Adventures with Riley: Part I

I wasn't sure whether the title of this blog should be "Adventures with Riley" or "Meals with Riley". There's just been so much eating of late...so much eating...

But I digress.

On Sunday, I dragged myself to yoga. It was a good tough class so I got my sweat on. Afterwards, we went over to Spike and Frog's for the Gordon Holiday party. We spent two hours snacking and drinking wine and beer. During this time, we opened our secret santa gifts. Kris was my secret santa and she got me a cute gingerbread man apron and a clutch. Badge and I got Kris and Si a rice cooker. Frog got Badge a book and a hilarious adult onesie, which actually just arrived in the mail today. Everyone got something fun, including little Sophie and Alexandra. Too cute. Once the whole gang arrived, we ordered pizza and rounded out the meal with a chocolate chip ice cream cake, chocolate turtles, and pecan pie.


On Monday, Badge and I both went into work to get stuff done. That afternoon, Riley took the scooter for a spin and then the three of us went downtown to bowl at East Tavern Bowling. Unfortunately, there was a league scheduled to play that night so we only got one game in, although in retrospect that was probably a good thing since we all sucked pretty badly (as in barely broke 50...oops). Afterwards, we went to an Irish pub for a glass of Guiness (luckily Riley was not carded) and then met up with Dog, Kimbo, and Kimbo's mister friend for dinner at La Puerta. Guacamole, burritos, tacos, and beers. Yum-o. Once home, we watched the Chappelle show on dvd.


On Tues, Badge and I both went into work AGAIN. While there, I noticed my title change went through whoo hoo. I'm officially a senior software engineer yay! Merry Christmas to me. In the early afternoon, I went to Normal Heights for my hair cut appointment. The salon, called Hair Drezzers on Fire, was a random find on Yelp but they had great reviews and seemed to have a funky hipster style. My stylist was Sarah and she was nice although a little talkative. I don't mind some chit chat but mostly I want to just sit in silence and enjoy the pleasure of getting my hair done. We agreed that I had excess hair at the back (aka mullet) from growing out my previous cut so she trimmed it back into a nice little bob. Great cut. Kinda looks like the cut on the front page of their website. Will definitely go back to her next time (pic of me further down). For dinner, we met up with the family again at Ashoka the Great for Indian food. It happened to be buffet night so I chose that option. Two plates and a dessert plate later, I was stuffed. We then attempted to see Avatar at the Hazard Center (we didn't end up seeing it last Sat) but the theater seemed small and crowded. Instead we came home, booked tickets to see it on imax tomorrow and played two games of settlers of cataan. I won but I know Riley and Badge will be back with a vengence the next game. Bring it on!!

Today, we went to the zoo with the family. Unfortunately, the rest of San Diego had the same idea to visit the zoo during the holidays. It was packed! Especially full of screaming children. Here are some of my fav shots.





Children's petting zoo.



Me with new hair smiling too hard next to a pheasant.


Tonight, the boys went to a San Diego Sockers game at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Who knew we had a professional indoor soccer team? And finally, I end this post with a fab and slightly psychotic picture of Badge in his dinosaur onesie. More pictures of Riley's visit posted here.

Taco Mania Christmas!

Since this year's Gordon Holiday party is scheduled for the 27th, we weren't sure what to do on Christmas day itself. In the spirit of keeping things mellow, Badge's oldest brother suggested we do taco mania, an age old tradition (just between Badge and his bro) of eating copious amounts of veggie tacos. Though dubious, I relented my urge to make fancy roasts and winter-y foods. Tacos it would be.

Since we're procrastinators, Badge and I didn't end up grocery shopping until the day of. I kept insisting that Whole Foods would be open on Christmas (hey they were open on Thanksgiving!) but alas the place was deserted. Damn. After Badge rubbed in it my face for a good ten minutes, we rushed over to Ralph's, where there were no qualms about mistreating employees on this most prolific of holidays. Once home, I made a double batch of mexican rice and homemade guacamole. Everything else was pretty easy: put out lettuce and sour cream, shred cheese, heat up taco shells, saute morning star tofu taco bits (I sprinkled them with Lawry's taco seasoning), and put out chips and salsa. Oh and heat up beans. Presto. Taco mania is served.


