Note: Don’t forget to check out apiggyinparis.tumblr.com.  It is written by Helen, the official curator of our daily life and journeys in Europe. We recently had a four day weekend and we decided to go to Milan and make a side trip to Lake Como.  It was my first time going to Italy and I [...]

giboulées de mars Originally uploaded by benz07 Whenever we experience unusual climates or unexpected weather, we seem to come up with clever names to explain the phenomena. For example, when I first moved to So Cal, windy days were attributed to the “Santa Ana winds”. They were to blame if your allergies acted up or [...]

Note: I’m not sure if you’ve been keeping up with Helen’s blog, but she’s been putting up a good string of posts. A lot of her entries are related to our food ventures, so do not read on an empty stomach unless you want to experience pangs of hunger. When I first started working in [...]

I’m taking a short trip back to home to California and the Mac Daddy needs to bring back some goodies for the ladies… Laduree, the one place in Paris synonymous with fine pastries, especially the macaroon.  The high quality ingredients, the beautiful presentation, and the intricately designed packaging, Laduree reminds me of Tiffany, but with desserts. [...]

Today more or less marks my second week here in Paris.  The first week was marked by jet lag.  I was just in a completely unpleasant,  zombie-fied state.  I couldn’t stay awake at work, I couldn’t sleep at the hotel room, and when I finally did fall into slumber, it would be like 1-2 hours [...]

2010…  stay tuned for updates.

Snapped a paparazzi shot of Helen while she was busy reading the menu.  Good thing she got her new glasses – I’ve never known anyone else who pores over a menu so intensely, studying each entree to look for that perfect dish.  The highlight of the meal was the carpaccio.  One rose colored sheet of [...]

I’ve been using Chrome for the past week or so and have been pretty happy with it. Although it doesn’t (currently) have all of the bells and whistles as Firefox, such as addons, it makes up for it in speed and efficiency. One useful feature of Chrome is “Incognito Mode” and not for the “normal” [...]

One of the cool thing’s about Helen’s job, besides the loads of free salami and cheese is that she gets to travel to some pretty cool local places, such as Las Vegas, Santa Barbara, SD, and SF. When she’s about to go to SF, my ears perk up because it gives me a chance to [...]

Finally decided to test my legs and my mtn bike with an extended ride. The original plan was to commute from my place in Orange to San Clemente and camp with my church friends at San Clemente State Beach. Things started off great in the morale department. I had gotten less than 6 hours of [...]