3 cakes in 1 day!

We had 3 birthday celebrations today.

#1 Gina

Late yesterday evening, I hastily made some arrangements for a small birthday celebration with the HA group for Gina. So this morning, Yukari got some superb cakes from Edelweiss in Mira Mesa and some coffee from downstairs and I got a card for everyone signed. We did it out on the patio, and it was a sunny day. Cake was super delicious! And there was two!

Good weather

#2 Nagao-san

Again, I got a card for everyone to sign and Tahmeena got a very yummy cheese cake. With difference kinds of chocolate bits embedded on the cake. Surprise after one of the meetings :)

Yum-O!

Yeah!

#3 Troy+Noriko+Gina (again!)

Went to Suzuya BBQ on Kearny Villa Road to celebrate Troy, his wife Noriko and Gina's bday (coincidentally all born on 21 Sept). There were ~13 of us (brought Sheryl, Sau Leng and Mami too). Had izakaya food - gyoza, tempura etc and also the Samurai combo which had a few types of meat to barbeque, veggie etc. Then again, another cake (yummy chocolate one) courtesy of Michiko and Sachi and mango/fruit pudding cake courtesy of the restaurant. Left at 10.30pm

All of us

Meat!

Part of what we ate

Busy cooking

Mango Pudding cake with fruits on the side

The Birthday 'Babies'

Cutting the wedding cake ah? ehhee

Man, had enough of cakes for a while...

5 hours drive in the morning..huuuuuu

They're here!

Have 3 visitors this week - Mami from Japan who arrived yesterday for a week and Sheryl + Sau Leng from back home, who just arrived this evening for 3 weeks. Should be fun having them around ;)

Dinner at Pho Hoacali

Sayonara Kei-san!

Woke up at 6.30am this morning (was going through emails till about 2.30), can’t sleep..jetlag? Prolly a bit..mmm..Went to work at 8am. Much to follow up and was kept busy all through lunch.

There was a big farewell for Kei who was heading back to Japan after 4yrs+ (spent 2 yrs in NJ and 2yrs + here in SD). Didn’t really know him well, but know that he’’s Tish’s and Tyler’s smoking buddies. Usually come over to our division to look them up to go for a puff at night.
Were in some meetings together and small chats here and there, but from what I heard, a very caring, fun loving boss. Workaholic too..hahahah..

Kei in the middle

Someone baked a very huge cake! A few speeches from the DIAD bosses and managers and a very lovely slide show with tons of pics put together by Tomoko. There was also a huge collage of pics from the slideshow printed out on photo paper. I thought that was a very memorable gift. Many were teary eyed but people come and go all the time..it’s sad when someone leaves..

Yummy cake!

Spot me!

GOOD LUCK Kei!

Back!

Back from Montreal/Quebec City. Good trip, wished it was longer..hahaha..Will try to update on my trip soon. Will have some visitors starting tomorrow :)

Going through some few hundred work emails…can’t sleep.

9/11

Can't believe it's been 6 years..

*In memory of those who passed on that fateful day*

Thai thai..

Had dinner out today. Tagged along to Mervyn's to find some baby clothes with Crystal for Asakura-san. Got a bit side tracked to Shoe Pavillion, having sales up to 80% but didn't find any that I liked (I have problems finding shoes here!!) Spent time window shopping for about 1.5hrs before heading off to nearby Thaigo for dinner. We frequent this place if we are shopping in the area, at the shopping area just below the hill where I live. Again, good food, good time and chit chat ;)

Tom Khar (with coconut milk)

Pad Thai

Crispy Duck

Abundance! Yum-O!

Weeky weeky..

An early riser this weekend, did lots of cleaning around the apartment, patio and laundry. Also went out to the bank, ran some errands, book the tours for my friends from back home who are coming in less than 2 weeks! Apart from that, did some grocery and window shopping. It was a fairly hot weekend with the intense heat seemed to have subsided. It's was a bit chilly last night.

On the way to Mitsuwa, spotted Marukai, a Japanese market (more of the 100yen type shop) which opened a month ago. Everything is $1.50 unless stated otherwise. Lots of cute Japanese stuff, bowls, cups, plates, containers, snacks and foodstuff (not so much). There was also a small travel agent there. There are branches in LA.

Good bargains :)

Look forward to my vacation ^_^ despite such busy times...mmm...
busy week ahead.

