[quote=“tommy525”]
Had a fun thought which I shared with my wife. The last time I was there at the zoo was with my then first wife when we came to SF for our honeymoon eons ago. [/quote]
Confucius say don’t tell second wife what fun had with first wife.
What animals do they have in the zoo? Could you provide a list?
[quote=“tommy525”]
REsidents with kids buy an approximately 100/year family membership so they can take their kids there as often as they want.[/quote]
Is this a sneak preview of your new “thread” to be released in about a year from now: “The family adventures of Tommy, Tammy and little Timmy” ?
That would be a surprise !
Just back from seeing THE DELIVERY MAN. Nice warm fuzzy movie. Go see it. Become human !
visajourney.com/content/k1flow
One heck of a process !
We have completed step 21 Now waiting for 22 and 23 ! Hurray .
3 days 3 italian restaurants, a mini review:
Pasta Pomodoro started with one and now have 18 locations around the bay. Used to always enjoy meals there. Was a popular place for me to go when I was living in San Francisco. I liked the one at the Marina district. Been to the one on College in Berkeley a few times as well. Have not been to one in about five years though. So thought why not go there again. I hope it was just one of their off days though, because the meal was sadly NOT enjoyable. The Ceasar’s salad was not very fresh and the chicken parmigiana was precooked and then simply heated up in a microwave and it wasn’t even uniformly hot. Sad state of affairs that was.
So I would have to say, you are taking your chances on whether your meal is likely to be good or not. And it may not. I will have to go back to the one in the Marina district again to judge if standards have really fallen chain wide. That place has never let me down before
Tomatina. Another chain Italian restaurant with Mexican chefs (Mexican chefs do everything from Japanese, to Indian to Italian to Greek , et cetera in the Bay Area).’
I know they have one in Berkeley , right downtown. Have ONLY been to the one on Main street in Walnut Creek though. And that place has never let me down yet. They are supposed to be renown for pizza. But because between pizza and pasta I always choose pasta, I have yet to try their pizza. I have grown attached to the Spaghettini with Chicken.
We ordered the Caesar’s salad (her fav) , which was not all that exciting to be truthful, but she liked it. And she didn’t even touch her Spaghettini, which became breakfast the next day. I polished off mine as the dish is not THAT big. Not big enough for two to share one order anyways.
An enjoyable place if you are in Walnut Creek. There usually is a bit of a wait for a table though.
Last on this posting, and not least is the Swiss Louis restaurant at Pier 39. Now ,its good to note that most places there you are really paying for the view and the convenience of being right in Pier 39.
This place actually had good food. PRices are on the high side for sure though. She only had the Caesar’s Salad , which she said was pretty decent (must have been good as I didn’t even get to try it) and she had a bit of my ravioli. I had coffee and she had tea and the bill for this little mini lunch was 40 bucks. Good thing we didn’t order any crab as that dish alone is 30 plus dollars for a crab or something. But the place is nice. The service was pleasant and unhurried. The pasta freshly made and high quality if simple. The coffee very good and the tea from a tea bag as usual.
I say stop by if at Pier 39.
swisslouis.com/index2.php#/home/
p.s. sorry no pics of the bill this time 
Judging by the calorie count on the Pasta Pomodoro menu, the portions out there are pretty big right ? It would be great to have an American-sized portion in a restaurant here in Barcelona. At least you get better value for your money there …
Yes most of our places give you a ton of food. Except at the artsy-fartsy places where the portions are likely to be small.
With herself eating so little we find that generally we can share a salad and a main course. So two can eat for the price of one for us in most cases. 
The pancakes at Black Bear Diner (a chain) are just too big!
She has been here exactly three months now. And I would say she is adjusting very well, making good progress. For someone from SE ASia who had never previously been anywhere further then Singapore, and Malaysia. LIving in the Bay Area is very very different from life in Jakarta.
She has actually even lost weight, which pleases her. I think shes down from 100 pounds to 95 pounds. I lost a bit of weight with her cooking (hot indo food) but now my body has gotten used to it and no matter what i do it seems impossible for me to get below 220 pounds.
Waiting for the green card. HOpe we get it soon. She’s anxious to return for a few months to visit her family, who she misses dearly.
