Super Silly-ous

Check out this really cool Roller Coaster DataBase for North America!

I realized today that there’s only one month left in my summer. (sigh)  At least I think that I’ve been pretty good about making the most of my favorite season so far…this summer has been awesome and just keeps getting better!  I have some plans for August already, but I’m hoping to squeeze in some roller coaster fun in the next few weeks. =D

I haven’t been to that many amusement parks in my life and all of them have been in California.  Growing up in LA, I went to Disneyland at least once a year, but haven’t gone to the Magic Kingdom since moving up north. =(  Something I’m really looking forward to is taking my nieces there when they are a bit older.  I can’t wait to buy them mouse ears!

I also snuck in a few visits to Knott’s Berry Farm (really good food and Knott’s Scary Farm is pretty cool too) and Six Flags Magic Mountain (LOVE the Viper and Batman rides) when I was younger.  There’s now a LEGOLAND near San Diego which I haven’t visited yet, but seeing how much I love Legos, I definitely have to go check out that place soon(ish). =)

The last theme park I went to was Paramount’s Great America in Santa Clara.  It’s not bad, and I had some free passes, but let’s just say I wasn’t too impressed and I can’t really see returning. I have also been to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, which I don’t consider a true amusement park, but they do bill themselves as such and they’ve got some decent rides and games.

I really want to go to Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo since I’ve never been there.  Plus, it’s been a few years since I’ve been on a roller coaster and I think it’s about time I experienced some looping G-force action again!  So if you love roller coasters and want to go too, let me know.  Screaming with friends is always fun and more importantly, we can eat funnel cake!!! =9

After living in the Bay Area for over six years, I finally went to the Gilroy Garlic Festival.  It would have been much more convenient to go when I used to live in San Jose (as opposed to being way up in SF now), but I could never find another garlic-loving soul to join me. =(  Anyway, on the last day of this year’s festival, I got to go see what all the fuss was about.

The good news is that there is a lot of really delicious food to be enjoyed, most of it reeking of tasty garlic.  We had some beer battered garlic fries (SO yummy), garlic butter corn on the cob, garlic sausage, and garlic steak tacos (which could have been much better without all the watery beans).  Some of my friends were way more adventurous and tried the infamous garlic ice-cream (I had been warned by many people to not even touch that food item) while I observed.  They finished their cones, but let’s just say that there was a lot of grimacing and comments of “good thing this was free”.

The bad news is that it’s not your cheapest festival.  I’ve been to free food and wine fairs before, but this had a $12 per person cover charge to just walk around.  And I don’t remember the prices for everything, but I know the garlic sausage (which was basically a big hot dog) cost a whopping $7.  So I had a fun day strolling around in the sun (which was fortunately not too hot considering how far south we were) with good company and tasty food, but I think this is one of those experiences that are fun to go to only once in a great while, much like any other tourist trap–I mean, attraction.

We also did a decent amount of shopping at Gilroy’s Premium Outlets, which is the other thing that the city is famous for.  Dinh was super nice and drove all the way out from Los Banos to hang out with us for a bit…we have got to relocate that guy! I bought a few things but my most noteworthy acquisition was finally getting a visor after many years of searching for just the right one.  I also think I am slowly converting over from being an I-only-wear-Nike athlete to joining the Adidas camp because their womens clothing actually fits me.  And if you know me at all, you know how amazing that fact is (stupid short genes)!

As for the rest of the weekend, I played in the annual AACO Sports Day for Charity volleyball tourney on Saturday with Greg, Jenn L., and Kissel at the Take No Prisoners level.  We didn’t place first, but we did take the consolation match and win some CDs.  It was a really gorgeous and sunny day, with a nice breeze that kept us cool, but the winds really kicked up in the afternoon, which made playing ball rather difficult.  Oh well…at least I got to work on my tan!  The nice thing about this tournament is that in addition to all participants getting fed and going home with t-shirts, the proceeds are donated to charity. =)

I bet I’m not the only person who misses the Where’s The Beef lady!

