Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Posted on 23 February, 2013 by Tina

Prior to moving to San Francisco, I’d only seen the Chinese New Year Parade once.  After moving here, I saw it maybe 3 or 4 more times. For the majority of the past 10 years, it either rained or was too cold the night of the parade.  In addition, an early arrival to stake out your spot is crucial, which is a must if you’re short like me!  Today I was debating whether to see it until I came upon a great spot in front about 10 minutes before the parade began.  The parade ran for a little more than two hours.  Here are a few little scenes from tonight’s parade – The Year of the Snake.  (The video is too big to download.)

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Language Lessons Learned

Posted on 23 February, 2013 by Tina

In my most recent Italian class, we’re learning to use the indicative imperfect verb form.  The teacher gave us sheets of paper asking us what we wanted to do when we were children, what we did at our house, what fears we had, what we did at school, what we weren’t allowed to do and what we wanted to be when we grew up.  Then each of us shared our answers with the teacher and the other students.  It made for some very funny conversations actually.  The woman next to me said that she wanted to be a lawyer when she grew up.  The teacher was incredulous “When you were little?!  Most little girls wanted to be a ballerina or a movie star or something similar!”  The woman’s excuse was “I was raised in a Jewish household.  We were very serious!”  The teacher liked my answer, though.  When I was young, I wanted to be a princess with a very handsome prince, but…  I also wanted to be a boy!  Truthfully, I was a tomboy as a kid.  In Italian, they call it “un maschiaccio,” I believe.  Although at times I liked to dress up in my princess dress with a crown and little heels, most of the time I wanted to be a boy so that I didn’t have to wear dresses and could get muddy and dirty like my three brothers!

That class reminded me of my ex-husband, Laurent.  He was French, but from the South of France – not from Paris.  In fact, when we were at a store in Paris, one of the salesman asked me “Is that your husband?”  “Yes.  Why?”  “His accent is horrible!”  “That’s because he’s from the South!”

At the time of our meeting, Laurent had only been in the United States for about 7 months.  Although he’d taken English in school, it’s never quite the same as speaking with natives.   He often struggled with certain words.  For instance, he always said “virgin” when he meant “version.”  He also said “jet flag” rather than “jet lag.”  Once when he stubbed his toe, he looked at me and started to say “I hurt my…”  He didn’t know the word, however.  I kept asking him what he thought the word was.  He finally said doubtfully “Foot finger?”  My two roommates and I never cut him a break as far as learning English.  We teased him day and night whenever he mispronounced something or didn’t know the correct word.  I know from my own brushes with other languages that that actually helps me NOT to repeat my mistakes!  When we had our first major fight, I was so angry that I wrote him a five page letter.  He confessed to me many months later that it took him FOREVER to read.  He had to consult his French-English dictionary a million times.  When he finally understood everything that the letter said, he was really upset and burned it!  All’s well that ends well, though; we still got back together.  My proudest moment was when his mother came to visit and said to me “Laurent speaks English so well now.”  If only she knew the hell we put him through to get him to that point!  Then again, she also complimented me on my French accent.  I wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not.  If I speak with more of a Southern French accent, then Parisians will think I have a horrible accent, too!

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It’s Here – Musical Monday!

Posted on 18 February, 2013 by Tina

Buckle up those seatbelts, kiddies.  Musical Monday is here at last!

Today we’re gonna’ channel a little contemporary Hawaiian music.  This is one of my favorite songs that is currently being played on Hawaiian radio stations.  Plus, the lead singer is related to my second cousin on her father’s side, which means he’s distantly related to me, too!

“Gotta’ Know Your Name” – Rebel Souljahz

Here’s one of my pictures of Hawaii to go along with it!