Funny before she was asking me daily to push for the visa as she was “getting bored” in Jakarta. NOw she pines for the place. I guess you need to be away to realize what home means. And for us non indonesians, it may be hard to miss Jakarta. I always said, based on the few times I have been there, why would anyone want to visit jakarta at all? I don’t see any attractions to jakarta. BAli, probably. Jakarta? Don’t bother. What is there to see ? Nothing rings a bell for me on that . Taipei is no Paris but at least there’s a lot to do right near the city. Jakarta has what? BAndung? 2 plus hours drive away? I don’t think I could love Jakarta with its interminable traffic jams. I guess one would have to be indonesian to appreciate that city.
Eventually ,hopefully, “home” will become the Bay Area to her. IT will take many many years.
She came via EVA. WE are planning on her flying SQ back. SQ has decent prices for 1st quarter 2014 (assuming we get her green card by then, which we may not). Usually SQ is more expensive then EVA but now they are priced very similar to each other. DUe to different taxation her 90 day roundtrip from sF to JKT and back will be around 1100, less then the one way from JKT to SF on EVA cost me !
The EVA timing and routing is actually better, but its good to let her try something new.
IT will be her first time on SQ. First time landing in KOrea (even if its only 2 hours refueling stop in INchon). And in Singapore she can be met by a sister living in Batam. She can over nite there and take the late afternoon flight to Jakarta. This allows a nice rest from a long long journey. IT will be something like 12 hours to Seoul, 2 hours on the ground, then another 6 or so hours to Singapore. Arriving around 1am.
I wonder if SQ will pick up the tab for the hotel? I think probably not at low fare pricing.
But she will enjoy a nite in Singapore on the way home and a nite on her way back to SanFRan. It is a very long ways from Jakarta to/from San Francisco.
I think a two month or so return to her land will be a very good thing. Shes buying small gifts for her family in preparation.
In 3 months we accomplished what we had to do in that period. Get married and file the papers to keep her stay here legal, or else her three months would’ve been up and she would be out of here in order to stay legal. An overstay would have occurred if the green card papers had not been filed by now. This would make her an illegal and it would be really hard to get back on track.
And it’s a good thing we did not delay, as 3 months went by pretty fast!
my two puddietats:
Points of value from that post.
Well, that is me chocked full of info for the day ahead. Cheers. 
Come on now, SK, don’t take up the hard feelings against the Mods with Tommy.
You are bigger than (Tommy’s cat) that.
I see your point sir. However. That previous post of Tommy’s was a blog post. It’s the sort of thing you’d send to members of your family to let them know how you are getting on. And I still fail to see why this site needs a blog about Tommy.
Dear Mum and Dad,
The last three months have flown by. My new wife is still settling in, although she is naturally homesick. When her green card arrives she will go and see her family for a while. She has lost a bit of weight but I haven’t.
Your loving son,
Thomas Wu Er-wu.
There is a vast plethora of things this site has which it doesn’t need. As there is a vast plethora of things in my day which my day doesn’t need. I’ve taken the initiative to learn to step around them since they’re usually things which other people enjoy.
Strangely, the world doesn’t appear to be all about me, as hard a pill as that may be to swallow. Therefore I ignore Tommy’s thread now that I don’t find it interesting. Except now, when I can nag at you to stop being such a whiner about how there’s something which you have no need to have anything to do with but still feel the compulsion to be annoyed by, which (sadly) I do find interesting.
[quote=“superking”]Points of value from that post.
Well, that is me chocked full of info for the day ahead. Cheers. [/quote]
Well … no need for weather reports then either. As they go warm and cold. 
I was going to expound on farting in bed but then, thats a blog posting too.
If ya’ll could resist the temptation and NOT click on the thread the post count won’t go up and neither will your blood pressure. But ya couldn’t can ya?
This here thread is by the bored, for the bored and of the bored. Yup its boring, but you clicked on it.
NOw practice self control . TAke Chi Gong lessons ya hear?
YES, i did promise, when she gets her green card I will let the thread go dormant again, like the dragon in Smaug.
