Browse Category: yum

Are there peanuts in this?

We drove about 8 hours to get to Chiang Mai, which is in Northern Thailand. The weather is milder and the people are very nice here. We had dinner at this outdoor place and got a Singha Tower, which is a large beer dispenser that holds about 3 liters of beer and has a spout at the bottom. We’ve had so much to eat and Jes is getting his fill of spicy foods. Johnny is also having to ask all the time, “are there peanuts in this?” I think the joke never gets old.

Anyway, we went to visit an Elephant Camp today and got to hang out with them up-close and feed them bananas and sugar cane. They also had a baby elephant that was born December 22nd so he wasn’t older than a couple weeks. He walked kinda funny but already knew how to use his trunk…very cute.

Happy New Year!!

On Friday we woke up early and drove to Kanchanaburi. We had some noodles for 20 baht (50 cents) and went to eat bbq chicken at Erawan Waterfall. Unfortunately, when we went up to see each level of the waterfall, I got separated and ended up going all the way up to the 6th level while my dad, brother, and Jes frantically searched for me at the 3rd level. We all had dinner on a floating house that was towed down the river by a speedboat. We actually crashed a company holiday party that my dad’s childhood friend was throwing for his employees. The food was great, they have Johnny Walker Black for Jes, and my brother and I enjoyed the vodka that we smuggled in a water bottle. We got a taste of Thai music and how they dance…very interesting but cool at the same time. Spent the night at my dad’s friends vacation home by the river.
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Today Johnny went to play golf at 6 am. We went to have breakfast out on the street…rice porridge and Chinese donuts for 12 baht (30 cents)…awesome. We later visited the Bridge over the River Kwai…pretty cheesy. Brought some fruit back to the house: green mango and fresh pineapple. They were 15 baht per bag. Man, food is cheap here. Drove back to Bangkok and got some photos of my mom’s old house while Jes, Johnny, and my dad got haircuts. Now we’re in the mall and will be trying to find some New Year festivities. Happy 2006 everyone!

More cheese, please

In keeping with the American spirit of gluttony and obesity, Jes, Jason, and I went to The Melting Pot last night for some fondue.
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The only other time I’ve had fondue was in Costa Rica and it was alright. It was more fun just eating with friends. Well, this place has been in Irvine for about 3 years, which is as long as we’ve lived in Irvine. We’ve attempted to try it several times and each time we get thrown out because we don’t have reservations. I must be dumb or just unaware of the popularity because each time the girl at the front desk scowls at me and says, “Uh, guests normally need to make reservations at least a week in advance”. In response to her statement I am sincerely shocked and have actually said to her, “REALLY?!”. Then I walk away saying, “But it’s just fondue!” Apparently fondue IS popular and I really DO need to make a reservation. *sigh*
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Well, I actually picked up the phone last week and made a reservation. When we arrived, the girl at the front shouted out, “Do you have a reservation?!” I smiled and said, “Why yes we do!” At our seat, the waiter was very thorough with his description of the menu and we decided to go with everything…cheese, meats, seafood, chocolate, you name it! Let the gluttony begin!!
The swiss cheese was really good…so good that we asked for more and ended up paying for another whole order. Oh well, the boys managed to finish it anyways. The meats and seafood were cooked in a burgundy wine concoction and I think the butter sauce was the winner out of the 8 choices we had. Dessert included marshmallows, strawberries, pineable, pound cake, brownie, and cheesecake dipped in melted milk chocolate. That was very yummy.
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Overall, the experience was fun and the food was tasty. It’s a nice place for a group of friends on a special occasion. I also wouldn’t recommend going if you’re in a time crunch. You’ll have to plan on a nice long 3-hour dinner at this place and be prepared to waddle your way back to the car with post-gorging discomfort on the ride home.

Pre-Christmas Activites

Jason is home for the holidays and he’s staying with us until we leave for Thailand. Since he missed out on the Thanksgiving Roast, Jes made another one this weekend. It was a nice pre-Christmas dinner. The Standing Rib Roast was yummy and Jes made all the fixings including the real Lawry’s recipe for Creamed Corn.
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I also hung out with Marie and Cole for some last minute preparation for her Christmas trip to New York. Cole was in an extremely good mood today, which made shopping and lunch much easier. In fact, during lunch Cole was the life of the party. He sat in his high chair and kept turning around to smile and interact with the people eating at the tables nearby.

Santa’s Scary

When I was a little kid I used to be scared of the Disney characters at Disneyland. I was also scared of Santa. I remember when my mom would ask if I wanted to take a picture with Santa I would answer with an immediate “NO!”. Can you blame me?! Imagine being no taller than 3 feet and having to sit on the lap of a big hairy man dressed in all red? Well, I relived those moments today through Cole’s eyes. We parked the stroller, got in line with everyone else, and waited our turn. Cole was in a pretty good mood and didn’t react to the big red man seated before him. But when it came time to actually sit on the dude’s lap, he sorta freaked out. He took one close look at his big white beard and wanted out! Marie just wanted one photo of him with Santa but I think I ended up with 4 shots of him crying and then finally one of him looking semi-calm. Poor Taku-chan…maybe we’ll try Disneyland next year.

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By the way, Marie took me to a Japanese/Asian tapas place in Costa Mesa tonight. It’s called “Oki Doki” and was very tasty. We had the spinach/mushroom salad, albacore salad, kim chee rice soup, blackened cod, and shrimp fried rice. Yum.

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Check it out:
Oki Doki
3033 S. Bristol St. #O
(SW corner at Paularino)
Costa Mesa, CA
714-540-2066

Getting Set for the Holidays

Jes and I put up Christmas lights on our house today. How festive it looks! We also had a Christmas dinner with our neighbors last night. Jes cooked up a filet mignon and potatoes au gratin and Jay and Nikki brought over some artichokes. It was basically as nice excuse to bust out the fine china and try some new wines. Doggie also enjoyed a nice bone and got to chase Jay around the house for a while. Tomorrow we’ll be getting a Christmas Tree. Woohoo!! It finally feels like Christmas!