Hills of Hayward

We were right on time for Mandy’s Birthday and we went to an old favorite of ours in Monterey Park called Open Door.  It is a Japanese Tapas Bar or Izakaya, serving small dishes of traditional Japanese sushi/sashimi, cooked dishes, to crazier offerings like truffle butter edamame.

The next day we found our way to Descanso Gardens to enjoy the summer weather, plants, and animals.  The night ended with a solid ramen offering from Daikokuya with the best ramen egg we have had in the states.  An entire egg was offered per bowl of ramen, not the usual half-egg.  The middle of the egg was half-cooked in the perfect amber-colored glaze.

Oddly enough, the drive down and back from LA went by incredibly quick.  Maybe time does speed up as we get older.

Christine and I have been big Anime fans for almost a decade now.  This year Christine organized a trip to the largest Anime convention in the US, the Anime Expo, which is held every year in LA around the 4th of July.  Originally, it was a way to get all our old friends (who all watch anime to some degree) to reunite and spend some time together by renting a vacation home in LA for a week, but alas, jobs and obligations intervened and most of them begged off.

We wound up scaling back the plans and spending more time with Christine’s BFF Mandy and her husband ChunPeng and their newly adopted cats!  During the day, Christine and I took Anders around LA while Mandy and ChunPeng worked, and at night we all hung out together for dinner, played with the cats, and the men worked on their PS3 skills.

Here are some photos from the first half the trip.  Some links to the places we went:

• Anime Expo at LA Convention Center
• Travel Town Museum
• Griffith Observatory

We had a quick weekend getaway with Michelle, Steve, and Bryce to Boulder, Colorado.  With extensive mountain trails, a biking culture even more avid than in the Bay Area, excellent breweries, and an amazing downtown, Boulder left an overwhelmingly positive impression on all of us.

This last Christmas, we made a trip out to Texas to visit Harrison’s parents in Laredo, TX, and Christine’s sister in Houston, TX.  Christine’s youngest sister flew in from UK to join us as well as Christine’s mom came in from Taiwan to join in on the festivities.

Our trip was split into two parts, the first half in Laredo, and the second half in Houston.  Some of my memories of the Laredo:

• The gang of 3 geese in my dad’s townhouse complex attacked me and Anders.  I kicked the lead geese in the body and he improved his disposition.
• Christine, Mom, and the kids went to a Christmas party at the complex, and proceeded to win a bundle of prizes from the drawing.
• Mom and Dad watched over the sleeping kids as Christine, I, and Shine-May enjoyed Avatar in 3D.  I loved that movie.

Other memories from the Houston leg of the trip:

• Really enjoyed the Oyster Po-boys in Houston.  Sooo delicious.  Christine loved the etouffee and the gumbo.
• Steve and Michelle’s new MDX was beautiful.
• Steve cooked his pot-roast dinner and green bean casserole dinner.
• I picked up some bread pudding from a place Steve recommended.  It turned out to be an African-American only type of place.  The pudding was awesome, but the minority on minority discrimination was not.
• We exchanged gifts including germs, and almost everybody wound up a little sick and feverish at the end.  Germ summit 2009.

Any other memories that you all remember from back in December?  As many of you now, my memory is spotty at best!

It has been quite some time since I last blogged.  Not sure why I took such an extended break, but the backlog of things to report and pictures to share is getting to be quite substantial!

During the winter of 2009, the entire family headed out to Portland Oregon for week-long stay.  Christine found an deal where we were renting a 2,000 square foot home in the Portland suburbs for around a hundred a night.  Christine guessed that we all would enjoy a vacation home fully equipped with fireplace, children’s play area, toys, crib, everything you can think of.  Boy was she right.

The location of the rental home was in one of the well-to-do suburbs of Portland, around 15-20 minutes from the city center.  We visited various suburban neighborhoods as well as some public schools, and we found the facilities to be better than what we have seen in the bay area.  The high school felt more like a college than a high school couches, computer labs, and open architecture.

The ethnic food scene in Portland was impressive.  The Japanese population in the Portland area is quite substantial, so nothing more needs to be said on this front.  We also found some of the best Vietnamese spring rolls we have ever had, pretty good dim-sum, and average pearl milk tea.  The Chinese supermarket was as big as a small Ranch 99, and we haven’t even started exploring the seafood scene.

Christine and I both think Portland is a top choice of ours when we move out of the Bay Area.