Category Archives: Asian

Simon Day 29 – Grandma’s Birthday in San Ramon

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After such a busy day yesterday, we were hoping Simon would have a good night’s sleep… it started out well when he slept from 10pm-2am but after waking up to eat and change diapers, he didn’t fall asleep again until 5am but slept until 8am. Ron took care of him for most of the time between 2 and 5am so *I* got a good night’s sleep. But I woke up at 7am worrying that Ron hadn’t slept at all and found him napping with Simon on the sofa so I sent Ron to bed and waited for Simon to wake up.


Simon started out the day with some exercise, we are starting to let him have some tummy time to strengthen his neck and arms. He basically does this exercise whenever he is laying on our chest but that’s at an easier angle then flat on his stomach. He didn’t really enjoy it that much and got kind of cranky after a while, maybe he just wasn’t in the mood… but we’ll keep on trying.

In the evening, we took a trip to San Ramon to celebrate my mom’s birthday at Koi Garden, my mom’s favorite restaurant. Simon slept on the way there and continued to sleep halfway through the meal.

He needed to release some energy so Ron helped him to practice standing. He’s very wobbly but his legs are pretty strong, he’s able to push off his feet to straighten his knees without much lifting assistance from us.

Simon’s first experience with a birthday cake… of course he’s not able to eat it yet but for sure next year!

We always have a good dinner at Koi Garden and great service. If you have a chance to visit, ask to try their lobster prepared two ways. The first way is served as an appetizer where the lobster tail is raw and sliced to be eaten as sashimi or to be poached in a light broth. The second way is the remaining of the lobster which is cooked into a Portuguese style rice which has a curry-like sauce. A very filling meal.

Simon Day 19 – Pho Tan Hoa and Sunbathing in Union Square

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Ron and I took Simon for a walk around our neighborhood. We went for lunch at Pho Tan Hoa, my first bowl of pho since Simon was born. Yay for me!

It was yummy since I hadn’t had a bowl in a while but it seemed a bit expensive. For two bowls of pho (one small and one medium bowl) and one iced coffee with condensed milk was $19.95. I was full when we left so the portion size is good. But $8 for a bowl of pho and even their spring roll appetizer (4 pieces) was $8 (so we didn’t order them) seems a bit pricey.


After lunch, we took a little stroll with Simon. We had to navigate around Glide Memorial and through the crowds that were out during this beautiful day in San Francisco. We ended up at Union Square, sitting underneath an umbrella and catch some rays (although not direct sunlight since Simon’s skin is still very sensitive) and absorb some vitamin D.

Simon has been really good on our outings, mostly because he sleeps through them. He seems to be lulled to sleep by the ride in the stroller. We just really needed to get out of the house for some fresh air since we have been cooped up in the apartment.


My parents came for a short visit this evening so we took some more pictures. Here are his cute little feet, all healed after his multiple punctures for blood tests while in the hospital.

Since Simon slept so well during the afternoon, he hasn’t been sleeping well during the evening. Apparently my dad has a calming effect on children so Simon quieted down and eventually fell asleep. But we caught one photo where he stopped squirming for a second. It seems like his hair is growing pretty quickly, when do babies need their first hair cut?

Pho Tan Hoa
431 Jones Street

Old Chicago Pizza (Petaluma) and Golden Island Cafe (San Francisco)

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Ron decided that we should take a drive out of town at least one more time before our baby is born so we headed out to Petaluma to walk around and relax. It seemed pretty quiet generally, maybe because it was a long weekend and people had left town.

We stopped by to have lunch at a place called Old Chicago Pizza. Famous for their double crust deep dish pizza, it has an extra layer of dough and extra cheese. You can only choose two toppings but the regular deep dish, you can split the pizza in half and have different toppings on each half. We chose chicken and artichoke hearts.

One piece is quite filling, even without eating the outside crust (which I couldn’t eat but was quite delicious).

We had plenty of leftovers with a medium size. Lunch for tomorrow!

The location on the restaurant is supposedly the main downtown of Petaluma and used to house a brothel! The women would entice men from the windows and as they came up the stairs, they would go into one of the small rooms in the hallway. Pretty interesting history.

We went for a walk around the outlets before heading back to San Francisco. Back in SF, we went for a snack at Golden Island Cafe which has my favorite Asian desserts. I love their tapioca desserts with fresh fruit and any of their steamed egg or milk desserts.

Ron ordered the rice balls with toasted sesame and ground peanuts and syrup. Not exactly what he wanted as he likes it with nuts inside the rice balls.

I ordered the steamed egg custard with ginger. These take about 15 minutes to steam and come out super hot. I love the bit of spiciness from the ginger and the creamy texture.

It was getting cold outside so it was also good to end the day with a warm dessert.

Old Chicago Pizza
41 Petaluma Blvd N
Petaluma, CA 94952


Golden Island Cafe
1300 Noriega St
(between 20th Ave & 21st Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94122

Kukje Market – The Restaurant

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/k…urant-daly-city

We spent Valentine’s Day at Babies R Us checking out the new baby strollers and adding last minute things onto our baby registry. Afterwards we decided to have lunch at the restaurant inside Kukje Market. We heard the tofu soup was really good.

Of the appetizers, the seaweed and squid/cuttlefish was really good. They kindly refilled all of them too.

We ordered the kalbi, meat was very tender. On weekends, the serving size is the “dinner” size even for lunch so a bit more expensive.

The seafood tofu soup. Ron is putting the egg in it. You can choose how spicy and we chose hot. Lots of clams and a few shrimps. The heat was just right, we love spicy food.

We picked up some supplies at the market to last us for a week or two but will have to do some more shopping before the baby comes because I’m not sure how often we’ll be going out once he’s here.


Kukje Market – The Restaurant
2350 Junipero Serra Blvd

Jollibee

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http://www.jollibee.com.ph/

We had lunch at Jollibee today after watching Valentine’s Day. It was the first time we tried their food but weren’t very impressed so probably won’t go back.

It was kind of expensive too. This is one of their meals, a piece of fried chicken and Palabok (not exactly sure how to describe this but it is a noodle dish) with a drink. I think this was $8.

We also ordered a corned beef sandwich for 99 cents and a bowl of noodles.

Afterwards to cheer up my tummy a bit, we walked to Blue Bottle to get a latte.

We probably won’t be returning to Jollibee but then they do have a Spam sandwich for 99 cents so may go back to try that.

Jollibee
200 4th Street