First Three

I’ve written and submitted the first 3 competency statements for my e-portfolio.  It’s a bit nerve wracking, since I don’t know what, exactly the adviser wants.  She’ll look at them, give me some feedback, and I’ll revise it based upon her comments.

I wrote the 4th competency today, but I’m a bit concerned.  I feel like I don’t have enough evidence, and two of the competencies seem to be the same thing.  I’ll figure something out.

In wedding news, my hunny picked his best man.  Finally!!!

We also picked our cake design.  My sister ended up drawing it using MSPublisher since I couldn’t find a picture of what we want.  It’ll end up being 3-tiered, white buttercream icing, with royal blue ribbon along the base of each tier.  In front of the ribbon will be chocolate covered strawberries.  Above the ribbon there will be chocolate cutout hearts in the different shades of chocolate.  They won’t be lined up, but placed whimsically instead.  On top of the cake we’ll have the cake topper with the bride dragging the groom behind her.  Next step… tasting!

Week 5 – Chef’s Experience

Yesterday, my BFF and I ate lunch at Chef’s Experience in downtown Hayward.  I’d heard good things about it from people at work, and she’d heard good things about it from her friends, so off we went.

Parking is in the rear of the building and so is the entrance.  It was a bit odd entering the building at the end of the hallway that is also the restroom access but when in Rome…  My friend’s 16 month old was enthralled with the fish tank, so they sat us right next to it.  That definitely helped keep the toddler calm.  Along the walls is bench seating, which everyone by now knows I really dislike.  Since we were at the tail end of the lunch hour we were pretty private so it wasn’t much of an issue.  We were also near the bar.  If it were dinner time, I might have ordered a drink but it didn’t seem right at lunch.

We ordered two lunch entrees (Walnut Shrimp, and Basil Shrimp and Chicken) and the Crab wonton appetizer.  We also had jasmine tea.

The tea was fragrant.  It didn’t get bitter like some teas do after a while.  They kept the teapot and our water glasses full the entire time.

The crab wontons were tasty.  The wrapper was a beautiful, crispy golden brown.  The filling was creamy.  A great blend of textures and flavors.

The walnut shrimp was a little soggy but not overly sweet.  In spite of the sogginess I really liked it.  The 16 month old liked it too… so much that she shoved half a prawn in her mouth and almost choked!  Normally she’s good about biting things instead of shoving the whole thing in, but not this time!

The basil shrimp and chicken was very tasty.  It included green beans, onions, and bell peppers.  The basil flavor wasn’t overwhelming.

I’d definitely eat here again.  There were lots of things on the menu I wanted to try, but just didn’t have the stomach space for.  Just as a warning: the food is a bit pricey and it’s definitely Americanized.  But still – try it out!

Credit Fraud

As I left the managers’ meeting yesterday I noticed I had two voicemails waiting.  Both were from Chase, my credit card company, saying that they noticed some suspicious activity on my account.  I figured that booking and paying for my honeymoon would send up a red flag so I was ready to confirm all of the charges on my card.  To my surprise there was one charge that went through on Monday for almost $475 that I didn’t make!  Yikes!

They said that it was caught because it was a phone order (I only use my card online or at stores), with the wrong 3-digit number from the back of the card, and the wrong shipping and mailing addresses.  We went through the rest of the charges on my card, but that was the only one that didn’t belong.

This is the second time this has happened with a Chase card.  When I was 19, someone tried to use my credit card number to gamble online.  At the time I had never used that card for anything other than in-person purchases.  And both cards have never been lost, stolen, or even misplaced.  With this occurrence, the last 3 places I used my card were Disneyworld.com, Expedia.com, and Vegas.com.  All are reputable sites.

I’m glad that Chase caught the charge, but it did go through.  So now, I’m awaiting a refund, my new card, and to regain online access to this card so I can pay off the honeymoon.  Hopefully the card will get here before we leave for Vegas on Valentine’s weekend.

Week 4 – Crepes de Art

I’ve been driving past Crepes de Art in Hayward twice a day since they opened and had yet to give it a try.  Then on Tuesday I got to leave work early so I decided to stop in and have a taste.

I liked that there were lots of different choices on the menu, but it was a bit difficult to read.  The words kind of ran together on the chalkboard.  After deliberating for a few minutes, my hunny ordered the salmon crepe, and I ordered the turkey mushroom one, without the mushrooms.  We also ordered a mocha.

Even though we were the only people in the restaurant, it took quite a bit of time for our order to come up.  Both crepes were tasty, but mine was better.  The mocha was pretty good too.

I’d go back again to try the sweet crepes, and maybe some of the other savory ones.  Although the people working there were very nice and outgoing, they do need to work on getting the food out faster.

The Beginning of the End

If everything goes well, this will be my last semester at SJSU.  I’ve enrolled in Libr 289 – the E-Portfolio.  I also started writing the intros to my competencies.

I’d like to say that I’m sad to be looking at the end of my formal educational career – and in a way I am.  I’m one of those freaks who actually likes school.  I like to go someplace and work towards something larger and try to get the best grade I can.  But I’m also looking forward to free time.  I really miss being able to be crafty.  I miss being able to snuggle with my hunny whenever he wants, not just when I have time.  I just know that I’ll miss not being in school once I’ve had a break.

