Choo choo...choo choo

Our last day of 2011... and how did we decide to spend it? By going on a train ride! It was jiggles of fun and quite the experience!

Prime rib - it's what's for dinner

Yumm!! We decided to finish off 2011 with din at Cattleman's. It was a first, but a good first. Even though we had a bit of a wait, the waitress was great - so that totally made up for it :)

Dim sum my sum

Mmmmm!!! I'll never get tired of dim sum! And it's always worth the wait!

Glass steps

Ooo...pretty cool stuff :)

Bur-bur-Burmese!

I think the chicken coconut curry noodle soup will always be my favorite :-)

Tricycle fun!

The sales guy insisted we do this and then offered to take a pic for us :-) Don't go too fast K!

Guess who eats this for breakfast?

Longanisa, HK style pork chop, garlic fried rice and a side of tomatoes or pineapples...figure it out yet?

Not-so-cola chicken

It didn't quite turn out the way I wanted...

Hotpot at YK's!

As if yesterday's hotpot wasn't enough, we went for round two today!! There was soooo much food it was insane. The mushrooms were a hit and so were the shrimp balls my sis got! Like the sauce I made?!

Christmas @ S & K's

It was pretty darn close to a mini Lowell reunion as a bunch of us got together to celebrate the holidays with lots of food and cheer :D Everyone brought a delightful dish to share and a present for the white elephant. It was probably one of the fancier holiday dinner's that I've gone to. Our Asian-version of Martha Stewart, S, had all the place settings nicely done with water AND wine glasses ready for toasting the night away! K's coke-ful chicken was a hit and everyone gobbled it up quickstyle! mMmmm.... and let's not forget the white elephant - stealing was recommended and it was done! It was fun, but not hostile! Everyone ended up going home a happy camper :)

Annual GDT Christmas dinner!

This year we had our dinner at Burma Superstar. It's been a while since we've eaten here and everyone has faint memories of doing so and we finally confirmed when everyone arrived. Are we getting old and forgetting things now? Haha...

Helicopters!

Occupy @ SFSU

Men and macaroons

YK is becoming quite the baker and attempted this ridiculicious yummy goodness. Mmm can't wait to try new flaves! Nice job yk!

Seth Godin: Insulate yourself...

Really good post from Seth. He makes soo much sense:

Insulate yourself…

from anonymous angry people
Expose yourself to art you don’t yet understand
Precisely measure the results that are important to you
Stay blind to the metrics that don’t matter
Fail often
Ship
Lead, don’t manage so much
Seek out uncomfortable situations
Make an impact on the people who matter to you
Be better at your baseline skills than anyone else
Copyedit less, invent more
Give more speeches
Ignore unsolicited advice

Monday night din

Bringing back weekly dins with a few of the girls. It was Thai takeout night! There was definitely too much food but we did a fine job finishing most of it. Thx much K!

Kimchee goodness :)

I found this recipe awhile ago but didn't have the key ingredient (kimchee) to make it. But now I do and it was sooo delicious!!!

And a hearty pat on the back to my helper who basically did the grunt work while I just bossed on :D

D's annual Christmas get-together

It's been an ongoing tradition for the past 5 years or so...and it's still going strong! This year, we had a bit of a slimmer crew, but we definitely got to see new faces and old ones all the same. And of course, lots of yummy goodness! Bacon wrapped asparagus made an appearance. So did this enormous plate of chow mein (fit to serve a small church), kimchi fried rice (by spesch & yours truly), chicken curry (thx to Ono Hawaiian BBQ), lasagna, spicy pork and much more! And, what's a get-together without some good ol' alchy :D Thx for hosting D!

Winter called, hotpot answered

Today was a day of chilly sorts. For some reason, I felt like it was colder than most days. It might've been because I was indoors and I wasn't getting enough sunshine. I felt like my hand was going to fall off at one point. Regardless, the day got more exciting (and WARMER) when we spontaneously decided to hotpot. My belly was indeed very full and happy tonight. 

Strolls and sunsets

Looks like I managed to catch both a sun rise and sunset this weekend :-)

Sunrise!

It's been so long since I've seen the sun rise but we did today!

CP Holiday Shindig!

My first ever grad department holiday potluck! It was held at a classmates GORGEOUS pad in the North Bay. She's one of the lucky few who gets two yards - one actual one with grass and the other is the lake itself! And those who live around the lake get to enjoy a lit Christmas tree (look below!)

Change

I've noticed that a lot of people around me are dealing with changes right now whether they be big or small. We’re all just trying to figure things out. Who we are? What do we want to do with our lives? Are we where we want to be? What are our goals? How far off are we? What do we need to do to get there? How close are we to it? What are we willing to do to get there?

All those questions are floating around. Some are more top of mind for some than for others. Regardless though, it’s there.

And so I wish for strength for all of us that we’d keep pushing forward. I wish for patience that we can be diligent and keep working hard until we get there. I wish for resilience, that we do not give up at the first sign of a let-down. I wish for peace as our minds have a tendency to drift further than we do. I wish for hope as we keep dreaming those big dreams. I wish for healing as we pick ourselves up time and time again. And I wish for love, that we may each find our place in this world.

Thanksgiving feast - take 2!

As if one feast two days prior wasn't enough, the girls got together to celebrate our thankfulness! Our first one ever, it's definitely a tradition in the making! Everyone brought loads of yummy goodness and I think everyone also left with at least another meal or two :) A&S made the wonderful turkey (1st time ever - kudos!). T made bacon, onion, garlic mac & cheese. R made mashed taters with homemade gravy. D got fancy and made this proscuitto stuffing. S made pumpkin pie (I am now a pumpkin pie lover bc of her). K made this delightful ham and I approve cuz I'm not a big ham eater. L made a green bean casserole and yours truly made brown sugar walnut crispy candied yams! MmMmMmMmmmm! I think that's enough turkey and feasting for now... haha. And we polished it all off with beers, wine and Cranium!

Happy Thanksgiving!

There's so much to be thankful for - and it shouldn't just be today where we acknowledge it. If I listed everything I was thankful for and why, you guys would definitely unsub from my blog =p But it's today where we go all out about it and FEAST! It's one of my favorite holidays of the year where my fam gets together to enjoy each others company and the amazing food that our hands have worked to prepare! <33