HOLIDAY HIGHLIGHTS

Merry Christmas! It was a fun day filled with family and food. However, all of the fun started on Friday night. That's when Charlotte "Chubby Wubby" Stewart came in to town. Let me begin by saying she is the CUTEST baby EVER. Not only is she cute looking, she also has a sunny disposition, so she is so much fun to have around. She even tries to have a conversation with you. Anyhow, Friday night I went to visit her at her grandma and grandpa's and she totally entertained. She smiled, she drooled, she "talked" to me.

Saturday night, she came over with her mommy and daddy. While her mommy played with my wii and her daddy played with my blackberry, she kept me company and we had a great time. She showed me her rolling skills, laughed at my jokes... what else could you ask for in a house guest?

Sunday I went down to San Diego and saw Laryna and her family. I think the kids were extra excited to see me since they weren't going up to LA this year for Christmas. They were assured at least one gift by my showing up. Little Kaleo is still a sweet little sleeping baby. I think he does his best given the noise level with the other kids present.

On Christmas Eve, we had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner... lots of food and four bottles of wine. They had me get my wii so various relatives took turns. It was so cute to see the grandma's playing. I got to beat up my cousin in boxing which was fun since it was a pretty close match.

Today at lunch we went to the Christmas gathering for my dad's extended family... Lots of kids and two babies born within weeks of Charlotte. They took a group picture even. Afterwards, we went down to Laguna for dinner. Linley was hilarious. As soon as I walked in, she was yelling my name and telling me how Santa came in and ate her milk and cookies. So adorable! She also looked very cute in her new dress and braids. I was waiting for her to yodle me something. =P

FATTY

That's me. All I did was eat this weekend. Let me give you the skinny on the restaurants:

Friday night - Talia's - Manhattan Beach: we didn't have any entrees here - just four appetizers, two salads and a dessert. The dessert, the chocolate espresso souffle rocks. The salads were pretty good (beet salad and a pear walnut). The appetizers: black and white ravioli, crab cakes, calamari, and the tiger prawns. I liked all but the calamari. They were all long and overly breaded and the wasabi aiolli was too overpowering. It actually went up my nose and made me sneeze. I like it when it's light, not too greasy, not to much breading. Anyhow, if anything, go, sit at the bar and have dessert. Or have an entree and tell me how it is. I've eaten at their sister restaurant Mangiamo (shrimp fra diavolo) and their food is pretty good, so I'm assuming it won't be too much different.

Saturday night - Mi Piace - Pasadena: Calamari appetizer, Osso buco entree. Vuong had the chilean sea bass and Annie had the parpadelle (sp?). My osso buco was so good, as was the mushroom risotto it came with. (I think I had the best dish). Annie's pasta was good too. Lots of flavor. Vuong went with the chilean sea bass, probably because it had the least calories in her mind, and it did.. especially after it made her barf and have diarrhea at 3 a.m. Although, we all had a piece of it and we were fine, but I guess she had the most, so that's why she was the only one that got sick. After dinner, we tried a bar across the street, but it was too smokey for me.

Sunday night - Clay Oven - Irvine: had the chicken tikka masala, the egg plant, naan, yogurt, veggie samosas and the kulfi. All of it was excellent and the chicken was excellent again when I had it for lunch. And that kulfi... light yet tasty. Almost guilt-free dessert, if you ask me.

BRRRRRR

Winter is here! Man, it is coooold. I wake up early in the morning, thinking I might get up and work out, but it is so cold, I just can't do it. I need to stay warm and comfy, engulfed in my flannel everything. I know, really, our weather isn't all that bad. I was in New York last week and THAT was cold.

Monday after work, Art and Mira took me out to dinner at an Italian restaurant, Inoteca on Ludlow and Rivington. Then we walked over to a nearby bar for some drinks. They actually had happy hour til 10! I'm all about heating from the inside out.

On Tuesday, it was even colder. Throw in that wind chill and I'm walking around in 18 degrees. Co-workers and I had dinner at Shanghai Joe's in Chinatown and totally pigged out on the dumplings. OMG, I thought I was gonna have to walk around with my jeans unbuttoned. After dinner, we actually walked around a bit and checked out the shop windows. It was funny because it was the first day of Chanukkah and there were these Mitzvah Tanks driving around town. Essentially big RVs with Jewish people inside announcing stuff on a loud speaker or bullhorn and offering to take people uptown. =P

On Wednesday, I could have sworn that our cab driver was falling asleep as he drove. He would occasionally be in between lanes or driving slow for no reason. At one point I thought he might hit the center divider. Luckily, we made it to the hotel safely. After we dropped our stuff off, and I changed into jeans (you don't want to walk around NYC in a dress in this weather), we walked two blocks to Little Italy and had dinner at Il Palazzo. The food was great. So great I couldn't eat my entree, which was one of the specials (sesame encrusted chilean seabass with lobster ravioli). Yep, I filled up on the calamari and lobster bisque so that I could only take a couple of bites. What a shame. I was so stuffed and only blocks from Ferrara's bakery. What a bummer.

We got home early Friday morning to rain. Booo. Here I was looking forward to 78 degree weather we'd been having all week, only to come home to rain and cold. Still, it's better than the crazy cold snap they're having in the midwest and east.

On Saturday, we went to Justin's 1st birthday party. He is such a cutie! And Susan's really lucky, since she had come down to LA early and missed the hurricane force winds they had up in Portland. After the party, it was pretty much all errands, and nothing too exciting. Another week closer to 08!

29 x 6

Ah yes, another year bites the dust. I know, how many times can one person turn 29? I will let you know... Last-last Saturday, the girls took me out for my birthday. I wanted to keep it simple and low key so we headed to one of my faves... Mama D's in Manhattan Beach. We got dinner, then went over to the Side Door for drinks, then tried dancing at Beaches (the DJ was booty so we left shortly thereafter), and then more drinks at Towne. All in all, a fun night. Any time I'm with the girls, it's a fun night.

Once they shut down Towne, we decided we were done, but on the way home, stopped at Diana's for a wet burrito and tamales. Nothing like a burrito and tamales at 1 am. That's right. 1 am. Not too late eh? Sadly, I am so old that on Sunday, I was still rendered useless. I attribute part of it to the fact that I had been travelling Thursday to Saturday. I manage to hit Seattle and SF in those days. I was lucky enough to spend some time with my favorite chubster, Charlotte. She's such a good girl!

Then, this past weekend, was of course, Thanksgiving. It was the usual. Lots of shopping the day after. On Saturday I went to Detroit (the bar, not the city) with the guys. The music was just so-so, therefore we took off and got 3 rolled tacos. I know. Not the way to lose 10 lbs. However, I did pick up DDR for my Wii on Sunday and have been playing it as a form of exercise. The first few levels were so easy, and then they start throwing in hand gestures and stuff like that, which I must be doing wrong as it's not registering with the game. However, they don't provide examples as to how to do them correctly either! Well, I've got a hand gesture for you! Now, I just shut the damn "hand markers" off. I nearly beaned myself with the nunchuck cord a couple of times, so I figure it's safer this way for now.

And finally... tonight my parents took me out for a birthday dinner. I wasn't really expecting one, as it is a Monday (plus Dancing with the Stars finale was tonight), but we went for a quick dinner anyway. I ordered a wine and didn't get carded. Good thing she was a really good waitress, because her tip nearly went out the window right there. I got some e-cards, e-mails and text messages from friends and relatives so I feel very loved. I even got THE funniest phone call tonight from a friend, EH, who was inputting numbers into a new phone, and his gf wanted to confirm that I was just a friend. Talk about hilarious! I hardly hear from this guy (though I did just run into him recently), and then I get a call on my birthday. I'm thinking, "Wow - he actually remembered? I didn't even think he knew when my birthday was!" Well, he didn't know it was my birthday, he was just getting permission to keep me in the phone. I even had to talk to the girlfriend. bahahahaha. BEST birthday present ever. I'm still laughing. bahahahaha. Of course, I had some wine with dinner and was a litle giddy, so I was totally giving him sh*t. I get to hold that one over his head for YEARS. =D

BUSY BUSY

I guess all that vacation blogging took it's toll on my blogging will. I nearly forgot I even had a blog. Anyhow, I've just been working mostly. I had to travel to Seattle and to St. Louis for work, and to San Francisco for Charlotte's baptism. Lots of miles! woohoo. I'm getting near that gold status. I have to fly to St. Louis and San Francisco again next week, then to New York, so I should hit gold before the end of the year. I'm fairly obsessed with the miles at this point. I was willing to fly somewhere just for the heck of it, for the sake of making gold. I even check my miles regularly online. I know. I have problems.

