RK and I had fusion food last Friday, 9/22/06 at E&O Trading.
I made the reservation on Open Table. I love Open Table! What a great place to review and select restaurants. It really helps with fulfilling another one of my 1,000 goals - to try out the top 100 restaurants in the Bay Area.
OK, I digress... RK went along for fusion food because he wanted to do studies for his restaurant designs. Normally, nothing can drag him to a shi-shi place.
For the study, RK and I were eyeing the decors, trimmings, materials, displays, furnitures, people, etc... E&O did good fusing East and West. Fried calamari was served with Asian dipping sauce; Indian bread was served with funky sides and coffee cream poured from a sake bottle.
E&O Trading had a energetic ambience. People were chatting, drinking, eating and really enjoying the night. It has pretty good food and our waitress was very knowledgeable. Love it! However, I was kind of disappointed with their cocktails and food presentation - little creativity. Nonetheless the overall experience was very nice. RK agreed to go back again. Now, that’s a stamp of approval and we shall have a real date next time.
S
o summer has come and almost gone. Did we really have a summer? Yes, there were few extremely hot days here and there. But overall, this has been a pretty mellow summer in our neck of the woods.Not willing to let the summer slip by, we had an End of Summer Party for our buddies on 9/7/06. RK cranked up the heat for the pool so the kids were able to enjoy one last dip.The adults had the usual indulgence of fine food and wine. Many thanks to Sandra's generosity, we always got to taste different wines - what a blast to be able to have 8 bottles of different red and white in one tasting. Of course, the rest of the girls broug
ht enough food to feed the army again.Fall is only two days away and holidays are just around the corner. We will soon be hearing ho-ho-hos and jingle bells. However, they will also pass by before we have a chance to immerse in the holiday spirits.Oh well, this is life and we have to go along for the ride.
When going too fast, we ignore the small but beautiful things around us.
So, one of the 1,000 things to do after graduation is to ask myself to pay a little bit more attention to the smaller things and appreciate their existence.
"Everything is beautiful in its own way." It is the simple beauty that enriches our lives...
I had to go to SF downtown today. I got off at the Civic Center Station and walked eastward. It was like in two completely different places after I crossed 4th Street on Market. On one side, I saw a city dead and hopeless; across, the city was filled with actions and activities. I saw wanderers on one side and saw tourists on the other; people moved around aimlessly at one side and people moved around with a sense of purpose on the other. How can store fronts closed and locked down with iron gates on one side of the street and across 4th street, the stores had loud displays and filled with shoppers...
It bothered me because I didn't understand how it could be nights and days merely by crossing a street. It was like crossing the border from one country to another. It made me sad yet I did not know if there was anything I could do.
Robert and I took a little drive to downtown Pleasanton on Saturday (7/15/06). I wanted to visit Downtown again because I didn't have a chance to explore it while there for business last Tuesday.
I always thought of Pleasanton as a dry, bland, ordinary town with cookie-cutter houses. I didn't know it had a very different downtown - it was lined with tall trees and old buildings with charming characters.
We took a little stroll through the area. The neighborhood had a comfortable old town feel. It was quiet and relaxing... It was hard to image that this area sits between Highway 580 and 680 - two of the busiest freeways in the bay area. Wow!
Right on Main Street, there were street signs showing the distances to Pleasanton's sister cities. I had never heard of these cities. So, must google!
Tulancingo, 2,300 miles south, is located in the State of Hidalgo, Mexico. It is the second most important city in that state. Blairgowrie, 5,020 miles east, is in Scotland by the Ericht River. According to Google, Fergus, Onatario, Canada, is the third sister city. No idea why it is not posted...
So, a little field trip taught me something about Pleasanton. I would not have learned about it if we didn't have this afternoon outing. It was a pleasant surprise.
o summer has come and almost gone. Did we really have a summer? Yes, there were few extremely hot days here and there. But overall, this has been a pretty mellow summer in our neck of the woods.