While gorging on taco after taco (which actually were quite delicious), we watched the Lakers-Cavs game. Spike, Frog, Kris, Si, and baby Sophie came over to hang out for a bit, while I snuck back into the kitchen to whip up two pecan pies. I haven't made pie crust in a long time. I think I need to practice it more. Also the recipe I used had no butter, just Crisco. I think next time I'll sub half butter and half Crisco just to get a better flavor. That night, we all went over to Spike and Frogs for more eating and desserts. Unfortunately I was not on my A game with the camera so all I have are two pics of tacos haha. One day I'll actually take some pics of people instead of food.

Today we picked up Riley from the airport and tonight we shall dine at Sips and watch the new Avatar movie in 3D. This coming week promises to be an eating extravaganza. I know I talk about eating a lot, but seriously I'm not exaggerating. We've been packing it IN. There's nothing better than eating yourself silly with the people you love. Hopefully I will find the will power to exercise sometime soon. But if not, there's always the new year :).

No News

Not much to report on the home front.

I'm still hacking up a lung, yet I continue to go to work and pose a threat to all my coworkers. While I'm definitely sick, I don't feel sick enough to warrant staying at home when there's so much to be done!

On Saturday, Badge and I picked up my helmet from Fun Bike Center and went on a leisurely scooter ride to downtown La Jolla. It was a gorgeous SD day (high of 80) so we took the scenic route down La Jolla Shores Dr. The ocean view was lovely as we putted along. After some shopping, we went to Jose's for some Mexican food and margheritas, and followed it up with some gelato next door. Nice mellow Saturday. Once home, I realized I'm an idiot and missed a text from Michigan about a night out with the girls. Wish I had been there, ladies! I really need to get a new phone that has a battery life more than 1 day. Was thinking iPhone but for some reason Badge keeps saying AT&T has bad service. Seems fine to me (I have it now). My only other candidate is a Blackberry Tour but after hearing about all the trouble Nevertap has had recently with her Blackberries I'm a bit weary. That night we watched Star Trek on PPV, which was just as good as the first time we watched it in theaters. Speaking of movies, I've read some good reviews about Avatar. No desire to see it before but now I'm looking forward to seeing it in 3D. I'm still hoping to trick Badge into seeing Ninja Assassin somehow but I think that will have to wait till it comes out on Netflix.

On Sunday, I skipped yoga (haven't gone in more than a week now!) and tried to rest up at home. It was another mellow day filled with BSG episodes. I have to squeeze them in while Badge is at soccer. For dinner, we met up with Spike at the nearby Greek restaurant. Quite quite tasty.

Badge and I have been super lazy about grocery shopping so we went to sushi last night and have just ordered pizza tonight. We are lardos. God bless the holidays. On a final note, I noticed there's a new Super Mario Brothers out. I LOVE SUPER MARIO BROTHERS (who doesn't???). I would buy a wii just so I can play this.

Events

Surprisingly, we've been pretty busy these past few days. Here's a quick lo down.

On Saturday night, we went out with the Gordon clan to Rama, a tasty Thai restaurant downtown, to celebrate Dog's birthday. There was a plethora of food; fried tofu, summer rolls, tom yum soup, vegetable red curry, to name a few. For dessert, Luna brought a chocolate cheesecake from Stephanie's Bakery (Dog is a recovering vegan). So chocolate-y.

On Sunday, I went to yoga, which was fun but painful after. Note: holding your foot behind your head for extended periods of time is a sure fire way to make your neck hurt the next day. Afterwards, Badge and I hit the mall to do some shopping. I was able to apply my Anthropologie gift card towards a dress for the holiday party. Whoo hoo. I also bought some night cream from a brand called Boscia that I found at Sephora. Apparently, it's good for sensitive skin since it has zero preservatives and is organic. That night, we went to a viewing of a show Ryan's friend Destin directed for TLC. The show is called Born Without Arms and was very touching and well done. The viewing was held at a hotel in Point Loma with many of the cast and production crew in attendance. Good stuff.

Then there was Monday, our one year anniversary! Crazy that it's already been a year...time certainly flies. Badge and I went downtown that night to celebrate at Nobu. We ordered yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno, oysters with three sauces, king crab tempura, scallops with wasabi pepper sauce, salmon tataki, and a bento box which is chocolate lava cake with green tea ice cream. All this was accompanied with lots of sake. Yummy plentiful sake. We meant to see a movie afterwards but the Gaslamp theater looked way too sketchy for me to enjoy. So we stopped by La Puerta instead for Badge to have a drink and me to sober up. Once home, we broke out the slice of wedding cake that's been in the freezer for a year and devoured it. It was like reliving part of the wedding. Here's to another eighty years of marriage!

