Hubby did what?!

After my version of Lady and the Tramp for pre-Valentine's Day, Mr. Woo said some mumbo-jumbo about not being able to top it. I went my merry way thinking that'd be fine since I'm the creative side of our unit. I was convinced of this when he was watching another "Linsane" moment unfold on his laptop in the kitchen while preparing dinner and announcing that our meal would be later than planned. And if I had any smidgen of a doubt that it'd be anything impressive, the smoke alarm going off drove it away.

So imagine my surprise when he calls me into the kitchen and he not only has perfectly-cooked poultry sitting in front of me, he's given attention to the ambiance as well. But that wasn't all... He graciously decides to take on the role of chef, waiter, and clean up duty this night. *swoon*

MENU

Appetizer: Organic corn tortilla chips with fresh guacamole

Beverage: Bottomless Martinelli's apple cider

Primo: Rosemary Garlic Chicken with broccoli florets

Secondi: Rachers' Reserve Filet Mignon with hand-mashed red potatoes

Dessert: (burnt) Banana Nut Bread a la mode

Restaurant quality food with superior service, at a fraction of the cost. Selah ended up napping and let us enjoy our meal instead of reaching for our plates and putting the tablecloth in her mouth! I'm all for making this an annual tradition. :)


My Review: It wasn't my first time dining here, but it was the first time I've been so thoroughly impressed! The chef seasoned the meat with exquisite TLC. The server was attentive and courteous (and handsome). FIVE STARS! I hope to dine here again!!!

Pre-Valentine's Day dinner

This year, Mr. Woo decided to cook on the hallmark holiday of love while I tackled the day before. I ended up cooking while doing two loads of laundry and trying to calm a teething infant, but it turned out alright. We shared a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, and individual plates of spinach salad with cranberries, almonds, avocado, and heart-shaped eggs. Romantic, right?

Yes, well, baby certainly makes three. The poor thing is teething and wants to be held/comforted, so she eventually joined the scene. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Good food, great company!

My two favorite people in the whole wide world:

Why, yes, that is our petite Christmas tree in the background. Only 10 more months before it's Christmas again! (Procrastination at it's finest...)
 

More s'mores please

First trimester cravings: Cereal, Strawberries, Peanut butter

Second trimester cravings: Strawberries, Peanut butter, Watermelon

Third trimester cravings: Watermelon, Fresh fruit, Fresh fruit

(I'm definitely having a girl.) BUT sometimes I'm overcome with a sweet tooth that you might have noticed here among my list of things pregnancy surprises. My latest favorite is the S'mores Cupcake! Oh, the graham cracker crust plus half the chocolate cake topped with a marshmallow frosting...

This one's from Teacake Bakery (beats the others I've tasted), and they only offer it on Thursdays. The first time I tried to obtain one, they were sold out. You can imagine my disappointment, so dear Hubby brought me back on another Thursday so I could get my swollen hands on one. Nope, the wedding rings don't fit anymore.

Ferocious.

  

A grate first Father's Day

Mr. Woo has been talking about buying a grill. My first response was, "How often are you going to really use it?" I figured it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing since there have been quite a few barbecues the past month or so, complete with friendly "King of the Grill" competition. But as I was baking one day, he was with me in the kitchen(!) making his own sliders from scratch!

Being thoroughly impressed by his eagerness, drive, and the taste (he even bought lean meat to make them healthier), I reconsidered his proposition (not that I have the final say in Casa Woo - I'm only VP). With Father's Day soon approaching, I decided to bake some grill-like goodies to commemorate this "first."

Serving kabobs, steak, and hot dogs.

Then I packed them for Mr. Woo to take to his teammates at work who have been trudging through training together (finals are next week!).

Get it? :P

Pooki, you're my favorite person in the whole world, and there's no one I'd rather enter this daunting task of parenting with than you! Now look next to the door to see you're real Father's Day gift. I'm expecting some mean burgers and kabobs and corn this summer. ;) Happy Father's Day weekend!

Last week as a teacher

I'm wrapping up my final duties as a teacher this week and next with in-services. The previous week was my last in a classroom full of students, and it was busy as ever. In the hussle bussle of it all God gave me the grace to pack lunches for Mr. Woo and make end-of-the-year gifts for my students.

Here's what I was up to for my students (more for their parents, actually):

I created a template for a K-12 School Days frame that their families can continue as they progress from year to year! I started it off with their kindergarten, first, second, and third grade pictures. Then I placed each one behind a sheet of glass so that I wouldn't be handing them a piece of paper. They were wrapped individually in flowery tissue paper for girls and boy-ish blue polka dots for the boys. I wanted to engineer handles for them all (so that it wouldn't be dropped out of a third grader's grasp), but I was so sleepy that I decided to forego the tote idea.

