Pre XMas Dinner

Just as the Christmas season at the malls seems to be happening earlier and earlier each year, so seems the Christmas dinner with the besties..  And this year, it is the earliest yet - with us having our Annual Dinner on the 15th of December...

Scheduling amongst us is always a big factor, of course...  With this year being the worst...  Sue and Cecilia are still pulling overtimes at their respective jobs...  Juliana leaving the 19th to spend the Holidays in the Bay Area...  And sadly, David even had to miss this dinner - as he is on a tour in  the Czech Republic and Austria.

So we made do with the time we had..  3 hours of eating, gabbing, eating, exchanging gifts, and eating some more..  Lol!!!  The venue was Dan Ryan's Grill at the Xinyi District Mitsukoshi Area..  Food was good enough, service OK, but we did get our own quiet area that enable us to relax and enjoy the time together...

With Christmas being a fave time of the year for me, it is always great to be able to spend it with the people I like, I love..  And these girls, being my Best Friends in Taiwan, am always happy I get to spend a Holiday dinner with them, before we all do our own separate Celebrations...  It is a night for us to give Thanks for being in each others' lives...  And to toast the new year to come...  

Thank You Juliana for the "Oh So Cute" Sony Angels...

Thanks Sue & Cecilia for the Yummy Chocolate covered Coffee beans

that comes in this lovely tin from agnes b.

But Most of All, Thank You for the friendship all these years and for many more years to come...

Ghosts of Christmas Past!

"A Happy Memory is a hiding place for Unforgotten Treasures."

-Paul L. Powers

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With Christmas fast approaching - it is  always good to look back

at some of the past ones...

 they bring back memories that are dear to us...

1993:  XMas totally dedicated to that loving Pooch, Baxter! 

San Francisco, CA - USA

2003: Narita Airport

Narita, Japan

2007: XMas with the Family

Taytay, Rizal - Philippines

2010: Attending an  XMas Pa.rt given by

the PNN Group

Manila, Philippines

2011: last Christmas spent with Mom

Rizal, Philippines

2011: Hanging with Juju, GioGio, Lisa et Gaspard

Taipei, Taiwan

Pre CNY Dinner @ Home

Last nite we had the ladies (Juliana, Sue & Cecilia) over at the house for our Pre Chinese New Year Get Together dinner....   a bit early but with everyone's schedules as busy as it is, this was the only time we can do it or it will be after the Holidays - just like the late XMAS Together....  and needless to say, everyone will be going to their respective families' homes for the Chinese New Year break....  Us included, as we head down to Kaohsiung later this coming week....

It was a nice simple dinner... Soup, Salad, & Sausage Pizza - simple except for the fact that everything was home made... personal chef, David.... For the two of us, it was an all day affair - as we shopped, cleaned, prepared, and cooked before the gals arrived at 6PM.....

Then it was time to feast on the scrumptious food & fun chats...  and to end the feast are treats they brought over - Bread Papa's Cream Puffs and Strawberry flavours.....     it was a little after 10PM when the ladies decided to take off as the following day is Church Day, and Sue has to get up very early for it....

SWEET TREATS to end the night!

MORE PHOTOS HERE!

Looooong Days!!!

Everyday ON THE GO for me this week... Aside from the daily grind- house and work and baby sitting Juju, i was actually able to SQUEEZE a few more things..., Lunches at Gordon Birsch with Juliana... Plus Outback with Juju and family..,, Catch SAVAGES on the big screen... And even took in some oh the Fashion's Night Out Festivities ( see previous post)..... Whew!

Juju practicing her performance art by the Rainbow Bridge - Dajia Riverside...

 

Sept 6th: Lunch with Juliana at Gordon Birsch

Sept. 6th: Treating Juju and Todd for some McDonalds... 

 a Fave of Todd's and Juju's FAVE playground!

 

 

Sept 7th:  Steaks for lunch at the OUTBACK!!!

Then took in the MAYDAY Exhibition once more....

 

and capped off the night riding Miramar's Taipei Eye!

 

Sept 9th: Dinner @ Mitsukoshi with Juju, Todd, and Tori... 

even COLDSTONE Ice Cream

(Peanut Butter and Chocolate for me - YUMMY!!!) for dessert!!!

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Next week will be just as Busy as i will be off to Korea with The Wus for a Surprise 4 day trip!!!

1st of September

I cannot even ask for a nicer start of the new month.. A day filled with water fun, good food (Tonkatsu!), great friends, and even a fashion show!!!