As you guys probably know, I’m a planner.  I have goals for 2010, 2015, and 2020.  So now I’m feeling like I need a plan for after graduation.  What will I do with myself?  Be crafty and snuggle go without saying, but what else?

Week 3 – Naru Sushi

Week 3 in my adventures with meeting my New Year’s resolution to try a new restaurant every week.

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This week I decided to try Naru Sushi in Newark (http://www.sushinaru.com).  It had been on my list since December because of the signs outside that mentioned 99-cent sake bombs.  Unfortunately I got sick, and it just didn’t seem fair to go to a place that offered such a great price on sake bombs without being able to try them.  So, we finally got to go on Wednesday.

First off, this place seems very mom-n-pop which is always a plus for me.  I really like to support local businesses, especially if they’re not corporately owned.  One negative is that they had bench seating, where all the tables are in a row along one long bench.  The lack of intimacy and privacy really bugs me, but it seems to be normal these days.

The employees were really nice and were very attentive.  They brought out tea and edamame.  We each got a sake bomb, but drank the sake and beer separately ’cause that’s how we roll.  The sake was warm and sweet, the beer was Sapporo.  Yum.  We also ordered miso soup, and then we shared the cherry blossom roll and the spicy rainbow roll.  The miso was light, not too salty, and the tofu was creamy.  The cherry blossom roll was plated nicely with a nice flavor.  The spicy rainbow roll was plated much like any other roll might be with each piece staggered.  It wasn’t very spicy though, which was a disappointment for me.

Overall, I really liked this place.  The bathroom was clean, the people were nice and the food was tasty.  If they didn’t have bench seating it would be a perfect sushi experience for me.

Honeymoon is Booked!

Woo hoo!

I booked the Disneyworld Honeymoon.  We’ll stay in the Animal Kingdom Lodge overlooking the Savannah.  Eat at fancy (for Disney) places.  And wear bride and groom Mickey ears the whole time.

Week 2 – Coconut Grove

This week I tried Coconut Grove at the Great Mall in Milpitas. Like last week, this restaurant serves Thai food. But they also incorporate Singaporean and Malaysian flavors as well. It kind of reminded me of one of my favorite restaurants, Banana Leaf, also in Milpitas.

We always pass by Coconut Grove, so my hunny and I thought we’d try it. Of course, we missed the $1 roti Wednesdays, but we went in anyway.

We were the first people in the restaurant around 5PM. We ordered the roti parada, mango prawns, green curry chicken, small sapporo (beer), and malaysian iced tea. With tip, it came to $50 and some change.

The roti was a bit small, and not as crispy as I like, but it tasted pretty good. The mango prawns were very sweet, and the mango was a bit soft. It was tasty though. The green curry chicken was good, with just a little bite, but there wasn’t enough chicken to suit me.

The service was good. The server was attentive to us and patient with the crazy people who came in after us.

I’d go again if I were in the neighborhood, but the dinner price puts it outside of my “definitely seek out” restaurant list.

Week 1

My Resolution this year is to try a new restaurant each week.  The rules are that it doesn’t have to be a newly opened restaurant, just a restaurant I haven’t eaten at before.  I’m hoping to broaden my eating horizons – it’s far too easy to become stuck in a rut food-wise.

So today, during my wedding flower search, my sister and I tried Red Chili in Newark.  It’s a Thai-Vietnamese restaurant near the Newark Auto Mall on the corner of Ballentine and Stevenson.  My sister had heard that the food was good, but that the service was slow.  Since we had a ton of time to kill in between flower appointments, I agreed to give it a try.

We arrived at 11AM, a bit before the lunch crowd.  Parking was easy, which is always nice.  We were greeted by a lady in a parka at the hostess station.  I guess the parka made sense since the restaurant was a bit chilly.  The inside was spacious and clean, decorated in warm browns.  A bar is to the left as you enter, and the center holds a small stage.  The only thing I really didn’t care for with the decorating was the bench style seating.  I think of it as a half-assed answer to a booth.  Bench seating doesn’t offer the intimacy of a booth and you can often overhear other conversations, and people masticating as well.  Ick.

We ordered the roti appetizer and the satay chicken appetizer.  Both were good, but neither came with a small spoon to use when serving the sauces or cucumber.  The roti was a bit doughy for me and not as crispy as I know it can be.

My sister ordered the mango chicken lunch and I ordered the yellow curry chicken lunch.  Both came with a soup (spicy tofu), steamed rice (can upgrade to brown rice for $1) and a small salad.  The mango chicken was light and sweet with a bite from the bell pepper and onion.  Think of it as similar to sweet and sour chicken, but without the fried part of the chicken.  The yellow curry was good as well.  The curry itself was creamy.  The potatoes and chicken were tender too.

At first the service was really good.  Drinks were brought out quickly, along with appetizers and soup.  But when it came time to pay our bill the service had slowed considerably.  By then, there were 4 other small groups in the restaurant, so that may have had something to do with it.

If I’m in the neighborhood again and feeling the need for food, I might stop in and eat.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t wowed enough to deliberately seek them out.

Groomsmen

Why won’t he pick a best man and a groomsman? Why? It’s the only decision in this whole wedding thing that’s his alone… and he won’t make it! “I don’t like my friends.” ARGH!