how to cook until she retired. In the past, she worked and my grandma would do all the cooking. So my mom picked up cooking after she retired, which was not too long ago! Some of my favorite dishes include:
- Chinese style mashed potatoes
- preserved veggies steamed with pork (梅菜蒸猪肉)
-steamed water eggs
There is so so much more ... too many to name.

Black Clouds

Recently, I seriously feel like there is constantly a rain cloud over my head.

First, 2 Fridays ago, I tripped and fell on my knees and hands while walking on the street. I ended up with 2 bruised knees, a sore arm and back for a few days.

Second, I got a big cold last week. It started with a sore throat - at first I thought I was "yeet hay" because I ate a lot of fried stuff. But then the symptoms came - sneezing, congestion, runny nose, etc. Even today, I still have a runny nose and congestion...almost 1 week already.

Third, between SQ and I, we got 3 parking tickets within these past 2 weeks. I seriously think that the meter maids are out to get us. I hate those people. They're sleazeballs.

Fourth, after paying a hefty sums to the IRS, the FTB, and the SF Tax Collector for income and property taxes, we got yet another 2 supplemental property tax bills. These are back charges for our addition-renovation downstairs for 2007 and 2008. I am so fed up with all these taxes!!!

I wonder when will my bad luck end? Or is this just the beginning??