Saturday morning bike ride and activities...

Waking up early on a Saturday is always nice if what you have plan is a day of fun and not errands. It allows oneself to make better use of the hours in the day. This Sat, Andy, Denny, Kat, Keo, Lee, Monica and myself were glad we made it out to Lake Hodges for some MTB riding. The overcast skies made for a very pleasant ride on the west trails at Lake Hodges. It was the first time I myself rode a trail on this side of the lake and it was very nice. It also allow us to enjoy a great view of the lake as it snake along side our trail for pretty much the entire way.

Here is a beautiful view of a portion of Lake Hodges. Unfortunately, the water level has dramatically decreased in the past few years. It wasn't that long ago when one of the local news story was how the dam was overflowing with water. Seeing the lake now reminds us that we need to be mindful of our water use.

Here is another vantage point of the lake looking towards the east with the beautiful cloudy overcast sky and the morning sun poking through it. One of the rewards of waking up early and getting out there to take in what mother nature and life has to offer. I love the stark contrast between the soft, fluffy clouds and the sharp and pointy cactus plant in the foreground. The red fruit of the cactus made me wish it was a delicious eating fruit.

We came upon this little water crossing right before the uphill climb. There were a lot of crayfish here too. Remember this stream as we will review it later.

Lee and Andy riding past me as I lay there in the sand to play with this vantage point.

Here's Lee and Denny on our way back to he trailhead.

Kathy and Monica rode ahead of us. Upon our decent back to the stream...we witness Kathy taking a little bath. Here's a quick blurry pic of her getting up out of the water. OK..the real story is, she attempted to cross the stream by riding through it. However, she didn't navigate very well in the water and ended up hitting a rock and falling in.

Denny and Monica looking on as Keo helps Kat out of the water.

Here's a shot of Keo inspecting for any damage to the bike...and Kathy taking more care in crossing the little stream.

***New*** BTF Lee showing how to cross a stream and rehydrate yourself at the same time. ;) Cool action shot! I can't believe I forgot to put this on the first time around.

I am glad everyone made it back safely. There were a few parts of the trail that almost claim more serious casualties...but we were able to avoid any major injuries. Good thing since after the mountain biking, we all went back to the park near my house for some basketball and tennis action. Once we were done with that, it was back to my place where Julie served everyone Chicken Pho that she lovingly made. Once our stomach was all filled, we hooked up the Xbox 360 for some Halo 3 fun. What a nice relaxing way to hang out with friends. Thanks to Andy for organizing and to him and Lee for driving out to pick up El Pollo Loco and some Oscar's breadstick for dinner :)

Just a smile...

...is all I ask for. Ah...kids, it's so hard to get them to do what you want. :) Terrence is the cutest when he is laughing and smiling, but as soon as he sees the camera, he has the funniest looking face. See below for what I mean.

This is the face he gives when he sees me with the camera and trying my best to get his attention.

This is the face I was trying to get a shot of. Noticed how he's looking at his mom next to me and smiling so adorably? So cute!

This is where mom is in the picture above.

Another angle of where mom is in the picture.

Growth and harvest...

On Sunday, Julie and I drove up with Terrence to purchase some Kee Wah mooncakes to beui our parents and grandparent. This is a traditional thing that asian people do prior to the lunar festival. All the asian shopping centers were packed with people doing the same thing.

Once done there, we drove over to my parents house where Julie had a good time picking guavas and apples from my parents tree. Looking at the sizes of the tree and the bountiful fruits dangling from them got me remembering when my family and I first moved into that house many years ago. There was nothing there except hard, rocky dirt and my parents had to plant everything.

I remember dreading having to wake up on the weekend to go outside and pull weeds or help clean up the yard. But now if it weren't for those efforts, we wouldn't be having such a special time enjoying these moments with my parents, picking fruits and later enjoy eating them. Looking at how small Terrence is, one can't help thinking life is so similar. We must plant those seeds and saplings...knowledge and nurture them to grow. There's a lot of effort there, but only when we put in the time and effort can we harvest the fruits of those labors years later.

