Brunch with Mia

Brunch with Mia

This brunch scene was from last Friday, when Mia came over to play. Fun as always!

A Reading by Tai

Tai gives it his all while reading "Five Silly Turkeys," by Salina Yoon.

Fried chicken showdown

Deliciousness

This evening was the fried chicken showdown at Gala and Dang's place. Everyone brought fried chicken from a local eatery and we all performed a blind taste test and voted on our favorites using three criteria: crispiness, taste, and succulence.

Thu and I were prepared to bring Louisiana Fried Chicken, but it was closed. So we went to Kentucky instead and served up the Colonel. The picture above is chicken from what turned out to be Merritt Bakery. I thought it looked like a sure winner. But instead I was completely taken by the taste of Chicken #1, and the crispiness of Chicken #4. Apparently others were too, as #1 and #4 ended up winning all three categories, with #4 being the ultimate winner.

Now before I say what #1 and #4 were, I should say that the eaters in this group consider themselves to have refined palates and a keen sense of taste. So everyone in the crowd was a little surprised when Dang announced that Chicken #1 was KFC Original and Chicken #4 was KFC Crispy. (We had ordered both kinds and Dang split them onto two plates.) KFC swept the competition! As someone at the party said, this was a victory for flavor scientists.

At any rate, the party was a blast. There was another little boy there whose name is Tai. The rain poured down all night. We feel completely stuffed. And we're happy for Gala, who will give birth in the next month or so.

A friendly pat from Tai

Valentine's Day with a 20-month-old

Eating in

No going out this Valentine's Day, breaking up our two-year tradition of going to Merritt Bakery for fried chicken dinner. One, Tai can't sit longer than 15 minutes at a restaurant table these days. And two, tomorrow is Gala and Dang's fried chicken showdown, where a bunch of us will bring fried chicken from a variety of local eating places and vote for the best.

Staying at home was no problem, though. In fact, it was downright delicious. We cooked some sukiyaki beef, seafood, and vegetables, and gobbled up a plate of maguro and hamachi. Tai got to fill his face with an onigiri riceball and drink down bowl after bowl of noodles. As you can see in the photo below, he was very much into eliminating unnecessary steps.

Rice, meet mouth

After dinner, Thu and I rented "The Rebel," a Vietnamese action flick. Two thumbs up for this one. So, on this very windy night in the Bay Area, we managed dinner and a movie and had a wonderful time, and to Thu's satisfaction, we avoided caving into the Valentine-industrial complex by staying in and me not buying her flowers. . . .

In other news from earlier this month, Tai received a visit from Sid, who's back from his international escapades for now and stopped by the East Bay. Of the many new things Sid learned abroad, one neat trick was professional balloon making. He dazzled Tai with an array of balloon objects—dog, bear, sword, bow and arrow, flower.

"Have a flower, Tai."

And finally, Tai is pretty good at moving his little chairs around. The other day he set up a couple chairs next to each other and sat Piggy down next to him. It was cute.

Buddies