Ahhh, Yes…

Posted on 23 September, 2013 by Tina

it’s Musical Monday.  My apologies, but you’re just gonna’ have to deal with a band that you’ve heard before on here.  You see, I went to see One-A-Chord, Maoli and Jordan T. at the Elbo Room on Friday night.  We already know that the Mission is far from being my favorite area of San Francisco.  The crowd was cramped into a somewhat small upstairs room.  One-A-Chord was alright; didn’t quite do it for me.  Maoli and J.T. were even better than the previous two times I’d seen them.  Unfortunately for me, my lower back had been killing me since Friday afternoon.  I, who am known for never taking medicine of any type, actually popped a couple of Advils ’cause my back was hurting THAT bad; must have injured myself at the gym.  Anyhow, both Maoli and J.T. were standing around on the sidewalk prior to the start of the concert.  Had I been feeling better and/or had a few drinks, I would have asked to take a photo with them.  As it was, alcohol is not advised with Advil and my back was demanding somewhere to SIT immediately.  I managed to find a seat upstairs and remained there until Maoli came on-stage (except that brief moment when I bought another Maoli T-shirt to add to my collection).  At that point, I forced myself to stand up and go closer to the stage.  Aside from the drunken guy who kept yelling “Yeah, boy!” every 5 seconds and his equally drunken girlfriend who kept dancing, bumping into me and getting her sweat all over me, the crowd was pumped, but not out of control and disrespectful to others.  I find that’s how it is at most Poly events in SF, though.  My favorite songs by Maoli are “Whisper,” “Write Me A Letter,” “So Incredible” and the one you’ll find below. It’s even better when the crowd is amped and singing along.  Hope they come back soon and hang out on the sidewalk again ’cause I BETCHA I’ll get a picture with them the next time!

“Time to Get Over” – Maoli

 

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Fruits of My Labor

Posted on 22 September, 2013 by Tina

A month or so ago, I decided to sign up for an on-line photography course; one that’s meant to change your perspective of what you photograph and how you photograph by giving you weekly “prompts.” Week One has inspired me to take the following:

A Glass of Vouvray and A Carafe of Water at Bouche

A Glass of Vouvray and A Carafe of Water at Bouche

Vespa in Claude Lane

Vespa in Claude Lane

Black-Eyed Susans at Opera Plaza

Black-Eyed Susans at Opera Plaza

Waiting for My Burger!

Waiting for My Burger!

Stairs at Dosa

Stairs at Dosa

"Mon Portable" on the Bar at Cafe Bastille

“Mon Portable” on the Bar at Cafe Bastille

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: cell phone, Food/Restaurants, Photos, San Francisco, Studying | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Slight Regret

Posted on 19 September, 2013 by Tina

The other night on my way to the gym, a seemingly homeless, but relatively young guy asked me for money because he was hungry.  I apologized, but told him that I only carry keys and my cell phone when I go to the gym.  What would I need money for at the gym?  I don’t need to be stuffing my face or buying anything!  Anyway, the guy seemed genuinely sad and rather lost.  A block later, I found myself trying to remember if I had any food at home that I could readily give him.  All of my sandwich stuff is in the office.  All I had at home that wouldn’t need to be cooked were the madelines.  By the time I remembered those, he was already several blocks away.  For some reason, I felt really, really bad.  I didn’t feel like he was someone that was asking for money so that he could go buy drugs or alcohol.  He seemed hungry, really hungry.  If I don’t have anything ready-to-eat at home, I’m more likely to actually buy food for someone rather than to give them cash.

In L.A. I remember seeing a guy and his medium-sized dog on a hot summer day laying on Santa Monica Boulevard with a sign stating “Will work for food.”  I only lived a few blocks from a McDonalds, which has a Dollar Menu.  I bought a few things from the Dollar Menu and gave them to him, making sure to tell him to feed his dog, too.  On my way to work downtown one morning, a Filipino guy asked me for money.  He actually cried because he was so embarrassed and said that he’d send it back to me, as soon as he could, if I gave him an address to send the money to.  I gave him money and told him that I didn’t need it back, that I wished good things for him and that I hoped he got his life in order.  At my apartment building, there was a homeless woman sitting in the parking area when I went to empty the trash.  She told me that she was starving and asked if I had anything to eat.  I actually went upstairs and made a sandwich, then gave it to her.  She was so, so happy, as was I.

