I want to ride my Bicycle...i want to ride my bike.....

Hello!
      As i have metioned and posted on my blog, my husband bought me a new bike. It's a Schwinn wome'ns Trailway hybrid bike. It was a little too high for me, i had the seat adjusted and i have to practice to hop on it, since i am used to riding a bike just perfect for my height. And so i got the hang of it, and finally the day has come for my bike to feel the breeze and rough road in the bike trail. I must say, that i am completely satisfied with my bike. My husband was right, it was really smooth to ride with and very light. Not like my old one(which my hubby is now using) it was so heavy, i couldn't even lift it.
       This was, at our local Park by the way. it was a perfect day to go biking that day, unfortunately our daughter was not with us, she was still in bed when we left, tired from last nights football game. But she was delighted and thought it was cute, that her parents went on a date without her hahahah....(usually, when we say were going out on a date,  we literally mean "WE" the people in our house. The three of us, my husband and i  cannot bear to go out and have a wonderful time with just the two of us, unless our daughter says "no". well, thats us and every family is different.
        But anyway, i cannot wait for our next "bikes-capade". BTW my husband is planning to buy her own hybrid trailway soon, he wasn't happy riding that old bike, he said his butt was sore heheheheh....

backyard barbecue

my sis-in-law seasoning the meat



viven's bow tie pasta



my favorite seaweed, left over from last night's party



viven's fruit salad, from last night's party



my niece



the gang




the "torch bearer" heading to the grill

                         Ok, if eating is wrong, i dont want to be right...hahhahaha  well i don't know what else to to tell you, but our family loves food. We all love to cook, spend time talking just about anything and telling jokes! So, after last night's party, we decided to have a barbecue at the park before we head back to Bakersfield, which is like a 3 and a half hour drive from Modesto. unfortunately the park that we went ot did not have barbecue grills and they have this huge sign that says no fire. So then, we go back to my brother in law's cousins' house for the barbecue. I say, park or no park made no difference. We were as merry as we can be. So merry, that we forgot the time. we're supposed to leave before dark and when you know it, the sun just disappeared hahahhaha.....You are always in good company with your family around, that you just forget the time. Even if you just talked about nonsensical things, going back years before when we were kids, but just the laughter being shared together is just priceless. I can't wait till the next gathering again. It did'nt matter wether we drove 3 or 4 hours. We got home close to midnight, tired and our bellys full, and the laughter and times spent together will stay in our hearts forever.

Mitsuwa Markertplace

Mitsuwa marketplace



isn't she cute?




i am so drooling .....




too pretty to eat :)




Love bean bread




so good!




oh my, more goodies!



bento box



and some more.....




hello kitty marshmallows?




this is insane!!!!




hmnnnn....sushi




my favorite, inari




and more.....



people, lining up for this noodle stand



                                       OHAYO!!!!! Ogenki desu ka? my dear friends! A week ago, we went to San Jose, CA to visit a dear friend of my husband. It's been 2 or 3 years maybe since our last visit. They are like parents to us. And my daughter would call them grandma and grandpa too. They are really nice couple. We went with my sis-in-law, her mother-in-law, my sis-in-law's husband and their daughter. So pretty much the same folks going out on a trip....hahahaha. We're very close family, that's why. It was really nice to them again, a lot of catching up with what's going on here and there. We pretty much just passed time talking in thier kitchen table, ate some sandwiches and the best part was the "goodie" Anne, ordered this sort of strawberry shortcake. She said it was the last cake of the strawberry season, so she made sure that shes going to serve it to us. It was really delicious very delicate cake. Just the perfect sweetness and tangy taste to it. I forgot the name of the Mexican Bakery, she ordered it from, but she said Anne said that it was the only bakery in San Jose who makes that wonderful delicate strawberry cake.
So, later that day we head home but before that we got to stop by the japanese marketplace called MITSUWA. Love, love this place. Everytime we go to San Jose, the family always stops by at that place. I knew my niece love Japanese food, so i promised to take her there. We love their "goodies" especially their bento box. Huge selection to choose from. And since it was a long trip, like 5 hours maybe from where we live. I make sure that i get evry flavor there is in thier bento boxes. Of course i do love INARI. Anne was the one who introduced the food to me:) really delicious. i don't know what it is really, but the wrapper is like a very thin omelet and inside is this sweet sticky white rice. My niece like them too!
We were just so excited like a kid in a candy store when we got there. On the corner, was a noodle shop, and also a small noodle stand in the middle. people were lining up. The noodle smells so good, but we didn't get a chance to buy one, because of the long line and it was getting late. We have an invitation that night in Modesto, So we didn't want our belly to get full before we go to the party you know...hehehehe...Well, too bad i was really tempted to get just a small bowl of noodle soup, just to taste them. Maybe on our next visit. How i wish we have it here in Bakersfield.  By the way before i forget here is a photo of the strawberry cake.

round table pizza



chicken and combo pizza




Maui Zaui




garlic bread





wings

 



and the family, looks like were taking our class picture reunion :)