Seriously though, if anyone is interested. I’ve been single for a very long time, since my previous (short) marriage. And it’s good to be married actually. Even though like other ladies I have known , sometimes she gives me the silent treatment. BUt generally it’s good so far. IT’s nice to come home to food on the table and have a ready companion to go see movies with and go hang out in cafes, etc.
The key is getting along well with each other. Time will tell if we are a success as a pair or not. Nobody else knows for sure.
But no pain no gain, no huff no puff as they say.
[quote=“superking”]And I still fail to see why this site needs a blog about Tommy.
[/quote]
Why not? There are many communities based on blogs written by their members. Why shouldn’t Forumosa have blog posts? Even the Facebook has blog-like posts, and Forumosa has long preceded The Facebook, and is much-longer lived than The Facebook, and doesn’t have all the stupid rules and regulations of The stupid Facebook.
Why do you care so much that Tommy has a blog-like thread on Forumosa?
After all:
and
At least Tommy has a sense of humour.
Another dining tip for those likely to be hanging around Berkeley for a day or two or more, in the near future perhaps?
Mint Leaf Indian.
yelp.com/biz/mint-leaf-berkeley
To be honest , I’ve never really gotten into Indian food until i came to live in the Bay Area. Now I have a few fav places to go to.
My fav so far is Mint Leaf, which is in a mini complex with a number of other restaurants on Shattuck in Berkeley.
It used to be a wine bar, but that concept didn’t work and it became an Indian restaurant. That looked like a wine bar. They also have live music a few nights a week. And Friday night is Salsa night when a DJ spins Salsa music. Seems to be a hit, but I would not go on Friday if you don’t plan to Salsa, as the tiny place becomes unbearably tiny.
After NINE PM is when I go, because the dishes are half priced and half the size (a perfect size actually). You do have to ask for the “late night” menu as they don’t show that to those NOT in the know. As they want to max their profits.
The late night menu is limited but everything on it is pretty much awesome. The Mango Lassi is the best I have had anywhere as well.
NOW my experience with Indian restaurants is limited to maybe a dozen so I am certainly no expert, but this place has been consistently good. So good that before my last two trips to Taiwan I made it a point to visit the place, as well as to visit the place again on my return.
A few doors down is Chez Panisse, which is a hoity toity place that is supposed to be one of the top 100 restaurants in the Americas. One day when I can afford to blow 200 for two, (and that is really minimum) I shall go there.
chezpanisse.com/menus/restaurant-menu/
Between Chez Panisse and the Mint Leaf is a very popular Spanish tapas restaurant that seems to be full often. I have yet to set foot in it though, but if you are in the mood?
cesarberkeley.com/our-story.html
Across the street is a pizza place that is insanely popular. They often have some sort of a jazz quartet playing. Problem is that they are filled to the rafters and you have to stand outside and eat or many sit on the traffic island between it and Mint Leaf to eat.
I can’t do that. I can’t justify sitting on a traffic island with traffic fumes just to eat pizza.
Don’t care how good it is.
Pizza & Beer won more than Curry and Whine ever did!
Done your Christmas shopping yet? I am ready for the bash at my bros on Christmas day. That counts as our New Year dinner too.
Christmas is much less fun when you are giving presents, instead of when you were a kid and got presents yeah?
[quote=“tommy525”]Across the street is a pizza place that is insanely popular. They often have some sort of a jazz quartet playing. Problem is that they are filled to the rafters and you have to stand outside and eat or many sit on the traffic island between it and Mint Leaf to eat.
I can’t do that. I can’t justify sitting on a traffic island with traffic fumes just to eat pizza.
Don’t care how good it is.
cheeseboardcollective.coop/pizza[/quote]
Hey, sitting on that traffic island eating Cheese Board pizza is a Berkeley experience!
And you can have a cheaper meal at Chez Panisse’s cafe. (Have they re-opened since the fire?)
That whole stretch of Shattuck from Cedar to Rose is an area I’m very familiar with, being down the street from where I grew up!
Yeah its a nice area to hang out in. Lots of nice places to eat.
I still won’t sit and eat pizza and smell exhaust fumes though
Don’t know bout Chez Panisse. I think it’s opened again.