leafing through

First full week back to work. As much as work can aggravate me at times, I find the familiarity of coming back to my usual routine to be comforting. Plus, now that we’re nearing March, the Sun’s pretty much up when I’m heading into work (particularly when I’m running late) and it’s still mostly out when I leave the office. Thank goodness for that little bit of blessing, otherwise, coming back from Florida would’ve been even more depressing what with all the ice, slush, and dirty snow piles, which incidentally melted a good amount this weekend in 40-degree weather. I enjoyed the sunny warm climate in Florida so much that pretty much right after coming back I started planning my next vacation. To where else? Cali! I still have French Laundry, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and Hog Island to visit.

I’m watching the Olympics right now and ice dancing is so much more pleasant to watch than figure skating. And I think curling must be the only Olympic sport where you can have pregnant women participating (Canadian team). Plus they wear make up and dangly earrings. If I got to choose what sport my kid did, it’d be curling.

Happy Lunar New Year! I come back from Florida and what do I see? More snow! Not enough to keep me from going to work tomorrow though. Durnnit. Ah well. I guess 10 days off was a good run.

Where do I start with this trip?
Food.

Manatees.

Food.

Olympics.

Cruise. (This is Thomas Edison’s house, tucked in the trees with the red roof.)

Parade.

Food.

The amazing view.

Wonderful!

There was tons more food but these were all I captured. The rest flew into my belly before the shutter even had a chance.

What a way to start the countdown to Florida, with another weekend snowfall. Today, they let us out of work by noon in anticipation of the “blizzard” but it’s 6PM right now and there’s not nearly the amount of accumulation (2 feet!?) the weather stations were predicting. In fact, there’s barely any. I win! Anyway, in a few days, I’ll be on a beach in 70, possibly 80-degree weather, enjoying my respite from this cold ass winter! I’m looking forward to soaking up some vitamin D and practicing using my DSLR on the alligators. I can’t wait!

This morning they ran out of seats on the bus so I stood. Then suddenly I felt like I was about to pass out (dizzy, weak). I asked the guy sitting by me if I could take his seat because I felt faint. Then I did that whole put my head between my knees thing. People were probably thinking I had the swine bug. What bad timing to look ill. At least I didn’t puke like that lady the other week. I’m guessing it was because I was overheating or the air was too stuffy.

On the way to work, the lady sitting next to me was puking on the bus, in a bag. She did not look well.

On the way back from work, a mom with two boys ages ~2 and 4 allowed her two year old to eat apple slices on the metro. He bit off the skin and threw it all around him. She saw and not only did she not pick up the pieces, she just kept giving him more slices as he demanded. Way to go.

1. Sunsations sells crap
2. Candy Kitchen sells sweet crap
3. There are a gazillion Sunsations and Candy Kitchen’s up and down the beach and they all sell the same crap.
4. My inner ear isn’t capable of handling jostling rides anymore.
5. If you’re driving down the countryside and you see some signs of civilization (bathrooms), just go, even if you don’t have to go.  You’ll regret it if you don’t.
6. Don’t bother bringing any reading materials to the beach.  The people are entertaining enough and the sun will put you to sleep after a paragraph or so.
7. If you have alcohol, a hottub, PvZ and TV, you don’t need games to entertain the group.
8. Bring your junkiest clothes.  It’s the beach, there’s no fine dining. 
9. For footwear, all you need are a pair of sneakers (for shopping) and flipflops for everywhere else. 
10. As the the Chicago Tribune’s Mary Schmich says, “Wear sunscreen.”

Just got back from my five day vacation to Ocean City. The weather was sunny and rainy off and on but we still managed to eat, go to the beach and boardwalk, shop, and go jetskiing.

The first day, we went to Higgins, an all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant. Then I played Plants vs. Zombies. On Sunday, it rained so the girls went shopping at the outlets. For nearly 8 hours. Then we ate at The Bonfire, a seafood buffet. Then I rolled around on the ground clutching my belly as I groaned in agony. Or maybe I just walked around the boardwalk and played at the arcades.

Monday I had this ridiculous foot long cheesesteak sandwich from Billy’s. Then we went to the beach to relax and people watch. The water was kinda’ cold and it was a little overcast that day so we stayed ashore mostly. The next day, we went jetskiing. I was really nervous about falling into the water or flipping off the jetski but once I rode around for a while it got pretty fun.