Unfortunately, I woke up on Tues with the worst sore throat and cold. Bedridden, I worked from home huddled in bed. Badge took excellent care of me while I moaned and groaned. Strangely, I'm feeling much better today. Went to the office, had lunch with the ladies at Cozy's, now I'm at home watching BSG. Who am I to question this turn of events?

On a random note, there was a raffle yesterday for a free hotel room upgrade for our company holiday party (held at the Hard Rock Hotel), and I won! YES! I've never actually won anything in a raffle before. Very exciting. On a more random note, HR emailed me to let me know they're using my picture for some campaign at work. An email went out today to the entire company with me grinning like a fool. Apparently they're going to print out posters and prop them around campus. Greeeeeeeeeeeat. Already got so much crap for it today.

Cute, Funny, and Cool

Last week, Badge went to LA to meet with a retailer called American Rag. While there, he bought this super cute pink bunny for me. So adorable! I wish I were a little kid again so I'd have an excuse to carry this with me everywhere. Next to the bunny is an equally cute stuffy. This little guy came with the Anthropologie gift card Spike and Frog got me for my birthday. The card is tucked in the front pocket and has a jagged side that serves as the teeth sticking out. Love the Japanese pop art influence. Note: I just showed Badge this picture and compared it to us - me the cute bunny and Badge the demented rag doll hahah. Speaking of my gift card, I'm thinking of hustling over to the store tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll find a dress for my company holiday party next month.


Today, I busted out these hilarious sweeper slippers we bought in Taiwan. They keep your feet warm while cleaning your wood floors as you shuffle along. Pretty smart if you can get past how funny they look. These were all the rage in my aunt's house. I'll let you know if my floors look any cleaner next week.


Lastly, I finally unpacked the bread machine my mom bought for me. Looks pretty snazzy. I'm currently baking a basic white bread and it smells delicious. Can't wait to taste when it's done.

Sadly, I skipped yoga today because it's rainy and windy (thus the perfect excuse for me to stay at home and bundle up). Must go tomorrow. Around noon, Spike, Frog and I stopped by the Gordon Rush warehouse sale to see how the boys were doing. Surprisingly, they had a great turnout and pushed a lot of product out the door. I saw guys buying 5 pairs of shoes and multiple jackets. Though I'm happy for them, I secretly cry inside that they don't make women's stuff. Maybe one day. In the afternoon, I cleaned furiously. The only disheveled room left is the bedroom. Tomorrow is another day.

Goofing Off

Hm, I meant to come home and get lots of work done tonight but seeing as how it's 9:30 and I've done ZERO work, I should probably give up that notion.

Instead, I shall blog. Might as well be semi productive, right?

So, not much going on this week other than work work work. On the homefront, I've decided to cycle through some old recipes. On Tues, I made huevos rancheros again which was delish. I substituted the jalapenos with the chili peppers we had growing in the garden (threw 5 in instead of 3). Mouth was on fire!


Last night, we did the Chopstix and Yogurt World circuit since we were in the area. Stuffed ourselves silly. Tonight, Badge is at band practice so I fixed myself some leftovers and settled on the couch to chat with Monkey and download music off Limewire. I've been pretty out of touch with the music scene in the past couple years. Luckily, listening to Pandora at work has introduced me to some new music (not a lot, but some). For example, I discovered Tegan & Sara, an indie band that I've never heard of for some bizarre reason, even though they're pretty well known in the indie circuit and I primarily listen to indie music. Anyway, their songs are so catchy! I love it. I also downloaded some Metric songs off their latest album and some Lady Gaga songs that I secretly like though I find them ridiculous in concept. Since Badge isn't around, there's no veto power in play.

Lastly, I checked on our compost bin the other day and it's looking pretty decomposed. Hopefully we'll get to use this compost sometime in the next century.

Thanksgiving, Scooter, and Chocolate

For Thanksgiving, the whole family gathered at Spike and Frog's for a feast. As usual, I made mac n cheese and stuffing. Instead of tofurkey this year, we had a tofu field roast thingy. Here's the spread.



