and this is what i think...

Paris 2011 - walking around the Marais (a)

2012-01-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

John and I walked "across the river" to the Marais (district) a couple times. We enjoyed the cool little shops, the "hip and happening" artsy vibe in some of the areas, too.

... and this was the first little part of the district that we saw.

Paris 2011 - the police

2012-01-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

The Police in Paris.

Paris 2011 - Notre-dame de Paris: climbing up the Tower

2012-01-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

Going in!

According to the Notre-Dame de Paris web site, there were 387 steps (!) to the top of the Tower. And no, there wasn't an elevator. John and I climbed and climbed. I thought I was gonna pass out! But the view was phenomenal and the effort was totally worth it.

On the way up.

The gargoyles were awesome!

You can see the Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel) up there.

The view.

The guards would stop us somewhere, so we enjoyed the view and took pictures, and then we moved onto the next section and level.

I loved the gargoyles.

And we climbed and climbed.

Some of the most stunning things I had ever seen up there.

We also went in to the bell room to see the Emmanuel Bell.

The bell was huge!

Hmm.

We climbed and climbed.

The climb was intense, but the views were breathtaking.

Walking down was a lot easier.

Back on the ground.

Saw this little guy when we came out of the base of the Tower. I wondered if he ever tried to go up the Tower when nobody was looking.

Paris 2011 - Notre-Dame de Paris: waiting in line to go into the Tower

2012-01-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

We stayed in line for a couple hours in the cold before entering the base of The Tower of the Notre-Dame de Paris. We actually visited The Tower a couple days after visiting the cathedral because we wanted to start early in the day!

There were cool things and people to see while we stayed in line:

Looking up at the gargoyles (as "water spouts.")

A postal car parked across street.

A kid chasing pigeons.

A gentleman with a fresh baguette.

A girl rollerblading with her dog.

Looking down at the feet that belonged to the couple that was in front of us.

Couple guys getting ready to decorate the store-front for Christmas.

And we were almost at the entrance!

Paris 2011 - Cluny

2012-01-19T13:06:00.005-07:00

Cluny is France's National Museum of the Middle Ages. John had been looking forward to visiting it as soon as we arrived Paris, but the idea was not as interesting to me until I actually visited the place. It was phenomenal!

By the entrance.

There were lots of delicately crafted items from the Middle Ages displayed throughout the museum. I was amazed and inspired by the quality and detailed work of the skilled artisans. Many of the small and intricate items were nearly 1,000 years old and still looked pristine!

Here are some of the wonderful things I saw at the museum:

The armour and shields.

The tapestries.

Door knockers.

A beautiful and delicate comb.

Look at the calligraphic details of the book!

The carved ceiling and posts.

The stained glass.

A bronze pitcher!

One of the six, and the most famous tapestries at Cluny - "The Lady and the Unicorn."

The old Roman Baths.

Why these beheaded statues and heads? You can read about them here.

School field trip!

I wonder how long it took the craftsman to carve and make this.

On our way out the premises I saw this door knocker that was absolutely cool and fun! Gave me some ideas...

Hmm.

Cluny was awesome. It made me appreciate history, artisan craftsmanship, art, and quality.

Paris 2011 - night walk back to the hotel

2012-01-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

After the fantastic dinner at Christophe, John and I enjoyed the cool breeze the "night scene of Paris streets" while walking slowly back to the hotel.

We saw a few of the bicycle rental systems.

And there were quite a few historical landmarks and churches.

A sushi delivery shop.

We even saw Totoro!

We also saw this cool looking seafood restaurant at a street corner. We thought of going there for lunch or dinner the next day, but we never did. The shop still looked really cool though.

When we were almost back at the hotel we saw this little kitty inside a closed cafe. He was cleaning himself and was tiny and cute.

It was a nice and fun little "night walk" in Paris.

Paris 2011 - Christophe

2012-01-14T11:29:00.004-07:00

One of my favorite meals while in Paris was dinner at Christophe.

Before I begin blogging about this dining experience, I must quote from Christophe's web site:

"Avertissements: si vous êtes de mauvaise humeur, si vous n'aimez pas les viandes un peu grasses, si vous n'aimez pas les viandes et les poissons pas trop cuits, si vous n'aimez pas le beurre, si vous n'avez pas un bon appétit, si vous aimez le coca cola, si vous aimez les plats relevés: pour votre plaisir et le notre veuillez aller ailleurs !"

and the above translated directly (according to Google Translate) is:

"Warning: If you are in a bad mood, if you do not like the meat a little fat, if you do not like meat and fish not overcooked, if you do not like butter, if you do not have a good appetite, if you like coca cola, if you like spicy dishes: for your pleasure and ours please go elsewhere!"

John made a reservation at the restaurant, and we walked there after the little "fire scare" at the hotel. We almost got lost on our way, and when we got there we were about half an hour late. The Chef and the Maitre D' (yes I believe there were only two people working at the restaurant... and they were the best!) were kind and greeted us with warm and happy greetings.

The restaurant was cozy and intimate.

The menu.

The utensils and a fun placemat.

The wine.

The water.

We went for the 3-course meal. Each of us got an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert. While we waited for our food I enjoyed the mellow and relaxed atmosphere, and watching the patrons at the other tables enjoy lively conversations, food, and wine.

What I had observed was that patrons would eat, drink, and sometimes takes a little "break" and went outside to either smoke or get fresh air, and came back into the restaurant and enjoy more food and wine and conversations. They took their time, and it was inspiring and cool.

Foie gras de canard.

Both of us had the foie gras for appetizer. It was like eating butter, if I may be honest, and I mean it in a good way, the perfectly toasted pieces of bread was just right to accompany the foie gras. The flavors were intense and delicious.

The bottle opener.

This bottle opener was mounted on a wood board and on top of a wine barrel. It got used a lot that evening. French people loved their wine, and so did we!

The painting that was above me on the wall.

Agneau de Lozère, gigot confit et croustillant, carottes.

I had the leg of lamb with carrots. The lamb was tender and masterfully seasoned and prepared, and the carrots were also cooked to perfection. Perfection!

Cochon Basque, l'epaule rôtie, polenta.

John had the roasted Cochon Basque pork shoulder with polenta. Hats off to the chef. Everything was cooked to bring out its best flavors and the textures were phenomenal!

Ananas rôti.

I chose the roasted pineapple for dessert. It was tangy and sweet, with aromatic buttery "juice" all over it. Delish.

Mousse chocolat 75% cacao, croustillant à la praline.

John had the 75% cocoa chocolate mousse with crispy praline biscuits. Yum. Yum. Yum.

The bill. It was neatly rolled into a tiny scroll! I loved it.

We were the last table of the evening. At the end of the night there were the Chef, the Maitre D' and us. We never felt rushed. (John actually went over to ask for the bill because we didn't want to keep them there too much longer... even though they were doing their end-of-the day things and allowing us to continue enjoying ourselves.) We enjoyed our food, wine, the company of the Chef and the Maitre D', and every little thing about this fantastic restaurant.

I admired the Chef's passion and skills to make his cuisine a most delicious art for us to enjoy. Christophe is a place I want to return and enjoy over and over.

Paris 2011 - there was a small fire by the hotel

2012-01-13T13:19:00.001-07:00

John and I were doing a quick research on where we would like to have dinner that evening, and all of a sudden the hotel alarm went off!

We took the stairs down to the lobby, and saw the guy at the front desk slightly panicking. He tried to explain to us in English of what was happening. I didn't quite understand him, but I was pretty sure he was trying to say that there was smoke on the top floor but he was not sure. He called the fire department already. He also instructed us to wait in the lobby for a bit.

As we waited some more guests at the hotel came downstairs. A girl was probably in the shower because when she came down her hair was still dripping.

We waited in the lobby for a little bit, then went outside to get some fresh air.

At first we saw some light smoke that seemingly was coming out of the hotel building.

Then a couple fire trucks showed up.

And I say this in a very respectful way: the firefighters looked very futuristic.

They were ready to roll.

I then saw the hotel front desk guy came out, talked to the firefighters, and a couple firefighters ran upstairs in the hotel. They then came down and said something to the hotel guy and left. He later told us the firefighters checked everywhere in the hotel, and determined that the alarm was sensitive (which was good,) and detected the smoke coming from the building next door, where the fire was supposed to have broken out.

When the firefighters started going into the building where the smoke came out, we could see more clearly where the fire was.

I was glad no one was hurt, and it was cool I got to see Parisian firefighters! It was an unexpected and interesting experience.

Paris 2011 - the river

2012-01-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

During our stay in Paris, we walked by, and crossed "the river" many times. This river that I saw pretty much everyday, was Seine.

Seine was beautiful, and I think I took at least a photo or two of her each day we were in Paris.

