Montreal!

Hello everyone!

This is like... 2 months late, but you know, time is a very rare commodity around here haha
However, when you don't have a violin to practice (left the baby overnight at the violin hospital for a new soundpost!), I'm finding that I have a lot of time!  =D

Anyway, a few of our friends are headed off to Montreal soon, and I thought it would be fun to share a few places we loved during our trip there in February.  It was our first time in Montreal, and it was really fun to walk around this beautiful city in some really gorgeous weather!

It was a very short trip--only 2 nights and 3 days--but we tried to fit in as many things (into our bellies) as possible ;)

Boston Bound!

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the long absence from the blog, but these past 2 weeks have been pretty insane with the move to Boston!  But I'm here now, in one of my favorite cities ever, all settled into my new apartment with great roommates, and have 1 week of classes of my doctorate degree at Boston University under my belt!  =)

So here are a few of the photos of our road trip to Boston from Houston (yes, we actually did that. and yes, it took 3 days. and no, I would not do that willingly again  haha)

Having said that, it really wasn't unbearable, and some parts were quite fun, especially since I was in good company  =)  most parts, though, were pretty uneventful.. we just drove and drove and drove some more.  through Texas, through Louisiana, through Georgia, etc until we got to Boston!

the only scariest part was driving through Louisiana one day, and it started to pour. I mean, like I thought the window was going to break kind of pouring rain.  and there were lightening strikes everywhere.  we drove like 20 mph, but we probably should have pulled over because we couldn't see anything...

The scary part was soon over though, and by the second day, we found ourselves snuggling with this beautiful kitty!

We're so thankful to Mary and her kitties for letting us crash with them for the night!  =D

And then we were in Boston!  and Allston Christmas began.  In case you've never heard of Allston Christmas, it's when some ridiculous number like 80% of greater Boston area residents pack up and move all on the same day.  This year, it was on September 1, and my gosh, was that a crraaaaazzzyy day!  We survived moving though, with lots of trips to Ikea before and after the move in day.  I had never been to Ikea before, and I loved it! I don't know why I had never been there before  haha but we did the whole shebang and tried the food and everything!

It wasn't all work and no play though!  I got to meet up with a few friends,

got to try my first lobster, which was from Maine, and it was ahhmazing.  people have told me that lobster tastes just like crabs, but I really don't think so.  I much prefer lobster for the ease of eating (crabs can be so difficult to eat...) and for the texture  =)

So yeah!  I'm basically settled in (I'll maybe do a post of my room once everything gets put into place!) and really enjoying my classes at my new school!  the doctorate degree is much more intense than all of the other degrees I've done so far, which I suppose, is to be expected haha  But I'm really excited to continue my education here and to explore this amazing city!

Stay tuned for more Boston blogs coming soon!  =D

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend!
--Janny

Austin Open 2014!

Hello everyone!

I'm sorry I've been MIA for the past 2 weeks or so, but life has truly been absolutely crazy.  I'm graduating almost exactly a month from now, and just in this week alone, I have 5 performances... and it's going to be this way for the next 2 weeks!  AAHHH!  breathe... I can survive this...

Anyway, I just wanted to blog about our trip to Austin before the month passes by  haha  

so here is the story about how a 3 hour road trip to Austin from Houston became a 9 hour road trip.

It began like any other road trip to a ballroom dance competition.  We picked up our fellow dancers from Rice, and got on the road with lots and lots of snacks and other food stuffs.  Like some Kimbab.

I felt so much like my mother making these because every Korean child has memories of eating Kimbab on a picnic or a road trip, or really anywhere where you pack and bring food   haha.  My version was really simple though, a bastardized version of Kimbab, and it only contained rice and some seasoned Bok choy.  Very simple, but filling and yummy!  Last year I made ones with rice and seasoned kale, and I think I actually like the kale version better, fyi  ;)

Our road trip was quite smooth, actually.  We slept, took turns driving, talking, taking pictures of smiley water towers, and just having fun like any other group of 4 college students.

Things all changed when we got to the competition venue, however, with just a couple of words from David.  I can't quite remember exactly what it was word for word, but it was something along the lines of "Oh no, we're in trouble.. I forgot my costumes at home".  

And with those words, our 3 hour trip to Austin became our 9 hour trip to Austin.

It wasn't too bad though because David and I sang Avenue Q and Disney songs all the way back to Houston (btw, we found that when I drive, it only takes 2.5 hours to get back to Houston).  Don't worry, we dropped off the other dancers in Austin so they wouldn't have to endure 6 more hours of sitting in the car, and possibly worse, our singing.  On our way back to Austin, David drove (which look longer than 2.5 hours  =p) and we just talked about anything and everything.  The extra 6 hours really is not so bad when you have good company I guess  ;)

We met up with the rest of the dancers from Rice at our hotel around midnight, and went to bed after trying to come up with a few routines for our standard (Waltz, Tango, and Quickstep) categories.  You see, we had only focused on the Latin categories (Chacha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, and Jive) and didn't get any practicing in for standard all year..