This entry is a little random, but I thought I’d muse a bit on my love for red meat. =9  My favorite forms of beef are hamburgers, a nicely done bo luc lac, cheesesteak sandwiches, Tillamook’s Beef Steak Nuggets, short ribs (especially Hawaiian or Korean style), all the good stuff in a pho dac biet, and of course, a juicy ribeye steak with perfect fat marbling.  A tasty prime rib is good stuff too…anything that needs to be served with au jus is fine by me!

My favorite place to eat prime rib is at Cattlemens (I wish there were more of them as the closest one is in Newark).  It comes out on a sizzling metal plate and they have this special crusting around the edges of the meat that is very addicting…it wouldn’t surprise me if MSG were somehow involved!  The only other noteworthy place where I’ve tried the prime rib more than once is the San Francisco classic House of Prime Rib.  The steak is pretty good, but the main appeal seems to be the copious amount of sides and the fact that you can easily get free seconds (and yes, thirds) on the prime rib. 

As for a favorite steak house, it’s even harder to pick just one I think.  Most places can cook a good steak, but it’s usually overpriced for what you get…some of the best steaks I’ve ever had were cooked at home by friends or myself!  But I have enjoyed eating at Ruth’s Chris Steak House (butter butter everywhere), Harris’ Restaurant, and Boboquivari’s (their Dungeness crab is pretty good too).  I really want to eat at ACME Chophouse at AT&T Park because it comes so highly recommended by my foodie friend Francisco (say that three times fast) who has never steered me wrong when it comes to finding yummy grub. =D

And one day…I would like to have some famous Kobe/Wagyu beef.

It’s too bad The Go! Team ended up not performing at the concert.  Hmph! =(

The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song is catchy with lyrics that make you think.  I like! =)

I had a yummy Coke Slurpee from 7-Eleven this past weekend.  Those who know me well know that I’m not usually a fan of soda, but there’s something about a slushy, icy Coke that makes it my favorite flavor. =9  Seeing as how it was approximately 1000 “I’m going to melt into a puddle on the ground any minute now” degrees in Palo Alto, I was in dire need of a good thirst quencher.  As all experienced victims of brain freeze know, the Slurpee is the best way to go (followed closely by Otter Pops, fresh watermelon juice, and authentic Southern sweet tea) to cool down!

I went to The Flaming Lips concert on Saturday at the Greek Theater in Berkeley.  I only started listening to them recently…I don’t know much about them but I think they make just plain fun music.  Unfortunately, we had to suffer through an agonizing opening act by Liars.  I thought they were AWFUL.  I could do better randomly screaming while playing car alarm “music” in the background…seriously!  But because we arrived a bit late, we only had to listen to them play maybe two songs before they left the stage.  I really hope those guys keep their day jobs…but maybe there’s actually a huge audience for such “experimental” music?

Ween was up next…I’ve heard some of their stuff before, and they were okay live but the problem was that they kept playing….and playing….and playing some more!  Considering they were not the headliners, that was the longest set EVER.  Maybe if I really loved their music, it would have been cool, but I get the feeling that they are either a young band, or still trying to find their sound/niche, so the styles they attempted are all over the place. They ended up playing for about two hours…which was more time than the main act got!

The Flaming Lips finally played and they were so awesome!!!  I’ve been to a few concerts and obviously some artists have much better live acts than others.  But I’ve never seen a band use props like they do.  They had dozens of giant orange balloons to toss to the audience, dancing Santas, guys dressed as super heroes, a streamer gun and so much more. The lead singer is pretty cool…he had interesting and funny commentary running throughout the night and he was really good at getting the crowd fired up.  Waiting to hear them play was so worth it and I am now definitely a fan!

Afterwards, we swung by Jackie’s birthday celebration at Prime Time Sports Bar & Grill.  It was a surprise party, but we missed that part because we didn’t get out of the concert until 11pm…sorry Jackie!  Prime Time is a pretty cool venue…while it does have TV screens playing sports news and games, it feels more like a lounge or even club.  There’s a “VIP” section upstairs, posh decor with ottomans galore, a DJ spinning hip-hop (the old school kind, which is the best!) and a young trendy crowd.  I liked the place a lot and plan to come back sometime to shoot some pool…it’s been a LONG time since I’ve played nine ball!

