Although it’s been a while since I’ve gone “back to school,” I still look forward to this time of year. It brings back memories of the promise of a fresh new start, new teachers, new clothes, new school supplies, etc. I enjoy the “nip in the air”, as mentioned in the Berenstein Bears book my sister and I used to read with my Mom. Good luck to one of my dearest high school friends who will be starting school tomorrow, as a teacher at our alma mater! I visited her classroom and the campus last weekend and it brought back a lot of memories. Even though it has changed, it still feels the same.
Huntington – Labor Day
L & I went to Huntington Beach. It was warm today so we decided to go to the beach. Also we hadn’t gone since probably July. Note: This is the beach that I have visited the most in my entire life.
There was some BoardFest event on, and we saw a Hello Kitty display, so of course we needed to take a photo.
P.S. I received my Mazda 3; finally! A nice employee benefit. This is the best car I have ever owned or leased! Sorry Jeep Grand Cherokee! Better handling and gas mileage. Chicks still dig it. Well at least my wife, since it has an I-pod plug in.
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Baby Boom
WPC is experiencing a mini baby boom. Last Saturday I went to a baby shower for my friend D, who is expecting in October. There were three other pregnant women there, including me! We posed for this picture, in order of when we’re due (L–>R = October–>January):
It’s A Girl!
This morning D and I found out that we are having a girl! D and I both took the morning off and went to my ultrasound appointment together. The technician said she was “90% sure” that it is a girl, which is good enough for me. I guess this means we have to get more serious about picking a girl’s name. I was wavering, but put it off since I figured I wouldn’t have to worry about it if it turned out to be a boy. I am also excited to start thinking about how to decorate the nursery and deciding what to register for. I was hoping for a girl, perhaps because I am pretty much a girly-girl. I also had a feeling it would be a girl, as girls tend to run in my family. My parents have three daughters, no sons, and my grandma has five granddaughters and no grandsons!
3 Weeks
I have 3 weeks till my half-marathon. I was thinking about tapering off my training, but my co-worker said I should run longer. So I decided to run another 10.5 miles. Another co-worker told me about energy gels and how I should have one before I run. I did feel lightheaded when I last ran 10.5 miles, so I decided to buy some energy gels. Further, my co-worker said “don’t change anything on race day”, and since I was planning on eating something on race day, I decided I better try it out now. So L & I went to REI on Friday night. I bought 3 PowerBar Gels, 1 GU, and 1 Cliff Shot. I looked at all three makes, and all were made in Berkeley, CA. Interesting. I had the Cliff Shot right before I got out of my car to run. It didn’t taste good, and I needed to drink a lot of water to wash it down. When I ran I felt stronger and my legs had more kick. Further, I didn’t feel lightheaded and I didn’t cramp up. I felt like I needed another energy gel mid way through coming back. I ran it in 1 hr and 44 mins. Over 8 minutes faster than my previous best 10.5 mile run. So I am excited that it worked. However, I am not too sure if it was all due to the gel, because I did cut my hair really short. I have run 3 10.5 mile runs, and I am thinking on tapering it down now that I only have 3 weeks left. If I ran what I did today and then power walked that last 2.6 miles, it should get me under 2.5 hours.
Pho Today
I always thought it would be cool to have a neighborhood restaurant to call our own. You know, like the Central Perk on “Friends” or Luke’s Diner on “Gilmore Girls”. However, I always like trying new restaurants, so we never really become “regulars” at any specific place. The one restaurant that comes closest for us is Pho Today, on the corner of Katella and Knott (behind Del Taco). We like this place because it is close by, pretty cheap, friendly and non-intimidating, and the food is good! Nothing beats a bowl of steaming hot pho when you think you’re coming down with a cold, or you just want to warm up. We like to super-size #8 ($5) for $1 extra. Also, ask about the daily special–$5, (usually some sort of stir-fry with rice), including drink. I also recommend # 44–vermicelli, charbroiled beef and egg roll, $6.50.
