Late Q1 Visit
One of our New Year’s Resolutions is to visit the parents once per quarter. We were a little late but April is better than not at all. The first thing I noticed when we arrived in Cerritos was the warmth. I was outside with shorts, a t-shirt, and no hoodie. Aaaahhh…we lucked out on being home during a sunny 83-degree weekend. Even the dog enjoyed it. I took him out to the backyard and we lounged out in the sun.
On Saturday, we had lunch with Jes’ parents. We met up at a Chinese restaurant in Garden Grove and had a tasty tasty Chinese beef burrito that was fried. Mmm…
On Sunday, I took Jes back to Mitsuwa for his favorite bowl of ramen. He was afraid that it had been so long that the hype in his head was just that, hype. But it wasn’t! It’s still ranked #1.
After lunch we stopped at the Irvine house to check on it. It was really weird driving through the neighborhood and stepping into our little birdhouse again 4 years later. I was so happy to see my Japanese maple tree alive and HUGE! We cleaned up the pond and the neighbors came by to hang out like old times. Hopefully we’ll have renters soon.
On Sunday afternoon, we met up with the family for a big Thai feast. It was so nice to hang out with the cousins and their kids again. Makes me miss being away from them even more after I leave.
On Monday morning I had to get up really early to get to the BMW dealership to get our brakes checked. We got a big red warning light on the way down and it seemed pretty serious. It’s a good thing we got it checked out because we had to replace the brake pads AND rotors. Ouch. I guess it was a good thing we took Monday off.
The drive up and down I-5 was long and boring but totally worth it. 2nd Quarter ends in June and we’re due for another visit. Hm…when can we drive down again? I’ll keep you posted.
Here are photos from the weekend (and the Janet concert).
That evening as the boys were finishing up their WoW game, I took Jia to a Yelp Elite Event for some free cupcakes.
On Thursday, after sleeping in, I took Jason and Jia to the Ferry Plaza where we met up with Jes in front of the Roli Roti truck for a porchetta sammich.
Jes went back to work and we stayed to walk around the Ferry Plaza.
For the afternoon, we took a drive across the GG Bridge to Sausalito.
We got back in time for dinner at La Briciola and then went to the CA Academy of Science for their evening event. On Thursday nights, they open the Academy for a few hours and feature DJs and serve alcohol. It was definitely a different feel with no kids around and most of the exhibits didn’t have their lights on.
We made it into the Rainforest before they cut off the line and then spent the rest of the night in the aquarium downstairs.
As most of you know, Hubs does most of the cooking in this house. It all started when he was a victim of the 2001 Dot-Com Bust and spent a few months in the apartment unemployed and watching hours of the Food Network. He learned the proper way to use a knife (and how to buy a good one), learned how to make sauces, and grilled a mean steak.
Ten years later, he’s still kickin’ butt and these past couple days were no different. On Sunday, I was treated to 
Tonight, I came home from work on Presidents’ Day to a husband massaging an organic chicken in butter and rosemary preparing a hybrid of Thomas Keller’s Roast Chicken Recipe and Smashed Potato Recipe from our 
Every time I shop at 99 Ranch Market, I see the wood ear mushrooms and it makes me think of a dish that my mommy makes. It’s one of my favorite dishes from my childhood and I actually made it tonight! I made a call to the Magical House and got a rough list of ingredients and some instructions. It’s basically a combination of ginger, chicken, wood ear mushrooms, and pineapple cooked in a vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce mixture. It’s so simple yet it’s a combination of flavors that you wouldn’t imaging together in one dish. Yum Yum. Jes tried it for the first time today and he was pleasantly surprised. I don’t know why he’s so shocked every time I make something delicious. I think he forgets that I was raised in the Magical House. Some of the “magic” HAD to have rubbed off over the years. Heh heh.
One summer…a long time ago, I went to a church retreat with Jes and his family. Someone forgot to pack a toothbrush so I drove Jes and his brother to the local grocery store. There we found a gumball machine that was selling tiny ninjas in those plastic capsules. The brothers were delighted and we spent countless quarters trying to get every color and every kind. They still reminisce about that afternoon and I think Jason still has one of them. 
I bring this up because I just saw this photo on Kenji’s facebook page and couldn’t help thinking back to that afternoon. I guess boys will be boys no matter what generation. By the way, I want these Lego ninjas.
We had a really beautiful Saturday afternoon and I was able to get a little Vitamin D today. Jes and I walked down to Ferry Plaza in search of a tasty lunch. This is the rocket that has been on display on The Embarcadero. Jack calls it “Uncle Jesse’s Rocket”.
After striking out on the Porchetta sammich (sold out), we waited in line for a table at 
Then we had a roasted Dungeness Crab that looked like a massacre after we were done. I made a fat mess on the table and my hands were covered in crab juice and butter. Tasty.
For the last course, we shared my favorite clam chowder in the whole-wide world. It was so yummy.
After this seafood feast and two drinks each, we were stuffed and oh so happy.
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