merry christmas!

things has been a lil crazy lately...  we had our company holiday party last friday (12.19) which was nice since i won a garmin gps!!!  :)  saturday (12.20) was at a co-worker's holiday party and it was fun...  monday (12.22) had our department potluck/white elephant...  i got a 5-piece hello kitty cooking utensils...  sis and fam is in town so went over to their hotel and play with my baby nephew at night...  my friend/god daughter ended up not coming from van due to the weather condition...  sigh~  yesterday mommy got back from taipei...

today is christmas eve!!!  and, i still need to go pick up a few more gifts...  oh, well...  it's so me...  *shrug*  haha...

wish everyone and their family a berry merry christmas and a happy new year!!!!!

i can't...

believe the year is almost over!!!  where did the time go?!?  christmas is 10 days away and i haven't even start preparing for it...  omg~  there are still lots of things to do...  i hope i can get them all done this week so i can relax during this holiday season...  suck it up!!!!!

on a brighter note, lots of exciting happenings coming up...

* 12.19 - department potluck/white elephant; hotel holiday party...

* 12.20 ~ 27 - sis and fam visiting from so. cal...  yay, i get to see my baby nephew again! miss him so much!!!

* 12.22 ~ 25 - my god daughter and her parents visiting from van...

* 12.29 ~ 1.1 - going to disneyland to ring in the new year at the happiest place on earth!!!  haven't seen mickey and minnie for a year and half now...

* 1.23 ~ 25 - vegas trip with one of my bestie...  vegas, baby~~~*

ahh... i am lovin' it...

continuing from my last post...

11.22.08 (saturday)

i got up super early this morning (for me at least) at around 6:30-ish and had some healthy breakfast from in-room dining...  then, we went on an 11-mile round trip morning bike tour from 8am to 10am...  our tour guide was the ex-mayor of sonoma...  wow...  he took us ride through gundlach-bundschu vineyards, the oldest operating winery in california...  he also took us to vella cheese factory and showed us how cheeses are made...

we went to meritage martini oyster bar & grill for lunch...  i had a peach tini, some fresh oysters, bbq oysters (yummy), caesar salad, half crab and half lobster, creme brulee...  this is a good place for casual dining...  originally we were gonna go there for dinner but we wanted to go back to santé again since it was sooo good!!!

i took a power nap after we got back to the hotel room...  then, went to the spa for a quick bathing ritual and a massage!!!  ugh...  how i wish we can stay here forever...

dinner was again at santé...  we had the 7-course tasting menu...  it was delicious as usual...  i will upload the pix later...

11.23.08 (sunday)

i slept in a bit this morning...  10-ish, maybe?  so, we just had lunch in the room before heading back home...  on our drive back, we stopped by infineon raceway...  there was some sort of race going on...  i have actually never been to a race track before so it's a whole new experience for me...  really cool though by the way...  the highlight was a porsche rear ended a brand new maserati...  *ouch*

the rest of my escape to the wine country...

ok, i admit i was too relax for the rest of my trip to even turn on my laptop and blog...  but, who can blame me...  i was having such a good time!  here's a recap for the rest of my trip...

11.21.08 (Friday)

we had arranged car service to take us around for the day so we can enjoy a few glass...  first, we headed to hanzell vineyards in sonoma for a private tasting and tour...  because they are not open to the public, we were the only ones there during that time...  it totally made our experience intimate...  very cool that they have a wine library!  they only carry two kinds of wine, pinot noir and chard...  but, oh, they are all so good...

then, we went to robert sinskey vineyards in napa...  did more tasting and the guy quickly showed us around...  they do have a good pinot gris...  it was a different atmosphere than hanzell...  hanzell is very traditional whereas robert sinskey is more trendy and commercialized...

last but not least, we ended up at zd wines in napa...  our wine educator was wonderful...  he totally sold me on the reserved chard and gewürztraminer...  they also have a small but pretty nice wine library...  we even got to taste a few right out of the barrel...  i can't believe you can get 300 bottles out of a barrel...  i would say zd is in between hanzell and robert sinskey...  traditional yet modern at the same time...

at the end of the day, i brought 12 bottles home with me...

we went to carneros bistro and wine bar for dinner...  i was very disappointed at the food...  oysters totally sucked...  tuna tartar has no flavor...  my sea bass was over cooked...  umm...  the only good thing would be my wine flight and dessert...  i found another wine i adore, dr. loosen's riesling from germany!

after all the food and wines, i had a good nighty-night...

* to be continued...

i am feeling a lil under the weather now...  *sniffle, sniffle, cough, cough*  it's time for some nyquil...

escaping to the wine country...

we arrived at the sonoma mission inn today for a 4 days and 3 nights getaway...  yay!!!  this is a much needed r&r...  i've been really stressed and tired lately...  it's funny how once you leave the city, you feel relax immediately...  we stopped by sausalito on our way for lunch at scoma's...  really yummy seafood...  loved it!!!  after check-in, we went to the famous bathing ritual at the spa...  came out feeling totally rejuvenated...  then, a late dinner at the restaurant here on site, santé...  what a fabulous meal...  started off with garlic, pesto soup in a shot glass, cauliflower custard with himalaya truffles on top, tuna tartar, lobster (super tender) and finished with green apple, kiwi, white peach sorbet...  our server, shawn, was awesome!!!  tomorrow will be a long day of wine tasting...  we will be visiting 3 vineyards...  can't wait!!!

my baby nephew...

my baby nephew, justyn, arrived to this world on october 14, 2008...  the poor little guy is currently in the hospital because of jaundice...  my mommy said he went through a lot of needle poking in the last 24 hours...  i am so sad when i heard this...  i miss him sooo much!!!  i hope he can get well soon and be a healthy baby forever...

a new beginning...

so, after five long years, i decided to blog again...  this will be my little place to dump my feelings and thoughts...  i'll be sharing experiences and moments as well...


xo