Esther and Eric's apartment revealed!!! + Shredded Chicken and scallop porridge in mushroom ham and chicken broth

Last night, for the first time, Esther and Eric's new apartment is finally caught on camera! As you can see from the pic on the left, there are no traces of any boxes that needed special cover up. They have completed the move (well, except for the room where Eric's office will be)!... so to speak...

Last night was also the first time Eric drank any alcohol in his entire life (really?). The good thing was that we were only drinking Green Apple Martinis which is a relatively light cocktail.

Okok, last night was also the first time for my special porridge to be tasted by anyone... it turned out pretty good. Everything was gone by the end of the night. And to think that we cooked a total of 5 cups of rice... wow.
Here it is! The Shredded Chicken and Scallop porridge with Mushroom ham and chicken broth.

We finished the entire pot!!! And I had to rserve two to go bowls. An empty pot means that I can use it again for other things. It's always good to have all the food finished since I hate leftovers. So thanks to Esther, Eric, Alvin, Angie, and Paoning for being the guinea pig this time. Next time when you guys cook, I'll be sure to return the same favor (errrr.... ok).

Anyways, let the pictures tell the story now. It was a great time!

This is the second stage now. The soup was done last night. Now it's ready to be heated up again to mate with the rice.
3 cup full of Japanese Royal Rice (the same ones used to make sushi)
And then we let the soup boil again... after boiling, turned the fire into simmering mode for about 20 minutes.
Good food, good company, need good drinks... Smirnoff Vodka with Apple Twist and Midori.
Alvin and me with the Green Apple Martini
Added dishes from Esther: Satay Beef, Mushroom Vegies, and Miso baked Salmon
Of course, can't forget dessert.
Oh o, the infamous male and female vitamin pack. See the story here.

Special Porridge

Tonight I decided to so something different. I had come into the possession of a special recipe for a very, very delicious porridge made by my brother in law. So I decided to try it out...

I've always been a fan of porridge. And no, it's not for sick people. Although it is easier to swallow and digest... it's easier for people who have weaker stomachs.

The pic shows the part where I'm still cooking the soup. The final product will go through another two stages of cooking for which I'll post the pic soon.

The ingridient list is actually quite expensive: skinless chicken thighs, cured ham, garlic, dried Japanese scallops ($45 per 16 oz), mushrooms, and chicken extract. Almost the same ingridient for making XO sauce. It only takes about 30 minutes for the soup... and it's the best tasting soup I've had... all this without adding salt.

Stay tuned for the final picture...
While I'm waiting, this is called "Dirty Volcano." This drink was mentioned in the show "Desperate Housewives." Made with Light rum, dark rum, Skyy Vodka, Sweet and sour mix, cranberry juice, and a splash of Amaretto. Yummy!

Finally over...

3 days of very long business trip is finally over as I wait at the Sacramento Airport for my flight back to LA. I drove a lot this time:

4/16/06: landed in San Jose, stayed at the Marriot in Santa Clara
4/17/06: Woke up at 6:30am because have to drive to San Francisco for the 10am meeting. Ended up we were an entre hour early. Drove my boss back to San Jose at 5pm for his flight back to LA (damn...). Drive up back again to have dinner in SF, and then off to Sacramento. Didn't get there until past midnight. Staying at a nice hotel: Residence Inn/Marriot in Sacramento.
4/18/06: Morning meeting with the County of Sacramento. A good and fruitful meeting. And then, meeting with Caltrans Dist 3... not so interesting. And then, went to return the rental at the Sacramento airport. Got there way too early... so I moped around at Java City dear my gate. Discovered free wireless internet.

Would you believe it? Free wireless internet at the airport...

Business trip to San Francisco and Sacramento

Back to reality today. Because of the sudden request from my boss for a power point presentation, I didn't get to go to church today for the Easter Sunday. And now I've finally landed in Northern CA here at the Marriot hotel in Santa Clara after a 2 hour flight delay... Please pray for my trip here.

Good night, everyone.

Saturday Picnic

This Saturday started out groomy. It rained in the morning. But there is always the rainbow after the rain. And the rest of the day proved to be so much better than how it began...

At 7:32am
My phone ran...
"Donald, are you sleeping, this is Sydney."
"I was just about to call you... I'm wondering how we're going to meet up."

"Oh, since it's raining, we're canceling the trip."
"Errrr... ok."

"But we are still thinking of meeting up, so contribute your ideas."
"Great, why don't we all go to the market and get some food...."

"Ok, no, I already know where this is going..."
continuing with excitement as if though I didn't hear Syd; "... and we can all have a great cook out! Since Rita said last week that she really wanted to cook for everyone... oh, ok." This is when I finally caught on.

Syd: "Wenko wants to go sing KTV."
Me: "Oh, we can go to Cash Box for happy hour then... hahaha."

"...." "You know what, we're gonna get everyone's ideas and I'll give you a call back later."

9:31am
The phone ran again.
"hello, Syd."
"Wake up, wake up, wake up."
(Ok, Syd, I've been awake. But I guess you went back to sleep... so blessed to be able to sleep after you wake...)

