Parents Are Off Limits

When Jake got accepted to play for Bay to Bay Volleyball Club, we received the mandatory rules and regulations. Being our first time with this club, all the information was new news to us. Certain clubs have certain way of doing things. And so did Bay to Bay.

For the first 2 weeks of practice, they allowed parents and other kibitzers to watch team practices inside the gym. Over the course of 4 practice sessions, there were a few who stayed on to watch. For the old-timers, I guess they were used to how things operated and didn't bother to see how practices ran. For us new to this club, the wife and I wanted to check out how they conducted their practices.

Practices were at Harker's facility at their Bedftord campus. The gym was quite old, and the smell was dry and musty. The scent of years of sweat lingered in the air, and it seemed like air never circulated within. For us who watched on the sidelines, we had to bear with it. Sometimes, you can only go so far.

After the 2-day League Qualifiers last weekend, all practices would now be off-limits to anyone. Well, no one would be allowed to sit inside the gym to watch. If you do want to, you can still do so by standing behind the door leading to the gym, and watching from there. Definitely, not the most convenience. You're better off not watching at all. I didn't have a problem with that. My only concern was what in the world would I be doing for 2 hours while Jake was at practice.

From Fremont, the Harker facility was a good 21 miles or so. Driving back and forth wasn't necessarily efficient and cost-effective, especially on vehicle that consumes 20 miles to a gallon. Instead of watching a movie, doing any window-shopping, or even hanging out at a nearby coffee shop or something, I chose to sleep in the car.

Yes, I slept in the car !!! I parked under a shade, rolled down the windows enough to get a cross-breeze, locked the car, turn on the radio, and slept. Of course, I was half asleep, and tried to be wary of my surroundings. I didn't want to be caught by surprise, if you know what I mean. I also made sure I set the alarm on my phone to go off at least 15 minutes before the end of practice. And yes, I survived this first experience.

At 7:25pm or so, I got off the car, and headed to the gym to pick up Jake as soon as he was done. I guess this would be my new routine goingforward. I can get used to this.

Would it be too much if I didn't get off the car to get him, and, instead, have him go directly to the car after practice? I don't think it's a bad idea....

Frosh-Soph Mixer @ Bell

On Friday, Bellarmine hosted a freshmen-sophomore mixer, and the theme was 1980s exercise wear. When I read it, images of Olivia Newton-John dancing to the tune of "Let's Get Physical" flashed in front of me. I was trying hard to remember what the men wore during those times.

Head bands and wrist bands were essential accessories. For men, shorts were shorter and tighter, and the top was either a tight-fitting shirt with sleeves rolled up or a tank top. And the socks were worn pretty high up the leg. Will the boys actually wear any of these?

Days leading up to the mixer, Jake was contemplating on what to wear. We tried shopping around for the right shorts, but failed to find any. I guess they don't make shorts like those anymore. The closest were women's running shorts, but, obviously, he wasn't adventurous enough to wear one in public. He just settled for a $6 Nike head band.

His final attire included the shortest short pants he could find, which wasn't short enough. He tried on his mom's and looked fine, but decided against it. Instead of wearing a tight-fitting shirt, he wore something lose, and didn't even bother to roll up the sleeves. Socks were midway up his legs, but not long enough to be truly 1980s. Over it, he wore his older low-cut Converse shoes. Around his head was the newly-purchased head band. I suggested that he wear an older shirt with cut-offs sleeves, but I guess it was against Bell's dress code for mixers. So that was 86'd.

I drove the boys to the mixer, which included Nick and Coby, and, of course, Jake. Nick almost looked identical to Jake, minus the headband. Coby was a little more adventurous, wearing what looked like his dad's short-shorts from the 1980s (or probably his mom's), a tight-shirt over a long-sleeved undershirt, and knee-high socks. Then, there's the headband, too.

Nick was dropped at the house, while Coby was pick up along the way. Traffic was light, and we got to Bell quite early. As soon as they got off, I headed back home.

The mixer ended at 10:30, but I didn't leave the house till 10:15. I figured that the place would be packed with cars, especially the pick-up area behind Liccardo. I was hoping that by the time I got to Bell, most have pick-up their sons, and it wouldn't be as crowded. And it turned out as planned. I didn't even bother to drive up to Liccardo. Instead, I parked at the O'Donnell parking lot, and had the boys walk over. It was easier to drive out, too.

From past experience, I knew that the boys would be hungry because they don't serve food in any of these mixers. Not even candy. And the only decent place that's open at 11pm was In-N-Out Burger at Automall Parkway. From there, we dropped off Coby, then Nick. It was almost midnight by the time we got home.

It seemed like the boys had a good time..... and can't wait for the next.

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge The Examiner and In-N-Out for the use of the logo in this post.

Mid Week Check-in

End of the hump day. A couple more days before the weekend. Nothing interesting during the first half of the week. I hope the second would be more fun. But who knows?

