I cannot believe that I am 33 years old today. I remember when I thought that any age over 30 was old. It’s funny how perspectives change, isn’t it? Well, today my sister and I left Las Vegas and headed to Los Angeles. When I was planning my trip, I decided that it would be fun to celebrate my birthday in both Vegas and LA. It’s worked out well. It was sad to say goodbye to my parents this morning. Even though I’ll only be gone for a few months, it felt similar to the time when I left the [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday, my sister and I flew from San Jose, CA to the city I love to visit, but could never live in...Las Vegas. Ironically though...my parents, who are now in their pseudo-retirement years, now call this city home. So the trip here was mainly to spend some quality time with my parents before I jet set to Europe for a couple of months. I don’t know why, but I seem to be getting less sleep now that I am on hiatus from work, than I did when I was back home in Hawaii living my normal day-to-day life. I’ve come [View Full Entry]

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My sister and I spent the day doing what we love best... eating at a couple of our favorite Bay Area eateries (Mexico Tipico - the most delicious chilequiles rojas for breakfast and Yank Sing - the ultimate in dim sum cuisine for a late lunch), treating ourselves to a medicare/pedicare/massage combo treatment at the new Refresh Hand and Foot Spa in Nob Hill, and shopping at the San Francisco Centre. The weather was perfect in the city - sunny, limited fog , and in the mid-70s. There is something that I absolutely love about San Francisco. To me, it [View Full Entry]

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Today is not only Father’s Day, but also the planned celebration of my dad’s 60th birthday at Tarpy’s Roadhouse Restaurant in his hometown of Monterey, CA. My dad is truly the most amazing man that I know. Anyone who is fortunate enough to meet my dad will agree that he is patient, compassionate, loving, well-respected, and humble. From my earliest memories, my dad has always been my biggest supporter, the best advice-giver, and the most influential person in my life. Growing up, my dad taught me the importance of 1) expressing love (from the little things like packing m [View Full Entry]

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This morning brought back so many childhood memories. Although we are staying at my Uncle Jeff’s house in Del Rey Oaks, it felt eerily similar to the times when we would stay at Grandpa and Grandma B’s house in Monterey when I was younger. This morning we woke up to Uncle Benny’s famous sour cream pancakes, portuguese sausage, and sizzling bacon. The house was full of life as multi-generations of our family came in and out throughout the day and well into the wee hours of Sunday morning. We of course reminisced about the old times, but also caught up on [View Full Entry]

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Last night, we found our way to the vacation rental in Napa after a late night dinner at Hurley’s in Yountville. Today we hit only three wineries...Paradigm, Honig, and Ladera, but somehow I still managed to get wasted. Paradigm was nothing spectacular. We only tasted one Cabernet, but Honig completely made up for the disappointing first stop. After grabbing made-to-order gourmet sandwiches from Dean & Deluca, a couple of bottles of Savignon Blanc, and some homemade snickerdoodle cookies, we headed to Honig and luckily bumped into our friend, David (former Tasting Manager at Honig). [View Full Entry]

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San Francisco Pualani I couldn’t go to sleep last night. This...my 3 month sabbatical...still doesn’t feel real. Of course, I still had to do some last-minute packing and bill-paying this morning, but I somehow (hopefully I didn’t forget anything important!) packed my suitcases for what will be the most anticipated journey of my life to date. My first destination will ironically take me back to where my life started... back to the Bay Area. Although I no longer have a home to go back to, in my heart of hea [View Full Entry]

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