Speaking of problems... I've been quite the eating machine lately. Last night I went to Houstons and ate an entire rack of ribs! OK, I gave two to Lin, but I ate the rest. A whole rack! I've never done that before. And no, I'm not working out more. Sadly, quite the opposite. I'm thinking of taking pilates again, maybe get my butt moving more often. I try to make it to spin, but sometimes it's such a chore just trying to get in to the class.

Last week, I made it to the gym early enough to get into the spin class. I look through my gym bag...two shirts, windbreakers, sweatshirt, two towels, two pairs of socks, and sweats... no shorts! I had to buy some freaking shorts at the gym. Luckily they had a 30% off sale, because you know their stuff is not cheap. I bought a pair that looked ok on the hangar...and omg, they were tighter than biker shorts. My butt looked GINORMOUS in them, but at this point, I just tied the windbreaker around my waist and went to class and changed into the sweats after. Why not spin in sweats you may ask? It'd be way too hot. Plus, these were the velour sweats, not real meant-to-be-sweat-in sweats.

Hmm... what else is there... nothing much. Didn't do anything over the weekend because I was so tired from travelling. Just hung out at home, read some books, and watched a lot of football. No wonder I'm single. I'm a hermit. Well, I will make an effort to be more social by going to Dennis' birthday party this weekend. He and a couple of his friends even rented a mansion to celebrate their combined birthdays at. You take a limo they provide to the mansion and the bar is open. woohoo!

THE END...

Gina pointed out that I never actually finished the vacation blogging. I came close since I made it to the end of Dubrovnik, but never finished the whole trip, so here I am...

Leaving Dubrovnik, we had to get up super early to meet Luca who was going to take us to the airport. We were to meet him at the Ploce Gate. That means we had to get our luggage out to the Ploce Gate. Holy cow. And think, at this point, we've bought more souvenirs. I bought two big bottles of wine. That stuff weighs you down. So we are trying to make our way out of the old town making as little noise as possible. We actually carry our bags down the stairs, but we can't help the rolling on the cobblestones. And by the way... if you're ever there... try to get up early one day during sunrise.. it's purdy and you'll get pictures without random strangers in them.

Anyhow, we make it to the gate and Luca manages to get all the luggage into the wagon. I pay him when he drops us off and then we go in to check in. He comes back 10 minutes later because he says we didn't pay him enough money. I tell him we did and he takes it out and counts it. It's all there. Apparently he's not a morning person. hehee. He looks really embarassed, but no harm done. Now we wait around for our check in counter to open and decide to weigh bags at an empty counter. I am over. Oh well. I'm ready to pay. We luck out and the counter we're weighing our stuff at happens to be our check in counter. We luck out even more when the check in lady doesn't charge us for our over weight baggage. Woohoo!

We grab some breakfast, then board our plane and head back to Bratislava. That's right, back to Bratislava for a fun filled 8 hour lay over. We were all ready to check in our bags, rent a car and sight see. However, it was not meant to be. We land in Bratislava and once again, there's rain. LOTS of rain. Also, our luggage can't be checked in until two hours before the flight. I suppose we could take it with us, but the rental cars in Bratislava aren't that big. So we hang out at the airport. We see the restaurant staff change shifts, watch the gift shop lady come and go, read books, watch movies, and try to nap. You can tell which one of us is NOT the only child. I think Gina and I just accepted we'd have to sit tight for eight hours and I think we're rather used to entertaining ourselves. Vuong on the other hand seemed like she was ready to kill herself. Apparently her brothers always entertained her during those long road trips. Anyway, in addition to the airport being only about the size of Long Beach Airport, it's FREEZING in there. And they have metal chairs!

Then, aside from the boredom, we face another dilemma... we only have my 30 euros to last us the day. They use different money in Slovakia and we're not about to pay fees just to pull out some Slovakian crowns. 30 euros to feed three people all day. What will we do? Well, if you've ever seen Eurotrip... you'd know we needn't have worried. I went up to the counter and asked if they took Euros and they told me yes... I said, how much for the Pizza and 3 drinks in Euros? She tells me... 6 euros! Wow. We can live like kings. hehe.

Finally we get on the plane and we get a stinky guy behind us. At this point, we've been re-wearing some of clothes so many times, we're paranoid we're the stinky ones. Gina doesn't help by telling Vuong she actually does think its her that stinks. heehee. So now we're on the plane and they're sniffing around like hound dogs. I assure them its the guy behind us. Great, its not one of us. Nevertheless, we still have to smell it. Sucks. Thank goodness it's not too long of a flight.

We get in and it takes quite a while for our luggage to come out. I've made dinner reservations at Nobu because I'm desperate for some good food and we're celebrating Gina's birthday a little early. I call from the train to move our reservations back, then we check in at the Waldorf and get washed up and changed. We go to Nobu and the place is like a club. Much more happening than the Nobu in Malibu or NY. Downstairs there's a big bar so it looks like a club and the restaurant is upstairs. I would have liked to hang out at the bar or even check out a club down the street called Mahiki, but everyone's pretty tired, so we just head back to the hotel.

The next morning we get up and head out to Gatwick. This time, I'm just going to check in two bags and travel with a light carry on. Yay! I'll have to say, it's nice flying to and from Dallas and Gatwick because the plane isn't nearly as full. I've done the LA to Heathrow direct, and that plane is packed. On our flight, there were lights of empty spaces so that people were able to spread out. The flight actually went by pretty fast and we got into John Wayne early. No more vacation. Booooooo.

SICKO

I have finally succumbed to the office germs. Yesterday, I thought I had really bad allergies, so when I got home, I took some allergy meds, but it didn't help! I went to bed congested and woke up the same way, so I had to face facts and admit that I was sick. I just took a full shot of Nyquil. :-) I have lots to do tomorrow, after all.

It must have been all the partying this weekend. The old body is just not used to it. I was up til 3 a.m. on Friday night, then on Saturday, I met Aya for lunch at South Coast, walked around the mall for about three hours, then had dinner with Gina and Vuong. Dinner was early, so Vuong and i decided to go out after and we went up to Manhatta Beach to the Side Door, Towne and Petros. I even ran into Eric on the street after leaving Petros! Anyhow, that night, I think I went to bed around 2 a.m. and still had to go to Laryna's baby shower the next day. I was so dead tired. After I got back from Laryna's shower, I fell asleep on the couch. I still forced myself to get up Monday morning to go to the gym, but I just couldn't manage it today. Hopefully the drugs kick and kick some germy butt.

PARTY ANIMAL

Yep, that's me. I am a paaartay animal. OK, not really, but last night I went down to Newport for Bill's party. I got there early to hang with the guys, so around 7:30, and was one of the last to leave at 2 a.m. I know. I'm amazed I was able to stay awake too, since I got up at 5:30, but everyone was so entertaining, that the time went by really quickly.

Of course, today I feel like booty. I've been on this couch for the last hour and ten minutes and I'd be happy to lay here all day, maybe go back to sleep, except that I am hungry. I definitely don't recover as quickly as I used to.

Having lunch with Aya today who is visiting this weekend and dinner with Gina and Vuong. Yay. Then tomorrow we have Laryna's baby shower. Lots of fun this weekend!

GOOD LUCK

CHUCK! I finally got to see it tonight. Good thing because I don't think it'll be in the theatres much longer. Nowadays, if you don't see it that first week, you'll have to hussle to find a place to watch it. I went with Lin who is super picky about what theater he goes to, but he had to suck it up and go to his not-favorite, the Pacific Theatres on Rosecrans. He likes the purdy Regal up in PV. I, myself, don't care so long as the theatre isn't ghetto and all dirty and stuff. So we thought we'd be the only people watching, when it was just the two of us when we walked in, but more people came, and more people came...and before you know it, there was six of us. hehe.

