2004.12.25 성탄철

1055a: 벌써 성탄철이에요. it's already christmas. in recent yrs, since corporate retailers n' starbucks start their commericial christmas hoopla/hooplah on nov 1, by the time jesus's observed b.day rolls 'round, it sort'f springs up on me cos by then i'm rather tired'f waiting. u understand, don'tchu? seriously! it was really bad 2 yrs 'go, my 1st yr'f grad skool, when i was studying in starbucks 'lot. normally, as a grad'f berkeley, i'd never study in a corporate coffeehouse, but that yr, the beautiful kaela hwang was werking @ the santa clara county health dept, n' i wanted to wait 4 her in her close vicinity. sometimes, i studied instead @ the campbell roasting co. in the pruneyard mall, but often i studied @ the bascom/hamilton starbucks.

well, we're down here in chino now w/ kaela's parents n' her whole immediate family rt now since her bro n' sis came here 2. i've been really sick w/ some kind'f flu. (no flu vaccines this yr thanks to... oh yah, i'm not gonna talk 'bout politiks 4 the rest'f the yr.) we had 1 crazy drive down to socal on thurs nite. we started so much later than we wanted to. i thought we'd leave in the afternoon, but i ended up staying @ werking up until 500p or so. we, being as disorganised as we usually r @ home, did not yet pack until i got home n' stuff. i don't feel quite as bad rt now, but yesterday i woke up feeling pretty good but felt sicker / more sick later on. i don't think that'll happen 2day; i hope it doesn't.

[later] 1158a: well cos i've been bizzy, i haven't updated u well. on wed, @ lunch, i went to dave n' buster's w/ my werk division 4 a party. i got to play some video games. the fud was ok. on wed nite, i brought kaela to arcadia restaurant in downtown san jo 4 our 17th wedding monthversary / 3rd engagement anniversary / christmas. we had an awesome dinner. arcadia's an interesting restaurant. it sort'f masquerades as a traditional amerikan restaurant in that the menu items have sort' mundane names such as tuna "pot roast," lobster "corndogs," "banana split," chocolate "milkshake," etc.; but then the aktual dishes turn out to be supercreative, unique inventions. if ur a cali4nian n' realise the restaurant has such a modern name as arcadia (which was 1nce duran duran album), u'd prob'ly expekt sumpthin' more than pot roast, corndogs, banana splits n' milkshakes, but i wonder if the joke's on all the bizness travelers to silly valley that stay in the beautiful marriott hotel, in which arcadia's located. maybe they expekt typikal amerikkkan fud n' then get punk'd w/ this gourmet fare. ha ha. the restaurant has been described as amerikan n' contemporary amerikan by dine.com, but i thought it was a li'l fusionesque, n' kaela called it cali4nian. after thinkin' 'bout it, i think kaela it it rt on the nose. what did we eat? an arcadia salad (prob'ly the least unique dish, but we needed some greens... ur somewhat typikal garden weed salad w/ bleu cheese, candied walnuts, n' vinaigrette), an ahi tuna tartare (altho' made w/ what sushi chefs'd consider scraps'f maguro, this mix'f raw tuna, scotch bonnet infused sesame oil, pinenuts, n' raw quail egg was sooo awesome!) served w/ toast (not really special toast, i've gotta admit; maybe a li'l reminiscent'f the white bread u get @ asian bakeries), sea bass on risotto 4 kaela, scallops on potatoes w/ "amerikan" caviar 4 me (i dunno why it's "amerikan" caviar, but i suspekt the restaurant's trying to appease hicks who would skip out on french or russian caviar.), n' this awesome "banana split" (carmelized banana w/ fresh n' fancy toppings). we had a "0.5 bottle"'f 1999 trimbach riesling. @ turmerik, we 1nce had a 0.5 bottle'f 1997 trimbach riesling, so i knew to expekt good quality riesling from this vineyard. kaela had a decaf nf latte, n' i had a single espresso in a demitasse. wow, i wonder if i should get double espressos cos single espressos r rather small. well, originally, i wanted to take kaela to christmas in the park as well as the downtown ice rink presented by applied materials, but we both agreed 'twas 2 cold 4 us that nite. i'd already started to get sick. christmas presents... i gave kaela a brown dkny down coat (1 that i feel she can wear on a more everyday basis), n' she gave me the palmone tungsten t5 i've been wanting 4 so long! :-) it came w/ a hard case n' a 128mb sd card. :-) it's such an awesome handheld.

well, thurs, @ lunch, we went w/ my program cowerkers to cpk in valley fair. it was crazy 4 them to pick cpk in valley fair on 1'f the bizziest shopping days 4 the yr, rt? we ate out on the patio cos the inside was 2 crowded. i was already sick, n' eating outside prob'ly didn't help. the patio heater was good but maybe not good 'nuff. kaela n' i shared their rendition'f pad thai, which is their thai linguine. we also shared a 2.in.a.bowl soup, where u pick 2'f their thick soups which r served in the same bowl. obviously they lay down some kind'f divider n' remove it b4 serving it to u; that's the secret. quickly, kaela n' i did some christmas shopping after lunch, n' i went back to werk. it took a frustratingly long time to drive 'round that area on thurs. of course, that was cos'f the date being 2 days b4 christmas, n' thus every1 was doing last min $hopping. i could feel the road rage. i hope no1 got 2 hurt, but i saw lots'f accidents. *sigh* what a hateful, hate.filled world we live in! well, on a happier note, sooni's a cute doggy. :-)

on thurs nite, we didn't get out'f town till late. we had to drop off presents n' cards w/ various ppl. we ate a togo's large pastrami sandwich 4 dinner in the car. we got it from the togo's in blossom valley on blossom hill rd., near oakridge mall, near golfland, near the light rail train tracks, near baja fresh, near ariake sushi. pastrami's always #9. :-) it was a good sandwich. our car was so packed w/ baggage, snowboarding equipment, presents, sooni, soonistuff. it's fun taking sooni on long trips, i gotta say. on the 5, we drove thru some very, very, very dense fog. kaela n' i were both rather nervous, n' i think that made sooni nervous, so she couldn't sleep. doggies sense ppl's emotions, u know. they pick up on things very fast! i felt sooo sick. i had the chills. i'm sure i had a fever. i had to go into a gas station market n' buy 2 tylenol tablets from $1, n' i 4got to get a receipt 4 my fsa acct! grrr! (fsa = flexible $pending acct; thus i s'ppose "fsa account"'s a redundant term.) kaela drove 4 a li'l, but i know her nite vision's not great, so i drove more. 1nce we got near the grapevine the fog n' traffik cleared up. it was quite an unsafe trip. as i sed, kaela n' i were a bit nervous. we arrived in chino like @ 400a. i didn't sleep 2 much on thurs nite.

on christmas eve, we hung out w/ kaela's family. we went to lunch @ 북경 bookkyung (peking gourment inn/restaurant) in garden grove. it was a great lunch, but i felt 2 sick to enjoy it, un4tunately. afterwards, we went to irvine to visit kaela's bro jay's rented townhouse, which is really nice but uh... sort'f looks like a college guys' place. 5 ppl live there in the quail hill area townhome. we had some drinks @ a starbucks. . . [interrupted, ate some 빈대떡 bindaedduhk later] 107p: we had a slight fiasco there when they served kaela caffeinated chai instead'f decaf chai. i joked, "that'd never happen in peet's" to kaela. . . [unfinished entry]