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05.31.06
Here's a helpful article
about cutting foods with knives. bg doesn't feel comfortable using
a cleaver but that's all I have at home. I''m terrified of using
the cleaver whenever I cut yams or butternut squash, so scared I
might lose a finger. I need a nice chef's knife or one of those
food processors that magically slices, chops, shreds everything
into pieces in seconds. Meanwhile, it seems like the She
Wants Revenge album cover is popular with many of my guy friends.
Meanwhile, the John Tucker Must Die movie poster is similar. What's
with the revenge theme and cotton underwear?
05.28.06
Want ideas of cool things to do in the Bay Area especially
SF and the East Bay?
05.28.06
I watched Croupier and Infernal
Affairs with bg. Croupier had really high ratings with critics
but it caught my eye because Clive Owen was in it. I first noticed
him as the driver in all the BMW short films. He's really good at
the dark and brooding type of roles. Croupier was a bit slow, not
sure if I really liked it, probably because of the subject matter,
the seedy side of gambling.
Infernal Affairs was good of course. An American remake is in the
works with big name players such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon,
Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, and Mark Wahlberg. It's being directed
by Martin Scorsese, titled the Departed, and should be in theatres
this October 2006.
We had dinner at Tomodachi with some of bg's friends. Oy, we totally
pigged out on sushi and yummy entrees such as rack of lamb, grilled
sea bass, and tonkatsu. Mmm, and we can't forget my favorite - salmon
sashimi.
05.27.06
I made breakfast for Stephanie and got a chance to catch
up with her. Btw, if you're making French toast with bread that's
soft, be sure not to soak the bread in the egg mixture for too long.
I wanna try making French toast with challah, a Jewish egg bread.
Whipped cream cheese and whipped cream taste really good together.
It's annoying when you slice strawberries and discover white flesh
inside, very deceptive and you end up with strawberries that are
more watery tasting than sweet.
I went hiking at the Saratoga
Gap with some of bg's friends. We saw tons of cops that day,
prolly because it was Memorial Day Weekend. Anyway, lots of windy
roads on the way up, not fun for Lena. Apparently it's a popular
spot with motorcylists. We met up with Jeremiah and his gf and hiked
for about three hours and had a picnic lunch. The view was gorgeous,
green trees, rolling hills and valleys. Here's a photo of Jeremiah
goofing off in a bear trap; we lured him in with beer. bg is such
an instigator.
Afterwards, we visited Villa
Montalvo, an 175 acres estate with many hiking trails and gardens.
Apparently it's also a popular venue for performing arts and for
weddings. We had dinner at Chef Chu's and randomly ran into bg's
parents. Funny I never knew about sizzling rice soup before I met
bg.
05.26.06
We watched Mission Impossible 3, lots of awesome action scenes.
However, I recommend sitting as far back as possible. I thought
Keri Russell was supposed to have a more substantial role but it
seemed like she was barely in the movie.
05.24.06
Nooo, say it ain't so. Sigh, Phoenix Pastificio is closing
its restaurant. Luckily, fresh pasta is still available. From the
Chronicle:
"A Berkeley favorite known for its homemade pasta, Phoenix
Pastificio (1786-88 Shattuck Ave.), has closed in its current location
after 10 years of business. However, it will reopen in a new space,
at 1250 Addison St. (at Bonar). Owner Eric Sartenaer says there
won't be room for a restaurant this time around, but he will continue
to make wholesale pasta for Bay Area restaurants and will have a
retail counter open to the public June 1."
05.21.06
Katie, Sandy, and I walked Bay to Breakers but for some reason
this year it didnt seem as eventful. I don't think I'll do it next
year. We had a yummy lunch at Burma Super Star and dessert at Genki
across the street. I did a little shopping in Union Square and browsed
through H&M.
05.20.06
I met up with bg and his coworkers at an Asian tapas place
called Furenzu in
Emeryville. Check out their review
in the Chronicle. It's nice there are more independent restaurants
opening in the East Bay. Emeryville doesn't have much to offer outside
of Bay Street and all the corporate chains.
Furenzu
3986 Adeline St
Emeryville, CA
510-601-1882
bg and I went to our favorite coffee place - A Cuppa Tea. We love
their comfy couches and chai lattes. It's a nice place to relax
and chat.
05.19.06
I tagged along with bg to pick up his tux for a fundraiser.
We were surrounded by high school kids renting tuxes for their proms.
Heehee, the sales associate was confused when she found out that
Brent's event was on a Monday. She asked him, you have prom on a
Monday night? =p I guess, despite wearing a dress shirt and slacks,
bg still looks like a little kid. We tried to watch Thank you and
good night but it was too slow and confusing.
05.17.06
Beard Papa has arrived!
05.16.06
I just finished the Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and
I bawled my eyes out during the last few chapters. Wonderful book
that makes you think about fate and free will. I gave the book to
my sister and she finished it in three days. According to imdb this
book will eventually be made into a movie.