You know how we Americans always get doggy bags when we go out and have left-overs?  That’s apparently not common in France.  My French ex-husband said that if you didn’t finish your food in France, it meant that it wasn’t any good!  I explained that I’m rarely able to finish an entire plate of food in one sitting, whether it’s good or not.  Regardless, I had my ex-husband trained to give his left-over food to homeless people on the streets of San Francisco.  If you’re not going to eat it and it’s perfectly good, why throw it away when people are digging in trash cans for something to eat?!

One Thanksgiving we had tons of extra food in the apartment.  I think we’d cooked two turkeys and invited many people over, plus the other roommate had left-over turkey AND ham from his family’s Thanksgiving dinner. There was no way that we’d be able to finish all of that food before it went bad.  Thus, the day after Thanksgiving, I packed Thanksgiving “care packages” for homeless people and either gave it to them directly or left it by them if they were sleeping. Each “care package” had turkey, ham, stuffing, green salad, plastic cutlery and paper napkins.  People were very, very appreciative of it.

One evening another ex-boyfriend of mine and I had dinner at a Korean restaurant here in San Francisco.  Neither of us were very enamored of the food, but we took it home, planning to spice it up there so that it would taste better.  When we got to my apartment building, there was a young, homeless man sitting on a couch.  I told my ex-boyfriend that maybe we should give our food to the homeless person, which we did.  The homeless man was very thankful.  When we got upstairs, I realized that he had nothing to eat with, so I ran back downstairs to give him some plastic cutlery.

It bothers me to think about how much food I waste every day when there are people that don’t have as much as a slice of bread to eat.  We had sandwiches catered in the office the other day.  I generally only eat chicken salad, turkey or possibly tuna sandwiches.  I chose a turkey sandwich, but ended up throwing it away because it had cranberries on it.  I detest cranberries!  The cranberries had already soaked through most of the bread and left that reddish tinge on the turkey, so I threw it in the trash and ate soup from home instead.  After it was already in the trash, I remembered that I could have given it to some homeless person in the Embarcadero (of which there are many).

I don’t always remember to think of those who have nothing to eat, but I try.  I feel enormous guilt when I waste food when others are on the street begging.  I waste money every day on a bag of chips, a soda, a candy bar or what have you.  There’s just no excuse for me to do that when there are hungry people who would be more than happy to have something from McDonald’s Dollar Menu or something/anything similar.

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Forgot Again…

Posted on 17 September, 2013 by Tina

So it was Musical Monday yesterday, but I was too busy procrastinating, big time, about going to the gym to give it much thought – or any thought, for that matter.

One of my friends who’d gone to school with me at California State University, Chico, contacted me last week.  We used to hang out when we were both in L.A., but had lost touch for something like 25 years.  Whenever there were holidays in L.A., she invited me to her family gatherings.  Generally, I was the only non-black person at those gatherings!  She told me once that the few times that I was unable to make it, her mother and her cousins would all ask “Where’s Tina?!”  They’re the ones that introduced me to green rice and oyster stuffing.  Her parents were the best; they always made me feel like a member of their family.  I miss those days and hanging out with them.

We were talking about “old school” music.  She’d recently been to Rose Royce & I’d been to Earth, Wind & Fire.  You just got a dose of Earth, Wind & Fire last week.  So let’s give you some Rose Royce this week.  (And now to begin mentally preparing myself for the gym TONIGHT!)

