pamiam’s blog

It had been so long since my Hawaii gang has gotten together, which sadly last time was when I had asked them to help me move in mid March in the middle of tax season, so I really didn't have time to plan or go to any get togethers since then.  But finally, Chris, Jon, Yanet, Ken and myself, met up for dinner and dessert in San Carlos.  No Mark & Jacqueline, they both had plans already and it was last minute so I was even surprised I got Jon & Yanet out.

 

We ate dinner at Refuge in San Carlos, and Ken was complaining about how overpriced the meal was going to be for a pastrami sandwich.  Refuge's menu is a wine and beer bar and food mainly consists of deluxe pastrami sandwiches and cheesesteaks for $13+, so he was whining for a bit about how we can get a better deal at Bob's Big Burger (where he went the day before for lunch with Kyle) or Red Robin.  But I told him it's about the experience, trying different places and seeing friends.  I do appreciate how frugal he is and loves using coupons and doesn't spend his money foolishly, but sometimes he kills me that we work so hard to make money and it's ok to enjoy a more expensive restaurant every now and then.

 

Chris was there first, and was the first time I've seen him since he tore his Achilles tendon (augh!) from playing basketball.  He had just lost the crutches and was working on walking and putting pressure on his foot.  We ordered our drinks, and Jon and Yanet soon followed.   I had a beer, considering how salty our food was going to be (think thick hunks of pastrami), the beer went really well.  We first ordered a bowl of mussels, and a charcuterie platter (pastrami rillette, porcini salame, brie, jalapeno jack, prosciutto di parma, various olives, a chutney, strawberries, and bread.  Yum I really loved it, it was like a fancy snack tray full of salty, sweet, and tart flavors.  The pastrami sandwiches were thick and tender, and while I enjoyed it reuben style with sauerkraut, I was picturing that the pastrami leftover was going to taste even better the next day pan fried with potatoes and onions ala fresh corned beef hash.

 

We then had dessert at Golden Island Cafe, a chinese dessert place in San Mateo.  I was so fricken bulging from pastrami and bread and salami, that I only ordered a watermelon juice which was delicious and refreshing but at $3.25 for a glass, I turned into a mini-Ken and was thinking what a rip off it was and how I could have made 5 cups of this myself for the same price. Their desserts are tasty, refreshing and not too sweet, but they are pricey and service is spotty.  I would have loved to stay out late late but we had Father's Day the next day, and we needed to get our sleep.

 

Father's Day started with a train ride from Niles, on the Niles Canyon Railway in Fremont, $10 per person and all aboard a 45 minute train ride to Sunol.  What was sweet was that we got to take Nikki with us, and Ken's sister brought her 50 lb doggie as well.  What's interesting is that when Ken called to inquire about if dogs were allowed on the train, we were told that it was up to the train conductor that day, and we were lucky as there is 1 conductor that does not allow dogs on the train period.  The shuttle bus ride from parking lot to train depot again just depends on the driver if dogs are allowed, again we were lucky.  Nikki loved the train ride and got a ton of compliments and comments, and people coming up to her all the time petting her and talking to her. 

 

Speaking of dogs... Beaten-down dog from Vick case has his day : Pit bull rescued from famous dogfighting ring now helps cancer patients.

i always figured people would rather have money than gifts at weddings, and in Hawaii at 95% of the functions that I have attended, it seems that money was given and received happily.  After moving to California, it seemed to me that people love to buy registry items, even when Ken & I got married, I didn't really care to put a registry together, but ken's mom strongly encouraged us to do so.  We really didn't need much more for our household, though I have enjoyed our 12 cup coffeemaker, george foreman family grill and krups super blender, many other items we were puzzled and slightly burdened to keep or return.  When we did return gifts, we netted a nice load of gift cards which we spent (and still have some leftover) at the macy's furniture outlet. 

 

now that just seems rather silly and a waste of people time and efforts, the 1) we had to take time to make a registry 2) people went out and lovingly picked out an item from our registry, had it wrapped, and transported said gift to their house, and then to either our reception or to ken's parents who then had to transport it to our place or we had to pick it up  and transport it home where it sat if we didn't open it and use and 3) we had to decide whether we wanted to keep or not and feel a little guilty when 4) we had to transport said gift and return and get a gift card where we are forced to buy from said store in the future.

