Painted Turtle

James found this turtle swimming in the lake and I thought he was leading me astray but then I saw its head move. I cannot understand why anyone would paint a turtle shell but maybe this was someones pet and it outgrew it's tank. Well if I was a turtle I would be very happy with living in the huge lake at Overfelt Gardens.

Confucius says...

Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart - Chinese philosopher & reformer (551 BC - 479 BC). Nice one I like that and it is in reference to an enjoyable time in Overfelt Gardens. In the gardens is this sculpture of Confucius. I thought he looked pretty cool from this angle with the whooshing clouds behind him - this could be a scene from Monkey? Everyone remembers Monkey magic (the Japanese show) with his crew Sandy, Pigsy and Tripitaka and all their adventures and I just loved the theme song.

A healthy lunch with all the food groups!!

In this wonderful Tupperware lunchbox we have Ashwins "special" easter lunch! He had his O's, baby cat biscuits, rice cakes, cheese and easter eggs. It was an excellent space to hide the stash of eggs, which disappeared quickly. We celebrate just once a year and may as well enjoy it as we didn't score the long weekend over here!!

What's in the picnic bag Yogi??

Here we are on our picnic rug enjoying the sunshine on this warm spring day. I have finally succumbed to buying a cowboy hat as the sun here can be intense. This one I found at Sunnyvale farmers market and is cool as if it gets squished it can be put back into shape again. So now Ashwin & I match with his sheriff hat and my cowboy hat - yeee hah!!

Happy Easter Ashwin!

Thanks to my sister for sending over a stash of easter eggs we were filled with chocolatey goodness of Cadbury chocolate. Oh I have to say that the chocolate here is not as good as the chocolate back home. As Ashwin had received these in his easter parcel we saved them for him and he ate this whole easter egg and wanted more!

Peace and Plums

Easter Day we decided to have a picnic, so James found this great little place in East San Jose called Overfelt Gardens. It is such a peaceful place to visit with a huge lake with geese and ducks in the centre and around it a Chinese Cultural Centre. Here is the Plum Pavillion where you can sit and contemplate life. We enjoyed our picnic and of course, easter eggs from my sister (Thanks TJ!). After lunch we went for a walk around the lake and left the gardens feeling very relaxed.

Plant a seed and it will grow

On Friday we visited Ashwins favourite hang out the Childrens Discovery Musuem. We started at the spot where he cannot get enough of - WaterWays, he ended up getting soaked even though he had a smock on! After that I decided to take him out into the sunshine to dry and we found the Kids Garden to play in with vege patch & all!

Newbie Knitters with balls!

I have been wanting to post this for a while but I had to wait until Alex had given this lovely scarf to his girlfriend back in Sydney. It is so cool that Alex was interested enough to pick up a pair of my needles and knit away. We found some beautiful yarn by Cascade, used a 12.5mm pair of knitting needles, I showed him the knit stitch and off he went. It was a challenge having a couple of gin & tonics every night whilst knitting and we all had a bit of a laugh. Congratulations Alex on your first knitting project!!

A Squirrel Tale - starring Ashwin

A recent video of Ashwin and his animal pals in and around the parkland where we live!

A luxurious dessert

Here is an ambient pic of my dessert Strawberry Mille Feuille - I had no idea what it was but it was wonderful. It is a traditional French dessert consisting of puff pastry layers with fruit and whipped cream in between each layer. They did have some interesting choices on the menu but I cannot resist a dessert that includes strawberries!

A night on the town!

We couldn't resist dessert after our amazing selection of Kyoto tapas style dishes - artfully designed and flavoursome. I have never seen or tasted such a divine arrangement of Japanese food. Every meal arrived with such splendor presented on exquisite Japanese ceramics & arranged in a distinct Japanese style. I also had the home made plum wine, so beautiful and sweet. Here is James and his Yoghurt ice cream with berry compote arranged on a leaf. Definitely worth visiting if you enjoy Japanese fine dining.

Deelish Vodka

As the afternoon went by with phone calls a plenty with wishes from Australia, Ashwin wasn't in his evening routine. In the end amidst the chaos, James surprised me with babysitters (thanks Sarah & Andrew!) and took me out to dinner to a very special Japanese restaurant downtown called Nami Nami. Here is the Japanese vodka I had with a plum that drowns in deliciousness.

A trip downtown...

Here's a shot of the downtown area of Mountain View where I hang out. I have found a couple of decent coffee joints plus there are plenty of restaurants. There is one really cool clothing store called Therapy (James bought me a top from there for my prezzo) I've banned myself from there as it is a place to really enjoy shopping :)

Sashimi for me!

Oh and here is a pic of my lunch - as I do not eat fish that often I order the sashimi lunch special with some miso, salad and rice. It was so good that I could not wait to dig in with my chopsticks and it disappeared in seconds. Man think I would like to have a birthday more often as this is the one food that I truly miss eating.

Sushi & Shon - turning japanese!

As it was a special day, we thought we would celebrate big time. Here is Shona eyeing off her delicious choice of sushi rolls - one lot had salmon skin inside and the other choice was salmon and cream cheese. Next time I visit there I will follow Shonas lead & choose from the a la carte menu as the food is different and very tasty!

Burro says "hee haw, hee haw"

We are having a margarita party in a couple of weeks with a burro pinata. As I am having issues with regard to smashing the cute little fellow Shona found this little guy for a substitute. We plan to hang the real pinata on the patio from our neighbours floor, so I hope that there is enough space for the whacking!

A lunch date...

Here is the cowboy himself waiting outside the restaurant after a feast of Japanese. It was a delicious time with fresh fish and some awesome tasting sushi. Ashwin enjoyed the glo-pink fish slices from Shonas tempura soup and ate some udon as well. In the restaurant you can see the huge bunch of balloons with its massive blow up butterfly!

A happy birthday to me!

Wednesday I celebrated my 12th birthday at a Japanese joint in downtown Mountain View. Shona, Mr Ashwin and I went out for a feast of sashimi and a selection of Japanese morsels. When Shona arrived she surprised me with a huge bunch of balloons & beads & pressies & crazy hats for us to wear - it was all very fun, thank u Shona!!

Nerd fringe!

Here he is in full nerd attire with even the nerd hair... Poor ol' Ashwin looks like something that has escaped from Star Trek in this pic - all he needs is the uniform! His baby talk sounds like something from outer space so he is getting there. The little munchkin loves to run these days and is on a mission to here, there and everywhere looking for interesting things to play with. He does get bored much more easily these days so I have to constantly come up with ways to entertain him!!??

A shopping we will go... to Yarndogs

On Sunday Shona invited me to join her at a yarn sale in Los Gatos. We got there very early for a Sunday morning thinking there would be people waiting in line but once we arrived we were the only keen yarn hunters out that early! It was a brilliant sale with 20% off all the stuff in the shop and now I have many kniting projects on the go!