“Wishing on a Star” – Rose Royce

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Hump Day

Posted on 15 September, 2013 by Tina

Wednesday turned out to be a rather fun day for me.  Somehow or other, my name had gotten on a distribution list inviting me to a “Private Wine Tasting Event” sponsored by Historic Hotels of America.  It was from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  I’d RSVP’d in the affirmative a few weeks earlier.  The day of, however, I wasn’t feeling particularly social.  I nearly cancelled, but figured that it was best to at least show up.  If things were not to my liking or I truly couldn’t stand to be around other people, I could leave.  The event was being held in the Peacock Court at the Mark Hopkins International Hotel, which is midway through my cable car ride home.  Not that many people attended, maybe 30, if that.  The event consisted of 4 or 5 wineries, as well as 10 or so hotels, that were marketing their properties for company events.  Food was provided as well, buffet style.  Basically, my modus operandus was to get a glass of wine, chat up the winery, followed by chatting up a hotel and gathering pertinent info, nibbling on something (cheese, desserts, fruit, risotto), then doing it all over again.  Another attendee had made my acquaintance right when I walked in.  We talked a few more times throughout the evening and discovered that we’re both enamored of travel.  Although she loves Bali, her favorite place to travel is “anywhere in Italy.”   Her most recent trip was to Dubai, though she admitted that she probably wouldn’t go again.  She gave me her card and asked that I keep in touch; said that we should be future travel companions. That works for me as she doesn’t have a husband, children or pets to consider, she DOES have the time and money, she does NOT do tour groups and she just seems like an all-around fun person that is just as content to do things on her own.  Besides, she’s never been to Vietnam and will be awaiting my account of travels there.  A gentleman had also asked if he could join me at a table when I was noshing on something.  It turns out that he “researches” bars around the world and writes about them for business travelers.  We did a quick comparison of bars that we like from Paris to New Orleans.  His favorite bar is on the top of some hotel in Hong Kong; will have to ask him again.  He also has a list of other bars for me to try, which he’ll E-mail to me in the future.  At the end of our conversation, he said that I was “delightful” and gave me his card.  Obviously, my social networking skills are still up to par, even when I’m not initially feeling social!

The wine tasting event was followed by an Earth, Wind and Fire concert at the Masonic Theater.  It started at 8:00 p.m., which gave me time to walk the couple of blocks from the Mark Hopkins.  I even had time to stand in an excruciatingly slow line to buy a T-shirt.  My seat was surprisingly good – in the second row, main floor, slightly off center.  Earth, Wind and Fire put on a great concert.  In my youth, they were always one of the bands I’d wanted to see perform live.  I had a great view to make videos until about 2/3 of the way through the concert.  That’s when the band announced that they were going to shake the hands of concert goers.  That announcement was immediately followed by a flood of people running from the back to the front.  That in itself didn’t bother me.  It’s the fact that they REMAINED there until the concert was over.  We all know I’m vertically challenged, so it rather annoyed me to have paid for a good seat only to have people from the cheaper seats run up and block my view!  The people in the row behind me were exasperated as well; they asked “So, are they just going to STAY there?!”  What’s more, with the stampede of people in front of me, I didn’t even get to shake the hand of any of the band members!  In the end, it didn’t matter.  The evening was still a success in my eyes.

Enjoy the photos and video, as if you were there yourself!

EWFPhillip Bailey

“Shining Star” – Earth, Wind and Fire

 

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9/11 Soliloquy on 9/12

Posted on 12 September, 2013 by Tina

I nearly forgot that yesterday was 9/11.  My mind was consumed with thoughts of yesterday’s Wine Tasting Event and the Earth, Wind & Fire concert rather than the terrorist attack in New York.

The morning of 9/11 is clearly etched into my memory.  I’d taken my shower and was sitting on the edge of the bed drying my hair and watching T.V., though my contacts weren’t in yet.  My husband, Laurent, was still sleeping.  When they showed the plane hit the tower, I wasn’t quite sure what I’d seen and hurried to put my glasses on.  Then I wasn’t sure WHERE it was taking place or how long ago it had happened.  After turning up the sound and realizing that it had happened mere moments ago in New York, I was freaked out, to say the least.  All I could say was “Oh my god!  Oh my god!”  Then I woke Laurent up to tell him what was going on.  We stared at the TV in disbelief.  I’ve always thought of the United States as pretty much invincible.  For the first time, I was actually scared about the safety of U.S. citizens in our own country.  Before long, the phone rang.  A friend and former co-worker of mine was calling to tell me NOT to go to the office. He still worked in the same vicinity and said that the main office buildings had been closed down.  Laurent called his sister, who was also living in San Francisco at that time.  We were all in disbelief together.  Later we went out to lunch somewhere near Union Square, but the streets were nearly deserted.  It was a strange feeling.