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Sunday Night Music for Gazing at the Stars

Posted on 17 February, 2013 by Tina

I know it’s not Musical Monday yet, but I couldn’t resist.  Your eyelids are getting VERY heavy…

“Asian Lights” – Mandrave & Miyagi

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For My Grandmother

Posted on 17 February, 2013 by Tina

My cousin was E-mailing me the other day about my Grandma Savilla (an aunt to her), a “Renaissance woman,” as she described her, of 100% sturdy German stock (the mother of my stepfather).  She could do everything – bake, sew, cook, clean, cut & polish stones, do embroidery, crochet, make jewelry, sing, play guitar, play organ, paint, raise her own garden, can vegetables, make jams/jellies, make yogurt, fish, breed dogs & raise chickens.  I think she could hunt as well; my cousin also thought that she could do taxidermy.  At different points in her life, she was both a Boy Scouts Leader & a Girl Scouts Leader.  My grandma gave me my first dogs – an apricot poodle that I named Jennifer Lynn (who unwillingly rode around in the basket of my bike) & a shih tzu that I named Simba (whose nickname was Solly Cholly Chinaman Chan).   She imbued me with knowledge about birds, flowers, trees & so much more.  My love of books comes from her; I was reading Kahlil Gibran at a very young age!  My Grandma passed away in 1993.  Since then, I hadn’t really thought about all of my memories of her – the fresh mint that grew under the kitchen window, that big can of Crisco by the stove, how we’d pick berries in the back yard & make Indian pudding, how I used to hide frogs & toads in my pocket as a kid & put them in the kitchen sink, the scent of her fresh baked bread & cinnamon rolls wafting through the house, as well as how she let me design my own dresses before she sewed them when I was in junior high.  I miss picking apples from the apple tree in the back yard so that she could make pies for us.  I also miss watching old movies in black & white with her.  My cousin sent me a link showing the cemetery where she’s buried.  Even that brought back memories of us going to the cemetery together so that she could put flowers on my Uncle Bob’s grave while I picked daisies.  I just want to say “Thank you, Grandma!” because I know you can hear me.  In the dark hell of my childhood, you were the light that made me strive for more.  I wish that I could have taken you everywhere that you wanted to go before you passed away, but I always think of you whenever I travel.  Love you and miss you.

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Singles Appreciation Day (a.k.a. Valentine’s Day to Couples)

Posted on 15 February, 2013 by Tina

When you think of Valentine’s Day, do you envision cherubs, harps playing, clouds, pink hearts, red roses & boxes of candy?  Or does it fill you with dread?  For those of us who are currently “under appreciated romantically,” shall we say, you don’t need a significant other to enjoy what is known to us as Singles Appreciation Day.  Yesterday turned out very nicely for me even though I’m single.  In the morning, I took some nice photos of the fog from the office windows.  On my lunch break, Rocket Farms was handing out miniature rose plants; both my co-worker & I got one.  In fact, they may have put our picture up on their Facebook page, as they were taking lots of pictures of the people they were giving plants to.  At 6:00 p.m., there was a mass pillow fight in Justin Hermann Plaza, directly behind my office building.  I don’t know how many years this has been going on, but it has always taken place on Valentine’s Day since I’ve been aware of it.  I’ve never witnessed it before, as I always had to rush home to get ready to go out!  This time I was leaving directly from the office to meet my friends for dinner, so I had time to see what the hype was all about.  People started milling about with pillows at 5:30 p.m.  There were even people selling pillows, in case one decided to participate.  When the clock struck 6:00 p.m., feathery mayhem ensued.  For my part, I tried as much as possible to remain on the perimeter to take pictures & videos, but sometimes you have to move in a little closer to get better shots.  A few people actually bonked me on the head a couple of times with their pillows, even though I wasn’t participating!  It was a novel experience for Valentine’s Day.  Ten minutes was my maximum viewing time before I headed over to North Beach to meet my friends for dinner.  I was meeting up with a man & a woman, both of who are currently single.  Our restaurant of choice was E Tutto Qua, which specializes in, you guessed it, Italian cuisine.  Although I’ve eaten there many times over the past 6 years, the man had only eaten there once.  The woman had never eaten there at all.  We were greeted warmly & seated quickly.  Right before ordering, I announced to our waiter, Mirko, in my very best bad Italian “Ho intenzione di mangiare come una porcellina stasera!”  (Translation:  I intend to eat like a little pig tonight!)  He was amused.  My selections for the evening were the scallops with truffle oil appetizer, the pasta course of paccheri golosi & the entree of a chicken breast in rosemary sauce served with roasted potatoes.  The woman had the burrata with olives, cherry tomatoes & arugula as her appetizer, followed by seafood linguine, tiramisu & 2 glasses of wine.  The man also had the scallops with truffle oil appetizer, the spaghetti neri (with squid ink), the tiramisu arancia & a glass of wine.  We loved the food, as well as the service.  We were in no rush, so must have been there for at least 2 1/2 hours.  Afterwards, I had a peaceful ride home on the cable car, although I overheard an English tourist say to the cable car driver “There were a lot of people walking around with pillows.  What was that all about?!”

