best text msg exchange ever

Between me and the cousin this evening:

S @ 10:10: bsg tomorrow nite?

K @ 10:11: busy. wed?

S @ 10:11: date. thurs?

K @ 10:12: parents

S @ 10:13: bugger

Alright, so its not that amusing, but if you read through the exchange, you'd realize what a geek I've become. Its one thing when it was just Buffy (e.g. chic-cult-nerd-cool), but now that I'm watching Battlestar Galactica, I am officially a dork.

Oh, and my aunt and uncle are coming to town. Hooray!

1st yelp grub-club @ isa

The very first Yelp Grub Club met up this past Saturday for a wonderful dinner at ISA. A total of 7 Yelpers, including me, showed up for some delicious small plates. It was verrrrry good - but unfortunately, following the spectacular dinner I had on Thurs at The House, it wasn't quite 5-star material.

However, it was great fun! Its the first time that I've really had a chance to get to know any Yelpers. Although the parties are amazing and fun, they are very San Francisco-esque in that ppl come with a group, and its hard to meet new people. I myself am guilty, as I always end up bringing someone with me. So its nice to have a fairly intimate setting like dinner to get to know everyone.


Gil, Jeff and the Jersey Girl


Ohhhh... foie gras! How I've missed you!


Rob and Cindy


Todd


Our wonderful quail - quite possibly the smallest bird ever


The group, with one member conspicuously missing (Mai!)

Cannot wait to do it again... Find out more about the next one here.

a week o' gluttony

I'm not sure that I've eaten out so many times in one week, and good food to boot!

Tuesday, A and I stayed in and got some take-out from R&G Lounge. First time I've (a) enjoyed Chinese take out; (b) didn't end up with food poisoning after eating a seafood dish*; and (c) didn't find it totally greasy! We got the Special Beef - always sketchy sounding, but fantastic here - the Salt and Pepper Scallops, and Mustard with Black Mushrooms. Paired with a bottle of Malbec, it totally satisfied my Chinese food craving without destroying my stomach.

*Yes, people, I am a Chinese person who can't digest Chinese food. That's really why I refer to myself as Taiwanese/KMT instead :-)

On Thurs, A and I had an actual date and decided on The House last minute, thanks to John G.'s glowing recommendation. WOW. Let me say it again: WOW. For such a low-hype restaurant, it completely blew us away. The wine wasn't spectacular - we got a Chauteneuf du Pape - but the food was WOW. We started off with Lobster Tempura in Baby Greens, and then shared the Korean-spiced Rack of Lamb and Grilled Seabass with Garlic Noodles. I mean, every individual thing was amazing, but the way that the entrees complemented their sides was sublime! Each complete plate was meant to go together, and its obvious that the chef gave a great deal of thought and care when dreaming them up.

Dinner was topped by an ORGASMIC Scharfenburger Choco Cake with a side of vanilla-Heath ice cream. It almost put me into a coma. Even A was bowled over... and he doesn't even like chocolate!

On Friday, Carolyn came home at 8:30 pm covered with dirt. "I've been gardening all day," she explained, exhausted. They were doing a project at the safe house she works at to redo the backyard.

Since I hadn't eaten yet, I treated her to a meal at Couleur Cafe. Yeah, the service can be spotty, particularly with one waiter, but there's no question that the food is very yum. I'd been craving the Crepe Chicken, and Caro got the Lamb Sausage Pasta with Angel Hair. We also started with some Warm Brie, which was just fantastic. Amazing what a sprinkle of oregano can do!

Unfortunately, all that eating means I'm up a total of 3.2 lbs from goal... and got a stern lecture from my WW mtg leader. *Sigh* I'm back on the regular plan, but I think that it was worth it!

corazón i mi ipod

Whoo! I got my spankin' new iPod Video today - 30 GB of beautiful, slim, shiny goodness. The resolution of the videos are unbelievable... almost better than our tv.

There was a little blip when I accidentally programmed it into Spanish, and of course, couldn't figure out how to reprogram the language since, well, the menu items were in Spanish. Luckily, Tomas saved the day.

I must get used to that click-wheel thingy. Otherwise, I suppose there's always Babelfish.

wtc: the movie

My review in one word? Disappointing.

Last night, Carolyn, Kevin and I went to see the World Trade Center. Considering how deeply September 11 affected me, I thought that I would be moved. The only thing that touched me emotionally during that movie were the CNN clips that were interlaced throughout. It brought me back to that day, glued in front of the TV, watching in horror.

Otherwise, the movie was pedestrian.

The movie did not provide information. The movie did not have a message. The movie did not espouse theories. The movie did not have characters that we felt for. The only "theme", if you want to call it, is that the blackest day of the 21st century can bring people together to be heroes. But the way Stone delivered it, it was like a brass candlestick to the head: Said in a voice-over by Nick Cage during the last five minutes.

In addition, there were some overt patriotism and religious messaging that I found incongruous with Oliver Stone in general. I think Oliver Stone was trying too hard not to be Oliver Stone. In doing so, he didn't deliver a tribute, he made a TV movie. In fact, I was insulted that he was riding on the emotional residue of 9-11 to carry the heart; it didn't even feel like he bothered to make us care, because he knew that we would.

I'm not always an Oliver Stone fan, but one thing about his movies is that they are usually powerful, dramatic. This was just boring. I'm shocked that the critics have rated this so high. Maybe its another one of those PC things where you can't pan a movie b/c its about our country's greatest tragedy. Which in itself, is a tragedy.