Archive for "Flickr"
The Lion Habitat at MGM Grand
Posted on August 1, 2008 by Ching under Flickr, Travel.
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The Eiffel Tower Experience
Posted on July 28, 2008 by Ching under Flickr, Travel.
These are pictures we took inside Paris and also from the top of the Eiffel Tower. We had to wait in line for 30 minutes to go to the top. The view was breathtaking, but it was really crowded. I think next time (if we ever go again) we’ll just make reservations to dine at the Eiffel Tower restaurant. I heard that is one of the most romantic restaurants on the strip and is a good place for wedding proposals. Too bad Brian and I are already married. =P
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Dinner at the Brubakers
Posted on June 21, 2008 by Ching under Family, Flickr, Travel.
We were supposed to have dinner with Brian’s parents on Friday night, but I found out on Tuesday that we had a phone system upgrade that same evening. I had volunteered to stay through the whole thing a couple of weeks ago, but had forgotten all about it.
Pam Joni and I stayed. It was supposed to finish at 11:00 PM on Friday night, if all went well. Things never go perfectly so we were there until almost 2:00 AM the next day. It still wasn’t finished so they all went back this morning. I couldn’t because I had a full Saturday with my waxing, April’s bridal shower, and poker. I had originally planned to work out in the morning, but I nixed that idea so I could get some sleep.
Anyway, dinner got moved to Thursday night. We brought the bottle of Malbec that we won at Carrabba’s. It didn’t go that great with chili dogs, but we drank some anyway. LOL. Here are post-dinner some pictures of Brian and Dave goofing off.
Here’s a picture of our pasalubong:
They brought us some chocolates also. Yum! We haven’t eaten them all yet. Anyway, here are some photos from their trip.
I’m hosting all of the photos on my Flickr. Check them out.
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Yet Another Reason to Love Carrabba’s
Posted on June 18, 2008 by Ching under Flickr, Food and Drink.
We just got home from a fantastic evening at Carrabba’s. We received an invite for a complimentary food and wine tasting to celebrate the return of the summer season. Ashley, the server who helped us on our last visit, recognized us and directed us to the appropriate area.
I had not had the opportunity to write about our last experience at Carrabba’s but suffice it to say Ashley was phenomenal. I was foolish enough to order a carafe of sangria for myself. I have no idea why I thought that I would be able to consume it all. By the second glass, I was already crying uncle. Ashley was not only attentive and friendly, but she anticipated our needs. Instead of having to ask what to do about the remaining sangria, she told us that she was checking with a manager to see if the remainder could be rebottled for us. They were able to do it and so we took the rest of my sangria home that evening. We had at least two more glasses left so it was really nice of them to do that for us.
Ashley dazzled us that evening with the quality of service she provided. We were so pleased that we sent a compliment to Carrabba’s via their web site. A couple of weeks later, we received a nice note back from the regional manager thanking us for sending the positive feedback. She also gave us a coupon for free appetizer or dessert on her.
When we ran into Ashley tonight, she thanked us for the compliment and told us that she got a free tie out of it. That is their form of recognition. That was really nice. I’m glad that she got recognized for her hard work and for going the extra mile. Joe, the owner, also came by and thanked us for sending the compliment for Ashley.
Brian said that Ashley told him that she saw our food blog in the paper a could of weeks ago, and she made the comment to him that the food pictures finally made sense. We get a few strange looks sometimes because I take pictures of everything I eat. Apparrently, Joe has seen the food blog too. I thought that was neat.
Anyway, back to the tasting.
The cheeses offered were romano and fontina. The wines from Jacob’s Liquor were as follows: Librandi Ciro Bianco 2007 (Calabria, Italy); Ducarosso Chianti Reserva 2003 (Tuscany, Italy); Montevina Terra d’Oro Zinfandel 2005 (Amador, California); and Pascual Toso Reserve Malbec 2006 (Mendoza, Argentina). The Jacob’s rep came by right before the tasting began and explained everything. He also came by to check on us a few times throughout the evening. There was a drawing for bottles of wine and dinner certificates that evening and we actually won a bottle of the Malbec. We are bringing it to Brian’s parents’ house tomorrow.
There were five courses during the tasting. Here are some photos:
The Bianco was paired with the crab stuffed shrimp and lemon butter sauce shown above. This was really good. The crab stuffing reminded me of crab cakes, which I love. I was really happy with it because then I got to enjoy crab and shrimp — two of my most favorite seafood items. Brian doesn’t usually like seafood, but he loved this appetizer. That’s truly a testament to how good it is. Oh, and the white wine is my most favorite out of the four options.
