Emma on Cats on Tuesday

EMMA: Mama said, "No peeking on the bag, Emma!". I didn't peek. I just sit there quietly and patiently for her to unload what's on the bag. I would be really unhappy if there is no treat for me inside :)

I am linking to CATS ON TUESDAY.

Reminiscing

It's almost 11 pm Sunday night and tomorrow is Memorial Day - a federal holiday which means we don't go to work, and here I am blogging about something from my Barcelona trip from November 2009.

I was moving my albums from one external drive to another - a bigger one that's 1 terabyte capacity - when I aimlessly opened one of the albums and the image of food popped on the screen.  My husband who's reading the papers in bed and watching tv and surfing at the same time glanced at where I am (he's behind me) and immediately recognized the image on the pc.

Did you know that we stayed in a dormitory in Barcelona for 3 days?  We were looking for a bargain, since we were afraid that we'd bust our budget on a 3 week Europe vacation.

The choice to stay in a dorm was better than staying in a hostel for us.  The dorm was located inside the University of Barcelona Mundet campus - easily accessible by subway.

We have our own room, a  large room in fact with two beds, a tv, small ref, and the bathroom was furnished with towels and little soap.

Apparently here families come to visit and they stay in this part of the building.  The private rooms were separate from the accommodations used by the students.  So while you hear all the ruckus (music to my ears) in the "living room" once you take the hallway to the private rooms, it's pretty quiet and you'd actually forget you live in a dorm.  Many post grad students stay here too.  As a matter of fact I have seen many families stay there while we were there.

Another good thing aside from the affordable price is that it includes free breakfast.  The dining room is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  But only breakfast was included in the price.

What a buffet it was - one side is all bread of different kinds, crusty bread, rolls, savory kinds and even plain sliced white bread.  There is an area for meats, but the most enjoyable was the bacon, it's totally different and tasty. It wasn't crunchy like the ones back home but soft and a little greasy, but not the greasy kind like we know.  Then there are fruits to choose from and omelets and cereals.  And their coffee machine is to die for.  It's a vending machine kind but it makes the best coffee.  I o'd on the coffee - cafe au lait. 

I couldn't find the rest of the images I took of the spread, what I found were the plates we savored.  Enjoy!









Would you consider staying in a dorm while traveling?

Street Photography #9

Some thoughts:

• Our anniversary trip went as planned, and the hotel we stayed in was really niiiice!  A 4-star hotel and we got it quite cheap because of Travelzoo discount.  The hotel was centrally located in the downtown area, walking distance to almost everything.  We walked to the farmers market - a block away - and reached the Old Fisherman's Wharf for a little sightseeing without taking the car out of the garage.  Plus the hotel room was beautiful and it has windows with window seating looking out to the plaza and the wharf. (I better go back here!) Also included in the package was a 3-course dinner for two.  The food was spectacular and the portions are humongous.  The ambiance was cozy and old worldly.  The lobby is just to die for.  Needless to say I was blown away by this hotel and spa.  After all I am a budget traveler and I veer myself away from accommodations that has a star attached to it like an asterisk.  But I'm glad we stayed here this time.
• The planned luncheon at RED HOUSE CAFE didn't materialize, because there was a line outside waiting to be seated.  I didn't want to wait.  I thought it was a waste of time.  So we drove around and thought we'd go get either Afghan food or Mediterranean food.  Instead we passed by this small hole in the wall PAPRICA CAFE that serves delicious Lebanese food.  After sampling some Lebanese food the evening before at the farmer's market, our appetite was whetted for more of these delicious flavors.  It was a great idea to skip American food via Red House Cafe and venture off farther into the road towards Monterey and without plan stop here.  Needless to stay we were fed well for a small price.  I'm sure I'll post the pictures somehow.
• I am contemplating on creating a new blog - a separate one for Buster and Emma. 
• No plans for this three-day weekend, although we have been invited to a bbq at my husband's co-worker's house.  They bought the house a few months ago and I think this shindig will be like a housewarming kind. 
• I'm having surgery again, this time on an out-patient basis.  Hopefully, no complications will arise. 

A Week Without A Post

A week without a post, how did that happen?

Anyway, we all know that all bloggers have off line lives and they sometimes get really hectic. The poor blogger finds himself/herself being pulled in both directions. And more often than not it's the blog that has to be let go. Enough, let me just tell you what has transpired in the almost one week I was out of blogging here.

