TBC...............a preview

As Marion (the person who took this picture) named it...........Food angels being born........



To be continued with the recipe...........I can't put it up because my computer is still in the shop...it has been two weeks ~~~~>.<~~~~

First outdoor climbing trip

Before I realized, the end of summer is moving near...........and one thing I told myself that I need to try when I knew I was moving to Tahoe was some REAL outdoor rock climbing.......

I have been waiting for this for a long time and finally this past Sunday I was able to go out............

Being a city climber (i.e. indoor gym climbing), I have never climbed outdoor before...........OK be that one time in high school...........but that was it, so I was really excited and nervous at the same time!

After some practice at the little gym in Sparks last Monday.... I thought I would be ready for some real climbing, but.....................


Sunday Morning:

Bright and early, BTE and I left KB and headed for Truckee River Canyon (see link).........There are so many places you can go in Tahoe, but BTE wanted to check out my skills and stuff so we picked this place where there are less people so I can get some practice......

It took us a little while before we found the place...........and when we looked up..........we knew this trip would take us longer then we intended :P

Imagine hiking up some pretty steep terrain mainly composed of big and small Basalt....and some major bushwhacking in FLIP FLOPS.......... Yeah, that was how we did it.............I have to tell you, I will never ever forget to bring shoes when climbing ever again!!!

And on our way up to the cliff..............a little accident happened..........I was holding on to some rock to balance myself and of course, stupid me...............I grab one big rock that was just barely sitting there..................and what happened when I pull on it?..................It fell..............on my chest and then continue its way down the mountain.............Good thing was, I didn't fall with the rock but it sure was scary ~~~>.<~~~

So before we actually started climbing..........I already have one bleeding chest......and two scratched-up legs........

By maybe around 11:30, we finally managed to set our rope down and get ready for some toproping (well when i say we, i really meant BTE cause I have no idea how to do all that........but i was there to learn!!!)...............It was running late as both of us need to be back home in the afternoon. However, we still managed to squeeze in a few climbs before we had to go..................

I have to say real rock climbing is hard.................and it is really different from the gym.................I didn't do very well at all but it was sure really fun............Plus BTE is a great instructor.......informative, patient and really encourging........so I guess that made the experience really enjoyable

Too bad I don't have a camera anymore, or else i would have taken some pictures.... Oh well, next time.... I am sure or I hope we will go again sometime soon :)


To all the city climber out there, (e.g. Natasha and Pete)................you guys should really try to get yourself out there.............even better, you two should come to Tahoe and join me :)


Anywaz, for the time being............i will have to tend my chest so I won't be scar for life.......and await for my next climbing trip

One only? Shakespeare on the Lake

I went to Shakespeare on the Lake with the TERC crew this past Tuesday...........well this rendition of Mid Summer Night's Dream was interesting...............or may I say "INTERESTING"......... What was more interesting was how Anna and I were greeted at the Will Call desk.......

We had our tickets on hold for pick up at Will Call and when we went up to the lady.....she asked for our last names and looked for our tickets. When she found it, guess what she said?..........."For ONE only"................yes, that was what she said!!! Well I guess people only usually go to these events as doubles or families, instead of singles........but it was just so funny that she said it out loud to both of us. So the two of us were like......."Oh we are together.".............Then a lady behind us was like " Oh, you girls are such a cute couple".................

Well here it is...........a post to my "lover" Anna................I heart you!

Went sailing...................

A view of the sky, the mainsail, the boom and................a black object :P

I just had an epic field week this past week............I was out on the lake in the boat for a whole week..... every single day!!! Hahaha.... don't worry, I am not complaining.... I just want to make you all envious of me hehe (evil eh!?!).

Anywaz, was gonna have my first outdoor climbing experience in Tahoe last weekend, but that fail through instead I went sailing (not a bad alternative eh!). So last Sunday, I went sailing on BTE and DT's sail boat.........It was actually the first time this summer that I was on a boat but not WORKING!!! Amazing..............