Paris 2011 - Sainte-Chapelle

2012-01-10T14:40:00.002-07:00

We stayed in line for a while to get into Sainte-Chapelle because the securities would control how many people they allowed in onto the premises.

While waiting in line there was a street performer who wore a mask and scared people who walked by. It was funny in a way, but I also noticed some people got angry and mad at him. I guess he did get (almost) everyone's attention.

Wikipedia has a pretty detailed write-up on Sainte-Chapelle.

We were in!

I thought what I saw so far was splendid, until I walked upstairs and saw this:

My camera and my poor skills could not capture the magnificent interior of Sainte-Chapelle. All I could do was to take it all in with my own eyes, and not ever forget its beauty.

Ahh it was stunning.

The stairway back down.

Outside. The courthouse was next door so I supposed the gentleman in this photo was a judge?

I found him at the corner by the exit. I wonder who he was.

The exit lead to the little square in front of the courthouse.

A cool officer in a simple and modern security booth.

The gate by the exit.

Royal, and splendid it was.

Paris 2011 - Paris bicycle rentals

2012-01-06T09:50:00.001-07:00

One of the things I see almost everyday while in Paris was the bicycle rentals. I thought it was an awesome concept and people seemed to be taking advantage of the system, too.

We didn't try it. John and I pretty much walked and took the trains to places, but the bicycle rental could have been cool for browsing around certain neighborhoods in Paris, too. Check out Velib'Bike Rentals for basic information.

Paris 2011 - lunch at l'isolotto

2012-01-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

We walked by the river and around the area for a while before deciding to have lunch at l'isolotto. It's a lovely little Italian restaurant with good (and easy) lunch "sets" for us to choose from.

Of course we went for the "Entree+Plat+Dessert" sets. We were on vacation!

People watching after placing our orders.

Wine.

Appetizers.

Main courses.

Desserts.

That was simple, and delicious lunch!

Paris 2011 - Conciergerie

2012-01-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

With our Paris Museum Pass in hand, we proceeded to go and visited the Conciergerie. We stayed in line in the cold for a little while, and as we approached the securities we were guided to go through an "express" line because we had our passes in hand. Cool.

From what I saw, the Conciergerie was connected to the courthouse.

I really didn't know what to expect before going into the Conciergerie. All I knew was that it was a palace, and then a prison for Marie Antoinette and prisoners during the French Revolution.

When I walked in I was surprised to see that part of the Conciergerie was used as an art gallery, and the art it was displaying were visually very stimulating. Here are some of them:

This was my favorite. Very intriguing.

And we watched a short film. Lots of vultures. Pretty scary and interesting.

We then walked upstairs to check out the old prison cells (with life-size wax figures), including the one where Marie Antoinette was held. There were lots of documents about the history to read about, too.

Paris 2011 - Notre-Dame de Paris: the interior

2011-12-31T12:43:00.001-07:00

We entered the cathedral. It was slightly overwhelming. I was amazed by the high ceilings, the stone work, the windows, the separate stalls for the saints, the everything!

I don't know if I am capable of describing my feelings with words about this cathedral, and I don't think my photos would do it justice. I'm simply going to post a few photos of some of the elements inside that made my heartbeat go a little bit faster when I saw them.

This is one of the places that everyone, if he can, should see in person.

I was very deeply moved.

This still can't show the beauty of the cathedral, but I took a little video while sitting in the pews:

Phenomenal.

Paris 2011 - Notre-Dame de Paris: the exterior

2011-12-30T13:33:00.002-07:00

The hotel we stayed at in Paris was at the edge of the Latin Quarter, and was fairly close to Notre-Dame de Paris. John and I visited it a couple times (inside-out), and every time I passed by it, I'd stop and admire its stunning beauty, and be amazed each time.

Lots of birds out front.

And this dude was having his photo taken with the pigeon on his head.

The architecture, the structure, the craftsmanship, and literally everything of Notre-Dame de Paris I had seen so far were stunning to me. I had never seen anything so massive yet delicate... and this was only the exterior. More amazement for me awaited.

Paris 2011 - little breakfast companions

2011-12-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

I've posted about how there's a bakery below the hotel that we were staying at. And during the week we that we frequented there, there were little elements other than tasty treats that made me happy.

There were always little birdies that were scouting out crumbs on the patio floor!

John and I liked to sit at this small table by the edge of the patio, until one day a little bit of bird poo (pee?) got on our jackets! Even though there was only a teeny little bit, I was slightly freaking out. After cleaning our jacket we decided we'd sit at other tables that were closer to the bakery itself. Good call, because we saw the birdie-pee accidents happen to other patrons a couple times after ours.

I still think these birds were cute, and they were my little Parisian breakfast companions.

Most of the mornings John and I would get a croissant, and had something that we got from the stores the night before. One morning we went into the bakery and there were fresh caramel flans, so we tried it. It was pretty tasty.

And that morning I also tried a cafe au lait. Let's get real here... stick with the pastries and breads, I say.

Some mornings I'd also see this young man who's stacking the baguettes:

He was always very concentrated when handling the baguettes. Very professional and cool.

I sorta miss this little bakery right now.

this Christmas

2011-12-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

I am trying to finish up my little Paris trip postings so I totally skipped blogging about Christmas.

Friends and family have been asking about our Christmas, so I thought I'd post a little 'something something' about our Christmas holiday.

This Christmas John and I just took it easy... only the two of us, the dogs, and the cat. We didn't cook anything extravagant, but picked up TWO roast ducks for the holiday! I went to pick up one at Southeastern Market earlier on Christmas Eve, and after the shop closed both of us went to pick up another from Little World on our way home.

Oh my goodness the ducks were so yummy. We had some on Christmas Eve, some on Christmas Day, and I just finished the last bit last night. Yum Yum Yum.

We did cook a little, too. We made green beans with bacon, "marshmallow-ed" yam, and other veggies. My favorite was the "marshmallow-ed" yam!

Did I put enough yam in there with the marshmallows?

We also had wine that we brought back from France, and I made a pumpkin cake for dessert!

So we enjoyed yummy food, watched fun and silly shows on Netflix, and just chilled with the dogs and Jasper. It was a mellow and happy Christmas!

Oh, and the dogs each got a big bone for the holidays!

Paris 2011 - Musee d'Orsay

2011-12-28T14:21:00.001-07:00

With our museum pass in hand, there were probably too many great things to see. The evening that Orsay Museum (Musee d'Orsay) opened late we took the night train to go and visit it.

The Musee d'Orsay stop was only a short train-ride away.

At the Musee d'Orsay station.

Musee d'Orsay.

Musee d'Orsay was the only museum that did not allow photograph-taking of the paintings and sculptures inside the museum, so I didn't take any. It was actually nice, because I was just trying to absorb what I was seeing, and loving each moment.

I did snap a few shots when I reached the top of the stairs at the back of the museum. I didn't know if it was allowed, but everyone with a camera was taking a photo of this stunning museum when he's on top of the "towers," so I did, too. (And it was all worth it!)

It was almost overwhelming for me to see the wondrous and inspiring work in the museum. An evening was almost too short for all d'Orsay had to offer, but I tried to take everything in, and to enjoy every little moment when I "felt" the paintings.

Afterward we walked around the museum and enjoyed the chilly breeze by the river.

That was a wonderful, wonderful evening.

i can cook the filled rice balls now

2011-12-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago it was 冬至(dong1 zhi4), which was the "arrival of winter," when most Taiwanese (and Chinese) people will cook up some glutenous rice balls 湯圓(tang yuan) to celebrate this day every year.

I love these boiled rice balls with sweet peanut or sesame filling. They are almost like little hot mochi balls... I'd eat them all winter long!

I have not had homemade rice balls for a while. I should really consider hand-making some this winter.

You can easily purchase them in packages of 10, (like these,) in the freezer sections at the Asian markets, which is very convenient for me to do. The reason I haven't been cooking them much is because I never cooked them right, so most of the time the finished rice balls are torn and the filling will be all over the pot, and the inner side of the rice balls would still be hard!

BUT! But this "arrival of winter" I read up a little bit on cooking/boiling these frozen rice balls, and the result was great!

I boiled a pot of water first. As the water came to a rolling boil, I placed the frozen rice balls into the pot, allowed the water to boil again, and turned the heat down to low, and boiled the rice balls until they all floated on the surface of the water. After the rice balls started floating, added a little bit sugar to the water, and cooked an additional couple more minutes and they were done and every little rice balls were intact! :D

These rice balls were soft and slightly chewy... perfect texture of "tang yuan" for me!

Paris 2011 - Leon de Bruxelles

2011-12-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

On our way to Pierre Herme we passed Leon de Bruxelles, which I had read about prior to getting to Paris. We decided we would give its mussels a try for lunch one of the days while we were in Paris.

Leon de Bruxelles is a semi-"fast food" chain that serves fresh and delicious mussels!