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Musical Monday

Posted on 11 February, 2013 by Tina

 You know what today is, my little chickadees?  Yup, it’s Musical Monday.  “Damn!” you’re thinking to yourself, “I’d hoped that she was joking.”  Today I’m going to assail your ears with a little Italian reggae.  Yes, you heard correctly.  Italians can do reggae.  Take a listen to this, especially because it’s going to tie in with the next part of my post.

“Forza Originaria” by Jaka

Italian Lessons

For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently taking Italian lessons.  Why?  I’m not really sure.  Where is Italian spoken?  Only in Italy, where I may not be traveling again for several years.  It’s not like French, which is spoken in France, Canada, Africa & the Caribbean.  I do have a number of Italian acquaintances, though, one in particular who told me that I simply must learn Italian.  He also wanted me to teach him English, but (after my bad experiences on Skype) I refuse to go on Skype or use the camera again (i.e. NO!  I do NOT want to see anyone’s body parts via Skype!).  The last time we saw each other in person, I taught him some American slang in a very useful phrase.  The phrase was “Once I received a wedgie, I nearly tossed my cookies & began going commando from that day forward!”  Of course, he didn’t have  a clue what any of that meant.  I patiently explained, but insisted that a wedgie was best explained by showing him.  He was none too pleased, as one might imagine!  He taught me this phrase “Ho parlato piano cosi tu puoi capire.”  To which I responded with “Come?!”

My Italian class is small; there are only 4 students and the teacher.  I use my limited Italian as little as possible.  For instance, whenever the teacher asks me what I did over the weekend, my stock answer is “Niente!”  She says that if I truly didn’t do anything, then I need to make something up.  So I tell her tall tales of me dancing tango, writing a novel and rescuing a puppy – all in Italian, of course.  It’s all in a day’s work!

A Little Romance

We all know that Valentine’s Day is swiftly approaching.  I hate when guys say that Valentine’s Day is only for women.  I ALWAYS bought Valentine’s Day presents for my boyfriends.  To be honest, though, I can’t remember any extra special Valentine’s Day memories.  Yes, my boyfriends gave me flowers, sometimes jewelry & took me to dinner.  Before we go any further, however, I must admit that there’s nothing I hate more than to receive red roses.  Yes, it’s traditional, but it says to me that the guy has no imagination. If you’re going to send me roses, I adore sterling silver, pink & yellow roses, in that order.

Then again, maybe I do have one special Valentine’s Day memory, but it was from me to him, not the other way around.  When I lived in Los Angeles, I had a boyfriend in San Diego for several years.  One time when he was visiting, there was something in my eye/contacts, which was causing me to tear up.  “What’s wrong?” he asked.  “I’m blinded by the passion of our love!” I replied.  Since that day, that phrase was a huge joke between us.  On one Valentine’s Day, I called the florist & asked that they send a bonsai tree to his office.  When she asked what I wanted written on the card, I told her “I’m blinded by the passion of our love.”  She said “That’s so beautiful – one of the most romantic things I’ve heard.”  I had a good laugh over it, as did the boyfriend when he received the bonsai tree & card.  BTW, he managed to kill that bonsai tree within a matter of months!

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Happily Cost Effective

Posted on 10 February, 2013 by Tina

I don’t know about you, but I like to budget as much as possible.  In other words, I prefer to shop at warehouse or discount-type places for food (CostCo, Target & Trader Joe’s), go for drinks at Happy Hour, see a matinee rather than paying full-price for a movie, take my own snacks to a movie, buy my wine at BevMo (particularly when they’re having the 5 cent wine sale!) & only buy clothing or shoes when they’re on sale.  This weekend involved a few of those things.

