Trippin': Washington D.C. - National Mall

Some fotos from the National Mall area. We would have wandered around and took more fotos but it was RAINING. Last weekend, Miss flower child stated that my trips that i take without big poppa are bad luck for me. I think she might be on to something.


seeking solace from the rain in the smithsonian castle visitor's center
eating georgetown cupcakes in drizzly rain at the world war II memorial
vietnam war sculpture
drained and emptied reflecting pool
the capitol building
the washington monument or 'the obelisk' as miss flower child kept calling it ... methinks she likes saying the word 'obelisk'
miss flower child with cherry blossoms

Restaurant: Crawfish and Noodles

10613 Bellaire Blvd
Houston, TX 77072

Crawfish and Noodles is one of big poppa's fave places to get his crawfish fix. People either like it here or they don't. To each their own crawfish. Either way, the consensus is that the cousins make it the best but the clean up after a crawfish boil ain't no joke. I don't eat crawfish but I eat my fair share of their super yummy asian garlic honey wings. Delish! The wings are itty bitty though. My other must order items are the thai basil fried rice, cajun fries and if someone else will help me eat it i will order the goi ga. Man. I'm craving some of their wings right now. I did notice after having dim sum at kim son today that they will be closed 8/1-8/15. Pooey. Now that crawfish season is over, I wonder if the chicken wings will get bigger?

Placenter: Smile Artist Dentistry

10065 Almeda-Genoa Rd, Suite J
Houston, TX 77075

This was the grand opening party for one of big poppa's dental buddies. It's always interesting to see what people name their new business. Rocco is calling his Smile Artist Dentistry. It sounds kinda fancy. We walked around, took notes, snacked and drank and did a little networking. Rocco has the best parents. As an asian person, you're just not used to your parents ever really complimenting you or telling you how proud they are. We ain't having any of that emotion crap in my house! His parents took the time to give this beautiful heartfelt speech and you could tell how happy they were for their son. All the asians in the room suddenly became all awkward and jealous. Haha.

Musik Mundi: Jes Hudak

Jes Hudak
Album: Platinum Hit Season 1
Song: Free

Before I go any further, I would like to share with you how sad I have been lately. Like really sad. Especially on Thursdays and Sundays. My cable has been cut from my life. Wah wah wah! So now I can't watch my real housewives. I've missed three episodes already?!? What am I supposed to do? Actually pay for cable? Nonsense! As a complete Bravo fan, there was this new show called Platinum Hit that I didn't think I was going to watch or like but like all the other Bravo shows I got HOOKED. It's a songwriting reality competition show and it's pretty awesome watching these people write a song in just a day. So Jes Hudak is the person that big poppa and I have been rooting for cos we both really like the stuff she's written so far. She talks about how she has worked as back up vocalist for some popular artists but wants so badly to make it big for herself. And she's so talented! I love her voice. It's so pretty and sweet. It's unfair how those who actually have talent are struggling while others who have no talent are making millions. Does not make sense but it's the fans who ultimately make that decision. And so in support, I actually BOUGHT her music from itunes. Which is just another issue in itself since artists supposedly only get a small percentage of the sales from itunes.

*photo courtesy of amazon.com*

Wedding: Tuan & Kevin

Mochi's big bro tied the knot a bunch of months ago and the family was invited to join in on the festivities. The reception took place at a new-to-me event facility, Signature Manor, all the way out in the southwest side in an unexpected area. In all honesty, I didn't really go for the bride and groom, but more so to hang out with mochi and chacco. Haha. This was the first wedding that I went to that had the photo booth. I loves it! The line can get pretty long though. Funny how people just love photos of themselves. The sucky thing about not having a typical wedding at kim son is the FOOD. It's just never enough when you have your reception elsewhere. I guess you really have to pick and choose what trumps what. We ended the night at Belvedere with some of their family from out of town. I was soooo tired. And I almost didn't get in cos I was wearing PUMA flip flops. Haha. I blabbed out some excuse and they let me in. Getting turned away at my age isn't quite as devastating as it was when I was a teeny bopper. Now we're almost relieved when we get turned away. That means we get to go home and lay in bed and do nothing! Yay!

Restaurant: Max's Wine Dive

4720 Washington Ave
Houston, TX 77007

Max's Wine Dive, here I go again with you and your deliciously greasy food. I just love the food here. On this occasion, several of the people that were in our group hadn't been here before so I did what a greedy hungry food lover would do. I had three different people order three different things I are my must haves. Max and cheese? Check. Southern fried chicken? Check. Fried Egg Sandwich? Check. And I got to have a little bit of everything as well as order something that I never tried for myself, which ended being some bison sliders. I'm so embarrassed of the person I become when it comes to food. Haha. It was a good night. I had two glasses of wine.

*food in order of appearance*
scallops
bison sliders
pot stickers
southern fried chicken
max and cheese
fried egg sandwich