Credit where credit is due

Abby has had a very good life this past year and I have had the chance to move forward with research primarily due to one person - my mom. I feel that before the end of the year, I should give credit where credit is due. Abby is a thriving, carefree baby because there is always someone around who will love her and most importantly feed her whenever the thought occurs to her.

Here is a montage of Abby as she eats a cream stew my mother made for her. I think it speaks to exactly how she and I both feel about my mom...


Thanks a bunch mom!

Merry Christmas!

December, although mostly undocumented thus far, has been a wonderful month for us. I finally finished up a class for which I was a TA. I have to say, as much time as this class took, I do love the process of seeing students transform from engineers to entrepreneurs in the course of a single quarter.

As classes wrapped up and the holiday break began, we had a moment to really enjoy Abby. In the week following Abby's birthday, Abby went from single unsteady steps to running. I used to hold onto this notion that Abby actually enjoyed our company but with this newfound independence, she is proving to us time and time again that we are the uncool parents we thought we would be in about 10 years. Sometimes, we test exactly how independent she is by taking her to a crowded mall during pre-Christmas sales and watch as she exits stores on her own and startle other oncoming (and perhaps more attentive and wary) parents. Using this extraordinarily scientific method, we have determined that although Abby is quite independent, she does return to us after some meandering - perhaps for some food, drink or because she has really tired legs.



We began our Christmas tradition of taking Abby to see Santa Claus. Obviously, Abby had some seriously misgivings about her behavior this year and begged for forgiveness as she was being held by Santa.



Aside from her brief melt down with Santa, Abby has been in generally very high spirits. We have to say we are very blessed to have a happy baby on our hands with a very good disposition. This doesn't mean that she is obedient, quiet, or sleeps well but she is happy as she is getting into lots of trouble. This is Abby enjoying time at the park on the swings:


We kept Christmas pretty low key this year because, as we like to say, everyday is Christmas for Abby. Honestly, we have way too much stuff - baby stuff - in our cramped apartment to take anymore. Besides, her idea of a good time is to take empty plastic bottles and bang them together to create noise. No need for electronic gadgets. On the other hand, every day is not Christmas for me or Albert so we rewarded each other with gifts which we will return tomorrow for something we like more.

We did, however, use Christmas eve as an excuse for an unbelievable feast. We didn't eat a lot of turkey for Thanksgiving so we used this as an excuse to eat a 15 pound bird between 5 of us (my parents and us). I am now a convert to dry brining. The bird came out juicy and wonderfully tasty. Our recipe for our turkey follows:


For a 15 pound bird I did the following:

Ingredients for Dry Brining:
1/3 cups of sea salt
6 tsps of poultry seasoning
4 leaves of bay leaves crushed

Instructions for Dry Brining:
I took the giblets, neck, etc. out of the turkey and dried the bird with some paper towels. I then rubbed down (inside and out) the entire bird with the dry brining concoction described above. I put the bird on a rack on top of the roasting pan for 15 hours (1 hour per pound). I then rinsed the bird off and carefully pat dry the bird with more paper towels.

Ingredients for stuffing:
3-4 tbsp poultry seasoning
3/4 stick of butter
1.5 loaves of Challah bread
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb of chestnuts (boiled for 20 minutes and peeled of skin and chopped)
2 onions diced
giblets

1 day in advance cut the bread into small squares (if not enough time, cut and put in oven at 250 degrees for 20-30 minutes until dry). Melt the butter in a pan and sautee the onions and giblets until the onions are tender. Add bread and poultry seasoning and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep mixing until the poultry seasoning has coated the stuffing evenly. Put into turkey and put remaining stuffing in a pan, cover with some chicken broth and put in oven to heat 20 minutes before dinner.

Preparation of turkey:
There is no need to salt the turkey because of the dry brining. I do, however, poke the turkey with a fork and separate out the top skin from the breast and stick in some butter. I covered the turkey with butter. I placed the turkey back on the rack and roasted at 375 degrees for 4-4.5 hours. I covered the turkey with an aluminum foil tent for the first 3.5-4 hours. I took off for the last half hour to brown the skin. I also put in some water and chicken broth into the roasting pan to keep moisture in the oven. I used this to baste the turkey every 30 minutes starting at hour 2.

My birthday overshadowed

My birthday has always been shared. I was born on my older brother's birthday, November 27. So, birthdays were never a truly special day - a day to celebrate all things Ann. With Abby being born 2 days before mine, it has become even more clear that my birthday is but an afterthought. This year, Abby had 3... yes, THREE birthday celebrations. I had one small affair. I'm ok with that. Really.

Our trip to LA for Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. It was Abby's first time meeting her only great grandparent - Albert's grandfather from Korea.


We got to see Cindy, Al's sister, which was a real treat for Abby.


Abby also had her Korean style first birthday celebration. She picked a book (we're not sure how that differs from picking a pencil).