'Nuff said

Hot, sunny day in Santa Monica

Worked the whole of Saturday at home, updating reports etc till 2am. Yesterday, got about 5hrs of sleep, before getting up to get ready to go to Santa Monica with some friends. Got a call from Crystal, somce change in plans. Instead of meeting up at 9am, went to Crystal's place at about 9.40am when she just arrived back at her apartment with Hide, and Yumi came too. We thought of sending Hide off in LA since we're heading to Santa Monica.

Headed out at about 10.30am in 2 cars since there was lots of luggage, got to LAX at about 12pm to pick up the rental car, then headed on to Mitsuwa Marketplace (huge compared to San Diego) in Torrance to leave Crystal's car there and headed for Alhambra for lunch.

Driving into LA...such good weather

Got there at about 1.30pm, and we had lunch at Yazmin Restaurant, serving Malaysian food. My friends are all fans of Malaysian food, so it's good to always eat with them. Gosh, maybe I should open one in San Diego huh? Hehhe..need to know how to cook it first, not just eat. Read some reviews about this restaurant online, not bad at all. Called some drinks - cincau and Malaysian coffee, appetizers and a few main dishes.

Chicken and Beef satay

Chicken Murtabak - currily sweet

Hainanese Steamed Chicken Rice - look at the portion of chicken!

Ayam Masak Mango

Ying Yang Noodle

Us with goofy Hide

Yazmin in Alhambra

Yes, the food was definitely not bad. Ate till we were full! All for $60. Then it's time for good bye. At about 3pm, we left the restaurant after bidding farewell to Hide (長かであいましょう！) and headed for Santa Monica. Hmm, quite a bit of traffic on the I10 and by the time we got there, and found parking (which was quite a pain! many public parking lots which charges by the hour or $8-10 per day) it was 4.10pm.

Santa Monica, I've heard about the place from the Savage Garden song, of the same name. I saw or experienced some of what was mentioned in the song. We walked around the pier. Boy, was it hot, i think over 100deg F! Still tonnes of people, parents with kids, families and friends are enjoying a great sunny day and on the beach. People cycling, rollerblading, playing beach volley etc. A popular landmark there is the ferris wheel in the Pacific Park on the pier.

Welcome to Santa Monica Pier

Crowd

Can you feel the heat?

Me :)

'In Santa Monica, on the boulevard, you have to dodge those inline skaters, or they'll knock you down...' - Savage Garden from the song 'Santa Monica'

Pacific Park on the Pier

Yikes!

Wow!

Cooling off from the heat

End of the Pier..are there diamonds in the water?

Want to ride the ferris wheel?

Fun fair

From the end of the pier

The other side of the beach

Protest on the beach

Crowded!

Then headed over to Third Street Promenade about 10min walk away - shopping area, with lots of cafe's, restaurants, and shops. There were many street shows - singing, dancing, acrobatics etc. Found some interesting stores like 'Lush'. And I was so happy to see Famima!! (Japanese convenience store). At about 7pm, I headed back down by the beach and pier to try get some good sunset pics (trying to mimic those that I've seen). Then went back up to meet them before heading back down again to the parking lot and leave for Torrance to pick up Crystal's car and then on to Fountain Valley to have supper.

Mall

Triceratops?

You see this everywhere

Cute lil monkey entertaining it's audience

Clock Tower seen from the Promenade

Interesting store

Looks like a candy store right?

Cookies? Chocolates? NOT! Bubble Bath!

Blocks of cheese? NOT! They are soap!

Viva Famima!!

Must try 'Chicken Curry Salad Sandwich'

The pier from afar

Huge palms

As the sun sets

Pretty skies

Take 1 at 7.23pm

Take 2 at 7.28pm

The Promenade at night

Bye bye Santa Monica

Got to Kappo Honda at about 9.30pm, quite a crowd outside. Anyway, managed to get Jenny who was on her way back from a wedding, who came to join us when we got our table somewhere past 10. Had some small dishes - Kaarage, bacon wrapped asparagus and okra, Korean Galbi, quail eggs etc. chit chat and left at 11.40pm.

Good old country style Izakaya food

Beef & Tofu sukiyaki style

Lobster salad

Kirin beer!

The 3 chinese girls

Dessert - Anmitsu 餡蜜

It was definitely a long day..but well spent. Wouldn't mind going back there again :) Tomorrow is Labor day, gonna be a total bum..haha..