Anyway, back to the movie. i have to say, it was pretty funny. I laughed out loud. I covered my eyes. I cringed in horror. I actually expected to see all the boobies because the co-workers had informed me as such. I didn't expect the last set of boobies that were shown. You'll have to see the movie to find out what I'm talking about. All in all, it was pretty laugh out loud. For me anyway. I do have that stupid, kind of sick and retarded sense of humor. =P (Yes, a guy's sense of humor.)

Alright, time to sleep. I think the co-workers have infected me with their germs, so now I'm left to fight the good fight. Airborne here I come. Good night!

FINALLY!

I finally got into Boneshia's spin class. It only took about 3 tries. Of course, now that I'm finally there, I'm thinking I'll put a dollar down to save myself a spot in the class next week... and it turns out she's going to be off for the next two Tuesdays! bummer! Oh well, at least I got my spin on tonight, so I can eat anything I want tonight and not feel bad. =P

STILL IN THE BITTER BARN...

So this weekend, I searched and searched online to try to find a journal comparable to the one I bought in Salzburg that the thieving bastards at Cheesecake Factory Newport Beach stole, but no luck. I even remember the brand but I still couldn't find it online. I know! I thought Google knew everything too. Oh well.

This past weekend, I had to be substitute soccer mom for Sean since my aunt and uncle were up in SF. Thus far, I've been Linley's substitute mom at Mommy & Me, and now Sean's "soccer mom." Really, do I need to have my own kids? Anyhow, the little guy is pretty good. When he gets that ball on a fast break, noone can catch him. 'm hoping one day he'll go pro in Europe and I can just sponge off of him. He's such a big boy now!



After the soccer game, I went back home, and the Ryans came over witih dinner as they were taking grandma to the airport. We had a nice banana berry pie from King's Hawaiian for dessert, and since Linley's birthday had just passed on Tuesday, she had us sing to her again to relive the happy memories of last Saturday (her family party) and Tuesday (her kiddie party). Princess Linley turns 3:

CROATIA HERE WE COME

From Vienna we travelled to Dubrovnik in Southern Croatia. We got our tickets from Sky Europe, essentially a European Southwest, so we had to take a 2 hour bus ride from Vienna to Bratislava. Yes, Bratislava. It was actually such a comfy bus ride that we all passed out and woke up close to the airport. We had to wait a bit before we could check in, and once again, we were AOP ("Asians On Parade").

When we landed in Dubrovnik, our landlord's son picked us up. Instead of staying in a hotel, I chose an apartment within the old city walls that I found online (http://www.dubrovnik-area.com/eng/details.asp?vla=371&SmjestajID=SG-A-0547). Luckily, Luca had brought a mini station wagon, and even then he struggled with the luggage a bit. So we're driving and I notice we're going past the city and he tells us he has to go pick up his dad from work. Umm.. OK. Are we gonna get groceries with your mom too? He tells us he needs his dad to help with the luggage. OK, this guy is like, mid to late 20s. Decent sized guy. What the heck?

So we pick up Stijepo from work and he hops in the car to drive, while Luca hops out and gets on a scooter. This guy is hilarious. Talk talk talk, yell at other drivers, talk talk talk. Now we're closer to the old city and we go past again! I'm thinking, "Dammit, I knew I shouldn't have gotten an apartment. We're gonna get ripped off!" However, I was wrong. The old city is protected by the old city walls, so it's like being in a fortress, and no cars are allowed. We have to unload the luggage and pull/carry it all in. No wonder he needed help. We enter through the Ploce Gate (pronounced ploh-cheh) and trudge through the town with the bags. The poor guys who carried most of the stuff were sweating buckets. I felt bad for them, but really had to hold in the laughs, because they looked so unbelievably tired. Luca even asked if we were moving to Dubrovnik given the amount of stuff we had. (Obviously we are not backpackers.)

Gina and Vuong in front of SOME of the steps we had to climb up to get to apartment.

Once we arrived at our apartment, we were very happy with it. It's an old building, but inside is completely renovated. I wonder if it was completely thrashed during the war, which is why they had to re-do it, but I guess we'll never know. So all is well with the place, then I ask Stijepo how we should pay him, as he did not ask for a deposit or anything before hand. He said, "Oh, you can leave it on the table when you leave, or you can just leave it there whenever during your stay, as we have a key and can come in and out of the apartment any time to clean up or whatever." Me: "Oh. OK." In my head, "Hmm.. you can come in ANY time?" Now I'm picturing myself sleeping only to wake up with this guy or his son in my face.

In front of our apartment door.

In the apartment there was a pull out queen sized bed downstairs and a regular one upstairs. In Prague, they didn't want to sleep alone so I took the master. This time, I insisted that I not be alone downstairs, so Gina said she'd stay with me, but then Vuong didn't want to be alone upstairs either. Yes, we are wusses. So we decide to all sleep in the bed upstairs together. Vuong gets to sleep bitch since we figure, she can practically sleep standing up, what's the difficulty in sleeping in the middle?

Now, mind you, everywhere we have gone, it has rained. Now we are in Dubrovnik, which is essentially like a sunny Mediterranean town. They tell us that it's been so hot and dry for months that they've even had brush fires. Until the weekend we arrive when they are scheduled to have a big storm. Yay.

So we unpack and grab dinner at Marco Polo off of Lucarica street. This place has THE BEST food. It's in a little alley way so it's easy to miss, but the landlord highly recommended it. He also told us not to go to Prijeko street. At first I think Gina and I both thought, "Great, there's a dangerous neighborhood here?" But he meant don't eat at any place on that street as they are all tourist traps. We are just in love with the menu because it's seafood and we've been eating meat for nearly 2 weeks straight. Vuong and I get the scampi dishes and Gina gets the mixed plate. Then I also ask for calamari. The owner looks at me like, "Also?" I say, "Yes, in addition to my scampi." He looks like he's thinking, "Umm... OK, but that's a lot of food." Well you know what? It was and we ate it all. That's right, nothing left but the bones. I think we impressed him enough with our appetite that he called his wife out to take a look at the Asian girls who apparently haven't eaten in weeks.

After dinner we walked around a bit, searched for Topfen gelato, checked out an Irish bar, and another bar called Fresh (www.igotfresh.com) that was recommended to us by a random Asian guy standing on the street who was passing out fliers. Then we head back home, stinky smelling from all the smoke, showered up and got to bed. I think we all passed out since we had a few drinks and got up early that day.

Then, in the middle of the night, I hear bam-bam, bam-bam. The storm is in full force and the window shutters which we had left open downstairs were banging like crazy due to the winds. At first I think I'm the only one creeped out by this, so I try to ignore it, but can't. I get up and go to the bathroom. When I come out, Gina is awake and we agree to go downstairs together to secure the windows. The banging stops, but the wind is still howling like crazy, and I just can't fall asleep, so I watch t.v. the rest of the whole freaking night.

The next day, we get up, search out some healthy pizza and coffee for breakfast, then begin our tour of the city walls. If you ever go to Dubrovnik, you MUST see the city walls and the view from them. Absolutely gorgeous. When I was researching for vacation, I read that Restaurant Nautika was the best in town. We asked our landlord and he agreed. To save money, we went there for lunch after our tour of the city walls.

Restaurant Nautika (http://www.esculap-teo.hr/restaurant_nautika.html) is just outside the Pile Gate (pronounced Pee-lay) by the water. The view is absolutely amazing, and since we had just had the big storm the entire night before, we were blessed with a beautiful sunny day. So we sat out on the terrace and ordered lunch. The menu wasn't like what I saw online, but whatever. We sit, we eat, we try to pay and find out they don't take credit cards. Well, not on Terrace Penatur. On Terrace Lovrijenac, where they have the full menu they do. Nuts. Gina and I leave Vuong as collateral and go looking for an ATM. We had to go all the way back into the middle of the old city to find one. Four actually. Side by side. But not one outside. You know the waiter thought the shady Asian chicks were gonna make a run for it. But we do return, our fists filled with cash. All in all, a nice experience, but for the price, I'd rather go all out and sit on the other terrace and get the full expensive menu, or just go back to Marco Polo.

