Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Pirate's Booty on Treasure Island

I joined my brother-in-law, James, for a **brisk** swim in the bay off of Treasure Island yesterday afternoon. Little did we know that the night would only get colder...


I met up with James and his triathlon buddies in this huge empty parking lot adjacent to the marina and asked him if he thought it was safe to park here. "No, probably not." I suppose it was safe enough since they had a group swim here last week. We walk about a 1/4 mile to the beach where we start our swim and I'm thinking, "who lives on Treasure Island?" The only other times I've been to TI were for the SUPER CHEAP meals in the Job Corps Advanced Culinary Academy Fine Dining Restaurant.


After a 25-minute swim in the bay we gathered our belongings on the beach and started heading back to our cars. James' car key was missing. After digging through the sand for five minutes I'm thinking how much this sucks. Would somebody actually steal his car? As we walk back to the lot we glance over only to confirm our fears that the black Volvo was gone. Who actually does such a morally reprehensible thing?


We filed a police report at the lot and I drove James home with borrowed clothes and just the wetsuit on his back. After another hour the police called with good news- they found the car locked and parked in a seedy neighborhood about 2 miles away from the lot where it was "borrowed". In the end the only things taken were a CD wallet, a Williams Sonoma gift card, and a little bit of my faith in people. I'd love to believe we live in a place safe enough to leave our belongings untouched but that's just wishful thinking in this day and age.


I had my camera in the trunk of my Civic (who wants to take a Honda Hybrid for a joyride anyways?) and was able to take a couple shots of last night's craziness.


the car was fortunately intact and unscathed


James on the phone with the towing company


the Volvo was found about 2 miles away from the lot where we parked while we were swimming

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

San Diego [part 2] | personal

Here are some highlights from the rest of our weekend in San Diego hanging out with friends and family:





my dad steamed a red snapper. It was so big we had to cut the tail to fit it in the wok.





The plant has fallen


It's unheard of for a former Chula Vistan to never have been to Lolita's for mexican food but alas, I'm a noob. I had a California burrito and the carne asada fries pictured above. Little did I know that a California burrito was essentially carne asada fries in a tortilla. I was stuffed.


Nat loved the way the afternoon sun casted shadows on her feet.


Vinh demonstrates the optimal LCD setup for world domination.



Nat and Isa getting reacquainted


meet Layla







Steve eyeing some baby Nat ribs.



Nat's SO ready to go home.



I made pretty good time driving without any breaks. When Nat's asleep it's a good idea to just keep going.


So gross! Alas, finally home only to find a kitchen full of ants. Just so gross.

**Oh, I didn't realize I was advocating TJ's coffee but definitely a good place for good bargain beans.**

Friday, September 4, 2009

San Diego [part 1] | personal

We decided to get a jumpstart on our Labor Day weekend and headed down to San Diego yesterday for a little R&R with my parents. I can't remember the weather being so humid down here.


We stopped at the TA TravelCenter in Buttonwillow, CA for our first break along I-5 South. Nat was happy to get off the car.



How can the ENTIRE menu be All You Can Eat? I can imagine how the conversation with the waitress would go:

me:
The iceberg lettuce salad and chicken noodle soup were delicious. Can I get more of each?
waitress: You sure can! Just sit tight- it'll be about a 45-minute wait.
me: hmm....


We rented a car for the drive because our hybrids would get owned by the Grapevine. This Camry rental is so roomy!


3 devices for 3 different functions. Sure, the iPhone could technically do it all. We were hoping to hit irvine before 2pm where most ramen houses seem to close. We failed.



Snack time at 85C Cafe & Bakery where the buns are fresh and hot.


I don't miss this traffic at all...


an Elmo sighting in downtown Chula Vista