Muir Woods

Muir Woods is the very first national park in America.. or so that's what Phong told me.  After a long drive up and down some real narrow windy roads, we reached a queue that makes traffic jams in KL seem docile!  Turns out that apparently visiting forests is a big thing and there were hundreds of other people who decided to venture out there this very morning.

After putting our university parking stalking days back to use, we finally found a really good parking place!  So what is there to expect in a national park?  Trees!  And lots of them!

Yup, that's Phong in the blue starring at.. trees...

I do find it quite ironic that this is a protected area where trees are allowed to grow big and old, yet the walkway is build entirely of timber deckings!  I know they are probably trying to blend in the surroundings to the natural ways but all I can think of and see is the hundreds of trees that were felled to build this walkway!  Nevertheless, this place is very pretty and serene.

The trees are magnificently huge!  You will be immediately awed by the humongous size of the trunk and the height at first glance, but for me it was the wonderful smell wafting through the air!  What kind of trees are these??  Phong said that they were all redwoods and I was already planning to grow them in my future garden!  Yes, that was a ridiculous idea especially since these trees takes hundreds of years to mature!  But what was more ridiculous was the fact that when we rounded a corner, right infront of us was a cafe serving coffee and hot pastries.  Exactly what I was smelling all this time... it was coffee and pastries... good one Princess Bling... good one...

Just to see how wide and large the tree trunks were, here is a photo of my brother attempting to take an artistic shot with his latest toy... I just want to post this picture to embarrass him.. :)

As interesting as it was, how long can you honestly look at trees??  We opted to take the 1 mile trail instead of the more scenic trails because firstly, I was wearing heeled boots and was so not prepared to hike!  Secondly, we did not want to look at that many trees.  It seemed like a waste to just spend 30 minutes wondering around the park especially when we spent around the same time looking for a parking!  But hey, atleast I can say that I have been to Muir Woods and therefore can cross that off my bucket list! :)

Cruising San Francisco!

So my brother and his wife are visiting San Francisco!  So on a fine, beautiful Saturday morning, Phong and I rented a car and attempted to show how "local" we are in San Francisco by taking Ronald and Elvina to our favourite haunts and some scenic and touristy places around.


Our first stop was for brunch at none other than the Cliff House!  

I absolutely love having brunch in this bistro that is perched on top of a cliff side... hence the name of the place.  The views are totally breath taking and majestic.  I only wish I took more pictures but unfortunately due to our haste from a late morning start, I ran out of the apartment without a jacket!  


This history of this place is that it was once owned by a rich family who built it as an exclusive gentlemen's type club and since then, this place has burnt down twice.  The original building looks absolutely nothing like what it does now.  Nevertheless, it's still a beautiful place to have brunch with friends and family!  

Seating area - Walls are decorated with head shots of famous celebrities.  Some pictures are actually autographed by the celebrities too!

Bar area

Naturally, I always order a good ol american style breakfast everytime I get the opportunity to have brunch!  This time I ordered two fried eggs over medium with bacon (of course!)

The bacon is definitely the element that completes this dish!  It was beautifully cooked, perfectly crispy and absolutely delicious!!  However I do have a little complain about the eggs.  It was perfectly cooked as well, although there is a strong excessive taste of butter!!  Makes me wonder if they fried the eggs in butter instead of normal oil!  Talk about a heart attack in the making!  


Overall this dish is pretty delicious and a perfect companion to this dish would be a nice cold glass of simosa!!  But no.. I decided to go with coffee because I am still unfortunately extremely jet lagged and will take all opportunities to get caffeine in my system!

Valentines Day!

Once a year, Hallmark celebrates this apparently the most "romantic" day of the year by making loved-up couples buy overpriced flowers and presents to showcase their everlasting love for each other.  Do I sound bitter or what!  :)


To be honest, I have always told myself that this is a meaningless date and showing and proving one's love shouldn't be dictated by a single day in the calendar year.  Maybe this is to make myself feel alot better about myself if I did not receive a single valentines present!  But as I am much older and hopefully wiser now, I now believe that this is in fact true.  As my wonderful husband puts it, "Everyday is Valentines Day".  So hubby... does that mean I get presents every single day? :)


After taking 25 hours to fly back from Kuching to San Francisco, I arrived just in time to celebrate the "actual" Valentines day with Phong.  No presents were exchanged but I did decide to cook a wonderful dinner for the both of us.  On the menu, roasted lamb rack with homemade mushroom sauce with stir fry vegetables and roasted rosemary potatoes.  Dessert was the biggest strawberries I have ever seen!

Long stem strawberries

I have never cooked lamb before and there is nothing worst than eating over cooked lamb as it would feel like chewing through leather shoes.  However, I chose lamb because it's one meat that can be eaten both when undercooked or overcooked!  


After marinating the lamb in olive oil, rosemary and thyme, I proceeded to make the mushroom sauce.  The last time i made gravy was when I roasted the turkey for Christmas.  All that required was taking the drippings from the turkey, and added corn starch to thicken the drippings up and voila!  Gravy!  Taking this concept, I cooked mushrooms in beef stock and added corn starch and surprisingly, the mushroom sauce tasted really good!!  Judge for yourself....

I am glad to report that the lamb was perfectly cooked too!  10 minutes in 180 degrees oven for each side of the lamb.  So there you go..  I can actually cook!!! :)