a glimpse into a christmas family gathering redux

another year, another christmas. if i was freezing in chicago last year, this year, i was in relatively warmer irvine to celebrate the holiday.

like my other side of the family, there were lots of food. for the gathering, i attempted to make nancy reagan's persimmon pudding cake, which turned out ok, not great. making it was an adventure in and of itself, which involved, on christmas eve, going to a regular supermarket and 2 asian markets before finally finding persimmons. then "puree-ing" the persimmons without a blender... yeah, that was definitely an adventure. but, the cake turned out fine and the brandy whipping cream (not pictured) to top the cake was great.


i also made these sugar cookies and had fun "decorating" trees.


my cousin made this pastry bread with brie and toasted walnuts (bottom right) and it was good i ate at least half of the loaf.


amanda made this seafood pajun, a korean dish that's basically a seafood pancake (but not breakfast pancake sweet). you dip it in a sauce made of soy sauce and white vinegar.


more dessert.


the ham, the quiche and chicken.


my cousin also made this crab meat (real crab, thank you very much) dish with cheese and eggs.


let's just say i was really full even before lunch started. but that did not stop me from eating all the way through dinner.

like my other side of the family, this gathering also involved a talent show, albeit on a smaller scale -- but that is more a function of size than quality. see, my granparents on my mother's side did not really have as many children as my grandparents on my father's side. as a consequence, there are fewer kids to show off their talents.

to start off, joey danced the tango with his mom.



then monica and loren showed off their musical abilities.



mark showed off his ice-skating chops (via video).

unlike my other side of the family, this side's gathering includes non-blood relatives, which makes for a more expansive story sharing. as always, there were lots of hooting and hollering, lots of teasing, lots of laughter and lots of bubbly and red wine.

it was definitely a fun celebration, as always.

a glimpse into a family thanksgiving

this thanksgiving was the first time in the last three years that i was stateside. two years ago, i was eating solo at a fancy restaurant in prague celebrating thanksgiving with a nice juicy duck. last year, i was eating swine with a couple of brazilians, a couple of italians and a chilean who were strangers a week before in a beach restaurant in brazil. this year, i spent some time with my mom's side of the family. the location may not have been exotic and the food may have been conventional. but, that is what made it a good thanksgiving.

of course, the eating got started, not with eating, but with drinking. we had to have the bubbly. here's the appetizer table:


and oh yeah, lumpia. crispy fried pork lumpia to be exact. addictive. i think i ate half of this platter.


here's our thanksgiving table.


the stuffing.



my cousin joe's favorite: creamed corn. corn and lots of cream = corn heaven.


green beans with mushrooms. one needed to have fiber, after all.


yams.


and the bird:


juicy goodness.


and gravy.


here's my plate. yummy goodness.


oh of course we also had dessert. my auntie brought pinoy dessert. the top one was rice-based with lots of sugar. the bottom one was called turon - fried banana wrapped in a wonton-like paper with lots of sugar.


jello.



and yeah, the dessert i brought. i would like to say that i baked this cake. but that would make me a liar. so i won't. but this berry blossom cake from susina bakery was DA BOMB!



and finally, this was what we should be thankful for. at least, according to my cousin's kid:


personally, i was thankful to have a fun family who loves to eat, drink, and gossip (not necessarily in that order). like my cousin liza says, "that's our thing."

sybil and the new york times

on the heels of my 2 second appearance (at 1:19) on friday on tv (cbs2/kcal9) extolling the nickel diner's bacon donut, i found myself today on the pages of the new york times.

to be exact, there was a picture of people stretching/jogging and some photographer shot a picture of me bending/stretching. no one can see my face but i know my pony tail and my outfit (second from left).

this is no admission of guilt. the law says no one can stretch on the median, i.e. the grassy strip. i was on the street. with no grassy strip in sight. so there.

that being said, here are my two cents:

my understanding is that the santa monica ordinance prohibits any activity on grassy strips in santa monica except for walking and jogging. that means that those doing ab exercises or stretching exercises on the grassy strip are violating the law.

is this ordinance constitutional given that the grassy strip is on public property?

well, methinks that the city can regulate the use of public property based on time, place and manner (TPM). so, for example, i would think that if the ban is enforced at noon or 1 pm when no one in the neighborhood is reasonably expected to be asleep and not be bothered by the exercisers, the ban is probably too restrictive. the idea is that while people have a first amendment right to associate whenever and wherever, the government can still restrict that right based on TPM regulations.

