a walk along the water

Argentine dream come true part I

Our trip to Argentina was so so wonderful!  We felt the mist of the powerful Iguazu Falls, were a part of the pulse of one of South America’s most cosmopolitan cities, savored one of the most beautiful views in the world, trekked one of the planet’s few advancing glaciers and hiked some of the most breathtaking trails.  We met many people from around the globe and dined on some of the best beef ever.  Something else that we will definitely remember is how HORRIBLE our luck was with air transportation.  Strikes, volcanic ash, computer problems…you name it, it happened to us!  Despite rough travels, we had a great vacation.  I know that we will remember it for a long time.

Saturday, November 5th  We arrive to Buenos Aires in the morning.  We are greeted by a very friendly guide named Lorena who gave us recommendations on restaurants and things to do for our first half day.  On the ride to the hotel, we drove down the city’s widest street, lined with trees with purple flowers and leading to the obelisk.

We are able to drop off our things and freshen up a bit at our hotel, Ker Recoleta, before we headed out for lunch:  our first taste of Argentine pizza and empanadas.  El Cuartito was just around the corner from the hotel and has been dishing up pizza and empanadas for 75 years in a little shop adorned with posters of boxers, basketball players and of course, soccer players.  The pizza reminded me of my mom’s French bread pizza she used to make because the crust was buttery and cake-like.  The baked carne empanada was a tasty little pocket of savory meat.

We walked over to the famous cemetery in Recoleta, visiting the grave of one of Argentina’s most famous figures, Evita Peron.  Families purchased elaborate graves to hold several members in coffins.  The cemetery also housed several friendly kitties.  Outside the cemetery, street vendors sold their wares including fresh squeezed OJ and grilled meats served in soft rolls.  Across the cemetery were outdoor cafes and a huge tree that needed supports just to stay up.

We went back to our hotel the get ready for the evening.  We crossed the obelisk and strolled over to a pedestrian street that never sleeps filled with asados, souvenir shops and a Mc Donalds on the busy corner.  Dinner was calling us.  We decided to go light tonight since it was a busy first day and to save our stomachs for our first of many asados for the next day.

We duck into an Italian restaurant recommended by our local guide, Lorena, as well as the Lonely Planet book we were travelling with.  It’s about 8:30 and the restaurant was pretty empty.  We quickly learned that no one eats dinner before 10 in Argentina!  The decor was typical Italian-green and red, tables set with wine glasses.  The restaurant was run all by men (not at all uncommon in BsAs), they took our orders for fresh pasta dishes without writing a thing down.  The guys in the kitchen were cheering on their soccer team playing on the TV.  Our dishes were simply prepared, depending on just a few ingredients.  A perfect end to our first night.

Sunday, November 6th  Our day started with breakfast at the hotel where B first discovered the ubiquitous sweet little bundles of goodness:  medialunas, or sweet crescents.  The croissants were glazed with a slightly sticky and sweet sauce that was perfect in the morning.  They weren’t gigantic so that you don’t feel so guilty eating them!

We took a bus around town during a morning city tour.  We passed through Recoleta, past the only monument dedicated to Evita along with several other monuments dedicated to other important historical figures, San Martin probably being the most important.  We stopped in front of the Rosada, also known as the Pink House, where the President works.  Just outside the Rosada were signs of protest, although I couldn’t understand what they said.

The bus then shuttled us to La Boca, passing the famous soccer stadium where the Coca-Cola signs had to change from the signature red to blue because the rival team’s color was red!  La Boca is known for the colorful buildings covered with aluminum siding.  The colorful paints were given to the poor people who lived there years ago by the sailors who had left over paints used on the ships.  Now, it has turned into a tourist spot with just a few blocks of colorful houses, coffee shops and restaurants.  Beyond that is a rough neighborhood in despair.  It wasn’t out of our way and worth a look but really not a highlight of the city.

We spent the rest of the day on foot.  We started out in San Telmo, one of the oldest parts of the city.  Being a Sunday meant that the street market was in full swing selling antiques, souvenirs and food.  We sit down to a simple outdoor lunch of a shared lomito (a BBQ beef sandwich) with chimichurri and continue on our walking exploration.  We pass the Rosada again on our way through the Microcenter, Congresso, stopping for empanadas and ice cream along the way.  We make our way back to the the main avenue and get caught in what seems to be a funeral causing a lot of congestion on the road.  We turned onto Florida Street and went into the Galeria Pacifica for just a bit until we realized that we couldn’t really afford to buy anything.  Just outside the Galeria was the San Martin Park, paved with little square tiles and lined with trees.

