Lemon

My dear lemon tree bore 14 lemons. Last year, it bore only one lemon. Way to go!!!
A few of them were cut and put straight into Corona, and some were used for Italian dishes, but most of them were transformed into jam, which I enjoyed to sank my teeth into on my homemade cookies :)

Granville Island in Voucouver

Our choice was not wrong. Out of our 5 days in Canada, we stayed the last night at downtown, Vancouver and did not waste our precious time, visiting Granville Island. Granville Island is right across the False Creek and we could reach there by either walk, bus, or boat. On the way, we took bus, and way back, boat(aprox. 5 min.) The reason people go there should be the public market, and ours, too. Variety of food from over the world were beautifully heaped and I felt an irresistible impulse to buy all these appealing food, especially the colorful Italian pastas and pretty sweets. Yet the fact that I still had to take a flight to San Diego made me give it up. Instead, I satisfied my appetite with a cup of cram chowder, which was exquisite :)

Ski @ Whistler & Blackcomb, Canada

It was a spring break last week and my partner and I indulged in skiing at Whistler in Canada.

Direct flight from San Diego to Vancouver took us only three hours, followed by a two-hour bus trip to Whistler village. Not feeling any sleepiness without a time difference, we rushed into the Italian restaurant in our hotel, which turned out to be the perfect start for our vacation.

From the next morning on, we greedily skied for three days. The terrain of both Whistler and Blackcomb was satisfying enough to make our legs wobble, and we lost our way many times because of the immense scale of skiing ground and a dense fog.

As might have been expected, the lunch at any lodges was diverse with Mexican food, Chinese noodles, fish & chips, and of course a hamburger & pizza, which, for me, left nothing to be desired. Our hotel was a bit expensive for that level of a mediocre room; yet, we couldn't complain much since it was located right under two Gondolas and still in the center of the village, where we could find plenty of classy restaurants, nice cafes, and a supermarket. Whistler will be the perfect venue for 2010 winter Olympic.

Coming back :)

I have been away for quite a long time from this blog, partly because I was in a plight of what I can't tell here, and partly because I'd been just busy, but mainly because I just wanted to free myself from anything that made me feel obliged. Yes, updating my blog was giving me a little sense of duty. Now I'm perfectly in good shape, phisically and mentally, gaining further energy under the California sun, that I finally want to start this again ;)

The end of the winter, which is inclined to be overcast or squall here in San Diego, evoked my perception that it already passed the middle of my stay in this country, pouring me sentimentality. Two years ago in April, in the same weather where girls wear camiloles and flip-flops, I moved to this place. Since then, two years slipped by, and I'm supposed to return to Japan in, at the longest, two years. What I'm experiencing here is precious and it would be regrettable if I don't take it down now.

Just for our memory...

I've been really swamped these days and have not uploaded my sister's San Diego vacation which was almost one month ago. They had fantastic time and made their trip unique experience. I, at least, have to put up some pictures to reminisce it in the future.

Major League Padres vs. Dodgers @ Petco Park - Sep 2nd









Del Mar Horse racing & Wild Animal Park - Sep 3rd









Balloon ride @ Del Mar - Sep 4th









Bicycle ride to Del Mar Beach through SR56 - Sep 5th

Horseback riding @ Canyon Side - Sep 6th

Hollywood, Santa Moninca in LA - Sep 7th

Emmy Awards After Party @ Les Deux

Something exciting happened to me. My partner and I were invited to TV guide Emmy Awards after party in Hollywood. We never attended this sort of luxury party and did not know what it would be like. The dress code was black tie 'optional' for men and evening dress for ladies. The word 'optional' was tricky because it puzzled my partner over a suit he would wear. Tuxedo or normal suit? He had a new tux that seemed not to have any other chances to appear if he skips this time, but it might be too much for him and only the Emmy awarded people might wear tux. Feeling perplexed, he decided to dress in tux. As for me, I wore a light green knee length one-piece dress, which I thought was okay for this occasion.

After having dinner with a host couple, we headed for the party venue, Les Deux at around 10 pm when celebrities were supposed to arrive after Emmy Award. Along the Hollywood blvd, the fans and the passengers flocked and some of them mistakenly gazed at us as though they found celebrities. It was not bad to pass the entrance of the restaurant where Paris Hilton or Britney Spears used to hit it up.

As soon as we got in, I found John Pyper-Ferguson from my favorite show "Brothers and Sisters", and I was so thrilled that I could not help but looked him up and down. But no one with me was familiar with him or the show. Since we were still on the red carpet, I hesitated to show my enthusiasm to ask him for a picture with me, but later on, a huge regret gripped me. I should have taken a pic with him or of him. He was, in a word, "too cool." Oops, it is 'two' words.

