Beef Loc Lac

For dinner tonight I cooked up some beef loc lac. It's a Cambodian-French dish that I learned how to make from Lediya's cousin Phidel. Over time I've added my own twists to the dish but basically the premise is the same: marinated stir-fried beef served on a bed of leafy vegetables with a citrus dressing. My variation makes the dish a bit healthier by substituting spinach for lettuce and serving it with brown rice.

For the marinade:
1/2 lb. beef tenderloin, cut into bite-sized cubes
1 tbsp. each of the following: soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and sugar
Pinch of salt and 1/3 tsp of freshly ground black pepper

For the vegetables:
1/2 bunch spinach, stems removed, rinsed and drained
2 tomatoes, cut into salad sized pieces
1 brown onion, sliced into rings
1 tbsp olive oil

For the citrus dressing:
Juices of 1 lime and 1 lemon
1 tbsp of orange juice
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of salt to taste

Combine the beef and the soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and black pepper in a bowl. Marinade in the fridge for at least 1 hour. While waiting, arrange the spinach and the tomatoes on a serving dish, season lightly with salt and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Refrigerate.

Make the dressing by combining all of the ingredients and mixing well. Refrigerate.

After 1 hour and using a hot wok, sautee the minced garlic for 20 seconds and then add the marinated beef. Very high heat is required so that the meat will cook quickly without bleeding out too much juice. Cook to the desired doneness and tenderness and then remove from the wok. Sautee the onion slices until they are soft and sweet and re-add the beef to the wok to cook for 30 more seconds. Remove the beef and onions from the wok and place directly on the serving dish with the spinach and tomatoes. Serve with the citrus dressing. Enjoy!

Korean BBQ Dinner With The Guys

Just came back from a fun and delicious dinner with the boys at Corner Place BBQ in Cerritos. It's always nice to see the guys again. We've all known each other for close to 18 years. I met Chanbo, Danny, and Frank at Hughes Junior High in seventh grade while I became friends with Sam in freshman year at high school.

Although the demands of adult life dictate our schedules, whenever I see the guys it feels like we are all young kids back in school, joking and messing around with each other. It's important to get together once in a while like this to catch up with one another.

It was nice to see Frank's very cute little boy Ryan, and also great to see his wife Janice and Danny's wife Joann as well.

Here's to many more years of camaraderie and brotherhood!

More pictures here.

Cambodian Theatre

This afternoon Lediya and I went to a Cambodian play called The Journey Across the Mine Fields to America by playwright Chantara Nop. We saw it at The Found Theater, a small local theater in Long Beach.

The modern musical-epic tells the story of a Cambodian girl adapting to life in the U.S. after losing her loved ones during the Khmer Rouge regime. The show was performed in Lakhon Yike, an ancient Cambodian art form incorporating music, dance and instrumentation.

The play was great because it showed people what the Cambodians had to go through to escape the oppression on their way to freedom. It was performed by volunteers from the Cambodian community who are motivated and driven to educate people about what happened nearly 30 years ago. I am always interested in knowing about the Cambodian culture and history and this play certainly educated me today.

Review of the play by the Long Beach Press-Telegram here.

Mannie's Wedding

Yesterday we went to our friend Mannie's wedding. We've both known Mannie since high school so it was nice to attend her very special day. We also got to see and catch up with old high school friends that we hadn't seen in a while. She looked very beautiful in her gown and Jay surprised us all by break dancing on the dance floor!










Congratulations, Mannie and Jay!

More pictures here.

Exotic Cars

This morning my friend Kevin and I drove down to Laguna Beach to check out the exotic supercars that are shown weekly at the Crystal Cove Marketplace. Owners take over the parking lot at the shopping center very early in the morning (from 7 a.m. until 9 a.m.) and park their cars to show them off. It's great because it's free and you get to see the cars up close, closer than any official car show.