Started off the morning with an early swim, with The Wu Bois, at San Ming Pool - just a 10 minute walk from the house... Quite refreshing to be in the pool as I did not get to do so much, this summertime..... Just the right amount of people for a Saturday and the water temperature - refreshingly good...

 

Then we all got ready to have a quick lunch at SUBWAY, Song Shan Aiport and see David off, for another trip....  hung out there for a good couple of hours....  nice and cool as their air conditioning has got to be the BEST in Taipei!!!

 

Then I had to ruch back home and change again as I am to meet the gals for dinner and a COACH FASHION SHOW....   and though I thought I was already nicely dressed, it will just not do, as I have sweated so much already from just walkinga few blocks to catch my bus....  so home I went for another quick shower and a change... Perfect as Sue also happend to be in my neighborhood so she just picked me up....  then we got Juliana and Cecilia and we headed to the Mitsukoshi Areas for a quick bite before the show....

Dinner was good.... Perfect choice as I have not had TONKATSU in a while.....  the resto is quite nice and the food - good and filling....  how can you complain, all you can eat Salad, (Sticky) Rice and Soup.... all of it - YUMMY!!!

The we stopped off COACH's shop in A9, as Sue had to pick up this year's Limited Edition bag...  she gets first dibs as she is one of COACH Taiwan's VIP clients...   so as Juliana and Cecilia....  and this is why they also get invited to the PREVIEW FASHION SHOW they put on once a year....   and am LUCKY enough to have been invited for the 2nd year in a row.....

 

COACH Men's and Women's Catalogs were handed out to all guests.... and a few LUCKY VIP ones were given this commemorative BAG TAG...  the design and pattern is actually that of used for the Men's Fall/Winter Collection...

Then the Fashion Show commenced as beautiful and hansome models comes strutting down the runway carrying COACH's Brand New Bag Collection....   wowing the crowds enough that right after the show, they shopped for the key pieces.....  it was infectious, but yes, I held out....   as much as I like the design for the new Men's line, am not quite thrilled with the colors....

Ending the nite with COLDSTONE ICE CREAM - JUST PERFECT!!!!

Chilling @ Chilli's

An evening hanging out with the Besties: Juliana, Sue, and Cecilia was spent over great food at Chilli's - in the Warner Viewshow Area - Saturday night.,.

Started off with Sue picking me up at the house... then we parked over by Julianan's to meet up with her and Cecilia at Taipei Monster.....  then we drove over to Chilli's as we had a 7PM reservation, and being the weekend, we knew parking would be hell.....

 As always, gabbing galore took place... So much food was devoured, and my Fave Dessert, Molten Chocolate Cake capped the dinner....

Always a Great Pleasure when I get to see them, even more so when I get to see them all at the same time and for an extended meal, too... Not a quickie lunch we have like

Most of the time....

The Feast!!!

Chocolate Molten Cake

Post Birthday!

Monday, the 11th:  Was FINALLY able to get together with Sue and Juliana - after a month of not seeing them..... Nowadays, it is a   TREAT for the 3 of us to be able to have lunch together - with the girls' work schedule really sooooo demanding....   it was even a Double TREAT  as we CELEBRATED my BDay....  

Lunch was at Lulu's....  this was our second time at the place.....  Nice Ambiance....  Good Food....  No One Rushing Us.....  and just the right amount of people - so as one can still people watch but not get annoyed by too much loud noises....

...and the SPECIAL TREAT was getting this Beautiful, COLORFUL, FUN

400% Be@rbrick!!!  Thank You Very Much, Juliana!!!

FUN FRIDAY!

Yesterday was Good.....   weather wise, it was not too hot, and not too wet either....  in between - just the way I like it....   work wise, it was also good....   got all my things done fast....  no major headaches....  and with all that out of the way, I even got to start my weekend a bit early

Met Sue for a quickie lunch...   we went to Swensen's - for a bit of Lasagna & Bacon Burger....  and of course, to get a bit of that Bay Area feel - as it is where Swensen's is originally founded....   always a pleasure having lunches with friends....   no matter how long or how quick their allotted lunch times would be...  we make the most of the time - enjoying the food and the chats....

 

Ate so much I had to actually run to the Gym for a bit of cardio work out - as I knew I would be having dinner out later, too!!!

Later in the day, hung out with Juju and Mommy....   more chatting....   more food.... and a bit of nighttime playtime at McDonalds.....

Ended my day at almost 11PM..... a quick shower, answered a few emails and to bed I want....  Satisfied with the day and hoping today, Saturday will be just as smooth and fun... :)

Sweet Saturday All!!!