I watched a very cool movie on Sunday called Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos.  It’s about the old NASL (North American Soccer League — the predecessor to MLS) and its premier team, the NY Cosmos.  I had no idea that Pele played here in the States for a few years!  The movie was very well done and had many humorous moments as well as clips of very good ball.  Even if you don’t know anything about soccer, I highly recommend that you see the movie.  It had a limited release, so check your local independent theaters…I do know that it’s playing at Lumiere Theatre in SF.

I scored some cheap last minute baseball tickets from my coworker yesterday (39% off…woohoo!) and ran out after work to watch the San Francisco Giants play the Milwaukee Brewers.  I was excited because I hadn’t watched a live baseball game in a while and since the Brewers supposedly suck this season, I was hoping to watch a nice Giants victory.

We got a couple of sausages (I ordered the always yummy chicken apple) and requisite garlic fries and made our way to our seats…which turned out to be pretty nice.  Gotta love that Club Level!  It was a gorgeous night…warm, no breeze, and no fog…perfect weather for watching some baseball. =)  If only all SF summer nights could be this nice!

Alas, the food and weather were to be the only good things about the game.  The Giants were awful!  The pitcher started to really struggle and gave up a lot of runs to the Brewers.  They also couldn’t hit anything…I’ve never seen so many foul balls in my life. =(  The losing score of 1-10 was depressing, but I wish the Giants could have at least made the game somewhat interesting.  Grr…

I drove up to Twin Peaks afterwards since it was such a rare clear evening.  It was ridiculously windy up there and I was shivering like mad, but I had forgotten how gorgeous the view is from Twin Peaks, especially at night.  San Francisco really is a beautiful city and it’s moments like these that remind me how lucky I am to be able to live here…even if I will always hate the cold!

I baked some Turtle Supreme cookies by Pillsbury when I got back.  I really love cookies, especially when they are fresh out of the oven. The Turtle Supremes are extra tasty as they draw their inspiration from chocolate turtles…think of a gooey chocolate chip cookie with caramel and pecans.  I’ve been eating them for breakfast…not exactly healthy, but SO worth it!

What I ordered for my family at our most recent Sankai outing (I’m particularly fond of # 2 and #5, and I crave #1 pretty much all of the time):

1. Volcano Roll
2. Crunchy Roll
3. Spider Roll
4. Super California Roll
5. Tuna Tataki
6. Baked Scallop
7. Hamachi Kama (Yellowtail Cheek)

I took my dad out for a birthday lunch on Sunday at Sankai, my favorite sushi place ever.  It’s the restaurant where I ate sushi for the first time, so there’s a lot of attached nostalgia for me.  But aside from personal memories, it just has really good sushi, whether your preference be tasty rolls or super fresh sashimi, and it’s very reasonably priced.  Every single person I have ever brought there has raved about the restaurant.  I’ve taken seasoned sushi veterans like Heidi and my aunt and they loved it.  When I took my brother, the guy who barely likes fish in any form, he thought it rocked and now keeps asking me to take him every time I’m home. =)

It was nice to sit down with my parents and brother for our meal.  I can’t even remember the last time it was just the four of us doing something together.  My brother has been married for a while now, then he had his first baby a couple of years ago, so the nuclear family has expanded a bit.  I love my sister-in-law and my nieces, but there’s something to be said about occasionally sharing quality time with only my original core family.  We spent the afternoon doing a lot reminiscing and I ended up experiencing a rare moment of homesickness, despite the fact that I was still in LA!  Talking about the past made me miss things like our old family home in Carson, my dad’s former “fleet” of Volkswagons, and reading comic books with my brother. (sigh)

There’s something to be said about new things as well.  I flew back to the Bay Area Sunday afternoon and had bo bay mon for dinner. It was super tasty…but then again, how can one go wrong with seven courses of beef?!  Despite being Vietnamese, I’ve actually only had it one other time in my life (and I was pretty young, so I don’t remember much).  I bet there are plenty of you non-Vietnamese folks out there who have had of this delicious Vietnamese specialty many more times than I have!  Afterwards, we went to Jujube Cafe where I discovered that coconut jelly is as tasty in a drink as it is when I eat it on its own. I used to live in Milpitas, but I haven’t been back in years, so it was a nice little visit.