Since we drove back from Sacramento for the Boys Power League qualifiers on Sunday, I decided to take Monday off. Whether or not I was exhausted (driving can be tiring), I had planned on taking the following day of whenever we come from a tournament. Last year, I remember one Saturday, somewhere in charming Sacramento, when we ended up playing till almost 8pm, and we didn't get home till about 11pm. We had to take a side trip to Lodi to grab a quick bite before heading home. It was a good thing it was a Saturday, and had Sunday to rest and detox. I learned from that experience, so now I am prepared.

On Monday, Jake was also off from Bell. Don't know why, but it was good for him as well. It also meant that I didn't have to drive to Bell and pick up the boys. No school.  Monday is one of my 2 pick up days you know. That evening, I skipped our SBARA board of directors' meeting because I had to run an errand with Jake.

A few weeks ago, there was this high school kid (well, he said he was) who knocked at our front door and was soliciting to help him get through college. All I needed to do was to subscribe to the Mercury News for at least 6 weeks, and this would qualify him to earn whatever points he needed. And this translated to something that will help him get through college. Normally, I shut these types off even before they can put a word in. But I guess that evening, I was in a good mood to hear him out. If it was legit, I surely wanted to help in whatever way I can. If I was in his shoes, I wouldn't want to be shut off either. With all the scammers around town, it's hard to trust and figure out who's legit or not.

Anyway, my 6 weeks or so of subscription neared, so I called it in to terminate my service. I didn't want to miss the cutoff date and be charged another full month for it. Of course, the lady on the other end who took my call wanted me to continue on with my service by offering me a better deal. I just had to be honest with her and said that all I did was to help this young man, and that the time frame he gave me was over. Honestly, I never opened any newspaper that was delivered to my home or logged in to access the Mercury News online. I got my news elsewhere. Certainly not from the Merc. This was probably the most significant thing I did on Tuesday.

Today, first order of the day was our 2-hour staff meeting. Great way to start the hump day. I'm not complaining, but it is what it is. It can be interesting, boring, and sometimes, contentious. This morning's meeting was quite insignificant. Also today was another pick up day. I've set a regular pattern, but I'm still clueless as to what to expect of the traffic on 880, going to Bell. For the most part, it had been good and flowing quite well. And today was one of those days. From Bell, I dropped of Coby at SCU for his tennis session, then Nick at his house.

As in past Wednesday nights, a few SBARA members would "meet" on 40m (around 7.175.25 MHz) for a little ragchew. Al (WT6K) and I started it, and have invited others to join in. However, lately, with other commitments conflicting with this schedule, there hasn't been a meet-up. And tonight was not any different. Hopefully, we could get this started again, with more stations joining in.

What does the second half of the week hold? Aside from the frosh-soph mixer at Bell on Friday, of which I am the designated chauffeur, and Jakes' club volleyball practices on Saturday and Sunday, I don't know what else to expect. We shall see.....

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge The Mercury News for the use of the logo in this post.

First Tourney With The New Family - Part 2

Day 2. Sunday. Had a decent sleep the night before. As soon as my back hit the bed, I was out. Now, ready for a new round of matches. The wife was smart enough to head off to the dining area for breakfast knowing that it would be packed. And it sure was. But it wasn't because of the other volleyball players and their families, but because of the participants from a high school reunion, who were also billeted at the same hotel.

Breakfast was with the same mom-son whom we rode with to Buca the night before. And the mom was gracious enough (again) to take Jake with them to the convention center for their 8:45am call. Meanwhile, we took advantage of the extra time to pack and check out. From there, we gassed up, then proceeded to the convention center.

From what I understood, we would have at least 3 games. Whether we played some more or officiated
would depend entirely on how we faired in all our matches. In other words, the more games we won, the lesser we would officiate, and we would get to go home early.

Our first match was against CRV 16-1. These boys didn't look like they were 16 years old. They're much bigger, and, to me, look much older. But hey, if they said they were 16, I'd take their word for it. For their size, I thought we gave them a good fight. We lost 2-0.

With the thought of staying in Sacramento longer that we should was all the motivation we needed to win our last 2 matches. The next team we played was TSC 16-1. It was a good match because both teams were kind of even. And it showed in the results. We won both sets, 25-23 & 25-23. It was a cardiac game, to say the least.

The next was another MVVC team. This time it was their 15-2 team. MVVC was MVVC, no matter what team. We knew we had to win this one, too. Before the match started, we got confirmation that if we won, we did not have to officiate the next game, and we could go home. That was the added motivation to win this game. Like the previous one, the games went down the wire. In the end, we won in straight sets, 25-23 & 28-26. Another nail-biter, if you asked me.

It was over. It was time to go home. It wasn't even 4pm. Who cared. We were out of there.

The trip back to Fremont was not bad. Aside from a few slow downs along the way, it was a smooth ride home. We got to Fremont around 5:30, and had planned at hearing mass at 6:30pm. With some time to kill, there was a sudden urge to get some Gong Cha beverage. So, we did.

The line wasn't that bad, but it was still quite a wait. For a while, I thought we wouldn't make it back in time for mass. We did a quick stop at home to freshen up, before proceeding to St. Joe.