Our Thanksgiving was a delicious affair. Thanksgiving in LA for us means that the turkey is not the central entree. There is the bbq kalbi beef which is so good that you only have a taste of the turkey for the sake of custom and but the vast part of your plate is taken up by the kalbi.


Albert's family then came up to San Francisco for a quick visit for Abby's actual birthday.


I baked yet another cake and that was the end of the week of all things Abby... just in time for the afterthought that was my birthday. We have no photos of that occasion.

Miss Independent

I'd love to say we made it but there are so many more years to go. These days you love to copy. I clap my hands and you do the same. I wave my hands and you wave back. You're sad to see anyone leave. When someone in your inner circle (mommy, daddy, Grandma or Grandpa Miura) leave, you quickly crawl to the window by the door, pull back the blinds to see them walking away and cry your saddest cry. You're in love with balloons. You'll clutch to them even as you're sleeping.


Last night, we went to the grand opening of the local Safeway and you wanted all of the balloons in the store. When we walked out empty handed (balloon-wise) you were in a bad mood all evening long.

Just like mommy, you hate to have your feet covered when you sleep. Daddy insists on the pajamas with covered feet so mommy sometimes thinks about cutting vent holes like grandma used to do for her. Your cheeks turn rosy as you nap every day. When you wake from naps, you sit up and talk to yourself.

When I let you, you'll sit on the couch and watch the Wiggles the same way Daddy watches ESPN SportsCenter - with your arms up in the air for the highlights and lots of screams and giggles. You hate hats. All hats. And you're really really close to walking. This week you started to take two to three steps on your own. When you get scared you start to crouch even as you're walking.

This week, we went to the doctor's office for your one year checkup. You're only 20 pounds (gained 7 ounces in 3 months) but you're a little over 30 inches long (grown 2 inches in 3 months). That means you're 35th percentile for weight but 90th percentile for length.


The doctor asked what words you're saying at this point. There are two:
1. Ow: an expression of pain or desire for attention. Usage: immediately after your mommy has told you "no". Daddy suggests that perhaps this is in reference to the emotional pain inflicted.

2. A-choo:In reference to either a fake sneeze or immediately following a real one.

Do those count?

Saturday was the start to Abby's first birthday week extravaganza. This is a week in which Thanksgiving is but an afterthought and the whole week is a celebration of all things Abby. Albert's grandfather is flying in from Korea in honor of the occasion.

To kick things off, we had a party at Gymboree where I displayed the fact that should this whole Ph.D. thing not work out, I might have a future in making cakes for mom's who don't really care if the frosting is a little bit runny:

For those of you who can't tell, that's not a bear. It's a monkey. The cake is a banana cake in keeping with the theme. It actually came out quite tasty and for a first effort at decorating a cake, I would even go as far as to say that it's not too bad.

So what do you do at a birthday party for a one year old, some may ask... Well, it's quite simple really. You throw your daughter into a ridiculously cute pink dress which she promptly covers in drool (with the requisite pink bow in her hair lest someone still asks if she is a boy)...


You throw in some bubbles...


... and some games...


... and you convince some people to hit a Chinese restaurant where a couple named Wendy and Benny are getting married on the first floor. Your best friend proceeds to order way too much food for the 9 adults left standing and everyone goes home with enough left orders to feed a full family of four until Thanksgiving!

Thanks to all those who made it out!

Boo to you

My mom gave Abby a Halloween card today:

Your very first pumpkin,
your very first "Boo!"
Your very first autumn
and first costume too...

I didn't just carve one pumpkin this year. I carved three: a family so to speak.



Even Grandpa stopped by...


But in the end, all Abby wanted to do was to play with all of the candy. MINE! MINE! MINE! Our greedy little monkey.

Ain't misbehavin'

Today, Abby was entertaining herself pretty well so I decided to try and get some work in. I was typing away when I noticed that strange silence once again, and then a... "riiiip!" I knew that she had gotten into one of her books and ripped out a part of the page. I peered over, saw a piece of a pop up book in her hand. I took it and scolded her, "No!" I went to my room, taped the piece back in by which point she knew she had done something bad. She was following me around crying. I walked over to the living room and said, "Come over her!" She crawled back to me crying with tears streaking her face. I was ready to make up with her and I was going to show her the book when I noticed that right behind her was my dog, Aki. I forgot that I also scold Aki in exactly the same way. She came up to me with her ears pressed against her head, apologizing for a crime she was sure she had committed. I kept saying, "Not you!" but she was so insistent on making up with me that I just started to laugh. Abby sat on my lap while Aki laid down next to me and we read the ripped book together.

Our week in review...

This past week was incredibly busy for me with a lecture I had the opportunity to design and teach! It was on how Handspring developed their operations. I really enjoyed the process of bringing together a lecture and thinking through how best to present it to the class.