The sun came out later in the day and we went to the beach to chill. And finally, our last full day there, we went shopping again. I should say, I went shopping again. For everyone else, it was their first tour of the outlets. I didn’t do too badly. Mostly work clothes and $5 and $6 jeans. Jackpot!

Overall I had a fun time doing nothing, eating, watching Jon & Kate +8 reruns, and getting knocked over by the waves.

I’ll be going to the beach this weekend.  My first time going to OC.
On my itinerary:

• Clothes shopping!!
• Farmers’ Market!!!
• hold on, let me rephrase that: FARMERS’ MARKET!!!
• Tourist traps!
• Oh and sand, water, and sun too.

While I was in Berkeley and Las Vegas, I had a running list of commentary about the stuff I saw and things I did.  I meant to jot them down but never got around to it partly because I figured if it was really interesting I’d remember it and if I forgot it, then it wasn’t worth mentioning anyway.  Evidently, all I had in my head after the trip was food.

Last night, while I was winding down, I flipped through the photos again to relive the trip.  And I came across this.  It’s a seat on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit).  I took this photo because BART seats are very special to me.  The first time I visited the Bay area, I took the BART from the airport into the city.  I was so grossed out by these cloth seats that I sat at the edge of them all the way home.  When my sister & b.i.l. took me downtown to see the sea lions, I was appalled when they leaned back comfortably into their cloth BART seats.  In my head, I pictured a billowing cloud of foul smelly dust that flew up when they plopped down on them.  So it’s been a memorable part of each of my visits.  Gingerly sitting down to minimize puff action and only at the very edge of the seat to minimize seat-butt contact.

Aside from this quirk, I’m a totally normal person.

March 12th:
Dinner at Cancun Taqueria: Nopales (cactus) with Prawns Burrito. Carnitas Crispy Tacos. Fish Crispy Taco. Cancun Nachos.

I really liked the burrito. The prawns were so fresh and the cactus plant so different. I also liked their crispy tacos because they make their shells fresh.

This is their salsa bar. I tried more than half of these, very fresh.

March 13th:
Lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf. Clam chowder in sourdough bread.
I love the crust but you can’t fill the bread bowl with enough chowder so we got an extra pint on the side to dip the bread.

Dinner at Chez Panisse.


This is one of the many courses we had: spot shrimp and mussels. The marinade was so light, it was drinkable. All their dishes are uncomplicated. They rely on the freshness of the ingredients and you taste the food. Nothing is so drenched in sauces that it overwhelms another ingredient. Their bread basket was really good too. Too good. I kept having just one last piece.
And I just couldn’t resist coffee with the apple pie.

March 14th:
Brunch at the Farmers’ Market.
This is a vegetable roll from the Thai food stand. It’s filled with jicama, lettuce, bean sprouts, mango, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms. The peanut dipping sauce was finger lickin’ good. Plus I had to lick my fingers because I didn’t have a fork. I also ate roasted tomatoes with some of the leftover bread from Chez Panisse, and half a crepe. Too bad those roasted tomatoes were refrigerated instead of canned. They were so good I wanted to bring some home.

Dinner at Kirala. I tried the amaebi for the first time. That’s raw shrimp in English. It had a sort of creamy texture. It wasn’t the flavor that was offputting as much as the texture. Aside from that, everything else was awesome.

March 15th:
Lunch at some Thai restaurant. Nothing spectacular, I just wanted Thai food because there are about 4 or 5 within walking distance.

Dinner at Ad Hoc.
Goodness, after having Chez Panisse, I thought it was for sure going to be the best meal of the trip. Then came Ad Hoc and now I can’t decide. They were both equally delicious. Ad Hoc is probably a bit more casual dining, though not by much. The biggest perceptible difference was that they served the food family-style at Ad Hoc.

March 16th:
Breakfast of the pork and rice leftovers from Ad Hoc. Even cold, the food was still so flavorful. The food at Ad Hoc was very memorable.

Dinner at the Bellagio Buffet. Maybe it was because I was wined and dined so much in CA that it spoiled my palate for buffet food, but I didn’t think the food here was good. The chefs standing behind the meat cutting it as people came still didn’t make it better. I would say it was maybe a step above typical buffet food you can get anywhere.

March 17:
Lunch at Sushi Roku. I’m still partial to Kirala.

Dinner at the deli in the Tropicana.
I got a reuben sandwich. For some reason, I crave these deli sandwiches every so often, I guess because it reminds me of college. Cereal too.

March 18th:
Lunch at Midway airport’s Gold Coast. This hot dog is very good! I wish they had this chain around here.