We took Clementine to Boo At The Zoo, an annual Halloween event at the San Francisco Zoo, just several streets away from our house. Boo At The Zoo is an event for little kids to get dressed up and trick or treat while seeing the animals get their treats as well. There were candy and snack stations held all over the zoo grounds, plenty of food and drinks for the kiddies in costume.
There was a petting zoo area where the farm animals walked free amongst the children. The animals were super gentle and calm, very accustomed to unpredictable toddlers. Clementine had a great time petting them & feeding them.
Clementine is getting very interested in animals, and she plays with her animal figurines all the time. We tried to get into the Big Cat House so she could see and hear the tigers & lions roar - unfortunately, she was asleep napping in her stroller when the Cat House was opened up. Even the tiger's loud roaring didn't wake her!
We went with some of our friends to Joan's Farm & Pumpkin Patch for the little ones to have their very first pumpkin patch experience. Clementine ran around to look at the big pumpkins, the medium pumpkins, and the small pumpkins.
That pumpkin looks a little big for you, Clementine! And don't look now, but I think there's a ghost behind you...
Click HERE for the rest of the pictures.
Our daughter made her grand entrance on June 21, 2011.
I started feeling contractions on Monday June 20. After half a day of what's called "false labor" (although the pain felt pretty damn real to me), the contractions quickly turned into "REAL" labor by early afternoon. After some scrambling around the house to gather our things and arrange for our friends Raul & Rachel to pick up Corser, Russell and I rushed to UCSF Children's Hospital around 8pm.
They strapped me with belts and sensors to monitor the baby's heart rate & my contractions. Unfortunately, the contractions came too fast and too strong, which stressed the baby, causing her heart rate to go dangerously low. I was rushed... I mean, RUSHED (just like on TV & movies, with the hospital staff running through the halls, yelling out for help) to the Operating Room twice, to prepare for a possible emergency caesarian section. The doctors pumped me full of drugs to slow down the contractions, which brought the baby's heart rate back to normal. This happened twice over the course of a few hours. But the doctors informed us that if this happened again, they strongly recommended to proceed with delivering via C-section due to possible risk of losing the baby.
So when the heart rate dropped a 3rd time, we went for it. It was a truly frightening and stressful experience. I was rushed to the OR, while Russell had to stay in the hospital room. Our little girl arrived in the wee hours of the morning, kicking and screaming from the get go.
Clementine de Joya Gong was born on 4:38am. 6 lbs, 4 oz. 19.5 inches long.
The delivery went smoothly. The medical staff at UCSF were extremely attentive and supporrtive; I felt genuinely cared for during our stay. Clementine stayed in the room with us, and Russell was at our side the entire time. We stayed 4 more nights, through Saturday morning, so I could adequately recover from the surgery.
Click HERE to see our pics from that first week at the hospital.
Here are video journals to chronicle our first days with the baby.
We've taken our pregnancy & birthing classes and our infant parenting classes. We've written up our Birth Plan. We've packed our hospital bag. We've narrowed down our baby names. We've [mostly] gotten all the baby gear & registry items we need. Nursery is almost done. Baby clothes have all been washed & put away.
I think we're ready. Kinda.
Baby is already considered full-term at this point, so if I deliver now, it'll just be "early" but not "preemie". Sometime last week, we entered the"Lightening" stage of the pregnancy, where the baby starts to drop down lower in my pelvis in preparation for birth. Which means I can finally take deep breaths again, and eat larger meals... but I also have to pee ALL THE DAMN TIME since baby is now resting on my bladder. At least we know from my weekly NST exams that its head is down and turned the right way (and that it's uber-active & healthy).
This week is my last week in the office. Just in time because I am SO tired of going up and down the stairs, the constant restroom visits, and fighting the urge to take naps at my desk. I'll be working from home next week, then I'll be officially on leave after June 17th.
Meanwhile, Russell has been very hard at work moving and rearranging furniture, doing major cleaning, home projects, and all the heavy lifting. He's also been taking very good care of me, taking me to/from my pre-natal massage appointments (a very thoughtful gift he gave me), soothing my aches & pains, and making sure I don't overexert myself as I tend to do. He's an amazing husband, and I know he'll be such an awesome dad.
In case you hadn't seen it lately, you can check out our Pregnancy album HERE, which is updated weekly.
Our friends Justa & Tammy threw us a baby shower! Well, knowing Russell and I, it couldn't be a standard baby shower party. We decided to have a Fiesta to celebrate Cinco de Mayo AND a baby shower together! Tammy made gigantic colored pompoms and did all the decorations. Justa worked with Russell on the activities: A "Message To Baby Gong" from our guests, and a guess at "What Will Baby Gong Look Like". We also had a custom-made pinata shaped like a baby... please don't think that's an indicator of what kind of parents we'll be!
Isa flew up from LA for this party, and got to have a preview of what it feels like to be an Auntie. Many of our friends already have chirruns of their own, and a whole new slew of babies were born in the past year (ours will be the 8th). There were tykes galore running around all over the house! Friends were telling us to "get used to it - this will be your life soon!" Ai ya...