This week, Abby went back to Mary Jo's daycare. I think she really does like it there but she is so sad to see us leave her. I'm convinced things will be better especially because the other kids there seem so nice. On Thursday, Abby had to go in to get her flu shot. In the afternoon, she seemed incredibly sluggish and by the evening she could barely move. I handed her to my mom and not 2 minutes later, she had projectile vomited at least three times. We were incredibly lucky to have had a sheet on the couch so nothing was ruined and we just had to throw the sheet and all of my mom's clothes into the wash. Poor Abby looked like she felt a lot better.

Lucky for her, this meant she got to have popsicle. Abby hates Pedialyte but LOVES the Walgreen's generic pedialyte popsicles. She loves them so much that she cries when she finishes them:


Also this week, she made a habit of cruising the furniture with something in her mouth. Sometimes she also likes to crawl around the house with a sock in her mouth (behavior I believe she learned from Aki, my parents' dog). I've decided to take pictures of the former but not of the latter for fear of really embarrassing her in the future.

With a straw...


After she tore the pig's tail out of her pop up book...



The big lesson for me this week was: when I hear silence, there is most definitely something going on. I was sending out some emails on Monday when I noticed that Abby was not making her characteristic ruckus. Alarmed, I looked over to where I had spotted her last, only to find that she had extracted the entire box of Kleenex and put it on the floor:


Lastly, we have the all important Menlo Park Halloween Parade photos. Abby went in her full monkey costume. The #1 lesson I learned is that when you buy a costume from Old Navy, you will spend some significant portion of your time at the Menlo Park Halloween Parade avoiding other kids wearing the exact same costume. Still, she looked just like my little monchichi...

Pumpkin in a patch

This weekend, Albert's mom came for a visit. I'd been looking forward to this weekend for some time because we were planning on attending the pumpkin party at a professor's ranch on Highway 1. Anyone who knows me knows that I love the last 3 months of the year ... LOVE them. Last year, 8 months pregnant, I ran out of a lecture at 7PM to get to Whole Foods on Halloween in search of the perfect pumpkin to carve. This year, I learned my lesson and set out to get my pumpkins at this party a good week early.

Steve held a fantastic barbecue during which we explored his ranch. We came home with 4 pumpkins in preparation for our Halloween extravaganza.

the stuff in between

It's been a while since my last update and I've actually started getting messages from friends asking me what happened to my blog and what is going on with my life... Really? People actually read this blog?!? I'm not fooling myself. I know you all come only for the pictures. All of these words are "blah blah blah"... filler. I know. I've even noticed that at times, Albert takes photos of what I think is Abby and me. Later, I find that the picture looks like this:


Is that the way to treat the love of your life (at least until this munchkin was born!). It seems like not much has happened in the last two months but I take a closer look at all of the stuff that's happened in between and I realize I've been delinquent in reporting the highs and lows of the last few months.

After my mother got home from Japan, we ended up looking for a more stable daycare for Abby and we found Mary Jo's family daycare. Abby has been twice and I have a feeling she will adjust really well to this environment. She will have the same friends the days she goes to daycare and Mary Jo just feels like a sweet motherly type.

Abby is looking forward to days when she will have greater mobility and freedom. We think she'll be walking in a matter of a few weeks but I feel like I've been saying that for a while now. Albert claims to have seen her first three steps but given that she hasn't made anymore independent steps in the last two weeks, I'm going to chalk it up to a very active imagination. Until then, I'll put up this photo which Albert will likely claim to be the last time Abby drives a car until she's 30.


Abby also had her first illness. She came down with roseola shortly before my mother came home and while Al was off on a business trip. She had a really high fever and ended it all with a rash that covered her body. When healthy, Abby is not particularly cuddly. She is more active / squirmy. She has places to go and things that must be put into her mouth. What I discovered is that when Abby is sick, she is the cuddly girl of my dreams... except that she spends the whole time groaning. She sits in my lap but is constantly saying , "oooooh" as if she were in excruciating pain. It was particularly sad when I put her down in the hallway, called to her from our living room and expected to see her padding along on all fours the way she usually does. When I didn't see her come around the corner for a few seconds, I went to look for her and found her resting her head on the floor. So sad!

She was better for a few weeks and then came down with a cold. I have to take the blame for that since I had a cold around the same time too. She has finally turned the corner and we're hoping for healthy days for at least a little while. In particular, I'm really looking forward to the trifecta of holidays starting off with Halloween! We can't wait to post the pictures!

Next week will be better

This past week was a big test for Abby. It was her first time in the care of anyone other than my mother or me for more than just a few hours. I would love to say she passed with flying colors. I would love even more to say that she was as happy as the 7 month old baby we saw when we were touring the daycare facilities. Let's just say that I certainly hope they didn't have any tours for new parents on Wednesday or Friday since it would have done very little to allay the fears of those parents.