 

it is hard to hit a gift right on the nail, something you wouldn't necessarily know even if it's on their registry unless you asked the couple directly or really knew the couple because 75% of what ppl are nowadays putting on their registry seems to be done simply out of obligation, because that's how it has been.  now of course there are other way to do registries--honeymoon trip registry, even donate to favorite charity, etc.

 

but cash is king.

 

we have an upcoming wedding to attend to and ken and I went on the registry and saw a lot of different items to go for  on macy's.  we saw several great things we could buy--blenders, food processor, or fancy crystal.  we thought we'd be even more savvy and buy it from bed bath & beyond because you get the 20% coupon right?  well i was talking to the bride and she basically said that she was likely returning 75% of registry gifts so that she could get a gift card and buy furniture from the macy's outlet.  for a second i was stunned, but then the next second, i was like, shoot, that was me 7 months ago, i can't be a hypocrite.  and this is certainly not random, i had this conversation with another bride recently.

 

certainly the bride who is 24, just starting on her own could make use of 75% of her registry items, so I guess it just depends on the current place the bride is in.  the scenario i am thinking seems to fit a 30+ year old bride, who has already settled in with many of her own things, who doesn't need another mixing bowl but feels forced to put on a registry to "fill it up".

 

so cash is king.  even if you're that 24 year old bride.  that's what i'm giving.  even if it's not as personal, it's still a heck of a lot more practical (i mean who is going to let a check sit in the corner of a house vs unusued gift in a 24" x 18" box that will take up valuable real estate in your home) and less of a pain in the butt and might i add "more green" (less driving, transporting, wrapping large product, transporting to return, etc). i mean you can still place your monetary gift in a meaningful card and little thoughtful sentimental gift on the side to make it personal.

 

 

Post tax season means I'm still busy, but not as crazy as tax season, so in 20 minutes (9:00pm) I have a conference call scheduled with our Asia Pac region, tomorrow morning 7:00am with our UK office.  Being global has made my work hell--24 hours.  I kinda only get a break on Friday when the rest of the world is on their Saturday, and even then China and Japan still sends me emails.

 

But post busy season does give me some time to relax, and breathe, and get back to things I enjoy doing, like cooking.  I can't say I love cooking, but there are many moments where I find it soothing, relaxing, and comforting, and satisfying, like I'm not only feeding myself (and ken's gargantuan appetite) but i'm feeding my soul.  corny i know.  but seriously true.  the sound of something frying in a pan like onions and garlic, or stirring wine into a pot of stew

 

tonight it was chicken piccata, i recipe i sort of modified for myself from longhi's ~ ina garten ~ giada laurentiis.  i really love the sour tang of this recipe. 

butter,sake,chickenbroth,capers + pan fried chicken + lemons fresh from ken's tree

 

I've been really into this website, called tastespotting that culls all these beautiful thumbnails from various blogs, so visually pleasing, i must spend too much time scrolling through all of it and collecting recipes.

 

 

my brother in law who photog'd our oakland banquet, delivered our pictures to us today, 7 months post banquet, but since then and now, i've been so busy that getting them now allowed me to enjoy it properly, and it brought that day back like it was yesterday.  as painful as this part was, having to basically scarf down 2 courses in a minute so that we could take pictures with all the tables, of course looking at the pictures now i'm glad we did it.

 

 

despite their protests, we made our groomsmen and bridesmaid wear their hawaiian gear again, 1) to create our hawaii-nei ambience and 2) to get as much usuage for our $$ on spending on all those dresses and pants :) 

 

that was 7 months ago, our current project is of course our home, we're still in the process of moving over ken's things over to this house.  we finally got my condo rented out which was a huge sigh of relief, being a landlord is a p-i-t-a, i guess this is why ppl hire property mgmt companies to do all the running around we did, posting ads, meeting applicants, screening, credit checking, showing the place, signing on the lease, making repairs, cleaning, etc etc.

 

4 minutes til my call...

once again, got sick and I'm sure it's the combination of stress, still too much work, and too much things to do in such a short amount of time.  looking back, it started from last week and...

 

saturday ken and I went to a red egg and ginger party for his cousin's twins.  it astounds me how I can't seem to keep up with this family, everywhere people were saying my name and saying hi, and for the life of me, my mind was drawing blanks, i couldn't remember any of their names!!!  i just said "Hiiiiiiii, how are youuuuuuuuuuuu", struggling to remember their names.  so sad so sad. 