Dinner was at a traditional steakhouse that had whole lamb slow-cooking at the window on the cross.

Monday, November 7th    We have breakfast then just relaxed before heading to the domestic airport for our flight to Iguazu.

We arrive to Iguazu in the late afternoon and saw the falls for the first time from the lobby of the Sheraton, the only hotel located in the park.  Once we settle into our own hotel, St George, we take a walk down to the very small main drag of town, have an early dinner.  I had pasta with meat sauce and grilled vegetables.  B had local river fish.  After a short walk and dip in the at Hotel Saint George’s lukewarm spa, we turn in early.

Tuesday, November 8th  We are picked up in the morning to head to Iguazu Falls.   We first take a walk through a heavily wooded area to arrive to the eco-friendly train which will take us to the park’s biggest (literally) attraction, the Devil’s Throat.  We wait for about 45 minutes in pretty uncomfortable humid weather…..and it isn’t even noon yet!  Some people decide to hike, but after passing the hikers on the train, I’m glad that we waited for the train!  It would have been a hot and unscenic  walk.  The only thing that we passed by that was interesting was a HUGE lizard that B spotted walking along the road!

To get to the Devil’s Throat, we walk over the river speckled with small little islands on a long catwalk.  The river is pretty calm, but I can hear the roaring water.  I wonder how close the falls are.  Eventually, we can see water swirling and bubbling to the right of the catwalk.  A large Argentine flag marks the end of the path.

The most spectacular thing about the falls is the sheer power and movement.  Everyone is getting wet just from the vapors.  You can’t even see the water hit the bottom.  The sound is almost deafening.  The swallows that make their nests behind the falls playfully chase each other, diving down deep into the falls.

We spent the rest of the morning walking the catwalks of the Upper Trail that had some awesome views of the rest of the area.  We meet a Thai kid from Singapore travelling on his own.  He was the only person who was able to take a decent picture of me and B that didn’t have random  people in them or was composed of all flooring rather than the beautiful views.

After a lunch of fried beef and egg empanadas, we took a 4X4 to a boat launch for an up close look of the lower falls….it was awesome!  Such a view!  And the getting SOAKING wet was soo welcome on such a hot day:)

We returned to the park after dark to see the Devil’s Throat under the moonlight.  For five nights around each full moon, the park conducts tours.  Our path was lit solely by the moon.  We took the train  and walk on the catwalk feeling just a little more serene than this morning.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have the right photo equipment to take photos, and it was really really wet!  We didn’t remember getting so wet in the morning.  I didn’t know if we just didn’t notice or if the lower temperatures made the difference.  We didn’t last very long, and maybe it wasn’t worth the price we paid, but we had a good laugh!

Wednesday, November 9th

The following day was the first of our travel mishaps. I checked into our flight and learned that we had a 4 hour bus ride ahead of us because the Bariloche airport was closed for repairs.  On top of that, our 90 minute flight turned into a 4 hour waiting game with computer problems delaying passenger check ins and mechanical issues.  The airport was heating up with so many stranded passengers waiting for their airline meal voucher food.

We tried to get ahold of our travel agent by phone but couldn’t figure out how to use the pay phone or our own cell phone.  I finally logged into my email to let her know that we would be missing our connecting flight to Bariloche.   We hoped that we would be able to catch the next flight out from Buenos Aires, but once we spoke to an agent back in the capital, we learned that all of our flights were grounded because of volcanic ash!  The worse part of it was the flight we missed was the last flight that actually took off that day.  What luck!  Several hours later, the airline found a place for us to stay and booked us on the last flight the following day.

I couldn’t sleep very well that night, worrying about what we were going to do if the flights were grounded again.  Would we completely skip our leg to Bariloche?  That would be so much extra money  Would we take our chances and wait it out ANOTHER day?!