05.15.06
Read about a cool experiment with finding a roommate
in SF.
05.14.06
Part of the reason why I really want to try afternoon tea
in the Bay Area is because of my fondness for scones. Yummy. Here
are some recipes.
Be sure to try the ones from Cheese Board in Berkeley.
05.13.06
We had dinner at this lovely Italian restaurant in SOMA called
Pazzia. The gnocchi was delish. Wanting to avoid the crowds, we
watched Kaboom on top of a hill in Potrero Hill. Quite a few others
had the same idea as us and were listening to KFOG on the radio.
Fireworks are really difficult to capture on film, especially if
you're watching them from a distance. No matter what combination
of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, we couldn't get it right. Afterwards,
we drove to the Golden Gate Bridge for some night time shots. I
taught bg how to do ghost shots where you have a long shutter speed
and have an object in the frame for part of the exposure. Anyway,
it was freezing cold and apparently there are no pedestrians allowed
on the bridge after night fall.
05.12.06
Met up with bg at the Wine Bar & Shop in the Embarcadero
Center with his coworker and sipped on some wines and formed no
opinion on them. =p Maybe I will like wine and beer in my 30s because
it's an acquired taste, well at least wine is. I made Chinese chicken
salad for dinner; this is a really simple recipe. I wished I had
a food processor to shred the carrots though. I ended up cutting
my finger with the shredder. We watched Munich, a very violent movie.
INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 teaspoons brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon hot chile paste
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
16 (3.5 inch square) wonton
wrappers, shredded
4 cups romaine lettuce - torn, washed and dried
2 cups shredded carrots
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
DIRECTIONS:
1. To prepare the dressing, whisk together the hoisin sauce, peanut
butter, brown sugar, chili paste, ginger, vinegar and sesame oil.
2. Grill or broil chicken until cooked, cool and slice.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a large shallow pan with nonstick
vegetable spray, arrange shredded wontons in a single layer and
bake 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.
4. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, wontons, lettuce, carrots,
green onions and cilantro. Toss with dressing and serve.
05.11.06
Great article
for coffee aficionados. My coworker is super fond of the coffee
from Blue Bottle Coffee.
05.10.06
bg got a chance to leave work early so we went climbing again
at Indian Rock. I was trying to find Inspiration Point but we got
lost in Tilden, too many windy roads. Oh wells, at least we were
rewarded with a gorgeous view from the Lawrence Berkeley Labs. For
dinner we tried Mt. Everest.
05.06.06
I got a chance to visit Baker
Beach. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it was a nude beach and
there were fat, naked men lounging around. Ew. I wished I had more
sturdy shoes on instead of my flip flops. There were lots of fun
rocks to climb on along the cliffs. Gorgeous views of the Golden
Gate Bridge. We drove through the windy roads of the Presidio.
Great day for a weekend drive. So I have this odd fascination for
staircases and SF has a score of them. We found the Lyon Street
Steps, where Lyon and Broadway meet, somewhere in Pacific Heights.
We stumbled upon Dianne Feinstein's new SF home.
bg shot a few photos.
Oooh, I got a chance to watch Wallace and Grommitt. Look at those
bunnies, aren't they cute??? Bunny bunny bunny.
05.05.06
bg and I had breakfast at Rick
and Ann's, across from the Claremont Hotel. The wait was surprisingly
long for a Friday morning but I suppose a lot of locals have breakfast
there. I had the French toast made with challah bread dipped in
orange-cardamom batter. Yum. I love French toast with soft, eggy
bread. Another reason why I'm a huge fan of Hawaiian bread.
I made bg drive me to the Morcom
Rose Garden, a hidden rose garden in the Oakland hills. It was
still too early in the season though; I might return later in the
year when it's warmer to see if there are more roses blooming. Every
time I'm on 580 I see this white temple in the hills. Turns out
that it's a Mormon Temple; the building has a sorta byzantine influence
on its architecture. We went to Stoneridge afterwards and that just
confirmed my distaste for malls. Just not a big fan of them or maybe
I just like shopping by myself. Go away bg. Haha, jk. We had a late
lunch at my favorite hamburger place in Hayward, Val's. bg pulled
a guilt trip on me and I tagged along with him to the South Bay
where some of his coworkers were celebrating Cinco de Mayo. Note
to self, Los Gatos is far. But at least I got to eat some yummy
sushi at this tiny sushi bar (it seats only 8). Try the one with
crushed macadamian nuts.
Sushi On the Run
114 N Santa Cruz Ave
Los Gatos, CA
408-354-1125
05.02.06
I'm fond of okonomiyaki, which are a type of Japanese pancake,
though it seems I am the only one in my family that likes them.
The Chronicle recently featured an okonomiyaki recipe
that I wanna try. I'm going to make them with julienned zucchini
and carrots.
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