 

ken's sister was having her girl's night out shindig afterwards at watercourse way spa and massage.  i was so looking forward to this all week.  we spent an hour in there, hanging out in the jacuzzi, and taking a try in the sauna--as much as i like heat, the only refreshing part of the sauna was when i walked out of it.  the massage was excellent, and a nice way to pass time.   we ended up at thaiphoon for dinner, followed by drinks at the Old Pro where Doreen rode the mechanical bull and I knew she'd be up on that thing for a long time and she did not disappoint.  She put to to shame the bevy of girls who lined up after that who didn't stay on too long. 

 

I actually started feeling sick on Mother's Day and 1/2 of me was thinking I should stay home to rest, but the other 1/2 was thinking I should go.  Mother's Day at Ardenwood Farms, lunch at the picnic tables, and dinner later that night at Kioku's.  A full day, and I still I had to do a couple hours of work that night preparing for the next day.

 

We had the roundtables the next day, discussing the review of all the staff and seniors.  I felt like crap that day, and it was day 1 of me being sick but I had to be there, 3 of my crew were up for promotion and I had to be there to represent.  The rest of the week I spent 1/2 working and 1/2 in bed.

 

It is definitely hot out there, and I'm loving that the house is staying decently cool, which I was a bit worried about staying home vs air conditioning at work but it's all good.  I love working at home on Fridays, it's a really good day free form work distractions and I can catch up on my work.  I crack up at articles that tell you if you work from home, you should treat it like you are still going to work so you take it seriously--so you should do all the things you would normally do like dressing up, putting on make up etc.  That's just fricken lame.  1/2 the fun of working from home is that you don't have to waste time dressing up (and creating more laundry), the other 1/2 is that you don't have to commute and waste time driving around.  If you can't take it seriously working from home even in your pajamas, then perhaps you shouldn't work at home at all cuz seriously, it ain't the dressing up part that makes me feel like working.

We found couches!! 

 

 

We really weren't ready to spend all that much $$$ on some new couches, considering we still haven't rented out the condo yet, we are trying to be mindful of the budget.  But we found these from good 'ol craigslist--it was used but in excellent condition.  It was posted last week Tuesday night, and we've been trawling for a good set of leather couches.  Ken emailed, guy confirmed it was in great condition the next morning... for the rest of the work day, Ken & I must have sent 20 emails going back and forth on whether we wanted the couch--I for one was all for it, especially considering the price-- $150 for BOTH couches.  I did have my reservations thinking this might be a scam, and Ken was trying to talk me out of it especially since the couches were located in San Francisco.  But the timing was perfect, we had Kyle's truck ready to use that night and our buddy Steve to help haul it.  I convinced Ken it was a good deal and we should at least check it out.  Thankfully it didn't turn out to be a scam, the couches did look great, and the guy was selling other things too so Steve got himself a sweet 27" HDTV for $75.  All in all, everyone happy.

 

I fell asleep on the couch Saturday, and so it certainly qualifies as super comfy couch, + easy to clean + somewhere to sit comfortably and watch tv. 

 

Rugs... the search for rugs continue, this time for bedroom.

 

Did you know Walmart online sells room sized area rugs?  It is crazy how much rugs cost, but these rugs for 8x11 sizes are $120 and $150 respectively at Walmart.com.  They would generally cost $300+ somewhere else.  Ok granted they're not mohawk or shaw or better known brands at say Lowes or Home Depot which even then isn't as high priced as Macy's or hand made rugs, but still, the quality seems pretty decent with many positive reviews received.

 

Still working a crapload of hours, not sure when the hours will decrease.  Certainly not pleased, but can't necessarily complain as certainly need the $ to pay our doubled up bills from both the condo and the house.  eek.  I still love my team, they are great to work with, but the work itself, is... overwhelming and stressful.  The big 4 world is making me age too quickly i think.  I've been working there now for nearly 9 years!!  Pretty amazed, as I didn't think I'd work here that long. 

 

anyways... must go to work now...

Yes tax season is over, but the past week i feel like it's still craziness.  I did however take a day off last week to relax, as even on the weekends, I am busting my butt working on the house or the condo.

 

through the course of the week, we've picked up a washer, dryer and refrigerator for the condo.  our original plan moving out of the condo was to sell it, so we took the 3 appliances for ourselves, but since the market stinks, we're now renting the condo out, and have to outfit it back with the appliances.