but hey, what do i know?

oh right, i guess i have 14 minutes and 50 seconds of fame left...

just another friday night

on friday night, i mourned the loss of ucla to michigan (michigan!!!) from the night before. yep, it's basketball season and i had such high hopes. ucla has got to have its best incoming freshmen in the howland era although i must admit that there are no real big men on this squad. with kevin love playing in the nba, the 5 is tasked to alfred aboya.... whom i absolutely think is a hustler and a team player. and this article about aboya just made me want to cry.

but more importantly, even with the highly touted freshmen and the senior leadership of darren collison and josh shipp, ucla's seeming inablity to break a zone is puzzling.

so what to do on a friday night.... i inwardly pondered on the future of bruin basketball as i waited for my friends to show up at this newish sushi/izakaya joint (go for the izakaya not the sushi) called bimi. then, i went to see that james bond flick, "quantum of solace" (crap!).

we started off with a white fish carpaccio in hot olive oil. let me just say that this dish was delish. i liked the raw fish with the flavors of the olive oil. simple. yummy.



similarly, this corn tempura was excellent. not corn on the cob tempura. just ears of the corn in tempura batter and deep fried. the corn was sweet and but had that crunch of the tempura.



the crab dynamite roll was bland and a waste of calories.



the crunchy rice with spicy tuna was very good.



the rainbow roll did not stand out. let me just point out now that i also had the sweet shrimp (no picture). it came at $12, which was market price. but, it was not worth the money. the fried heads came lukewarm to cold and the shrimp itself was not as sweet. the rice was also not warm (but then again, as a rule, i prefer warm rice with the fish/shrimp on top as opposed to the cold rice most sushi joints have).



the uni fried rice below was too salty. the uni was not fresh either.



the roast duck was tender.



the ethnic chicken (i swear, that's the name of the dish) was very good. it had a sweet aftertaste.



there were other dishes we tried, like the miso soup (can't screw that one up) and other cut rolls, which were nothing to write home about. we also had a bottle of wine and it came to about $31.50 per person. the price was definitely affordable. if i go back, i will definitely have to skip the sushi and just go izakaya.

as for quantum of solace? can someone tell me what the plot was? cuz i just don't get it.

sybil and the bacon donut

my 2 seconds of fame (at 1:19). and, i didn't even get a minute, much less 15.



no worries, fame won't change me.

what a historic moment

i gained 10 pounds in the last 3 weeks eating with simon and eating in nyc.

oh right, there's that other historic moment.

i am pleased.

earthquake 2008

so yelp had this thread asking what one eats after an earthquake.

i guess, i should start at the very beginning. i was in my office this morning when, around 11:30-ish am, i felt a jolt. and i thought, "huh, is that an earthquake?" once my mind processed that it was, i thought, "should i go under the table or should i go under the doorway; should i go under the table or should i go under the doorway; should i go under the table or should i go under the doorway; should i go under the table or should i go under the doorway." once i finally decided that i would stand under the doorway, the earthquake was over. it probably lasted about 30 seconds.

all buildings in downtown la are equipped with rollers so we were swaying for a while, which only made me dizzy. so a few of my co-workers and i went downstairs (taking the stairs, of course; who wants to be trapped in an elevator in case of an aftershock????) "to be safe." of course, i felt no aftershocks other than my nerves. although i am sure there have been many earthquakes i have felt prior to today, none has been as memorable as the northridge earthquake in 1994... which i felt all the way from san diego.

so what to do? well, since it was close to lunch, i went to lunch. and the question was, at the beginning of the post, what does one eat after an earthquake?

in my case, i had 2 carnitas tacos and an horchata at the grand central station. i was bummed i did not have my camera. there is a new vendor there that served their carnitas by taking the meat from the bone. most other vendors have the meat already all chopped up. the meat was definitely fresher and more tender. they were good. and they only cost $6 ($2 for each carnitas and $2 for the horchata).

what does have one for dinner after an earthquake?















i had a house salad, mac and cheese, lobster ravioli with gruyere cheese and a glass of manzanilla.

then, for dessert, we had a generous pour of port with a chocolate mousse. not bad, eh.

falling out of my mind

it is that time of the year when the santa monica concert series is back in full swing. normally, the bands that play are those that figure prominently in world music or were famous back when i was wrinkle-free.