On Wednesday when I left Abby, she was actually fine. She sat amongst other babies staring at the mirror, waving her arms like she usually does when she's in front of the mirror. Things headed south apparently in the afternoon when the caretaker tried to make her take a nap. Eventually she worked herself up into such a frenzy she threw up all over herself and the daycare had to call me to come pick her up a little early.


Clearly, this photo was NOT taken at the daycare center...

On Friday, I put her in the farthest corner of the room from where I would stand so I could fill out paperwork in peace. I hadn't finished the page when I felt her chubby arms clinging to my leg. She had managed to crawl across the room - while crying - so that she could plead with me not to leave her here. The other baby there saw her and also started to cry. I apologized profusely to the caretakers as they took a now screaming Abby so that I could slip out of the door. An hour later, I called to find out how she was doing - apparently not crying but clinging to caretakers. By the afternoon she had taken a nap and had even managed to sit by herself for a little while and play.

Small steps, I guess.

We've only just begun...

When we got married, we were told that dating was easy but marriage was hard. People said, "Give it a year and the honeymoon will be over... reality will set in." Reality did set in and we found it to be even better than the honeymoon. It's been three years and we're still groovin' to our own beat.



The rush of getting married was in the newness of it all. I would repeat to myself (as countless other brides have probably done as well) "my husband". It felt so new and strange. Living together was wonderful and yet it seemed like we were still playing house. At year three, "my husband" feels familiar. Our little apartment that seemed so large before we purchased the gigantic couch and coffee table is cramped with all of our baby gear. Our household chores were never explicitly divided but we each do what we think needs to get done and somehow it works. We are truly companions... partners in all that we do.

Albert is my better half. He makes me a better mother, a better student, and overall a better person.

Abby's "isms"

It's been almost 9 months since you were born and life has definitely changed. People often talk of milestones and I always imagined that they would be spaced apart... milestones, right? With you, they're all so close together I can barely sort out what's going on before you're onto the next new thing.

You spend most weekdays with Grandma Ma-chan. You love any food she makes and open your mouth wide for anything she feeds you. She knows how to tire you out with the things you want to do whether it's standing and cruising the furniture to sitting in a box banging on her pots and pans.

Your best friend right now is Michele, your cousin. She can make you laugh more easily than anyone else. You take baths together and share your bath toys. Michele has made frog hats for the two of you so that you both match.
When Grandpa Ya-yan comes home, you greet him with a smile and a wave of your arms. He sings you songs and patiently talks to you with a calm, adult voice. By the time I come to pick you up, you've had a full day of love and laughter. It's what makes it easier to go to school and think about things other than high chairs and blocks and baby shoes.

Last night you figured out how to stand up after I'd put you down to go to sleep. You stood there crying, hanging on for dear life to the edge of your crib. You know how to stand up but not quite how to get back down.

You now have almost 8 teeth in. You drool constantly - over everything. I change not only your bibs but your outfits constantly. You love eating. You eat porridge, carrots, fish, chicken, yogurt, peaches, plums, cheerios, rice crackers and peas. You dislike spinach and let out a scream when I try to sneak it into your food. You give an easy smile and giggle especially when I sing "Rubber Duckie" to you. You love to strike out on your own. Your dad gives you most of your baths. He's your most compassionate advocate and when you give your slightly crooked smile, you look like the splitting image of him. You want to walk - maybe even run but can barely crawl. You want me close - but not too close. You simultaneously love and fear ceiling fans. You have so many things to say but have a limited vocabulary of "bababa" and other consonant-vowel combinations. You hate sleeping. You fight it with everything you have but deep down inside, you know it's a losing battle. You love books (at least you love to try to eat them). You hate being held like an infant. You want to face out and see the world you'll one day conquer. You love Aki and you pull on her fur and ears to show her that love.


Your daddy has called all of my peculiar habits my "isms". You have your "isms" too. You're not particularly sensitive and you have a happy disposition. You're curious and loud. You snort when you laugh heartily. You wave your arms and bounce when you're happy. I know that as we approach your first birthday, I'll discover more of your isms and almost every one of them will bring a smile to my face.

Halal in London

After many hours of driving, we finally found ourselves in central London close to Paddington. We stayed at the Hilton Metropole which we loved for many reasons - the primary one being that we were close to lots of cheap yet delicious shawarma restaurants (one called Halal being our favorite - we went there three times). We were also finally in a hotel that was clean and spacious (unlike the hotel we stayed in when we were in York). This, of course, made Abby very happy:


We also loved that we were a mere 5 blocks from Hyde Park where we took a long walk the first day we were in London. We also managed to find a play structure where Abby could swing before we headed off to Notting Hill for some window shopping.


