2009!

Egads, I haven't posted in a long time. And it's 2009 already! Hm.

Well, some quick updates. Life since October, is it?

- First time ever I spent both Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years at home. As in, my own home, not my parents' home. I guess it makes it seem less like a holiday, but it sure beats going to work!

- Thanksgiving with the bf's parents in SF. Had the Four Seasons Thanksgiving buffet, which was fine, though I didn't eat any main courses. All appetizers and desserts for me. Also ate at Delfina in the Mission, which IMO is good but possibly overrated given how hard it is to get a reservation. The people in our party actually had trouble finding things they wanted to eat off the menu. Also ate at The House in North Beach again. I like the food there - the bf only likes the specials, evidently.

- When we weren't with the bf's parents, we stopped by the Bi-Rite Creamery at 18th and Dolores and discovered their ice cream is really really good. Very interesting flavors (my favorite is probably the Salted Caramel, though it combined with the Mexican Chocolate with salted peanuts was excellent), very interesting toppings (I love the caramelized graham crackers, though the peanut toffee was quite good if a little hard to chew after a while), and just downright yummy ice cream. Ended up having it for dinner the second time we went - and they remembered us from the night before! Gave us two stamps on our "buy 10 get 1 scoop free" card for the night before b/c they remembered us.

- We've gone out to eat a whole lot in the last 2 months, of course, but I can't remember where =P.

- Went to Jamaica the first week of January (Jan. 6-13). Had flight issues with US Air when they canceled our first flight from SF to Charlotte, rebooked the 6 people who were on one itinerary through Vegas 3 hours early, and rebooked me onto a SF->ORD->CLT->MBJ itinerary that would have gotten me in like 3 hours after originally planned. Because I didn't want to miss the pre-arranged shuttles from airport to villa, I rebooked onto a SF->ORD->CLT->MBJ itinerary that gave me a 41 minute layover in CLT. Oops. The ORD->CLT flight was supposedly leaving early and then sat on the runway for like 40 minutes and I ended up with a 20 minute layover in CLT. By booking it, I made my flight but of course my suitcase didn't. And my suitcase didn't arrive until late the next day. Luckily, my friends lent me spare shorts and short-sleeve shirt so I didn't have to wear my SF-winter jeans and long-sleeve shirt the whole time.

The trip itself was nice, though. We went for some friends' wedding - a low key affair without about 20 friends and family, total. They rented two villas at the Silver Sands resort, one of which slept 14 and was right on the ocean, the other only a door away. The villas came with house staff who cleaned and cooked for us, and would cook whatever we requested provided we provided them with ingredients. So thanks to some plotting by another friend, and a lot of leg work from my friends going to the fish market next door and going into Duncans, the nearby town, we were able to sample a whole range of Jamaican food. Jerk chicken and pork, of course, but also curried goat (which I liked a hell of a lot more than I expected given I hate lamb and gamy meats), oxtail, escovitch fish (red snapper, i think, prepared with vinegar and onions), another type of fish prepared with filets, lobster, conch fritters, corn festivals, johnnycakes, meat patties, and more that I probably have forgotten by now. They also made us desserts every night, so we had some delicious key lime pie, a lightly sweet coconut cream pie, rum cake, brownies, and chocolate cake. We even got to dine outdoors one night on tables they set up in the back yard, along with tiki torches and the beautiful full moon lighting everything up.

