Goodbye, Firenze, hello, Parma!

View from rooftop dining terrace at the Best Western. Duomo & Giotto Bell Tower
Farmacia Profumeria - Convent that created perfumes

It was a little sad for me to leave Florence today. It was a city that was a lot of fun this time around. I think it helped that we stayed in the city. Before we left, we went to the Santa Maria Novella Church...there's a perfume shop there that's been around for hundreds of years. It smelled...a lot...kinda incense-y.

After we stopped off, we went to pick up our train tickets to Parma. I didn't realize i bought so much - I had a hard time getting my luggage around. I swore to erin that I was done shopping. Day 1 of that resolve - so far so good. (we even went to an outlet in Fidenza and we both walked away with nothing)..

After we checked into the Holiday Inn Express in Parma (that is, AFTER we finally found it!!), we decided to hit up the Fidenza outlet where we struck out. After we got back we went to La Greppia in downtown Parma (I drove to the city center...the maitre d' saved a parking spot for us so we parked right in front of the restaurant). The food was WONDERFUL!! I think it's the best meal I've ever had in Italy. We started with a plate of cold cuts (local products); shared 2 pastas, and finished off with a braised beef with polenta dish. I'm can barely move. It was an arm and a leg but if you ever make it out to Italy, i HIGHLY recommend a visit to Parma (rent a car) and a dinner here!!

fresh handmade pasta in the glass window into the kitchen! you can see the chefs cooking!!

braised beef in wine and polenta

Bisquit tray...(the small red round things in the center are super miniature apples! it was great!)

Cooking 101, Italian Style

So today started off with me slacking off on running...i decided to sleep in. Erin & I headed out to the Boboli Gardens at Pitti Palace. It was nice...but a lot of uphill, upstairs walking. My ankle was starting to bother me by the end.

We went shopping at the Mercato Centrale which was a lot of fun. I bought a black purse and erin bought a brown one. Ooops. sorry...no gifts for anyone. I suck. hoping more for Parma & Milan.

This evening we went to our cooking class. I was a little irritated by 2 sets of our co-team mates. By the end of the evening, I was exchanging email address and business cards with everyone with promises to send photos out to all. We had a mother/daughter couple who were visiting from the phillipines; a newlywed from Norway (she kept tasting EVERYTHING as we were preparing stuff...i don't know this woman...how sanitary IS this???); and a taiwanese lady (who was a bit bossy and asked a million questions).

then the wine flowed...and everyone was happy and laughing. it was great. we actually had the opportunity to open up and share with each other some funny stories...

clockwise from bottom: Newlywed hubbie from Norway, Phillipino Mama, daughter Ruthie, Greta the Taiwanese lady, me, erin, newlywed wife from Norway

I know I'm in Italy when...

I'll know that I've finally arrived in Italy when:


- I see the gelato shops on every corner (like starbucks in LA)
- I get pushed around by on-coming people (most likely 80 year old ladies with a strong arm!)

- I trip on the street over all those darn cobblestones

- I see a bidet in my room and still after all these years wonder what I'm supposed to do with it.
- the wine is cheaper than soda or water!

- i can actually order a panna cotta!

- 4 course meals are the norm and not the exception.

- when you're at the pool or spa, all the men are wearing speedos (never under any circumstances is it acceptable)...

that's off the top of my head. Only 2 more days before I take off (including today!) for Italy. I'm so excited!! All I want to do is plan my vacation and I've got SO much work to do before i leave. Now I feel compelled to take my laptop (free internet access at two of my hotels that we're at) so I can check in and also upload some photos! things to consider.

weekend fun!

8:30am:
Tosh calls, "hey, girlie...I was just calling to get an ETA on when you guys will arrive..."
Jenny: "Well, sao said she'd be here around noon..."
Tosh: "hahaha..."
Jenny: "So...i figure we'll be in San Diego sometime tonight..."
Tosh: "that's the one thing I can count on...you guys never being on time...and sorry, chickie...you guys always come down together so I lump you two in the same group..."
Jenny: SIGH...


11:25am:
Jenny, calling the Kuida's house...
Darin answers: "What do you want?? You want to know if Saoowwy's still at home?? No?? You already know she's still at home?? Hey, sao...what time are you leaving?? and HOUR?? why?? why can't you leave right now??? Jenny, she said she'll leave in about 20 - 30 minutes."
Jenny: "uh huh...sure..."


12:20pm:
Jenny on the phone with Tosh laughing about how its a good thing a spa appointment wasn't booked, therefore not going to be charged due to not showing up on time, picks up incoming call, "hello?"
Sao: "Hiiiiiiii....i'm on my way..."
Jenny: "Ummm...where are you??"
Sao: "i just left..."
Jenny: "oh my lord..."
Sao: "What??? i have TWO kids..."
Jenny, interrupting: "Sao, normally, i'd believe you and say that you are right. If it wasn't for the fact that you're always late, I'd probably buy that excuse...and furthermore, i can NOT believe you just threw your kids under the bus!! BAD SAO!!"