After lunch, the salad queens are determined to shop, but given my lack of sleep, I decide to stay in and take a nap. When they get back, I'm refreshed and awake, and we head off to Locanda Restaurant for dinner. This restaurant is right by the marina where the water taxis take off to go to Lokrum Island. By now, it is dark and the winds are blowing again, as if it is going to rain later and we are cold. But we suck it up and sit outside, mainly because you have no choice it seems. I get a pot of fried shrimp. It is an entire pot. Literally. I can't even get through half of it. Vuong also got an entire pot, although she shared with Gina since Gina shared her squid ink paella with her. Afterwards, we walk around the town a bit more, then check out this stylish lounge we had seen from above during our walk on the city walls. We stop and get a drink to enjoy our last night in town before heading back to re-pack our stuff. At this point, most of our stuff is dirty and stinky, and we're all probably over the 20 kg weight limit the European airlines have.

As you can see, we like to travel light.

DAMN THIS OLD AGE...

It appears that in my old age, my hearing is definitely going. Bad enough I'm already super near-sighted, but now I can't hear. Last week, they had all these commercials for "Survivor China." More than once, I thought they said, "survive vagina." Now they have commercials on for the show "Cavemen" and I keep thinking they are saying "K-Fed." Not only is it sad I can no longer hear clearly, but that K-Fed pops up when he really isn't there.

FRIENDS, FOOD, AND FELONS

Really quickly... some non-vacation stuff ...

Sunday was an awesome Sunday... until the very end. I slept in, went down to Costa Mesa, and had lunch with Shivaji. Afterwards, we go to Fashion Island to walk around and enjoy the weather, where we spot Kobe Bryant with his two kids.

Meanwhile, I had gotten a call from my friend Harvey who was visiting from Taiwan. I meet up with him at Dennis' place and it's just like old times, except Sam and Patti have kids now. That's right, we sit around, play video games and make fun of each other.

Afterwards, I meet the girls for our dinner. We are going to exchange pictures and we just plain missed each other. So we meet up at Cheesecake Factory in Fashion Island. That place sucks. I had bought a hardback journal in Salzburg. Not super expensive, but more than you'd probably pay if you were at home on an ordinary day. It has sleeves to put stuff in, so I use it to put my picture cd's in, since I didn't have any actual CD sleeves. We exchange CD's, Vuong gives me a check for some vacation stuff, and I put them in the journal. All of our purses and my journal are on a chair. The restaurant closes at 9. We are the last to leave at 10. We walk around the mall, then are about to head home when I remember about my journal. I ask Gina if she has it in her shopping bag. She says no. We go back to Cheesecake Factory. No one's turned it in.

Gina and I both called the next day. They told us, it hasn't turned up, but why would anyone want to steal it. Well, obviously someone did, as it wasn't there when we came back soon after. If there are no customers, that leaves staff. Anyhow, that night I'm annoyed as heck when I go home. Later, I feel ill. That's right. Not only did those thieving bastards take my journal, they gave me food poisoning. I'm up until 4:30-5 a.m. just enduring the pain and discomfort. I'll spare you the details of that experience.

I should have known it would be a bad idea to eat the food, when they hand us each a plate, and they're ALL dirty, as is one of my forks. Plus, the ladies' room is absolutely filthy. Both Vuong and I comment at separate times on how ghetto the bathroom is and Gina was like, wow, that's exactly what she said. So we are now officially boycotting them.

Anyhow, back to the happy stuff. Food.

Today, I found a really good red velvet cupcake. Weeks ago, Monette had sent me an article about good places to get the red velvet cupcake. One of them was in Long Beach not 10 minutes from my house. Jongewaard's Bake & Broil on 37th and Atlantic near the Bixby Knolls area of Long Beach. I decide I am finally going to give it a try, as Gina and I were talking about red velvet cupcakes earlier. It was good. It was moist and tasty and the frosting was yummy. AND it's only $1.95 unlike Sprinkles where you have to pay for top dollar for a little cupcake. So for now, this is my new favorite red velvet cupcake. I also want to try the one at Doughboy's up in L.A. as it was Oprah's favorite.

Also, if you're in the area anyway, you might as well go down Atlantic Ave. a little further (away from the 405) and hit Alsace-Lorraine across the street. Excellent French bakery with wonderful desserts. I actually chose that bakery for my grandma's big 90th birthday cake five years ago, and about 300 people really liked it. They can't all be wrong.

Also a good deal: Hokkaido on Cherry Ave right off the 405. All you can eat buffet. Yes, I don't frequent these places because I really can't eat that much all in one sitting (I prefer to just eat all day)... we tried it out on Saturday. It was $14.99 (all day Saturday and Sunday). They had crab legs, soft shell crab, and a variety of sushi (with actual Japanese sushi chefs!). They had lots of good food Asian food and a smattering of American. They had korean bbq, but get this... they don't cook it until you ask them to, so it's not sitting underneath some heat lamp turning into rubber. They can also stir fry whatever combo you toss at them. It's almost Vegas-like (high complement for a buffet if you ask me). The only thing I did notice was their desserts were a bit lacking compared to other buffets, but when you've eaten that much regular food, who can eat dessert?

AUF WIEDERSEHEN AUSTRIA

Ok, last full day in Vienna, and we have a plan. We are going to Schonbrunn, the Imperial Summer Palace, and we are going to Stephansdom, the huge catheral five minutes from our hotel. We get up, have breakfast (we never miss a meal), and grab a cab to Schonbrunn, as it is a bit further away. About 20 minutes away from the regular Imperial Palace. There must have been a much bigger temperature difference in the old days. Damn that global warming. We arrive at Schonbrunn and walk through the gates, and I am instantly reminded of Versailles... without as much flourishes on the building. We sign up for the super duper tour. I think maybe it was the Grand Imperial Tour. It gets you into 20 more rooms than the regular tour. We figure, heck, we came all this way, let's see it all! So we ventured through the palace rooms, as well as the gardens and the terrace. We even have access to the giant maze, but get too lazy to care. Lazy you say. What could be more important than enriching your mind, acquiring some culture, being a part of history? LUNCH. Yep. We were hungry. Time to go folks.

We grab a cab and make a pit stop at the hotel. Then we head out in search of food. We're at a loss, so instead of being adventurous, we go back to a winner, Zum Figlmueller. Once again, the salad queens get their salad, and I get a chicken cordon bleu. Amazingly enough, I don't think we hardly ever ate chicken on this vacation. You'd think it'd be easy enough to find, but this is central Europe, land of sausages and potatoes. It's all about packing it on and keeping it warm in those cold winter months. I subscribe to this philosophy, which is why I'm bracing for the cold California winter as we speak by having a red velvet cup cake, but that's another story (soon to follow).

So, we get our most excellent lunch along with Zweigelt, the local wine, which the girls drink half of and pass on to me. I hate wasting good wine, so I drink them, and we go drunk shopping. OK, I go drunk shopping. They're just shopping. We step outside and go to the first neighboring shop where I buy Lin a big calendar as a souvenir. Oh, a big calendar of naked girls. The great thing is, this calendar was so long, it wouldn't fit in my 26" suit case, so Vuong had to haul it around for me the rest of the trip. (thanks pal). If only she had gotten stopped by customs, it would have been fun to see their expressions. Oh well. Then we hit all sorts of shops on the way back towards the hotel, including Swarovski which originates in Austria. This is where I do the rest of my souvenir shopping. Too bad I never got my VAT back to save $75. Regardless, the gifts went over well, so it doesn't matter.

Amazingly enough, it's now time for dinner! By now it's raining, so we duck into a nearby Asian place. I know, what a bunch of fobs. I go for the sushi because I miss it, Gina gets something with rice, and I'm sure Vuong had something with salad. I think maybe she got korean bbq. After dinner, we stop in a nearby market to stock up on water and snacks for the plane. Once we drop our stuff off in the hotel, we go back out to see Stephansdom.

