Michael Mina

Huaahhh It's been a while since my last post just want to wish everyone a Happy new year!

Another food review, i've been blessed to be able to try this restaurant again with ci jenny :) so here we go:
Advice: the 3 meal course was very pricey, however if you came before 6 you can get a pre-theatre menu for like almost half the price, of course a smaller portion than the regular but it's definitely fulfilling esp. if you're a girl :)
Tips: If you park at the hotel, you can get validation. We parked at Union square parking and truly it's the worst time to go there, it was packed because people are doing Christmas shopping then :(

On the table
the famous gold plate is actually a candle holder:

Not long after we ordered, bread and butter was served. I'm not usually willing to eat the bread before the meal because i just feel bad if i'm too full before the "good stuff" but i actually ate it all :p

Amuse Bouche: i had the foie gras. Now now, i don't normally get this, but last time in gary danko, i left with such a good impression so i thought i give it a try. I cut a small spoonful and put it my mouth, and i thought uh oh i can taste it... taste that this is a liver :( but silly me, i didn't notice that they provide toasted bread to eat with it (like a jam) and it was delish after! :D

Next: I ordered the famous lobster pot pie

and voila:

This was very good. The lobster was fat :D and everything was so tasty including the veggies... can you imagine? even the carrot taste better :p btw, ci jenny ordered the beef and it was equally tasty! yummm...
for the dessert:

It's MM signature root beer float. Okay i know what you're thinking but this oldies combination taste the bomb! hahah :D i love it! it came with 2 cookies (choc chip and cookie brownie) and when you break the cookies the choc inside melts. It's heavenly fatty :( hahahah :D goodness!

Overall:
It's good, however i don't think it's better than gary danko. Gary danko still has my heart :p

Santa Ramen - San Mateo

Ci Jenny and I been wanting to try this for a while, then finally we get a chance to tried this on sunday! What an experience - -" i was lost on my way to this place, I had to go passed the Loooooooooong san mateo bridge, i was so nervous because i'm not familiar with the are. Iphone GPS keeps changing made me missed my exit :'( My battery is low and my gas was already on E. Plus i had to pay $4 for passing the bridge that i don't need to :(

This is a one expensive ramen T.T because of all that!
There's a line still when i got there, i think me and ci jenny waited for about 20 minutes before we got our seat. It's not too bad, however i think the line was unnecessary because i saw empty tables - -" ok now on to the food: the food was great! However i will think twice to go here next time because of the distance, mostly because i was lost! hahahah :D I love the broth and the noodle, yummm! Halu is another alternative for closer ramen place since i live at san jose-west area, i love halu's ni tamago because the egg was cooked outside but it's half cooked inside. But i think Daikokuya's(Los Angeles) meat is better (melt in your mouth!) -> last time i ate there :)

I had the pork-flavored one


yummm... I wish they're in san jose and not san mateo T.T
Thank God that i can arrive safely at home after a good eat! :)

Los Gatos Cafe

My saturday was FUN!
It's still my birthday week :) and i feel sooo blessed for having people that love and care so much for me. Thank you God for placing them in my life :) I spend it with ci kiki and fam plus san2 :) they're doing a photo session for christmas-card and they invited me to join

After the photo-shoot, ci kiki and ko chris took us to eat at los gatos cafe :)
It's really good! If you don't wanna spend money and gas to go to Mama's at SF you should definitely try this :'p~
I really like ci kiki's apricot french - toast

Other dish to consider is ko chris's crabcakes

I think Mama's dungeness-crab egg-benedict is better but this one is pretty good too
then i had the seafood-benedict and san2 had the canadian omelette (Sorry no pics :() I think whatever you order over there will be equally good :p'~ however, the apricot french toast really got me! it's delish! :)
If you happen to try it someday, share with me your experience as well :)

*above pictures were taken from yelp, clearly the popular dishes :)

a Foodie

Wow... i have no idea that the dictionary have a name for people who like to eat like me :p -> they called us foodie
• FOODIE (noun)
The noun FOODIE has 1 sense:

a person devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment (especially good food and drink)

:D i really thank God for the opportunity to enjoy good food. it's truly a blessing. Some people cannot enjoy food because they don't have enough money and others can't enjoy good food because of health-reason.

So my fellow foodie (ci jenny) is going back for good this january :( so with the time left one of the things that she wants to do is to try restaurants she never been to. Good restaurant with good food of course... So me and her are on a quest with the help of yelpers and of course taking recommendation from our expert foodie: "Ela" -> go to good eats section for tips :)

And so we began our 1st quest last friday :)
so let me share a lil' bit of what we did:
Special thanks to nahing and ci jenny for giving me tickets to gabe bondoc "one night only" concert :) i truly enjoy the concert... gahhh :'p~ i wish God will bless me with a husband who has a voice like gabe :) ahhh him and his guitar = awesomeness! although i don't enjoy the full-band as much as i enjoy him singing acoustic-ly but it was greaaaattttt! thanks for the gift! i <3 it :) We had to leave early because of our dinner-reservation so i can't meet him in person :( hahah maybe next time :)

Dinner @ La Folie
overall exp: it's good but it's not great, i don't think it's a must try
I still think Gary Danko is better choice for the price, i had such a great experience over there (food & service) very satisfying!

i had frog legs for appetizer

I was expecting more, so it didn't really wow me, but it's good.
For the price we keep imagining frogs at indonesia :'p~ yummm hahhahah

then i had the duck

it was very tasty and generous portion :D i was happy with this dish

and for the desserts

I think it's the highlights. It was a perfect combination of sweet and salty :) I do think that this is a must try.