I needed the sleep so that I could be a loving wife before a full-time employee. Mr. Woo's been going strong with his weekly quizzes and report presentations at his new workplace. Not a single one failed - praise the Lord! To keep his energy going, I've been continuing to pack his lunches. On one particular day, I included brown/white rice for starch, seafood pancake for the side dish, and meat (galbi jjim) because he's a man. The blueberries were for antioxidants (to not get sick) and cherries just because they were super sweet (like him!). I even wrote a little note on his Rice Krispies Treat to "kick it up a notch."

One more week!

His dinner + Her movie + A song

Thursdays are our Date Nights (but we won't have it for much longer, right?). Mr. Woo had said he wanted to cook, but after school told me, "Actually let's eat out tonight. It's going to take me too long." This got me thinking to last week...

Last week we had Date Night in, and Mr. Woo offered to cook! I was in no way too proud to deny his heroic, adventurous attitude. We made a pit stop at the grocery store to pick up several items. Then, I was shooed out of the kitchen. During his journey in this dinner-making, I was tickled pink by some of the things that came out of his mouth...

• "I need to put on my chef clothes!"
• "Out of the kitchen. You're putting pressure on me!"
• "Do we have basil?" ("No, I only have oregano.") "What's that?"
• "What is this?"
• "What is this?"
• "What is this?"
• "Boo, I'll be eating with you, but I'll be serving you, okay?"
• Glass making full contact with other kitchen items + "Whoa!!!"
• "We charge for refills."

In the end I was able to put a wonderful "Antipasti" of Mixed Greens and Pear Salad with Terriyaki-glazed Salmon into my mouth. For the next course, he brought out the "Secondi" of Baked Salmon Nachos with Sunset Omelette Sampler.

He let me pick the movie for tonight (as usual) since the one he had wanted to watch was already checked out. Redbox had a promo code for $0.50 so we were able to use that to rent a chick flick to which Mr. Woo fell asleep snoring. The poor man was laboring in the kitchen with Google as his sous chef, going into the process without even knowing where many of the cooking utensils were. Let the man sleep!

In other wonderful news, Mr. Woo also decided after school that he is going to sing to Selah "all the time." You see, Husband's got it all planned out. He's going to play the guitar; we're going to sing duets - we being Selah and myself. He started tonight by very audibly singing at my tummy when I asked him to try and feel her kicks (I'm eager to share the joy with him). To our very pleasant surprise, she stomped on the walls of my uterus like she's hardly kicked before. Was this excitement? Anger? Out of tune? Regardless, it made me so gleeful. It's official, our Woo Two band has become Woo Three!
 

Spring Chicks

Our third(!) Easter as Husband & Wife has come and gone. This year, I was awakened into a theological interview that went something like this...

Mr. Woo: Boo-
Mrs. Woo: zZZzZz...
Mr. Woo: Boo?
Mrs. Woo: Hm?
Mr. Woo: What do you think is the significance of Christ's resurrection?
Mrs. Woo: Hm?
Mr. Woo: What do you think is the significance of Christ's resurrection?
Mrs. Woo: Mm, we believe in a God that's alive.
Mr. Woo: What do you mean?
Mrs. Woo: If Christ didn't rise from the dead, we'd be worshiping a dead God. But He didn't, so He's alive.
Mr. Woo: ___________

I don't know what he said after that because I slowly quickly drifted back to sleep. I only remembered the vague conversation in the middle of Pastor John's Easter sermon. The rest of our Resurrection Sunday was spent with church family and Youth Group students. We ended the day with a Homegroup meeting discussing the next chapter in What Is A Healthy Church Member? by Thabiti M. Anyabwile.


Last year I had the time to actually produce something crafty in the kitchen:

 A mother hen and her flock of newly hatched chicks!

I showed my work to Mr. Woo, but he might have been more excited about this part:

How was your Easter Sunday?
 

Babymoon - Day 6

Sadly, our babymoon came to the final day. But instead of putting a damper to our party, Mr. Woo made the last morning count too. We went to bed with the possibility of taking the long drive up around 3 A.M. to arrive at the top, find parking, and take pictures before the sun would come up. Our plan was: if we wake up, we're doing it.