The office building was closed for a couple of days.  When we went back to work, they tried to implement all of these “security” procedures in the lobby.  They now wanted everyone to show ID before they entered the elevators.  What good does that do?  If I had intentions of blowing up the building, I could care less if you know who I am first!!!  In the office, we went over emergency procedures according to our Business Continuation Plan (i.e. where we would meet, who was to call who, etc., etc.).  Business didn’t exactly continue as usual, but we tried to maintain.  What was not amusing was that some crackpot(s) called the building with bomb threats for 2 or 3 days in a row.  Dashing down 27 flights of stairs is no fun at any time, let alone in heels.

Part of our employees had been in New York for some training during the attack and a few had actually seen the attack from the window of the building they were in.  After the attack, it was a mad scramble for all of them to return to the West Coast, whether it be by plane, train, bus or rental car.  Everyone wanted to be home with their families and friends.

As the week wore on, things slowly began to return to normal.  One evening Laurent and I had gone to the movies.  When we got back to our apartment building, some people were gathered outside lighting candles in memory of the victims.  We spent many hours of the evening, as well as during the day, watching the news coverage and hearing all the sad stories about people losing their loved ones.

Within a month following that attack, I was in downtown San Francisco at a mall on the weekend.  All of a sudden men in masks and with guns came running through knocking over things and shouting.  It was mayhem.  People were dashing into stores, but I kind of froze.  A store employee was yelling at me to come inside as she was about to put down the metal protective door.  I finally composed myself and ran inside as she lowered the door.  My thoughts were of Laurent.  If something happened to me that day, at that moment, I would never see him again.  Not only that, but he wouldn’t know what happened to me right away or not for awhile.  He’d wonder why I wasn’t home or why I wouldn’t answer the phone.  Knowing him, he’d call all of my friends and search all over town for me.  Oddly, I was also thinking about the flowers he’d just bought for me, and how he frequently bought flowers for me because he knew it made me happy.  I started to cry.  My tears ended quickly, though, because the mall security had ascertained that the entire incident was a prank by a group of people.  Obviously, I didn’t see any humor in it in the least and neither did any of the other customers who’d feared for their lives and dashed into whatever store was nearest.  If those people wanted to make a political statement, they could have done so without causing panic amongst the general population.

Though I’d never been to the World Trade Center in New York prior to the terrorist attack, my job took me there afterwards.  The corporate offices of the company that I work for are based on the East Coast.  While there for a conference 3 or 4 years later, several of us were in New York City together.  We happened to take the PATH train to the WTC stop.  Both clean up and construction of the site continued.  When one of the New York employees described her shock when it happened and how her day had gone, it hit home.  It was obvious that she was still very much affected by it.

When Osama Bin Laden was finally killed, it came as a surprise.  I was beginning to think that he would remain elusive and never be found.  After hearing about his death on the news, I immediately texted my then-boyfriend to let him know.  It felt like the end of an era.

Now it’s 12 years later and 9/11 seems so long ago.  That must be why yesterday’s significance didn’t really dawn on me till the day was nearly over.  We should all celebrate our lives and the lives of those we care about on a daily basis, not just when something traumatic happens.  It’s sad to realize that it takes tragedy for us to appreciate the little things in life to their full extent.

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You Know What Day It Is

Posted on 9 September, 2013 by Tina

Ahhh…  Monday always comes too soon, no matter how long the weekend was.  The weather was actually warm in San Francisco all weekend and is supposed to continue through the next week.  Today’s predicted high of 78 was way off, however; felt more like 66.  Naturally, right now, it’s cold, gray and windy out at 7:30 p.m.  I will NOT enjoy that short walk to the gym tonight!

Did you ever make mixed tapes on cassettes when you were younger?  I did.  I made at least two compiled of songs that reminded me of ex-boyfriends.  What a mistake!  I can’t even listen to them; it makes me too nostalgic!

This song is an oldie, but a goodie.  I’m going to see this group in concert on Wednesday at the Masonic Theater, supposedly soon after I participate in a free wine tasting event at the Mark Hopkins International Hotel.  The other reason for this song is because it’s…

“September” – Earth, Wind and Fire

 

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Identity Crisis

Posted on 8 September, 2013 by Tina

A friend wrote on FB today that the daughter of his Filipino girlfriend had been wanting a Barbie doll.  When he went to buy one for her, he was faced with a wall of “blonde perfection.”  Not wanting to perpetuate the myth that blonde (i.e. white) is better, he chose a brunette Barbie for her.  As we all know, there are no Asian Barbies, at least, not that I’m aware of.