Starting today i thought i'd share my foodie quest :) i hope it'll be useful to you

Grateful

Main Entry: grate·ful
Pronunciation: \ˈgrāt-fəl\
Function: adjective
Etymology: obsolete grate pleasing, thankful, from Latin gratus — more at grace
Date: 1552

1 a : appreciative of benefits received b : expressing gratitude
2 a : affording pleasure or contentment : pleasing b : pleasing by reason of comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated


Today is my birthday *yayyy!!!*
So last night i got a lil' time just to have a rewind of what happened to me this year and past years...
A sister of Christ wrote this question one day on her post: Are you following God for His present or for His presence?
On one of my bible study each of use were to give summary/highlights of what happened this year and to give thanks for it. But come to think of it i don't have any really, i don't have a significant highlights. Some of us were married this year or engaged or got a new job but none of those stuffs are happening/applied to me :(

But this year i learned so much about God's faithfulness and His presence through it all. I learned so much about faith and hope in God. I learned so much about preserverance and being faithful. Learned patience in waiting, Learning to trust, to be humble, to be unselfish and that is always good to love more (I'm still learning, not yet an expert :p) Got my relationship restored, got the support i need from my loved ones :)

On my other bible study, we were asked to list out God's blessing (if we can't think of one, we should look at the life of those who are less fortunate than us). Whoa! that makes a difference isn't it? Most of the time i'll look up or look around me but i've never look down. It is a blessing for having a good family, being raised as a Christian, having the privilege to study in America, having the experience working in here and giving the chance in ministry at church and the list goes on...

God reminded me again this year: Nana, doesn't matter if you receive/not receive the gift that you want under the Christmas tree, you have already received the greatest gift of all: Jesus Christ and i'm forever grateful :)

*blushed*

God had made my birthday more special since 3 years ago :)
- december 16, 2007: ci kiki shared the news that she's pregnant in our bible study, full of tears-session T.T
- december 16, 2008: i got to celebrate it with my bible study group + baby maxie
- december 16, 2009: i got to celebrate it again with baby maxie this year!
God has shown Himself through the life of ci kiki and fam and over the years it inspires me in many ways. Thank you for being such a blessing and thank you for letting me be a part of it :)

I'm closing this with a song by hillsong - through it all
the story of my life is that God's with me through it all :)

Happy Thanksgiving

The most happiest person on earth must be the person who give thanks in all.

POSITIVE THINKING:
Researchers had found that grateful people report higher levels of positive emotions, more satisfaction with life, and more vitality and optimism. They also found grateful people show lower levels of depression and stress.

HOPEFUL:
What's more, they found that people who write weekly in a journal about things they are thankful for are healthier. They exercise more regularly, report fewer physical symptoms, and feel better in general than people who journal about neutral or negative life events.

CONTENT:
Finally, the research showed that people who daily count their blessings report higher levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, and energy.

These research was done without religious-ground. just facts.
The research wasn't discovering anything new, but rather confirming the will and wisdom of God. God already knows how great it is for us to be grateful. Now "science" does too.
God had shared this key of happiness in the bible: "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Sadly many of us including me haven't been practicing that :(
Even though the "good things" is not happening this season but as Christians, we can always find reason to give thanks – thanks for the salvation of Christ, the nearness of God, and the counsel of His Spirit :)

What can you give thanks for today?

Wake-up call

Ring
One of the question on a group-discussion for our bible study session last tuesday was: what are you really saying about God when you choose to dis-obey?
the harsh truth: i don't really believe that God is trustworthy and that He is on my side, and that He loves me, and that He's by my side :'( and by doing so: God is sad and hurt...

Ring-ring
Last sunday sermon were talking about love. The pastor quoted a paragraph from the book crazy love by Francis Chan. I don't remember the exact words but basically:
1. the simplest/most easy kind of love is the love for friends and family. Simple, everyone even criminals would easily love their friends and family.
2. the next level is the love for the needy, the poor, for those in trouble, etc. Pretty self explanatory :)
3. the highest level is: to love your enemy, to joyfully rejoice for those who's winning when you're failing. To Pray for those who talk about you (false accusation), etc. I'm sure you get my point here.

Confession:
The pastor last sunday said: "you can have the right doctrine but not the right heart." and what i'm about to say in the following pretty much reflect that. I'm so embarrass and sorry as well... for being such a disappointment :( so *taking a deep breath* here we go:
When i see people saying that they're blessed, or when they're thankful of something or that God is good!, in my heart i'll be saying: "Yea, sure. must be something good/great happening here." I was super-skeptical and just bitter :( but no. Once again God is trying to prove me wrong. Some of the situations that those people are in is worst than mine. Some of them loose everything. some of them didn't get what they want. Some of them are overwhelmed with work, some of them are struggling to live. Through those people God said to me during my quiet time: It is impossible to exaggerate Me, you know that. *humbly convicted*

Ring-ring-rriiinggg
- By grace, those people can say God is good because HE IS good! this one is pretty self explanatory. C'mon na, He died for them and you on the cross!!!
- The more self-centered you are, the more unsatisfied you will be.
- To be a woman of God is to be a woman who is faithful~unconditionally.
- and lastly it's from my morning prayer as i pray for myself, i want to pray for you as well who's maybe broken-hearted, disappointed, rejected, bitter or hurt:

Dear Jesus, I know You suffered the sting of rejection and hurt in a much more intense way than I ever will. And while this (enter your situation) is small in the grand scheme of life, it feels huge in my heart right now. Will You help me process this? Will You help me see past it? Will You let this fragile heart feel the warmth of Your love and grace today? In Jesus' Name, Amen.

living in state of grace *blushed*