There were Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, and others. My favorites in the show: a red Ferrari F430, a silver Porsche GT3, and a lime-green Lamborghini Murcielago.


The best part of the show was near the end, when the owners leave the parking lot and merge onto PCH. They go all out (well, most of them) and you get to hear the awesome exhaust notes. I liked the distinctive V-12 growl of the Ferraris the best.

If you like supercars, check this show out. It's from 7:00 a.m. until 9:00 a.m. on Saturday mornings at the Crystal Cove Marketplace in Laguna Beach off PCH.


More pictures of the show here.

DIY Oil and Filter Change

My car was due for an oil change so I decided to change the oil and filter myself (which I do on both of the cars) on my Friday day off. Changing the oil yourself is very easy and usually takes about 20 minutes from initial set-up to final clean-up. The benefits:

• You save money - A synthetic oil change usually costs around $60 at the shop but at home, you can do it for about $20.

• Better quality - Instead of generic oil brands that the shops use, you can use your own high quality oil and filter.

• Feels good - After changing the oil and filter myself, I feel that I did something productive with my own two hands (applies to other DIY projects too).

The materials that I used were: 4.25 quarts of 5W-30 Pennzoil Platinum synthetic oil, Purolator PureOne oil filter, crush washer, oil drain pan, 9/16 bolt wrench, a funnel, and newspapers and rags for clean-up.









1. Before starting, bring the operating temperature of the car to normal first by driving it around for 5 miles or so. This will ensure smooth and complete draining of the motor oil.

2. Park the car in the garage and set the parking brake. Pop open the hood and open the crankcase.









3. Using the 9/16 bolt wrench, open the oil pan and drain the oil. (Careful, oil is very hot!) Let drain for 10 minutes or so.

4. While waiting for the oil to drain, remove the oil filter using your hands or an oil filter wrench. The filter is hot also, and has some oil in it so again, be careful.









5. In the meantime, add the crush washer to the oil pan bolt and prep the new oil filter by oiling the seals.

6. Replace the pan bolt and put in the new oil filter. Using a funnel, pour in the new oil to the crankcase. After adding 4.25 quarts, check the oil dipstick to make sure you added enough.









7. Close the hood, start the car, and check for leaks. You're done!

As for the used oil and filter, you can take them to a local collection agency, which will recycle them. You can go to places like Pep Boys and Jiffy Lube. To find a recycling center near you, click here.

Crystal Cove State Park

Lediya's brother Steve and his wife Nancy were in town over the weekend so yesterday we decided to drive down to Newport and visit Crystal Cove State Park. The weather was brisk yet sunny, and checking out the beach after a rainfall is very interesting. We saw anemones, lobsters, hermit crabs, and lots of birds. Best of all, the air was very clean and the sky was clear.

Crystal Cove is a nice little state park by the coast and it was great to visit it with family who normally do not get to see beaches this time of the year (Steve and Nancy live in Boston).

Check out more pics here.

Freakonomics

Just picked up a copy of the non-fiction bestseller Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by economist Steven Leavitt and journalist Stephen Dubner. The authors apply economic theory to diverse topics usually not covered by "traditional" economists. Topics such as proving the existence of cheating among sumo wrestlers, the impact of unusual names on children, and others.

Long Beach Poly on NPR

Our high school alma mater, Long Beach Polytechnic, has recently been featured on National Public Radio. It's a great testament to the "Home of Scholars and Champions." We both graduated there in 1994. A couple of quick tidbits:

• Long Beach Poly has a graduation rate of 90%, the highest among California high schools with 3,000 students and more

• Long Beach Poly has sent more players to the NFL than any other high school in the nation

Go Jackrabbits!

Happy Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day I got Lediya a leather monogrammed journal from RedEnvelope.com. She enjoys writing in journals and I thought that this would be a good gift. The journal has 118 cream-white pages, is bound in super-soft teal leather, and comes with a red grosgrain ribbon for book marking. Best of all, it was monogrammed in silver foil with her initials "LHB."