Boat owners........DT and BTE

It was kind of a short notice so I didn't have enough time to make a spread of food...........I used up some of the peaches i bought for making a Brown butter Peach Tart for another event and some leftover puff pastry from 4th of July and made some Mini Peach and Goat Cheese Tart.


It was raining in the beginning so we had to hang out in the Van for a bit, which was kind of fun...almost like a car picnic :) Then, the sky started to clear up a little bit........and off we go............There wasn't much wind on our way out to Commons Beach...........so we basically powered out there, anchored, listened to some pretty so so music, drank some wine and relaxed!!!


On our way back, wind started blowing so we managed to sail a tiny bit...............but not for long , and the wind was gone (oh it rhymes!!!)

Melanie steering us home during our 5 mins of actual sailing!!! (and yes we made it home :P)

Heading home (if you look close enough, you will notice that we were motoring home hehe)

Non work related boating was really fun...........Hopefully will get to again soon..........well if you guys can give an earlier notice.........I promise I will make more food :)

17 miles~~~ Barker Pass to Tahoe City TRT

Well I have told myself before I move to Tahoe that I need to explore the outdoors as much as possible. So i joined this hiking club from MEETUP, so that I can not only make some new friends but also do some great hikes..........

And I have to say this one was great...........It was probably the best time to hike if you like wild flowers. They were everywhere.........everywhere you look there are some beautiful flowers........I wish i know more about them. I think i am going to try to find a guide book somewhere (the problem is there is not good used book store in North lake). The hike is about 17 miles long. It is a section of the Tahoe Rim Trail. This particular section is pretty mellow, not alot of uphills and are mostly shaded.

A mountain daisy?

I think this is Lupins

I can't remember what these guys are called

I went with two wonderful ladies on this hike, Karinn and Wendy. We had some great conversion and I found out that both ladies are learning ASL. Can you believe that? I have been looking and looking for people to practice ASL with and there they are!!! Wendy is a great signer. She knows so much.

The wonderful Ladies!

We managed to finish the hike pretty quickly. I think we started at about 8 am and finished at about 2 or 3 o'clock! At the end of the hike, I didn't even feel very tired at all. But of course, the next day is always the most painful day...........my butt was really really really sore! I guess I don't use that part of my body very much :P Despite the aftermath, I would still do it again if you ask me :)

Thanks Ladies and looking forward to the next hike with you girls!

17 miles later.................my dirty feet

4th of July Blue House BBQ

We always say the best food in Tahoe City is in the blue house. And If you came to our 4th of July BBQ, you definitely will agree..............................

I think we started cooking at about 10 in the morning....... Anna was baking chocolate pecan pie (to die for)............Marion was making her "life altering" pasta salad with lots of goodies in it............and House "dad" Collin was chopping up wood for the BBQ..............I choose to make some authentic Korean BBQ and a strawberry goat cheese tart for appetizer.

We then took a break and went to the Beach. Marcy came up with Amber and a bunch of friends from Reno. We were all sitting at the beach and then all of a sudden it just became really windy so we had to hide back in the blue house

A foto of my super easy strawberry goat cheese tart (recipe will be posted soon)

All the Banchan for Korean BBQ

Collin assembling the Korean BBQ

I love Korean BBQ.....................because it is a balance of protein and greens..............I skipped the rice that day because we had too much food, but you can never skip the banchan (Korean side dishes) that go with it.

And that is what is so special about Korean BBQ...............You wrap your meat (marinated with Korean BBQ sauce) in a piece of lettuce and then you add this Korean soybean paste and any of the side dishes that you like.............roll it up like a spring roll and there you have it....................your meat and your salad all in one hand :)

The BBQ was super fun........................We ate and ate and drank and drank till we couldn't do it anymore............and then we all headed out to the beach to see some firework. Because of where we were siting, we actually managed to see the firework from both north and south shore, pretty cool eh?

I had to graduate early that night because of (you know what).................... but I was told that everyone really enjoyed Anna's pecan pie outside my bedroom :P


Great job team....... and thanks for the company........we should do this again sometime soon

That is SOME field work!!!