'08 Highlights

Aside from celebrating the BIG 3-0 this year, here are a few highlights in the life of A & A:

A & I got each other bikes for Christmas. He takes his bike for a ride up the bike trail in Angeles Crest National Forest. Mine is a street bike which I sometimes use to commute to work. It was perfect timing when gas prices spiked early this year.


We relaxed in Maine with some of Adam's high school buddies last summer.



Our friend Little Miss M turned 2 with zoo-animals themed birthday party that was so much fun. Woohoo!



We finally took a proper honeymoon in Hawaii. We visited two islands: Kauai and the Big Island. The islands' natural beauty are different from one another yet both are equally and amazingly beautiful. Every now and then, we think about our trip to Hawaii and hope to visit again soon.


We took a road trip to Big Sur to celebrate our 2nd anniversary and camped there for a couple of nights - another beautiful place to revisit. This is the view from our campsite at sunset facing the Pacific Ocean.



Team Gaudam joined the Muddy Buddy race this November - a 6-mile ride-and-run event where there were five obstacles and before crossing the finish line the team had to crawl in a mud pit. The better halves watched from the sideline cheering for them. Go team!



We hosted another Thanksgiving dinner with family guests and a dear friend.

Happy Holidays!

To our family, friends and relatives near and far -

We wish you a wonderful and fun-filled Christmas!

From wintery Vermont with love,
A & A

Who doesn't love Moron?

First, let me clarify as this may confuse those who are non-Filipinos. This does not mean a mildly retarded person as the dictionary defines it. I mean the soft, slightly sweet and sticky goodness that is very popular in Eastern Visayas (that's in the central part of the Philippines). It is made of ground rice or rice flour, coconut milk, tablea (tab-leh-yah) or chocolate paste; then rolled or wrapped in a banana leaf. Some add a strand of cheddar cheese in it or finely chopped peanuts or both. It is either steamed or boiled. In my opinion, I like it when it is steamed which does not destroy the shape and does not make it mushy. One can have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, as a snack or as dessert. It is very satisfying when paired with hot chocolate or tsokolate or sekwate (sek-wah-teh) in my dialect. People would buy these morons as their pasalubong (homecoming gift) to their families or loved ones.

My dad gave me a few of these when he got back from the Phils. I don't get to eat this often here because I rarely find one even at the Filipino store. And when I do have this sticky food on hand, I savor every bit of it.

This morning I was craving morons for breakfast. I reached out for our rice cooker with steamer and steamed a couple of them. Oh so delicious! Sticky but DELICIOUS.

Snow descend on San Gabriel Mountains

It was a pretty scene early this morning when I came out the house. The San Gabriel Mountains, which is just a few miles away and can be seen from our back porch were lightly covered with snow. Just a few weeks ago, A & I hiked up one of the trails in these mountains on a clear Sunday afternoon. This morning, it was in the high 40's as I walked towards my car. It feels like winter arrived early this year. Awesome!!!

On a Cool December Morning

I felt the crisp cold breeze as I stepped outside to bring our clothes in the laundry room. It was a gorgeous day outside perfect for a morning bike around town; maybe later, a good cup of hot cocoa.

The bleachers are set and ready for the New Year's Day Rose Parade.



One of the tree-lined neighborhoods that A & I love to bike around. No crazy drivers in this area.

Cookies for Santa

To get into the spirit of the holiday season, I managed to bake a LOT of these goodies. Sugar, flour, butter - hmmmm, butter - were the stars of the kitchen last weekend.

Bicycling on the Freeway

Today I saw a guy attempting to take his bicycle for a ride on the freeway.

The 110 freeway, also known as the Arroyo Seco freeway (the state's oldest freeway with a maximum speed of 50 mph) begins where Arroyo Parkway ends. I was stopped at the right-most lane waiting for the light to go green. I noticed a guy in a suit-and-tie attire between the left lane and the left turn lane, then realized that he was on his bicycle (not a motorbike). I bike to work from time to time and I usually stay either on the curbside or close to the curbside. So I found it odd that he would be waiting for the green light in between those lanes. As the left-turn light went green, the guy-in-a-suit-on-a-bicycle pedaled his way towards the freeway, which at this point I was certain that some crazy accident was about to happen. As this was happening, the driver on the left lane buzzed through the intersection (only left turn light was green at this point) blocking oncoming traffic turning left from the other end. As my light went green and as I passed through the intersection, I saw the suit-guy wheeling back towards the intersection against freeway traffic, both feet hanging close to the ground.