When I was a kid, all of my Barbies were brunette.  Some had bendable arms and legs; some didn’t.  I also had a Skipper, who was Barbie’s younger sister; she was definitely blonde.  Then there was Stacy – a redheaded (?) cousin/friend/stepchild from England or whatever story they were selling to us at the time.  Neither my 3 brothers or I had a Ken doll.  They did, however, have G.I. Joes, but those were also available only in white/Caucasian versions.

Now for a little of my background for those of you who aren’t that familiar with me.  For those who are, you may be surprised by a few things as well.  My mother is of Filipino/Hawaiian/Chinese and who knows what else descent; I just stick with the first 3.  She was born and raised in Kauai and has memories of Pearl Harbor and the war.  My stepfather is 1/2 Swiss and 1/2 German; thus, my last name is Swiss.  I grew up in a small town in Kansas where EVERYONE was white, except my mother, brothers and sister.  I’m not exaggerating in saying that my childhood was rife with racism, misunderstanding and straight-up ignorance.  I got tired of kids asking me where (i.e. what country) I was from.  Whenever my reply was “The United States,” (thinking “you moron” the entire time), they would say “You can’t be from the United States ’cause you’re not white!”  Imagine how that fucks with a kid’s head.  I always understood exactly what I was and exactly what my situation was.  More importantly, I never, ever, ever wanted to be either white or blonde.  Here’s a little aside – my real father is 100% Filipino, but I wasn’t even aware of that until I was well into my teens.  Yet, when I was a kid, I always wondered what it would be like not to have ANY white blood at all.  I was actually thrilled to find out! That’s when it dawned on me that my stepfather always blamed my mother for me (though, in actuality, he should take ALL of the blame) and she blamed ME for her mistake (if it even WAS a mistake).  Those bitter memories are part of the many, many reasons that I don’t speak to either of them to this day.  I don’t have forgiveness in my heart for those horrible memories of the way they treated me and I never will.

When I was  in college, my first roommate was black.  (Another little aside – you can tell people’s ages by what they refer to various ethnic groups as.  First, it was colored, then negro, then black and now African-American.  Just like it used to be Oriental and now it’s Asian.) I hung out with the black students all the time.  In fact, they wanted me to join BSU (Black Student Union), but I told them that I wasn’t a BS (Black Student)!  My socializing with blacks upset my stepfather.  Since he was neither my biological father and had never been a true father to me at any point in my life, I really didn’t care.  I also remember during my college years being asked by other students if I was Mexican, Iranian, Egyptian or other ethnicities.  Mexicans would speak to me in Spanish all the time.  When I would tell them that I didn’t speak Spanish, they’d ask me why my mother didn’t teach me.  My response – “She doesn’t speak Spanish, either!  We’re not Latino!”

Towards the end of my freshman year, I ended up with a Thai boyfriend.  He was from Bangkok, Thailand and had been sent to a Catholic boys school in Kansas by his father!  It was funny to me that he knew the words to songs like “Rock of Ages.”  He had a host of friends from other countries, too, who I also hung out with.  I remember being with my Thai boyfriend, a Vietnamese guy and an Israeli guy in a taco place having lunch.  Two white guys at another table started throwing things at us.  The Israeli guy tried to ask them politely what the problem was, but they basically ignored him.  When the Vietnamese guy tried to ask them why they were throwing things at us, one of them said to him “I can’t even understand what you’re saying.  Learn to speak English!”  That pissed me off so much!  I got right in his face and said “I speak English perfectly well, probably better than you do.”  That’s when the Israeli guy and my Thai boyfriend dragged me away.  If there was going to be a fight, they didn’t want me to be in the midst of it.  In the end, the 4 of us just left.  Their ignorance wasn’t worth fighting over.