• Emma and Buster took their scheduled showers this weekend.  Buster didn't knew what hit him really.  But Emma knew.  She saw Buster and when it was her turn she politely declined.  I let her get her way - for bit - and when she thought her turn wasn't coming - boom, we took her to get her shower.  They smell fresh now.  It was in time with changing our bedsheets.  
• Was planning on watching Thor over the weekend, but wasn't feeling it.  Did I miss a lot?
• Been watching and following the San Jose Sharks (the local hockey team).  Unfortunately, they are getting beaten by the more powerful and experienced Vancouver Canucks.  You should see my friend from Vancouver's FB status posts regarding the Canucks' victories :(
• Loving baseball on tv just like before.  I love my Giants.
• Big NEWS - I finally got my DSLR - there goes my tax refund.  Loving the test shots so far.  Still need to learn how to use it but am so excited.
• Blue Ray players were on sale and we snagged one.  This blogger is dumb dumb when it comes to technology.  Who knew blue ray players are now wi-fi enabled and you can access your Netflix thru it?  Not I? I thought when I heard the wi-fi on the packaging, I could watch You Tube videos thru it :)
• Another purchase - a waffle maker - it was on sale.  So on Sunday night, we had waffle and bacon and eggs for dinner.  I don't need to go out for waffles now.
• Anybody surprised that it was Scotty and Lauren in the finals.  I am talking about American Idol for those who has been living under a rock.
• I got an invite. My niece's son is turning one. I haven't even seen the baby yet and he's one already!
• I just found out that my cousin's daughter has a blog.  My, the girl can write too :) Must be in the genes.
• My little furbabies are sleeping in the bed as I write this post while hubs is in a church meeting.
• Looking forward to a lovely two days.  Driving down to Monterey tomorrow for our anniversary get-away.  Looks like we are creating a tradition here.  We went to Monterey last year and had an anniversary eve dinner at a tapas place and had anniversary lunch at this little cafe - RED HOUSE CAFE.  This year I told my husband we are going there again and I will plan to order the same food I had last year.  He was game with that plan of mine. And of course I plan to test out some more this new DSLR of mine. I suppose I need to name it right?
• I know it's a quick get-away, but I am hoping I can get some rest while there.
• I guess I'm missing the CATS ON TUESDAY post. 

See y'all later.

Buster's Corner on Cats on Tuesday

Yesterday, May 16th, was my birthday. My FIRST birthday. I'll show you how I spent my day:


I ate like 25 times that day :)


Slept cuddled in blanket - it was a rainy cold day in May in California - go figure!


I played with my favorite toys - plastic bag and mousie.


Played hide and seek.


Lounged about with my fave magazine. [sorry about the image, mommy is trying her hand at editing photos. here she tries to put gausian blur on the back ground. mommy needs more practice.]


And when mommy came from work - I got the best belly rub EVER!!! My birthday rocked!!! Needless to say I also was treated with extra helpings of treats. Happy birthday to me!!!!

I am linking to CATS ON TUESDAY.

Another Weekend That Whizzed By

I was planning on blogging last evening but change of plans prevented me from doing so.  As usual weekends are full of activities or chores.  I see that on blogosphere, my fellow bloggers were doing some cleaning up.  As did I.  Here's a list of what my weekend consisted of:

• Saturday was devoted to cleaning and gardening.  Husband and a hired help pulled out weeds (hubs took out his weed whacker - his toy) and made my front yard pretty decent.  They also planted on the front yard some of the potted kalanchoe plants that we have for years now. Glad they finally got planted on the ground.  Also the rose bush that we dug up and brought here when we moved almost two years ago went into the ground as well. 
• I vacuumed the downstairs while the two cats stayed upstairs.  They are afraid of vacuum and hair dryer.  I think it's the loud noise that spook them.
• We finally got out of the house about 5:30 pm for some shopping.  Our first stop was Best Buy to check on the DSLRs.  I already purchased one online and in a matter of days it will be in my hands (yay).  Next was Costco, but we forgot that this warehouse closes early on the weekends so when we got there it was closed.  Final stop was Fry's electronics for more DSLR checking to make sure we made a good buy.  And oh, we had to stop by and buy some groceries too.  Luckily 99 Ranch Market is in the same center as Frys. 
• Sunday was as busy.  Church first.  After the service, the congregation stayed to clean out (weed, sweep, prune) the garden, which was fun.  Hotdogs and chips followed. 
• Before heading home from church, I convinced hubby to swing by Walmart to pick up some treats for the cats.  Today, May 16th is Buster's first birthday and I intend to spoil them rotten with some extra treats today.
• And a weekend is not complete without a stop at Home Depot.  My husband always find something he needs in Home Depot.
• Then it was more vacuuming and cleaning and laundry.  Fun weekend right?
• By 4 pm, back to church we went for a talk and slide show on Israel-Palestine conflict.  For someone like me who is ignoramus about this long-standing feud, this session was very educational.  I intend to read up more on this.
• The talk ran long, it was 6 pm when we arrived home and we were expecting our friends for dinner.  Hurriedly I put something on the pan and husband kept the microwave working. Luckily we had everything planned - only reheating is needed.  We weren't home for 10 minutes when our friends showed up and a lovely evening was had by all.  No wine, but beer was the beverage of choice for the evening. 
• And my weekend ended with the two-hour season finale of Desperate Housewives on the tube and I was cramming for a post for my photo blog. 
• The End.

Iris Loving

I have posted an entire post on my visit to the iris farm in my blog. But I couldn't post all the beautiful irises in one post. So here, a feast to the eyes.







It was a breezy day that's why the flowers don't seem to stand still. :)