While strolling in the terrace, someone unexpectedly grabbed my partner's hand and shouted, "congratulations!" He mistook my partner probably with Masi Oka.

A while later, the Grammy Award winner, John Legend performed live with soulful voice followed by the "Band from TV" in which James Denton (Mike in Desperate Housewives) played guitar. 'Mike' is a good-looking guy, but frankly, his singing was not for the musician's, to say the least.

Although I caught some of the familiar faces including Simon Cowell from American Idol, I seem to have missed a lot of actors/actresses in the party. Maybe I should have waited for them at the entrance in order to catch all of them.

Anyhow, what a colorful party it was! The gorgeous people drank, relaxed, danced, and enjoyed in their own way. For the first time in my life, I saw so many beautiful and sculptural people at once. It was an improbable and a superb experience that I would not be able to have again.

Parking circumstance

Unlike parking in Japan, in most cases in San Diego, we do not have to worry about finding a parking space. We can park at any streets unless the curb is colored in red, green or white, or it indicates special signs. Furthermore, because of the recent expansion of malls, we have plenty of parking spaces surrounded by stores which keep us even from concerning about our parking skills. But when it comes to parking in down town where there is incessant traffic, the things are different. We habitually have to compete with others for a space, being cautious not to wander the wrong way to the narrow one-way streets.

The other day two days in a row, I had an inevitable chores which obliged me to drive to San Diego down town and park in the center of down town. The first day, when I was trying to plunge my car into a tiny space, a young guy came to me saying that his parked space would be open and 40 more minutes were remained in the meter so that I could use it. What a gentleman he was!! Instead of just leaving his space, he came to me all the way just to say it. With the reluctant chore that I had to handle later, I was in a somber mood, but this guy made my day.

The next day, I was a bit concerned if I could find a parking space. When I arrived at the area I parked the day before, an African American guy who neatly stood 100 yd away waved me pointing out an open parking space. I mumbled myself that another nice guy appeared! When all the San Diego guys became so courteous?

I did not notice, however, until I parked and rushed out of the car that the guy was expecting me come out. When I thanked him and was about to leave, he grinned and murmured, "what about a homeless tip? This is my job to find a parking space for people." Oh, there you are! Not every guy was I-will-find-you-a-space-for-free guy. We cannot forget that this is a tip society. I, thanking him for his freelance work, gave him a dollar. "If it's expired, I will add more coins!" he stated. I returned to my car, unfortunately, to find the meter was expired :(

My sister is visiting SD

My sister and her husband came from Japan to spend their 1 week vacation with us here in San Diego. We were going to pick them up at LA on Sep 2nd as she let me know their schedule via email.

My mother panicked me, however, when I casually called her one day before their leaving. She exclaimed that my sister and her husband would leave on that very day, which means they would arrive on Sep 1st. After I came to know that it was my sister's misconception, I rushed to get through what I was going to complete on Sep 1st, such as homework from my college classes, room cleaning, washing, and grocery shopping and such. Phew!! This is my sister. She is not meticulous and attentive, but always easygoing. People might say it's her attraction, though.

When my partner and I arrived at LA airport on 'Sep 1st', we freaked out that he left his cell phone home and I did not have my sister's cell phone number. Furthermore, I completely forgot to tell her my number, she did not even ask my number. We needed, at any rate, to find them at the arrival gate and fortunately, we were able to discover them among Korean passengers coming out of Korean Airline.

Being relieved, I laughed at myself noticing what a similar character my sister and I have - easygoing, negligent and sweeping. I hope their stay will not be heading for trouble.

Second experience as a babysitter

I babysat 4 kids today for two of my good friends who needed to visit their kid's school to see their teacher at parents' night. The age of children are, 7, 6, 5 and 3, only 6 is a girl and others are boys.
Babysitting is not my job and I am not used to do it for any children. Furthermore, I tend to talk to kids just like I do to adults. But since I see them either at my house, our community pool, or their houses at times, I was not afraid of being left alone with them. Just in case, however, I came over with some ideas to use when the kids fretfully cry.

My unprofessional tactics are ...
1. to draw Thomas and Friends with my poor skill
2. to lay floor with Plarail
3. to make simple quizzes about, for instance, animals and insects
4. to ask them about dinosaurs
(when it comes to dinosaurs, they are connoisseurs)
5. to let them make a show and practice to play in front of their parents after they return

and if it still does not work, especially for a 3-year kid, my last resort was ...
to call their mom for help.

