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.

She's a man eater!

Abby met Philip for the first time last weekend at Shie's baby shower. Philip, for his part, has already held hands with another girl. Abby, not taking any chances that she would lose out to her rival decided to make her intentions very clear. Philip didn't stand a chance...

Cowboys in Cali

We went to the rodeo this weekend. I never thought I'd say those words but what is truly unbelievable is that I had a great time. My roommate from my days in New York City has, through some fortuitous circumstances, ended up in Reedley, California. Dara, who my mother credits with giving me a grain of interest in fashion and having my room clean, is currently living an hour south of Fresno in the small town of Reedley with her husband Phil. I hadn't seen her since I got married so we decided it was certainly time to get together.

Albert happened to know another couple who also live in Central California from law school. Albert and I assumed that this meant that they lived fairly close to Dara and Phil so we set them up. Although they live an hour and half apart, they actually hit it off and became friends over the last month so a visit to Reedley and Springville meant that we got to see not only Dara and Phil but also Laurel and Jith. Laurel and Jith live in Springville where they held a rodeo this past weekend.

What is there to do near Reedley, you ask? There is, of course, the Sunmaid Raisin factory...

... and I think that's about it.

The rodeo in Springville was quite impressive. We were city slickers to the max with our Baby Bjorn in tow...


I was really impressed with the athleticism demonstrated by the cowboys who managed to stay more than 8 seconds on a bucking horse and those who tackled a young steer to the ground and tied their legs together in less than 5 seconds! We enjoyed this while eating the requisite barbecued beef ribs. Abby got too tired and we unfortunately missed the grand finale which was the bull riding. Alas, that gives us reason to return next year!

Excuses, excuses

So we have even more reason to excuse Abby for having her crying/screaming fits recently. It turns out that she has her bottom teeth coming in. Cathy even suggested that this might be the case but I poo pooed the notion that our daughter would be early in getting her teeth (the average is apparently at 7 months). I didn't even notice until Abby took the initiative to grab my finger, stick it into her mouth and rub it against her bottom gums. Poor girl. This is why she slobbers constantly and also makes this weird fishy face all of the time:

Fishy Face

Return of Ann

After the last post I feel compelled to clarify: Abby is not always crabby. In fact, she is mostly happy except when she gets sleepy. Recently, she has become extremely vocal (read: she loves to scream happily). Albert and I find this rather annoying because we see babies everywhere who are so perfectly behaved, quiet, smiling, etc. We ask ourselves everyday: How could such a loud child come from such quiet parents? We do, however, consider ourselves very lucky because she also happens to have a really loud laugh. She shares this with us particularly when we pretend to eat her:



Last week I started up at school again. The transition was much smoother than anticipated since I have essentially been back 60% for the last couple of months. It's just nice that it's official and I'm getting paid again. I hate to admit it because it makes me feel like a bad mother half the time but I really love being back in school. I love coming home with the feeling that I learned something today. I sometimes even tell Abby what I found to be interesting. I sometimes think that it will influence her to love science or engineering and buck the convention that women aren't supposed to be in these fields. I also realize that I sound totally neurotic. What I mean to say is that these dual roles I have: being an engineer in school and being a mother are both fulfilling. I also don't think that I could be one without the other anymore. As much as I love the things I learn, I also love to come home to giggling baby who I can pretend to eat.

Crabby Abby

Rita says that Abby will really hate it one day when I call her that. My response: "She should just stop being crabby then!"

Sometimes, I sing her this song when she gets particularly crabby:
Crabby Abby was a bear
Crabby Abby had no hair
Crabby Abby was still crabby Abby

Our Japanese-Korean Princess

Abby is one lucky girl. Well, obviously, she has some pretty fantastic parents... good looking ones I might add (objectively speaking of course). On top of the easy life she leads, she has the distinct advantage of being multi-cultural. She is not only celebrating the traditions of our American society (the first outing of her life was to buy a Christmas tree), her grandparents are showing her the old traditions of their respective cultures.

Drooly Abby in a Kimono
Earlier this month, my mother opened a box sent to us from my uncle in Japan. It was a kimono that had been made for my brother and now it was Abby's turn to wear the newborn kimono. Presumably, I wore it as well but I have a feeling that as a second child, this tradition was most likely overlooked (not that I'm bitter). A baby is made to wear this kimono and go to a shinto shrine. Since there are no shinto shrines nearby, we made do with the backyard and took photos outside on the deck and inside our house in the living room. Abby promptly drooled all over the three layers of silk which my mom will have to take back to Japan to get cleaned. The kimono was quite beautiful and had hand embroidering in the back to signify the Miura family emblem. Around the same time was Girl's Day. 20 years ago, my grandmother got me a huge set of dolls depicting the marriage of a prince and a princess. It must have been difficult to find the right one because I used to hate dolls with "scary" eyes. Most dolls had scary eyes but my grandmother found a beautiful set with the friendliest eyes she could find.