          Hello dear friends! It's been a while since a post my last blog. I've been a busy bee lately. Anyway, this was taken a few weeks ago, when we visit my sis-in-law in Modesto, Ca. And as all of you know, whenever there's a family gathering food is always present. We seldom eat out, we like the backyard get together, but in this particular day, my brother-in-law's cousin invited us out to Round Tables Pizza. They say it was the best. My husband looooves pizza. Me? well just depends on my mood. I have never had a pizza that i would say i really liked. They are either too oily, crust is too thick, or they are too salty for me.
           So, we sat there waiting for our order. They ordered 3 kinds of pizza for us to try. We had the combo, the chikcen parmesan and Maui Zaui. And OMG!!!!!! They were right! BEHOLD!!!!! dear fellas.....i finally found "the pizza" place that i really liked. Everything was really good. The Maui Zaui was my personal choice. It's like a hawaiian pizza but "the BEST'. A touch oif sweetness, the perfect saltiness, with the tomatoes, canadian bacon, sweet peppers and cheese on top....hmnnnnnnn....delish! And i love their garlic bread too! Melt in your mouth garlicky taste. And guess what, i have found out, just recently that we have Round Tables Pizza here in our town. Imagine that. For sure i will visit the place one of this days, and check if they are good. Because you know sometimes, the tastes differs from one place to the other, i think depending on the cook? but that's just my opinion.
             So there, i'd say it again...Round Tables Pizza is the best! try their Maui Zaui it's that good!



visiting Nanay, Lancaster, Ca

the beautiful scenery, on our way to lancaster



lots of trees like this in the desert, i beleive this are called joshua tree. for some reason they remind me of a camel




almost there




nanay's pet, her constant companions



we were here to buy a few tiles for her sink



at the cinema





pls. fall in line




here to buy a small charcoal grill, air bed




oh this was lunch



my husband fixing the sink and his cousin ryan as the supervisor :)




the two fixing the screen door which was blown away by the desert wind some weeks ago.
and ryan's sweet baby girl.



tadah....heres the brand new grill!



us....



way back home...

so, we were in Lancaster last weekend to visit my husbands aunt. at the same time, we were there to help her fix her sink. It was like a family gathering since her son and his family came to visit too. They took us to the movies, of course we watched harry potter! we're all fan of the series. I say it was good.

it was warm that day, well of course Lancaster, CA  is a desert area, its near Mojave, but it sure was windy. at night the wind is a bit chilly, yet very relaxing. We had a barbeque, got to have it, otherwise its not a family gathering. It's nice to feel the cool breeze while enjoying the beautiful  night sky with the twinkling stars, and from time to time we see a couple of satellite passing by. I really appreciate this kind of stuff, since you dont get this kind of opportunity when you live in the city.

The night was perfect, dinner was great, we had our belly full...:), we bought ice cream, but gosh, everybody had to pass, no room for any kind of dessert. I think we ate a lot of rice, barbecue, and drink a lot of Nanay's thirst quenching lemonade! Ahhhh...that was the best! As usual, on gatherings like this we often tell stories, chit chat for almost two hours on the table before we clean up. It was exactly midnight when we decided to quit chatting.:) one by one, we start yawning. We clean up the table, then afterwards my husband fix the broken tiles. It was past one in the morning, when we went to bed.

the next morning, I asked nanay if we can go thrifting. Oh, i love thrifting . We went to a couple of stores, since most of them are close on sundays. I was so excited and anxious to buy a little something, But My gosh, i was in despair when i saw how expensive their thrift store was :( it was twice as much he price from our thrift store. Huh....my "high" became "low" from the "high price" LOL! I told Nanay, that i like their place, so clean and quiet, no traffic, but i just dont like your thrift store...hahahhaa. i'd rather buy something new cause its cheaper. :) Although i didn't get anything at the thriftstore, we did have some fun spending time with them.


MIS AMIGOS MEXICAN GRILL

Before i tell you about the restaurant, let me tell you how we got there. Well, we went to the PEAAK awards night few days ago, the award is for HS kids in Kern District for excellence in athletics and activities. it was an honor for us parents that our schools winter drumline was one of the finalist that night. They were nominated for Best Musical Excellence. Although they didn't win, it was a night to remember. It looks like a night at the Oscars : ) It was hosted by our local sports anchor Gregg Kerr of Channel 29.




Gregg Kerr



here's our drumline performing

Ok, about the restaurant...it was getting late at night the ceremony was about to start in an hour. We didnt ate dinner yet, and we could hear our stomach grumbling. We were park near the entrance of the auditorium and as usual we dont want to lose our spot. So we went  across the street and spotted this Mexican eating place...

on the corner of California ave. & H st. Bakersfield CA.

a view from across the parking lot

tables n chairs on the side, if you want to eat outside

I thought we'd give it a try, given the circumstances. It was the closest place we can find. We didn't order much, we just want a quick bite so we can go back to the auditorium  and reserve our seat. I ordered a beef chimichanga, not knowing what it was really, and it was the smallest one on the menu. looking at the pics and a small burger n fries. Gosh...our order came, the chimichanga was so huge....like a huge burrito!  So my husband and i shared it, and it was awesome! the flavor was good, and you can tell the meat they use was fresh. When it comes to eating out my family is so picky, and for the first time we can say that we do like this Mexican grill, their chimichanga at least. i would like to go back  to try their other menu sometime. The place is not so big, very hispanic ambience. not to many people when we get there, well they were about to close in an hour. There's a couple of guys came in and ordered take out, and i get the feeling that they were regulars in that place, they seem to know their customers. So, we finish eating,  and i'm sorry i forgot to take a picture before we devour our food : ) cashier lady is getting ready to lock the doors and draw the blinds. Before we head out to the door, we bade goodbye to the chef and thank him for the nice meal :)