Thursday, November 10th

The following morning, we tried to make use of our day in the capital.  We got an optimistic call from the travel agent who said the rain last night has cleared the skies.  She was pretty confident that our flight would take off.  But, there was still some doubt since the morning flight was cancelled.  We took a walk along a beautiful urban park and enjoyed coffee and tea with our new favorite breakfast, medialunas.  We took a cab ride from a wonderful driver and past familiar sights that we had seen on foot just days before.  We were dropped off  in a new neighborhood that we didn’t get a chance to see the first time, Palermo.  We received a call from our travel agent who was a little concerned that the flight did not come with the airline-arranged bus ride to Bariloche.  The only way we would be able to make it to Bariloche from Nequen would be to take a commercial bus.  She was concerned because the people of Nequen didn’t speak English and she thought we would have trouble getting to the bus station from the airport.  B looked at me and he knew that we were going to be able to do this, so we enthusiastically said that we were going take our chances and do it!

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at Parrilla 33 after a local pointed us in the right direction.  Our Lonely Planet book didn’t mention that it had moved.  We shared a lunch special of 2 short ribs, salad, bread and a Coke all for U$6.50!

We arrived to the airport only to gather that most or all of the flights to Bariloche didn’t make it that day.  Our flight was still considered ‘on time,’ so all we could do is wait and see if we get on that plane today!  After yet another delay, this time 4 hours, but we were so happy to get off that ground!  We had missed the bus reservation that our agent was nice enough to arrange  Because it was so late, we would have to purchase another ticket ourselves once we got there.  To top it off, there were no hotel rooms to be found that night, so under the advisory of our travel agent, we stayed a few hours in the bus station till our bus arrived at 5:15 AM.  We managed to make it to the bus station and buy our tickets.  We were pleasantly surprised that our bus seats were plush, comfy and retracted back!  We were able to get a few hours of good sleep.  When I woke up, we were just under an hour away from Bariloche.  It was a clear and beautiful morning.  I knew that we were going to have a fabulous day in Bariloche!

Snow day!

We found a great deal on flights to Salt Lake City to spend a long weekend on the slopes.  We flew in late Thursday night so that we could get an early start on Friday.  For the fist time, we rented a car so that we didn’t have to be on the public bus’ schedule.

We enjoyed almost having the mountain to ourselves.  It’s one of the reasons why we love going to Utah along the friendly people and easy access to the slopes.  We hardly waited to get onto the lifts and we didn’t have to worry about getting hit or hitting someone else on the slopes.  We easily  got 5 or 6 runs in before lunch everyday.  We managed not to get hurt too badly.  I left Utah with a bruised butt cheek and left palm.  We did take it easy to make sure that we didn’t sustain anything too serious.

After a long day, B wasn’t very interested in making too much of an effort for dinner, especially since the 49ers were in the play-offs for the first time in 8 years.  He was thankful we were back in our room to watch them beat the Saints to advance to the AFC championship.  We managed to get a table a 2 quite desirable restaurants in the area.  The first was EPIC (as in epicurean, not as in the food is….EPIC).  Comforting American food in a cozy establishment that made a great Mr Martinez salad and beef tenderloin.  The second was a little out of our comfort zone.  Mazza Cafe served Middle Eastern food that went well beyond pitas and hummus.  B enjoyed a very flavorful lamb with rice.  My dish was chicken, cauliflower and rice seasoned with saffron, orange rind and almonds.  We had rally nice date nigh, enjoying a prime table right at the front of the restaurant at a little table next to the floor to ceiling window.

As always, we had a great mini-vacation.  I love that we have the common interest in travel and a little adventure.  We even started thinking about our anniversary weekend…something close and simple:)

girls reunited!

I had the best weekend spending it with three of my bridesmaids back in the City.  We reminisced as we strolled through the Cal campus, caught up on life and love, explored one of my favorite parts of town and tried some new eats in the best city ever!  What was so great is that even though we hadn’t seen each other in over a year, we talked and chatted as if we had seen each other a week ago.

We started the weekend waiting over a hour for a seat at the counter for brunch at Plow in a neighborhood I had never really been to.  We traded plates so that we could share and try the lemon ricotta pancakes, fluffy French toast and a soft egg scramble.  We then drove over to the Ferry Building and walked along the Embarcadero and caught a glimpse of the planes flying overhead for Fleet Week.  We caught the Filbert Steps toward Telegraph Hill for another view of the City.  On the way back down, we cute across through the Levi’s headquarters, a beautiful building with floor to ceiling windows and warm brick.  It housed a small museum that had jeans from different eras starting from the 1880s.