 

we've been using craigslist extensively.  we picked up a washer and dryer, both for $90, little older but in perfect condition and kept very very clean.  our friend steve came over to help ken move it and install it, turns out the dryer is too damn big so we have to swap it out with the dryer at ken's house.  also off of craigslist, is a black whirlpool refrigerator, 3 years old, clean and in perfect condition for $200.  so i'm very happy we are able to outfit the condo appliances for <$300.  we hired cleaners to clean the condo from top to bottom--cost us $225, and it's so much cleaner and fresher.  this renting out bizness is all new to us, so it's been interesting and exciting and stressful too.

 

we are taking so long to outfit out home, and we're living in it with minimal issues, but for a month now, we still haven't moved 60% of ken's things to the house, which is all the big stuff--bikes, canoe, cargo box, all the outdoor equipment, tools, dining table/chairs, large tv, stand, etc. 

 

i've always lived in houses and condos with carpet in the bedrooms and living areas, and so it's hard getting used to living in a house with NO carpet.  First off, the floor is always cold and I have to walk around in my fuzzy slippers.  Second, you can hear EVERY footstep someone takes--from ken's booming steps to nikki's tap-tap-tap-tap doggie steps, you hear it ALL, there is no mistaking when someone is walking around. so we have been shopping for some area rugs and GACK they're so expensive.  even a rug from ikea is $$.  we took a trip to macy's outlet in hayward and the prices are a bit better than the full price you pay at macy's, but still, wow rug shopping was an eye popper.  until we remembered that we have a HUGE mother balance from Macy's giftcards we had received from our wedding that is good at the outlet.  We were so puzzled as to what we were going to spend it on, so this was perfect.  we picked the rug below in 2 sizes--one from our family room and one for our living room.

 

 

 

 

 

i'm really shocked that ken and I have been agreeing for the most part on the decor items.  i was afraid that we wouldn't be able to agree on a rug design, but at the macy's outlet, he pointed at the rug, exclaiming he liked it, and i was sure i wouldn't like what he picked, but i was shocked, it was exactly what i wanted.  making home decisions with ken has been easier than i thought.

 

despite the crazy weekend, we've been able to bump into some haven't seen in a longtime friends--mainly because j9 and kaio were hosting all these people at the house--kevin, jodi, and kendall.  it's funny, it's like my mind can't process they live in hawaii now, since for a good portion of my time here, they were all living here.  i know i'm not super good friends with them, but they are friends, and it's kinda sad that they don't live here anymore.  and i also saw kaio's brother again, kerry, who is like the complete opposite of kaio.  so interesting when siblings are like totally different.  we had a good time laughing over kaio antics--ie saving months and months of foot shavings only to be eaten by family dog--i mean really, i can't make that stuff up.

 

our other big purchase, was buying 14 door handles from Big Lots.  They have a GREAT price for kwikset door handles, $10 each when they normally sell for like $30-$50.  We basically stood in the middle of the aisle and grabbed all the handles that we could find that were matching.. and came out saving like $400, we were so giddy!

 

 

even though it feels like we're saving all this money, buying things on sale or off of craigslist, money is just bleeding out of pockets.  hard to control all of the expenses, and try not to overdo it.  everything adds up.

 

i was extremely bummed to hear that 2 airlines that service flights to hawaii from the mainland are now bankrupt and completely shut down operations. 

 

TWO...in 1 week!  That's INSANE!!

 

Aloha Airlines and ATA both offered affordable fares to/from hawaii, keeping prices reasonable.  In the last 8 years, I must have flown an average of 2 times per year, making 16 flights.  Of those flights, I used ATA 50% of the time, Aloha 20%, Hawaiian Air 20%.  10% other (American or United).  That's a huge bummer.

 

ATA was generally the cheapest, though there service was 50% delayals.  Aloha Air had super friendly service to me, and the warm chocolate cookie and milk toward the end of the flight was a nice touch. 

 

Hawaiian Air is now offering flights to/from Oakland starting May 1.  My friend Kev I is getting married at the end of June, I know peak flying season, so I figured I'd check prices and geez... not looking good... $700+ for a flight, these are like christmas fares!!

 

Layoffs of 4,000 ppl or so from Aloha and ATA.  That's insane. 

 

And to think I wanted to delay our wedding until May 2008--this would have so screwed up our guests flying to hawaii.  i was trolling the hawaii wedding message boards because i still get email alerts, and they're all freaking out and stressed out, finding ways to get themselves or their friends and family for weddings planned this weekend or the next few months.