Each of us got a pot of the delicious mussels (different sauces and seasonings.) They were both very tasty. The mussels were cooked perfectly and the seasonings were wonderful. There were a lot of mussels in each pot, and toward the end of the meal John said he thought he had "mussel fatigues!" hahaha.

And of course there were frites and beers.

I believe it was on "Thanksgiving Day (American)," so we had mussels and frites for our "Thanksgiving in Paris!"

Paris 2011 - Paris Museum Pass

2011-12-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

John researched about the Paris Museum Passes and thought the best pass for us to get was the 4-day pass.

One of the first things we did when we arrived at the Charles de Gaulle Airport was to get two of the 4-day passes from its tourist information center.

We wrote the first day (required) that we used the passes, and for four consecutive days we enjoyed different museums and attractions using these passes. For us, the passes pretty much paid for themselves with the first couple museums we visited. For a couple places that we used the passes, we were actually able to skip lines because of these passes. I loved it.

Paris 2011 - gardens at Versailles

2011-12-20T11:18:00.001-07:00

Before entering the gardens.

It was a slightly misty and chilly day... perfect for a little walk in the gardens!

Misty beautifulness.

The view was breathtaking.

Who trims the trees like this? They were so cute!

These guys were diligently trimming the trees with their long scissors. The whole time I was in the gardens I could hear the echos of the shears in the background. Very intriguing to me.

The seagulls were joining in the fun.

Looking back at the palace.

I couldn't get enough of this magical view.

Everything made me feel as if I were in a picture.

Wow, and wow, Louis XIV.

Paris 2011 - at the Palace of Versailles

2011-12-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

We finally got to the right station!

Chateau de Versailles was simply stunning. I don't think I can come up with enough words to describe what I saw and how I felt about this wondrous palace filled with luxury, history, and stories. I'm just going to post mostly photographs here. And if you'd like to see more photos of the Versailles, you can check out its official web site, or our flickr (caffe d'bolla.)

There were so much to see it was overwhelming.

Next I'm going to post about the garden of the Versailles. It was just as breathtaking.

Paris 2011 - on the way to Versailles

2011-12-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

The first morning we took off to go to Versailles. We went to the train station and got our tickets from the ticket booth so we were sure we got the right fare and route figured out.

We went down to the platform and caught the RER C that was just pulling into the station. "No wait, Yay, and hmm there's not a lot of people going to Versailles today," we thought. After getting on the upper deck of the train John said, "Wow. The train was 3 minutes early."

In the upper deck of the train.

That was a smooth and happy train ride. As we went farther and farther away from the city we enjoyed the beautiful suburban cottages and beautiful landscapes. The houses we saw were like the ones in paintings. Breathtaking.

One fun(ny) thing that happened during this train ride was that at one point John and I seemed to be the only passengers in that cart of the train, and as the train was approaching a forest area it reduced speed and slowed down quite a bit. The train almost came to a compete stop. The first thought that came to my mind was, "Oh. This reminds me of that horror movie I watched, where passengers were taken into the middle of nowhere and the train stopped..."

Anywho. We were ok. After a few minutes of idling the train started again and everything was back to "normal."

Another few minutes left and we passed a couple more cute and lovely suburban stations. John thought it was about time that we reached our destination station, so he went to check the map at the end of the cart.

WE WERE ON THE WRONG TRAIN.

We were on RER C all right, but the RER C route split after Champ de Mars... and the RER C train we were on was the one that would end up in Pontoise.

We figured we would get off the next station and went backward to Champ de Mars and catch the correct RER C. We quickly went to the opposite side of the platform to try to catch the next train to Champ de Mars.

The station we got off was St. Quen L'aumone Liesse. We were almost at the end of that line!

Well. We were lost, but at least we enjoyed the ride and enjoyed the quaint and beautiful St. Quen L'aumone Liesse.

St. Quen L'Aumone Liesse.

When the train came we got on and went backward towards Champ de Mar.

Champ de Mars station.

At Champ de Mars station was when we learned to read the monitors at the platform. Each line has trains with different names, and each name signified a train that stops at different stations, and goes to a different route... even if they were all, in a bigger picture, the same line. In our case, "RER C." This "learned skill" was proven very useful for the remaining of our trip!

We took the correct RER C train and were on our way to Versailles. For real.

The view on this train was really different.

And yes there were more people on this train, and most of them were going to see the Chateau de Versailles.

Paris 2011 - there's a bakery below the hotel

2011-12-14T13:32:00.001-07:00

There's a bakery below the hotel. John and I got quick breakfast treats from there pretty much every morning.

This bakery is more of a bread store, or a "boulangerie." Every morning people line up for some baguettes, croissants, brioche, and such. We had our shares of good times and yumminess from here.

Now this was a nice plain brioche.

These were what we had for breakfast the first morning we were in paris.

I saw the bakery had mini caneles and had to grab a couple to try. They were not as tasty as I'd imagined, but I guess from what people say, since caneles are very regional-specific (Borduaex), very rarely can you find awesome caneles from just any bakery.

The brioche and croissants were delicious.

On the patio of the bakery.

After our quick morning rendezvous at the bakery in the mornings, John and I were ready to take on the day in Paris.

Paris 2011 - Pierre Herme's macarons

2011-12-13T12:11:00.001-07:00

This is the bag I was all willing to carry all the way back to the hotel.

And there were two boxes.

This big one was a Japanese-inspired matcha and azuki work of art.

Oh my.

12 beautiful little creations.

You've never had macarons until you have one of these.

There was a macaron flavor list that came with our macarons. It was a very handy "tool" to help us determine what we were eating.

The macarons from Pierre Herme was made to perfection. The meringue, the filling, the flavor combinations, and the textures... everything came together so harmoniously yet exciting. I was in love.

Let me admire this piece of artwork one more time before I sink my teeth into it...

omg.

They were so very, very, tasty.

holiday muffins

2011-12-12T20:15:00.001-07:00

Ok they are not really "holiday" muffins, but they are the almond poppy seed muffins that I have been making for the shop these days, with a holiday twist - in holiday-inspired muffin liners! Wilton has come up with a bunch of holiday cupcake liners, packaging materials, and such, and I love how festive they look! :D

Paris 2011 - with a Pierre Herme bag in my hand

2011-12-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

After getting my box of macarons from Pierre Herme, John and I enjoyed our walk back to the hotel.

Along the way I saw more intriguing things.

This gentleman was carving and repairing vintage ivory statues! He was so concentrated on his work and so cute.

Macarons from another shop.

More macarons.

If I didn't have the bag of Pierre Herme in my hand, I'd probably go into the shop and get a few macarons at this point, but I had my mind set on the Pierre Herme macarons, so I only looked around the shop and enjoyed the festive-treat-heaven-atmosphere.

A pile of huge meringue cookies!

And a lot of cute chocolate art pieces.

Oh my. There were so many treats and sweets!

We continued walking down the street, and a couple doors down I was stunned to see a huge chocolate gorilla in the window!

I think this dude was taller than me! He was sitting in the window and looking down at everyone that walked by and admired him.

I wonder if anyone would buy him and eat him up.

With the Pierre Herme bag in my hand, I didn't get any additional treats despite all the lovely temptations from all the cool shops I passed by.

Paris 2011 - out to look for Pierre Herme

2011-12-09T21:11:00.001-07:00

I have tempted to make macarons a handful of times, and I have also purchased a few from my local bakeries prior to going to Paris. I had make a couple decent batches myself, and tasted pretty good ones that were bought from bakeries, but I knew, from reading and doing research, that I needed to go and visit Pierre Herme when I went to Paris, to taste some of the best macarons in the world!

John was kind enough to find out a Pierre Herme shop that we could walk to from the hotel. The first night we were in Paris, we went off to find the macaron magic shop.

We passed quite a few pharmacies on our way there. These pharmacies all looked very futuristic to me. Awesome.

We also saw a few candy stands. I was of course tempted, but my mind was set to finding Pierre Herme, so I only took pictures of the treats.

There were also a few really cool book shops along the way. The window displays were amazing!

Look!

The storefront.

There was a line inside the store, and I was more than happy to stay in line and to look at all the beautiful cakes and desserts.

If I could buy every single dessert in the store I would.

It was our turn, and we would like to get some macarons. The girl who helped us asked if we would like a beautiful box for the macarons for gifts. We said the macarons were for ourselves and a regular box would do. She packed in 12 macarons that we chose. Based of what was available that night, we got 8 different kinds in all, and the girl packed up all 12 in a pastry box, put a little sticker on it, and placed in a beautiful paper (gift) bag. She then handed it to me with a huge smile.

I was really happy, and insisted that I would carry the bag (of a box of macarons) all the way back to the hotel.

