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Week in review

December 30, 2006   

Disclaimer: Boring, journal-like entry follows.

Well, it’s been a busy week.

Last Friday, Uyen and I babysat for Gene & Heather, after stopping by Lindsi’s house for a dinner of crispy duck and rice. The baby was already asleep, so we just had to make sure he stayed asleep and didn’t panic when he woke up. He did stir a bit about 10 minutes before they got back, but he settled back down with a little back-patting (by Uyen) and hand-holding (by me). He reached out for his cat and held it while he fell back asleep. It was so adorable.

Last Saturday, we went to dinner with Becky & Alan at a place called Café Rouge, a nice little Mediterranean place that served me a most fantastic steak, which was perfectly pink & juicy in the inside and seared on the outside. Seppo got a cassoulet of duck confit & sausage, which was extremely tasty but waaaaaaaay too greasy for me. I can’t remember what we had for appetizers, but they were really good too. I have a vague memory of lentils that looked like tapenade, but my memory overall isn’t what it used to be. Definitely a place to go back to.

Sunday morning, Uyen graciously drove us to SFO where we stopped to eat at Perry’s. I wouldn’t ordinarily mention a meal eaten at an airport, but they had homemade thick-cut potato chips and an awesome lox & bagel plate. If you have to eat at SFO, it’s a decent choice.

My second cousin (is that what it is when the guy’s mother is my mom’s first cousin??) and his girlfriend picked us up from the airport. We got home at 9pm-ish and had the first of our many, many, many meals.

My mom cooked like a maniac. During our 4.5 day stay, we had dweji bulgogi (spicy pork), galbi jjim (braised short rib), yook gae jang (spicy brisket and vegetable stew), make-your-own maki, miyeok gook (seaweed soup w/ mussels), odeng bokum (sauteed fishcake), jap chae (glass noodles sauteeded with julienned vegetables), LA-style galbi (short rib), some sort of spicy snail & vegetable thingy that I don’t know the name of, moo gook (beef & turnip soup — “moo” is turnip, not cow :D), and a bajillion little accompanying side dishes, including various kimchees and seaweed-y things. That’s not even all of it; it’s all I can remember. This is in addition to sandwiches from a sandwich shop that my mom’s friend runs, a meal of food court stuff at a giant Korean market (giant dumplings, blood sausage, seafood and vegetables pancakes, mung bean pancake), and yangyum chicken (similar to general gao’s chicken).

I gained 4.5 pounds in 4.5 days. :O

Seppo and I spent most of the time playing with the two nieces (it’s so cute how they both alternate between calling him “Uncle Seppo” and “Seppo Samchoon” which is Korean for Uncle Seppo) and my little brother. That is, when we were not running around buying things (to fix a door that was sagging and not closing right) or returning things (Christmas presents that didn’t fit). We also gave their dog Reno quite a workout.

I wish we had had more time there (we returned on Thursday) so that I could have taken the bro somewhere he wanted to go, apart from the nieces, and vice versa. It was good seeing the family. The best part of it is that my mom and I didn’t argue even once! I love her and she loves me, but we always bicker, so this was a nice change.

My sis was supposed to return from Korea on Thursday, but it got pushed back to Saturday. She had made an emergency trip to Korea because her father-in-law had a completely unexpected accident (fell off a ladder while trying to get something) and sadly passed away. I didn’t get to see her, but I was glad she was able to be in Korea to help her mother-in-law and her husband deal with their grief, even while grieving herself.

Uyen picked us up and took us to a totally kick-ass Shanghai-style restaurant in Millbrae, where we had tasty little things called “soup dumplings” that are in fact little tiny dumplings filled with the standard blob of meat and the non-standard glug of soup! Mmmmmm, good. That’s also going to be a place to return to.

Friday, we went over to Becky & Alan’s place to hang with them, Joe, and Chris while enjoying a little Zachary’s pizza and a berry pie. It’s no wonder I put on a few.

Today was all about going to Joann’s and buying a bunch of sewing things like a ruler, a tracing wheel, tracing paper, scissors, pins, and some other things that I can’t remember, while Seppo hit up Trader Joe’s. I came home and hemmed a pair of my pants! I am wearing them right now. It’s awesome to have pants that don’t drag on the floor. I am so happy.

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