Blogging with a friend!

I’m just too busy with school and work to keep up blogging on my own these days.   Maybe one day i’ll return to it, but for now, I’m going to contribute to my friend Albert’s food blog!

http://islandfarms.oddlyrandom.com/

Come for a visit!!

Chile – Arrival

Arrived into Santiago, Chile..

Drove to the hotel – Sheraton Four Points – not a bad place…  on the way, i realized that the highways are wider, cleaner, better paved than Seattle.. how is this a developing country?

Santiago is a very relaxed city. I spent the day walking around town, went up to Cerro San Cristobal.. the view was nice, but the city skyline was just average   Nonetheless, the air felt clean up there, and for 80 cents, u can buy this Ice Tea drink with dry peaches, and wheat.. yummmm

had dinner at Baco, a french place near our hotel with 14 of us.. the food was good, but the wine was spectacular.

Had a 2002 Sena – robert mondavi collaboration with a chilean winery.  very good.. i’d say a 90 score.. definitely had the Chilean terroir well represented with tarry/carmel tastes.

Then had a 2005 Clos Apalta, the wine that won WS wine of the year in 2008.  Gorgeous nose, i can smell that all day.. smooth on the palatte, with a brilliant long finish.

That was all yesterday

Today i went around some shopping district in Santiago.. went to the Concha Y Toro tasting room here.. they had a bunch of low/medium level wines for tasting.. BUT their ultra premiums were not avaiable. (as it said it was on the website!!)

Met a couple.. from SEATTLE.. wtf. .small world!!

lovely couple.. the guy owns a restaurant, and the girl is an interior designer.. apparently big wine fans.  we were gonna share a bottle over lunch but the weird thing in Chile is this… the wine is more expensive in the store, than it is in a restuarant..

example: Don Melchor 2005:

US store – $55-60 per bottl

US restaurant – 120 – 150

Chilean store – 95

Chilean restaurant – 85
????

Anyhow, that was today.. more to come tonite

San Francisco / Napa Valley

This took awhile to update, but on Thanksgiving, we went to San Fran and Napa Valley for a few days.

The drive was Longggggg (13 hours), but there were 5 of us (mom, auntie, Bill, Viv and I), so driving wasn’t so bad

The only problem with the trip was the drive was so long, but i LOVED San Fran.  There were so much diversity within the city (parks, beaches, gorgeous views, great food, etc).  We only stayed in SF for a couple of days, and headed to Napa for a day.

Napa – GORGEOUS.  Fog covers in the morning but by about mid day the sun was out and it was beautiful.  We visited Quintessa, Hetiz Cellar, Stags Leap Cellars, Darioush… almost Silver Oak (it was closed at 4 though their website said 5!!)

Bought a bunch of wine and drove back.. it was fun, but the drive was too long, so next time I think we’ll just stick to one location for a few days.

Here are some photos

Lea in Snow

Snow is blanketing the area right now.

It’s nothing compared to 50 cm in Toronto, but even 5cm is a lot for Seattle b/c we have all of 2 salt/sand trucks

Bad for driving, but great for Lea and photos.  Lea LOVES snow.

In MBA School!

I haven’t posted in a LONG time.

I know I know.. i’m just lazy.

The real reason is that I’m in MBA school.  I started that in late August, and since then have all but been consumed by it.  Work, School, Eat, Sleep.

I’ll be back with some photos soon, once I get a handle on my school work.

Suzanne & Travis Engagement

Last Sunday, Viv and I went out with Suzanne & Travis to photograph them for their engagement and guest book. As you can see, the day went to the dogs!! They are all adorable, but the little one, Cricket, is sooooo cute!

They are getting married on June 12, 2009 at Yosemite National Park!! Congrats you two!!

Chalane & Pat Wedding

Talk about a trip back in times!! I was also a guest, which meant I didn’t have to worry about batteries dying! Chalane was a high school friend from.. 10, 12 years ago!

Chalane & Pat got married at Queen Elizabeth park’s celebration pavilion, up in Vancouver, Canada. Gorgeous little setting. I didn’t know they had that set up in QE park. Vivian mentioned that they got smart, installed this cute little setup, and can now charge hundreds per hour!

The brides maids dresses were in a pretty pink color, as were majority of the decor. At the reception, they gave out candy!!! Vivian probably ate way too much for her own good…

Speaking of a trip back in time. I saw people I haven’t seen in many manyyyy years. Where to start..

The MC – Ron, my UFE mentor, my ex-coworker.. haven’t seen him in 3 years.
Christine, one of my friend, Kenny’s, ex g/f. Haven’t seen her for.. 6 years? I thought she moved to Ontario. Apparently she moved back, and even more coincidental, Chalane’s mom is her god mother!?!
Vanessa Kay – she was my dorm buddy back in 1st/2nd year UBC. Dear god.. she was the violinist hired to play at Chalane’s wedding. I mean what a small world?!

Here’s the maid of honor, Christina, (who i’ve known since grade 8), with her man in a very sweet moment

It was a really good time, as we saw some strange dancing by the boys, some long time friends getting together, and let’s not forget Pat (groom) trying to take the garter off of his best man Jowett’s leg (waxed earlier in the day), with his teeth. That.. was classic, and deserves a photo.

Thanks for having us as part of your day Mr and Mrs Yung! Congratulations!

Kelly & CJ Wedding

Kelly & CJ got married last Sunday in the adorable St John’s Episcopal Church in Snohomish, WA. In fact, everything about the town is small, yet adorable (including Shannon and her Salon Ambience!)

Ken and Katie of Johnson’s Flower Shop provided the gorgeous bouquet and floral decor. These guys delivered the flowers all the way from Bellingham!

Congratulations Kelly and CJ, and hope you are enjoying your honeymoon!!

Michelle & James Wedding

Last weekend, Michelle & James got married with a small and intimate ceremony. After a rather eventful beginning to the day , the event went off very smoothly.  Congratulations you guys!

James had four daughters, and here is his youngest. SOOOOooo adorable!!

July 4th Weekend – Columbia Gorge Trip

My lovely friends Nelson and Joy flew over from Toronto, met up with Albert, and came down to Seattle for the long weekend. Thursday night when they came down, they spent so long at the outlet, that the restaurant we ended up going to was closed! (who closes at 9pm on a long weekend evening??) We did end up with some good food at Tamarind Tree. Taking a long time is nothing new of course, for those that know the couple well.

Friday morning, we headed out for the Columbia Gorge area in Oregon. I’ve never been and never had any high expectations of the area. I was very pleasantly surprised! Even the motel that Nels set us up at was more than I could imagine in a small town. I think I’ll leave all future travel living arrangements to Nels, as he has not disappointed yet!

Here are a few pics from our weekend! Good seeing you guys! come again soon!