Tag Archives: slice of life

New Years Eve/New Years Day…

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New Years Eve/New Years has always been low keyed for me since I’ve moved back to Vallejo. I haven’t really gone out, because I just wanted to stay home and keep my Mom company. Many years, it’s just been Me, my Mom and my Brother here at home when the ball drops.

This year my nephew JR stayed home, so there were four of us at home. Then my Auntie called and said she, my other Auntie, Uncle and Grandma were coming… so there were 8 of us here.

At Midnight, I started texting and messaging friends and family Happy New Year. Then we had some traditional New Years food, like Arroz Caldo (Rice Porridge with Chicken), Fried Tofu, Sago (Tapioca Pearl Drink), Palitow (Filipino dessert) and some other Filipino foods.

Outside LightsAfter getting stuffed, I worked on posting some Christmas Eve photos on Flickr. I still have to edit and post Christmas Day photos…

I got up about 11 something AM, and drove to Oakland to meet with my friends Howard, Bill, (their new baby) Chloe and Lily… for some brunch. We went over the 4th street in Berkeley and ate at this cafe place (I can’t remember the name)… But I had a great Creole Omelet with Potatoes…

Afterwards, we just strolled through the stores on 4th street, but many were closed for New Years Day. Our next stop was the big Target in Albany… which was good, because it reminded me of some small storage ottomans that were on sale for $15. I wanted to get two for my room to triple as (1) color, (2) storage and (3) additional seating. Luckily, I got the last two lime green ones that I wanted.

We then returned to H & B’s condo and hung out, played with Chloe and watch some TV.

Later in the evening we ate out for dinner. Initially we were going to Sushi House, but there was a massive line, so we went to China Gourmet instead. Afterwards, we dropped Lily off at BART and I dropped Howard back to his condo and headed for home.

Before, I went to bed, I watched a movie on NetFlix online called “Dim Sum: A LIttle Bit of Hearth” which I actually liked a lot because I could relate to the Chinese daughter in the movie, who was the youngest and lived with her mother because she didn’t want her mother to be alone after her father died.

Christmas Shopping Continues…

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I finally got up off my butt and started the majority of my Christmas shopping. I went to Daly City, because there was a place that I think would sell some printed Pacquiao shirt that my nephews would like. I did see some through their window, but they were already close when I got there around 7pm… so I proceeded to go to Tanforan Mall.

It wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be at the Mall. I found several other gifts there, which was good, but I still have tons more to buy.

One weird thing that happened when I was there was that a cute Filipino guy walking towards me bumped my bag with his, smiled then said "Bag 5!"… I think he meant it kinda like "High 5", but with shopping bags… hehe… it was weird, but I must say that he was cute and adorable and made me smile :)

Clingie’s Second Ootheca (Egg Sack)

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Clingie and Her Second Ootheca (Egg Sack) I woke up to find that my pet Praying Mantis, Clingie laid another ootheca (egg sack) last night. I took out the first one and placed it outside because I didn’t want them to hatch until the spring. I was kinda surprised that she had another ootheca. I wonder if the eggs were fertilized and were just inside her, or if they are not fertilized… similar to how hens will lay eggs even if they are fertilized.

Later in the afternoon, me and my Mom went shopping. Went to Costco and got food for Christmas. They went to Island Pacific… Then afterwards ate at Subway… or as my Mom would call it "Footlong".

Holiday Work Party + Snowflake Ornaments + Christmas Tree Decorating

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We had our Holiday Party at work. It was pretty low keyed, but I like it better that way. We played a game where we were supposed to guess who the person was in the childhood photo. It was pretty difficult, but I got 9 correct out of 17. Afterwards we did our White Elephant Gift Exchange. I ended up scoring four Lundberg Studios glass flower ornaments!

After work, my friends Howie and Bill wanted me to come over to get my Christmas gift. They said that I need to get it "before" Christmas… because I should "use" it before then… so I first met them all including Mikey (who was in town) for dinner at China Gourmet. Afterwards, we went back to their place and hung out. I noticed Mikey also had a nice DSLR camera, we I asked if I can play with it and compare it with mine.

Snowflake OrnamentsHowie and Bill gave me a clay pot bowl. I think it’s one that you can cook asian clay pot dishes in… and they also gave me some beautiful wooden snowflake ornaments, which was similar to some that saw at the Castro that I really liked.

I guess this kinda got me into the holiday spirit… When I got home, I finally decorated the Christmas tree. (This was the latest that I think we ever decorated the tree.) My brother bought it about a week ago, but I just didn’t have time (and help) to being down the ornaments from the attic. My brother brought the stuff down last night and left the indoor decorations in the living room, but nobody likes to decorate the tree, so I usually end up doing it.

I had an idea to take time lapse photos of the tree decorated.