After dinner, I promptly fell asleep on the couch (damn you jetlag). All in all, another wonderful gathering with the Gordons.

In other news, we finally got a scooter!! I've been bugging Badge about a scooter for quite some time now, but he's always insisted that I'd be a hazard to myself and the general population. He tried to appease me last year with an electric bike but I've never given up my dream of having a zippy little moped. After going to Taiwan and seeing how prevalent and all around awesome scooters are, he's changed his mind. Yippee! Though I love Vespas, they are horribly overpriced, so we settled on looking for a reliable Yamaha. We were planning to buy a new one, but on a whim I searched craigslist and found a 2007 Yamaha Vino 125 in great condition for a very attractive price (only 1400 miles on it). Done deal. Here's us test driving the scooter (our seller insisted we take a pic). We ended up getting the helmet below (in black) from Fun Bike Center and I ordered a white one for myself. Gotta have the full face shield. I don't want any bugs flying in my mouth while I ride. I took the scooter to yoga and grocery shopping on Saturday. So much fun. I want to ride it everywhere. Sadly it was raining heavily today so my first ride to work will have to wait until tomorrow.



Lastly, it turns out Badge got me another birthday present...a three month supply of chocolate from Jacques Torres, a delicious chocolatier in NYC! We got our first package today: hot chocolate mix, brownie mix, chocolate bark with nuts, and a box of assorted truffles. My husband knows me so well.

Taiwan: Part 2

Ok my posts are getting backlogged so I'm switching to bullet list to speed things up.

Thursday

• Renewed Taiwanese ID
• Ate oyster noodle for lunch
• Went to Longshan temple

• Shopped and walked around Ximending
• Went to Shilin to eat at vegetarian buffet, looked for snow ice but couldn't find it
• Came home and played more resident evil

Friday

• Had 2 hour massage and facial from my cousin who is a masseuse
• Went to some memorial with family (forgot name)

• Went to Costco with family, strangely similar yet different than Costco in the states
• Ate delicious kim chi hot pot for dinner
• Played more video games and watched Infernal Affairs

Saturday

• Biked to Dan Shui, a city on the coast. ~18 miles there and back. While there, walked around eating snacks and playing arcade games

• Came home, BBQ'd on rooftop, drank more gaoliang and beer

Sunday

• Went to Shilin after lunch with cousin who showed us to the snow ice. So good!

• Wandered around Zhongxiao Fuxing, looked at shops
• Met up with cousins at Sun Yat-Sen memorial hall, walked around

• Met entire family at amazing chinese restaurant in Zhongxia Dunhua. Badge commented on how the cook looked like a villian from a James Bond movie. Drank lots of wine at dinner
• Went to Taipei city hall area to meet up with Annabel, who I haven't seen in years. Went to a nice bar called Bar Code and proceeded to drink many cocktails and do many shots. Went to hi-life (convenience store) after, got beer, drank on the street, and caused a ruckus. Wandered into empty reggae bar where we drank more beer and danced ridiculously. Got in cab and came home at 3.

Practicing Asian squat:

Monday

• Mixture of wine, hard liquor, and beer did not agree with me, nor did the sheer quantity of drinks, hungover ALL day, could not move from bed.
• Managed to get up for dinner and eat fried rice
• Had late night kimchi noodle soup
• Badge went out on his own and got me a birthday present: cute hot pink hoodie and necklace of this fat blob character. Too cute.

Tues

• Went to National Palace Museum but didn't stay long because my family has the attention span of a peanut

• Had an awesome birthday dinner filled with delicious things my aunt cooked. She is such an amazing cook. Topped off with tiramisu and mango mousse cakes. Mmmm

Wed

• Came home!

Again, many more pictures can be found on picasa HERE.

Taiwan: Part 1

Oh man, this is it. The Taiwan post...get ready...

On Wed (11/11), Badge picked me up directly from the Stone Brewery where I was drinking myself silly at a work function. We drove to LA where we met up with my mom for our 11pm flight. The 15 hours sucked pretty bad but was made bearable by the personal TVs with movies on demand and video games. I watched 500 Days of Summer and started Harry Potter but dozed off. We also watched a pretty awesome Japanese movie called Goemon but didn't get a chance to finish. Surprisingly, Malaysia airlines had pretty tasty food (considering it's airplane food) so that was another bonus. Because Taiwan is 16 hours ahead of the United States, we arrived on Friday at 7am.