Paris 2011 - first lunch

2011-12-08T13:21:00.001-07:00

After settling in at the hotel, John and I decided to take it easy and just walk around the neighborhood and look for something to eat.

Out on the street... with cars and motorcycles coming toward us from all directions!

We walked around for a while, enjoyed reading the not-so-familiar French menus in front of restaurants, and decided to go with a small restaurant that served 3-course meals with dish selections that appealed to us the most.

I don't even remember the name of the restaurant, but it was country-istic and cozy, with the owner looking like Buddy Valastro of Cake Boss.

Anyhow, it was late in the afternoon and we seemed to be the first customers of the evening. The owner/manager was still arranging tables and tableware on the patio. We were seated by the window, and this is inside the restaurant:

We each got a 3-course meal, and shared a bottle of simple, but delicious wine.

Tart of the day.

Onion soup.

We both got the duck breasts.

The duck was delicious, but OMG the green beans. Later on during the trip we realized how well French cook their vegetables, and how much they love their fries.

Choux pastry with dark chocolate sauce.

Chocolate mousse.

It was a simple and delightful late lunch, and the first "French food" I had in Paris.

Near the restaurant.

Paris 2011 - at the hotel

2011-12-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

John and I stayed at Albe Hotel during our trip to Paris. It's a cute hotel with easy Metro and some attraction access, with some restaurant options near by. Even though some of the restaurants close by could be "tourist traps," we did find descent options in the area later on.

Our room was on the 4th floor. It was cute, comfy, clean, and totally lovely.

It was our perfect little "hideaway" for 6 nights while we were in Paris!

Paris 2011 - arriving in Paris

2011-12-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

Before landing... my first view of France.

The first thought that came to my mind when I saw the first glimpse of France was, "aww. This (the landscape) is so pretty and colorful!"

John and I flew in to Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport and found the information center to purchase our museum passes and tickets for the RER train to Paris. (Thanks to John for checking all these out before our trip!)

The first Parisian we exchanged conversations with was this wonderful gentleman at the Tourist Information Center.

He pointed us to the right train to take, the information on the museum passes, and gave us a warm welcome to Paris. He was wonderful.

We got on RER B and headed for the hotel.

on the train.
There weren't that many people on the train at first, but as soon as it approached closer to the city area it got crowded. I was a little nervous, but John helped making sure we didn't miss our stop.

Our hotel was located in the Latin Quarter. When we arrived at the station the first word that I learned was "sortie," which apparently was "exit."

This was what I saw when I stepped out of the train station. OMG it was the Notre Dame!

I turned around and this was the exit we took. Exit 6.

After we found the hotel, checked in, (and met the super nice hotel people,) we dragged our luggage into the elevator, where the two of us, plus the luggage, occupied the whole elevator floor.

John wearing his "on the plane t-shirt," his "comfy and loose dog shirt" from No More Homeless Pets." The elevator was really tiny!

And then we saw our room. It was tiny, cute, and wonderful.

i went to Paris

2011-12-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

This Thanksgiving holiday John and I flew directly from Salt Lake City to Paris and spent a week in the City of Light. It was a fun and magical trip, with lots of great food, wine, museums, art, and magnificent views of architecture and landmarks. The weather was nice, with temperature in the 40s and 50s, overcast skies, and occasional light misty rain. It was perfect weather for Paris, I say.

We took over 1,000 photos, plus 10 short videos during this trip! If I can not be lazy I shall blog about the tiny little things that made this trip wonderful.

a cup with a cute lady bug on it

2011-10-17T13:58:00.002-06:00

There I was, again, quite "busy" these days to quiet myself down and post something on my blog. But this morning I thought, I must post something today. I must!

And here I am! Today I'm going to post about one of my cup collections... a cute vintage Japanese cup with beautiful black and white flowers, and a lovely lady bug (actually there are two of them) on it. It holds a little less than 8 oz. of liquid, which is perfect for me!

And yes, you know me, I've been drinking almost everything out of it these days.

when fall comes

2011-10-04T10:26:00.000-06:00

The weather has been very mild so far this season. As a matter of fact summer didn't seem to have ended in Salt Lake City.

But I know fall is indeed here when I look around our house...

Acorns start to fall.

my latte art these days

2011-10-03T13:06:00.000-06:00

I've been kinda busy this past week, with the shipment (literally over a ton of stuff!) from Taiwan and the other tiny little things here and there, I haven't been blogging. I've thought of lots of things to write about, but I just haven't got to doing it.

Anyhow, I'm going to try to write something often, even if it's little things that are just simple and mundane.

With that said, here's a photo of a small latte I made the other day:

I've been pouring these rosettas with tiny little feathers on the bottom. I like them a lot.

not pillows

2011-09-22T15:33:00.000-06:00

caffe d'bolla's "Soul Finger" espresso.

John's been roasting a bunch, and since he's also our roaster maintenance guy, technician, tech support, and everything else, he's been quite busy.

And I think he's really enjoying it despite of the hard work he has to put into selecting and roasting the coffee, and all that comes with it.

The other day we got another shipment of green coffee, and I asked him to pose for a picture with the bags of coffee for me:

"These are not pillows!" he says.

it's like an upside-down chicken pot pie

2011-09-21T12:46:00.000-06:00

So you'd put two cans of thick and chunky soup (chicken based) in the casserole, and top it with biscuits dough pieces (I dropped mine with a spoon,) and bake it in a hot over (350F sounds good) for about 30 minutes, and voila! Yummy and quick dinner casserole bake.

And I think this tastes like an upside-down chicken pot pie, even though in theory it's more of a chicken and biscuit/dumpling bake.

my old phone has a higher calling

2011-09-19T12:50:00.000-06:00

I don't remember how many cell phones I had owned so far, but after I retired those and upgraded to newer ones, I tossed them out.

Last week I upgraded my phone at Verizon. When the new phone arrived, a mailing pouch arrived with it. It was for me to recycle and donate my phone and batteries to help victims of domestic violence. The no-longer-in-use cell phones are put to work, and into support for domestic violence victims and survivors, and the project is called "HopeLine."

I love how on the bag it says,"Your Old Phone Has a Higher Calling." I'm glad it does.

little gifts for Katrina

2011-09-15T21:50:00.001-06:00

Katrina has been reading my Taiwanese blog for a while and she hit the number 100,000 visitor on the site... and therefore she got a couple little gifts! :D

A cute pair of earrings for Katrina.

And a big Blythe tote for Katrina and her baby... the bag is big enough to be a diaper bag!

I hope she likes and enjoys the gifts!

"crown" muffins

2011-09-13T12:46:00.002-06:00

I had been struggling with making muffins with proper "muffin tops" that are rounded, tall, and delicious. The muffins I made (for the shop) this summer had been tasty, but with flattened tops. Sad.

But one day, I found a special muffin pan that's labeled as a "crown muffin pan." It doesn't even have a brand name on it... all it had was a bar code with a tiny line of words indicating what the pan was.

And it made all the difference!

These are almond-poppy seed muffins!

I made cinnamon-crumb cake muffins a few times, and look how HUGE this muffin top got! (The tip collapsed when I pulled the muffins out of the oven and knocked on the rack... otherwise it would have been rounded, too!)

So I say, getting good and cool bakeware is a wonderful thing to do.

100000!

2011-09-12T11:24:00.000-06:00

Some of you know that I have another blog that's in Taiwanese/Mandarin Chinese. The other day I noticed it was approaching 100,000 hits (the blog site has a counter built-in!) It's no big deal, but a couple friends suggested that I made a game out of it to see who would hit the fun number of 100,000.

So I posted the "game rules" and proposed that whoever hit the number 99999, 100000, or 100001, to take a picture of it and send it to me, and I'd give away a present to whomever hit one of these numbers.

And I got a response!

It's from my friend Katrina! Now I'm looking for a proper gift to send to her. It's nice to know that people read the silly little things that I post. Thanks Katrina!

San Francisco 07.11 (13) - quick Taqueria lunch

2011-09-07T14:02:00.001-06:00

I totally do not remember the name of this little taqueria, but it was at a corner on Valencia... maybe it's called "Taqueria on Valencia?"

Anywho. John and I stopped for quick lunch and the food was delish. There were lots of choices, and I don't think you'll go wrong with any of them.

Yum.

San Francisco 07.11 (12) - YakiniQ

2011-09-06T12:43:00.002-06:00

The first night we arrived at JapanTown I saw across the street from the hotel that there's a yakinikyu (Japanese-style Korean BBQ) place called YakiniQ, and since then I had been eyeing it until very late one night, I dragged John there to have ourselves some grilled meaty happiness.

For us out-of-towners, we had to go with the slightly higher-priced menu options.

Of course there had to be Hite beers when having Korean BBQ!

The sides were good. My favorite were these thin rice wraps that I used to wrap the grilled meats later on. Yum.

I believe these were sliced cow tongues!