Check out the following pictures. Being short is always a challenge...especially when you are fruit picking. :)

It's like Julie went grocery shopping...the nice thing about having a fruit tree is you get to pick the fruit at the exact moment it taste that way you like it. In my case, I like my apples crunchy...and more on the tart side with some sweetness. Goes great with chili salt. :)

Stormy weather...

Fall is definitely here as the nights in San Diego is getting chillier and our first storm of the season is here. Check out the dramatic skies...

But even then, you can find breaks in the clouds for some dramatic blue skies. Plus a shift in white balance too. I used an off camera remote flash to light up the container in the foreground.

Coming of age...

Ok, so Terrence is still too young to really come of age, but in this BTF household, eating is not only part of life...but it is a way of life. It can be life itself. ;) As Terrence turns six month old today, he gets to start on solid food. So these pictures are the first images of him eating an rice cereal concoction that Julie mixed up with her mother's milk. This helps him transition into eating real food.

However, I had a feeling that that transition was not going to be a very difficult one for Terrence. True to his birth sign, Terrence is a true pig as he was definitely born with the appetite as well as the innate knowledge to eat. You can see in the later pictures that he decided that he can hold his own spoon and feed himself. :D What a precious moment. The only thing that can ruin it is the thought of the smell that real food suppose to cause to his poop. Not looking forward to that...but given the popularity of the last poop picture I put online, I made have to grant the special request made by Kathy and put a picture of his first solid food poop when that time comes. ;)

Mom going in for a second pass...

Terrence figured he'll give his mom a hand...

Mmmmm...that was good.

Check out the following sequence. You can see that by the end of the meal, Terrence knows what to do and helps his inexperience mom quicken up the feeding by using his own hands to push her's towards his awaiting mouth. By the end, he goes and grab the spoon himself as if he says, "I can feed myself, thank you."

Fish's for dinner...

I woke up this morning and had the urge to cook the Marlin Julie defrosted for the day before but we did not get to cook. I figured I could make a couple of dishes with it and bring it to the office for lunch. However, I did not get a chance to eat my creation because the storm was brewing and the colder weather means a hot bowl of Chinese noodles was calling for me and Nena. If you didn't know, both me and my big sis LOVE NOODLES!

So off we went at lunch to a little noodle shop on Linda Vista Rd. The steaming combination of yellow egg and white rice noodles really hit the spot and even better, it was Nena's treat. Thanks so much!!!

After work, I stopped by the tennis court to get a little exercise in and played a set with Sonny, Don and the new guy, Day or Dave. I thought it was Dave, but I heard Sonny mention his name was Day or something like that later on that night. Regardless, the team composed of Sonny and I did a decent job early on as we slowly pulled away before I temporarily dislocated my left shoulder on a menacing volley/slam at the net. Luckily for me, the arm went back into the socket as quickly as it got out. Nonetheless, damage was done and with my shoulder weak, the other team caught up and tied before taking the lead at 6 games to our 5. But Sonny and I caught up which forced the match to go into a tie breaker where we had to play in the dark. Even with the challenge of being able to see the ball and make contact with it, Sonny and I eventually managed to win the set. Yea!!! for us.

Afterwards, I stopped by Nena's house to pick up some fish she had defrosted especially for me and Julie. So with some really fresh looking fish, I go the urge to cook a couple of dishes for dinner tonight and allow my wife to rest a bit. I got home at 8:10 and we were eating by 8:50. Not too shabby and it was good meal. A simple two dish affair, but it's great to be able to have a home cooked meal with my wife and child. Terrence got to sit in his high chair patiently awaiting his turn to eat. He's actually going to get to eat solid food for the first time tomorrow morning so stay tune for pictures from that life's first event. :)

Fried fish topped with galic, jalapenos from Julie's mom's garden and a delicious sweet fish sauce courtesy of Nena. The fish was fried enough that we were able to chew through of the bones. Just the way my friend Denny likes it.

Simple fish soup that really help to balance out the flavors of the first dish.

Found pictures....

Ok, uncle Ham and auntie Karin was over at the house a few weeks ago. I just noticed some pictures in my Terrence collection that I don't recognize shooting. I had to check the EXIF info and sure enough, it was from Ham's camera. Here is Ham's contribution to the blog with Terrence holding the gift Ham and Karin brought down. He loves grabbing a handful of the dog's ears and stuffing as much of it as he can into his mouth.