Anaheim Pride
On Saturday D and I went to an Angels-Mariners game with Debbie, Lisa, and Eugene. This was our first, and will probably be our only baseball game of the season. We usually try to go about once or twice a year. Since there aren’t many good food choices at Angels Stadium, we ate at Charley’s Steakery at the Block beforehand. D used to go there when he worked nearby. Lisa and Eugene introduced us to the $5 parking lots that are near the stadium (as opposed to the $10 stadium parking that we usually use). The game was pretty good, although a little too close for comfort(especially for Debbie) at times. Also, we ended up sitting one row behind a couple of people we know from WPC–what a coincidence! D had a good time showing off his MC Hammer moves during the “Can’t Touch This” break and shocking everyone when he took off his hat to reveal his horrendously short hair cut during the National Anthem.
Harvest Crusade
My favorite types of music are Christian and Country. For Christian music my favorite bands are Third Day and Newsboys; for Country it’s Brooks & Dunn and Rascal Flatts. So I was excited to hear last week that Newsboys were playing at the Harvest Crusade at Angels Stadium. L & I went and were having a difficult time finding a seat, but luckily ran into “T” (From Wintersburg) and friends at the Crusade, who had two open seats. It was a beautiful day and we got to sit in the shade on the upper deck. It was pretty packed except the “outfield” area since the stage was on second base facing toward home plate. MercyMe and Newsboys played. L liked MercyMe better, however I liked Newsboys better. I was pleasantly surprised by both bands.
Angel Stadium View
Mercy Me
Newsboys
Newsboys’ Lead Singer
Nisei Week/Tofu Festival
On Saturday, D and I trekked out to Little Tokyo to check out Nisei Week and the Tofu Festival. I thought I could park at my work, but my garage wasn’t open, so we had to find public parking, which is never a fun thing in L.A. Our first stop was Marukai, where D picked up some CA rolls and I had a mini chicken karage bento. Then we wandered around a bit, stopping at the Kinokuniya bookstore and Weller Court.
I told D we had to try the frozen yogurt at the newly opened Fiore. 
We ordered a small green tea frozen yogurt with raspberries. Normally, I would feel bad paying over $4 for frozen yogurt, but I’ve heard so many people rave about Pinkberry, that I had see what all of the fuss was about. Who knew that Koreans had a thing for frozen yogurt?? It was definitely tangy…more like actual yogurt rather than soft serve, which most frozen yogurts seem to taste like these days. D wasn’t too impressed–probably tasted too healthy for him.
There really weren’t too many Nisei Week activities going on that day. I think most of the festivities are next week. We briefly looked at exhibits of Japanese dolls, calligraphy, swords and ceramics. I liked the ikebana arrangements. Here is an example:
This was our third tofu festival, and I think that it is getting better. Look for the free admission coupons that come in the grocery coupons on the Sunday before the festival–$8 value! There seemed to be more free samples, and more tastings in the $2-3 range, rather than the $4-$5 range. We had a Thai chicken skewer, green tea boba, mini tofu turkey meatball sandwich and D’s favorite, chile garlic tofu (from the Lee Kum Kee booth). I think I will try to make it at home:
We also watched a cooking demonstration by Ann Gentry of Real Food Daily. She made grilled tofu sandwiches and caesar salad with tofu dressing. She was touting the wonders of “vegannaise”.
There was also a performance by the UCLA taiko team.
Finally, D bought me an early birthday present 🙂 This tote by Spicy Brown! 
So cute!
Running & San Diego
Well I ran another 10.5 mile run. This time in 1 hr and 53 minutes. Beating my old record by 3 mins. I went out slower and came back faster with only cramping in my right calf. At the end I was feeling light headed, and feeling like I was about to faint, but I didn’t. I am not sure if I am going to run any more 10 mile runs until my race in 5 weeks. I only have 4 more weekends and the 2 before I am not suppose to run long runs. So we’ll see, maybe I will run 8.6 miles and match my Napa run.
Travel & Leisure/AOL America’s Favorite Cities 2004 edition ranked the top 25 cities in the U.S. (they included U.S. territories e.g. Puerto Rico). The rankings included 8 different categories: Family Trips, People, Activities, Romance, Getting Around, Holidays & Seasons, Quality of Life, & Sightseeing. Honolulu had the most top 5 rankings: 6. San Francisco and San Diego were in 2nd place with five categories in the top 5. So having the favorite cities in the continental U.S. in our state is pretty inpressive. L and I are going to go to San Diego next month and I have been doing a lot of research on San Diego. San Diego is a pretty impressive city. It is interesting that San Diego is CA second most populated city. I am looking forward to seeing Balboa Park & Mission Bay.