tonight was a bit different. the fallout boys played. the sad part is, apparently, this band is hip and popular... now. the even sadder part is -- i have never heard of them or their music.

a friend claims the video below showcases one of their more popular songs... which i have never ever heard.


and this is them doing a cover of michael jackson's beat it -- now him i have heard of...



i suppose i am aging.... but then again, they say with age comes wisdom. so if that makes me an old genius, then so be it.

tim russert

my condolences go out to tim russert's family.

on friday, he died of a heart attack.

his death has caused me to do a bit of reflection on my own life. according to the buffalo news:

Russert, the renowned NBC newsman and one-man Chamber of Commerce for his native Buffalo, was sitting at his desk Friday, recording voice-overs for the Sunday edition of “Meet the Press,” when he suddenly collapsed and died.

by all accounts, he seems to have loved his job.

and that is great.

but for me, if i had a choice, i do not want to die at work. the preference, of course, is to die peacefully and painlessly after a long, full life and after many many years of enjoying retirement. but, if that was not possible, then i would rather die while exploring the world and/or experiencing the many pleasures of life (my kind of pleasure, that is).

but alas, i have no vote in such things.

if you are reading this: go. do. life is short.

more lists

saw the below on youtube via travbuddy.


i have a list of sorts -- but it was more like 10 things to do before i turn 40. i think i need to update it though. half are travel related and i am already halfway through my list. i am just hoping that i can step on african, australian and antarctican soil (or ice) before then. perhaps my #1 on that list is to make lots of money to finance my to do list....

to detox or not to detox

i did that once. from january 1 (not new year's eve) to january 31, 2007. during that time, i still went out to bars to hang out with people. i learned a few things.

i had "resolve." that is to say, i was not tempted to drink... even when there were college bowl games to watch, happy hours to attend and birthdays to celebrate.

drunk people were not as amusing as they previously (and subsequently) have been. seriously.

i saved lots of cash. well, maybe not "lots."

so, the dilemma is, i am going wine tasting in a couple of weeks in napa and then off to spain shortly thereafter. so as much as i would like to detox, i can't possibly detox any time soon. i don't think it is fun wine tasting without tasting wine or going tapa-hopping without drinking spanish wines. i also don't think detoxing for a week would do much help since i do that anyway.... until the weekend, that is.

the real dilemma is that by the time i get back from spain, there is a big possibility that i may change my mind about detoxing altogether... even though i know that detox is probably good for my liver.

maybe i am over thinking this.

friday ramblings

kevin love bolting for the nba

uh. no surprise there. neither is it surprising that westbrook will bolt too. collison will likely follow.

mbah a moute should not.

a friend was wondering why ben howland said it was a blessing to have a one-and-done player. uh. recruiting. good to have that resume for recruits. "ucla players develop to become nba players."

and yeah, i'm over it. bring on jrue holiday, malcolm lee, jerime anderson and drew gordon.


time to be indignant

the economy is definitely in the crapper. the litmus test? beer.


oh brother, big brother

ugh. to quote whitney houston, "oh hell to the no!"

it's all about the benjamins

i do have a lot of opinions on politics... but, i don't share them on the blogosphere.

that being said, it irks me every single time the dollar falls far below the euro as reported here. first, it was the whole canadian dollar getting to be the equivalent of the greenback. now, the euro is at an all time high against the dollar.

yep, there is something wrong with the economy (and it ain't just a slowdown). cutting interest rates won't help increase the value of the dollar either.

bottom line - i can't travel wherever, whenever. and that is the most irksome of all.

quotable quotes

i have heard plenty of random and/or strange (for a lack of a better word) "quotables" in my lifetime. some i poached from other people's experience -- because they are worth sharing. either way, all these "quotables" amuse me and/or make me go "huh?" they are not really "lines," as you shall see...

so, here are my favorites:

1. "you're ugly and nobody loves you anyway." my personal favorite.

2. "do you know anyone who committed suicide?" i swear to you, someone actually said this at a very lively bar... as recently as last friday night.

3. "vocé está brenquendo con meu coração." portuguese for "you're toying with my heart." a local brasilian boy said in earnest to my friend. wow, someone really says $hit like that in real life.

4. "i hope your attraction brings you joy." a friend to a psycho needy date. i love it!

5. "you remind me of a dolphin." does this ever work? what does it even mean? and i don't care if you work at sea world!

6. "you're old." this requires more explaining, but funny nonetheless.

i'll probably keep on adding/deleting "quotables" as time goes by. it makes me laugh.

