Fun Summer with Everyone

I was writing on this posting with the song from Barney and Friends playing continuously on my head. Andrew likes to sing (or at least try to sing) this song. Fun…fun…fun…fun with everyone….

This is how I described our summer. This summer, we had a lot of fun. My parents, sister and brother in law came to visit us in LA for a week. We took them around LA and here are some pictures.

The picture above shown all of the women wore Batik. By the time we all dressed, Andrew insisted on wearing Batik too. So there we go from the Grove to Universal City Walk in our Batik.

A week later, we drove all the way to Milpitas to visit my sister, Jq. Our favorite activity that we had during our stay was walking around the complex. Andrew enjoyed having fun at the park, climbing a rock, posing on rock and some more.

We were all excited yet nervous waiting for my sis to go on labor. As soon as the doctor confirmed that she was not yet ready for delivery, we made our way to San Francisco. It was a fun short day where we enjoyed different kind of sushi at our favorite restaurant Sakana Bune. I didn’t have the chance to write a review on this, beside it was a treat from my brother-in-law. Thank you, Bert! Hopefully, I can write a review on this on my next trip to San Francisco. In short, this is the best Sushi restaurant that I can find in the US with reasonable price.

We then went to downtown San Francisco and quickly visited the newly built Westfield Mall and took some pictures at the mall and in front of the cable car. Our San Francisco trip was ended with a yummy famous Boudin breadbowl of clam chowder.

On our way back to Milpitas, we visited a far relative of ours. Andrew got a chance to meet with more friends, play with their toys and kissing the adorable Gabby.

During our stay at my sis’ place, Andrew was having a really good time playing with our good friend’s son, Nicky. Here are some pictures of them wrestling and swimming.

On my previous posting, I posted a picture of me and my older sister, Nat and how look-a-like we are. I think that is one of the reason why Andrew loves her so much.

A week later after we were back in LA, my brother came to visit with my cousins. Can’t believe how grown up they are now and even a lot taller than I am.

Being far apart from family, make you appreciate more of the time that you get to spend with them. I love my family and hopefully we can get together again soon. What a fun summer!

Precious Moments

Do you collect any items? I remember my older and younger sisters used to collect stamps from all over the world. Some have great designs, some have funny designs and some are just regular looks. I remember enjoying my time looking at their collections. Then, my younger sister started collecting phone cards from all over the world and those are fun to look at too. My husband collects any kind of things that has Marvin one it. He has like a lot of Marvin collectible items.

Happy Birthday, Luke!

May is the month of almost everybody’s birthday that I know of. Early this month was Roy’s, my brother-in-law’s birthday. Yesterday was Arman’s, my husband’s birthday and today is my brother’s birthday. And then in just a few days gap, some good friends of mine are celebrating their birthdays too.

Chicken Noodle with Wonton (Mie Ayam Pangsit)

Every once in a while, my parents, especially my dad, likes to make the Chicken Noodle with Wonton. The noodle is also made from scratch. But here today, I will use ready fresh/dried noodle or rice stick, you can also use your favorite noodle (egg noodle, rice noodle, etc). See my recipe below:

Mama’s Beef Steak

When we were young, my mom used to make us beef steak with french fries, steam carrot and string bean. I remembered it as one of my and my siblings’ favorite. Of course, if it isn’t my favorite, I will not post it here. So I called my mom the other day and she told me briefly what the ingredients are. Now I am going to try making it with my own measurement and eliminate the string bean because I don’t have it in my fridge today.

Lotus Root Soup

This is one of many soups that my mom used to make. It’s been mine and my sibling’s favorite. My sister, Jq, likes to put in more of the Chinese herbs commonly used in the Chinese Chicken Herb Soup, but I make it different this time. All the ingredients can be find at an Asian market. I got them at 99 Ranch Market. I also took pictures of the ingredients – see picture above.

Phi Pha Tofu with Enoki Gravy

When I was in San Francisco, I often went with either my siblings or friends to one Chinese restaurant on Taraval street called 8 Immortal. It’s a medium size restaurant with 2 levels. The owner of the restaurant is an old man who just never seemed to look older. When I first went to this restaurant, it was back in 1997 and I can clearly remember how he looked back then which is exactly the same as how he look when I last visited the restaurant in 2007. We would go there for birthdays, graduation celebration or just having a lunch or dinner.

Anyway, I think everything that they serve are delicious. But most of all, I always order the Phi Pha Tofu. It is not on the menu, but somehow people just know that they have this dish. So today, I decided that I am going to try making my own Phi Pha Tofu. The result is really similar. Now I am glad that I can make it myself. I don’t have to wait for my next trip to San Francisco anymore.

Meatballs Soup

No…no…no, I am not going to tell you how to make a meatball, because I don’t know how yet. It is something that I have to learn the next time I see my mom. She is a great fish ball maker, Andrew loves it so much. Today, I am going to show you how to make a simple meatballs soup. You can eat it with egg noodle, flat noodle, glass noodle, thin noodle, rice or simply just the soup. My brother, Luke, loves beef meatballs so much that I think he can eat 20 pieces at once. Well, I think almost everybody loves meatballs, Arman, Andrew and myself love meatballs too.

Fried Flat Rice Noodle (Kwetiau Goreng)

Here is the one without the gravy. This recipe is good for 3 people.

INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, 1.5 lb of sirloin beef – cut into thin slices then marinate with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 9 pieces of shrimp, 15 pieces of beef meatballs – cut each into 4, 1 stem of scallion – cut into thin slices or 3cm long, 1.5 lb of flat rice noodle, 1 piece of egg, 3 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce, pepper

Fried Flat Rice Noodle with Gravy (Kwetiau Sirem)

Everybody in our family loves Fried Flat Rice Noodle with or without Gravy. Today, I am going to share with you both recipes. Here is the one with the gravy first. This recipe is good for 3 people.