Dinner at Delfina was a culinary adventure, at least for me.  We ordered mildly seasoned grilled sardines, crostini at green pea, white bean and rustic chicken liver pate.  The pastas were delicious including a square spaghetti with breadcrumbs and roasted cauliflower, spaghetti with squid ink, gnocchi with ragu and trips in tomato sauce.  Dinner with accompanied with an Italian red: Carmignano – Capezzana 2003 Toscana.

We saved room for Bi-Rite ice cream.  It’s apparently the new place for gourmet ice cream.  We shared scoops of ginger, salted caramel, honey lavender (my favorite) and strawberry balsamic.

After dim sum the next morning, we headed to the East Bay and tried to remember all the names of the buildings on our old campus and visited the new East Asian library.  A walk down Telegraph surprised us.  Although establishments we remembered, like Espresso Express who made bulgogi sandwiches, Musical Offering-the classical music shop and cafe in one, Bancroft Clothing Co, Avant Card, Jenny’s Healthy cafe, Le Petit Cheval, La Burrita, Fat Slice, Blondie’s, Yogurt Park, Ned’s Bookstore, Rasputin’s, Amoeba, Cafe Milano, Steve’s BBQ, Thai Basil, IB Hoagies and Durant Cafe were still there, so many commercialized places replaced the old shops and restaurants.  BUT….Top Dog was still there to serve up Lemon Chick, Bratwurts and Kielbasas!  AND we were also able to get a GIANT tossed salad of beans, avocado, tomato, carrots topped with poppy seed dressing just as I remember it (but sans sprouts)!

The weekend was great to listen and talk about relationships since we all in different stages of relationships.  Once again, I felt very lucky that I found my perfect guy and happily married.  Hopefully they didn’t mind hearing my perspective as a married person.  It was a wonderful girl’s weekend, and I really hope that we do an SD version very very soon!  But nevertheless, I was so very happy to be back at home snuggled up in bed with B on Sunday night 🙂

Argentinian Dream

For the past few weeks, it has been worldwide travels on the mind.  In order to cross off a few travel destinations from our baby bucket list, we are going to attempt to travel to 3 continents in the next year or so….the first being SOUTH AMERICA!

Before I even knew anything about Argentina, I have been wanting to visit for some reason.  Then, after much research, I REALLY wanted to go!  So many options in terms of architecture, culture, scenery and activities to choose from.  It was difficult to decide where we should go in the short 14 nights there, but a mix of city life, romance and adventure was the perfect combination.

We will be travelling to the cosmopolitan Buenos Aires, experiencing the powerful presence of a Wonder of the World finalist, Iguazu Falls, soak in the gorgeous scenery of the Lake District, seeing and hearing the Perito Moreno glacier and trying our best to trek around close to the end of the world.

It will be a vacation that will be such a great kick-off to our year of travel =)