11th hour

the bruins beat the sun devils tonight 84-51. unfortunately, i was on the ucla campus but not at pauley.

i was watching 11th hour - a movie produced by leonardo dicaprio - about global warming, the grim future we and the planet could be facing and things we could do to change the downward spiral.

i like the idea of lowering income taxes and raising taxes for gasoline and oil and anything that encourages the overuse of natural resources. this way, it would encourage me to actually use public transportation and ways to help reduce pollution. mad, i know. as david suzuki (some dude in the movie) said, it's "hippie dippie."

back to basketball, i wonder if the den was chanting, "josh is better" when younger brother jerren shot the ball for asu...

grieving the loss of a santa hat

my grief

i miss my UCLA santa hat.

i wore it to a basketball game.

i wore it on the plane - on a game day before christmas when UCLA had basketball and football games.

unfortunately, i lost it (and a wool cap and a glove) on a night out filled with sangrias, kamikaze shots, carbombs, heinekens and grey gooses on the rock.

it makes me very, very, very sad to have lost my UCLA santa hat.




my anger

i love that UCLA santa hat.

so when a friend received his own UCLA santa hat as a present, i was happy for him.

he loaned it to MIRRIAM who wanted to wear it at a party full of u$c fans.

he agreed so long as MIRRIAM promised to return it before the game last saturday.

he made sure that MIRRIAM had his address so she can drop it off prior to the game.

what did MIRRIAM do? she did not return it until the day AFTER the game.

he called and texted prior to the game. MIRRIAM never responded.

he did not have the UCLA santa hat at the basketball or the football game -- which happened in one day -- on this big game day immediately before christmas.

i do not like MIRRIAM.

a glimpse into a christmas family gathering

i haven't celebrated xmas with this side of the family in about 10 years and it was good to come back... albeit, having to brave below freezing temperatures and the infamous "wind chill" factor that brings down the actual temperature even lower. yeah, i literally was freezing my arse (face, legs, hands, and pretty much my whole body) off.

nonetheless, i did brave the frigid temperature because xmas on this side of the family is always a blast because it pretty much focuses on the kids, food, catching up, kids and the food. the whole set up is reminiscent of family reunions past. then, all the kids were all forced (yes, forced) to do a talent show. one either sings, dances, plays an instrument. whatever. that way, the parents get to be proud of their kids and the elder family members get amused.

i remember avoiding the talent show like the plague. i would hide out with my cousins (my age) so no one could force me to do anything. of course, once you reach a certain age, you are no longer subject to such torture.

well, things have changed. in this chicago version of the family reunion - christmas style - the talent show involves kids who actually want to show off their talents. in years past, the kids started off with singing or banging on the piano (literally). but as they aged, their talents have gotten better. and it is quite a joy to see that.

video taped talent shows of years past show my nephew, who is now 18 but was then about 8 or so, running to grab the mike to sing as many christmas carols he could think of -- and then, making some up -- to the amusement of his adoring public. he was, of course, quite embarassed now and he received a lot of good natured ribbing as only family could give. and to protect the innocent, i will not mention his name -- but he is the oldest son of my eldest brother! haha!

all in all, the kids have been great at providing entertainment. they are pretty much kids desiring to enroll at julliard. they play the piano, violin, cello, clarinet. and if my 18 year old nephew did not "graduate" from the talent show, he would have played the saxophone. and if my 13 year old nephew was around, perhaps an electric guitar would have been involved (although he plays the trumpet and has done so at the NY pops). to my 13 year old nephew's credit, he did play his electric guitar for us -- also willingly and with minimal prompting -- over the speaker phone. he was quite good.

yep, it is true, my torture, apparently, to these kids, is not theirs. aaaaahhhhh, kids. go figure! (or maybe, it was just me.)

on to the food. it was a smorgasbord. the food included kare kare (oxtail with peanut butter), kaldereta (goat), dinuguan (pork blood), pansit (noodles with shrimp and chicken and veggies), fresh lumpia (which should be differentiated from other kinds of lumpia, which are all fried), empanada (pastry with ground pork, chopped hard boiled egg, raisins), pork sinigang (tamarind flavored soup with pork), grilled fish (pompano).... oh and yeah, ham.