The clear highlight of our entire trip to the UK was the fact that we got to see a few of our friends we hadn't seen in some time. We saw the Steenbliks who we got to know while in Boston when Al was in law school. They have a beautiful apartment close to Hyde Park and seemed to have settled into the British lifestyle quite comfortably. We appreciated their hospitality (and free Internet access) and loved the chance to catch up on life and kids! We observed jealously as Brock easily went to sleep on his own after dinner.

The other set of friends we got to see were some friends from my time in Spain when I was still working for McKinsey. Giovanni and Jaime were fellow analysts in the Madrid office who took me out until the wee hours of the morning as a true Spaniard is supposed party. I grew to love Spanish pop music after four months there.


In between seeing our good friends, we managed to do go to a few museums and stores. Our highlights are listed below:

1. British Museum
This is probably our favorite museum in the UK. I've been there before and the museum lived up to my expectations once more. I love the reconstructed Parthenon as well as the spectacular displays of Egyptian artifacts. If you get hungry at the British Museum, there is a hot dog stand right outside the main gate that is seriously good (and cheap).

2. Tate Modern
I had not visited this museum in my previous visits to London but it is one of my favorite modern art museums now. In particular, they had a special exhibit on modern day cities where they profiled large urban cities throughout the world and displayed various statistics in visual formats. Those of you who know Albert know that he loves random numbers and facts so this was particularly fitting for him. The rest of the exhibits were also quite well done - it reminded me a lot of the Whitney in NYC.

3. Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms
This was also a first for me and a clear favorite site in London. I love Winston Churchill stories and the museum is a new addition to the Cabinet War Rooms that is incredibly well done. The interactive displays were fun for adults and children alike. The cabinet war rooms also were fun to see not only for their historic value but also to remind us of the serious nature of war when it is conducted on home turf.

4. Westminster Abbey
I've mentioned this in previous postings but Westminster Abbey is amazing if you love to see where famous people are buried. I am actually very interested in seeing the tomb of Isaac Newton or Charles Darwin. If you find all of this to be too morbid, Westminster Abbey might not be the highlight of your trip. It is much less a church as it is a place where some very notable historical figures are buried. My favorite part of the church is the tomb of the unknown soldier with the inscription:
They buried him among the kings because he had done good toward God and toward His house

5. Hamley's
Onto the shopping! Hamley's is literally a 7 story toy store. If Abby could walk and talk, this would have been a nightmare for me. Instead, Albert took her around and declared anything she grabbed from the shelf something she "wanted". I was a bit skeptical but Albert was allowed to spoil Abby a tiny bit for this one day.



6. Harrod's
Everyone talks about the experience that is Harrod's. We tend to agree and love it for all of its pomp and circumstance. However, I refuse to ever go there again on the day that the "There is only one sale" Sale at Harrod's starts. It was crazy - even for this Japanese girl. My people were standing in line at the Gucci counter which I found to be a tad bit embarrassing. I love the food court there but I wasn't about to spend $40 to eat some fish and chips at the counter. We ended up buying food at Harrod's but took it outside to eat. It ended up raining in the middle of our meal but for the most part, the food was delicious. The toy store there is also something you have to witness. I'm just glad Abby couldn't speak because we could leave there without having her launch herself into a temper tantrum.

7. Cornish Pasties
In all honesty, this should go in the York section of our blog. I forgot to mention it there so I'll mention it here. Cornish Pasties. I hate them. Albert loves them. We almost got into a fight over them. Albert wanted them for lunch. I would have rather eaten a vat of oil. We had one night in York where we found a store selling freshly made Cornish Pasties - which are a flaky pastry that surrounds some sort of meat/veggie concoction. I thought it was OK but a bit oily. Albert thought they were brilliant (as the British would say). I personally thought once was enough but while walking through London, Albert's eyes lit up when we passed another Cornish Pasty store. Albert loved them so much he had to take a picture of the sign on the wall showing how one makes a Cornish Pasty. As you can see, I was less than thrilled:



Cornish pasties aside, we had a wonderful trip filled with memories we will hold onto for a while. We loved seeing old friends and I was heartened that I could travel to an academic conference in my post-Abby life. Despite some of the terrorist threats, crazy flooding and horrible exchange rate, we loved the UK.

We continue our tour of the English countryside

Comments! I never get comments so I am eagerly responding to Alyssa's request for more things to do in England for her future trip there...

Amidst news of terror attacks in Glasgow and a failed terror attack in London, we continued along on our trip. Albert successfully mastered driving stick on the left side of the road:


while Abby sat in a contraption resembling an infant car seat with none of the safety benefits:


We took a pit stop in a small town called Durham where our visit coincided with a graduation. Durham was a cute college town with a beautiful minster. It was nice to stop somewhere before we continued on our journey to York which took another hour or so. York is one of the "must sees" according to Rick Steve. This is a town you could definitely spend a full day exploring but we wouldn't recommend the 2 nights Rick Steve does. In general, there are 2 highlights in this town.

