One of Alex’s many strengths in life is planning ahead and snagging much-sought-after reservations. Back in the fall, he already planned for this spring camping trip to Pinnacles National Park, reserving a campsite as soon as it became available. Pinnacles is only an hour from San Jose, and yet it’s pretty underappreciated as far as…
I have been delighted to see the growing number of Taiwanese cookbooks published in recent years. Although I was happy to support the authors by simply buying the cookbooks and having them decorate my kitchen shelf, I wanted to actually enjoy the cookbooks as not just books but as the dishes contained within! And so,…
February included a big cookbook club dinner for Lunar New Year; a whole trip to New Mexico; and of course plenty of adventures right here at home. I made lots of progress on my custom San Francisco-themed mahjong set, finishing up the painting phase. Cassie and I visited the White Elephant Sale benefiting the Oakland…
As a bit of an epilogue to our stay in New Mexico, we booked just one night at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort And Spa before flying out of Albuquerque the next day. It was a beautiful resort, and an incredible use of our Hyatt free night certificate. View our brief but beautiful stay below,…
Taos with my spouse! After a beautiful drive from Santa Fe, we arrived at our home for the week, an airbnb not far from town. Our first dinner was wonderful, at The Love Apple. We got to visit Taos Pueblo, which is the oldest continuously inhabited community in the US. We were given a lovely…
There are two main routes connecting Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico: The Low Road and the High Road, each named for its respective elevation. The Low Road follows the Rio Grande, while the High Road weaves through the mountains. If you’re making a round trip between the two cities, almost everyone recommended driving the…
Unless you’re an avid skiier or from the state, you probably don’t think of New Mexico as an attraction for winter sports. But it is! Located at the southern end of the American Rockies, Santa Fe is almost 2000 feet higher in elevation than Denver. This February, we decided to visit New Mexico for a…
We seem to have reached a golden age of Taiwanese American cookbooks in the last few years. I can remember learning to cook in the first few years after graduating from college and not having many places to turn when trying to conjure many of the dishes from my childhood. I tried to ask my…
Behold! The start of a whole new year! I set a goal for the entire year, which is a minimum of 15 minutes of movement every day. So we started it off with a January 1st run! Followed up by tacos in the Mission, as inspired by our return from Mexico City just the day…
Alex and I usually go up to Tahoe at least once or twice a year. This January, we went up for a long weekend so Alex could go snowboarding, while I lived my lodge life, staying at our Airbnb and working on my wooden mahjong set that I’ve been carving! See a summary of our…
It’s funny to look back and realize that it’s only been a year since Alex and I started playing mahjong with all our friends and just over a year since we bought a record player and started collecting vinyls. In that time, these two interests have become such big hobbies in our lives. It was…
I read 40 books in 2023. It was a banner year for celebrity memoirs, as well as heavy nonfiction that left me feeling largely doomed. But there were a few bright spots as well. Book covers in the graphic above are arranged from favorite (top left) to least favorite (bottom right). Below are some mini-reviews…