I’m thinking of trying this recipe…anyone want to be my taste tester?!

The 2-H Club reunited Friday night when I went to visit Heidi…it’s been at least a year since I’ve visited her place (she usually travels up to SF) and it was really cool to see all the improvements she’s made on her home.  I think it’s hysterical that she has a mini-refrigerator in the kitchen in addition to the regular one.  I also really like her high ceilings and skylights…I think she should install a rock climbing wall on one side!  She and Scott grilled up a delicious backyard BBQ spread for me (you guys are the best!) and we ended up playing blackjack and singing cheesy karaoke (is there any other kind?) late into the night.  I went home very, very happy and very, very full.

My Saturday was pretty busy.  I had to watch Lauryn in the morning until my brother, his wife, and the new baby finally came home from the hospital.  It’s cute watching Lauryn try to interact with Elyse…she’s very curious about the baby, but I think she’s still a little jealous of the new arrival, so she spends a fair amount of time pretending to ignore her little sister. I met up with one of my aunts for a huge lunch at Quan Hy, a new Vietnamese restaurant in Little Saigon, and spent a few hours chatting about life with her.  She also showed me the “secret” place where she buys her favorite homemade beef jerky and we had fun shopping at a 99 cent store.  I’m going to have to find the nearest one up north as these places are awesome!

Tanie came over in the evening to see the baby for the first time as well as hang out with me.  We went to Olive Garden for dinner and were informed that there was a 45 minute wait!  We decided to stick it out, but because we were so hot waiting outside, we drove to a nearby McDonald’s, picked up some sundaes, then returned to Olive Garden where we proceeded to enjoy dessert before dinner. =9  By the way, did you know that McDonald’s now offers the nuts in a separate sealed package instead of sprinkling them directly on the sundae?  Smart idea! Anyway, when we were finally seated, we stuffed ourselves with endless bread sticks (I swear they put crack or something on these things…I can’t get enough of them!) and many bowls of their yummy pasta e fagioli soup.

Check out how popular the name Elyse (Elise) has been over the past century.

I’m an aunt again!  I’m so excited since I was actually able to be in LA for the birth of my second niece.  My brother and his wife swear this is their last kid, so it’s a good thing I booked that plane ticket to be here.  Anyway, welcome baby Elyse!  I’m going to really enjoy taking you and your big sister Lauryn out on many adventures…some of which I’m sure your mom and dad will not approve of. =D

Elyse is the youngest baby I’ve ever handled as I was holding her when she was all of a day old.  I find myself picking her up a lot because I’m trying to squeeze in as much time with her as possible since I know I will have to leave soon to come back up north.  Despite the fact that she’s only been in my life for a few days, I know that I am going to miss her a lot.  =(  Being away from Lauryn has always been difficult, but now that I have two nieces in the picture, I think that returning from LA trips is going to get progressively harder.  I can’t wait for them to be old enough for their parents to occasionally “ship” them out to me!

Despite the joy I’ve been experiencing because of the new addition to my family, most of my visit down south has been pretty miserable due to the heat.  I’ve been staying inland at my brother’s place so I end up roasting in triple digit temperatures every day.  As much as I might complain about the Bay Area cold, I am realizing how much easier it is to get warm rather than trying to stay cool!

I played in a quads draw tourney this past Sunday with Brian  “I brought my own special sangria mix” Weir, had a sock wardrobe malfunction, ended up taking second place, got a whole lot of color, danced around the court all day (hey, it’s what I do) and just had a total blast overall!

We were paired up with Andrea and Elbert for playoffs and were ranked as the number three seed overall.  I was stoked because in addition to being great players, they are just really fun friends, so I knew that win or lose, we would have a good time.  We did really well and made it all the way to the finals, but unfortunately weren’t able to win it all.  Part of the reason we lost is that the 1st place team played a really great game while we spent too much time trying to find a rhythm.  Also, the fact that our tallest guy was shorter than the other team’s shortest girl probably didn’t help matters!  I’m told that our aggregate height was 5′5″ while the winning team’s aggregate height was 6′1″.  Clearly, we should have taken a group photo with them just for comedic effect!

