And with that contrite message, I've officially racked up 300 posts on this here blog. What an interesting eight years it has been.
Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Sheepish
And with that contrite message, I've officially racked up 300 posts on this here blog. What an interesting eight years it has been.
Thursday, 6 June 2013
Tis the (Summer) Season
Always a treat to visit the Inouye-Wongs, hang out with Devin, Kaylee and company and also enjoy some of Richard's prime rib roast.
We've continued the tradition of Monday potluck's at work you can see my mini lasagne cups mid-prep which I made for our "red" theme. Hats off to Mari for finding the idea on Pinterest which repurposed wonton wrappers as mini lasagna pasta sheets.
Garlic fries at a sporting event? I must be at...
AT&T Park. Go SF Giants! I keep forgetting how cold it can be here in the evening...
Here you can see Lou Seal (Giant's mascot) and Phillie Phanatic (Phillie's mascot) doing their thing in between innings. Unfortunately, the Giants could not overcome the Phillies in my second ever MLB game. Thanks to Howie for letting me tag along.
Summer weather = bike riding time! Got to test out this fancy pants Felt bike from a demo tent set up along Cañada Road. Full carbon fiber frame, electronic shifting and a happy cyclist. Even though I only rode it for about a mile, you could easily tell the difference from my aluminum frame, cable shifting bike. With that said, I can't justify the nearly $7000 more that this bike costs compared to mine. Sigh, maybe someday.
Summer also means BBQ weather. This year, I enjoyed my first BBQ of the season up at Imran's place where we had burgers, sausages and veggie skewers cooking away on the open flame. P.S. I made the skewers!
Summer time also means daylight savings, which equals ample sunlight after work for an early evening bike ride (assuming, as I did on this particular day, I leave work on time). I hadn't ridden up Farm Hill in a while, and that meant my lungs and legs did't appreciate it at all. Luckily I got to enjoy this lovely view of the Bay from the top before a leisurely cruise downhill.
Summer/May also means another Bay to Breakers! This year, thanks to the generosity of VW, I even registered to participate. This meant that I started from the very beginning and went all the way to the end. Thanks to Mum, I got to stay up in the City the night before the big event. I got an early start and met up with my friends and off we went to mosey on with the masses.
No joke, I made it all the way to the "breakers" (i.e. the ocean and the finish line). We certainly didn't break any records during our leisurely walk, but we enjoyed great weather and saw some creative costumes along the 7+ mile course.
Thanks to Sam, Melissa and Amy for completing our traveling group. Sam & Amy (from my Crossfit gym) decided our theme would be Ninjas (complete with a child sized costume) and Melissa had independently determined she would be Mckayla Maroney (of "not impressed", Olympic gymnastics fame).
Coming back to a nice summer food item (and thanks again to Mari's inspiration), I made this inari-type sushi. In this instance, somen, seaweed and tofu strips replace the typical (and kinda boring) rice filling of inari. Turned out pretty yummy and well received for our Japanese themed Monday work potluck.
Howie had another spare ticket to an SF Giants game which he generously offered to me and back we went to AT&T. In an effort to combat the chilly wind, I opted to consume some warm clam chowder. Soup tasted alright, but the sourdough bread bowl fell seriously short of the quality that I'm used to (e.g. Boudin's).
As you may have seen in the ticket stub in the preceding image, this game pitted the SF Giants against the Washington Nationals. Thankfully in my 3rd MLB game, I finally got to see a Giants victory. Hopefully I'll get to see many more in my lifetime!
In celebration of a former work colleague's birthday, a group of us took her to the de Young museum to see the Girl With a Pearl Earring (and other paintings by Dutch masters). Since you couldn't take photos in the special exhibition, I instead present to you this sketch by Wayne Thiebaud. A great example of his geometric cityscapes, the sketch depicts his distinctive style without the vibrant color that you see in his paintings (which I've shown in previous blog entries).
Inspired by a picture we took during our trip to the City, the birthday girl painted this lovely work of art of Nicolette, me and Babu. Thanks Margie for capturing my likeness and transferring it faithfully to the canvas!
On a somewhat overcast Memorial day, I got treated to a trio of brilliant activities that began with a pretty delicious a la carte Dim Sum experience from Mong Kok Bakery in SF's Chinatown. Not quite equal to HK in my estimation, and it felt odd to "takeaway" Dim Sum, but it tasted better than expected (even given that I had high expectations from the stellar Yelp reviews) and cost an insignificant amount (i.e. < $10) for more food than two hungry people could eat.
Second up, after lunch, the Asian Art Museum's last day of the Chinese Terracotta warriors exhibition. While very cool to see up close, the traveling collection of soldiers lacked the awesomeness you experience when you see them as a whole in Xi'an. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the exhibit and came away learning a little bit more about these famous artifacts. Anyways, coming to the three postcards pictured above, I think the best thing I saw had to be the Proximities contemporary art exhibition, which had the theme of Asian influences on US culture. In the case of the postcards, the artist (Elisheva Biernoff) adopted the style of Japanese postcards with extinct native animals to depict the beauty and tragedy of capturing nature (so to speak). Anyways, there will be two other rotations of artwork to be featured as a part of the Proximities installation and, as a newly minted member of the museum, I look forward to seeing them throughout the year.
Finally, a trip to Half Moon Bay and another attempt at checking out the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve tidepools. Unfortunately, yet again, we ended up at Pillar Point at a time that didn't coincide with low tide and our efforts kinda came to naught. At least we got to walk around a bit, see the ocean and enjoy the breeze. As evidence of our journey, I present you this consolation picture of the sand with neat patterns left by the ebbing sea.