veggies pretty much consisted of a veggie platter from costco, that as far as i knew, remained untouched. :D

dessert was also quite a treat. we had buko salad (coconut meat, jello and milk), tinudtudok (sweet rice flour and sugar) and palitaw (coconut and sweet rice flour). i must admit that a chocolate mousse, sees candies, baklava and some brasilian candies also showed up at the dessert table.

i am sure there was more food, but i only have one stomache and could not eat/remember everything. darn!

but most importantly (to me, at least), these types of gatherings afforded me to catch up with family - uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces, and the whole lot. cuz i have got plenty. and that is alright with me.

to be fair, my other side of the family also has the same talent show and the same smorgasborg of food -- albeit on a smaller scale - but that was a function of quantity - my grandparents on that side did not reproduce as much as the grandparents on this side. :D

some of the family


my grandparents started it off. ...and this isn't even close to including everybody!



and some of the food


fresh lumpia - individually wrapped




pansit




kaldereta - goat meat





kare kare - oxtail and tripes in peanut butter sauce





grilled pompano - must be eaten with the chopped tomatoes and onions and patis (fish sauce)





buko salad - coconut meat, jello and milk

left (top to bottom): baklava, palitaw, pork empanada, brasilian candy, sees candy

right (top to bottom): chocolate mousse pie, some candies

my half eaten empanda - served warm. yummy!

mamon on the top left. tinudtudok on the top right. and my half eaten tinudtudok, which one of my cousin says has the highest sugar content.... i ate about 5 or 6. so yummy!

random ramblings

on the wildfires

i don't understand arsonists. apparently, it is suspected that at least one of the 16 or so fires burning in southern california was caused by arsonists. what kind of kick could arsonists possibly get?

my thoughts are with friends, family and everyone else living and/or evacuated from the affected areas. i hope the winds die down soon so the fires could be contained and no longer endanger lives of thousands.

perhaps, some good can come out of this disastrous event: better urban planning, better environmental controls, and better prevention of global warming.


on albus dumbledore being gay

jk rowling, author of the harry potter series, announced dumbledore is gay. cool!


on college basketball

aaaaaaw! this is a real good article about kevin love and coach wooden.

Love also is going to ask as many questions as he can to absorb what it means to be at UCLA, how he can hang a 12th national championship banner in Pauley Pavilion and maybe, even if he's in college for only one season, become as effective as some of the great centers who have passed through the school.

this kid is gonna do BIG things for ucla. i can't wait!

as for u$c, this is hilarious! per u$c coach tim floyd:

"We're trying to be comparable nationally to what Duke and Carolina have accomplished 10 miles apart," Floyd said. "We recognize that the other three [Duke, UNC and UCLA] are there. Ten years ago, 12 years ago, I would have never made a comment like this, because you never try to over-promise and under-deliver, but at this point in my career I recognize this is my last job. We want to set the bar high, and we'll never get there unless we set the bar high."

apparently, floyd fancies himself comparable to coach k:

Floyd compared USC's private school education, the lofty price tag to attend and the academic reputation to Duke. He said the wealth of talent in southern California makes the rivalry even more of a possibility.

as much as i dislike duke, at least duke has won national championship banners and made regular appearances to the final four.

floyd takes $c to the sweet sixteen once and he thinks he can win a national championship and/or make regular appearances to the final four!

i heart la

yes, i am a homer but here is one reason why i enjoy living in this melting pot that is lala land: the people. in this case, this funny guy lets it all out on olvera street.

ucla football and legal ramblings part quatre

ucla football

ucla fell out of the ap rankings today because of that horrid "no touchdown" loss to utah. utah!?!?! the same utah that was 0-2 before the game against ucla!!!!

olson has not delivered. clearly. but, i think a lot of this has to do with coaching. ucla barely won against byu. and this loss exposed the joke that dorell has been.

i am almost dreading going to the ucla-washington game this saturday!

surely, ad dan guerrero knows what to do next..... and it starts with getting an exploratory committee to get a new coach in!

more on chemerinsky

the word today is that chancellor drake rescinded the rescission of chemerinsky's contract and he will now get to be the first dean of the uci law school. over the weekend, there have been reports that some conservatives were on drake's ear prior to the rescision.

i almost feel that chemerinsky should just say "thanks, but no thanks." i am sure that chemerinsky will do a fabulous job as dean and get funding, hire excellent faculty, etc, etc. but there have just been too much bad karma already. and, if in the .0000000000000001% that he fails, the conservatives will just have ammo to say "i told you so." and i hate that.