It's another Cabo Wabo Xmas for the Cayco family! This year, the de Joyas & Chuidians were joined by Miko, Bea, and Monica. Yep, it was a full(er) house this year!
As usual, everyone gathered on Christmas Eve for a Filipino dinner at Tita Yeyet & Tito Pepeng's house.
Save some for the rest of us, Isa!
Christmas Dinner was held at Chris and Erica's place. Keeping our tradition from last year, the "kids" made the Christmas dinner. Everyone was in charge of their own dishes, but we all chipped in to help each other with the prep work in the morning.
(click on the picture to enlarge it)
It was another wonderful Christmas filled with Food, Family, and FUUUNNN! For more pics, click HERE to see the album.
It was one of those ultra-rare days when the sun is actually shining in our usually fog-bound Outer Sunset District neighborhood. So we just had to drop everything and take advantage by having a backyard barbecue brunch cookout with Justa and Drew. And what would brunch be without bottomless bloody marys?
The weather was rather warm for Corser's taste, so he started acting like a dog (for once) and dug himself a cool little nest in the shady sandy soil.
For more mouthwatering pictures of our barbecue, click HERE.
We escaped to Kauai for 6 days in May. And it's a true "escape", complete with secluded beaches, small-town life, and empty wide open roads stretching out into the sky before you. Our hotel, the Aston Islander on the Beach, was on the border of the towns of Waipouli & Kapaa, which is on the East Shore, halfway between the North and the South coasts (the Western side of the island isn't very navigable). This central location made it easy for us to travel easily to various beaches & destinations. Our hotel was also a few minutes drive to the town of Kapaa, where a few of our friends were born, raised, and still live.
Some highlights: -- Making our way through many of Kauai's beaches on the North, East, and South shores. A few were pretty popular, most were almost deserted. The surf, weather, and terrain varied from beach to beach, and some were more suited to swimming, snorkeling, or just lying out on the beach away from the waves. -- Watching our pal Aldrine ROCK a live show (that links to another performance a few months ago, but so what, he's frickin amazing) -- Chowing down on the BEST coconut manju, seafood poke, saimin noodles, and shave ice (yes, we are NOW Hawaiian Blizzard shave ice believers!) thanks to our friends' advice -- Learning the intricacies of local pidgin language (examples: Never using the word "are", Saying "slippahs" instead of "flip flops", and Heavy utilization of sound effects) -- Wending our way through Waimea Canyon -- Ziplining through gorges in the rain
Click HERE for our pictures. Warning: there are a LOT! We'll be posting videos soon too.
We had a blast hanging out with our Kauai buddies, checking out the sights, and soaking up the sun (in between the rain) while laying on the 3rd or 4th beach of the day. Thank you so much to Ryan & Emmi, Aldrine, and Aaron for being such great hosts during our visit!
We took our little domestic terrorist to unleash his wrath on the unsuspecting denizens of Carmel for the weekend. The 3 of us stayed at the Adobe Inn, checked out "Yappy Hour" at the Cypress Inn, and had dinner at The Forge In the Forest (which offers a doggy menu).
Corser makes his mark on Carmel.
Carmel-by-the-sea has a reputation for being one of the country's most dog-friendly places to visit. And it's true: there are doggies walking around everywhere with their people, being welcomed into stores and cafes and inns, getting ooh'd and aah'd and coo-coo'd over by puppy-loving passers-by. It was apparent that the pooches strolling about the town LOVED the attention, sitting and heeling like Good Dogs, wagging their cute little tails while getting their heads petted and ears scratched. And as usual, Corser had his fair share of admirers, people asking how old our puppy is, or reaching to pet him, or bending down to make their acquaintance with His Royal Highness.
The light you see in his eyes? That's pure unadulterated EVIL.
The problem with taking Corser to a dog-friendly town, it turned out, is that Corser is not a dog-friendly dog. He snapped at the server, argued loudly with the restaurant manager, and rebuffed the sweet shop owner who tried to ply him with sausage treats. We offered our apologies and received stinkeye in return. Yet, we love him just the same.
Russell, Corser, and I spent a weekend in Tahoe with some old friends. We used to go on snowboarding trips with these folks ALL the time, and haven't done so in the past few years. Mostly because everyone's got KIDS now! Well, we've got a little guy of our own too. We took him out to the snow park with all the kiddies, and he was a very good boy. Click HERE for the pics.
Russell's Aunt Lorna invited us and a bunch of other Gong family cousins to her house for dinner. She is going to teach me how to make her famous Sticky Rice! I was taking pictures, but unfortunately my camera's batteries ran out of charge about halfway through, so I didn't get to capture the final presentation of the rice, which was last to come out. Throughout the night, plate after plate of food came out of the kitchen, a seemingly endless parade of freshly and expertly prepared dishes. What a feast, Aunt Lorna!