We ended up going with Plan B. We slept in and took our time packing (and unloading all the gear we happily hauled around in the car from the condo). We took one last set of pictures at the beach, this time the one right across from the condo to say aloha.

Breakfast was at Kihei Caffe. Their banana macadamia french toast is a popular choice so I went with that. Mr. Woo opted for the fried rice with Portuguese sausage and egg. Each, including the cream cheese frosted cinnamon roll, was great.

All in all, it was a superb babymoon of a vacation which made me not want to leave. I was sad. But in case you didn't notice in the picture with the cinnamon roll, check out that baby bump! Maui made it official that I was showing - and not just looking like I had eaten a large meal (that picture was taken sans breakfast)!

While I laid low and didn't go picture-crazy, I do have some memories captured to remember the trip by. Mr. Woo took a hefty amount of pictures. He also had mosquito bites to bring home as souvenirs, all from the night of the luau, ten on his left arm alone. 

Another pick-me-up on the last day was discovering how much room we had on one of the planes back home (we did have a layover). When Mr. Woo was trying to check-in online a couple days back, we discovered that we wouldn't be sitting next to each other on the plane! So he called the airlines to try to sit Husband and Wifey together. He was told that our seats would be arranged when we arrived at the airport. In the end, we sat side-by-side, toward the front, and had loads of legroom. Score!

While boarding, we met another couple from our town which was pretty neat. We chatted for a while and ended up eating with them during the layover. To our surprise, the retired couple kindly picked up the tab. I hope we see them around.

With that, we were back home to the Bay Area. We would very much like to return to Maui with our future keiki (I was impressed by how they value the little ones). Should that be the case, we're already starting a to-do list.

• Make it to the crater before sunrise
• Find the shrimp taco truck

Of course, I wouldn't mind being repeat offenders to many of the activities that we did during our first stay as well.

Food for thought: The chocolate covered macademia nuts that many bring back as gifts from Hawaii are the same ones that we can find at Costco on the mainland. :P

Babymoon - Day 5

The three-hour time difference had me waking up around 5:00 A.M. (Hawaii time) which was a great feeling. Whenever I arise at home, I'll know that it's dawn somewhere in the world.

For our last full day in Maui we decided to keep low and just enjoy it without thinking about time frame and scheduling. It also gave my body a chance to catch up to normalcy before heading back on that plane. For the most part, we stayed in Kihei and drove to Lahina for a little while.

One thing that Mr. Woo insisted on crossing off the to-do list was trying Hawaii's double filet-o-fish sandwich from McDonalds. He was eyeing it when we tried the saimin noodles on Day 2.

Then we picked up some customized sushi for the Mister at Food Net (like Safeway) and a plate lunch for me from a restaurant in the same plaza. Because I'd been feeling a bit queasy, I grabbed a fizzy drink too.

For my dinner and Mr. Woo's snack we picked up food from Cuatro, a fusion restaurant. We found out the hard way that their highly-rated food is definitely meant to be eaten dine-in. The crab cakes were mediocre at best, and my lukewarm fish and veggies Classic-style wasn't hitting the spot. But apparently Mr. Woo had the winner. He devoured the spicy tuna nachos. They were nice enough to throw in a bag of chips though.

Our drive out to Lahaina was with one thing on our mind - Ululani's shave ice. It has fantastic reviews and wasn't too far out so it was a must for us. How they get it so powdery soft is beyond us, but we thoroughly enjoyed the treat. We even went back to get more syrup. I can't remember what flavors syrups or ice cream at the bottom, but I know for certain that it was very yummy.

On our way back to home base in Kihei we stopped at a rest area to watch our last sunset of the vacation. It was beautiful. And the sunset wasn't bad either. (Mr. Woo placed his camera on the edge of the car window to capture some pictures - very courageous of him.)

To end the evening we went to our reservation at the sushi house Koiso. This tiny mom-and-pop restaurant had my husband furrowing his brow, licking his lips, and snapping pictures like no other. He claims it melted in his mouth.

I wouldn't know because this was my meal:

Here's his:

I believe him when he says it's the best he's ever had. I'm just looking forward to coming back one day to say the same. Bossman should know that though I put him/her through a lot, I also sacrificed omakase.

Remember how we didn't quite make it to the crater? For our next day, we were thinking about trying it super early in the morning to see the sunrise above the clouds. If so, the time zone would be on our side. Stay tuned to see our last day on the island!

