5/28/09

I feel a whole lot better, psychologically, after talking to a co-worker. Physically, I feel yucky. So why does my psych side feel better? It's because I found some sympathetic ears to listen to my "pains". Apparently, there are quite a few of us here at work that suffer from allergies really bad. I thought I was the only one. I shared my aches, she shared hers. And guess what? We have the same symptoms. It does feel great to find "support" where one does not expect.

Anyway, for the past three days I have been enjoying Live with Regis and Kelly's AI guests, one after the other. Today, they had Danny Gokey and surprisingly, he was very charming. Well, he charmed me. I have abandoned my support for him midway thru the comptetion because somehow he rubbed me the wrong way after my initial liking to his earlier performances. Anyway, he was a darling today. So were Kris on Tuesday and Adam yesterday.

What else is there to share? Oh yeah we had a glorious Memorial Day weekend. Let me see if I can remember what we did and make a day to day reporting.

Saturday: Finally got a chance to see Wolverine. I know, it's been playing for over a month and we just didn't have time to see it until today. I thought the theatre would be empty but it wasn't. Apparently there are people like us who don't rush to see the movies when they first get out. The movie itself was okay, so-so, nothing to write home about. The thing with prequels is that I want to see more, but of course more is already been shown, this after all is a prequel. That part I have to get used to. I want to see my movies/stories played out chronologically, :)

When the movie was over and hubs was driving home, we didn't have plans, he had a spur of the moment thought. The theatre was a few yards away from Ground Round, a restaurant and he wanted to have some "happy hour" drinks and appetizers. I was "lets go then" with this idea. And he turned the car around and we sat down to chow down on a monstrous nachos platter (1/2 price during happy hour, thank you), and sipping our 1/2 price margaritas, oh so yummy.
With all that food, we knew no dinner for us that day.

Our we had no plans but movies day took another wonderful turn after the happy hour chow. We decided to drive another 10 miles to kill time at Ikea. This is a "research" outing, we told ourselves. We are after all going to be fixing some rooms in the house and we needed to scout out prices, designs, color schemes, etc, etc, etc.

Every trip to Ikea (because of their rarity I think) is well anticipated. I feel tingling. I like touching, feeling, enjoying, imagining myself in those showrooms. Except that some of the sofas are way too much for our budget. And since we've been watching a lot of DIY and HG TV lately, it was a hoot to see the same curtains and chairs and other home items that those two tv network's renovation shows use. They go to Ikea, just like everyone. Needless to say, those were great 2 hours or so of browsing. I love Ikea!!!!


Sunday: Went to church and everyone was greeting us happy anniversary. I was dumbfounded at first how could they know until I got the church bulletin and it's right there. Our anniversary in black for everyone to read. I just smiled and we got loads of hugs and greetings.

We promised to take Mom to this "new" Chinese (Hongkong-ese) restaurant in the next city. New to us since this was our first time to eat there. The restaurant was located in a nondescript strip mall that would easily be missed if one isn't really looking for it. But the food was cheap, tasty, and portions were generous. Also one of the dishes could have passed for a Filipino dish. I will try to copy that dish. I already have the ingredients in the house. Wish me luck.

Oh I did not mention that Sunday was cloudy, cold, grey, and felt like it was Thanksgiving holiday instead of Memorial Day holiday? Well, it was cold. One of the coldest Memorial Day weekend I can remember. And after a full stomach, we have nothing penciled in for the rest of the afternoon/day so what did we do? Snooze, naptime. I haven't napped in a long time. I think I went to sleep ahead of husband, but I remember waking up around 7 pm, about 5 hours of nap time. That's no longer considered a nap, does it? Anyway, we did watch a little bit of tv in bed until it was time to get up and fix dinner. Oh this Sunday was food and sleep and church. Good combination don't you think?

Monday: Happy Memorial Day! It was also our 2nd wedding anniversary. We planned on eating out and maybe take in a little walk or sightsee around the city, be a tourist in our own backyard. So we drove out to the city and found ourselves scouting places first, like where is Canto do Brasil, a Brazilian restaurant that we have been wanting to eat forever. And driving over to Chinatown/North Beach neighborhood for the much ballyhoed The House restaurant. Up until that last minute, we were conflicted and unsure which of the two we were going to have dinner at. Nope we did not make any reservations. We thought it was a Monday, a holiday so people would not really be eating out at this day and we could easily get seated, we thought.

