Laguna Beach

I absolutely love Laguna Beach. A friend of mine had a niece visiting CA who wanted to go to Laguna Beach for the day. So I volunteered to be a tour guide and I went with my roommate and her to Laguna Beach for the day. We walked around and checked out all the creatures at the tide pools. Areli was picking up Hermit crabs and she would let them walk all over her hand. I didn't even attempt to hold one. I knew that the moment the crab would have come out of it's shell, I would have tossed it and screamed. I'm such a chicken. I don't like touching anything that crawls and has antenas.

Megan and I introduced Areli to a pizuki from BJ's. For those of you who do not live in CA, a pizuki is a delicious dessert. It's a cookie baked in a deep dish with ice cream on top. It's simple but the combination of cold ice cream melting over a warm cookie is ingenious.

30 Minute Meal Is an Hour Meal

How many times have you watched the Food Network promising yourself that you would try out a recipe from an episode you saw and then never made it? For me, all the time; but last Friday I decided to turn over a new leaf and actually make something that I saw on TV. I called my friends up and invited them over to be my guinea pigs. My friends, in desperation of real home-cooked food, all said yes. I followed a Rachael Ray recipe and made a baked pasta dish with capicola ham and a spinach salad with blue cheese, pear, and walnuts. I'm sorry, but Rachael Ray's recipes take me an hour to make. I think I read the directions for the recipe about 20 times. After dinner we played Taboo, which is a favorite game among my friends and I. A Friday night with food, drinks, and great friends... what more can you ask for.

Another Weekend

Crystal hosted a post Christmas party on Saturday. We all brought something tasty to eat and a gift to play the White Elephant game. I brought over some hummus and wine and each girl brought her own specialty dish, including the Orange chicken that Carol helped her Chinese friend with at the restaurant LOL Debbies stuffed mushrooms were so delicious. She stuffed them with spinach, and feta cheese. They were a hit. Crystal and Nancy made really nice toast wishing all of us happiness and continued friendship. I'm really fortunate to have such a great group of girlfriends.

After the party, I went to Hector's sister's birthday party in Corona. I love family parties. Everyone was very friendly, and Hector, like normal, was the life of the party making Veronica and I drinks and taking us out to dance. I had the chance to catch up with Veronica, who I hadn't seen for awhile. Good times!!!!

Just Another Sat.

My best friend Geraldine's baby was born last Tuesday. I went to visit her and her baby, Alia, in the hospital and like all newborns, Alia was tiny and precious. When I held her, I felt like she was so fragile. All of her features were incredibly small; her toes were petite and her nose was so tiny.

Saturday was the baby shower. Geraldine got some great gifts, including the Pumas I bought for Alia. Even though she hasn't even turned a week old yet, she'll already be sporting the latest infant styles hahahaha

After the shower I went to Michael and Adriana's house for a long awaited game night. We played Scategories which was my favorite game growing up. It turns out that Janitor was the most popular answer to most questions. Things at a zoo... things at a school... LOL My partner and I won the game and Michael and Adriana awarded me with an Old Navy gift certificate. Thanks Michael and Adriana. After that we played Taboo. I love that game. We had so much fun. The men defeated us, but us ladies are out for revenge. The best part is when Carol was describing feng shui as an Asian guy. I kept on yelling Jackie Chan, Dali Lama, Mao Ze-dong ... little did she know that feng shui is a way to design a home. Hahahaha Playing games is one of my favorite things to do. It makes me feel like a kid again.



The next day I hung out with Salina. We went wine tasting at this small winery near her home. The wine tasting is free and the place has an incredibly friendly atmosphere. We got a quick tour of the place and tried five different wines, including an ice wine and a Gewurztraminer. I ended up buying an almond champagne. It was delectable and refreshing. Now I'm just waiting for a special occasion to open it up. After that I went to the movies with Salina and her boyfriend, Frank, to see Queen. It was a little boring and slow. Salina, why did you want to see that movie? LOL



I had the day off from work today because of Martin Luter King Day. I was planning on scrapbooking today but I got the sudden urge to paint my dining and kitchen wall. I've had the paint in my garage for months and part of my New Year's resolution was to sponge paint. The walls were already painted with a very light, creamy yellow. I've always felt that the color was too light, so I decided to sponge paint over the color with a darker yellow. When I first started, I really disliked the color and swore that I had the worst luck with choosing paint and that I would never step foot in Home Depot again. With one look of my paint collection in my garage, you can see how much luck I have with choosing colors. LOL I decided to just finish it and see if maybe I would like it once the wole wall was complete, and I am happy to say that it actually turned out pretty nice. Sponge painting isn't as easy as it looks. My right arm is killing me as I type; however, it was worth my while because it gives the room and warm feel. I'm just glad that I was able to accomplish a goal I had for 2007. It feels great to be productive!!!!

Coincidence

I love running into people. Having that feeling of surprise when you see someone who you least expect is pure excitement for me. Last Thursday I went out to dinner with Crystal and her friend at Cuban Pete's in Anaheim and I ran into my sister's friends, Giavana and Deborah. I have known Giavana since Ty met her in high school, and Deborah since I was around 5 years old. My parents were friends with her parents when we first moved to Ca. Giavana was out celebrating her birthday with some other friends. When I first saw her I yelled her name and we hugged for the longest time. We sat right next to her and her friends and were able to catch up. People say that there are no such thing as coincidences. They say that there is a purpose to all coincidences. I wonder what the purpose of us meeting was? Maybe I don't know what the reason is now, but one day I will.