Ham did a great job in capturing this happy, smiling picture of Terrence.

Faces and patience...

A couple of days ago, Terrence started making a funny face as he smacks his lower lips. The facial expression only last for a split second and I really wanted to capture it on camera. We think it may signal him starting to teeth or he's just finding a new way to entertain himself. Either way, one must have patience in order to capture the expression. Often times, I would see it, but by the time I press the shutter button, the expression is gone. So, sometimes, you just need to anticipate and press the button before you see it to capture the moment.

Here he is sitting in a new toy that his uncle Terry bought for him. The seat turns 360 degrees so Terrence is free to rotate from one toy station to the next. You should see him pounding away on the little buttons that makes noise and music. He's so strong and so content at mashing those buttons, I am afraid at what he may do once he's more mobile. However, I am sure with his parents instruction and his great mannerism, Terrence won't be such a terror. Hey, let a guy dream ok? Don't burst my bubbles yet.

I LOVE this second picture.

Terrence really looks like an oinker in this one. Check out his nose. :D

A shot of the under side...you can see zig zaggety ridges that helps to stimulate his tactile feeling underneath his foot. But also make sure to check out the ridges on Terrence's fat thighs too. LOL

Keeping him safe...

I was surprise to learn how many of our friends had their precise little baby roll off the bed and hurt themselves while the mom looked away for a split second. Julie being the thoughtful mom that she is when it comes to Terrence always made it a habit to lay him on the ground, on top of a blanket whenever she has to look away for more than a second. Now that Terrence likes to sit more, we found the laundry hamper to be a great tool to help keep him occupied and upright as one looks away. Simply prop the back with a pillow in case he loses his balance and falls backwards. As far as the front is concern, Terrence is good enough with his hands and arms to prop himself there to prevent falling that way. Throw a toy or two in there and it keeps him occupied and happy for a while. :) Just make sure your kid is not at the stage where he's starting to want to walk, as I am sure he'll try to escape by using the rails to try and stand up which made make him end up tumbling over the side of the basket instead.

Trip to Pleasanton...

I just landed this afternoon from my trip to the bay area. It was a fun trip and I got to try a few new places at the newly opened asian plaza in Dublin call Ulferts Center. The first day, we ate at a place called Koi Garden with my coworkers which serve HK style food and is an offshoot of Koi Palace and that family of restaurants. But what was cool was the visit to Vin Pearl, a more upscaled Vietnamese restaurant, later that night.

Every detail in this restaurant was done to my taste and style. The menu design was really nice, from the brief, but well written intro to Vietnamese cuisine and actual printing processed used to print the menu to the nicely decorated interior and uniform of the wait staff. It was a delight.

I ordered way too much, a soft shell crab appetizer, a prawn dish and a shaking beef dish. All dishes were very good and you must really eat the salad in tandem with the meat of the dish in order to enjoy the balance of taste. The presentation was really nice as well. After the entrees, I made room for a lightly friend split banana, topped with two scoops of vanilla ice cream and a cinnamony pineapple glazed sauce and toasted macadamia nuts. Mmmmm...soo good. Anyways, I digged in to quickly to take a picture of the desert but enjoy some pics of the place and entrees below.

Nice logo design

A sample of the interior design...nicer than other Vietnamese restaurant I have been to

Shaking Beef dish

Delicious prawn dish

The waitress, picture taken by mom. I was hoping to catch more of the waitress' uniform. Oh well...

The final day, I missed lunch because I was working too hard...so I treated myself to the newly opened Osaka Ramen in the same center. I heard the chef went over to Japan to learn how to properly make the three base broth (soy, pork and miso) for Japanese ramen. I tried the two of the three base, the soy and pork, as seen in the following picture. Suffice to say, I could barely move after eating all this. And for the second day in a row, the waitress comment that I can really eat a lot and they they are impress.

A Soy based Ma Pao Tufu ramen. I had better but the noodles were a good consistency.

The Tonkatsu (pork) based soup