Upon arriving in Stephansdom, we realize we can't actually go in, as they are getting ready for the Pope who will be there the following Sunday. Vuong decides to exact her revenge by changing the time on the visiting hours clock. Yes, she is a bad girl. I stood far away for fear of lightening. Although we weren't able to really see the church, we were fortuitously located near... Zanoni & Zanoni. That's right, one last Topfen gelato for the road. So what if we're sitting outside, bundled up in rain coats and scarves. So what if it's cold and raining. I'm leaving tomorrow so I am going to have my fill darn it. And it was GOOOooood.

The next morning, we hurriedly have breakfast before the cab shows up and head out for sunny Dubrovnik. Heh.

IN SEARCH OF STRUM

Sunday, we have decided, is museum day. Partly because everything else is closed. That's right, everything is closed on Sundays, even some restaurants. We start off by getting up somewhat early and going for a run. That's right. Aren't we the picture of health, squeezing a run in here and there between all the drinks and dessert? After the run, we grab some breakfast and then get ready to start our day.

Fortunately for us, we are staying near the Hofburg, so we walk the five minutes over and take a tour of the Kaiserappartments and the Sisi Museum. You actually begin by tourin the Imperial Silver Collection where you get to see a wide array of very expensive silverware, culterly and other table settings. From there, you venture into the Sisi Museum. No, not a museum about wimpy boys, but about Empress Elisabeth, a woman who was reknowned during her time for being very beautiful. She was also ahead of her time as she actually had her own work out room since she was very self conscious about her looks and weight. At some point during the tour, we all got a bit tired and decided to sit down and have some coffee and a snack, then we made our way through the Imperial Palace rooms. They had some very interesting rooms, as it seemed they were interested in other cultures besides their own.

Anyhow, after the museum, we walked back to our hotel, where we ended up taking a nap. We had grand plans to go see the Imperial Treasury, but instead fell asleep. We never did make it to the Treasury. Now we're wondering what we should do. We've essentially been walking every day for about 12 days now and we're tired. So we decide to take the funnest way around the city... a carriage ride.

After the carriage ride, we decide to grab dinner at Zum Figlmuller (http://www.figlmueller.at/), a place famous for its schnitzel. The schnitzel was good - reminded me of a katsu without the sauce - but even better was the salad. Yes, even I am enamored of the salad, which is what Vuong got (surprise). I also tried a local wine, Zweigelt, which was really tasty. All in all, a good meal. After dinner, we're walking back towards the hotel, and we pass a sidewalk wine bar where I notice they have strum on the menu. Gina's been searching high and low for strum, so we stop and have a glass.

V: damn girl, look at you go.

G: I loooove strum.

After the strum, one of us is a little buzzed and decide to stop for gelato at Zanoni and Zanoni (www.zanoni.co.at). They had one of THE BEST gelatos ever. It's called topfen pot. I think Gina only saw the "pot" part of it and asked for it thinking it was something else. It turns out to be something akin to cream cheese and it is YUMMY. I had cravings for weeks after getting back. Unfortunately, you can't get the stuff here as topfen is specifically an Austrian thing. booooo. (I've had to slake my cravings with Golden Spoon & Coldstone's cake batter flavors). We stand on the street eating gelato while cardiac surgeons run amok around us (there was a European cardiologists conference in Vienna - no, didn't meet any hot heart surgeons).

VISIONS OF VIENNA

We arrive in Vienna late Saturday afternoon. One of the first things we notice in the train station: Chinese take out called Quick Lee. Clever.

So guess what? Most stores and stuff close at 7. That means we don't have much time. We check into the Pertschy Pension. What a great location. It's only a block from the main shopping street Kohlmarkt and a block from the Hofburg Imperial Palace. Afterwards, we go in search for food. We locate a Chinese restaurant. Uh oh. Again? Have we not learned our lesson? Apparently not.

OK, it's not exactly a Chinese restaurant. More of Asian food restaurant. Vienna actually had a lot more Asian restaurants, being a bigger city. I do not recall the name of the restaurant. Quite possibly I subconsciouly hold a grudge against them as my food took an extra 20 minutes to come out. That's right, Gina and Vuong were already done with their dinner before mine came out. I have no idea what took so long when all I ordered was the shrimp tempura bento box. The food was ok. Nothing special, nothing Happy Feasty.

Afterwards, we just walk and walk and walk all around town to get our bearings. We locate the beloved H&M, home of our future clean socks. We stop for ice cream (me) and salad (Vuong). Yes, I went on vacation with the salad queens. Nothing makes you feel more like a cow than, "Oh, we're going to split the salad (them)... and I'll have the sirloin steak with roasted potatoes, please. (me)" We also stopped at a wine bar that night in search of strum. Yes, Gina was in love with strum and determined to get more of it. Unfortunately, the wine bar was fresh out (literally). The bartender told us that they don't bottle too much of it as you cannot keep it for very long, so he had run out earlier in the evening. Bummer.

So we head back to the hotel to relax since, well, everything's closed except bars and cafes, and we're pretty full.

SALZBURG... THE SAGA CONTINUES

Who's Rudy you may ask? He's the bartender/concierge at the hotel. We met him on our first day in during tea. He was very nice and friendly and provided us with some very good restaurant suggestions. He also told us we should check out the Farmers Market on Thursday morning, as it was a great event, where they sold some special chicken and almonds you could only get in Salzburg. Cool. We are totally going. Now, don't get me wrong, he was very helpful. But over time, every time he'd offer suggestions of where to go, it was always in terms of distance from his apartment. At one point, he actually suggested we check out the lobby in his apartment building... for the great architecture of course. Anyhow, eventually that just became the running joke with us. We're going to check out the Fortress... which is about 10 minutes from Rudy's apartment, or maybe Mozart's house... which is only 5 minutes from Rudy's apartment. I think maybe he should get maps made up, where there's a big star that indicates *Rudy's Apartment Here. hehe.

Nevertheless, Wednesday night, Gina and I took Rudy's suggestion and checked out Shrimps restaurant (www.shrimps.at), just off the Linzer Gasse. Vuong stayed in and it was a good thing, too. OMG. This place was a 5-8 minute walk from our hotel, but dorks that we are, we completely started off in the wrong direction and took the long 30 minute route. I think part of the reason is, we were reading the map as if we were staying in the main hotel, but were actually staying across the street. Therefore, we turned right coming out of our building, which would have been correct had we been staying across the street, but from our building, the totally wrong way. Oh well. We finally made it and the food was good.

The next morning, we enjoyed a nice full breakfast that had real scrambled eggs! Woohoo. Yes, a big deal, as we were growing tired of bread, cheese and jam. Then Gina and I went off to this famous farmers market. Yes, it was fun, as it's a bit different from ours as they sell a lot of fresh meats and cheeses, but we did not see any rare almonds there.

After the farmers market, we go back to check on Vuong. Girlfriend is not doing well. The meds her dad had shipped to her were stalled in customs. At this point, it was time to take some real action. We tell her to give us a list of the meds she needs so we can go out there and score some drugs. She's a pharmacist, so she knows what she needs. We go to the pharmacy, where the nice pharmacist informs us he cannot give us drugs without a prescription, but we can have her doctor fax it in and they can fill it. Cool! We get her some ibuprofen Austrian-style (which is now one of my souvenirs) and let her know. Luckily for her, Vuong's brother is a doctor. He tries to fax over the meds she needs, but it doesn't go through, so we walk back to the pharmacist, which is only around the corner from the hotel. We tell them we're trying to fax, but it's not going through, and we've got the doctor on the phone. After a lengthy discussion between pharmacist and doctor brother, the pharmacist gives us all of the necessary meds. Get this... only 52 Euro for 3 prescription drugs for someone without insurance. How awesome is that? You know in America they would have completely gouged you. Vuong takes her drugs and gets more rest. We head out once again.

