11

Today is our 11 year wedding anniversary (as well as our 5 year anniversary to moving to Castro Valley). My original plan was to post an old wedding picture, but as I went through the old albums, I ran across some BETTER pics. The above photos were taken at our wedding banquet. Each table had a disposable camera where people can shoot some memorable shots--and are they memorable indeed! I'm not sure what's going on, but they're all either gagging on the peking duck buns, or they're foaming at the mouth. Hey, is that Patty in there? Man, she's everywhere!

The hot chick in this imaginary love triangle is Genie, my former roommate in college (who is a loyal reader of my blog). Jim is getting married in September to Genie. Oops. His fiancee is spelled Jeanie. My bad. Burt is still in Vegas. I only hear from him once every two years. Last I heard he was still at Safeway. Maybe he'll leave a comment after seeing this. Yo Burt, give a shout so we know you're still alive, aight?!

So what's the plan tonight? I don't know. Eleven is such a ho-hum number. We would like to go out for a nice quiet dinner, but with two boys and an infant, "nice and quiet" don't really exist. I think we'll just stay home and maybe order some take-out, or fire up the bbq. Fortunately for me, I scored enough points on Valentine's Day so I can slack off today :) Also, I'm especially tired this week because I've been working feverishly on a special project the last five days. I'll share that project with you next week.

Red Egg Party Buffet
Last Saturday we attended a party for Zachary (son of Andrew) at the New Empire Buffet in exotic Livermore, land of dried bushes and broken concrete. The restaurant, tucked in a mini mall, was surprising clean and somewhat empty on a Saturday (if it wasn't for Costco, Chinese people wouldn't know Livermore even existed). The food was quite good, but the only problem was that since it wasn't crowded, the food didn't turn around quick enough. They had this mongolian bbq bar where you load up your plate with raw meat, uncooked veggies, and your choice of sauces. You give it to the chef and he stir-fries it in front of you. Very tasty! I would come back for this alone! The only weird thing was that the chef had a tip jar. Hello, it's a buffet! I can understand a tip jar for the sushi guy where you ask him to make a special hand roll, but this stir-fry guy essentially just flips your food back and forth a few times... Heck, my boys could've done it. Then when he hands you your food, he places the plate on top of the large tip jar--such blatant pandering! Most of the time he's just standing there, or sweeping the floors. Is he an independent contractor?

I got a chance to catch up with Hanford and Marj and met their 3 boys. Haven't seen them in 10 years. They still look great, and Hanford still has a great head of hair! Also they're smart (like me). They bring video games for the boys to play so then us adults can enjoy our time (and food) longer. If you look in the background, you'll see Hing holding Justine. Justine was passed on from one person to another for about 80% of the time we were there, which was great. As time goes by, she'll get heavier and crankier, and it will be harder to find people to hold her, so we're taking full advantage of that benefit now.

Many of you have not seen Patrick in like 10 years. Well I'm happy to report he is alive and well (and potent). He lives/works in the south bay with his wife, Veronica and 10-month old Mason.

We arrived at noon and left at 3. When you eat and talk, you don't realize how much you've eaten. Let's just say I wasn't hungry again until lunchtime the next day.