Mmm. YakiniQ!

Nothing beats late night grilled meats, I say.

YakiniQ
1640 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94115

(415) 441-9292

San Francisco 07.11 (11) - Ritual

2011-09-03T13:26:00.001-06:00

After the afternoon Mission District explorings and Four Barrel coffees, we headed out to Ritual.

As a side note, riding the bus in San Francisco at night was interesting and fun.

It was around 9pm when we got to Ritual, but there was still coffee drinking that needed to be done.

We started off with two cappuccinos.

As we drank our capps we looked around and enjoyed the shop decors and artwork. The shop was cool and spacious.

The coffees were tasty, and the baristas were quiet (but friendly,) and very skilled.

We got a second round with two macchiatos and an iced Americano. Yum.

We left satisfied, filled with tasty coffee, and walked back to take the bus to return to the hotel. The streets were quiet, but bars and small eateries were filled with people. It was a very lovely evening.

curry chunk art

2011-09-03T11:31:00.000-06:00

OK it's a bit stretched when I called this "art," but every time I cut or chop Japanese curry chunks I think it looks a bit artsy!

I love Japanese curry. I make them at home, and I go to small curry houses or specialty curry udon shops when I'm in Japan. Yay for Japanese curry.

San Francisco 07.11 (10) - murals

2011-09-02T13:16:00.004-06:00

Saw some cool murals and wall art when browsing the streets in San Francisco.

Some of the artwork was inspiring, others made me think, and still others simply made me smile.

Even simple wall art at a local business was lovely.

San Francisco 07.11 (9) - Four Barrel

2011-09-01T13:11:00.002-06:00

We took a bus out to the Mission District to have coffee at Four Barrel. The shop was HUGE! It was spacious and beautiful, and the coffees were lovely. The barista who made us our drinks was cool, friendly, and very skilled. It was a perfect day for coffee!

John and I got an espresso, a macchiato, and a cappuccino. Tasty tasty!

And of course we had to check out their roasting areas. Great setup and layout.

Four Barrel Coffee
375 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 252-0800

San Francisco 07.11 (8) - Bushi Tei

2011-08-31T10:59:00.000-06:00

We had dinner at Bushi-Tei, a modern Japanese and fusion (in a good way) restaurant.

The restaurant was spacious and beautiful.

There were beautiful and tasty food, dessert, and wine, and martini. As usual, my photo-taking skills could be improved while taking pictures of these beautiful food in the ambient restaurant, but looking at these photos now can still bring me back to that soft, lovely, relaxing, and beautiful evening.

Bushi Tei

1638 Post Street

San Francisco, CA 94115

(415) 440-4959

shaun & daena's wedding

2011-08-30T13:24:00.003-06:00

My dear friends Shaun and Daena got married this past weekend! We were invited to celebrate with them at their simple, yet beautiful wedding.

It was a casual wedding, where Shaun and Daena, along with their guests, wore jeans and t-shirts.

They did wear matching shoes!

What a great couple!

Congrats guys!

a friend came to see me

2011-08-29T13:33:00.000-06:00

My dear friend Marku came to see me this past weekend. We got together and had a great time with some of our mutual friends, who I only see when Marku comes in town.

Faustina, me, and Marku.

I've known Marku for over 15 years(!) and he's been like a wonderful big brother to me all these years, and for that I consider myself very fortunate.

Until next time.

san Francisco 07.11 (7) - Fun Treats at JapanTown

2011-08-24T13:21:00.000-06:00

There were two places in JapanTown that I visited multiple times for delicious treats during our most recent trip.

The first one was Andersen's Bakery inside JapanTown Mall.

My favorite at Andersen's Bakery? Creamy French. These are little French bread slit length-wise and filled with creamy custard. OMG yumminess.

The other one was the little Japanese-dessert-drink-treat place (not sure if it had a name, but it's in the same building of JapanTown Mall as Sapporoya, in the center hall area.

John and I visited for quick and simple Ujikintoki Kakigori (matcha green tea-azuki bean-shaved ice dessert.)

Yummers!

San Francisco 07.11 (6) - Sapporoya Ramen

2011-08-23T14:04:00.002-06:00

John and I were walking inside JapanTown, and were wondering what we should have for lunch. There were plenty of shops to choose from, but I didn't see anything in particular that caught my eye... until I saw a sign that read "Sapporo-ya (Sapporo House)" and the word "ramen."

It was on the second floor of the farther side (from Kabuki) of JapanTown Mall, a small shop that got my attention. The exterior of the shop did not look particularly promising, but I thought of the fact that some of the best shops I had been to look nothing special, either. I would give it a try.

From what I knew, Sapporo-style ramen focuses on its miso-flavor-base soup, which I had not tried much, so when we were deciding which ramens to try, we chose regular charshu and miso charshu ramen. We also got an order of homemade gyoza.

The pickled cabbages that came first were fine, and the "salad" that came with the gyoza were an interesting touch. The gyoza themselves were fresh and tasty.

And then the ramen came. Oh my goodness weren't they yummy. Sapporo-ya prides itself for it house-made noodles, and I totally agree with them, but boy oh boy, the char-shu pork was also cooked to perfection (and they give you plenty of it,) and the soups (both the regular soy and the miso ones) had great flavors and texture.

These were probably some of the best ramens I'd had since Japan.

Oh, and the noodle room at Sapporo-ya reminded me of this tiny soba place in Kyoto that John and I visited.

San Francisco 07.11 (5) - fun at de Young

2011-08-22T11:32:00.000-06:00

What else did we do when we visited de Young Museum and Picasso? We had fun taking pictures with ourselves in art.

We also went up to the Hamon Observation Tower on top of the building, where we saw beautiful landscapes of Golden Gate Park and other panoramic views of San Francisco.

I was so relaxed and happy!

it's not my birthday today

2011-08-19T15:47:00.002-06:00

... but it WAS my birthday last Friday, and John and I finally went to Franck's!

We finally found the restaurant, and as we pulled into the parking lot a young man stopped us and offered to valet our car. We saw some parking spaces right in front the restaurant, and figured we could park the car ourselves. "The parking lot is for valet parking only," the young man said, "If you want to park the car on your own you can park on the street."

I was surprised. I'd love to have valet services, but when the parking spaces are right in front of me (and that I don't have a valet key on me,) I really don't need the service.

We were budgeting a $200 dinner at the restaurant and a lovely evening, and then the "If you want to park the car on your own, you can park on the street" part shocked me a bit.

We pulled out "on to the street," where it was more like a dirt road if I may be honest. I was mad (you know how I am... I get mad over silly little things,) and I was about to call to cancel our reservation and head home, until John suggested that we did not let the parking issue ruin my birthday dinner.

So we parked in front of Franck's parking lot sign, on the dirt road, and walked into the restaurant.

And everything just got better and better after that.

The bread was crusty and aromatic, and the herb-ed butter was tasty, too.
Our appetizers, soups, main courses, and desserts, were all cooked to perfection and delicious. The wine selections were great, too (John studied Franck's wine lists prior to us arriving.) I couldn't take better photos of the food because of the lighting, but seriously, as I'm looking at these photos now I am thinking of my next opportunity to visit Franck's. It was so good.

I'm glad I didn't let the parking issue bother me all night. The food at Franck's is phenomenal, and it made my birthday celebration wonderful.
Franck's6263 South Holladay Boulevard
Holladay, UT 84121-5934
(801) 274-6264

San Francisco 07.11 (4) - Picasso at de Young

2011-08-18T12:48:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite things during our recent San Francisco trip was seeing the Picasso exhibit at de Young Museum.

de Young Museum is located at the Golden Gate Park, and we couldn't miss it on our way to the Japanese Tea Garden because of its unique landscapes and architecture.

Of course cameras were not allowed inside the exhibit. This was taken at the entrance.

Picasso is inspiring. I adore his work greatly. Every time I see a Picasso (in person, in books, or in exhibits,) I think of the days back in junior high and high school art classes where I would pretend I was Picasso, trying to imitate him, to get into his "mindset," and to come up with these silly paintings that was of course nowhere like Picasso's when I worked on my projects. That, for sure, is a totally different subject and may be worth of another post of its own.

Ahh. And as a side note, the one restroom I went in to at de Young had this beautiful Tiffany Blue that was just intriguing to me.

I was so glad I saw the Picasso exhibit. I left mesmerized and was totally in love.

San Francisco 07.11 (3) - Japanese Tea Garden

2011-08-17T15:09:00.003-06:00

Another "Japanese-y" thing we thought of doing while in San Francisco was to visit the Japanese Tea Garden.

I thought it was filled with tea trees (!) but it was a beautiful Japanese-style garden with all sorts of plantation domestic or foreign.