This time, we visit the house Mozart lived in, "Mozart Wohnhaus," which is different from the house Mozart was born in, "Mozarts Geburtshaus." It's very interesting with letters and diaries and musical instruments. I'm a big Mozart fan since I used to play violin and piano and thoroughly enjoy it. It's not very big, but still very captivating. Imagine, you're standing in a room that Mozart used to walk around in! How cool is that? Yes, I am a big nerd.

After Mozart's House, we stop by St. Sebastian's which is a church on the way back to our hotel. Mozart's family is buried there. I love these old church's with their own little grave yards. They have so much character and are so much more interesting to look at than the cemetaries we have here, which essentially look like flat fields of grass. I like looking at the names and dates on the stones and wondering what these people were like. Gina was a bit freaked out, but since it was so well kept and orderly, it wasn't too creepy and I think the place grew on her. She didn't realize I was interested in seeing stuff like that, and then I told her that I've actually gone and visited Pere Lachaise cemetary (www.Pere-Lachaise.com) in Paris, where so many famous people are buried (i.e. Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, etc.), that it is a real tourist attraction.

Once we finished taking a look around at St. Sebastian, we went back to see how Vuong was doing. She was much improved already! Gotta love drugs! Actually, she ran for the potty and barfed, but after that, she was much better! So we went off to get dinner and let her rest up a bit more. This is when we decide we're going for Chinese food. It'd actually only been 8 days that we'd been on vacation, but when you don't really get a variety of food choices, you feel like it's been longer. Anyhow, it was probably the worst decision of our trip. Yes, even worse than pulling out only $10 in Prague. The food was bad, the service was blah, and it was pricey. So be warned... Happy Feast... not so happy a feast.

We decide to take Rudy's suggestion of checking out the Hotel Sacher for dessert. Thank good ness we did. The desserts were so good, they nearly made dinner nothing but a distant memory. Gina had the famous Sacher Torte, I had some raspberry chocolate dessert. Excellent stuff. Not too rich, not too sweet. Just right. Even her tea and my cocoa were wondeful. We were able to end the night on a happy note - Vuong was better and we had just had some good food.

Friday morning, Vuong was well again, so she joined us for breakfast, and we decided to go on the 9 a.m. Sound of Music Tour (www.panoramatours.com). Yes, it sounds horribly cheesy, but I'm in Salzburg, and I'm going on it darn it! Well you know what? It was one of the funnest things on our trip! They send a shuttle to pick you up from your hotel quarter to 9 and take you to tour headquarters. Then you get on a huge bus full of people. We were among the last to arrive, so we are in the very last row. I'm smack in the middle of the five seats. If the bus driver were to hit the breaks really hard, I would have gone rolling towards the front.

Our bus driver Markus and our tour guide Peter are HILARIOUS. They take us to look at the various sites where they filmed the movie and give us all sorts of background info about the movie and the real Von Traps - did you know they own a resort in Vermont? We also head out into the countryside where we get to go bobsledding! They put a wheeled seat on the bobsled track and tow you to the top then let you go. It's so much fun! Unfortunately, they'll only let you do it once before the bus leaves. On the way to the town of Mondsee, we get to see the international headquarters for Red Bull. Did you know it was invented in Salzburg? Me neither. No wonder it was everywhere.

In Mondsee, we get to visit the cathedral in which Maria and the captain were married in. We also get to try some apfel strudel with vanilla sauce. The dessert was good, the wasps hovering over us were not. Yes, we ran around and screamed like the girls we are. After the SOM Tour, we visited the Mirabellgarten (where they filmed the Doe-A-Deer scenes), and the Festung Hohensalzburg, the big fortress atop the hill. Afterwards, we trek over to the Mullner Kirche and Augustinerkloster und Brau. You have to love a church that has a brewery beneath. If my church had one, I'd attend mass more regularly:

After the the brewery, we grab dinner at Republic (Anton Neumayr Platz 2), where we saw our unanimous vote for the hottest hottie of all vacation. We attempted to take a photo without being too obvious, but unfortunately it came out a bit blurry, and the photo does not do him justice:

When we're done trying to get a photo of McHottie, we head back towards the shops because I thought I saw a place to get schnapps that I had seen on Rick Steve's travel show...so we check it out. Sporer's on Getreidegasse 39 (www.sporer.at). It really is the same place as on Rick Steve's and apparently the family's been making schnapps for over a hundred years.

We go in and ask for a shot of whatever he thought was a good fruity flavor. He gives us apricot. SO GOOD. We ask for another flavor. And another. Oh yeah... we wuz getting drunk without knowing it, because that stuff is strong. Now, granted, we really are louder than most Salburgers. And we looked different from them too. So we figure that's why everyone's looking at us. We're loud and different looking. No, they were probably waiting for one of us to drop. Or maybe wondering why we're shooting the schnapps as apparently you are supposed to sip it.

We have at least 4 shots in succession. A veritable fruit salad of alcohol. Pear, apricot, apple and strawberry. Then we make the acquaintance of the others in the bar. A very nice couple, their son and his girlfriend. They buy us schnapps shots and strum. Strum is like the first distillation of wine. Not as strong and not as bitter, but just as tasty. So now we're at six shots of schnapps and two glasses of strum. We are beyond happy and having the greatest time with these very friendly and kind people:

We each buy a couple bottle of schnapps to take back. Then head back towards the hotel and engaged in one of the funnest past times ever: drunk shopping.

The next morning, we're a bit tired. Yes, a little from the alcohol, but mostly from a loud crowd of hopefully-not-Americans singing Sound of Music songs on the street at some ridiculous hour. We haul all of our dirty laundry down stairs since we plan on doing some laundry at the laundromat on the corner. We get there and she tells us we're too late. Apparently, they close at 10 a.m. WHAT? Didn't you just open? Crazy Austrians! There go our grand plans for clean clothes for the last two countries. Well, we have clean clothes, but they're all for warm weathered locales, which apparently we weren't going to be in, as it rained everywhere we went.

We drag all of our dirty stuff back up and head to breakfast, then do a bit of last minute shopping before taking the train to Vienna. Goodbye Salzburg! I had a FABULOUS time.

RAIN SCHMAIN

OK, for days now, they have been talking about this HUGE storm we are supposed to have. Yesterday, the brunt of the storm was to hit tomorrow, which is now today. Today, it's now supposed to thunder down tomorrow. Uh, yeah, ok. I was already for the rain tonight. Made no plans, except to stay home, enjoying a glass of wine and a trashy novel. Thus far, it sprinkled on my car on the way home just enough to get it dirty. Then on the way home from dinner, it rained enough the last five minutes to wash away the spots from driving home.

As I sat here surfing tripadvisor, I heard what I thought was the beginning of torrential rains, only to hear it stop about 5 minutes later. At this point, I don't want it to rain anymore. The wine is gone, the book's a re-read and tomorrow I want to play tennis so I can work off my Coldstones and then watch the Trojans beat the Cougars on nice dry grass. Then on Sunday, I meet up with the vacation buddies, whom you'd think I'd be sick of, after 16 straight days of 24/7, but apparently not. I miss my buddies.

SHOWERS IN SALZBURG

Yep, that's right, it showered nearly every single day we were in Salzburg. I suppose it's a fairly normal occurance for them, but still, we weren't expecting it in August. Plus, we're from California. Rain? What's rain?

Anyhow, we arrived in Salzburg by train from Prague, which took about 8 hours. The first part of the trip, from Prague to Munich, went by pretty quickly. We had one of those semi-private compartments that can seat six. We got on the train with our humongous luggage and found a compartment with only one girl in it. We thought, GREAT! We don't have to worry about some lecherous smokey smelling guy molesting us through tunnels. (Scusi, scusi...ever see Eurotrip?)

Back to the poor girl. We probably frightened her so much that she got off the train before her exit. There she is, minding her own business, then in come three Asian girls with luggage that takes up nearly the entire compartment, and one of the girls looks ill. Could she be contagious? Bird flu, sars? Who knows?! And why is she wearing those Ponch sunglasses when it's raining outside? Maybe she's blind. Hmm...

Anyhow, after she gets off, we spread out and get comfy. Feet up, snacks out, everything. We're moving along, then come to a point where they check tickets and passports. (We got a cute choo choo stamp.) They also tell us that we have to move one train car down because the train is going to separate, and the half we're on isn't going to Munich. CRAP!