 

i shudder to think what the price of airfare will be going forward to hawaii. 

we really could not have chosen a better time to buy a house and move, i mean, really, in the middle of  tax season? pshaw.  seriously, it's utter craziness.  why am i writing i wonder, i have no time to do this? but seriously, i need to document! and take a break, and im just tired of working, i stayed up til 2am working and it's been like this every other day for the past few weeks.

 

generally i don't mind the crazy tax season, but it's craziness trying to unpack and do busy season.  what i really want to do is pack everything away, decorate, make the house our home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

well, i have started other organizing projects--the bathroom, putting our clothes away, and starting to organize the office.  i finally have a desk with space to do work and a place to write; at the condo i had one of those dinner tray tables i was working off of and had to balance papers and books in my lap if i wanted to use it--this was worst than my college days!  i also bought myself a label maker to label and organize all the plastic bins i've been accumulating storing craft and office items.  love how the picture says "tax forms" on the screen, like the wicked thing is mocking me.

 

i am so determined to keep this place clean and organized.  determined!  if only i had more time!!!  gah! i know, once tax season is over i can devote more to doing the things i want to do.  the other challenge will be to keep ken determined to keep this place clean and organized. he is such a messy kid.  though the other day he told me out of the blue, "we will need to clean up on a weekly basis so that things don't pile up".  i almost fell off the bed when he said that, but i was extremely pleased to hear... perhaps marriage is working it's magic after all...

closing for us has been so stressful.  we were supposed to close on friday.  however, our real estate agent is on vacation and gave us a back up agent that she thought would be good but hasn't panned out that way.  also, when the seller is a bank, they almost have no concept of times and deadlines, they're very corporate, bureaucratic and s-l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-w.  ken and i ended up doing a lot of the coordination in this last week while our agent was out, and the backup agent was very slow in responding and was hard to understand and liked to ramble.  she was a waste of our time.  we kept in touch with our vacationing agent, letter her know what a complete trainwreck her backup agent was and our main agent apologized a lot, and gave us advice on the various situations we were faced with the sellers/bank/lenders/title co etc.  agents deserve vacations too of course and she told us far in advance when she'd be vacationing, but boy we wished she was here, i am darn sure we would have closed on time without the headaches we went through.  ken especially was getting really frustrated at times, mainly because he was the main contact between all parties since I've been trying to stay focused on tax season.

 

all in all though, the settlement statement was signed by the sellers at the last minute of friday, and it's basically a done deal.  Ken has been getting the home ready for fumigators, and trying to clear a large hornet's nest in the backyard.  by next weekend, we'll be ready to start moving in! :)

 

as great as the condo has been for me, it is getting smaller and smaller by the minute, and no more neighbors right on top or on the side. i can't complain though, i currently have some great neighbors at the condo, they're neighborly, friendly and everyone's quiet.  upstairs, the couple moved out 7 months ago and the condo is currently on the market but it's not being marketed aggressively imo, at first in september there was a bit of traffic from open houses, but now, it's been very quiet overall. 

 

living in a house definitely has it's benefits

condo living does have some benefits though

i'm so ready to move into the house already :)

 

there are things about the home that we will have to think about adding/changing:

 

 

 

I really love eggs, especially the kine where you the yolk is gooey or coddled.  I saw this recipe for Nested Eggs, and decided to give it a go.  It was very easy, and really really good!

 

Preheat toaster oven to 375. I just made one serving: butter a piece of bread, press the bread into a buttered muffin tin.  Bake for 2 minutes.  Take tin out, crack one egg into bread cup.  Pour a little cream over each egg.  (Note I didn't have cream, so I used sour cream which was just fine).  Season with salt and pepper.  Bake for another 10; take tin out, sprinkle with some parmesan cheese; bake for 2 more minutes until egg whites set.

 

I've been sick for over a week now, some superbug going around!!  But I've been feeling better and better, the weekend was the worst really.  So tired.  My meals over the past week have centered around eating soft: lots of soup, jook (rice soup), tofu, noodles, and tea or water.  Plus lots of sudafed or nyquil to get me through the night.

 

I'm also trying really hard not to fall behind on work, so i've been diligently trying to clear my inbox, but tax season is basically here, and I have a training class to teach next week, so I feel tired just thinking about all the things I have to do.