We love picnics in the park!

And the best expression goes to... Panda the guy who's gonna eat my skewers.

What's it about picnics that we love? Perhaps, the fact that we are not able to do it back home. Not in that tropical weather. We will either be drenched in sweat from that sweltering heat or rain from those sudden downpours.

So we were glad to have caught the second last band from the park concert series at Leo J Ryan Park. This time we got there half an hour early to secure our picnic space before it's swarmed with people. 

We tried to stretch out our mat and place our bags around the area to secure more sitting space for our friends; they were politely but firmly pushed back to us by others. Strictly first-come-first-serve. Oops.

Being novice picnickers, the grandeur of others' set-ups always amazed us. Tables, chairs, candles, pets, wine glasses, bread baskets, doggy fence. Panda said that if we are staying for another year, we really have invest in a portable table.

I think it's to prevent me from spilling wine/beer/water/drinks all over the place. Or using my shoe as a substitute cup holder. I'm guessing this is pretty common in US.

It works, that is, if you don't mind the smell.

I didn't have time to prepare a proper dinner, so was grateful when more food and munchies arrived. In the end we have staples from the Leows, snacks from the Lows, and some skewers and madeleines from me. But food is always secondary to me at picnics. It's really the company and chit chats that count.

When it comes to picnic food, simplicity is really the best!

I'll be the first to feel sad when summer ends.

What's for lunch at Sunnyvale?

With one of Panda's awesome colleagues, Lisa 

Panda and his colleague, Lisa were going for a client meeting in Sunnyvale. Since I haven't been to that area before, Panda asked me to tag along for lunch.

Lisa suggested Faz, a Mediterranean restaurant around the area. I wasn't an adventurous eater and was wondering what Mediterranean food is. The menu turned out to be great; a wide selection salads, pasta, pizza, sandwiches and kabobs etc. Their naan with balsamic vinegar/olive oil dip, which they served while waiting for our mains, was also awesome.

Faz doesn't have fabulous yelp reviews but it's mainly due to service. We also had to wait some time for our food and water refills. But they made up for it with taste and portion. 

Naan with balsamic vinegar and olive oil dip

Grilled avocado and prawn salad 

Blackened salmon sandwich

Italian sausage pizza

I packed home half the pizza cos I couldn't finish it. Panda said it still tasted good for lunch the next day. I would probably try their kabobs next time.

After that, I headed to the nearby Panera Bread for hazelnut coffee and free wifi to wait for Panda (another one of Lisa's recommendations). There's free refill for coffee too! Yay!

That sort of concludes my first visit to Sunnyvale. It may seem uneventful but I really enjoyed the lunch out. Thanks, Lisa!

Test(bread) for Nordic Ware Reversible Grill Griddle

Target is totally disrupting our budget life because I always find something interesting to buy. The latest item is a cast aluminium reversible grill griddle from Nordic Ware. You can grill stuff on one side to achieve those pretty brown sear lines on your meat and vegetables; on the other side, you can pretend to be a chef at those (Name)'s Place/Café and cook up fried bacon and eggs and pancakes for brunch.

 

The instruction said two burners for maximum cooking capacity, so I lay it across my stove like this. It's too short if I did it width wise.

 

 

 

I did a bacon and egg sandwich for Panda in the morning, then a simple grilled egg mayo sandwich for lunch. I was quite pleased with the results from my test(bread).

 

  

To up the level for dinner, I tried to do pan sear salmon and teppanyaki pork slices at the same time since there was enough space on the grill griddle. The dishes were yummy but I ended up with oil splatters all over the stove! While I could use a cover for my frying pan, it's completely open for the grill griddle unless we buy a teppanyaki cover.

It's still fun to use the grill griddle for cooking, but I'd say the following tips could help:
- Control the heat/fire. Aluminium heats up rather quickly and you don't want to burn your food.
- I think butter splatters less than oil so use the former if you can!
- Wash both sides thoroughly after using. I saw butter marks in the shape of the burner on the OTHER side after I finished cooking. Not pretty.

I'm not sure how much this costs back home but Target is selling it at $29.90. It's a value buy, considering its dual functionality.

For the love of garlic: Gilroy Garlic Festival 2013

It's a party out there, garlic lovers!

Hot. Crowded. Overpriced. Or was it?

I yelped Gilroy Garlic Festival the night before we were supposed to attend with friends. The annual event was celebrating its 35th year and the organisers expected even bigger crowds than last year's 100,000 visitors.

I told Panda, be warned that things are gonna be expensive, traffic will be real bad, and we will all be hot and sweaty like pigs.

Turns out, only the part on weather was true. Traffic was slow but not stagnant on US-101 and road signs led us easily to the free parking lots. Because of the heat, we didn't wait for the shuttle bus but simply took a 5-min walk to the entrance. We had already purchased our discounted tickets from the official website, so there was no need to stand in line and pay $17 per pax.

Once inside I was taken aback by the scale of the garlic festival; it was akin to a mega BBQ party in the midst of a forest. Food vendors lined the sides, tents set up everywhere, live performances at different areas. We didn't purchase the $1 programme guide so we were a little disoriented. I vaguely knew that there would be a cook-off for amateurs and a showdown for top chefs. But we were just too hungry, so we went straight for light snacks - garlic fries, crab garlic fries and key lime calamari.


Garlic fries and key lime calamari



Garlic fries with crab toppings

I was all ready to try other food like garlic corn, garlic bread, shrimp and ribs etc. Sadly, all six adults felt too full for anything else after the 'light' snacks - what a pity! We ended up walking around the craft stalls and drinking beer to quench our thirst. I bought a tin mug with the beer as a souvenir.




