Browse Author: beakatude

Weekend Eats

It’s been a while since I’ve posted food on beakatude.  We had really nice weather this weekend so it was the perfect opportunity to go out and eat!  On Saturday morning, we walked to the Farmer’s Market and I opted for the kimchee fried rice with an egg on top from Namu.  It had kimchee (duh), little pieces of bacon and hot dog, and a little spicy kick to it.

Later that day, we had some errands to run so we stopped for a carnitas burrito at El Tonayense, one of my favorite taco trucks.  It’s conveniently located next to the Best Buy so you can just park in the lot, order your food, and then sit next to your car to enjoy it.  Yum.

Today, we did a little shopping in Union Square so for lunch we stopped at Super Duper for a burger.  The way they prepare the patty is very reminiscent of Fat Burger and was pretty tasty.  I got the Mini Burger (a 4-ounce patty) and Jes got the Super Burger, which is two 4-ounce patties.  Isn’t mine so cute?!  Their fries are pretty good and they have all-you-can eat homemade pickles that you just take out of the jars next to the soda dispenser.  I’m gonna have to go back for their chocolate-dipped soft-serve.

Popcorn

I’m at about the end of Week 17 and I gave up on trying to mask my growing belly at work this week.  On Thursday morning, I buttoned my work pants and it was U-G-L-Y.  It was also pretty snug so I finally busted out the BeBand that Ranee told me to buy from Target a few weeks ago.  It turns out to be as awesome as she described.

I basically went to work in my regular work pants on but left the top button undone and then slipped the BeBand over it to hold up my pants.  With a t-shirt over it, it just looked like I was wearing 2 layered t-shirts and I was so much more comfortable.  On Friday, I wore it again on top of my new maternity pants that are still a little too big and I didn’t have to keep pulling my pants up all day!  Genius.

Another new thing I’ve experienced this week was Kumquat kicking and squirming inside.  Every once in a while when I’m sitting still or lounging on the couch, I get this feeling of popcorn popping in my lower abdomen.  People say that it sometimes feels like gas but it’s different…the feeling comes from more in the front and to the right.  Neato.

We also got our test results back from the Quad Screen, a blood test for women over 35 years of age, that will tell us the likelihood of having a baby with a chromosomal anomaly or neural tube defect.  Everything was a big fat NEGATIVE, which is a super relief for us.  So now we’ll have to wait and see if we have a healthy kumquat in the anatomy ultrasound scheduled for Monday, 11/28.  We’ll also get to find out if it will be a boy or a girl.

Sad news…

Last night (11/9/11 @ 11 am Bangkok time), while I was out at dinner, I got two calls; first my mom called and then my brother called.  It was to tell me that my Grandma in Thailand just passed away.  It sounds like she was in the hospital for some time already and she was struggling to breathe and being fed by a G-tube.  My dad had just arrived in Thailand over the weekend and I’m so glad that he made it in time to see her on her last days.  He said that she left us peacefully.

She was my last living grandparent and I’m glad that I was able to see her in 2006 on my last trip to Thailand and she also walked down the aisle with my cousin Kenneth in our wedding in 2002.

She was 94 years old and lived a long fulfilling life leaving 2 sons, 1 daughter, 6 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, and one more on the way.  Rest in Peace, Grandma.

We passed.

A few weeks ago, Vyl convinced Jes that he needed some practice before Kumquat arrives.  So he agreed to babysit Rowan for an evening.  On Friday night, Bang and Vyl dropped him off around 6:30 and they handed him straight over to Jesse.  I paused to see if he would cry but he didn’t!  In fact, he was totally cool with him all the way up to the condo.  Vyl left quickly and Rowan didn’t even flinch.  Instead, he was busy watching Koa who was scurrying around him on the floor.

Apparently, he LOVES dogs and it was perfect.  He spent most of the first half-hour crawling around the house and Koa enjoyed it just as much.  Don’t worry, I made sure to wipe his face and hands down before bed.

When it was around his bedtime, we prepared his bottle and he guzzled that down.  Unfortunately, he was still wired from all the excitement so we hung out for a while.  Jesse even got into the mix and read him a book and then snuggled with him with the lights turned down.

He cuddled his blanket and doggie while sucking his thumb quietly all night (just like Linus) but just couldn’t fall asleep.  At one point we put him down in the pack-and-play but then he started to cry for a good 10 minutes.

I felt bad so I brought him back out and we just hung out until he fell asleep.  It only took an extra hour for him to settle and he didn’t fuss when his parents returned.

There were a few things we learned last night: 1) our house is pretty toddler-friendly, 2) the dog is good entertainment for a toddler, and 3) we can handle this kid thing together after all.  Oh and of course, Rowan is pretty darn cute.

Here are the rest of the photos from our evening with Mini Bang.

Feeding Kumquat

On Thursday morning (11/3), I had my 3rd prenatal check-up.  It was pretty routine.  We heard Kumquat’s heartbeat with the Doppler and it was a strong 150 bpm.  The interesting part of the visit was when I told her that I had gained 3 pounds so far.  Doctor informed me that I should have gained more than that by now (at 16 weeks) so she advised me to eat more calorie-dense foods (peanut butter, ice cream, etc.) and not to worry as much about eating all my veggies and stuff.  In other words, she looked at Jes and implied that he needed to help fatten me up.  Haha.  It’s like a girl’s dream but I felt kinda sick thinking about it.  How ironic.

Luckily, that same evening, I had McWino Night planned with the girls.  It’s our spin on Happy Hour that started one night when Teresa and I ended up on the roof of my building with wine and junk food.  It later evolved to a night on the roof with McDonald’s and bottles of wine. For this go-around, we had to move it indoors since it had rained earlier in the day.

We also added nachos to the menu this time in order to celebrate the end our hospital audit.

While I was telling the girls about how I had to fatten up, I found a baby McNugget.  Isn’t it cute?  I thought so…and it was delicious.  At the end of the night, we used FaceTime to hangout with Ranee too.  Good times…

Anniversary Dinner

On Wednesday night (11/2), Jes and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary.  We drove down to Los Gatos, which is about an hour south of SF, for an epic 3.5-hour dinner at Manresa.  We opted for the tasting menu and probably had a total of 11 different little morsels.

This one was a really pretty one called “In the Garden”, which is basically a collection of vegetables and edible flowers from their organic garden on site.  The food was all very good but I was ovewhelmed by course #8.  Kumquat made a little harder for me to eat as much as I usually do so Jes finished off a lot of my dishes.

The night ended with a pair of black sesame/black licorice macarons and candles.  Cute.

Well, we definitely have plenty to celebrate this year.  It’s crazy to think that we’ve been together for 16 years and married for 9 of those years and we’ll be embarking on a new stage of our life this coming year.  Cheers!