Pumpkin Carving Fun!

Please vote Francois vs. George (L, R), note George eyebrows, gotta give Francois his props on the mustache!
This would be the year that my pumpkin would woo them all! Well, enough to be posted on a blog! I carved the pumpkin and also used the seeds and pieces and prepared, 'kettle corn style' seeds and sautéed pumpkin and basil. Tina lacked creativity that night and forfeited her pumpkin to Lisa. Lisa was a fierce carving competitor but in the end did not come close to my cutie, George. She named hers Francois. All and all, it was fun and I promise next year my carving skills will be much improved.

Snoop Dog Concert

I read somewhere that Snoop would be in putting a concert to benefit his "Snoop" Football Little League. While the man does get in trouble with the law, I have listened to him my whole life. From when he collaborated with Dr. Dre in the early 90's and most recent with Justin Timberlake (my secret boyfriend), I have always loved his music! My dream come true to see Snoop Dog perform in the LBC...or at least 40 miles from it. This was the best concert I have ever been to! For all our VT folks, we wish you guys were there cause he kicked it back old skool. The scene was crazy, all sorts of folk, old, young, white, black, asian, there was no discrimination.

Damian Marley opened up and the smell of 'herb' radianted through the crowd. Next was the Pussy Cat Dolls featuring Snoop singing the latest top 40 'Buttons' mix. He was smooth and sleek wearing a black velour jogging suit with '20' etched on the back and his infamous Snoop Dog logo on the front. Unfortunately, afterwards, he left the stage and we had to endure what seem to be high school dance routine songs by the Pussy Cat Dolls. 20 minutes later, Snoop came out again with literally 30 of his friends in the background while he went through a hodge podge of oldies but goodies. He started off slow with a rendition of P-I-M-P by 50 cent which was odd. Hysteria filled the LA Greek theatre as he lead into..."Nuthin' but a G Thang", followed by "Gin and Juice, It's Like This and Like That, Gansta Party and Bow Wow WoW, Yippe Yo Yippe Yeh." I was screaming like a teenager when "Beautiful" and "Drop Like it's Hot" ended the show.

It was a rockin' time and made me realize that Snoop Doggy Dog is not only an icon but a legend with classic and eloquently spoken schizel-dizel lyrics. He makes us remember that life is just plain silly.

Jack's B-Day, Diep's B-Day, Halloween

Jack's 2nd Birthday - Diep made the cake!

One thing about moving to California and being near my family. For the past 6 years, I have been away from all the celebrations, birthdays, death anniversaries, family get-togethers. However, now I get to enjoy these events that many of us take for granted. Diep and Erik have been my second family and invited me into their home as soon as I moved to the area. In fact, I even lived with them for 3 months before moving into my own abode. They have 2 wonderful kids whom I have grown to love. Jack just turned 2 and is a typical young gentlemen (terrbile 2!) while Ben is 7 months. Jack loves to eat fruit and dance to my hip-hop, Tammy's jammies music, while Ben is a laid back guy who is discovering his passion in life which could be Elmo, Baby Einstein videos, and balloons like his brother. I never thought I'd get used to babies being around but Jack and Ben have definetly initiated me into this "other life". Diep made Jack's b-day cake and I had the honor of making her dinner on her birthday. Next is Halloween!

Diep's B-day...my dinner for her....

Bruschetta w/Tomatoes from the Garden

Bag of Mushrooms w/Herb Cream

Manhatten to Hermosa Beach

I woke up this morning like a typical Saturday, a little groggy from the Friday evening out before. I wanted to do something different today, I wanted to go to the beach. After all, I do live about 20 minutes from the beach, I need to take advantage. I pulled myself out of bed at 9:30 and got dressed to go jogging. I had a bit of trouble with my shin splits so I thought running on the beach would be perfect. I hear stories that running on the beach are the best for you knees, legs, ankles.

It was cloudy and dreary all morning in Pasadena and I drove over to Subway to get a sandwich. I needed some carbs for the run, Turkey on wheat, veggies and mustard. I must say I have more respect for the Subway chain after my meal, it was simple and hit the spot…I also had some ‘Baked Lays (sour cream and onion chips)’. I had half of these delights before my run. I arrived at Manhattan beach as the sun broke, and it was all blue skies from then on. I grabbed my ipod and headed for the beach. I had never run on sand before and was extremely anxious, jogging for the shoreline. I ran by the shore and I was running on ‘wet’ sand. The goal was to run to Hermosa Pier. With the sun beating on me and panting heavily to what seemed to be the hardest I had ever in life, many thoughts went through my head. I was going delirious, running up and down the shoreline, sun beating on my face and thought about how my mom would sign at me for I forgot my sunglasses and sunscreen.

I finally made it to the Pier, 1.3 miles in 20 minutes later. I walked back to Manhattan Beach properly on the bike trail and enjoyed the scene. The houses were amazing, big, quaint, all typical California beach living. The luckiest…dogs lounging on the beach chairs, the fit volleyball players drinking beer, the 30 year old moms running with the strollers, the 40 year men riding skate boards and most of all, the pure beauty and smell of the water. Today’s date is October 14 and I was running by the ocean where people were actually sunbathing around me!!?? I love California.

Grandparent’s Death Annivesary

Suckling Pig, The Alter, and my grandparent's as teens!

Grandparent’s Death Annivesary

For those of you that are unfamiliar with this ritual, Buddhists celebrate their loved ones death anniversary. It is extremely important and can even overshadow birthdays as a family celebration. My grandmother died exactly 20 years ago and my grandfather 5 years ago. We were all supposed to get together this year, my 11 aunts/uncles and their children, my 27 cousins, and also 14 second cousins, and unfortunately could not. My mom, a few other aunts and uncles held their own celebrations on the East Coast.

On this day, it was good to spend time with family and reflect on what my grandparents gave to us. We usually start off by preparing the food, traditional pork dishes like sausage/bolony, sweet rice, steamed chicken, steamed pork with crispy skin, and other goodies. My aunt ordered suckling pig this year. If it wasn’t for my grandparents' courage, perseverance, and support, we would not be in America today. For each of us, my grandparent's represented something different. For me, they instilled loyalty, hard work, and adventure seeking! Thank you Ong and Ba for everything and I miss you!