Alright, so here we've come to this past weekend when I had the privilege of joining Daniel and company on a bike ride out in Livermore. There may have also been some wine tasting mixed in with the bicycling (though, thankfully not drinking and cycling at the same time). I liked the look of the El Sol Winery's stained glass contrasting against the dry hills and clear blue sky. Bonus points for the bee hive which they used to make honey.
While the thirsty cyclists imbibed comfortably within the air conditioned building, the trusty bicycles waited patiently in the shade outside.
We ended the day with a hearty sushi meal. After an initial round of a few rolls, Daniel, Dan and myself still had a bit of an appetite left. So we ordered this sushi boat. The three of us (with a bit of help from Karen) cleaned out the boat in 5.5 minutes or so. No worries, we rode for ~30 miles that day and needed to replenish our bodies...
So that does it for this update (which, now that I think about it, fully covers May). Keep an eye out for some more exciting adventures! Until then...
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
MAAN
The movie doesn't see release till June 7th (remember that date...or don't, I'll mention it a few more times yet in this post), but lately it has been making the rounds to film festivals around the US (and the world). Lucky me, they brought the film to the San Francisco International Film Festival. Unlucky for me, I waited too long to buy a ticket and they sold out. Extremely luckily, I got an extra ticket from a former co-worker and off we went to the Kabuki Theater. Thanks very much Sarah and, indirectly, to Brian.
As the lights dimmed, the crowd got a welcome surprise when out stepped Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof (the two main actors in the film...themselves longtime Whedon collaborators). They thanked everyone for their attendance and began to introduce the film before realizing they didn't really know how to do so properly. So Alexis called Joss. The mobilephone-microphone connection didn't work out great but the crowd got a laugh and we got our film introduced. So off we go.
As one of Shakespeare's comedies, Much Ado has a lot of inherent humor in addition to addressing some serious themes of relationships. Joss did the directing, but the words came straight from the Bard. It made for quite a contrast of "olde" language and modern setting, but after a bit, you got used to it and that allowed for all the actors performances to really shine through. From Alexis' physically expressive turn as Benedick to Amy's beautifully witty Beatrice, all played their parts wonderfully. Also, special hats off to Fran Kranz as Claudio, a role which allowed him to showcase a wide range from joyful inebriation to dramatic indignation and so much else. Kudos also to the locale as, due to the small budget and short timeframe, they shot the film almost entirely at Joss' house. I could continue to wax lyrical about the film but really you all should go see it for yourselves when it hits the cinemas June 7.
After the film, Alexis and Amy came back on stage for a Q&A where they recalled little anecdotes about the making of the film. Chiefly, they spoke about their surprise at being able to participate in such a special project that involved something they loved, Shakespeare, and combined it with the opportunity to work with so many people they loved and had worked with before. Alexis mentioned when Joss first called him about the project, he told his wife Aly (Hannigan), that he thought it meant his scene would be cut from the Avengers. Amy talked about reviving the chemistry she shared with Alexis from their days working on Angel and how this little project had inspired her, her husband and their friends to work on their own film. Finally, they emphasized that June 7 would be important since the film will premiere only in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The success of the film in those first cities would be a big influence on how the powers that be will decide to provide additional opportunities for others to see the film. If you live in those cities, please experience for yourself a little movie magic and help to give others the opportunity to do so also. I promise if nothing else, you'll have enjoyed 100 odd minutes or so of entertainment from a great filmmaker and a brilliant cast doing what they love.
Monday, 22 April 2013
The Past Few (Quiet) Weeks
I haven't had Jello in ages. It paired okay with the chocolate ice cream.
On Easter Sunday, the egg theme got taken to another level with Kaylee's Red Egg (and Ginger) Party. In the Chinese tradition, this party celebrates the birth of a child with food and symbolism.
Already getting so big Kaylee!
Welcomed Brad to the Bay Area by taking him to Refuge for hearty pastrami sandwiches (delicious) and Belgian beers.
Cooked a basic meal of Chinese-style (i.e. shoyu, garlic & ginger) steamed Pacific snapper with broccoli and rice. Pretty tasty fish locally caught and purchased from Sigona's market.
Go figure I attend the Cherry Blossom Festival in SF's Japantown and pick Kalua pig sliders being sold by a Hula halau for my lunch. Tasty despite my distaste of the wasabi aioli.
I followed that up by purchasing spam musubi and Hawaiian Sun juices from a Cub Scout Pack. Can't go wrong with either of these items.
Beautiful, clear day, though a touch windy. An impressive crowd gathered for food, performances and cultural booths. The highlight of my day (other than the Hawaii specific things) probably had to be the small exhibition of Samurai swords, scabbards (saya) and blade guards (tsuba).
Got to hang out with Jessie, Evelyn and, this guy, Nick (and his fancy NEX camera).
While not quite as prevalent as you might see in DC (for example), you could still see some Cherry Blossoms here in SF (though, they've been in bloom for quite a while now).
Turkey meatballs with a tomato & bell pepper sauce (kinda arrabbiata-like) over rotini with roasted brussel sprouts. Turned out pretty good in my estimation, particularly the sauce and meatballs.
Grant came to town for a visit and, as has been the case the last few times, brought with him some truly exemplary weather. We walked around the North Beach area and also spent some time talking story on the roof of an apartment complex looking out towards the Bay (and Saints Peter and Paul Church prominently at the center of the shot).
Finally, a sneak peek of the Bison chili I made (using a recipe from Outside Magazine) for tomorrow's Monday Potluck at the office. I hope folks enjoy it!
How has the month of April almost come and gone? Anyhow, hope everyone has been doing well and such. Adieu!
Thursday, 4 April 2013
4/4/2013
A crescent still abides,
Which like the moon, some turbid night,
Is summoned by the tides.
-Emily Dickinson
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