We send Vuong ahead to scout for an empty compartment while Gina and I deal with the luggage. Our bags are so heavy, that when we get into the new compartment, we just say 'forget it' about putting it up on the luggage racks, and just left them all in the aisle and put our feet up on or in between them. We eventually get to Munich and have to change trains. Wait, not trains. We hop on this two car thing that looks like a Disneyland tram. This is when the slow part begins. We stopped in every freaking city between Munich and Salzburg. Holy cow.

We were so happy when we finally arrived, especially as Salzburg had a nicer train station with those elevator things that Prague doesn't have. We take out an adequate amount of Euros at the ATM (unlike in Prague), then make our way out and hail a taxi. Cute guy in a full suit driving a Benz. Score. He starts packing the bags into the trunk. He rearranges the bags. He re-rearranges the bags. He starts unpacking the bags. He signals to the SUV taxi and tells him to take us. Bummer. =(

We arrive at Hotel Wolf-Dietrich (http://www.salzburg-hotel.at/). The hotel is located near a bunch of restaurants, a bunch of shopping, a grocery store, and luckily for Vuong, a pharmacy. Check in goes smoothly and we get a room in their building across the street. Let me tell you, Salzburg is a nice, clean, quiet town. I noticed it was quiet when the porter waived us over, just so he could tell us where the spa and breakfast rooms were in a nice low-decibel voice. We were the loudest people in that town. Anyway, back to checking in, so they tell us to go ahead to the room, the bags will be right up. OK, we're on the second floor, which is actually the third, because in Europe, the ground floor counts as zero. The porter, this skinny middle aged guy, hauls all of our bags up the four flights of stairs in two trips. OMG! He must be in excellent condition, because I would have died carrying them up two at a time.

Our room has nice big windows and satellite t.v. once again. (You should see some of the stuff they have on regular t.v. Wowwee) It also has these really cool automatic receding shutters for outside, so you can make it completely dark in the room. AND, even better, our hotel not only has breakfast from 7-11 - that's right, we can sleep in - they have tea time from 3-5 p.m. I love free food. We seriously saved money because we would load up on breakfast, walk back and catch tea, and only have to buy dinner and random snacks. So after we dump our stuff, we head back to the main lobby for tea. And that is where we met our pal Rudy.

Views from our hotel window:

COSTCO CRAVINGS

I don't go to Costco very often, which I'm thinking is a good thing. Every time I step inside, I am tempted to buy large quantities of food (which is of course, really the only way they sell them). Anyhow, we make a random family trip to Costco today, and just to give you an idea of why I am the way I am (a total dork)... as we are leaving Costco, my dad is "skating" the shopping cart. The shopping cart has bad alignment so he is veering right towards the curb, so he steps off to realign. This time he tells my mom she has to help him steer, so now he is "skating" along, while she runs along side and pushes him in the right direction. Meanwhile, I'm walking behind yelling, "If you guys get hit by a car, don't blame me."

After Costco, I made a run to Golden Spoon in an attempt to alleviate my Topfen Gelato craving. I get the cake batter frozen yogurt. It helped, but it did not eliminate the need. I shall one day have to return to Zanoni & Zanoni (www.zanoni.co.at) for the real stuff. I would consider making my own topfen gelato, alas, you can not get topfen in America. booooo.

MORE PRAGUE

So we arrived in Prague on Sunday night, used our whopping $10 to buy dinner, had dinner on the hotel roof, then spent Monday wandering around the old square and Mala Strana. One of Pasquale's recommendations was Baracnicka Rychta (Trziste 23, Mala Strana), a small restaurant hidden below the Prague Castle. OK, when he says hidden, he's not kidding. It is up a winding road, and is so quaint. It's also not completely overrun with tourists. But really, the great thing about it was that it was near the American Embassy. OK, the great thing about it was the beer and food, but it just happened to be near the American Embassy, where my uncle Patrick told me you could get a really cool t-shirt.

So, we go, we have lunch, and I have a decent salad, and some AWESOME ribs. The beer is pretty darned good too. Decent salad and darned good beer pictured below.

(Thanks to Gina for the photos.) After lunch, we decide against trying to make it up to the castle, and decide to go back down into town again, with a stop at the Embassy for the much hyped t-shirt. So I ask the guards outside if they sell t-shirts. They look at me like I'm a freak. I can't really say I blame them. They're Czech so they tell me to wait there while they go inside and check. They come back out and tell us to come in where we have to go through security. All this for a t-shirt. Well, Sgt. Ferguson of the U.S. Marines helps us out and shows us to their "store." A locked cabinet with coins and polo shirts which they apparently sell as souvenirs at all of the embassies. Hell, I'm already there, I'm buying a shirt. It's not even a cheap shirt, but I get my dad a nice long sleeved polo which he can wear to golf. He can wear it to golf on some American military base as it's got this HUGE marine corps/embassy emblem. Hehehe. Luckily, my dad's not picky. If it's free, it's his favorite.

After that, I think we walked around a bit more, then went back for a nap. Who knows. But definitely, for dinner, we try one of Jenn & Laryna's suggestions: Architektu (Betlemske Nam 5A). It was down in the basement and we had to wait an hour. Of course, we use this hour to down a bottle of wine and some really good baked brie. When we are finally seated, I decide to try and be healthy and order the salmon. Big mistake. I should've gotten what Vuong got. I'm not a big fish eater, I just do eat for health's sake, and the salmon was just way too fishy. I'm left eating 4 asparagus and a glass of wine. Yep, someone was gonna get really buzzed. We ordered dessert and it was excellent. Had something to do with walnuts I think. Gina actually didn't like it, but Vuong and I LOVED it. It was the highlight, I think, of dinner. Afterwards, we stumbled around town a bit more, found the Prague porn store (didn't go inside), and picked up some gelato.

On Tuesday, we spent nearly the entire day wandering around the castle. It's really more like a little town in and of itself. St. Vitus' Cathedral is absolutely beautiful, although I think we were most enthralled by the torture chambers. After all the walking, we had a late lunch at another of Pasquale's recommendations, Palffy Palac (Vladstejska 14, Mala Strana), where according to his note, "Madonna had dinner there when she came to Prague." It is actually a former palace and we sat out on the terrace to enjoy the scenery. We were the only ones there and a had a cute waiter with very blue eyes. He even fought the wasp for us. The meal was very good, we had a prixe fixe that included salad, beef filets, and dessert. I think the most memorable part was the roasted garlic they gave with the bread. So simple and delicious. This is us at the Palffy Palac:

Afterwards, we stopped for some coffee on the way back, then I think we took a nap. Can't be sure really. We had dinner at the Italian restaurant just a few doors down from the hotel (very good minestrone and lasagne by the way) then went to bed as we had to get up and leave early the next morning.

On Wednesday, we departed for Salzburg. Pasquale was kind enough to arrange the transportation and see us off! Considering we didn't even stay at his hotel, I think that was pretty cool. Then at the end, we realized he actually paid for the transportation too. How awesome was that?

KIT KAT DREAM

So last night, I couldn't help myself and I had my last English Kit Kat. Yes, English Kit Kat. I like their chocolates and it is different from the ones we have here. Their Cadbury is better too. Anyhow, last night, I had this really weird dream where I was driving along some remote road and lost control of my car. I crashed and ended up in the bushes of something that looked like a park. There were people there and they offered to help me, but I remember thinking they looked a bit sketchy. So they help bring my car up to the road, then pretend like there is something amiss, and pop open my trunk where there is a dead shark. Of course everyone is horrified that I'm driving around with a dead shark in my trunk, and I am unable to explain it, as I didn't put it there. Anyhow, I don't recall what happened with the crowds, but I do remember that I decided I'd try to sell the shark to a Chinese restaurant for their soup. =P

Oh, speaking of driving around, while I was gone, my car was serviced and the big "racing stripe" on the right side was fixed. It's like brand new! I ought to call Toyota and tell them about my wonderful Camry. 207,000 miles and still runs smooooth.