The villa also had a small pool off the main living area which our resident 18-month old loved splashing in, and a nearby swimming beach that stayed shallow very far out, with wonderfully warm, clear water to frolic in. We ended up not doing much of anything most of the time, sitting around the villa on our laptops, reading books, playing board games, watching movies, etc. I also spent a good bit of time becoming aforementioned 18-month-old's "enabler," the one he knew he could count on to pick him up and let him play with the light switches and electric fans endlessly. I guess I really am quite inclined to spoil children. I have to say though - he is really cute! Sigh... Anyway, on the Wednesday, we did go to Falmouth for their weekly flea market, reportedly the biggest market on the island. It was an interesting experience - not the least bit touristy at all, but instead clearly where the locals shopped for clothing, household goods, etc. There were aisles upon aisles of booths set up with all sorts of merchandise. Kind of like an open-air run-down mall. On Friday, I set up a trip to Ocho Rios and Dunn's River Falls via Silver Sands (having chosen Friday since there was no cruise ship in port that day). Ocho Rios itself was less than fascinating, especially since all we did there was walk to a Mother's Patties, have lunch, and walk back to the shuttle. The fern gully we drove through was more interesting though, having driven through the Pacific Northwest, not all that interesting. Though there were a lot of craft booths there, and I got a super-cute wooden crab with removable limbs there. Dunn's River Falls, though, was totally worth the trip. It was an activity entirely up my alley - don water shoes and start climbing up a series of falls in a river that spilled straight into the ocean. Playing in water, clambering up rocks, getting to slide down a natural waterslide or do a trust fall backwards into a deep pool of cool water... I loved every minute of it. Didn't even think the water was that cold, though others would definitely disagree. My only complaint is it was too short! 45 minutes flew by and we were at the top of the climbing area. Also a plus was that the guide we got didn't make us hold hands in a daisy chain like they typically do, so we were able to hold onto the rocks and climb at our own pace, more or less. All in all, it was a good trip. Very relaxing. And having the ocean right outside our window was beautiful. Oh, and the wedding was really nice too! =)

- For Christmas, my parents visited SF. My bf cooked Christmas dinner - delicious tenderloin roast with chimichurri sauce, green beans with walnuts in a maple/citrus glaze, baby arugula salad with roasted pears, cheese, and nuts, and a very dense, yummy chocolate cake. It was a huge hit, even with my parents who tend to prefer Asian cuisine. We opened a slew of presents (which quite overwhelmed my bf), played Lips, the new Xbox360 karaoke game, and just had a nice time together. While they were here, we also ate at R&G Lounge, which is one of the few places I'll go through the effort of eating crab b/c their salt and pepper crab is so delicious, Dragonfly, the Vietnamese restaurant my bf has declared just an overall good find b/c we've liked every dish we've tried there, it's not too crowded, and it's not too expensive, Kiji, the sushi restaurant in the Mission with quite yummy fish and rolls, and Esperpento, a tapas place in the Mission that turned out to be super-yummy. My bf said it was like a good, home-style tapas place - nothing too fancy or pretentious, just yummy comfort food, Spanish-style, which was all very tasty.

- Saw the Phantom of the Opera at the Orpheum. I used to listen to the soundtrack incessantly when I was like 8 or 10, but I'd only seen the actual stage show once, from stools behind the back row in Toronto. I'd forgotten how incredibly melodramatic that musical is. The Phantom I saw had a wonderful voice, but was a terrible overactor so it was hard to watch him (as opposed to listen to him). The Christine had a good voice and was quite pretty, but she was a little too Cosette-like in the quality of her voice at times, and I don't like Cosette. Plus, it's such a thankless role playing the head-in-the-clouds, terrified-half-the-time character of Christine. Raoul was fine, Carlotta was fine, Piangi had a weak voice but good comic form. I did like the Madame Giry, and Mssrs Andre and Firmin quite a lot though. We were sitting close enough for the chandelier to be right above our heads before it got pulled into the stage when it came down, but the effect was less than impressive, IMO. Too jerky, too obviously on ropes. Ah well. Now I know I don't need to see Phantom again - some good songs but far too melodramatic for my taste, no characters I can sympathize with, and several songs where you can't tell what the hell is going on...oh and several songs that go on too long. My childhood obsession with Les Miz has held up over time. Not so much the Phantom.

- New Years was a low key affair at a friends' house. Hot pot, good company, playing with aforementioned 18-month-old, Speed Racer, and catching the ball drop 10 seconds before it dropped. Oh and super yummy, way too rich dulce de leche cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.

- Doctor Who Christmas Special - yay! New Doctor...er...yay? Sad to see old Doctor go. Warily giving new Doctor room for doubt...

And now I'm back at work. =)