I had a little incident during the day.  I had taken off my socks and shoes during a break and somehow icy water got spilled all over one sock.  I tried wringing it dry and putting it out in the sun, but it was obvious that it wouldn’t dry in time for my next game.  I can’t play barefoot since I still have that healing dislocated toe =( and I didn’t bring any back-up socks (I don’t sweat much, what can I say) so I was kind of freaking out about what to do.  Fortunately, my partner had brought many pairs of socks and graciously lent me some.  Thanks Brian!!!  However, seeing as how he’s about 10 inches taller than I am, his crew socks were huge on me…they were more like knee-highs! All I needed was to pull on my spandex, go buy a pair of kneepads (although it has seriously been about 13 years since I last wore those things) and I’d be so collegiate looking!

My life has been a bit of a blur since last Friday, but one of the things that stands out over the past few days is that I’ve been watching quite a bit of soccer because of the World Cup.  I’ve never been much of a fan before–even as a kid I never tried playing “real” football.  I can run, and I can kick, but to put the two together…er, no.  I don’t think anybody needs to see me fall and look like a klutz more than I already do. =P

I watched the Brazil-France and Germany-Italy matches in their entirety and have found myself rooting for Les Bleus the most.  They have been playing with such heart and Zinedine Zidane is so the man of the hour!  The showdown with Italy’s Azzurri in a few days should be exciting. =)  I still think it’s weird that the Italian uniforms are blue instead of their flag colors…I found out that it’s supposed to be a tribute to the Royal House of Savoy since blue was their official color.

Saturday I went clubbing at Ascent in Sunnyvale.  Yes, you read that right…Sunnyvale!!!  There’s no comparison to going out in the city of course, but I still had a lot of fun because I was with a cool group of friends.  The turn out was pretty pathetic as there were probably only 50-100 people in the venue all night, which is too bad since it’s a very nice looking club.  But at least the DJ spun some smooth hip-hop so I enjoyed dancing as usual. =)

Interestingly enough, the crowd was mostly Vietnamese so I’m not sure if it was supposed to be a special Vietnamese event (which I usually avoid like the plague) or maybe Sunnyvale just has a huge Vietnamese population that I wasn’t aware of (um, I’m guessing no). Maybe they decided they needed a break from the infamous Lido club in San Jose (ugh)?! Anyway, I did an impromptu whiskey sampling that night as well as had my first taste of Johnny Walker Red and Black.  I still need to cross the Blue off my list…

I had a kind of bad brunch experience on Tuesday.  Nothing gross, but I had ordered takeout breakfast from Peninsula Fountain & Grill in Palo Alto and when I opened up my container at home, they forgot the bacon!!!  Anyone who knows me knows I am a total meatatarian (hey, it’s a real word in my book) so I was quite put out by the lack of yummy fatty pork in my meal.  I guess it would be more accurate to say I had a sad brunch experience.  No bacon…*sniff sniff*… =(

I went to the Element/2degrees/Drink Club/Abzolut annual Fourth of July picnic on Tuesday and that was quite interesting to say the least.  My friend Alan and I had a good time people-watching…while there were plenty of normal people who seemed cool, there were also more than a few “daytime hoochies”.   I’ve also never seen so many toy dogs with rhinestone collars in one place before…it was like a Paris Hilton pooch convention!  Anyway, at least I got to toss my football around.

I went to pick up Rebekah and Lou at the airport later that day as they were just getting back from their Vancouver trip.  That was very cool because they got engaged while they were on vacation.  So CONGRATULATIONS you two!!! =D  Afterwards we went to Danny and Sooj’s place for a BBQ…the food was good, the company was even better, and we did get to watch a few fireworks way off in the distance.

So happy belated July 4th everyone! I had a very memorable and wonderful holiday weekend and I hope that you all enjoyed a fun and safe time as well.  I still missed lighting my own fireworks and I didn’t get to watch one of the big shows up close, but I had an awesome Independence Day overall.  I’ll be visiting LA soon, so maybe I’ll dig up some sparklers and show my niece how to write her name in the dark. =)