Last Days in Belguim

My last trip to Brussels was bittersweet. Part of me was sad to leave because I've had such a fun time with my sister, Ron, Lil C, and S, but the other part of me was happy to get away from the freezing weather. While in Brussels we first went to the Cartoon museum. I had saw a segment on it on the travel channel and it looked pretty interesting. The only disappointing part about it was that all the comics were in French and there were no English translations. The pictures were very cool. Comic drawing is such an art. The variety of it was more than I ever imagined. I also saw the first version of the Smurfs, which are originally from Belgium. I used to love the Smurfs as a child.

We than went to the St. Michael's church. It was a really beautiful church where Belgium royalty get married. There were displays of different nativity scenes that were created by different ethnic communities. It was crazy to see all the different ethnic groups that live in Brussels. There were nativity scenes created by Italian, Germans, and Greeks.


After that we headed toward the Mannekin Pis. It's a statue of a little boy peeing. Legend says that Brussels was under siege by a foreign power and the attackers had thought of a plan to place explosive charges at the city walls. A little boy happened to be spying on them as they were preparing and he urinated on the burning fuse and saved the city.

We had lunch in a really quaint pub and then went and bought chocolates from a really fancy chocolatier called Pierre Marcolini. I tried their chocolate and still have no idea how people actually like it.

On the last day, Ty took me to the train station and we said goodbye. I really hate having to say goodbye to my sister. I love her very much and consider her to be my best friend.
Well, Ty put me on a train whose last stop was the airport. Well, it's last stop was some small town, not the airport. I was in the train wondering why it was at a stand still until an older man got on and told me that I had to get off the train. He said that I had to go on another train to Brussels Nord and then take another train to the airport. So I lugged my 50 pound suitcase and windmill up and down the stairs and missed the train. The station was totally deserted and freezing cold. It was still dark and no where on the train schedule did it say that any of the trains went to the airport. I couldn't help but panic a little since I speak no French. I actually cried a little which never happens when I get lost. The same man came to the platform and he took me to the next train station where I missed the next train. After lugging my suitcase to one platform, he ran to tell me that I needed to go on another one. I finally made it to the airport. That man was an angel. I got to the airport an hour and a half before take off. If I had to have gone to LAX, I would have been screwed. The flight was torture. It took 14 hours to get back home. Salina and her boyfriend, Frank, picked me up from the airport and we went to In'n Out which was a nice homecoming meal. It's tradition when I return home from traveling.

Brussels is an amazing, quaint city. I miss my sister and her family and Ron very much but I feel so fortunate to have had the experience of spending the holidays with them.

Exploring Belguim

Last Wednesday we had dinner in Mons. The city's main plaza was beautifully decorated with Christmas lights and in the center of the plaza there was a small skating rink. We had to wait for the restaurant to open at 7pm so we walked around and stopped at a cafe to have some hot chocolate and vin chaud.


We had dinner at a really nice restaurant where we barely understood the menu. The menu changes frequently so whatever is being served that night is written on a chalk board in French. The waiter spoke very little English but we managed to order. The food was very rich. Most of the dishes were fried and had lots of cheese. My poor body has been in such shock. I rarely eat white carbs or fried food but I suppose I should indulge while out here and try everything I can at least once no matter how much Lipitor I'll be needing after.





















Last Thursday we were back in Brussels to see the Atomium, which was something that Ron wanted to see. I had no idea what to expect and I was very impressed with the structure. There was a huge line to get in so we decided to skip going inside.

We took the subway to get back into the heart of the city and stumbled upon another Christmas Market. I tried escargot because I heard that it was a very popular among the locals and I heard them talking about it on the travel channel. I had a few bites before I tossed it. I just couldn't deal with the fact that I was eating snails. Yuck!!!!

After my escargot experience, I wanted to eat something that I knew would be delicious: french fries. Out here in Belguim the french fries are fried twice. They were pretty good but I still think In N Out fries are the best.

We then headed for a chocolatier were I tried a Russian Latte. It was like a cafe latte: warm, milky, and delicious. This particular chocolatier was really quaint because they sold chocolate truffles and pralines and it was also a coffee shop at the small time.
Before returning back to the train station we went to a fine dining restaurant. Ron introduced Ty and I to foie gras. It's considered one of the greatest delicacies in French cuisine. Knowing what I know now about foie gras, I'm not so sure that I would have tried it. It's acutally the liver of a duck or a goose that has been specially fattened by force feeding through a tube placed in the animal's esophagus. Poor little ducks!!!! The French obviously don't care. We saw foie gras being sold at the Christmas markets everywhere.



The next day we visited the medieval city of Brugge in Northern Belguim. They had a really interesting Ice Sculpture exhibit that we went to check out.


We walked around the city's main square and then went to another chocolate museum. I tried chocolate again and I still found it disgusting. Ughhhhh!!!! Ron was pretending to force feed it to me in the museum's lobby. It was pretty funny. I definitely know that I don't like it considering that Belguim makes the finest chocolate in the world.
We left Brugge when it started to rain. Acutally it was more like a down pour. I wore my running sneakers and my poor feet were soaked walking back to the train station. I woke up the next day with a sore throat.


According to Dr. Tapia's strict ordersI have been gargling with warm salt water and it really has helped. Last night for New Year's Eve we had wine, cooked, and played cards and Pictionary. We watched the countdown in German where there were thousands of people in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. It was so strange because they had a huge clock on the TV screen. We toasted with champagne at midnight and Tylene and I, on our attempt to keep traditions alive, ate 12 grapes and made a wish before eating each one. I have a feeling that 2007 is going to be a great year with new beginnings and adventures. Bonne Année