It's a gift that hopefully she can enjoy over a long period of time. Happy Valentine's Day honey!

Which Sports Car Are You?

I'm a Porsche 911!

You have a classic style, but you're up-to-date with the latest technology. You're ambitious, competitive, and you love to win. Performance, precision, and prestige - you're one of the elite, and you know it.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Chinese Hot Pot Soup

We had a little family get-together at the house last night for Lyno's birthday. The main course was hot pot soup, which is soup broth that boils in an electric hot pot that you add various ingredients into to cook.

The ingredients that we cooked in the soup were shrimp, chicken, fish cake, crab meat, spinach, noodles, wonton, and shrimp/beef/fish balls.

It's a very delicious and nutritious meal. We also had Korean BBQ ribs and grilled chicken, as well as Marie Callender's pies for dessert.

Happy birthday Lyno!

Disneyland

Thanks to my uncle, who is a "cast member" at Disneyland, we were able to score some free Disneyland and California Adventure tickets yesterday. My mom was visiting us from Vegas and Lediya's mom was already here, so we decided to take both of our moms to the Happiest Place on Earth.

We haven't been there in years, so everything seemed new again. The new parking structure, which can hold 10,000 vehicles, is the largest of its kind in the West Coast. This enabled Disney to add Downtown Disney and California Adventure.

We started our day in Disneyland, and worried that the most popular attractions would be the most crowded, got a Fast Pass for Space Mountain. This system works by assigning a pre-set time range to visit the ride, with little or no waiting at all. Whoever invented it is pure genius. It enabled us to go on the less crowded rides while waiting for the more popular ones, maximizing our time and effort at the park.

After Space Mountain and Indiana Jones we made our way to California Adventure. We had lunch there and got Fast Passes for Soaring over California and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. We also saw the Aladdin Musical and A Bug's Life. At the end of the day they also had a Block Party, which featured lots of trampoline fun.

Right after the Block Party we returned to Disneyland again to secure our spots for the Main Street Parade. The parade featured marching bands and floats featuring Disney characters dancing to popular Disney songs. After the parade we made our way to the Rivers of America to watch Fantasmic and the 50th Anniversary fireworks spectacular.

While it was a tiring day, it was certainly a very fun day also. For the most part we just took it easy and slow and didn't rush at all, which is great. We had absolutely no wait at all for the rides thanks to Fast Pass, and we were able to visit California Adventure, which is a fun park in its own right. Finally, it was great to be able to spend the beautiful Southern California day with our moms.

Top attractions for us yesterday:

1. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - a free-falling elevator
2. A Bug's Life - a 3D show with lots of sensory surprises
3. Space Mountain - a dark and very fast roller coaster

More pictures on our website here.

X-Men Legends

Started playing this game today. Picked it up for $7 shipped from eBay. Looks good so far!

Super Bowl Party

We threw a little Super Bowl party today. Bought a couple of boxes of pre-made pizzas from Costco, Steve brought some hot wings (Hooters style and Japanese style), and Peter brought over a deli plate from Honeybaked Ham. There were about 10 people over, including my cute little niece Alicia. She is so adorable!

While the game was OK, the commercials were even better. My vote for the best Super Bowl commercial is for the neanderthal failed delivery commercial by FedEx. It was hilarious.

Peter also brought over his brand new Xbox 360, so that we can play Halo 2 on it and see what it looked like on our HDTV. The graphics were just amazing. Peter and I had a great night versus Lyno and Steve.










Food was delicious, commercials were funny, Halo 2/Xbox 360 was amazing, and most important, having friends and family to enjoy the great American tradition is always great.

New Bookshelves

Today, we finally got much-needed bookshelves. Our current one just couldn't handle the loads of books anymore, so we were wedging stuff here and there to try to put them away. It wasn't a pretty sight.