The next morning, we fueled up with some Texas sized (and shaped) breakfast, and headed to the competition!

The competition began with some country dancing and some International Standard dancing!
Here are a couple of our Rice dancers tearing up the floor!  Woot!  ;)

Because David and I were only dancing the Gold division, thankfully we had some time to come up with a routine for our Standard dances during the Newcomer, Bronze, and Silver division competitions. I have to say though, it was uuubber stressful, and we should probably practice a little earlier than an hour before the competition next time...   

When we weren't dancing, we cheered on other dancers, operated video cameras, cameras, ate some food and goofed around.  After all, the point of being there is to have fun and be with your teammates, not necessarily to be hard core about competing.  =)

Then, finally, it was Gold and Novice level competition, and we got to dance!

So many of us from Rice ended up wearing blue gowns!  haha   yay go Rice!  (our school color is blue too! what a coincidence!  ahem, I mean,,, we planned that. mm hmm.)

Our whole team after the standard competition.

After the International Standard competition, we had a break for lunch, and then began the loooonnnggggg afternoon segment of American Smooth, International Latin, and American Rhythm. David and I were doing the Open level multi-dance International Latin so we were the last ones to dance, and that ended up being around 10:30 PM... way past my bedtime  haha  I'm such a grandma...  =p  but we spent the day doing some more cheering, camera-ing, and goofing off some more.

yay I'm-bored-selfies!

 and a few more pictures of our friends in Latin and Rhythm categories!

and finally!!  as I was about to nod off to sleep, it was our turn to dance!  let me tell you what, there's nothing like a performance to wake you up from your granny-bedtime-grogginess!

It was my first time dancing Open level, and it was so much fun!  Of course, there's a lot to learn and fix and polish and tweak, but overall, I'm happy with our first performance at the Open level  =)  After all, it can only get better from here, right?

oh, and look how tan I am!  ;)  unfortunately, I never got quite as tan as David, but at least I don't look like a ghost next to him anymore!  haha

and a quick video of a part of our cha cha!

I hope your week is going well, and thanks for stopping by!!
--Janny

Spring Break II!! San Antonio and Castroville!

Hello everyone!

In order to celebrate our Spring Break II,

actually called Spring Recess,

(because Rice is awesome like that and gave us Thursday and Friday off for Easter)

we took a road trip to San Antonio and Castroville!

Before we left, I was uber ambitious, and made some Kimbap for the road;

Mommy used to make these (but the real version) for us all the time,

so I thought I would give it a try.

This isn't the real Kimbap though,

it just had rice and some roasted kale inside it instead of the whole... shebang...

We actually finished the whole thing on the trip out,

so we didn't have any for the way back,,,

well, now we know to make more for our next trip  ;) 

We began the trip by visiting Castroville Regional Park, 

which is less than half an hour away from San Antonio,

and enjoyed a little hike.

It was really gorgeous.

Who would've thought that Texas could be this beautiful?

I mean, when I think Texas I think deserts and barren lands,

but this little stream we found was really green and quite beautiful.

Then, we also found a little playground at the park,

so of course we had to frolic a little  ;)

On our way back, we spotted this,,, tree decoration (?)

can someone explain this to me...?

I'm just a bit confused...

Cora's 471 Grill.

apparently it has the best nachos in Texas.

So obviously had to go there, right?

I mean, it's the best in Texas.  

That's a pretty big claim, eh?

And the verdict?

Yes.

It was pretty darn great.

but super heavy.

A layer of chips, beans, cheese, meat, tomatoes, and some jalapenos. 

My mouth loved it, but my tummy not so much...

Before we left Castroville for San Antonio,

we stopped by the Haby's Bakery.

because everyone told us that we had to visit this place.

 we got cream cheese and strawberries filled doughnut and this pineapple filled pastry,

and the cream cheese/strawberries doughnut pictured above was pretty darn tasty!

the pineapple one is waiting in my fridge right now, waiting to be tested tonight after dinner  =)

Then, we hit the line of 5 San Antonio Missions.

We were originally going to hit all of them,

but,,,  after two, we called it quits, 

partly due to my stomach having problems with the uber rich food...

My diet is usually pretty light and mostly vegetarian, so it was a bit shocked I think  haha

The ones we visited were awesome though!

I had never seen anything like that before, so it was all fascinating,

and the weather was absolutely perfect for leisurely strolling,

and it was with my man. so I mean, ya, it was pretty great  ;)

The next stop was the River Walk!

I mean, it's one of the things you have to do in San Antonio, right?

