Black Widow

M," LOOK! OMG, LOOK AT THAT SPIDER! IT'S SO HUGE! (Her eyes huge and in a disbelieved state)
Me, "What? Where?"
M, " LOOK! IT'S OVER THERE!"
Me, "Where? Are you pulling my legs?"
M, " NO, IT'S THERE, IT'S HUGE!"
M, "Oh, you mean that one? That's not big."
M, "YES, IT IS."

(I chuckled.)
Me, "You're just exaggerating. Here, let me get rid of it for you."
M, "It's so big it's almost like a tarantula,"
Me, "No it's not, have you seen a tarantula?"
M, "It's bigger than a black widow."
Me, "No it's not, a black widow is much bigger."

So I proceeded with using a stick and tried to get the spider out off the chair. Oh, that's odd, the web was so sticky that I find it hard to poke through the web to the spider. I got a better look at the spider, 'Oh, that's an odd looking spider," I thought to myself.

"Maybe I should hose it out?" I told M.
So I got the hose and started spraying water at the spider. It curled into a ball and stuck to the corner of the chair.
"Wow, it's so strong, it's not coming out."

M, "Hit the chair, flick it in the sand and see if it would come out?"

I tried. It's not coming out.
M took the chair and hit it on the pavement, thinking that it might help get the spider out.
Finally it came out. ALIVE.
"Wow, that's really a resilient spider," we said.

"You know, it could be a black widow after all, see if there's a red colored hour glass underneath it," S said over the fence.
"We should put it in a glass jar and take a look at it," M said.
So I rolled the paper up, the spider climbed onto the paper and I got it into the glass jar. I was so surprised how easy it was. M capped it tightly and we turned the jar over. Lo and behold. It was the - BLACK WIDOW.

Was I brave or a complete fool who is oblivious?
M thinks I'm amazing because I was not afraid of it but, I think I was a fool for not realizing it was a black widow.

Fenton Schmanton

Our 1st year has finally ended, to celebrate the beginning of a long deserved break, we went to Fentons and watched the Babies documentary. If my memory didn't fail me, this is the first time I've had diner food since I arrived 10 months ago. So a burger is a must! And at Fentons ice-cream is also a must!

This is my yummy Western Bacon Burger with much craved curly fries.

Mozzarella Sticks

Caesar Salad

My yummy Toasted Almond and Pomegranate petite sized ice-cream with complimentary cookies on the side :)

Old Fashioned Petite Sundae with hot chocolate fudge.

It was nice to be able to hang out after 9 months of hard work! Definitely should do it more often. :)

1982

What happened in 1982? It was the birth of Marco Polo Italian Ice-Cream Gelato. My heart was sold - to this wonderful in the middle of no where gelato ice-cream parlor. It was almost 45° F and the wind was blowing strong, but we just had to go and check out this Marco Polo Italian Ice-Cream Gelato place.

My oh my, the flavors? Durian, jackfruit, guava, lychee, sesame, mango, soursop... on top of all the other typical chocolate, strawberry, pistachio, irish coffee, chocolate, rum raisin, .... (and a lot more).

From top left: Mango/Lychee, Durian, Lychee, Melon/Guava, Lychee/Strawberry

It was 9.30pm and the place was packed with a line! The verdict? It's so good, you can say bye-bye to B&J and Haagen Dazs. The texture is so smooth and the flavor is just so lightly perfectly accentuated that they will have you wanting for more! Serious. Don't believe me? Try it yourself! :)

Yosemite

Spring is here! Let's go and enjoy the sun!

So we went to Yosemite. We went after school, and by the time we reached the area, it was dinner time and we went to Todd's BBQ and ordered the spare ribs dinner for two.

The meal combo comes with a full rack of ribs, potato salad, coleslaw, chilli and garlic bread.

Look at those ribs! Yumms.

After 4 hours of drive and tummy full of food, it's time for bed!

Day 1: Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias

Early the next morning, we went up to Mariposa Grove and it's still partially covered in snow!

*Gundu leh*

After 2 miles, we reached 1st stop.

Everywhere is still covered in snow.

That's the snow melting away in the river.

This is the Fallen Monarch.

Look at how thick the snow is.

It's so hard to walk on snow without the snow shoes and I lost my foot at one point and slipped and fell on my bottom at another! Hehe...

California Tunnel Tree - 115 years old! The tunnel is wide enough to fit a mini car.

Grizzly Giant - 2700 years old!

Day 2: Yosemite Valley

This is the Tunnel View - from this vista point, you can see El Capitan, Half Dome and Yosemite Falls.

There are countless of waterfalls in Yosemite Valley.

This is Bridal Veil Fall (620ft.)

Yosemite Falls (2,425ft)

Different angles of Yosemite Falls.

The view of Half Dome from Sentinel Bridge.

The El Capitan

The first time I went to Yosemite it was almost 10 years ago, I cannot believe how long it took me to revisit this beautiful national park. I will definitely go as often as I can now that I am in California! Come, come, let's go together! :)

Salt, Grease and Sugar

I believe I'm stressed. Hence, I need carbs, salt and grease in my diet. Going for breakfast has always been a luxury. Most of the time they're good, but way too expensive. But much to our delight, we found this place 5 minutes from our place and rated best in the area - Country Way the Original, good ol' American breakfast.

This place is so old it feels like as if it's been around for over 30 years.

I had the today special - Apple Chicken Sausage, scrambled eggs, potatoes and wheat bread. It was really good and satisfying and best of all, it doesn't burn your pocket!

Another recommended dish is the French toast, it is very different from a typical french toast because it tastes more like fluffy cake with castor sugar and honey but I still love it.

Hibiscus

It's been 2 months since I last updated...not that I have not left the house, but I kept forgetting to document my gastronomic experiences! :) Anyhow, it was time to celebrate - again. Yes, I have all the reasons to celebrate every mini milestone that I have achieved. So my dear wonderful sibling took me to this restaurant rated No. 2 in Bay Area - Hibiscus, creole Caribbean style cuisine.

Callaloo cooked in coconut milk. Tastes just like the Daun manis lemak. Love it, tastes just like home cooking.

Grilled Plantain. (Scratching your head?) It's a kind of grilled banana, trust me, it's really awesome and it's garnished with garlic and parsley!!

Jerk Chicken. (You must laughing) Yes, it's Jerk Chicken, only because it uses a kind of spice called Jerk. This is really spicy, I can barely stomach it, but I'm sure for those who love chicken dishes, you'll love this!

I was craving for crab, so I ordered the Crab grit. Well, it was a little disappointing, can you spot the crab meat? Yup, that was the only crab meat I got!

And the restaurant's famous Miss Ollies Fried Chicken. It's cooked like any other fried chicken but the special thing is that it is dressed in Giblet gravy and had Boniato Puree (a kind of sweet potato).

Verdict? I would come again, if I have friends who would want to try Creole Carribean food.

Believe

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

I LOVE EDDIE IZZARD! He's brilliantly witty.

He's so funny he rocks my world!

I was lucky enough to catch the show live! It was indeed a very extremely funny 2.5 hours!

*very happy*