Pa’ina Lounge

 Pa’ina Lounge is a restaurant/bar in Japantown.  Lucky for me, it’s close enough that I can walk to it.  Pa’ina is conveniently located next to the Sundance Kabuki Movie Theaters.  Prior to being Pa’ina Lounge, it used to be Sundance Kitchen (and they used to have loco moco!).  Prior to that, it was either a Fuzio or a Pasta Pomodoro.  Now that it’s Pa’ina Lounge, they serve Hawaiian style food.  They have things like teriyaki sliders, oysters, clams, miso soup, garlic prawns, pan seared ono and four different kinds of poke.  On many nights, particularly weekends, they offer live entertainment.  Often the entertainment is music from or connected to Hawaii.  I recently saw Maoli, J. Boog, Mango Kingz & CRSB perform there.  They do NOT pack people in for concerts, so it’s not overcrowded.  In addition, the staff is always extra, extra nice & get your drinks & food to you in a timely manner.  They have Happy Hour on Mondays from 3-11, & on Wednesdays through Sundays from 3-6.  There are drink specials & many appetizers for $5.

Yesterday afternoon I moseyed on in there around 4:00 p.m.  Jeremy, one of the bartenders, recognized me the second I walked through the door!  “We’re off to a good start!” I thought.  I’d last been in there 2 or 3 weeks ago, sitting at the bar harassing Jeremy, as well as making friends with the couple next to me – an Aussie woman married to a Scottish guy.  They’d met while he was on vacation in Australia!  I started yesterday off with a Cosmopolitan.  Although I’m not typically one for mixed drinks any more, it was really good.  I also ordered some garlic fries.  Their fries are served in a cone, warm with lots of freshly minced garlic & spicy mango ketchup.  I also had a Kona Longboard.  This time the woman next to me started up a conversation.  She’d just been to see “Django Unchained” at the Kabuki Sundance Theaters & was raving about Samuel L. Jackson’s performance, which I had to concur with.  This was her first time in Pa’ina Lounge, but she swore that she’d be back.  She thought the interior looked very nice & she was more than pleased with her garlic prawns, as she kept “oohing” and “aahing” over them.  They were actually having free live music from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. last night, but neither she or I would be able to stick around.  (The gym would be calling my name by that time!).  I mentioned to Jeremy that they should be really busy later in the week for Valentine’s Day.  I also told him that I might stop by later that night.  He said that if I did, I’d have to have a drink with him!   My total bill for my enjoyable hour & a half was about $15, not including tip.

Pertinent information for Pa’ina Lounge is:

Pa’ina Lounge

1865 Post Street

San Francisco, CA  94115

415-829-2642

If for any reason I don’t make it there later on Valentine’s Day, maybe YOU should join Jeremy for a drink!

AMC Theaters

AMC Theaters also happens to be within walking distance from my apartment.  At about 4 blocks aways, it’s an entire 2 blocks further than the gym!  I decided to see the matinee of “Side Effects” this morning.  It started at 11:00 a.m., which gave me plenty of time to make a quick run to Walgreens to pick up some goodies.  I already had some Junior Mints from a Target run on Friday after work.  At Walgreens I picked up a bottle of Crystal Geyser water & a little one-serving size of cashews with sea salt.  Normally, I’d be buying chips & a soda, but more on that in a minute.  I tucked my stash into my purse & continued to AMC.  The matinees are $6.00, which are a much better deal than paying the regular price of $11.50.  A small soda at the theater here costs about $2.00 now & I don’t even have any idea what a candy bar runs, probably about the same.  My savings had to be at least $9.50 by going to the matinee & bringing my own snacks.  Oh, & by the way, I liked the movie!

Lent

Even though Lent has not officially begun, I’ve officially started as of last Sunday.  Being the junk food junkie that I am, I gave up soda, potato chips & cupcakes.  Since I’ll be in Paris during Lent & did NOT give up wine, champagne, cheese or macarons, someone doubted my sincerity.  I offered to give up the gym, but they weren’t satisfied with that (& I unhappily was forced to rescind).  I then grudgingly gave up shoe shopping.  THAT, they smiled with glee, will be a real sacrifice.  For someone who’s known in the office as “Imelda, Jr.,” that IS a real sacrifice!

Oh, & while I was out & about, I happened to be in Union Square, where this San Francisco heart is located.  Everyone has their picture taken in front of it.  “What in the world is that other photo?” you must be asking.  Actually, it’s a guy dressed up as Pan playing bagpipes.  He was quite talented with the bagpipes, but that just goes to show you that we get all kinds here in San Francisco!