The first 8 months

Now that wedding and the honeymoon excitement has subsided, B and I have been focusing on building our little nest on a hill. We recently heard news that an acquaintance who married just 1 day before us just had his first baby. Doing the math in my head, that doesn’t really add up…but anyways….I thought about what we have been doing the last 8 months while R and L were preparing their own nest for their new arrival.
Even though we’d been together for over 5 years and spent lots of time together in the past, being married felt different to me (but apparently not for B, according to him!) I suddenly felt like were now co-dependent on each other. I felt like I should have dinner on the table and take care of household duties. B easily slipped into the roles of dishwasher and garbage taker-outer (as always), vacuumer and landscaper. Aside from uncertainty and instability at work, the first 8 months of marriage have been wonderful!
We’re gradually adding furniture pieces, the most recent are a second couch upstairs and 2 bedrooms chair, one of which I’m sitting in now. It took us about 7 months to hang the oil painting of Venice upstairs in the living room. It’s special since we picked it out together one afternoon spent in Coronado. Domestic items we have purchased that I’ve never considered to get before include and steam mop, and good sized collection of throw pillows and steam iron.
The past summer in particular has been one to remember. We started to get to know our neighborhood including the walking path to the local market and enjoying the Cabrillo National Monument. We took walks on warm nights to the park via the hidden staircase B discovered while jogging.
TRIPS:
Although we haven’t lived up to our agreement that we would travel somewhere far and exotic every 6 months, we managed to take a quick trip to Yosemite as part of our trek to Fresno for M and L’s wedding reception. Although we froze in a non-insulating permanent tent and used public showers and bathrooms at Camp Curry, it was a great trip, a true vacation. It was B’s first time actually seeing the summit point, and even though I had seen it before, we were both awe-inspired by the breathtaking view. We (actually more B) hiked along the path of the waterfall right when we arrived in the park. We completed the vertical hike along Nevada Falls which is about 7 miles I believe. When we finally made it to the top, we enjoyed the view from the fall’s break point and the serene waters with a very aggressive squirrel. The second day was spent going to Glacier Point, probably B’s favorite spot of the trip. We then took a short hike up and rock just a little smaller than Half Dome and took some fun pictured that made it appear that we were climbing a huge rock! On our final day we saw the Giant Sequoia’s, walking right through one of them! We met a couple who went to med school at UCSD and who were friends with an former pharmacy resident-small world!
Travelling to Santa Barbara is also a relaxing getaway and we can visit family at the same time. We stayed with B’s parents and traveled to wine country via Solvang. We got a great bottle (to be enjoyed) which has notes of smoke and coffee. A very complex flavor profile that I’m looking forward to drink!
CELEBRATIONS and PLAYING HOUSE:
My first venture in my new kitchen was making homemade scones with a recipe from the Cook’s Illustrated subscription I received as a bridal shower gift. The strawberry ones were so much better than the blueberries (when overboard on the blueberries). In any case, B’s work and Uncle P and Aunt L appreciated them.
We hosted our first dinner guests on out 1 month anniversary, cooking Thai food for 10 guests (our SSC group). I will definitely think twice about cooking Asian food for a big group next time!
C and M came over to make lamb shanks braised in red wine with risotto and strawberry shortcakes on one summer evening which really made the kitchen and the house feel more like home.
Thanksgiving was also another milestone in our 1st year that was so wonderful! I planned for quite a while, trying to find the perfect apple pie and pumpkin pie dish. Although my efforts to make homemade pie dough using bourbon was an absolute flop, the house-full of people appreciated our hospitality. The menu consisted of:
Herb roasted brined turkey and gravy, Mashed potatoes, Roasted sweet potatoes and yams, Mac and cheese, Cornbread stuffing with sausage mushroom apple and cranberry, Mixed marinated veggie salad, Mom’s Broccoli casserole and Rice stuffing, C’s grown-up’s string bean casserole. Dessert was skillet apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan squares and Nancy’s organic carrot cake.
For my birthday, B surprised me with a day at December nights, noshing on fried potato balls and papusas, visiting the natural history museum and listening to local groups perform at the Organ Pavilion. The night was topped off with a l dinner at Kensington Grill with D, M and H and dessert with Mae and Heaven Sent-Red Velvet of course!
After hosting a Holiday Party for B pharmacy staff, Christmas was pretty low key since I was battling a bad cold or URI of some sort. B gave me a beautiful pearl necklace, and he liked the Citizen EcoDrive watch I picked out for home. One new thing that we did that may become a family tradition was check out the Christmas lights and decorations on B stumbled across on delivery run for work. Although there aren’t that many houses, it was quite a sight…like Disneyland!

Our first extended house guests 2 families with 2 rambunctious kids, particularly the little 2 year old G who has a hot head and stubborn personality. C got a glimpse into parenthood and thought that kids were as cute as she had thought! Made J*’s little 6 month old A* seem like an angel from heaven. He hung out at our house for about an hour for dinner with little more than a bit of fussiness.  He chilled with B on the couch watching the Laker’s game with him and patiently sat in his carseat without a peep. So sweet! Just re-enforced that not all kids are the devil’s child!
Last weekend was Chinese New Year and mom and dad came to visit. This is their second visit since B started calling them mom and dad. Kinda weird….we celebrated New Year’s Day and Vigilucci’s which was surprisingly good! Traditional Chinese New Year Dinner was Saturday night when we split our time and stomachs between Auntie’s house and ours. Mom made big tempura shrimp, fried wontons and yummy sweet and sticky spareribs as appetizers. We feasted on miso glazed salmon, lion head, sugar snap peas and chai. M tried so hard to make an impression. He wore red (along with wearing ‘crimson’ after approval from C on Thursday night) and ventured to the local Asian market in search of a pomelo and mochi!
So far, it has been a great ride, and I am looking forward to continuing it. As my mom alluded to as I handed her a New Year’s red envelope for the first time as a married daughter, B is a part of the family now. Mom acknowledged that she is an in-law now….timing possibly related to the New Year? But she said that she was hoping that grand kids would be on the way soon. We’re still trying to squeeze in some fun travels, but we will see what the future holds!