April 2005 Archives

Today was a relaxing day here for Yuko and I. We went to the airport to see some good friends of ours off as they headed back to Japan. They have been living here in Minnesota for a couple of years and it is sad to see them go. Also in attendence were many of our other Japanese friends.

After they had left, Yuko and I went out with a close couple of ours to Quang's Resturant in Uptown, our old huant. I have to say that Quang's doesn't disappoint. I also have to add that it isn't for the faint of heart, or the mild Minnesota food lover either. Shue and I went for the spicy cury with beef and the girls went for other milder fair. It was tasty to say the least.

One thing to keep in mind about Quang's is that they are usually very packed, but don't let that scare you as the turn over is quick. It was packed to the gills when we went there around 12:00 PM today, but we only had to wait about 10 minutes to get seated. Also you would think that the kitchen would be slow, but that wasn't the case. They are surprisingly fast and the food is piping hot to boot. So hot that I end up waiting 10 minutes or more for it to cool off.

I have to recomend the steamed sticky buns and Quang's take out sandwiches. They are avaliable at the check out counter and are awesome.

After our lunch stop at Quang's we all went for a nice walk around Lake Calhoun. It was a tad bit cold to be out for a walk on a lake, but what the heck. Shue and I took some pictures and we had a nice chat as we strolled around the wind whipped lake.....

I have added another album to my gallery. You can find it here. These pictures are from our short, 3 day trip to Tokyo. Tokyo rocks, but way too crowded.

Here is another view from Yuko's parent's place. The cities of Osaka and Japan in general, are really crowded. Japan is about the size of California with about 2/3s of the total area livable and about 180 million people. A place to park is golden.... The only time I haven't seen anyone out and about have been really early in the morning and when I went sight seeing in Nara and walked deep into Nara park on a week day.

You really have to be careful about exploring as it is easy to get lost in the tiny crowed blocks.

Here is a picture I took in the grocery store that is really close to Yuko's parents house. Looks to be a normal box of strawberries, until you notice the 12.80 price tag. That works out to be about a buck-a-piece. Now I have to say that these are the best strawberries that I have ever tasted in my life. One of Yuko's friends is convienced that they are not the normally grown variety, but are some how enhanced.

Check it out for yourself. Click for larger image.

I have added the first album of many to the gallery page. These pictures are from our Japan vaction we took in Feburay 2005 in Osaka. Check it out.

Here is a sample. Click for a larger version.

Today was a pretty good day for getting some much need progress done on the living room. I am hopping that I can get a lot done tommorrow so I can start the rebuilding.

Here is a picture for Daichi. He is really growing fast.

Man where has the time gone. I have been busy working on the house. The living room was really shoddy and it needs to be redone right with nice smoth drywall and a solid floor. It has been a major undertaking. Last weekend on Saturday I managed a run to the trash transfer station and unloaded a whopping 2100 pounds for plaster and rubish.

Hopefully this weekend I can get the rest of the walls torn done to the studs and start on the nasty old hardwood flooring.