Whew…..I’m finally done with my busiest semester ever. Not only do I need to juggle a full time job and an internship, I also had 2 classes which required a lot of group projects and assignments. Call me crazy!! Now finally this semester is over. I just turned in my last paper yesterday. Then I’m done with my internship next Saturday. I can finally sit down and relax a bit!
Christmas is coming! My parents are coming down to spend winter break in Southern California. I really can’t wait! There are so many places I want to show them here but never got to.
Let me see….touristy places I already thought of include: Joshua Tree National Park, Big Bear/Lake Arrowhead, Huntington Library, Descanso Garden, Getty Villa, Old Town Pasadena, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach….etc. The list can go on. I really don’t understand why LA people kept saying there are no places to go. We’re lucky enough we get all these great weathers and great places to go during weekends. I don’t know if I’ll ever get bored with LA.
” Jingle bell, jingle bell~~ ” Holiday season is coming~~ I’m so excited!!
This is the year of the mouse. Supposedly people who were born in the year of lamb will have a smooth sailing year in 2008, especially in career and school. But they have to watch out for relationship problems and health issues.Who knows if those yearly predictions are true. We’ll just see about that.
Four days of Thanksgiving break went by so fast. I was planning on just relaxing at home for my break, but I ended up spending 2 days out with my family.
On Black Friday, I went out shopping with my parents. I normally don’t like to shop with the crowds. But my parents needed to buy something. There were tons of people and cars outside on Black Friday. The shopping mall were crowded with people trying to get good deals on this day. I really hate to wait in line with all these people. So I didn’t buy anything and went home right after my parents bought what they needed.
Later that evening, my mom told me there was a tree lighting event in Danville downtown. The Tree Lighting event is a once-a-year event in this little town of Danville. It always occurs on the day after Thanksgiving. They would put up lights on the big oak tree in downtown to signify the beginning of the holiday season.
When we got there around 5pm, there were already crowds of Danville residents waiting to hear San Ramon Valley High School Choir perform. I used to be in the choir when I was in high school. I also performed for this event many years ago. Seeing all these high school kids reminded me so much of my high school years.
Our choir director, Mr. Abrams, did not change a bit after all these years. Here is a clip of him directing the choir and asking the crowds to join (sorry the film wasn’t too clear due to dark lighting):
我的合唱團老師, Mr. Abrams, 看起來還是和從前一樣. 一點也沒變. 下面這段影片是他一邊指揮合唱團唱Jingle Bells, 一邊叫群眾一起加入合唱的片段(抱歉, 外頭太黑, 拍得不清楚):
On Saturday, my sister wanted to see an exhibit about minds in San Francisco Exploratorium. I went to the Exploratorium once many years ago. It’s a science museum that exhibits many little interesting scientific experiments for kids to play around. We had a good time playing around those little toys in there. The minds exhibit showed how our brain functions or our eyes’ components. It was very educational.
After the museum, we went to Japan Town to eat okonomiyaki. I love Japan Town in SF. Everything is located inside this shopping plaza. You can find pretty much anything inside: restaurants, clothing shops, bakery, bookstores..etc.
I had such a wonderful Thanksgiving meal last night. I flew back last night from LA. After my mom picked up my sister and I from the airport, we went to my uncle’s place directly.
My cousin Virginia was the main chef this year. She spend numerous hours in the kitchen yesterday baking turkey and cooked so many other yummy Thanksgiving food: baked yam, stuffing, butternut squash soup, potato salad, and pumpkin cheesecake. Uncle Lu also cooked so many Chinese dishes. Our table was filled with so many food. We were so full afterward.
The turkey was a great success this year. The meat was very tender and juicy. I have never have such delicious turkey before. Usually turkey tends to be very dry and we usually have so many leftover turkey meat. This year we finished at least half of the 12 lbs. turkey. Not too bad!
After the meal, Virginia also baked several pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin pies. We had chocolate fondue as well. We were so full at the end. Everyone was in a food coma and ready to go to sleep. That was such a wonderful and fulfilling Thanksgiving meal. It was also nice to see my family again.