Syd: "We're going to Torrance and Bernie will lead us to Manhattan Beach!"

So the rest of the day unfolds as such....

10:12am
On voicemail: "Donald, this is Ruth and Sydney, call us back.. beep"
"Ruth, Syd told me she needs one hour neh..."
"Oh, hahaha, can you still give us a ride, we'll meet at Elin Bookstore."

And then... let the pictures tell the story:

Group pic, we're actually at Hermosa Beach. This is around Noon time.
Sandwitch... yum




2:30pm
Detoured to Starbucks... Thanks to Rita for her generousity. I believe we all enjoyed our latte/coffee/slush/machiato/water very very much!!! Hehehe.

Bernie, your pink shirt matches with Syd's pink drink... hahaha.

4:33pm. After Starbucks, we drove through some very beautiful scenaries of the ocean (Syd, remember to share your photos, k?). And then stopped at the "Church made of Glass." I could've sworn that I've seen this church either in my dreams or in my vision. This will be the church where I will hold my wedding. And I will have doves fly off as the sound of the wedding bell rang. Hey, I can have my dreams too, no?

Now the tough part to find that special someone. But I know that God will provide for me. And I will carve her name and mine on one of the bricks here.






6:07pm.

After a very very very very long run around... we finally came to our dinner destination: Redondo Beach. It was good that the sun sets later after Daylight saving time ended a few weeks ago. So we're still blessed with the warmth of the sun as we share a few plates of fresh seafood and fellowship time over dinner.

This is Fiona, Ruth, and Sydney.

And this is how we ended the day:
From 9:19pm to 12:49am: Cash Box, RH, CA

Thanks, everyone, for showing me a good time today!!!

Kan Pai!!!

What was an innocent dinner turned out to be a surprise of old and new friends who decided to meet unannounced... unknown... and unplanned. Well, not that the dinner was not innocent. I simply meant that it was not intended originally... hehehe.

After a tough day at work today, Rex and I decided to go to Kan Pai for some authentic Taiwanese food and a small amount of alcohol. It turned out that somehow my elder sister's friends came over to eat at the same restaurant after a long absence. And Princess Skye also showed up with her date.

We later finished the night with lots of singing at three different places. So... Skye, I guess this will chase away your Monday blues, no?
Princess Skye
Princess Lulu (Annie) and I.
Skye and Frances (owner) at Lounge 9PM after dinner (per request of the princess, her pic has been cropped).
Group pic... Shelly, me, Rex, and Tina.

Hello Kitty Shot

Made with Peach Schapps. A mild shot for the girls... and sometimes for guys when he had too many Tequila shots... hahaha.

B-52 with a Mission

AKA, Flaming B-52. The fire actually makes it sweeter as it charred some of the sugar within Triple Sec and Irish Cream. Tastes almost like egg tart... hehehe.

Celebration bottle

After the fellowship, I rushed to Dozo for the post show celebration with my co-worker on opening a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label. $130 for this bottle there...

I believe this is the end of my detour. Beginning next week, there will be nothing less than 100% in all that I do... work, exercise, and God...

Good night, everyone.

Another good fellowship meeting

1 Thessalonians Chapter 5 wraps up for tonight and the book of 1 Thessalonians. This is the second time I'm meeting with these lovely brothers and sisters. This is a renewing experience...
Sydney leading the bible study
The prayers of the saints... Tao, God will make a way for uou... and of course, for me too.

Business trip to Las Vegas 4/4/06 to 4/7/06: Sands Expo, ISC West

Friday 04-07-06:

Back to LA we go. Had a great show here at ISC West. The interests were overwhelming!!! Really didn't get to sleep that much even after 4 days of standing and talking... so I feel exhausted. We didn't get to leave until close to 9pm because of the delay in packing up the booth and equipment. It was close to 2am when I got back home.

Now that the show is over... what's left for me next week is intense followups.

"One moment in God's favor is better than a lifetime of endeavors." God, I ask for your favor on me as you've shown us in the past 4 days.

Thursday 04-06-06

Good second day at the show. Even more response than yesterday. This calls for a little bit of a celebration. Instead of eating at yet another buffet for dinner, we decided to settle on Chinese food instead...
Walnut Shrimp... yum
French Style steaks
Pepper and spice pork chops
Shark fin and fish soup.

By the way, we stay at a hotel/Casino called the Orleans. Nice accomodation with a good price.



Wednesday 04-05-06:
Venetician and a real Lamborghini:

Okok, there was a real Lamborghini parked at the parking lot at the Venetician hotel. We parked the car there and walked to Sands since the hotel is connected with the convention center. Note: my feet were really hurting by the time the show was finished. Below are pictures of the Canal shoppes.

And it was a great first day at the show.












Tuesday 4/4/06:
Today is the set up day for the show. We were exhausted after the booth set up so my boss took us to the French Buffet in the Orleans hotel/Casino... bad idea. Ate too much.

It seems that "a walk " was in order to aid in the digestive system to break down all the food I had tonight.New York! New York!... as we approach the strip by foot.
Can you tell that it's the Empire State Building?
Inside New York! New York!
Excalibur