We bought the bookshelves from Costco. While they are three separate bookshelves, they can also be linked together to form a huge one, which is what we did. They have a dark brown color to complement our existing furniture and they have a contemporary "wavy" design to them. Plus, the price is very reasonable for the quality and functionality.

After spending a couple of hours putting them together, we spent a couple more organizing our books and other media. We ended up categorizing the books by subject: business, cookbooks, travel, paperbacks, etc.

It was extremely satisfying to finally see the books and DVDs organized and accessible.

Chinatown Golden Dragon Parade

This afternoon we spent a few hours at L.A. Chinatown to see the 107th Annual Golden Dragon Parade.

The parade featured marching bands, government dignitaries, local middle school cheerleaders, several kung fu demonstrations, a dragon boat, tai chi masters, and of course, dragons.

The event, which is put on to celebrate the Lunar Chinese New Year, also featured a festival center where good eats and entertainment abound.

It was a fun time. Gung hay fat choy!

New Digital Camera

On our trip to Park City I had a pretty bad fall on one of the more difficult runs. While my ego wasn't bruised, my digital camera unfortunately was. After almost five years, my trusty Sony CyberShot DSC-P71 finally died. I thought that I had the camera well cushioned in my backpack but when I took that backwards spill, the LCD broke.

So I spent the next two weeks researching our next digital camera. Ultracompact or digital SLR? After reading many reviews, I finally settled on the new Canon Digital Elph SD450. I figured that an ultracompact would be more useful to us than a dSLR like a Nikon D50.

The next two weeks were spent researching the best price. After much thought, I decided to purchase the camera from Costco.com, mainly because of their legendary return policy. Their return policy is the equivalent of a lifetime warranty, in my opinion. They also listed it $50 off the list price, bringing the total to $299.99. Not bad, considering I spent over $350 on the Sony a few years back.

The camera is filled with so many features in such a tiny package: 5.0 megapixel CCD, 3.0X optical zoom, 2.5" TFT LCD screen, several shooting modes, and a movie mode, among other things.

I already ordered several accessories: a 2GB high-speed SD card, a camera bag, an LCD screen protector, and an extra battery.

I will keep updating as my impression of the camera continues.

Nintendogs

Lediya and I have recently been enamored with Nintendogs, a virtual pet game for the Nintendo DS. We received the DS and the game as a X-mas gift from Lyno.

Basically, you raise a puppy by training it through voice commands (up to 16), playing catch with it, walking it around town, and caring for it. You can enter competitions and win money in three areas: Obedience, Agility, and Disc Competitions. The cool thing about the DS is that you can interact with the puppy through the stylus.

We are raising two puppies, one for each of us (up to a maximum of three). They're both labrador retrievers, a male and a female.

It's a very entertaining game. Thanks Lyno! Check it out here.

BBQ Pork Fried Rice

We had some day old rice left over and also some Chinese BBQ pork from Ten Ten so I decided to make an impromptu BBQ pork fried rice. It's real easy and fast:


1 1/2 cups day old long grain rice
2 eggs, scrambled
1 cup diced BBQ pork
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans)
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sugar

First, scramble the eggs in the hot wok, remove. Add a tablespoon of oil (high-medium heat), then cook the garlic until light brown. Add the rice and mix around for five minutes. Add the BBQ pork and the mixed vegetables, cook for another five minutes. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar, and cook for another five minutes. Turn off the heat, and mix in the scrambled eggs. Serve hot.

New Fridge

Today our new refrigerator was delivered. We had to buy one because the old one finally quit on us after 15 years of use. It died last Sunday night so we had to get one right away. We'd been storing our perishables in a cooler.

We ended up getting a Sears Kenmore brand, because it seems to be the most reliable brand out there according to Consumer Reports magazine and some online research.

While the fridge was pricey, we felt that it was worth it because we wanted something that will last another 15-20 years. Plus, the new fridge is at least 30% more energy efficient than the old one, so the savings that we'll realize on our electric bill would be nice as well.

More info can be found here.