Once in Taipei, we stopped for a breakfast of hot soy milk and various savory pastries (scallion was my favorite). Pleasantly full, we went back to my aunt's house where we greeted many family members. My cousin and her family live in the condo right next door to my aunt (plus my other cousin and his family were visiting to see us), so there was definitely no shortage of family members to see. For lunch, my aunt made beef noodle soup, another of my all time favorites mmmm. So good.


In the afternoon, we went to my cousin Hongwen's college so Badge could play basketball with a bunch of Asians. We took the subway home with my other cousin Ping who showed us the ropes on how to get around. Pretty straightforward. Child's play really when compared to the NYC Metro. Finally for dinner, we had our first of many hot pot dinners. Yum-o.

On Saturday, a group of us set forth to one of Beitou's public hot springs. On the way, we walked through Beitou farmer's market which was packed with people. We saw the usual Taiwan market sights: fresh seafood, various roasted meats, live chickens being slaughtered. My aunt bought me one of my favorite fruits which I never knew the english name for. Luckily a coworker has since seen my pic of this fruit on facebook and identified it for me: sugar apple. Love it. Here's one of my favorite pics of Badge with my second cousin Emma.


We also stopped by an aboriginal museum and a japanese residential landmark. The hot springs itself was interesting. Lots of older people lounging around, several of them doing callisthenics. Of course I was the only one wearing a bikini (note to self: bring one piece next time). Even though we soaked in one of the pools further down from the hot spring source, I was still sweating like a pig. Afterwards we went to a noodle shop at the top of the mountain that was tasty but not amazing (I demand amazing from every meal). Once home, my mom's oldest sister and her family came to visit from a different area of Taipei. After more greetings, Badge and I slipped away so I could drill him on Chinese phrases. For dinner, my aunt cooked drunken sesame noodle soup (with chicken). She must have dumped a whole bottle of rice wine in because it was STRONG. In fact, my mom got shitfaced and had to be carried to a bed. No joke. My cousin took a video to prove it. Must remind him to send it to me.

On Sun, all my family packed into two vehicles and drove to Kaoshiung (city on the otherside of the island) after lunch. It was a long drive so we got in just in time for dinner. Ate at a chinese restaurant that I found subpar by my amazing standard. Afterwards, we walked along Love River, a famous river in the city, and went back to another aunt's house to sleep. Photo op along the river below.


The next day, we went sightseeing at an old British consolate turned landmark and Green Island. I love the pic below I took of my uncle with his granddaughter while visiting a fort at Green Island. Many more pictures on picasa.


After eating lunch at a seafood restaurant, we piled into the cars and drove out to Yunlin country to visit the house where my mom grew up. My uncle has since renovated the house but the main structure was the same. Since we were staying for two days, Badge and I got assigned to the room where they used to kept the cow. Apparently cows were so priceless they had sleep in the house at night for fear of theft. Even the old pig pen was still there, though in shambles. That night, we drove to the nearby town of Beigang to eat dinner. My family went to a place with lots of misc meats (ahem pig's feet), which of course freaked Badge out, so we broke off to find our own dinner. Luckily we came across a spot with vegetable steamed buns and rice cakes. Once home, we went promptly to sleep on the world's hardest bed.


On Tues, Badge and I went for a joy ride on a super old scooter from the garage. During our jaunt in the country, we ran across an enormous ox hanging out in the fields.


That afternoon, my uncle hacked some of the sugar cake in the yard and squeezed some juice out for us to drink. We also went to a nearby plot owned by my uncle's friend to harvest peanuts. Who knew they grew in the ground like rhizomes? After dinner, we drank beer and played poker. We even found this hilarious old Stephen Chow movie I used to love called God of Cookery. So silly. So awesome.

On Wed, we drove home to Taipei after lunch. Again there was a lot of traffic so we didn't get in until dinner. The rest of the night was spent watching Badge play Resident Evil 5 on PS3. That takes us to about halfway through the trip. A part 2 post will follow shortly.

In the meantime, you can see many many...many pictures on picasa HERE.

Not Cool

Went to bed at 10pm, woke up at 12am. Went back to sleep and woke up at 3am. Couldn't sleep again till 5:30am. Woke up at 7am.

So not cool.