Once we found where those two were located we decided to visit Mission Dolores, one of the 21 Missions all over Calfornia. A few years ago, I embarked on a mission to see all the Missions. I got to see 5, but we never got around to see the one in San Francisco, the closest in distance. We tried before, but we got lost, never really went to see mapquest, just drove around town and we never got to see it. So on this day, we not only found it, we even went inside and paid our 5 dollar do it yourself tour. Another mission checked off the list. I will be posting a series on this in my photo blog. Needless to say, I love the tour. What's not to love?

After the Mission (tour) was accomplished, we drove off to the waterfront, near the hilly area going to Fort Mason. Luck was on our side as we easily found a parking spot by the water. We walked up the hill and stopping every few feet to snap a picture from every angle, shooting photos of Frisco's waterfront, the boats, the Rock, the fishermen, the beautiful blue sky, etc. May I just tell up front that before arriving in the waterfront I was already famished? I didn't think I could wait for dinner, but we were bent on getting some exercise by walking up the hill. When we finished snapping up the hill, we came down and walked the length of the pier where fishermen were aplenty. Tourists from Vienna remarked the weather was very nice, since it was very cold in Vienna when they left. Again, photos will be posted on my photoblog.

Finally it was time to eat. It was past 5 pm. I know, we dine like early birds. But my rule is when eating out it's best to eat early because one tends to overeat when going out and a heavy stomach is a hassle when one needs to sleep.

We found our way back to Canto do Brasil, but it was CLOSED! The website did not specify that it was going to be closed on this Monday. It said on its site that it's open Mondays. Then hubs remembered seeing Espetus a couple of blocks away, another Brazilian restaurant (I yelped about my experience). It was a buffet restaurant we found out. After a slight hesitation we did go in and eat. I have a difficult time making restaurant reviews, but this I will say about the restaurant (google it and youll know more). The servers are wonderful, polite, and friendly. The atmosphere both catered to intimate dining and group dining. The noise level was minimal. The white table cloth set up feels pricey (it is!). And for the food. There is a salad station at the back where they served more than 10 ( I did not count because I did not sample them all) different salad dishes, soups, rice dishes and some more that I did not investigate. Once you get your food, they will deliver an appetizer dish on your table. The one by one men in with speared meat (14 varieties in all) come to your table and slice off a piece of that roasted meat to your plate. If you want you can make them not come to your table by flipping the red thingy on your table. If you want to have more meat switch the tab to green and meat will be coming to the table again. The meats (lamb, beef, chicken, pork) in various varieties are a carnivorous delight. I didn't really get all the names, but the filet was juicy; the grilled prawns was sweet and delicious, the lamb was outstanding. I did not try the chicken hearts. A little piece of advice, come here starving. I was starving but I got full too quickly. I think my stomach has shrunk, thank you very much. But everything was wonderful. For the price, well you know what they say, you get what you pay for, well, it was $50 p/p. We had a tab of $120 + because we tried the Brazilian beer, which was dark and sweet and yummy. I hope that brand is available in BevMo.

So with stomach full of glorious meats, and my brain still playing the beautiful landscape that is the San Francisco waterfront, we drove home to put an end to this glorious Memorial Day, our second wedding anniversary.

05/21/09

Finally, the end has come. A new Idol was crowned. And the 2-hour extravaganza known as the Idol Finale results show featured both wow and boo moments.

WOW: Adam Lambert and Kiss. I totally agree with people who write for a living regarding Adam trying to bring back the metal rock. I am not a metal rock fan nor was I in the know during the Kiss reign of musicdom, but the performance last night was fantastic.

BOO: No solo for Anoop Desai. Not even a duet with some personality. Singing with another female Idol top 13 contestant (sorry cant remember her name) and Jason Mraz does not count. Also wanting a solo from Matt Giraud.

BOO: Idol special awards. Did not want to see that again. Ever. Did not want see bikini girl again. But that thing with Kara singing and disrobing (okay just a peek) was both a surprise and a hoot. Love the bravado of that girl Kara.

WOW: Really enjoyed the bluegrass of Megan and whats-his-name being accompanied by banjo playing Steve Martin who also penned the song. Maybe Megan should do blue grass.

WOW: Season 7 Idol David Cook singing. Love that boy. Enough said.