Babymoon - Day 4

Snorkel! Snorkel! Snorkel! We woke up while it was still dark to make Maalaea. We chose to go snorkeling through the Pacific Whale Foundation. Our boat had about 100 people, and the staff/crew seemed very knowledgeable about marine life. I was a bit worried about the service but it was fine. They came around with breakfast and told us what we could expect on our tour.

We bought an underwater camera from an ABC store (they're just as plentiful as our 7-11s here) since I really wanted some pictures of the sea turtles but didn't want to rent a D10 for a hefty price. When I had last checked, there were 17 exposures left. The next time I checked I was at 0. I only recall hearing a click twice, so it'll be interesting to see how they turn out when we get them developed. We're hoping for at least three good pictures (forget framing and angle, let's just have our subject somewhere in the picture) to call the purchase worth it.

At Molokini we saw lots of coral and fish! It was an incredible sight to behold and definitely beat our snorkeling on our honeymoon in Mexico. Any time I saw a new kind of fish I'd get really excited, forget that I had to keep my mouth closed, and would get a surprise punch by the salt in the water. After some time of swimming hand-in-hand with my love (isn't he sweet?), I started feeling off. I thought maybe I was hungry and tried to fight through it, but then I realized I'd reached my pregnant limit and headed back to the boat (Bossman first). Then I felt nausea kick in and almost wish I would just throw up to feel better. Keeping in line with my first trimester, it never came up but I was hanging my head over the side of the boat - just in case.

Upon arriving at Turtle Arches I still wasn't feeling 100%, but we came to see turtles so I got in the freezing water. When Maui Revealed advised to leave all expectations at home, they weren't kidding. I thought there'd be lots of sea turtles around just like in advertisements. Now I know that it's all photoshopped. Thankfully, we did see one. According to one of the crew doing a "tour" in the water, it was a rare hawkbill turtle. One of the other staff members had only seen it four times in her years out there. Neat! That definitely made my queasy stomach feel better. But then I felt satisfied and went back to the boat to rest and take some pictures out of the water. It took some searching, but I found Husband amidst the many heads.

With that, we were fed a BBQ lunch and heading back to the dock when we spotted a mommy whale, her escort, and a baby whale! Soon after, we saw some dolphins swimming in front of the boat! And then we saw a turtle on the side! So much excitement from one boat ride; Mr. Woo picked the best day to go.

We made a pitstop at Hula Cookies and Ice Cream for a haupia (coconut) ice cream sandwich between chocolate chip macademia nut and hula's delight (mango, pineapple, coconut, macademia nuts) cookies before heading back to the condo.

After a catnap and a nice shower, we headed out for a luau at the Grand Wailea. This is the hotel that we considered. We quickly crossed it off the list when we saw the $400-500 price tag - per night. But it was just the right setting for dinner and entertainment. We were initially sent to the wrong place and ended up being late for early seating, but when Mr. Woo told them our situation (I was eyeing the long ling forming for regular seating) they responded with, "Don't worry about it. You're on vacation; you shouldn't have to stress about something like that." Then the woman who took care of it later saw us and greeted, "Welcome, Mr. Woo." She remembered us amidst the hundreds of guests. That's why she has the job that she has.

We witnessed a pig resurrect from the ground and taste delicious, saw stories of Hawaii's history and culture through dance, and talked with other travelers at our table. Of course, it would not have been complete without a sunset in the horizon.




Whew! What a day.

 

Babymoon - Day 3

We began our second full day in Maui with a stop at 808 Deli. The red velvet cupcakes caught my eye first, and lucky us, it was buy one pastry get one free! Mr. Woo opted for the homemade peanut butter cup. While the cupcake was just okay, their chicken mango chutney panini was pure brilliance. It was my favorite discovery of the entire day.

This day, we headed up north. Of all the things I could have eaten, I was determined to find at least one bakery. We did find one on Day 2 with our handy dandy Maui Revealed but it had already closed for the day. Komoda in Makawao looked like a teeny-tiny store from the outside, and we discovered that it was. After selecting a few different breads, I walked out as if I had discovered the next element on the periodic table. Though everything looked yummy, our favorite was the stick donut by far.

Out of the blue it started sprinkling for a few minutes, but just like the natives we kept going about our day without a care. Thinking about water, I became thirsty and decided to wash down all the sugar with another shave ice and ice cream. The nearest menu to have it was a sushi place down the street. That should have been a red flag as it wasn't as good as the first one I had. Interestingly, I later read that Makawao was the "cowboy" city of Maui.