It was such a relaxing stroll,

and we walked into a little Italian shop with this charming old Italian man who kept talking to us in Italian.

It was really quite charming  ;)

A trip is not complete without ice cream of some sort afterall,

so we got some raspberry/grapefruit gelato and a cannoli.

my first cannoli!  and it was so good--he assured us that it would be good since it was his mother's recipe  ;)

see?  I told you he was charming.

We wrapped up our break by watching Croods

--highly recommended for some good old pg-rated laughs and warm/fuzzy feeling in your heart--

and it was the perfect break we needed from all the hustle and stress of grad life.

Now we're back, and it's time to get our butts in gear for the last month of school!

 I can't believe Rice ends so early in the year! 

but this last month is going to be...  awesome...  yeah!  haha

I hope you are all enjoying this Easter weekend!

Happy Easter!

--Janny 

Spring Break Part 2 :: Road trip!!

Hello everyone!

The 2nd part of our Spring Break was spent mostly on the road,

from LA to the Bay Area.

We decided to take a little detour though to visit the Danish town of Solvang on our way up,

because our friend Ran recommended it to us,

and we are so glad that we did!!

What a charming and peaceful little town!

and what an incredibly beautiful day to explore!

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves walking around the little downtown, 

visiting the unique shops,

and just generally enjoying the Danish architecture of the place.  =)

Then, we stopped by the Succulent Cafe and Trading Company for lunch!

For some reason, I thought it was a Danish restaurant,

but it was actually French...

We ordered the cheese board, and I remember thinking,

'wow, French and Danish cuisine is really similar!'

ok, so I should've known that it was French as soon as I saw the cheese board,

but in my defense, it is a Danish town afterall!

It was really delicious, and exactly what we were craving after a long morning on the road  =)

windmills, succulents everywhere, amazing cheese and fruits,
silverware with character, and this person  =)

Then, for dessert, we visited Olsen's Danish Village Bakery.

I was determined that we would experience something Danish this time,

-since we were so wrongly cheated out of it for lunch-

and I figured having 'Danish' in the name would guarantee that for us  haha.

We ordered a slice of the Kringle and the Danish waffle 

--because the Kringle is humongous! bottom right picture--

and really enjoyed the Kringle!

The Danish waffle was a tad bit too sweet for us,

but we loved trying both of them!  =)

Then, we walked around and explored different shops on the main street.

It was the strangest thing,

we knew that we were in California,

but pretty frequently, as we were exploring these little shops,

I kept forgetting that fact,,,  it felt so much like we were in a different country!

or perhaps like we were in a different era?

The architecture was so uniformly different (Danish),

the shops were so different,

the food was different,

people at the stores wore different clothes,

the whole town was so peaceful...

cuckoo clocks!  We used to have one at our house when I was a teeny tiny one.

We finished our trip to Solvang by walking through their park and the farmer's market.

The park is dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen,

whom we can thank for such fairytales as the Ugly Duckling, and the Thumbelina among others,

and the farmer's market that was happening right beside it was full of amazing looking fresh produce!

ahh, farmer's markets  =)  gotta love them!

11270 km to Copenhagen!

Then, as we were about to resume our road trip to the Bay Area,

we noticed an Ostrich farm on our left!!

so of course, we did a big U-y and turned around to check it out!

Neither of us had ever seen a live ostrich before,

so obviously, we were uber excited to meet the first ostrich of our lives!

We bought 2 bowls of feed, and went out to meet these birds.

I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't what we experienced.

First of all, these birds are HUGE!

and rather vicious in their quest to get to the feed.

The first ostrich tried to take the bowl away from me,

and it was so strong that it almost succeeded!

Overall, it was a bit scary, but I'm glad we got to experience it anyway  =)

Then, we drove and drove and drove

(well, he drove,, I slept  haha)

and then got to the Monterey beach!

It was really freezing though, especially since we got to it just as the sun was setting...

but it was fun smelling the ocean and walking along the water line  =)

Then, we ended the day with a dinner with Paula and Ted in Saratoga!

what a cute couple  =)

David, Paula, and Ted go waay back to their Berkeley years,

and it's always fun meeting and seeing old friends.

Thanks for the lovely dinner guys!

We'll see you guys soon I'm sure  =)

Well, we're leaving California nice and early tomorrow morning,  

(6 am,,,)

so I should probably go pack and get some sleep..

Happy Friday!

--Janny

Road Trip Musings

Hello everyone!

I am convinced that road trips are the fastest and the surest way of getting to know someone really well.  I mean, you are stuck in a small box together for an extended length of time:  You can't avoid issues if they come up, you can't just leave the house or just go into your room and shut the door...  Also, you are not as connected to the rest of the world, especially if you are old school like us and don't own iphones or any phone with a data plan.  So these are some of the things I have learned, experienced, and thought about on this road trip with my lil bro, grandma, and an ipod plugged into the car.