Weird.

Of Christmas Trees and Ornaments

When we go out shopping for a Christmas tree, I sometimes get nervous that we might not find a tree that we like. A few years back, we ended up buying a tree from a grocery store out of desperation that we were running out of time and needed to get a tree on a budget. Such a traumatic experience that led to one grumpy adult male and two women (my sister and I) who had to deal with a probably dead & dry tree. Yesterday, we visited three lots and it was pretty fascinating to see Adam going towards a tree and claimed, "That's it! That's the tree." A perfect 6-ft douglas fir within our budget including the stand. What a deal!

Now the tree is up and decked with glittering lights and ornaments. Every year, we pick out two or three new ornaments to hang on our tree. We don't really have a specific theme; it's a collection of ornaments over the years.

Our new holiday ornaments

A few ornaments from years past

Not the end of the world...

While A & I were having a late lunch in our kitchen, we heard this very loud hovering sound. It sounded like it was above our rooftop. We're used to the sound of helicopters flying in our area (the police HQ is just a few blocks away and we live pretty close to a not-so-ideal neighborhood). I didn't bother going out at first but when A went to check it out he quickly asked me to come out and see it. I was in the middle of chewing my lunch but had to ask what is was. Adam yelled back, "It's a stealth bomber!". In half a second I stood up and ran towards our porch. We rarely see this awesome flying object but he and I were so amazed by how low it was flying above the city. Good thing I had my camera ready, we snatched a cool video of it flying above us.

Memories of Thanksgiving

From Thanksgiving '05

The first few years I've lived in L.A., I never really celebrated Thanksgiving. My relatives sort of celebrated but not really (there was turkey and other dishes but no homemade cranberry sauce or traditional sides). So, I never really got the full experience until one year when my friends invited me to go to Mammoth Mountain on a snowboarding trip on a Thanksgiving weekend. We stayed at this cozy bed and breakfast. On Thanksgiving night - after a full day of tumbling, falling and balancing on a snowboard and not to mention the snow storm - we got back and were invited by the innkeepers to join them for dinner. There was roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and other delicious side dishes. The dining area of this inn was set on a corner with almost- floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside, it was snowing and the ground was covered thick with snow. It felt like it was Christmas; it was perfect!

This is my fifth year of cooking dinner for family and friends. I must admit that I enjoy hosting a Thanksgiving gathering. Year after year, I learn a few things or tricks here and there:

- The first time I cooked a meal for three, all the sides were cold except the turkey. This has been a challenge for me every year as we only have a small oven with space only big enough to roast a single turkey so no sides can be cooked at the same time. I finally decided to buy a tiered rack so I can warm all side dishes including appetizers at the same time. 

- As the party size got bigger, it helps to prep some side dishes ahead of time so I can enjoy a little bit of mingling around when guests arrive and not get stuck in the kitchen waiting for everything to come together. 

- Brining the turkey is my favorite trick! It works every time and the result is a succulent moist bird meat:)

Although it doesn't snow in Pasadena, I try to make our Thanksgiving dinner enjoyable for my family and friends just like my experience in Mammoth Mountain. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pepper, Pepper, Pepper

Last week, A & I had a blast having Pepper (the kitten) stay at our place. We totally enjoyed her company to the point that I was running late for work almost every morning. She loved playing fetch, jumping and chasing paper ball or anything that rolled on the ground.

Tsokolate is gone

I'm in a bit of shock that my old blog is gone. This is all I can retrieve from the site. This week I've been trying to figure out a way to transition to a free site with the aim to cut costs (I blame you recession!!!). I was over-confident that it was as easy as a "1-2-3-and-done" deal but it didn't work out as I had planned. To no avail, it now becomes irretrievable. Oh well (sigh), moving on...