Miura Girls
This year, Girl's Day was celebrated with Abby, my mother and Michele (my niece). Three generations of Miura women together celebrated the fact that we were girls by putting up the dolls and eating sweets together. It was wonderful.

100 days old
Albert's mother visited when Abby turned 100 days old. This is called the baek-il in Korea. The main feature of this celebration is that we eat rice cakes called deok. We also had a "birthday" cake. Lucky Abby. She can't even eat cake right now so we were forced to consume lots of really good food for her. She also received a gold ring from her grandmother which she promptly tried to consume. I've put it in safe keeping for her. 100 days! Can you believe it? That also meant I had survived 99 nights. I, too, had reason to celebrate.

Red roses and such

Happy Valentine's Day!

Albert and I are on a gift-giving hiatus (what do you get for two people who already have too much stuff?) so we chose to stay in with Abby and make a nice dinner. Of course, Albert broke the rule and got some roses (purportedly after he haggled with some street vendors in Spanish). It made me feel like we were back in the days when he was actively courting me and Albert routinely broke those rules.

Al's Valentines

For Valentine's I decided to go with a beet salad in a balsamic glaze and an Afghani lamb dish called Qabili Pallau which we've had a couple of restaurants but never at home.

Our Valentine's Feast

Here are the recipes:

Beet Salad

2 medium sized red (and/or yellow) beets
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tsp brown sugar
olive oil

Drizzle the cleaned beets in olive oil. Wrap completely in aluminum foil and place in oven for 1-1.5 hours (until it can be pierced easily all the way through). Take the balsamic vineger and brown sugar and heat. Stir to completely melt the brown sugar and bring to a rapid boil. Keep stirring for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon. Slice up beets and mix into the balsamic glaze. Serve with some greens

Qabili Pallau

2 cups basmati rice
1 medium onion
olive oil
1.5 lbs lamb shank
2-3 large carrots
1 cup golden sultana raisins
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cardamom
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp saffron
2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper

Brown the diced onion in oil until brown. Add the lamb shank and brown on all sides.

Add 2 cups of water, 1 tsp. salt and the cinamon, cumin and cardamom. Cover and simmer until the meat is tender (about an hour). Remembering to keep the meat juice, strain out the meat and onions and set aside in a casserole with a cover.

Cut the carrots into match stick size pieces. Saute carrots in oil with 1 tsp of sugar. Cook until the carrots are lightly browned. Remove the carrots from the oil and add the raisins. Cook them until they swell up.

Boil the meeat juice and about 2 cups of water. Add 2 cups of basmati rice, 1.5 tsp of salt and cook until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.

Finally, preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix the meat, carrots, raisins and rice together and place into the casserole. Cover and place in oven for 30 minutes.

Full circle

Sometimes we look at Abby and we can tell exactly what Albert will look like when he loses most of his hair. Abby was born with a full head of hair but gradually over the course of the last couple of months, she's lost a good chunk of it. My friends tell me that this is what happens to babies but I have to admit, it looks really odd. I think it's karma.

You see, a couple of years ago, I visited Japan and saw a baby cousin of mine. She's adorable now but she had the weirdest hair loss pattern. She had lost her hair on the back and side of her head but had a full tuft up top. I had a hard time finding ways to compliment the baby because I was so caught off guard by the hair.

Now I look at Abby and I know what people must be thinking. Abby has lost a lot of her hair except for some on the sides and a tuft that sticks straight up towards the top of her head. She's lost most of her hair up front so it makes her look a bit like a monchichi. Yesterday, my mom and I went up to San Francisco to get her Japanese passport (she can have dual citizenship because of me). We had to get passport photos taken in advance. I had a bit of an ordeal to get it done but Abby was very patient. The only problem is that Abby is very camera shy. She doesn't like to smile when she sees a camera and becomes very serious. With the hair the way it is and her serious expression, her photo ended up looking a bit like a mugshot:

Abby's first mugshot
There are certain photos I look at of Abby and think to myself, "Now THAT is a photo that we should definitely have in the slideshow at her wedding!" This is definitely one of them.

Dear Abby

People told me that life would change drastically when you arrived and it certainly has. You came into my life when I was starting to feel the desire to take care of someone other than your father. I wanted to have my dreams of my future to start being realized today... and you have made it so.

Abby and her faux-hawk
Some people ask me how I spend my days with you. I tell them that we have many conversations... although most are one-sided. You should know that as much as I talk to you about Real Analysis, Schrodinger's equations, and Kuhn-Tucker, I don't dream about you becoming an engineer or mathematician. I just do that to see the look of horror on my friends' faces. Still, sometimes you laugh when I tell you how the sum of infinite numbers could actually be a finite number and I wonder if maybe you have a little bit of my nerdiness in you. Or... maybe it's that you're laughing at me. Either way, it's ok because your laugh makes me laugh too.

You were an eagerly anticipated baby. For months in advance, we gathered the gear we would need to take care of you. We used a stuffed monkey as a your substitute to test out what we got.