York Minster
First is the York Minster - which in all honesty was the most spectacular church/cathedral we saw in England (including Westminster Abbey). We enjoyed Westminster for all of the famous buried inside the minster but it made it feel more like a spectacular cemetery and took away from the enjoyment of the building itself. The York Minster did not have those distractions and so you could truly enjoy the beauty of the building itself. We would have liked to stay for the evensong but we felt that Abby's screaming could potentially ruin the experience for the whole town of York so we chose to go home instead.

York Castle Museum
In the Rick Steve's guide, this is literally listed as one of the top museums in all of Europe. Now, with this description in mind, Albert and I envisioned a serious competition to the Louvre, Prado or British Museum. Indeed, this was perhaps one of the most entertaining family oriented museums we have ever been. However, do not go expecting art by the grand masters. This museum portrays life in Britain in various periods and does it incredibly well. There are fake storefronts with people who work as "storekeepers". It's incredibly interactive and fun to see with lots of educational value. We enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it highly for any families with kids.

Saffron Desi
105-107 Micklegate
York
YO1 6LB
Tel: 01904 659999

As far as restaurants go, this was a solid Indian restaurant we really enjoyed. Prices were reasonable and the naan was very good - even Abby agreed. We ordered far too much food but got the Rogan Josh, the Chicken Tikka Masala and the Saag Paneer. We enjoyed all of the dishes.

Betty's Tea Room
6 St Helen's Square
York YO1 2QP United Kingdom
+44 1904 659142

This Tea Room was the typical English tea house with amazing scones, clotted cream, and great tea sandwiches. We ate lunch here. The line was incredibly long to sit in the ground floor room (with pretty views of the square) so we headed downstairs which actually wasn't too bad.

In search of Braveheart (Edinburgh)

We continued our trip into the "nicer part of Scotland" by escaping the confines of Glasgow and moving on to Edinburgh. Since we rented a car, we headed north briefly to take a look at one of the famed Lochs of Scotland (Loch Lomond).


As you can see, it's a pretty lake but to be honest, the scale just doesn't compare to something like Lake Tahoe. We were a bit disappointed and decided to skip the full lake tour and head to something we don't have in the states... castles. Stirling Castle was very cool. Albert particularly enjoyed seeing the William Wallace monument which literally looks like another castle in the distance. After imagining having our faces painted in blue and white stripes, shouting "FREEEDOM!!!!" we explored the castle which was quite pretty from the outside but didn't have that much to offer on the inside. We still got to pretend that we were a queen and king observing our vassals:


We wanted to continue exploring the town of Stirling but Abby put her tiny little foot down with a loud and long scream. We made a hasty exit and continued on our trip out to Edinburgh. We got there early enough to take a walk around the city. We got to stay at the Sheraton which was a nice hotel with a beautiful view of the castle. Edinburgh really made Glasgow look like the industrial stretch of New Jersey. Edinburgh is a spectacular city with beautiful buildings that surround the castle.

After our walk down the Royal Mile, we decided to eat at a restaurant that came highly recommended in one of our guide books:
Howie's
10-14 Victoria Street
T: 0131 225 1721

This was by far the best meal we had in the UK. We were obviously limited by the weak dollar in going out to lots of fancy meals but this was just too good to avoid. Abby also appeared to be in good spirits so we wanted to take the opportunity to have a really nice meal. Everything was delicious and Abby loved the bread basket.

The next day we headed to the primary attraction in Edinburgh: the castle. It was full of tourists but we got a great view of the city from up high.


We walked down the Royal Mile where I got grumpy from lack of food. We ducked into a tea house on the left hand side which was perfect. We had tasty sandwiches for lunch and headed to the Queen's royal residence. It was closed off because she was coming the next day so we couldn't do the tour. We walked around for a while and appreciated the beauty of the city. All in all, if you get the chance to visit Edinburgh, we would rate it very highly.

A Tartan Greeting!

Hello from the Scotland. Home of the Highlander and William Wallace. The whole family made it out here safely without really driving anyone around us too crazy. We had a 10 hour flight from San Francisco to London, a 5 hour layover and an hour flight to Glasgow. Abby was so well behaved and slept for more than 6 hours on her flight to London. We had a bassinet which she barely fit. There was even a belt above her head which prevented her from lifting up her head too much - poor girl. It still helped her sleep for a long time and we were really happy. Other than that, there was a guy behind us who snored so loudly - I've never heard a guy snore more loudly sleeping upright.