Chillin' @ Chili's...

Friday lunch with Juliana today... at first it was going to be just a Burger King kind of lunch, which would have been fine with me, too - but we decided to go all out and have it at Chili's instead.... Appetizer Galore, BBQ Burger & and that oh-so-yummy "Molten Chocolate Cake".... Needless to say I was soooooo FULL right after...Of course, a get together catch up lunch would not be the same without a few Bearbricks in attendance, including my two new ones: Pink Panther & Metallic Rainbow Open Range...

"Sweet & Sour": Xmas Get Together 2010

Dec 11th, we had our annual XMas dinner get together.... Juliana, David, Sue n Cecilia and myself... a bit earlier than usual but with everyone's busy schedule, this was the only Open date we all had....

The place picked was SOLO PASTA - a somewhat chichi place in the heart of one of Taipei's busier and popular streets.... The place from the outside was inviting enough but a bit on the dark side - with totally minimal lighting.... once inside, you feel the darkness even more... just a tad bit low lighting to create a really romantic ambiance.... once, the dishes were served, I realized what the low lighting is all about - so as to not see how little is on one's plate - especially considering the prices being a bit on the HIGHER/PRICEY end... When I first looked at the MENU and see the choices and prices, I was a bit AMAZED - I mean PASTA and GNOCCHI dishes for about US$10 and up... and this does not include anything else... no soup, no bread, no salad, no drinks... so I was thinking: "hmmmmm, maybe the servings are big.."... well, they were served on BIIIG PLATES anyway.... the look of the food leaves nothing to be desired... and from the first taste, I was already turned off... my Gnocchi, all 25 little pieces of them were served cold... not hot, not warm but COLD! And everyone else on my table seemed not as please with their choices.... and looking around, I can tell everyone else have the same feel for the place... no one seemed to have ordered extras... only the main dishes - I guess they too, felt everything was pricey... and upon leaving, no one seems to have smiles on their faces... so we decided not to move places for desserts.... SOUR NOTE for the Nite....

Thank GOD for LAVAZZA - we ended the nite on a SWEET NOTE! Coffee and big slices of SWEETS, coupled with exchanging of gifts, and endless and fun conversation - I completely forgotten about my bad dinner.... that is, until I got back home and realized I was still hungry from my minimalist dinner... hahahahahahaha

COMPLETE PHOTOS HERE

A Pirate's Life For Me....

Juliana and I had one of those unscheduled lunches yesterday... and it was a very nice break from all the work and hassles I was going through from a project that was never really a project.... but that's another story.... something I try to not think about too much - for now... LOL...

Anyway, Juliana called to tell me about a mutual friend's art on display as part of a "Pirate Exhibition" at Tom's Diner... off of Chung Hsiao North Rd.and it only running thru the 12th of DEC... so of course we had to go.... plus, it is a diner - so Burgers and Fries - for sure!!!! LUCKY US!!!

The food was actually good.... just as good as TGI Fridays or Chili's, if not better.... and priced modestly... a little less than NT$300 ($9.00US) for a set meal (main course of pasta, burger or hot dogs; hot or cold drink; and desserts - you choose from the 4 different flavours of Sundaes on the menu! Not bad at all....

The place was FUN!!! A quaint, hole in the wall, entrance that leads you to the 2nd Floor resto - all in red, white and black - truly, reminiscent of the better diners I frequent in San Francisco, California. It also has lots of biiig windows overlooking the streets... and since it is not that big of a place, every table gets a window seat!!! It also has a very nice counter style seating with cool swivel red stools.... And of course, the BIGGEST DRAW for us both: the place is overflowing with Vinyl Toys on display!!! At the moment, Pirate themed vinyl toys, tote bags, memorabilias, and :oh-so-cool" sketches and illustrations (by well known and not-so-well known, talented artists) adorns every nook and cranny of the place.... the vinyl toys are soooo cool and ecclectic... Premium Toys, TOFU, Disney Characters, Big Boy, so many other cuties whose names escapes me now.... Blythe dolls even!

Our friend, Jin Jin's COOL ART! She is actually the one that told Juliana about this place and the cool Exhibition...

Love this Display cased overflowing with Pirate Themed Toys... including a Pirate's Ship!

Tom Diner's Complete Photos Here

Tom's Diner
1F, No.2, Lane 248, Sec.4, Zhongxiao E. Rd., Da An District
Taipei City, 106, Taiwan
0287736664