The garden was not huge, but there were plenty of beautiful things to see. One of my favorite was the Taiko Bashi (Taiko Bridge). It was simply stunning! The only sad thing was that I would really like to take a photo of the bridge all by itself, but as visitors climbed up there, some people chose to sit down and had a long chat, causing an occasional "traffic jam," and/or making my Taiko-Bashi-solo photo shoot impossible. Oh well. I still like the bridge greatly.

And that was a nice and peaceful morning in the Japanese Tea Garden.

San Francisco 07.11 (2) - Range

2011-08-16T23:31:00.001-06:00

Our anniversary dinner was spent at Range.

John made a reservation before we arrived in San Francisco. It was a lovely evening. I remember how crazy the cab driver was that night, and how the food was cooked to perfection, even though most of the photos I had taken inside the restaurant was either too dark, or too blurry.

Oh, and of course there were martinis and dessert. (The dessert photo came out ok because the staff at Range put a candle on the plate, which I assumed was for our anniversary.) Dessert - yum!

It was a very lovely evening.

San Francisco 07.11 (1) - Kabuki & JapanTown

2011-08-15T12:36:00.001-06:00

For John and my 10th (!) anniversary we went to San Francisco. I was hoping that we could go to Northern Japan, but we couldn't really take too much time off at this time of the year, so I figured, "if we can't go to Japan right now, we can at least go to JapanTown in San Francisco!"

We stayed at Hotel Kabuki and it was a nice and relaxing stay. There were some silly things that happened at the beginning of our stay, but the staff and the general manager of the hotel took care of us well. I surely will return.

View of JapanTown from the hotel.

And what did we do when we were in JapanTown? Eat and do Japanese-y things! :D

We had some casual Japanese meals that reminded me of the little eateries at the train stations in Japan. (This one was taken at Mifune restaurant.)

The Peace Plaza was nice, too.

And yes we had to do tourist-y things as well. (Ok, ok. I made John pose for this one.)

One of the things that was really great during this trip was that the temperature in San Francisco was just about perfect for me. It was breezy and cool, and in the late afternoons there were fogs!

It was beautiful.

a man and his dog

2011-08-13T15:02:00.000-06:00

There's a gentleman who would come to have lattes, and he always had his dog with him. I liked the dog. He was gentle and happy, and he loved the treats and water (with ice cubes) I brought him.

The gentleman's son would once in a while to have lattes, too, and when he came, he would sometimes have the dog with him because he was watching the dog for his father.

Sometimes both the gentleman and the son would come together, with or without the dog, and had lattes, talked, and laughed.

But then for a while I'd see the son only, getting a latte with a friend.

One day the gentleman came to the shop, and for the first time, without his dog.

"Are you letting him rest at home today?" I asked.

"My dog passed away," the gentleman said, "he was old, and there were complications..."

I was sad, because I liked the dog. He liked me and he liked coming to see me and get treats and water with ice cubes. I told the gentleman I was sorry about his dog. I knew how hard it must had been for him to go through the loss of a beloved pet and companion.

The gentleman came another day and had his latte. He sat and had drank his latte slowly. I didn't know how to talk to him.

The gentleman came yet another day and had his latte. He drank his latte and asked how my day was. He seemed relaxed, so I asked if he was getting another dog.

"I don't know," he said, "It's a lot of work training and taking care a new dog."

"But it'll be a lot of fun!" I said.

"We'll see."

One day the son came by the shop, drank his latte, and was going to be on his way. As he was leaving the shop he turned around, smiled, and said, "Oh! And you're going to see my dad more often again soon. We're getting a new dog!"

so I haven't blogged in a while...

2011-07-05T11:40:00.003-06:00

... but I'm reading and learning a lot, and hopefully will start my tiny little blogging adventures soon. :D

grapefruit in a cup

2011-05-26T12:05:00.002-06:00

Grapefruit is tasty, but it can be messy too. These days one of the ways I eat my grapefruit is from a cup!

grapefruit in a cup.

These convenient little cups is packed with cup-up grapefruit (minus the chewy skin/pulp thingy) in grapefruit and white grape juice.

Yum.

SCAA 2011 Houston - Day 2.4

2011-05-20T12:07:00.001-06:00

The last night we were in Houston we wanted to have steak.

Vic & Anthony's.

It was too dark in the restaurant for me to take good pictures of the food when it came to our table, but man, the appetizers, steaks, and desserts were all so good. SO GOOD. And our server was probably the best server I had met.

I was totally loving Houston that night.

SCAA 2011 Houston - Day 2.3

2011-05-19T13:28:00.000-06:00

After the SCAA shows John and I walked to the old(er) China Town area to try to find this little pho shop, but when we got there we saw it was not open, so we wondered over to the other side of the street and saw a bunch of cars in a parking lot of a restaurant, so we stopped in.

The place was called Kim Son. I believed it was a Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant.

We each had a bowl of pho, and shared a seafood pot.

Pho at Kim Son. Pleasant.

"Seafood in hot pot." I was slightly intrigued by the fact that the hot pot was a Korean-style stone pot, but I liked it.

The walk back to the hotel was pleasant. A bit too warm for us but pleasant. We saw something that looked dangerous on the way:

Maybe this was due to the big wind? Hope the cables stay attached.

SCAA 2011 Houston - Day 2.2

2011-05-16T12:18:00.002-06:00

We stepped onto the show floor when the trade show opened. Lots of cool and exciting new products for us to see, of course, but I noticed that as we were in the industry longer, we were more focused on certain products than the others. (I used to like to check out almost ALL the booths at the show, but not so much any more.)

I enjoy checking out all the new coffee roasters. We don't need another one, but it's just fun to check them out.

And getting updates on products we already use were a blast.

It's always great to see Mark at Synesso. He always updates us with the newest Synesso technology!

Yay for Mark and Synesso!

What a fun show!

a box of treats

2011-05-12T11:31:00.000-06:00

Doris comes in every morning to have her espresso shots, a small steamer, and a hot tea to go before she heads off to work.

She also likes the treats I make for the shop, and sometimes she'll order a few treat and have me make a "treat box" for her to bring to her office.

Yesterday she wanted to get some brownies and cream cheese bars for a colleague's birthday. "Can you cut those into smaller pieces so everyone in the office can share?" And this was what I did:

Simple, but kind of cute, huh. :)

SCAA 2011 Houston - Day 2.1

2011-05-09T12:31:00.003-06:00

Our second day in Houston was filled with coffee happiness.

John (caffe d'bolla), along with Jay (Spro), Kyle (Intelligentsia), and Anthony (Volta) spoke and presented on single-cup brewing.

John, Anthony, Kyle, Jay, and Tracy the moderator.

Great insights.

After the presentation, we headed out to have coffee from Counter Culture before the trade show floor opened.

Pourover from Counter Culture.

I should have remembered what coffee I had, but I was distracted by all the coffee people and coffee talks around me so I totally spaced out on the name of the Single Origin. I think it was a Guatemala. I liked the coffee, even though I believed it was a little bit underextracted.

Another really awesome thing about these coffee conventions was that you got to see and meet famous coffee stars! :)

We then cupped some coffee and talked to coffee friends.

While John was talking to people, I went over to the BGA bar to have some macchiato. They were out of the demitasses so I had a small, small latte instead.

The barista was cool and serious.

My small small latte. The temperature was a bit too hot for me on this one. I burned my tongue on it.

We also watched part of the brewer's cup competition.

I always love seeing Nick Cho at different coffee-related events. He also made the coolest coffee-tasting slurp sound I had ever heard.

nuki is 12

2011-05-05T14:17:00.000-06:00

Nuki.

Nuki is "unofficially" 12 today. We adopted him 10 years ago at the Spring Super Adoption. He was listed as 2 years old at the time. We figured we would make May his birth month.

Happy happy birthday Nuki!

And as of May 2011, Yama is 6 1/2 and a-gui is 1 1/2.

Yama.

a-gui.

SCAA 2011 Houston - Day 1

2011-05-04T17:51:00.003-06:00

John and I went to the SCAA (Speicalty Coffee Association of America) convention in Houston this past weekend. He was invited by a good friend of ours Jay Caragay to present the benefits of single cup brewing at a cafe setting, and of course I tagged along!

We flew to George Bush International Airport and took the Metro bus to downtown Houston. I slept most of the way on the plane, as well as in the bus, but when we were approaching downtown Houston, John woke me up to see this:

We knew this would be a short, and mostly a business trip, but we were going to have fun talking about coffee and enjoying ourselves in Houston!

We stayed at the Embassy Suites. I like the room, and the hotel was actually closer to the convention center than it appeared on the map. I also love the fact that we found a fairly good deal on the room!

Outside the hotel. Cute.

And the bedding was really, really comfy.

Right before we were able to check in, we went to the George R. Brown Convention Center to get our SCAA badges. Saw a few familiar faces, and started to smell coffee.