ASIANS ON PARADE

From London we travelled to Prague via Easyjet. First, let me tell you, what a fun ride. On the plane, they sell lottery tickets. Well, not quite lottery, as you only win some stuff from the airline, but heck, you do have the chance of winning a lot of money. Anyhow, we figure we'll just spend our pounds on it since we won't need the pounds. We buy two tickets each and each of us win one pound. Great. Well, with 2 pounds you can buy a cheapo bottle of airplane wine. We indicate our interest, but sadly can only afford one between the three of us. The nice flight attendant pitches in the last pound so we could have two bottles of cheapo wine and provides us with three cups! Score!

At the airport, we are met by our hotel host, Pasquale, who informs us that he thinks it's too noisy at his hotel due to neighboring construction, so he has taken the initiative to find us a new hotel at the same cost. We can go take a look and see if it meets our approval, if not, we can stay at his hotel. Sure. Why not.

First, however, we need to pull out Czech money, so we're not completely without. Again, the girls let me go first, so they can decide how much they should pull out. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the exchange rate is. Pasquale tells me it is 20 to 1. However, with all the pressure of everyone watching me, I play it safe and pull out only 200 koruna, thinking it is $100, but is actually the equivalent of $10. We ALL pulled out only $10. Only in the van on the way to the hotel do I decide to re-do the math and discover that we are all idiots. Me for the bad panic math. Them for being lemmings. =P I am much better at calculating sale prices.

Anyhow, the new hotel, Hotel Dar, is great. Newly refurbished with an elevator and right in the old town, only steps away from the clock tower. The staff is also very nice and Pasquale, who runs Arcadia Residence, where we were going to stay, is so nice, he still provides us with information as to good locals' restaurants and places to find the necessities, such as ATMs, groceries, etc. We were very sad we didn't get to stay at Arcadia and try the breakfast trolley, as it is legendary on trip advisor. Maybe next time. Anyway, even though we didn't stay with them, he still arranged our car transportation to the train station for our departure from Prague (and paid for it!). What a nice guy!

Anyhow, the next day, we venture out to explore the city, and we notice that we are getting curious looks. Yes, we are Asians On Parade. No, there aren't very many Asian tourists in Prague at the time, but I'm assuming they've seen some, even if they're other tourists. Why everyone was so intrigued by us, I have no idea. Anyhow, since they were curious looks and not dirty looks, we took it upon ourselves to be good will ambassadors for Asian-kind and smiled a lot. At everyone. There are of course the usual questions, "Where are you from?" Followed by the usual answer, "California." bahahaha. We knew that wasn't what they meant, but it was the truth. Then we made everybody guess where each one of us was from since we are all different nationalities, yet none of us Chinese or Japanese, the favorite typical answers. Then we did our martial arts demonstration. bahahaha. j/k.

Anyhow, more about Prague when I'm not about to fall asleep. Pictures from Prague: http://picasaweb.google.com/kejercito/PRAGUE

I'M BACK!

Vacation was so much fun! We left on Thursday, 8/23 from John Wayne with a stop in Dallas before arriving in Gatwick. We have decided this is a good way to go because the plane isn't full, as it would be if you went direct from LAX to Heathrow, so you can spread your stuff out and have plenty of luggage storage space.

When we arrived in London, it was cold and raining. When we got to the hotel, the rain had stopped but it was still cloudy. By the time we were on the London Eye for our "flight," the sky was clearing up. We were lucky for the remainder of our stay because it was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous weather! That's right! Sunny and 85 in London. Who'd have thunk it?

Friday before our London Eye excursion, we walked all around and managed to hit a pub, where we met a couple of guys. A couple of OLD guys. Vuong picked them up while we were at the bar getting drinks. They were really nice, told us to go out dancing and meet some nice young boys. hehe.

Saturday we went to Buckingham Palace for a tour, which you can only do during limited time periods, as the queen generally resides there, so we were lucky she was away on vacation. We also hit Harrods to window shop, tea at La Duree in Harrods, a tour of Kensington Palace, the last home of Princess Diana, and dinner at an Indian restaurant called The Red Fort. That place was awesome. (pricey, but awesome). After The Red Fort, we got conned into going to a club called Anon, which you are better off skipping, if ever in the area.

On Sunday, we went for a run around St. James Park, Gina and I walked over to Buckingham Palace again, then through Regents Park (or at least I think that was Regents Park). Afterwards, we got cleaned up, and went over to Notting Hill to checking out the big Carnival. It was alright. It is nice to say I've seen it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go back. If you go, be sure to watch out for the giant piles of horse poo that the horse patrol leave behind.

Anyhow, I don't think Gina and Vuong were crazy about London. I myself could do without that feeling like you've a layer of dirt on your face from when you were out walking on the street, but I love all the history in the place. So many cool old buildings to go to.

Pictures from London: http://picasaweb.google.com/kejercito/LONDON

ALMOST THERE!

That's right! It's almost vacation time! Wooooohoooooo. These will be the longest three days EVER. Actually, the time has gone by fairly quickly the last couple of weeks. To help make the days go by more quickly, I went to visit Charlotte (and Monette & Jay) up in San Francisco last weekend. She is SO cute and she eats so much that she gets bigger on a daily basis. Mostly she eats and sleeps, so we were able to take her everywhere with no problem. On Saturday we went to my Auntie Lorna's house for lunch and she slept nearly the entire afternoon. Afterwards, we decided to go to the SF Center, where she slept the entire time, so we were able to sit and have coffee and dessert. Easy eh? Of course, I hear she was up and ready to party all night, so maybe not so easy, but Auntie Kristine didn't hear any crying from her room at all. On Sunday, we went to a pancake house for breakfast, where you go it, Charlotte slept the whole time. After a trip to Babies R Us, and new bear-earred footie pajamas, we went back to the house to wait for Uncle Doug, who was also going to be visiting. Charlotte and I passed the time by watching the 8th season of Friends. I think she enjoyed it... until she fell asleep. Again. While she slept against my shoulder, I realized she bore a bit of resemblance to Stewie (sp?) on Family Guy, so I started calling her Stewie (never mind I can't spell it). Monette pointed out that it's not wholly inappropriate as her last name is Stewart.

Anyway, I flew back Sunday evening, but felt like I caught something, because as soon as I landed, I was sneezing and my throat itch. Or maybe it was just the LA smog because I've been fine since. I guess my lungs were in a bit of shock. The week went by quickly since there have been so many things to do before my trip.

This weekend was spent running errands and such. It was Sean's birthday party yesterday, so before and after tennis, I had to run around picking up gifts, food and cake to bring down. I would have to say the most entertaining part of Sean's birthday party was when Linley decided to engage Hannah in a b*tch fight over the seesaw. They have an airplane seesaw, where a kid can ride on the end of each wing and a kid can ride in the center near the steering wheel. Well, poor Hannah happened to be sitting in the center seat when Linley decided it was her turn. Linley stated as such, "it's my turn!" No response from Hannah who is a very quiet little girl (unlike Linley). "IT'S MY TURN NOW!" Still no response or movement from Hannah. Big mistake. Now Linley is mad. I've always said this kid had a Napoleon complex. Always trying to prove her power though she is small. She grabs poor Hannah by the ears/checks/face and tries to pull her off the seesaw. Actually she succeeds. Hannah is now sitting on the grass crying and Linley gets in TROUBLE so she starts crying. What a little tyrant. One day she will be on UFC kicking butt. During Sean's party, I stoppoed by Val and Edzel's place for their get together. It was too bad I had already eaten because they had quite a spread out. I really wanted one of those cupcakes Val made. Too bad I'm on a quest to lose 5 lbs in 5 days. (I know, not gonna happen, especially after today...)

Today they started that promotional for the Share our Strength fund raiser. Lin and I checked out Frascati in Palos Verdes, and it was GOOD. YOu get a 3 course prix fixe meal from Sunday to Thursday of this week at the listed restaurants. Some do only lunch, some do both lunch and dinner. I had the heirloom tomates, the sea bass, and the panna cotta. YUM. Check it out: http://www.usadineout.com/Main.asp