• Grandmas always tell the BEST stories!  I mean, they are like walking history books, right?  It's so much more fun learning about history through them than learning it through a textbook (although I find reading history really interesting as well  haha)  Also, I think they had waay more fun back then.  Also, I'm glad arranged marriages are not common anymore,, even though both of my grandparents had arranged marriages, and their marriages were very happy.  Grandma dated grandpa for only 2 months before getting married!  2 months!   D=

• If you are driving, and you get sleepy, you should ask someone else to drive right away.  Because it's dangerous.  But, say, if you feel like testing your willpower to see how long you can stay awake, continuously slapping yourself lightly works pretty well.  (lil bro made fun of me for it, but I woke up once to find him doing the same thing!  haha)  Trying to count multiples of 7, on the other hand, doesn't work very well--it only works for a couple of minutes.

• There are some really odd names for roads and cities.  For example, Bond Butt Rd.  After 13 hours of driving, this becomes 'James Bond's Butt Road' in your mind.  Also, after many hours in the car, one of these odd names will be enough to have everyone in the car dying from laughter.

Martinez Hercules!!!

• Actually, now that I think about it, an incredible amount of things are funny after 10+ hours of straight driving.  And then you look back and wonder,,, 'why did we think that was funny?'

• Bring a blanket for those not driving!  When you are driving, for some reason your temperature runs higher than those of the passengers.  Also, the cold temperature helps to keep you awake, so naturally, you blast the AC.  Unfortunately, this means frozen passengers.  A simple blanket will take care of this issue.

• Lil bro is one smart cookie.  I took a Theory of Ethics class last year, and I was explaining some of the philosophical views and the issues that came up in the class, and we had fun discussing philosophy for quite a bit of Oregon.  We also discussed how history can be interpreted in so many different ways.  President Lincoln is always a fascinating subject.  We also discussed his future.  Though he is going into Pre-med, and I couldn't have been farther from Pre-med in my undergraduate studies, I had many friends who were Pre-med, so I tried to be helpful.  I think he's going to be just fine =)

• When you want to eat a picnic lunch and see a sign for a lake, make sure to check just how far this lake is.  We didn't, and ended up driving 10 minutes out of the way just to get to this 'lake'.  In the end, it wasn't even a lake,, and it smelled funny.  but it felt very adventurous because the road was extremely narrow and squiggly.  We also saw a rope bridge which was blocked off.  If Grandma wasn't there, we probably would have attempted it anyway.  Grandma probably saved our lives.

• I've seen deer crossing signs, but Oregon has bear crossing signs and California has cow crossing signs. I wish I would have taken pictures. We were laughing so hard when we saw the cow crossing sign.

• The West coast is incredibly beautiful.  The landscape varies every hour or so, but I enjoyed seeing every single one.   It's funny how quickly the changes happen as well.  As soon as we got into California, almost in an instant, the landscape changed!

• Did you know that Seattle is NOT the capital of Washington?  It's Olympia! Who's heard of Olympia?  (I actually learned this on my last road trip with daddy, but I just thought I'd share)

• My brother can pop his ears just by thinking about it.  For me, I have to yawn to do that.  I thought that was how it was for everyone?   I spent the rest of that car ride trying to pop my ears by sheer willpower.  I didn't succeed.

• We were incredibly happy to see I-80.  It was kinda surprising.  (it's the highway that runs through Nebraska)  Aurora, NE, the first place we moved to from Korea, will always have a special place in our hearts =)

• The way we felt when we saw the Seattle skyline after so many hours on the road must be how one feels when seeing an oasis in the desert.  Also, why oh WHY does California have to be so long?!  We cheered for a good couple of minutes when 'Welcome to Oregon' sign came up.

• I had another popular music crash course (because I am always behind on the latest popular music trends and lil bro is always on top of these things).  I learned that I still am not a member of the Bieber fever.  Still not a Taylor Swift fan.  Still don't get rap. at all.   We whipped our hair back and forth (and the car did a little bit as well) to Willow Smith.  My favorites are still the oldies.  We really like Michael Jackson; we tried to sing as high as he was singing.  When Mexican music comes on while surfing the radio, our heads automatically bobble side to side.  I found that I really enjoy acoustic music--like AJ Rafael, Jason Mraz, Jeremy Passion.  so nice!  Oh, and Lil bro and I can now belt out 'Lucky' by Jason Mraz and Colby Cailllt--right harmonies and everything!

• and it reminded me of the last road trip we took to the East Coast.. about 8 years ago.  We were belting out duets back then as well.  It was High School Musical...  Don't judge, we were young!  haha   but they had some really nice, singable duets on the soundtrack CD.  =p

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy Monday!

--Janny