Friday night we had dinner at Reef. Some of the best seafood I've had. Please excuse the poor quality of my photos, as the lighting was soft and I was just not skilled enough to get better pictures out of all these delicious food! I'm just going to post a few photos, and the actual food photos can be found in my flickr SCAA Houston 2011 album.

Reef. We were seated by the window.

menu.

The rolls that came with dinner were tasty, and the preserve(?) that went with the rolls was sweet with a kick. Yum.

For appetizers we had "Steamed Mussels, Shiner Bock, Toasted Ancho" and "Jumbo Crab Cake, Taqueria Style Pickled Vinaigrette".

For entrees John had "Slow Baked Salmon, Lemon Risotto, Chili Oil". John said, "The fish just melts in your mouth." I had "Seafood Hot Pot, Fingerling Potatoes". I was amazed by how perfectly cooked each kind of seafood was in the soup. Really good.

Dessert menu.

For dessert (of course!) John had "CRÈME FRAICHE CHEESECAKE, FRESH CHERRIES, HONEY GELATO" and I had "BUTTERMILK PANNA COTTA, MACERATED STRAWBERRIES, STRAWBERRY SORBET". I like them both.

Oh, and the wine was good, too.

That was a lovely evening.

after the beans are roasted

2011-04-27T14:23:00.002-06:00

We roast all of our coffees on site at the shop. I love the smell and the warmth of fresh roasted coffee! After the beans cool off a bit, John would handpick out the "flawed" beans and then bag them.

I love watching him work with coffee. He's always very focused and enjoying himself!

Picking out flawed beans.

Bagging coffee.

John was bagging coffee and I said, "Needs more intensity."

a package

2011-04-25T11:30:00.000-06:00

I love how my mom always ties a rope around the care packages she sends me.

I used to work at the post office, and I know how post offices don't like it when a rope is tied around a package... it gets caught in machines, or tangled up with other stuff in the mail, but I love receiving packages with a rope tied on it, especially when it's from my mom! :)

chocolate cupcakes

2011-04-21T16:14:00.001-06:00

I start making cupcakes for the shop again these days! Some of my favorite to make right now are chocolate ones.

For some of my friends, I even make vegan chocolate cupcakes! The recipe I use is adopted from one of Martha Stewart's cupcake recipes, and the chocolate frosting is from one of my Wilton cake books that came with the classes I took.

Vegan dark chocolate cupcakes.

Regular chocolate cupcakes.

I love making cupcakes!

kimchi pork

2011-04-20T13:35:00.001-06:00

One of the dishes I like to make (to go with rice) these days is stir-fried pork with kimchi.

It's very easy to make. Slice pork thin (I usually cut boneless pork shoulders into thin slices,) and marinade quickly with a tiny little bit of soy sauce and sugar. Cut kimchi into thin strips (do not discard its juices). Heat a little bit of oil in the pan to cook the pork. As the pork start to brown, add kimchi and stir-fry together. Continue cooking until the pork is fully cooked and the kimchi is heated. Yum!

i love them

2011-04-13T15:16:00.001-06:00

I got to see some of my favorite people when I was in Taiwan. These were the people who loved me lots and lots, too!

Here are some of them:

And there were also people who I met along with visiting different places and shops, and I think it was their passion, pride, and love of who they were and what they did that touched me. Here are some of them:

These were love.

food in taiwan

2011-04-12T10:45:00.000-06:00

I ate a lot when I was in Taiwan.

I was organizing some of the photos of the food I had, and realized there were just too many of them!

Prior to getting to Taiwan, I was planning on eating all these different foods that always reminded me of home.

The first night John and I was in Taiwan we went to this chicken rice place. This place has been at the same location for decades. Everything seemed familiar, but there were just a lot more people dining in these days.

This was it. The first bite of "Taiwanese flavor" for me during the trip.

The next few days were packed with food, from my mom and dad, grandma, relatives and friends, restaurants, and street vendors; and there were two things that I "craved" the most, and just couldn't get enough of:

fish roe slices.

bell fruit. (some people call them water apples.)

But all and all, it was the time that I spent with my family getting, cooking, and/or enjoying food that I loved the most.

colors in taiwan

2011-04-11T15:53:00.002-06:00

So I haven't blogged for a while. I think I just got lazy. There are so many fun things around me to blog about, and I'm just going to take it easy and blog as I go.

Some of you know John and I went to Taiwan and spent Chinese New Year with my parents. It was a great trip. I had not been back to Taiwan for Chinese New Year for over 10 years, and everything seemed different, yet unchanged.

One of the greatest things that impressed me was the colors I saw. The sky was so blue, and the produce and food were so vibrant and colorful... all in the middle January - February! Here are just some examples:

Pretty (and delicious) peppers at the market.

Juicy wrinkly tangerines.

Grandma's food was pretty colorful, too.

It was so blue by the water.

I loved all the colors I saw.

sukiyaki for christmas

2011-01-05T12:28:00.001-07:00

We made sukiyaki for Christmas!

I love sukiyaki. Every time we go to Japan I'll try to have sukiyaki for a meal during the trip. This Christmas we thought we'd have sukiyaki, because sukiyaki is indeed a festive dish, and we already had ham for Thanksgiving.

And who knows, I actually own a cast iron sukiyaki pot!

It even has the cool wood lid on it!

First we melted some butter (traditionally you'd use beef fat, but either will do) and started caramelizing some onions first. Umm. I think I put in a bit much!? But they were tasty!

Then in with the sukiyaki stock.

John got some prime beef. Yummy. I wish we could slice it as thin as the kind we had in Osaka.

Yummers!

We also put a couple different mushrooms in the sukiyaki. The skinny tall kind with little heads, and big kind called "King Trumpet Mushrooms." There were also tofu, tofu skin (age), vegetables, and udon noodles.

And how cute is the packaging for the King Trumpet mushrooms?!

I was also going to make some mochi, but didn't have enough time, so I bought some Korean rice sticks instead... they were delicious in the sukiyaki as well!

Oh my. I love sukiyaki! I think I'm going to make it again soon.

this new year

2011-01-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

This new year is shaping up to be a good one! I've been *working on* losing a few pounds since Christmas in preparation for our trip to Taiwan at the end of January.

"Why are you trying to lose weight?" you ask. Duh! Other than the obvious reasons, I'd like to clear up a few pounds now so when I get to Taiwan I can really enjoy all the food that I'v been missing and thinking about for the past few years.

The other night at the radio station I played a bunch of songs that I had never played before. I thought, hey, it's a new year, and I want to try playing something different.

When I drove by some restaurants that I always see, but had never stepped in, I thought, hmm, it's a new year, and I'm going to try you some time soon.

I don't think I really have a new year's resolution, but I do want to try new things, and to be super nice to all the people and pets that I love, and be a better me.

Happy New Year! :D

christmas

2010-12-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

We had a calm and happy Christmas! Didn't do much... just took a day and a half off, and enjoyed spending time with each other at home.

And what did we cook up for Christmas? Sukiyaki! I found a brand new cast iron sukiyaki pot (with a wood lid) for a really good price a few months ago, and was glad to finally start using it. I shall post some pictures of the pot and the dinner later.

John got me a net book. My laptop had been acting up lately, so I was quite happy about the new computer. I am, however, still trying to get used to it.

My friend Daena drew a picture of Ginger for me. It was amazing.

My parents were generous and gave me a generous gift. They are so nice to me. Did I mention they were generous?

And apparently *someone* will give me a late Christmas gift some time soon. :D

I love how people around me are happy and content this time of the year. Yay for holidays!

jasper and the cone

2010-12-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

Jasper went under a surgery yesterday to have his glands removed. In order to prevent him from licking himself too much, the vet had us put a little cone on him.

He was not quite sure why the cone was on him, and he didn't really like it over his head, so he tried to get it off a few times.

He was still groggy in these photos (taken right after we came home from the vet's office, so his eyes were slightly "dreamy") but he's acting pretty like his usual self by the time we went to bed.

The dogs have been nice to him, especially a-gui. a-gui was really curious about Jasper wearing the cone, but he knew not to bother him too much.

Jasper will have his stitches out in two weeks.

first coffee tasting - basic class at caffe d'bolla

2010-12-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

We had our first Coffee Tasting Class (Basic) last Thursday the 2nd. John had been working on structuring and preparing for the class for a while, and he just had to pick a day to start a class. Despite the short notice, 5 of the 6 seats were filled, and it was truly a fun and information-packed session.

We will have more classes coming up, and each class will cover something different. I may also even (help) teach a class or two. It's going to be a lot of fun!

dress up the piece of cake

2010-12-02T13:14:00.001-07:00

I've been making different cakes for the shop. While I do use the techniques I learned from my cake decorating classes to "dress up" a cake, there are times when I just want to keep it light simple.

This is what I've been doing, to keep the piece of cake simple, but still sorta cute.