We got to Glasgow pretty late and settled into our hotel which is very close to the conference center. It stays very light until quite late at night (10PM or so). Still, we were quite tired and went to sleep pretty quickly. The next day, we went to the city center where we explored some of the shopping district. We found a Marks & Spencer where we bought some desserts for later in the day. We also got some basics for Abby including baby food. One comment on British baby food - they feed their babies things Americans would never dream of feeding their baby at 4-6 months... like "Grandpa's Sunday Lunch" - a combination of carrots, peas, potatoes and chicken or "Shephard's Pie" - veggies and lamb or chocolate pudding or egg custard for that matter. We're embracing the British baby food and letting Abby go crazy with the meats.

In other news, Abby has not only mastered sitting up pretty completely, she is now rolling both from front to back and from back to front (the latter took a while). She has also finally discovered a consonant. After months of "AAAAAAAAAA!!!!", we now have "bababababababababa". It's quite cute (purely objectively speaking of course).

Food:

1. Random hole in the wall British eatery

Here I had fish and chips and Albert had a beef casserole. It was good but too salty and greasy for our taste. I think we've had enough British food for a few days.

2. Wagamama's

We went twice to make sure our assessment was correct. I went to Wagamama's many times in London many years back and loved it... so much so that I asked Albert to get me a T-shirt when he was there. We eagerly anticipated touching down in Glasgow to get our first taste of Wagamama's in a few years and was very very disappointed. The ramen was too salty. The rice was too sticky. The curry sauce was lacking. The rice noodles were al dente. To top it off, the price was nearly $20 a head! I still bought a T-shirt but that's because I love the name - in Japanese it means "spoiled brat". My parents used to call me this all of the time when I was a kid.


3. Mrs. Majhu's

41 Byres Road, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, G11 5RG
T. 0141 339 1339
Lunch here was actually very good and fairly reasonable. For a prix fixe lunch, we were able to share 4 small plates plus some rice and naan all for 8 pounds per person. We had saag paneer, chicken curry and two lamb dishes. All were spiced very well without being too overwhelming. The restaurant was also clean and inviting. Abby slept through the entire meal so Albert and I were able to really relax.

Sights:
1. Kelvingrove Museum

This is one of the most eclectic museums I have ever been to! We loved the fact that over the stuffed elk and moose, you could view an old WWII Spitfire aircraft. In the same museum, there were Matisse paintings as well as a neon Elvis. There were some really pro-Scottish statements in some of the commentary on British history which we also enjoyed.



Beyond our general sightseeing, I am here for a more important purpose - the ICC 2007 conference where I am presenting a paper. I will be spending most of my time at this conference and am limited in my sightseeing for Glasgow. All in all, we thought Glasgow was a lot of fun but we're excited to be moving on!

I admit I am a Japanese food SNOB

This admission doesn't take any strength of character or long introspection. I've come to embrace this fact as if it were a trait of mine to be treasured and cultivated. I admit to calling Japanese restaurants to make sure that the people who work there are Japanese. I can tell from the handwriting on the help wanted signs hanging on the window if the proprietors are Japanese. I'll even turn my nose at an Asian owned Japanese restaurant if I sense that the ownership were not genuinely Japanese. In my own defense, I'd feel this way about most other restaurants. I wouldn't want to go to a Korean restaurant owned by the Japanese - it would probably be too expensive anyway (ahem, Yakiniku Juban). Nor would I want to go to a French restaurant owned by an Italian... or a Greek restaurant owned by a Turk, etc. etc. You get the picture. I like food that is authentic. That said, I have to say that there are "poser" Japanese restaurants and there are ones I could eat at every day. The point of this posting is to guide my friends in the right direction. That doesn't have to mean an expensive direction, mind you. There are Japanese restaurants that are reasonably priced. I've categorized them to make it even easier for my fellow audience:

Sushi Restaurants:

Kanpai Sushi


330 Lytton Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 325-2696

Sometimes I wish I had an even more enthusiastic thumbs up for restaurants I really really love. Kanpai would get one of those. My mother's influence has heavily colored how much I am capable of liking sushi restaurants that are not truly excellent. I can say that Kanpai really meets the bill. The only other restaurant that comes close for sushi is Kaygetsu in Sharon Heights but that is not just a sushi restaurant. You'll find that under Kaiseki. On the peninsula, I would say that this is the best I've found so far.

come to embrace this fact as if it were a trait of mine to be treasured and cultivated. I admit to calling Japanese restaurants to make sure that the people who work there are Japanese. I can tell from the handwriting on the help wanted signs hanging on the window if the proprietors are Japanese. I'll even turn my nose at an Asian owned Japanese restaurant if I sense that the ownership were not genuinely Japanese. In my own defense, I'd feel this way about most other restaurants. I wouldn't want to go to a Korean restaurant owned by the Japanese - it would probably be too expensive anyway (ahem, Yakiniku Juban). Nor would I want to go to a French restaurant owned by an Italian... or a Greek restaurant owned by a Turk, etc. etc. You get the picture. I like food that is authentic. That said, I have to say that there are "poser" Japanese restaurants and there are ones I could eat at every day. The point of this posting is to guide my friends in the right direction. That doesn't have to mean an expensive direction, mind you. There are Japanese restaurants that are reasonably priced. I've categorized them to make it even easier for my fellow audience:


Sushi House


Town and Country Shopping Center
855 El Camino Real Ste 158
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 321-3453

I've been coming here since I was in high school. It's right across the street from Paly High. That said, this is not the place to go if what you are looking for is fine sushi. That said, this place has the best california rolls I've ever had. Their other sushi is adequate but not excellent. Their other kinds of food - chicken salad, fried oysters, etc. are actually quite good. For sushi I would give it two stars and for other foods, three.