Years later, I moved to Los Angeles with my Thai boyfriend.  We were together for about 9 years, 5 of those living together in Los Angeles.  Los Angeles opened my eyes to many, many cultures and foods and more Thai things than I’d ever imagined!  Our first apartment was on the edge of Koreatown.  Korean people were NEVER nice to us, but we continued to eat at their restaurants regardless.  Even so, I usually only ate curry.  I don’t like pickled vegetables, which are highly popular with Koreans.  When my Thai boyfriend and I eventually broke up, I started hanging out at a French place called Louis XIV.  The owner, Jean-Louis, always invited my friend and me to their private little soirees at other places.  That must have been the start of my love affair with French things.  In 1991, I went to France for the first time and have returned as often as possible ever since.  After several trips to France, I ended up marrying a French guy that I’d met here in San Francisco.  That only increased my love for all things French.

Before marrying my ex-husband, I’d also finally torn myself away from France long enough to go to Italy.  I’ve now been to Italy several times, too, and love Italy and Italian things almost as much as France and French things.  I speak basic French and can get by in my very bad, childish Italian.

That brings us to the flip side of things.  Unlike people in the Midwest, people in Cali pretty much ALWAYS peg me as Filipino.  If they don’t, they might think I’m Thai or Indonesian.  I’m a particular favorite of men who’ve served in the military and have been to the Philippines.  They always approach me and speak to me in Tagalog.  They think/hope I’m F.O.B., or maybe F.O.P., in this day and age.  I assure them that I was born and raised in the U.S., am NOT the type that will fetch their slippers for them, then tell them that I’ll be happy to converse with them in English or basic French.

What I’m trying to say is that I’m an Asian/Pacific Islander who grew up in a white environment.  Even so, I don’t quite fit the Asian/Pacific Islander mold, either.  I’m an enigma, yet I’m happy with who I am.  More importantly, living in San Francisco, I no longer have to answer those ignorant questions or deal with unpleasant situations.  So even though I’m not thrilled with San Francisco, it’s easy to be me in my own skin here.

Me with Haku 1

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Dessert Dealer

Posted on 7 September, 2013 by Tina

More than a year ago, I got my main boss and a few other people addicted to cupcakes from a cupcake “truck” called CupKates.  I would often see the CupKates truck on my lunch break when I was walking up/down California Street.  When I bought one for myself, I occasionally bought one for my boss as well.  He raved about them – the great flavor and their moistness.  Their regular flavors are Double Chocolate, Double Vanilla, Salted Caramel, Red Velvet, Tiramisu and S’Mores.  Of those, the only one I do NOT like is the Double Vanilla.   I’m also just ok with the S’Mores.  Nearly everyone likes the Double Chocolate the best.  What was surprising is that, although my boss is from the Midwest like me, he’d never had Red Velvet before.  Isn’t that mainly popular in the South and the Midwest?  Either way, another co-worker and I talked him into trying one.  His reception was lukewarm; he’s never ordered another.  Don’t be put off by that, however.  I’ve had a long history with Red Velvet and the one from CupKates is very good.  Every week they offer special flavors as well.  These can be Lemon-Blueberry, Caramel Apple, Mocha, Guinness Chocolate, Spicy Mexican Chocolate, Coconut Cream, Mango, etc.  My favorite by a mile is the Spicy Mexican Chocolate, followed closely by the Coconut Cream.  CupKates parks their truck in the Financial District for a few hours 3 days a week.  We’ve dubbed Thursdays as CupKates Thursday because that’s the day the truck is parked closest to our office; the day we tend to indulge.  You can check out the website at www.cupkatesbakery.com.  We also follow CupKates on Twitter for UP-TO-THE-MINUTE news, to get advance notice of any special flavors or in case the truck will be late or, the horror, not show up that day!