BOO: The group songs. Usually this is my fave part, not this year. And that includes the girls with Fergie.

WOW: Cyndi Lauper and Allison Iraheta. If you saw the show you know why. If you didn't go find it on You Tube it's bound to be there.

BOO: Mainly becasue I wanted to see him with last year's winner on last year's results show, Lionel Richie and Gokey.

WOW: Queen with the top 2. How very cool is that?????Totally outrageous!!!!!

Now to the results. I knew who won before the show even started to be shown here in the West Coast. That's what you get when they delay the showing here, all over the cyberspace the winner is announced. While I may have felt a tinge of disappointment, my husband was sure that Kris Allen was going to win. He gave me some reasons as to why he reached that conclusion. I just wasn't listening. Nor was I interested in hearing it. I guess I thought everyone was like me embracing the uniqueness of Adams' personality and enjoying his extensive range and talent. Oh well, Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson have shown that it doesn't take an Idol trophy to make it big time. I'm sure that Adam is going to fly high in his career. Can't wait to hear his first single.

And btw, that winning song, No Boundaries, sucks big time.

Before I end this post, I would like to list down my three favorite performances during the finale since the time I started watching AI, which was on Season 4 (Carrie-Bo season).

• Bo with Lynyrd Skynyrd doing the South's anthem, Sweet Home Alabama.


• David Cook with ZZ Top doing Sharp Dressed Man.


• Adam Lambert with Kiss last night, amazing!

P.S. Thank God for Blogger saving my post. I accidentally exited the screen without saving and I was freaking out, but thankfully Blogger is autosaving the posts. Thanks Blogger!

05/19/09

Two more hours before AI finale here in the West Coast. I can't wait.

A few more words regarding tv finales and this time for the series finale of Prison Break aired last Friday, 5/15/09. Two hours to tie up loose ends, kill the bad guys, send the rapist back to prison, catch the mastermind, and get the lovebirds together forever. Except that there wasn't a forever for the protagonist, Michael, whose cancer (brain tumor) made a come-back in the two-hour finale, leaving Sara with their son also named Michael to end the series.

Overall, it wasn't bad. It was a clean end I thought. Okay, where will Wentworth Miller show up next? I need my Wentworth fix. Now where will I get it?

5/14/09

And so the stage is set for next week's AI finale. Are you like me, did you get thrown a curve ball by the results? Okay, as much as I have been a vocal supporter of the talent that is ADAM LAMBERT, I was shocked that it was GOKEY who had to go. I always thought that Adam's gothic character is not for everyone and that not all appreciated his uniqueness, so I always believed that his talent will get him thru this far, but would not see the finale (such faith ha). Hey, I did expect KRIS ALLEN to be in the finals. Yap, I believed there is always a twist to the cast of the FINAL TWO. I guess, that's it then. Next week we get to see the coronation of ADAM LAMBERT as the next AI. Bold prediction for someone who doesn't cast a single vote.
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Oh Juliet my Juliet, it is YOU who they killed off. Wait a minute, this is LOST, the ones who died have been resurrected so I wouldnt put it past these genuises behind LOST that Juliet may not really be dead afterall, say in 30 years or something :). But what a season finale it was. I still need to see it one more time to fully grasp what's going on, what happened, what, what, what. It's really hard to follow especially with LOST when I'm flipping channels between LOST and AI. Just a request, network execs could you not put their timeslot against each other please.
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I tell you this is the Steroid Age of Baseball. Please don't be surprised if another one gets uncovered as a user/former user. I wonder if these users are Hall of Fame-bound, whaddya all think?
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More finales to come, two that I am most interested in. First, Grey's Anatomy tonight. I hope they don't kill off Izzie, despite all the stuff that the actor playing the character had said about the writers of the show. Keep Izzie alive.

Second and most important, it's the series finale for PRISON BREAK. Where can I find some spoilers? Not that I'd really seek out to find them, but I wonder how they are finally going to end this journey of the brothers. I want a wedding scene for Mi-Sa. I can't wait for Friday night.

5/12/09

On Saturday, my husband persuaded me (gave me no choice, that's what it was) to tag along as he oversaw the inspection of the house, which lasted about 2 to 2.5 hours. Plenty of things we both learned, which will be really helpful in our future plans.

A visit to the Parkers quickly followed after the inspection. I didn't realize that the Mister is back home after a year in a rehab facility, where we used to visit him. But I was glad. The Misis who still is not 100% healthwise was not as enthusiastic about the Mister's return as I was. Understandably so, it is really hard to take care of someone when you yourself is feeling lousy and is in constant pain. The good news was that the Mister was in his element, his brain was functioning, he was cognizant of what we were discussing and was able to hand out wise advise about something my husband needed guidance with. It's always nice to be with them. In the past before their health scares, they were always bickering (like any old couple do in front of other people) about everything, which I thought was very cute. Now it's like they have really lost a lot of their zest for life. Anyway, once summer comes and everything is warm, I'm sure their mood and health would perk up too.

Their house also makes me feel so at home each time I come for a visit. It must be the eclectic design; the mishmash of original artwork from paintings to stitching to quilts and dreamcatchers scattered everywhere on the walls, in the cabinets, on top of the tv bureau, on the bathroom door, by the mantle, everywhere there is art. Misis has creative hands, has taught quilting, and participates in local art festivals. And there are cookbooks all over the house too. I love the lived in feel of it. I also love the floor plan and the view is worth million dollars. When the sun comes down and the lights go on, their living room and dining room view is that of the bay awash in bright lights, unbelievably stunning, like jewels inside a dark cave. I wish I could buy this house someday; but there is one thing that is missing, a substantial backyard for hubby's future vegetable garden or for my flowering plots.

On Sunday hubs and I planned on taking mom to church at 10 am then straight to SF Chinatown for some dimsum and then some (old joke I know). But we missed the 10 am mass, which meant we had to take the 10:30 am mass at another church. Midway through the mass, I spotted my brother's family inside the church. After the service and the hugs and kisses and greetings of happy mother's day, they invited us to join them for lunch. I politely declined. They asked hubs, he declined as well. It was mother's decision that mattered because she was the mother and it was her day, she said yes. We had a nice meal with the family.

When lunch was over, we hurried home. Both hubs and I were really tired and sleepy. He began to read the papers in bed while I blogged (activity of choice each single free time I have). After some time, it was time to visit our other "parents". They said they missed us and asked what took us so long to see them again. Of course they were well aware of what's been keeping us from coming over, but they still want to get the whole story straight from us.

I was expecting to go home with lemons (their backyard is filled with fruit trees), but surprisingly the lemon trees were without fruits. The loquat (is that how it's spelled?) however is rife with fruits. I've been coming here for years and have not seen this mature tree, nor did I notice in the past that it bore fruits. Loquat is good, tart, but good. I love it.

The remaining part of the Sunday was spent in Home Depot checking out chandeliers, paints, carpets, doors, everything and anything.

We closed the weekend with Desperate Housewife and Brothers and Sisters.

I hope the next weekend will afford me time to finally get to the loads and loads of ironing that's been set on the side for a couple of weeks now. However, tentative plans for the weekend include Yosemite. I think my clothes will remain wrinkled for another week.

05/03/09

Just gotten back from visiting with my friends whose husband recently got back from a month-long trip to China, HK, and the Philippines. So, you know what happens when someone just got back from a trip, we viewed his photos from these countries. He gushed about the beauty of Cebu and Davao, and marveled us with his surprisingly great captures. I was drooling with envy. I am the Filipino here and I haven't even seen that part of my country. Shame on me. I really must start considering a visit to my homeland, a visit that my husband is expecting for years now.

Has anybody seen the Pacquiao-Hatton fight? I think I have seen all of the two rounds via ESPN news. Oh I don't envy those who ordered the fight. They didn't get their money's worth, I thought. Anyway, the results was to my liking. He's really good, isn't he?

I wrote about my short NY trip here and here. Needless to say, what little time I spent there I enjoyed it. It's not a place I would consider living permanently (too rushed for my taste), but an exciting place to visit. I may return some day to hit the other places I had no time to see on this trip.

About the wedding, it was a wonderful ceremony. The bride looked gorgeous. The groom looked regal. And the people (friends and family) were very nice and treated me and my husband with unrivaled hospitality. And I know that we made friends for life. I just don't know when we will see them again.

So when I got back from the NY trip, I found myself busy at work. Not with work related stuff, but with the baby shower we were throwing for a co-worker. Anyway, it went well, thankfully, as any potlucks we have at work.

Before I end this post, I need to say what a lousy result day it was last week for me when Adam Lambert landed in the bottom two. Really?