1:15pm:
Sao calls out from the lawn, "I'm heeeeeere!!"
We go on our merry way stopping off at Mickey D's for some sustenance. Traffic is horrendous and takes us almost three hours just to get to Del Mar. But, like old times, we just chat all the way down about nothing. It's great how easy it is...there are some friendships that suffer without regular "hanging out" times but I have to say, it's never that way with Sao and Tosh. It's like we're all back in College.


We reach Palomar Airport Road when I put a call into Tosh, who suggests some shopping time at the outlets. Great idea! I pick up a shirt, dress, spoon rest, and a cool thing for JT (that I better see him using).


Dinner was at this great posh restaurant called "The Marine Room". An entire wall was made of glass and the tides were high, splashing against the windows every so often. The food was great, the company even better. We had a marvelous time and I went waaaaay above my points (weight watchers) for the entire week in that one meal.


I wake up on Sunday morning to go for a quick run with Tosh, advising Sao to take advantage of the "me/alone" time while she still can. We return to a starving Sao to get ready for Dim Sum (Yum, yum, dim sum!!), ate too much as always. During our conversation, the topic of spa appointment comes up.


Jenny: "hey...it's too bad that we didn't make an appointment at the korean scrub down spa..."
Tosh: "why don't we swing by there and see..."


Little did I know that as I excitedly bounced around the back seat in anticipation for the service that it would be one of the most painful experiences that I've had (i got Tosh's chick...really rough). My experiences at the KOREAN spa were vastly different from the ones that I had at the Fairmont earlier in the week.


"Turning over"
Fairmont Willow Stream: gentle hand on the back, while my masseuse whom I shall dub "Fritz" whispers in my ear, "can you please turn over?"
Korean Spa: my service provider whom I shall dub "Helga" slaps me on the butt and says, "TURN!!!"


"face the other direction"
W.S. : Same concept as above...with gentle touch and soft voice
K.S.: Same concept as above except she pulls my head up off the towel pillow by grabbing a fistful of my hair and yells, "Turn!!"


the massage experience:
W.S.: Fritz lovingly, firmly massaged my gluteal area (first getting permission)
K.S.: Helga beats the living crap out of areas that have thus before remained untouched during a service. and because it's a korean scrub down, scrubs in areas that I swear never got scrubbed down like that before.


I emerge from the whole experience in PAIN. I think parts of my body are bleeding due to the enthusiasm of Helga's scrub down. I have to say that I've never been softer but I'm walking funny because my thighs are swollen from the aggressive swelling...see photo below. it's not supposed to be this red.

Ouch. It really hurt. So much so that I had to use a bag of peas to cool down the swelling on both legs. It's better this morning but hurts when I start walking...friction is bad.

Sao & I left around 4:00pm, stopping off in Gardena for dinner at the yellow cow. YUUUUM. still full from that. all in all a FANTASTIC weekend (thanks, darin, for letting sao come out to play!!). Can't wait until next year - maybe Santa Barbara, OC...or???

Waikiki Visitors Bureau

I've been feeling sick for the past few days. Head congestion...you know. Needless to say, I hadn't had the energy to want to do much of anything but I felt I needed to be at this function for Hawaii since I plan events there.

It was AWESOME. Jake Shimabukuro, the grand master of the ukelele performed along with Hapa. But back to Jake. This kid is AWESOME. He brought the noisy room to dead complete silence while he played. check him out... www.jakeshimabukuro.com

Then I had the pleasure of meeting Roy Yamaguchi of the Roy's. He made some lau lau with mango sauce that was delish!!! http://www.roysrestaurant.com/

That was before I met ALAN WONG (Pineapple Room). He's even more awesome!! He made poke over guacamole over crispy fried wonton sprinkled with micro-shiso. His level of spiciness of the poke was PERFECT. Not too hot not too mild. Here's the embarrassing part - i joked with him about giving me a bento box for the poke...and he did!! see picture below. He's awesome. I think i gave him a kiss before i left. Many, many people were yelling at me as I left with my big @$$ container of poke.
http://www.alanwongs.com/pineroom/pine_room.html

goodie bag - i got more food & candy from there PLUS an autographed copy of Jake Shimabukuro's CD. I'll give a listen to it and let you know what I think!!! :) oh yeah...also got a stickpin from Ferragamo's!!

Napa Valley Weekend...

raye, bert, and erin in line for Golden Gate Bakery

Me & Chuck. Charles Shulz' hometown is Santa Rosa!!

I went up to Nor Cal to celebrate my belated birthday. An early wake up call of 3:00am to get to the airport for our 6:00am flight left me a bit loopy.

Bert had wanted to get an early start up North so booked us on a 6:00am (YIKES!!) flight. Needless to say, I was a bit tired. We started off our day with a breakfast at The Omelette Express in Santa Rosa. Great breakfast joint if you're looking for someplace to eat in Sonoma.