Not knowing when we'd come back again, we tried to make the drive up to Haleakala National Park to see the much-talked-about crater (think: Hawaii's Grand Canyon). Keep in mind that we started our venture in the late afternoon, so by the time we hit mile 8 and were at around half the altitude of the highest 10,000 it was dark and raining on the hairpin turns with only an occasional car passing by. Feeling sick (and scared) we decided to call it quits and headed back.

Myth: Because Maui doesn't have too many main roads, it's super easy to find your way around the island.
Fact: They give you a map at the car rental for a reason - to humble you and try to save you some time. 

On our way back, the official shot gun navigator gave the driver the wrong turn (south instead of north) and fell asleep shortly after. An hour later she woke up to the sound of the driver saying, "I don't think this is the right way..." Upon double checking, we realized that not only were pretty much east of Kihei, the road only allowed us to drive north or south. So we had to go back up north, turn where we were supposed to in the first place, then drive south again. For what it's worth, the view of the coast was very serene.

After our surprise detour, we were back in Kihei just in time to watch the sunset at the beach. Lots of people were out with us. Isn't it interesting how God made people attracted to splendid things? We watch the Olympics, talk about Guinness records, and yet we're a county whose heart denies the almighty God. A starving group of people, really.

For dinner we settled on eating Moose McGillycuddy's, mainly because out of the three waiting lists we were on, this was the shortest. Steak and fries for the man, fish taco for the woman. The view was great, company was fantastic, and the food mediocre.

I started thinking about what I could bring back home as a souvenir of the wonderful time we were having. I came across this cute little glass piggy with flowers on its rump! But I couldn't justify the 15 bean price tag. Instead, we went back to the condo to get some much-needed rest for an early rise. I was bursting with excitement for our snorkeling trip and luau dinner that Mr. Woo had planned for the next day. Woo-hoo!

Babymoon - Day 2

To see Day 1 of our last-minute getaway, click here!

Good grief, can we get away from McDonald's anywhere in this country? Apparently not, and Mr. Woo had heard that all should try the saimin noodles. To me it was like cup noodles with the golden arches slapped on the huge styrofoam bowl, but to each his own. (The McDs over there had taro pie instead of apple pie!)

So after we got that out of the way, we began trekking further up to more of West Maui. My role was assistant pilot, aka navigator. Our condo owners were kind enough to leave a copy of Maui Revealed which we found to be a fantastic aid. With that plus the map from the car rental, we began our drive in the hot sun and humid breeze.

We stopped at a couple of outlooks along the way so that we could both enjoy the beautiful waters and picturesque scenery. The Hawaiian radio station provided the soundtrack needed for our tour of the island. Although after a while all the beats started sounding the same...

Then lunch was at Cheeseburger in Paradise in Lahaina. Mr. Woo was a wonderful gentleman and made sure that we sat next to a window overlooking the blue waters below. It also helped that a lovely older couple announced, "I'm not moving my butt until [the waitress] says yes," followed by "You better slide your butt over now [before it gets taken]," moments later. Note to self: Be one of those kinds of people when I'm older.

Our next adventure was more subdued. We went to find the Banyan Tree. It looks like twelve trees' work, but it's all one! After getting rocked by the waves, I decided to give Bossman a break and not climb the tree, except a tiny bit for one picture (in which you can see my growing belly). It was also here that we found the cheaply advertised activities to not being entirely honest - there's always a catch. Once you qualify for it, they have you sit and listen to a 2-hour presentation of whatever they're trying to sell. Mr. Woo was a great leader and declined so that we could utilize that precious time in a better manner, even if it means paying a little extra. Great idea, Husband!

While we were up there we trekked to Black Rock in Ka'anapali. I kid you not, people climb over and up to the top and jump into the water. My view from the beach was plenty fun for me, so I just paddled in the water after slathering on sunblock. Since the waves were tossing me to and fro anyway, Husband taught me how to bodysurf! It was a lot of fun but in the end, it was something like Waves: 13; Mrs. Woo: 8. I ended up pulling a muscle and had trouble walking the next day.

After working up an appetite, I dove into mango shave (not shaved) ice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream at one of the shops at Whalers' Village. Then we walked to Leilani's for happy hour sliders - kalua pork for Mr. Woo, crab cake for Mrs. Woo.

On our way home we stopped at what I thought was a lighthouse. It turned out to be a poser, but we took a few snaps anyway. Of course, we squeezed in another obligatory sunset session. Hawaii's colors are beautiful, and God is an incredible Artist.

For those who want a quick scan of our trip, visit Mr. Woo's Flickr for his set of Maui pictures! (Hasn't he improved so much since he first picked up the camera?)