And I'm really loving the strawberry and chocolate cakes these days.

thanksgiving nom nom

2010-12-01T15:22:00.001-07:00

We had a quiet and happy Thanksgiving this year. Didn't do much, but just chilled with the dogs and watched Jasper pretend he was a dog.

We had my sister over, and made a simple dinner.

Of course we had to start with some wine when we began cooking.

Food.

Maple ham, corn bread stuffing with cranberry sausages, sweet potatoes with glazed pecans and marshmallows, and green beans with bacon.

And homemade bread.

After dinner we had some yummy dessert wine, along with some matcha-azuki cake rolls I made.

Nom nom nom.

daena got a tattoo on her calf

2010-11-30T12:08:00.001-07:00

My friend Daena has been getting tattoos for a while. She's a tiny girl, and she's having her back covered! It's still work in progress on her back, but she recently had Jake at Cathedral (next to our shop) give her a tattoo on her calf, and I thought I'd take a couple pictures of the little event and share with my dad, who has been pretty interested in knowing more about our tattoo shop neighbor.

Jake (the tattoo-er) put the stencil on Daena, and made sure she liked where he had placed it.

Tattoo in progress.

Jake was so focused... it was awesome to watch him work.

And yes Daena's tattoo turned out great!

mario

2010-11-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

I know I may be a bit too old for this, but I got a 25th anniversary Super Mario special edition Nintendo DSi XL for my birthday (from a nice someone, and the name shall remain a secret) and I've been enjoying playing games on it.

I'm not a super serious gamer, and the games I enjoy are kinda silly to most, but boy, I'm loving the DSi, and of course, Mario, and all his buddies.

77777

2010-11-05T13:36:00.000-06:00

This was on the sealer machine at the caffe this morning! This also meant we had made about 77,777 cold drinks so far!

ganny in a skeleton custume

2010-11-03T10:52:00.000-06:00

Ganny visiting the shop with Stan and Lisa.

The only "person" I saw at the shop who dressed up for Halloween was Ganny the pit bull!

I like seeing Ganny at the shop. He's always so nice and cuddly! a-gui met Ganny once, and he really liked him, too! :D

the toyota rav4

2010-11-02T13:23:00.000-06:00

As of October 30th...

Goodbye Rav4.

Hmmm.

Hello Rav4!

Yay!

halloween ghost cookies

2010-10-30T16:00:00.001-06:00

I made some ghost cookies for my friends this year.

These are simple sugar cookies with royal icing.

I even made some vegan ones for my vegan friends this year!

OK I sort of cheated when I was making the vegan ones... my friend Andrew got me a vegan sugar cookie mix and vegan butter, so I made it according to the box. I didn't have regular soy milk around the house, so I used the peanut rice milk drink we had in the fridge. The cookies turned our really well! I found a vegan royal icing recipe online, which was pretty much powdered sugar, corn syrup, and water and vanilla all stirred together. The finished icing worked very well, too.

Hope everyone is having a safe and happy Halloween!

tall bike joe

2010-10-29T11:24:00.000-06:00

I've seen guys on tall bikes around the city, and always wondered how exactly they do it.

The other day Joergen came into the shop, and right before that I noticed he was locking up his ride that day... a tall bike!

After he had his siphon coffee and we chatted, I asked how he got onto his tall bike, and how he stops at lights and such, and he said he'd show me. Of course I had to grab my camera and catch him in action!

Don't think I'll ever try to ride on a tall bike myself, but Joe looks super cool when he does it.

a small little fondant cake

2010-10-27T11:47:00.001-06:00

For the last "Fondant and Gum Paste" class I made a small little cake for the class project.

This past week had been slightly hectic, so I wasn't able to dedicate some time to making flowers for my cake. I only had the flowers made during class time, which weren't many.

As I was about to bake a cake for the class, I thought, maybe I should just bake a small one, so I don't have to use too many flowers to decorate it.

The cake was just over 4 inches in diameter, and about 1.5 inches tall.

I covered it with green fondant, and cut out circles of brown fondant, along with rolled green, brown, and white fondant balls to decorate the side and bottom of the cake.

I tried to place ALL of my flowers on the cake, but it just didn't look right, so I only used a pink rose and a small leaf I made in class last week.

I really like how this cake turned out. Now that all three cake decorating courses are finished, I am ready to utilize what I've learned and hopefully make cute cakes all the time! :D

goodbye, the tiny little love of mine.

2010-10-25T16:12:00.003-06:00

We said goodbye to Ginger, our tiny little Siamese mix last Monday the 18th.

Ginger was really small as a kitten.

How small was she?

Really small!

She was really small as a full-grown cat, too.

I will miss her dearly, but I was glad she was not in pain when we let her go.

I will miss having her sitting by me when I surf online late at night.

I will think back at the time when she liked the bread I made.

She really liked the bread I made.

I will also remember how, the day before she said goodbye to us, she came out in the front room and enjoyed the bright sun coming through the window.

gift box cake

2010-10-15T11:42:00.000-06:00

For the second "Gum Paste and Fondant" class the instructor had us bring a squared cake. She was going to teach us how to cover it with fondant.

We had made a bow the week before with a gum paste and fondant mixture. Since I had a white bow, I figured I'd just make my gift box white, too.

I didn't have enough fondant to make ribbons or decorations for the four sides of the gift box, but I thought the cake turned out pretty cute anyhow. :D

At least Yama thought so.

Details on the bow.

Yay for fondant-covered gift box cake!

yamaha music tin

2010-10-13T12:07:00.000-06:00

I saw this Yamaha tin at the secondhand store. I had one that looked exactly like this when I was little and attending the Yamaha music classes.

There were magnetic music notes and such, and you'd "compose" on it, or work on little music projects with it when the teacher asked you to do so. You'd also store your small music sheet notebooks and crayons in them.

Of course I had to buy it.

There are only two each of the Flat Key Signature and Sharp Key Signature symbols left in the box, but I was still really excited to have a cute tin that reminds me of my childhood beginning piano lessons.

Now I store my little colorful and patterned/decorative tapes in it.

I love this tin!

square sugar cookies with pink and white icing

2010-10-12T13:11:00.000-06:00

My first batch of decorated sugar cookies for the shop!

I think they are really cute in pink and white, and they are tasty, too! :D

birthday at Bambara

2010-10-11T13:15:00.000-06:00

It was John's birthday last Saturday, and we went to one of his favorite restaurants in town - Bambara, to celebrate.

It was a happy happy birthday dinner! :D

baked pork

2010-10-05T11:24:00.002-06:00

These days John likes to bake marinated pork in the oven with spices rubbed into and/or sprinkled on it.

I don't even ask what he marinates the meat in, or what spices he uses anymore, because it always turns out super tasty!

neighbor

2010-10-04T13:01:00.000-06:00

We've had a few different neighbors in our (caffe d'bolla) building since we opened. There was a skate shop, and a couple record shops along the way, but no one had stayed around for long.

Our new neighbor is Cathedral Tattoo. The tattooers/artists there are all so talented and cool. I think it's a great location for them!

A couple weeks ago they had their grand opening, and we stopped by after work to check out the shop.

There were beautiful vintage artwork on the walls.

And the vibe is really chill and cool.

There were a lot of people at the opening night, so I didn't snap too many shots around the shop, but it's a really nice shop! The guys are super nice and the artwork is amazing. I say you go and check it out some time.

flower basket

2010-09-29T11:29:00.000-06:00

For the last session of my Flowers and Cake Design class, I made a flower basket cake!

Each of us baked a cake at home, and brought it to class to decorate for the final project during class. I only baked half a batch of my cake batter because I didn't want to make a tall and layered cake. The thing was, as I was removing the cake from the pan, the bottom of the cake stuck on the pan and I lost a thin layer of cake, and that resulted in my cake being really short.

And because the cake was already short, I didn't even level the top of the cake before I iced it and brought it to class.

The main technique the instructor taught us to do was to make basket-weave patterns on the side of cakes. The idea was that we would make the side of our cakes look like a basket with buttercream icing, and then decorate the top of the "basket" with flowers we made with royal icing.

Since my cake was so short and round-topped, I couldn't make a more conventional flower basket cake. Instead, I made my version of flower basket cake...

My basket is on the bottom half of the top of the cake, and there's a handle on the top rim, and then flowers in between. A very rounded and puffy flower basket on the top of the cake if you may. I actually kinda like it!

The colored flowers were the ones I made in advance with royal icing.

And I added a few buttercream icing white roses when I was finishing up the cake.

Overall the cake turned out fine! Yay!

afternoon wall

2010-09-27T12:22:00.000-06:00

Guess where this is.

It's the black wall across from the roasting room at the caffe. I like how the thick ribbon "curtains" I made for the window filter the afternoon sunlight and make these keyboard-like images!