Checking out the arts & craft stalls

The cute Olympic bulb of fire

Garlic ice-cream was also a main feature and Joel and Jo took the lead to try it. I had the unfortunate experience of tasting it at a Vancouver ice-cream factory so it was a big no-no for me.  But the adventurous duo looked extremely pleased with their ice-cream challenge.

Say "garlic ice-cream"!

We hung around, watched some performances and checked out other merchandise before leaving the festival. I bought 3 large garlic bulbs at 50c each just to see how fresh they are compared to the regular ones. On our walk back to the car, we passed by this yellow grassy field. We decided to do the typical Asian tourists pose.

Spread your hands, please!

A selfie with my garlic!

Verdict at the end of the festival? Bring water, wear sunscreen, put on a hat and go with an open mind.

We had so much fun as first timers. Who knows, if the programme is attractive enough, we might come back next year if we are still around the area!

Samosas: a small taste of home

One of the things which I missed and am too lazy to make is curry puffs. Hot, chunky bits of curried potato + chicken meat wrapped in golden pastry skin like these from Old Chang Kee! There are so many outlets back home that it's almost like a 7-11. I used to buy one or two on my way home from work; most of the time the bag would be empty by the time I reached.

The closest substitute I can find in USA is samosa. Behind FC's post office, there's a India Cash & Carry - a small chain grocer in the Bay Area which sells all things Indian. I'm not a big fan of Indian food and the first time I stepped into the shop (just for fun), I was a little overwhelmed by the smell of spices and small flies hovering over the produce. It was only upon my second return (on Wini's recommendation) that I realised they sell samosas. Giant samosas at 75c each. A real deal!

Selling all things Indian

What's in a samosa?

The samosas are of course not as spicy as the ones back home but I suppose they cater to the local taste. They are also not sold hot, so you'll need to pop it in the oven.

Recent news has it that Charter Square, where India Cash & Carry is located, will be redeveloped. Retail space will be reduced so there might be a chance that you won't see this old grocer at the current location anymore. For those who wish to satisfy a samosa craving or buy Indian products, the nearby stores are in Sunnyvale, Fremont and Cupertino. Have fun shopping and good luck with that Indian dish!

Bang bangs again



The first time I tried to cut my own bangs was when I was 3 or 4 years old.

I recalled sitting in one corner while my grandparents were busy playing majong. I recalled picking up a pair of scissors, looking into a small mirror and cutting my own hair. After that, I was caned so badly by Grandpa that I hid under the staircase and would not come out until Grandma offered me chocolates. He didn't cane me for cutting my hair actually. He canned me for lying in school and telling my teachers that my haywire hairstyle was cut by my grandparents.

Grandpa taught me not to lie. Perhaps also the lesson of not messing with your own hair unless you are sure you won't look like a wreck.

I cut my own bangs again this week cos it's been too long since the last haircut back home. Thankfully, my hairstylist gave me some pointers for a side swept a few months ago. I also trimmed the hair that's framing the face by taking a sizeable portion from the side (about 2cm in width), angling my scissors downwards, and sliding it down gently from below the cheekbone. My hairstylist does it slightly differently with more hair, but I am not so daring yet. 



I quite like the wispy feel. It looks neater too.

And I think Grandpa won't be too angry if he sees this.

Oh pretty (but wrong) stamp

Sis told me that back in our home church Rev Song will be stepping down as a pastor by year end due to health. I have always enjoyed his sermons and thought it was a great loss to the church. So I decided to send a card to him in case we don't have a chance to see him before he goes.

 

The sweet lady at the post office gave me a stamp which was different from the normal global ones I bought to send cards home. She said they just produced this; it's really cute - featuring Point Judith from Rhone Island, part of the New England Coastal Lighthouses series.

 

 

I happily admired the stamp at home, even took a few photos of it, before pasting it carefully on the envelope.

 

But horror of horrors when I got curious and went online to see what other designs there were for global stamps. Turns out, there was just ONE design for global stamps! The lady at the post office had mistakenly given me a stamp that was meant for USA only.

 

I am now contemplating if I should tear this stamp out and keep it as a souvenir, or just leave it as it is and stick a regular global one next to it. Would it confuse the postman?

 

Either way, I'll have to make a trip back to the post office again. Punishment for being overexcited about something pretty and not checking my purchases.

 

Argh!

 

Who's tired of Napa Valley?

It's my nth time to Napa Valley. Yes it is. I always do the same route: Cafe Sarafornia at Calistoga, Sterling Vineyard, Castello di Amorosa, Oxbow Public Market, Mini Mango Thai Bistro.

Boring? Tell me after you've taken a look at the photos. 

Wild Cat Scrambler at Cafe Sarafornia

Pizza and cheese platter at Sterling Vineyard

8 element wrap at Mini Mango

Papaya Salad

Thai ice tea and that small bowl of Tom Yum Prawn

Green curry chicken

Pad Thai

Sauteed seasonal greens

Food is a major feature as much as wine at Napa Valley. So who gets tired of wine and these delicious oh-nom-nom-noms amid pretty scenery? Nobody! Plus, we have the company of the bubbly Low family today - Panda's newfound buddy loves free breadsticks as much as he does. I think it's because of him that we get frequent refills of free breadsticks.

Breadsticks can also be used as drumsticks to make happy music! 

It's only Panda's second time to Napa Valley. I've always wanted to take a photo with him in the vineyards under the sun but alas, 'under the sun' seems to be inappropriate today because I couldn't even open my eyes.

There I have it. My romantic closed eyes, sweaty photo with the hubs. Be careful what you wish for, so they said!

I'd like to think it's still a pretty photo.