Testing the Baby Bjorn

Everyday, I would place a hand on my growing belly to make sure you moved at least 10 times in an hour to guarantee your health. Often, you would start hiccuping and I could count 10 movements in less than a minute.

When you were born, I expected you to cry the soft cry of a newborn but you let out a scream worthy of a 3 month old. I was startled but quickly realized that your father is incapable of whispering. That loud voice will help you be heard over the din of your boisterous parents - the marvels of evolution. I love your long fingers because I can dream that maybe one day you will play piano and will learn to love the rich symphonies of Brahms or the chord progressions by Bach or the wonderful melodies of Schubert just like me. And your eyes... I wonder if someday you will be teased as I was that your eyes are shaped like almonds. I hope that you will respond as I did that you don't care because your daddy loves your almond shaped eyes and how they curve into small arches when you let out a giggle. You should. We love the curiosity in your eyes as you stare at the sunlight reflected on our walls and the suspicious glance you throw us when we aren't handling you quite right.

Abby enjoys reading

You have filled our life with hope, love and laughter. Some people would say that I should hold off until you are a teenager to see how you really turn out. I say to those people that I will probably love you more as you start to rebel against my wishes creating a new "you" that is separate from my dreams and wishes. We are imperfect parents by any stretch. Your dad said that he hopes that in your future is wisdom, integrity, and charity. Me... I hope for languid afternoons of shopping and ice cream. I guess all that means is that I hope we are close... that you can confide in me your fears and dreams. With that, you might be able to attain all those things your dad wishes for in spite of the parents you have.

Post-baby friendships

We've been asked if we make it out of the house since having Abby enter our busy lives. The truth is that we make it out of the house and we do so often! The other night, we went to Koh Samui and the Monkey with some old friends from BCG.

Gathering of good friends
We've been there before but haven't reviewed it so we'll put in a review here.

Koh Samui and the Monkey (Thai food)

415 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 369-0007
www.kohsamuiandthemonkey.com

What we ate:
Soft Shell Crab Salad
Mango Catfish Curry
Seafood Clay Pot

Review:
Overall, this is decent Thai food at a good price for Soma. For some reason, Soma has a lot of pretty pricey restaurants so it's nice to find a place to go that doesn't really break the bank but is tasty. The special Mango Catfish Curry was awesome but I wasn't that impressed with the Seafood Clay Pot.

Other than that, we have also been out to Circa which is co-owned by a friend of ours.

Circa


2001 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 351-0175 Reserve Online
www.circasf.com

What we ate:
Sliders stuffed with black truffle and Brie cheese, served with Maui onion strings and house made ketchup 13
Lobster & white truffle mac-n-cheese 10
Moroccan spiced roasted Australian rack of lamb "lollichops" Mint chimichurri and pomegranate molasses 18

Review: I thought that the food here was really good although it is a little bit on the pricey side for the amount of food you get. I was a big fan of the mac-n-cheese and Albert will tell you that I just love sliders (I just have a thing for small burgers). I also liked the fact that although it is a bar/restaurant, it was quiet enough for us to be able to talk like normal human beings. The crowd is distinctly "Marina". I've also heard that this is a cougar-den but I can't say for sure since I'm not a young single male that cougars would target.

Special thanks are in order to my mom for looking after our little one while we tapped into our pre-baby selves. We definitely feel more human after our nights out and love Abby more for it.

May

It's suspected that someone I knew may have committed suicide this past weekend. It reminded me that no matter how happy or successful someone might seem to be, there is pain that we might not recognize under the surface. My heart goes out to May's family and close friends.

Afternoon Tea

There are certain things that I really hope to do with Abby some day. Some of these dreams might be put under the category "Crazy Asian Mom" like helping her with calculus problem sets or proof-reading her physics project paper or attending her first piano recital. Others come from my own memories of childhood like going on hikes and collecting bugs or helping my mom wrap dumplings. I put Afternoon Tea under this latter category. My mother is a bona fide tea addict. She loves to sit down and have some tea. When I lived at home briefly after college, my parents and I would sit down almost every night for tea and we would just talk about our day. As many asian families will most likely note, tea is not simply a beverage in our culture. Particularly in Japanese culture, it is central to social interactions. My five year old niece who goes to pre-school in Japan drinks tea everyday at school. So when Michele visited earlier this month, I wanted to show her how tea is served in Western culture so I took her to a tea shop close to my house for some girlie time while my mom watched Abby.

Although Michele didn't have tea, she got to have hot chocolate. She also ate half of my tea sandwiches, soup and most of the dessert. Like any proud woman in the Miura family, she has the appetite of a small bear waking up from hibernation.


Michele prepares to demolish the dessert

My mother reports that upon getting back to Japan, Michele bragged to all of her classmates how cute her cousin Miyuki is. I like that Michele calls Abby by her full Japanese name. Everyone else seems to shorten it to Yuki but Michele insists we use the full name.

Ma-chan, it's not just Yuki! It's Miyuki. Miyuki is so much more special than just plain Yuki!

Michele is Miyuki's advocate in our family. Hopefully, Michele knows that she has many advocates within our family too.