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Work-Appointed Travel Agent

Posted on 9 February, 2013 by Tina

Apparently, I’m the office travel agent when it comes to Paris.  Over the last 2 weeks, I’ve had 3 people ask me for information in regards to Paris – hotels, places to eat, things to see, what they should budget per day, what the weather might be like at certain times of the year, etc.

One of the men has been to Paris before – years ago when he was just out of college, a few years ago with his wife & kids (though they might have just flown into Paris to pick up a car & drive to the south of France) & last year for a week with his wife.  He said that Paris had changed so much from his memories after college, that people were so much friendlier & that Paris had many more things to do than Rome.  He specifically wanted to know about Pere Lachaise Cemetery.  I’d gone to Pere Lachaise on my first trip to Paris back in 1991.  My friend & I had taken the Metro there, of course.  When we got to one of the main entrances, some young guy kept asking “Are you here to see Jim?”  At first, we weren’t sure who he was referring to, then it dawned on us that he was talking about Jim Morrison.  We followed him to Jim Morrison’s grave, where a full-blown party seemed to be taking place.  Several people were gathered around the tombstone.  Someone was playing a guitar & some people were singing while a bottle of wine was being passed around.  Believe it or not, someone’s pet white rat was also running around on the tombstone!  I’ve heard that they used to put a statue of Jim Morrison’s head there, but it was repeatedly stolen.  We didn’t see one on that occasion.  Getting back to the guy in the office, I had also told him about an American expat in Paris who hosts large dinners for approximately 50 people from all walks of life every Sunday.  I’ve never attended one before, but am already confirmed to attend on my upcoming trip next month.  I’m really very excited to see who the guests will be at the dinner, what will be served & how the entire evening will be orchestrated.

Another guy in the office told me that his wife has been after him “since Day One” to go to Paris.  He himself has never even been out of the country.  He thinks that there are only “old things” to see in Paris, so doesn’t understand his wife’s desire to go there.  I told him that they could sightsee together (maybe on one of the bateau mouche boats down the Seine), she could go shopping & he could go to a sporting event or concert.  He was very concerned about the cost of the tickets, hotel & food.  The ticket would obviously be cheaper when the weather is colder there!  That goes for the hotels as well.  He asked me if there were McDonalds in Paris.  I told him that there are McDonalds (or McDo, as they call it), Burger King (that serves beer!) & their own chain called Burger Quick (or maybe that’s Burger Quik).  I distinctly remember that burgers in Paris have Dijon on them, which I prefer, anyway! Eating food from street vendors is an affordable way to have a meal, though.  I ate plenty of savory crepes, baguette sandwiches & even a few hot dogs.  I like Parisian hot dogs.  The ones on the street were served in buns that were NOT cut completely down one side, but had a hole in the middle.  Those were inserted onto some type of prong so that they were toasted in the middle.  The hot dogs were slid in & didn’t make a big mess like the ones here.  Another option for him would be to go somewhere like Monoprix, rather like a French version of Target, & pick up inexpensive pate, cheese, wine, salads or ingredients to make sandwiches with.  I did that a couple of times, too, when there was a refrigerator in my room.

The last person in my office was actually asking for a friend of hers.  Said friend is considering going to Paris in September & wanted to start her research now.  I just sent her several links to inexpensive hotels, one for renting an apartment (since she wants to stay at least 3 weeks) & another link for restaurants/bars/art/culture suggested by locals.

I myself haven’t quite fine tuned my itinerary yet.  I want to see Pere Lachaise again & go to the Towers of Notre Dame again.  I want to finally see the Conciergerie, where Marie Antoinette spent her last days.  I intend to see Puces St. Ouen, apparently the biggest flea market in Paris, where I hope to find some vintage cuff links or rosaries.  I’m also considering seeing something called “How To Become Parisian In An Hour,” a live comedy of sorts put on by a one-man show.  Other than that, my plans include gorging on macarons from Laduree & cheese from anywhere, imbibing wonderful French wine, taking pictures of anything that moves or doesn’t, & spending a good amount of time at cafes people watching (weather permitting, of course)!