Naomi Sushi


1328 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 321-6902

I actually heard a lot of really good things about Naomi Sushi that I just had to try it. I was fairly optimistic but the sushi was quite a disappointment. I think it was a bit more expensive than Sushi House but the quality was about the same. I hear that Naomi Sushi is, in fact, owned by the same people who own Kanpai. Surprising, because Kanpai is so much more of a superior restaurant. I went once to Naomi and perhaps it was an off night but I'm not planning on ever going back. I'd much rather spend my money at Kanpai.


Teishoku Restaurants: This kind of restaurant serves the type of food my mom makes for dinner. Surprise! Japanese people don't eat sushi everyday and no, the only other option is not chicken, beef or salmon teriyaki. These restaurants will give you a feel for what kinds of other foods we eat!


Gombei


1438 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 329-1799

If a large, cheap Japanese meal is what you're in search of, this is the place to find it! Gombei isn't fancy nor is this the place to take your girl on a first date, but if your girl appreciates value as this girl does, you're in luck! I highly recommend the croquettes which are flavored with just a little bit of curry. Their tonkatsu is also quite tasty.

Hattoriya


799 San Antonio Rd
Palo Alto, CA 94303
(650) 857-0273

I'm not sure how old this place is but my parents live quite literally a couple of blocks away and didn't know this place existed. I recently took them there and you should have seen the way my dad's eyes lit up. This man hates to eat out and when my mother goes to Japan for a few weeks at a time, he would rather sit at home and eat fermented beans with rice than eat at a restaurant. This will be his new option for good food should my mom not be around to feed him. I highly recommend the hamburg curry as well as the cream crab croquette. The food here is so close to mom's home cooking that my mother declared that she wouldn't cook for a full week and they would eat there instead. It was also good enough that my dad didn't protest. Now in comparison to Gombei, I would say that this place is tastier but maybe a few dollars more expensive. It's about $15 a head with tip.


Kaiseki Restaurants: This type of food is supposed to be the opposite of Teishoku. It is fancy. There are lots of little plates that are delicately put together. Typically, it is also quite expensive.

Yoshida


10700 S De Anza Boulevard
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 252-9907

This place really was a let down. If sheer quantity is what you seek, Yoshida is the place for you. Otherwise, it's a huge let down. The sashimi is about as good at Sushi House (listed above). For kaiseki, there is no finesse in the menu items and it feels like the huge trays are trying to cover up the fact that the cook just doesn't have the skillz (yes, that's skillz with a z). If you want authentic kaiseki, you might as well pay up the wazoo and get the real thing. Otherwise, go for one of the Teishoku restaurants or some of the Izakaya restaurants I list later.

Kaygetsu


325 Sharon Park Drive, Ste. A2
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 234-1084

Situated in a strip mall in Sharon Heights - Menlo Park, one would never expect the oasis of Japanese zen you find when you walk into Kaygetsu. The mere mention of Kaygetsu makes my mouth water. At the same time, I also fall into a cold sweat because it is so incredibly expensive. Just to set the tone, my husband and I went to Kaygetsu a while ago. We didn't order any alcohol and it was still over a hundred a head. Don't get me wrong, I think it's worth it. This is quite literally the best Japanese restaurant I've ever been to in the Bay Area... by a wide margin. It's excellent. The food here is competitive with food I've had in Japan.

Other types of Japanese restaurants:

Tanto


1063 E. El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
(408) 244-7311

Tanto is what is known as an izakaya restaurant. This is the equivalent of Japanese tapas. It is really supposed to be a place where you drink lots of sake and eat some food but I go for the food. Their squid dish with rice is very good as is the burnt rice balls. Many of their fish dishes are also done quite well. I also enjoyed their shabu shabu salad and copied it later at home. It has a great loud atmosphere which I really enjoy when I go there. It's fun to go with a bunch of friends and share a bunch of plates.

Himawari-Tei


202 2nd St
San Mateo, CA, 94401
(650) 375-1005

If I had more than just thumbs up and thumbs down, I would give this place thumbs sideways. Himawari-Tei is a ramen restaurant. I love ramen and they do their tonkotsu ramen pretty well but it's not to die for. It's also pretty pricey at $15 a bowl.