The result was quite different from what I had expected.
They merrily enjoyed their parents' absence and even asked me to leave the kid's room. Feeling a bit lonely, I myself started writing my free-writing in English, then kids came to notice what I was doing with a notebook and a pen, and surrounded me requesting a draw of their stuffed animals, Thomas and Friends and the like.
What made me feel content was the fact that the smallest child had been able to tell the name of the Thomas' friends from what I sketched :0 For me, though, they were all same and hard to distinguish their faces.
We enjoyed our time otherwise. They fought to kill a fly found in a living room with a flyswatter and succeeded to do away with.

Nothing precarious happened until the end, and instead of having made me fatigued with their bottomless power, the kids filled in my solitary night :)

I will be pleased to accept next time :)

New semester

Today, my first English class at college started. As I expected, all the students except probably three of us sounded native speakers. I thought I had been prepared to jump into that situation, but it is not an easy-going Spanish class I took this summer (and am taking fall too), and it is an all English class composed of English speaking people. I was extremely nervous when I first rushed into the room.

For one reason, one of my Japanese friends gave me a bit of information about the same class of another professor, and she said she would be dropping it because of the difficulty of all the assignments she needed to do inside & outside the class.

Fortunately, my professor who I met for the first time today and came across as a considerate and cheerful lady mitigated my concerns a little bit. Moreover, my ESL teacher whom I learned from for two semesters told me, in replying to my email message, that she knew my new teacher very, very well. It is so auspicious that I cannot help continuing the class ;)
Just wish me luck!

What American accent do you have?

I found an interesting page here.
It tells you which American accent you do have by answering only 13 questions.

The below is my result.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The Midland
The South
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I've never been to the Northeast, but I know the reason.
My much-loved sitcom 'Sex and the City' is still on air and my addiction that kept me from going out and let me sit in front of the TV all day long turned to be a 30 min healthy daily routine, and I am absorbing their way of speaking (hopefully) without any consciousness, or at least I believe they speak in a correct and cool manner :)))

I'm aware I do not have any accent of notrheast and I have, for sure, Japanese accent. Yet it is not too bad that someone tells me I have 'their accent' ;)

Schulte-ufer

I fell in love with this stainless steel pot at first sight.This is the first pot I bought for myself since I got married about 8 years ago. Any pan, pot, skillet or Chinese frying pan I've used were either taken over from my partner's single life or given by my friends as a wedding gift.

Now that it poured a fresh air into my kitchen, I have to stir myself to get out of a rut and improve my culinary skills.

Afternoon tea in America

I'm a coffee person, yet it does not mean that I cannot enjoy a good cup of tea. But I never expected to have afternoon tea in San Diego; yes, there is a few restaurants where serve good tea.

Three of my good friends and I visited TEA-UPON-CHATSWORTH the other day. Since I've never been to the UK, I cannot tell the difference from the traditional British tea, and only I can give is the comparison between this restaurant and my meager afternoon tea experience in Japan.
The service here was great and their indoor ornament was just like what we usually imagine about. Their tea was selective from the ample choice. We were able to relax and chatted to our heart's content. Sounds like everything was perfect!
But unfortunately, the scone and sweets were a bit too sweet and it brought us back to reality. We are in America!

2007 Acura Classic

La Costa Resort and Spa is, as the name shows, a fabulous resort hotel with a spa in Carlsbad near San Diego. I badly wanted to visit there to get my dry skin healed, but this time my purpose was not a spa or a gorgeous restaurant, but tennis.
US open series Acura Classic was taken place there. I had some tennis class before, and hastily acquired a little knowledge of tennis, and about a month ago, my partner and I bought the ticket for our free weekend without even knowing who were going to play. Actually, we had not checked the result until late at night the day before, and were still believing the game we would watch should have been a semi final. (Our local Japanese magazine said the game on Aug 5th would be a semi final.)
When we checked the result the day before, however, the number of the remaining players for the singles tournament looked only two, Maria Sharapova and Patty Schnyder, and for doubles tournament, 2 teams. Our subtle expectation we might be able to see Sharapova turned out a fairly high possibility. Yet we still did not know if we could see the game of singles or doubles.

The result was below ;)
It was a final of Maria Sharapova vs. Patty Schnyder. In addition to that, we were able to see the doubles final if we still had an energy. Unfortunately, 4 hours of sun exposure discouraged us from sitting for next game.


Maria Sharapova won by beating Patty Schnyder 6-2, 3-6 and 6-0 :)

2007 San Diego Pride Prade

In my last post, I completely forgot to mention the most inciting event I've ever seen in San Diego. It's a Pride parade, i.e. gay parade! The majority in the parade was gay including the police officers and fire fighters. Even most spectators were gay. Being coward, my partner kept muttering, "Don't leave me alone! If I look I'm alone, everybody would gaze at me!!"
Don't worry. They know who their targets are and they like beautiful one ;)
Some guys were too good-looking to stay gay. Mottainai!

No comment in particular for each photos. Seeing is believing ;)