The de Joya, Chuidian, and Pastor families gathered in Elk Grove to celebrate Christmas together. It was also the 3rd Annual Cabo Wabo Christmas. Here's a picture of my dad, taken in the inaugural year:It's now 2 years later and the tradition is still going strong.
Tita Yeyet made an incredible Christmas Eve dinner of Kare-Kare, grilled pork chops & roasted tomatoes, Dungeness crab, and Lechon, followed by a spread of desserts. It was a raucous night with 4 doggies and 3 cats in the house (Mollie quickly showed them who was boss!), and family members all taking turns at the dining table. Afterwards, the cousins stayed over at Erica&Chris's house. This year, the "kids" would be in charge of making Christmas dinner, and we had quite a menu planned. It was the first time we'd be attempting dinner for our parents, and we have a lot of expectations from prior years feasts to live up to! It was a lot of work, but a LOT of fun, and it looks like we're going to be doing it this way from now on. Already looking forward to Cabo Wabo Christmas #4!
We held our annual Tree-Trimming Party, in which our friends come over and make the ornaments that will adorn our tree this year. Taking inspiration from our 1970s-1980s childhood memories, we christened this as our Ugly Holiday Sweater party. Our guests came bedecked and bedazzled in their fugliest holiday finest (and we said, the more obnoxious, the better!)
Justa came over early to help prepare the holiday spread (thank you Justa!) There was soooo much food, which kept arriving all night long as more people arrived! Our friends looooove to eat!
Click HERE for our pics. Fa la la laaa, la la la laaaaaaaaaaa!
St George Spirits in Alameda is truly one of the most magical places on earth. It's a craft distillery located in an old air force hangar (next to the Mythbusters shop), where they make the most exquisite small-batch hand-crafted spirits, including eau de vies (which are like grappa) and liqueurs, single malt whiskeys, and Hangar One Vodka (we are huge fans). Last year they debuted Absinthe Verte , the first absinthe legally made in the United States since 1912. We have a bottle of that too, and it's incredibly smooth and oh so delicious.
They recently released their handmade agave spirit, Agua Azul, otherwise known to most folks as tequila. However, just like how all "real" champagne has to be made in France's Champagne region, all "real" tequila must be made in Jalisco, Mexico - otherwise one cannot call it tequila. Just like the rest of the St George stuff, it's made on-site in their hangar (with agave pinas that they exported from Mexico), and thus can only legally be called an "agave-based spirit".
St. George hosts Open House events a few times a year, and this time around the theme was "1980s Winter Prom". For $40, they gave attendees tickets for 4 cocktails, 1 absinthe cocktail, 1 photograph at the photo station, and unlimited (ahem) "tastings" of all of their spirits. It goes without saying that there was also plenty of water stations to keep everyone hydrated, and plenty of hearty yummy food to keep the spirits in check.
Russell, Alden, and I had a blast. For more pics of the debauchery, click HERE.
A night of beer-fueled karaoke at the friendly neighborhood dive bar always seems to lead to an urge to cook the next day (like this). And Isa's mention of adobo last night put all sorts of crazy ideas into my head. I ended up waking up to a fever-dream of making adobo-glazed barbecue babyback ribs. Could I pull it off? Click HERE for the answer!
We took a trip down to SoCal to hang out with Isa, Jay, Marley-dog and Sidney Vicious for the long Labor Day weekend. Highlights from the trip: - Sweet Tea Vodka - Del Taco - Scoops Ice Cream (shoulda tried the Brown Bread, darnit!) - Ostrich tacos at El Coyote Cafe - Seeing the freaks at Venice Beach - Meeting friends & family for san-nakji at Masan Korean Restaurant (and everyone had some, yay!) - Hanging out with Isa & Jay's pals Meg & Lyle, and meeting the Charlielator Click HERE for our pictures!
We checked out the Eat Real Fest in Jack London Square on what was possibly the hottest day this summer. The organization was "created to inspire eaters to choose tasty, healthy, good food. Through a vibrant, local festival in Oakland, CA, and a focus on delicious and sustainable “street food,” Eat Real puts eaters in contact with the real people -- the farmers, chefs, and producers -- who make our food." This also gave us a chance to meet some of our rockstar street food vendors who've been making waves in SF this year, see them in action, and sample their goodies.
Pretty much all of the vendors are on Twitter, and there were a few that I was determined to try. We noshed our way through Phat Matt's BBQ, the Adobo Hobo, 4505 Meats, and succeeded in finding Steve of Gobba Gobba Hey, creator and purveyor of delectable Gobs and Gobbles. We were pretty much stuffed by the time we made it to the Beer Shed to guzzle a few servings of local microbrews.
Pictures of the sweltering (but satisfying) summer day: HERE.
Russell, Corser, and I drove down to LA and kicked it at my sister Isa's & Jay's swank new place in Toluca Lake over the weekend. We were attending the wedding of our buddy Armando and his ladylove Linda, who got hitched this past Saturday, July 27. The wedding ceremony and dinner reception took place at the beautiful Ambassador Campus in Pasadena.