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Minor Annoyances, Petty Grievances & Chinese Food

Posted on 8 February, 2013 by Tina

Minor Annoyances AND Petty Grievances

While at the gym last night, I was reminded of several things that irritate me.  Here they are:

  1. At the gym – I work out at 24 Hour Fitness, which is only a few blocks from my apartment.  I once asked if they were actually open 24 hours.  They replied that their particular branch is.  If I had a sudden desire to work out at 3:30 a.m., they’re open!  Now for my pet peeve.  I hate when people come to the gym, sit on the equipment, watch TV & talk on their cell phones.  After 10 minutes of burning calories in that manner, they move on to another machine.  The entire reason I go to the gym at 10:00 p.m. or after is because I have no patience to wait for the machines.  When people are using them for furniture and NOT working out, I find that just as annoying.  Then again, there’s an older woman (maybe in her mid- to late 60’s, maybe even a bit older) that’s at the gym fairly regularly.  She uses mainly cardio equipment such as the elliptical and the stationery bike.  One day as I sat down on a stationery bike right next to her, she seemed to be MUCH slower than usual.  When I took the time to glance over for a better look, she had actually fallen asleep!  She woke up about 5 minutes later & continued biking.  Another thing I hate at the gym is when guys try to flirt with me.  It’s hard enough to get me over there in the first place.  I’m not terribly social; just want to work out & get out of there as quickly as possible.  When guys are smiling at you, pointedly use the machine next to you & start up inane conversations, I want to scream!  Usually, I give a curt answer, if I respond at all, then they get the picture.  Seriously, who wants to flirt with me when I’m in baggy clothing, my hair is sticking out all over & I’m covered in sweat?!
  2. Another thing that bothers me is on Facebook.  When someone posts anything, then their significant other immediately “likes” it and/or comments with something like “Oh, honey, you’re the greatest,” I want to toss my cookies!  Other people prefer to carry on public fights via Facebook.  Why?  If you have each other’s numbers or E-mails, just call or E-mail & insult each other.  Why must I be privy to it?
  3. My final complaint (for today) has to do with tattoos.  Why do people get tattoos that have nothing to do with them or their life?  I knew a guy who had a big pit bull tattooed on his chest.  He didn’t have a pit bull, much less any kind of a dog.  I also knew a woman who got her name tattooed on her arm in another language, merely because she thought it looked cool.  When she went on vacation, many men who spoke that language kept calling her by name!  She got so upset that she took to wearing a jacket, even though it was in the summer!

Chinese Food

When I first moved to San Francisco back in 1996, an ex of mine (who’d been up here shortly before my move) had recommended a place called Brandy Ho’s Hunan Food on the edge of Chinatown.  Hunan food is supposedly very spicy.  Everyone knows how much I love spicy food; if you break out in a sweat & can barely talk, then it’s perfect!  I tried the place out & ended up really liking it.  They have an extensive menu, there’s an open kitchen so that you can see everything being prepared, they don’t use MSG, the service is fast & it’s affordable.  The best part of all is that you can make nearly any substitutions you want!

After an absence of about a year or slightly longer, I went in there for lunch the other day.  They have lunch specials Monday through Friday.  I chose the Brandy Ho’s dinner, even though it was actually lunch.  Brandy Ho’s dinner was beef, shrimp & scallops stir fried with onions, bell peppers & bamboo shoots.  I asked for mine spicy WITHOUT bell peppers & bamboo shoots, but WITH water chestnuts.  It also came with steamed rice.  Prior to the main course, the lunch special gives you hot & sour soup, a cold noodle salad, a green onion pancake & tea, all for the bargain price of $10.00.  Now I want to go back for some kung pao chicken or their beef with green onions.

For those you who might be interested in trying out Brandy Ho’s, their information is as follows:

Brandy Ho’s

217 Columbus Avenue

San Francisco, CA

415-788-7527

They have another location in the Castro at 4068 18th Street.

Growing up as a child in the Midwest, there was only one Chinese restaurant in a larger town several miles away.  We would go there on “special” occasions.  All I remember eating is egg rolls & either chow mein or chop suey.  I probably never tasted decent Chinese food until I moved to Los Angeles.  My then-boyfriend was always taking me to a dim sum place in Chinatown.  I think it was called Grandview Gardens.  What’s funny is, even though I’m part Asian, I’m horrible with chopsticks.  Chinese restaurants always give me chopsticks & I always ask for a fork.  I mean, I can USE chopsticks, but it would take an extra hour for me to finish my meal!

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