Monthly Archives: July 2009

Wedding in Southern California

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We had an early start, leaving San Francisco at 5:30am to head to West Covina for our friends’ wedding. Ron did all the driving so that I could sleep on the way. We made good time and arrived in Arcadia around 10:30am to get some lunch. We ended up eating a bit later after waiting for some friends to meet up with us at Din Tai Fung.

We had a quick lunch of their famous dumplings:

Minced meat noodles with edamame:

Chinese tamale:

We went to the original restaurant in Arcadia (they have a 2nd store very close by) but it’s still not the same as in Taiwan.

We headed to the wedding ceremony in West Covina and although lovely, it was very long. It was our first time to a Catholic wedding that was in Vietnamese (and English). The church was decorated beautifully with these huge flower arrangements.

The bride and her dad walking up the aisle.

The smiling newly married couple.

Joshua & Phil after the ceremony.

After the two hour ceremony, Ron and I went to check in to our hotel and we both had a nap before heading to the reception in Garden Grove.

The reception was held at a hotel but it was catered by a Chinese restaurant, a first for us, this is apparently common in the OC, the hotel doesn’t require you to use their in-house catering. The reception was exceptionally large, 500-550 people, and 8 courses + wedding cake.

We were at lucky table 28.

First course: roasted chicken and shrimp salad. We all loved this salad, very refreshing and a nice creamy dressing with a little spicy kick at the end.

Second course: Shark’s Fin Crabmeat Soup.

Third course: Candied Walnut Shrimps & Shrimp Balls.

Fourth course: Assorted Meat Stuffed Duck (we weren’t sure what the “assorted” meats were…)

Fifth course: Furiwa House Special Lobster.

Sixth course: Lotus Leaf Fried Rice.

Seventh course: Hot and Sour Fish Fillet.

The last course was a plate of seasonal fruits and then we had a strawberry filled wedding cake.

It was fun to catch up with our UOP classmates and a beautiful wedding. It was one of the most unique weddings I’ve been to. For one, the size. For another, the entertainment. They had a magic show in the middle of the reception where the magician pulled out white doves, bunnies, and chickens. Also, the emcee for the wedding spoke four languages: Vietnamese, English, Mandarin, & Cantonese. They had special guest singers and and instead of just playing plain music throughout the reception, they had music videos playing on the big screens. Overall, it was pretty cool. Oh, and we were lucky, Ron ended up winning the floral centerpiece… although we have no idea what to do with it.

This is Lynne and we will be going back to LA for her wedding in September.

Looking forward to tomorrow for the good eats.

Din Tai Fung
1108 South Baldwin Ave
Arcadia, CA

Misu – so much better

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Although not a very flattering picture of me, but Ron caught this photo when he came home to find me napping… with Misu also snuggling in.

He’s still looking a bit skinny with his shaved tummy but he is putting on some weight and eating and drinking all by himself. He still loves to sit in our laps but he doesn’t look sickly anymore and he’s actually a bit more playful than before he was sick. Probably with less the weight, he’s able to move around easier to chase the laser pointer.

We’re still not sure what the stress trigger was that made him suddenly stop eating and drinking but I hope it doesn’t happen ever again.

Nordstrom Cafe Bistro

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/n…o-san-francisco

Had a good day shopping with V today. Lots of sales going on for the holiday weekend. Added a few cute dresses to my wardrobe that I am looking forward to wearing soon. After a full afternoon of shopping, we stopped by Nordstrom Cafe Bistro for dinner. Surprisingly a very cute and quiet little cafe with a nice San Francisco view especially on this clear day.

We ordered the French Onion Soup. We were actually disappointed because they ran out of calamari. It was a bit too cheesy and a bit oily but the bread in the soup with the broth was yummy.

For main entrees, we shared the nicoise salad with salmon. This was quite filling in itself as it had roasted potatoes, boiled eggs, tomatoes, green beans, olives, the salmon plus lettuce and a nice tangy vinagrette. We were pretty full after the soup and just eating this.

Lastly, the ratatouille chicken pizza. I only had one slice and there was a bit too much bread, not enough topping. Plus the middle a bit soggy due to the sauce so a bit hard to eat with your hands, more of a fork and knife kind of pizza until you get to the outer crust.

Including two iced teas, our bill came to $38 and we still had 3/4 of the pizza to take home in a doggy bag. Not sure what was so filling but we left satisfied (except upset about no calamari).

Nordstrom Cafe Bistro
865 Market Street
Level N4 (I think)

Conservatory of Flowers and July 4th Fireworks

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http://www.conservatoryofflowers.org/

For the 4th of July, we had a relaxing day. We started in the late morning with the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Admission is $5 for adults and they have this new exhibit called Edible Expeditions where they showcase edible plants. Some of the plants have fruits ripening and they also have some samples from the local market, including the stinky Durian.

Here are some my favorite flowers and plants from the conservatory.

Looks like a tortoise (used to make steroids).

The Buddha’s hand citrus.

Carnivorous plants.

It was warm and a bit humid inside. Reminded me of Singapore weather.

Afterwards, we dropped by the Fillmore Jazz Festival to check out the food and music. It was a really crowded but we were able to score some interesting eats. To comfort our growling stomachs, we started out with the garlic crab fries with a crab aioli. Probably very high in cholesterol but it hit the spot. The addition of crab was a bit weird.

To round out our meal, we shared a fried turkey leg, made me want to go to Disneyland! It’s really filling, after that, we couldn’t eat anymore.

Before heading out to watch fireworks, we headed home so that I could take a nap then we went out to dinner with friends at Chutney Restaurant, which was really crowded but worth the wait. Then we went to the Marina to wait for the fireworks to start at 9:30pm.

A couple pictures to share:

The fireworks seems more colorful this year. Unfortunately, it was a bit cloudy so the ones that hit the sky up high couldn’t be fully seen but it was still amazing as usual.

Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July!

Broaster Chicken and Transformers

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/broaster-chicken-daly-city

After a half day of work, Ron and I went out to Daly City to see if we could catch a movie. First we stopped by Broaster Chicken in Westlake since this used to be a favorite place of mine when I was little. My parents used to really love their chicken, better that KFC. It was a little strange to see they also served things like sashimi and udon, I don’t think they used to serve those items when I was a little kid.

Anyhow, we ordered the 3 pc chicken with two sides and a roll. I chose the fries and cole slaw. The fries are crinkle cut fries and the cole slaw a bit watery. The chicken was still nice and moist as I remembered it and the skin nice and crispy. It was still a bit oily, which is something I didn’t remember from childhood. It was a nostalgic lunch. Not sure if we’ll be back.

Afterwards, we went to catch Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I had heard that the movie was supposed to be bad because the plot was terrible and the transformers looked fake. So I wasn’t expecting much but I wanted to see it for myself. The movie was really long but I still enjoyed it. If only they really existed, that’d be so cool…

Broaster Chicken
341 S Mayfair Avenue (Westlake Shopping Center)
Daly City, CA