Incidentally, the crab stuffed shrimp is going on the specials menu in the next two weeks. I believe it will be offered as one of the special items for the next three months.
Next came the Mediterranean chicken salad and pesto vinaigrette paired with the Chianti. The Chianti was my least favorite of the four wines. This salad was really good, though. I thought the pesto vinaigrette dressing was fabulous. The chicken that they served with it the same chicken that is served in the chicken gratella dish. Brian and I both agreed that we could see ourselves making meals out of the salads on our next visit.
Then we had the veggie ravioli and roasted red pepper sauce paired with the Zinfandel. This was good, but I’m not a big fan of it because I’m not much of a veggie eater. I like my meats. The sauce is really good, though. The roasted red pepper sauce is the same sauce that they used to serve along with the crab cakes (no longer on the menu).
The veal marsala paired with the Malbec was the last food item. It was good, except I’m not too fond of veal. Our entire table agreed that this would be good with a tenderloin, or pork medallions, or something.
Finally, they served us mini mocha mousse desserts and pomegranate martinis. The chocolate mousse was superb. I think Brian and I have found our new favorite dessert. Too bad it won’t be on the menu for another month and a half. The pomegranate martinis probably would have been better had I not eaten dessert first. The sweetness made the martini taste stronger and more bitter. It was good pomegranate martini, though. Brian gave me his so I got his as a bonus.
It was a wonderful evening altogether. Joe came by several times throughout the night to provide us with more information about how the dishes are prepared and to see how we liked everything. We were really pleased with how smoothly everything went. And, we had the opportunity to meet some really fantastic people. Joe said that these tastings are normally held every third Wednesday of the month for $25 per person. The next one is on July 16. We might just do that and Bring Jan and Brian’s parents, too. I’m thinking they might enjoy it.
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Surprise Party
Posted on May 24, 2008 by Ching under Family, Flickr, Life.
Brian threw me a surprise party last Sunday. He had been acting weird the days leading up to it so I kinda-sorta knew something was up. After we picked up Jan at her house, it looked like we were driving to his parents’ house so I knew where he was taking me even though he had Jan blindfold me half-way through. He didn’t drive around to various places to disorient me. He wasn’t tricky about it or anything, so I could tell where we were going.
It wasn’t fun being blindfolded. That’s for sure! It actually made me feel somewhat queasy. When we got there, I was surprised by Bill and Lisa (their kids, Mia and Charlie were there too), April and Corey, Grandma and Grandpa, and David and Donna. Chad, Jay, and Becca came too, but they did not arrive until later. I really didn’t think we were doing anything special because we had just celebrated the previous Sunday (for Mother’s Day) and we were celebrating again tonight. I figured we would just skip last weekend. As it is, we have been celebrating for various reasons three weeks in a row. I can’t argue, though, because I love celebrating. I think everyday is a reason to celebrate.
Here are pictures of Brian and Jan leading me to the door blindfolded:
Click here for other pictures.
Brian and I continue our post graduation celebration today by getting a well-deserved hour-and-a-half couples massage at Beau Monde. That’s this afternoon.
SIDE NOTE: I deserve it for going to school full time and work full time, nonstop, since 2003. Brian deserves it for putting up with me.
After that we are picking up Grandma and Grandpa and taking them to the Brubakers for one final family dinner before David and Donna leave for their thirteen-day Baltic cruise. They leave on Tuesday and will be celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary on the trip.
As for Brian and I, we are going to see the last balcony showing of Indiana Jones after dinner. Then we’ll have to get up early the next day to drive to Kansas City. We are hitting Legends Mall, playing a poker tournament at Harrah’s on Sunday, spending the night there, and then playing another poker tournament on Monday before heading back. There may be some other gambling and other activities mixed in, depending on how quickly we get knocked out of the tournament. Hopefully, that won’t be the case though. I’d like to be able to make it to the final table and maybe even win the whole thing. That would be nice.
It’s going to be a long weekend, one that we will probably need to recover from at some point. Ugh. I tried to talk Brian into waiting to see Indiana Jones until next weekend, but he whined and moaned and groaned and protested that it will not be in the balcony next weekend so we must see it today. I hope the movie doesn’t disappoint because we didn’t even get my favorite seats =P and we are having to watch it late so we can squeeze in into our tight schedule this weekend and it will probably make us really, really tired.
I shouldn’t complain, though. Brian and I have been looking forward to this weekend for several weeks now. Please be sure to check out my photostream on Flickr, as I will post pictures as the weekend progresses. Have a wonderful and safe Memorial weekend, everyone!
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