My omelette at Omelette Express

We followed that with a visit to Hartford, Davis, Alder Brook (YUCK), and Viader. I swore up and down to Erin, quite self righteously that I wasn't planning on joining a wine club. Yeah. I'm now a member of Viader. Don't ask, kids. It makes no sense to me at all, but for the fact that I tried all of their wines and liked each of them. Very solid wines that I felt comfortable buying.

Some weird art work at Davis Winery

Darn...could my joining the winery club have something to do with the cute dog??

or could it have been the magnificent views??

We finished up our first day at Greystone, the Culinary Institute of America's restaurant in conjunction with Wine Spectator. It was a delightful experience. Very expensive but I really enjoyed the dinner so I thought it was ok. Actually, i enjoyed everything around the actual main course but I think I was so full by the time I got the main course that it was almost wasted on me. (I had the duck, which I deduced to be around $6 per slice). The great stuff was the chef's hors d'oeuvres (yes, miles, that is the way you spell it) and dessert. everything else in between could've been just more hors d'oeuvres and more dessert. :)

erin's french onion soup...

bert's birthday creme brulee

The following day found us with rain and large crowds. We had a late start and I think I got a bit sick from too much coffee. We made it to only 2 wineries because we spent a lot of time at Miner's - another favorite wine of mine. Sadly, I can't remember how many cases of various wines are being shipped to my office. My boss is totally going to think he pays me too much and that I'm a complete wino. *SIGH*...we had a relaxing evening back at the hotel and decided to watch a movie - Letters from Iwo Jima. Pretty good, but I still had to read the subtitles because there were a lot of military words that I didn't understand. Some of the translation wasn't as good as the words they were actually using.

Erin and I decided to go for another movie and watched The Holiday. We both decided that th movie rated, "cute". nothing spectacular or gut wrenching. just mindless cutesy-ness.

We finished our weekend up in San Fran enjoying Chinatown. Yum yum dim sum. We went to a place called Lychee Gardens. Very Crowded...very greasy. but it was yums so I was happy. Bert let us run down to Golden Gate Bakery to pick up some baked goods. again...more pockets of deliciousness.

this is what I love about chinatown...underwear on display everywhere!!

all in all a very good weekend!! can't wait to go back!

flying tips & tricks

I think I'm going to write a book on social etiquette on an airplane...geared mostly for the asian people. I was sitting next to a Korean man who thought farting and sleeping in MY space was ok. seriously...he farted the ENTIRE trip. and it was one of those silent but deadly ones.

There was an old chinese guy (with the full on 2 foot grey foo man chu beard on the chin) sitting in the aisle just next to me who kept hocking up the biggest loogies. I mean, the whole cabin turned around and looked at the old man with horrified expressions on their faces.

Lastly, there was a young asian american dude who was snoring so loud that even my iPod couldn't manage to block. It was maddening. I kept thinking about hitting him with something but i didn't want to get arrested!

Needless to say, I did my best to separate myself from those people. They were all nuts!

Anyhow, some tips/tricks for flying in today's wonderful, hospitable climate:
1.) If you've missed your connection or there are problems with your ticketing, don't immediately start to yell at the ticketing agent. (S)He's doing the best they can for you. They don't want you stuck anymore than you want to BE stuck. REMAIN CALM.

2.) If you've missed your connection and it was the LAST flight out for the evening, figure out what it is you want to do. Unfortunately, the ticketing agent will be unable to pull a flight out of their butts, so just deal with it. Again, don't get snippy with agent because they don't want to help people who treat them like CRAP. Calmly and politely tell the agent what you want to have in replacement for your troubles. And say it with a SMILE.

3.) Keep things light because chances are, you'll be stuck with a lot of people who are in your situation. The big difference is that the ticketing agent will want to help the person who (1) knows what they want and that they are reasonably able to provide, (2) they want to feel like they've been able to help at least one person with what they need, (3) they just want to help someone who is actually being nice to them. BUILD RAPPORT THROUGH JOKES AND LAUGHTER, because face it, people want to help people they actually like and you'll probably be the only one who does.

I'm not saying these things will 100% give you what you want/need but I have to say, while I didn't get upgraded on my flights, they did change my routing to more favorable times/dates. They also gave me some special seats in coach - they were business class seat, complete with foot rests. Everyone was pretty jealous. I think it was an American Airlines 767-300 plane. Row 17... i'll add a photo of the seat later. my blogger is having troubles uploading at work.

Anyhow, although I was the last person up to the stand, I was the first person to be helped because I knew what I wanted; I was polite, calm, and smiling; and I was trying to keep things in perspective with the group - "hey, at least you weren't trying to fly back home to australia like those two over there..." So, because i was the first person to be helped, i also got the last remaining hotel room at a Westin in Milbrae (yes, i had to pay a discounted $75 but it was worth feeling refreshed and ready to go the next morning - they don't pay for Air Traffic Control (ATC) problems...or weather...or any other acts of God...I'm sure they don't pay for "mechanical problems" either. I'm not sure what they're actually responsible for anymore!!).

Anyhow, i'll post more about the trip to NYC later...