Occasionally, I stop in at Chantal Guillon on Hayes Street in Hayes Valley for macarons, those little French meringue-based confections.  It’s the same story, I bought maybe a half dozen once and shared two of them with my main boss.  He’d had macarons before and had even said that the ones from Trader Joe’s weren’t half bad.  These, however, knocked his socks off.  Ever since, he’d mentioned to me that we’d drive to Hayes Street in his car one afternoon to get more.  Yesterday was the big day.  He, my other main boss (another attorney, but female) and I squished into his truck and headed off to Hayes Street.  Since he was concerned that they might sell out (I assured him that, due to the cost, it was doubtful), he wanted to be there shortly after opening.  They opened at 11:00 a.m. and we were there by 11:10 a.m., even managing to find a parking spot directly across the street, which is a feat in itself.  All 3 of us opted for a dozen apiece, even at the price of $21/dozen.  I passed on the Dark Chocolate, Coffee, Salted Caramel, Italian Pistachio, Mojito, Passionfruit, Red Velvet and Pina Colada flavors.  My choices were 2 each of the Green Tea, Persian Rose, Raspberry-Lychee, Apricot, Orange Blossom-Strawberry and Cassis Violette.  Back in the office, I shared a few of mine; one woman tried the Apricot, one man tried the Green Tea and another man tried the Orange Blossom-Strawberry.  The man who tried the Orange Blossom-Strawberry had never had a macaron before, but was amazed; said the flavors were intense and the textures were softer than he expected from the appearance.  My male boss was saving his for a bocce ball tournament with a “bunch of old Italian guys,” while my female boss didn’t think hers would make it home to her husband (though he’d already begged her via phone to save some for him).  There’s now a high possibility that Fridays may become Macaron Friday!  There are still 5 left of mine, which I simply MUST eat today.  They won’t be good tomorrow!  If you’re in San Francisco, stop by her store or look at her website, www.chantalguillon.com.  Chantal Guillon also has a nice selection of Mariage Freres tea, as well as Italian bacetti.

Next on my dessert pushing plan is to try out the Creme Brulee Cart and get everyone hooked on that!

Display at Chantal Guillon

Display at Chantal Guillon

 

Macarons from Chantal Guillon

Macarons from Chantal Guillon

Categories: Food/Restaurants, Photos, San Francisco | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Am I Awake So Early?

Posted on 2 September, 2013 by Tina

Considering that I got back from the gym at 12:15 a.m. this morning and didn’t make it to bed for another half an hour after that, waking up at 7:30 a.m. on a holiday weekend is surprising.

I certainly epitomized Labor Day weekend thus far – did 4 loads of laundry, hand washed about 9 things, went to the gym twice, went to Verizon twice, had the kitchen light changed and even threw a few things in my suitcase for Vietnam. Today I still need to do one more load of laundry, clean off the top of the stove and clean the floors. It’s the perfect time since both of my male roommates are gone all weekend.

Verizon finally sorted out my payments on Saturday; everything was applied correctly. I also took the time to check out the Samsung Galaxy 4, or is that S4? My heart was set on it, but I needed to delete the photos and videos off of the iPhone 5 first. I was at Verizon again yesterday to make the exchange. Although it was supposed to be an even exchange, it’s amazing how much crap they tried to sell me – case covers, a Power Pack, a screen saver, insurance, the VC Cloud storage, another tablet, etc. I let the salesman know that I just paid off the iPad Mini the day before and already have insurance (for now). As for the accessories, I can buy them cheaper on Amazon. I still didn’t get out of there without spending money. They charged me $35 for a “restocking” fee, as well as $50 for additional taxes. Luckily, they’re offering a $50 rebate, although it won’t arrive for 3 to 6 weeks after mail-in. Customer service over the phone had already assured me that they will credit the $35 restocking fee because I’m a good customer and because of the debacle with the payment.  As for the data plan, I took it off of my iPad completely; am sharing again with the boys at the cost of $17/month unlimited (my third).  I still have the data plan on my cell phone, but at only 4 g’s at the moment.  If I can get by with it, I’ll lower it to 2 g’s. Even so, these bloodthirsty cell phone companies are making a killing! Someone needs to open a new cell phone company with cheaper prices that will give them a run for their money!

The iPhone 5 failed to impress me. Let me rephrase that, I hated it and didn’t understand all the hype. There was nothing special about it. The Samsung has dual cameras that can be used simultaneously, 13 megapixels as opposed to the 8 on the iPhone, the option to shoot videos in fast or slow motion, hands free (more like finger free) answering and browsing, an eraser feature for people who photo bomb your pictures, plus the ability to use the phone as a remote for your T.V. In addition, I have my Hawaiian radio stations back. So take THAT, iPhone! (I’m still in love with that iPad Mini, though.)

Beings it’s Musical Monday and I’m awake, let me find an appropriate song. How about this?

“Call Me When You’re Sober” – Evanescence

Categories: cell phone, Holidays/Special Events, iPad Mini, iPhone 5, Music, San Francisco, tablet, Uncategorized, Verizon, Video | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment