My First Long Weekend

We're talking about a real long weekend. A weekend where I did nothing but fun stuff! I spent Wednesday night working on my research proposal and got a feedback from my Professor the next day saying I no longer need to edit anything because it's close to perfect and gave me an A+ for it. Thank god she responded on Thursday. I was able to enjoy a leisurely weekend.

Roda, Z and I went on a day drive to Glen Ellen up north in Sonoma and visited Jack London State Park. It was quite a nice walk through the woods all the way to the Wolfe House, built by the famous author Jack London. We also walked all the way up to where his ashes were scattered marked with a big rock. It was so quiet up there. So relaxing. There was nothing but the sound gentle sound of our footsteps on the trail and the occasional chirping of birds.

We drove back to Glen Ellen and stopped for some chocolate tasting. Hmmmm. I love the tiramisu cabernet the best. They were about $1.50 per piece which was a little steep. But they're so worth the money. On our way back, we went through Napa, sipped espresso and just enjoyed the day fading out.

Friday was spent doing chores at home and dinner with Z's parents. We took his mom out for mother's day. Per her request, we took her to a Chinese restaurant on Piedmont Ave. called Little Shin Shin. It was absolutely good! After dinner, we walked to Fentons for dessert. God, it was packed and loud in there but the ice cream was so good we couldn't complain. We spent some time in their boat docked in Alameda after dinner and looked at our Spain/Germany photos. They are planning on going on a 6-month Europe trip next year and they loved our suggestions on places to explore, things to do, places not to miss.

It was a wonderful family time. Saturday was also family time. Z and I took my mom on a drive to San Francisco, relaxed at the Golden Gate Park, sipped some tea at the Japanese garden and stopping by Sausalito for some afternoon coffee.

Today was bike ride day. My good friend Bolivs let me borrow his bike and had to test it out. So Z and I drove to Alameda and tested it on the trail by the bay. Man, the bike rides so fast! I'm hooked!!! I loved the wind against my face and the views were fantastic. Z couldn't even catch up to me with this Trek Hybrid bike.

Now, I'm back to reality. Gotta finish a few more papers and I'm done for this semester.

Muy Fantastico

Z can't be restrained. He went ahead and bought a '07 Toyota Prius. No, I didn't really persuade him not to buy it because 1: the dealership gave us a great deal and second, it is such a damn great car. So after waiting for about 4 hours at the Toyota delearship, we drove away with the Prius.

It took a while for us to drive off the lot because they told us they didn't have the color that Z wanted and they wanted him to drive off with a black one. And when they finally relented, the magnetic charcoal car that Z wanted had a crooked license plate holder on the front. They also tried to scam him as the salesman tried his best to convince him that a crooked license plate holder can be easily fixed by either boring another hole on the bumper or replacing the whole bumper itself. I thought that was certainly ridiculous and so I put my foot down and said no, we are not getting a brand new car and then come back for the bumper to be replaced. It doesn't make sense at all!!!!

They also tried to scam him into checking his credit history although he walked in there intending to pay with a check issued by another lender. They told him it's the law!!!! When he was told this, he was actually thinking of walking away without the Prius. But it was sort of hard because of the great deal. So he asked them to pull out a proof that it is indeed the law. Ha! They couldn't come up with anything!

But we did get a great price in the end. $200 less than carsdirect price and $500 less than edmunds.com price. It came with all the great stuff - fog lights, heated mirrors, back-up camera, navigation system, a smart key (no more fumbling with keys - just walk up to it and it unlocks) and a lot more. No more key ignition either! Just press the power button and voila - it starts!!!! Plus we get 50-60 miles per gallon!!! Isn't that fantastic?

We've driven Prii a lot since Monday and yes, we are loving it!!!!!

:) Photos coming soon