It was a long day, and even longer weekend. But it was all good. We won 4 matches and lost 4. That evening, we learned that we moved up and placed 19th overall. The team is in the Silver division with 8 other teams (ranked #13 - #21) going into League #2 in Martinez on October 6th.

Not bad for a scrappy team of 15 and 16 year olds. We can only get better.

Bay on 3. 1-2-3 BAY!!!

First Tourney With The New Family - Part 1

With the start of the boys club volleyball season not too long ago, now we're into the first tournament. It was the 2-day league qualifier. Since our Bay to Bay 16-white team is brand, spanking new, we're unseeded. Thus, earning us the distinction of being at the bottom of the 15/16 & under category, at 30th. Arch rival MVVC has a similar team, but they're at 29th. Why that is so, I honestly do not know. As one of the dads said, there is nowhere to go but up.

McClellan Convention Center

For us in the 15/16 division, we found ourselves in lovely Sacramento, at the McClellan Convention Center, for this 2-day tourney. As early as 3 weeks back, I already booked an overnight stay at nearby Lion's Gate Hotel, in order for us to take advantage of the special group rate offered through NCVA. The others in the team weren't as lucky, as accommodations ran out quickly.

The night before, we had turned in quite early, knowing that we had to take a very early trip up north. Our call-in time was 7:30am on Saturday, so we had planned on leaving no later than 5:45. By the time we hit the road, it was almost 6. We were cutting it close. There was a threat of rain in the morning, which would slow down of trip. Fortunately, there wasn't any and we got there just in time.

The order of the day was ref-play-play-ref-play-off. There were 4 teams in our pool, including us. Our first match was against Kamikaze 16-1. We won the first set 27-29, but lost the next 2. For our first official match as a team, I thought we did fairly well, considering that we only had practiced 3 times, no to mention the customary first day jitters. Given more time together, we can beat this team anytime.

Our second match was against one of the strongest teams in the division - Clovis 16-1. They beat us very convincingly in straight sets, 2-0. Then, we officiated. This gave the boys an opportunity to rest, relax, and grab a bite to eat if they wished. They alternated between resting and officiating. I ran out and got Jake his lunch. On our way to McClellan, I saw a Quiznos, and this was what I got him -- an 11-inch roast beef sandiwch, with cheese, mustard, and lettuce on an Italian roll.

When I got back, it was time for their third match against Club Kazi 16-1. From watching their earlier matches, I was confident we would win against them. And we did, in straight sets. Now, we were off. This meant a longer break. Time for the boys to eat. Meanwhile, the wife and I did the same. As we got out, it was pouring. But we were both hungry and there was no way we were waiting for the rain to stop. I braved the rain, got the car, and drove up to pick up the wife. We had lunch at a taqueria called, El Parian. We had eaten there once before during last year's tournament. From lunch, we decided to check in to the hotel, so we could avoid everyone else who would be doing the same once the day's matches ended.

Buca di Beppo in Roseville, CA

We came back in time for the next match against BAVC 16-2. Like Kamikaze, this team was beatable, too. We just had one too many errors and missed out on a few opportunities. We lost in straight sets as well. We officiated again, before we had our final match for the day. This was against the #29 seed. You guessed it -- MVVC 16-3. Clearly, our boys were far better, and we won 2-0. At least, we know we're no longer at the bottom. By then, it was almost 6pm.

One of the dads made arrangements for a group dinner at Buca di Beppo in Roseville, which was a 20-minute drive north from McClellan. The parents were seated in a booth, while the boys were nearby on a long table. There was more than enough food, and everyone seemed to had a wonderful time. We had invited both coaches, but they both declined. One of the moms was nice enough to offer us three a ride to/from dinner, since we all stayed at the same hotel.

Day 2 of the league qualifier coming up...........

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge Lion's Gate Hotel and Buca di Beppo for the use of the photographs in this post.

When Driving During Rush Hour Becomes Nothing

Driving to and from Bellarmine from Fremont has become almost second nature to me, since I pick up Mondays and Wednesdays right smack in the middle of rush hour. Let me rephrase that. Driving down to San Jose has become almost second nature. Aside from the 16+ mile drive to Bell, there is the twice weekly drive to the even farther Harker School (Blackford campus) for the Bay to Bay volleyball practices on the weekends. For the most part, the Bell drives aren't too bad, except, of course, on those days when drivers decide to go a little coocoo and do crazy stuff on the road. This week was one of those days.

On Monday, I ran into traffic just past the Montague Expressway exit. I decided to stay on the 880 freeway and hoped that traffic would move along, albeit super slowly. As we inched our way, I realized we weren't moving as fast as I had hoped. I was beginning to stress because I had to take one of the boys to a 5pm appointment a couple of miles from Bell.

The problem had always been the 101 interchange. I really do not know what seemed to be the problem, but every time I got to that point, traffic always flowed well, except for those that have lined up to take the exit. Once I got passed it, everyone took off and it was a smooth, fast ride to my exit, Alamaden Expressway.

Wednesday's drive was the worse of the two. I barely passed the 237 interchange when cars began to crawl on 880. From my experience over the past weeks, if traffic began at this point, then it would be packed all the way to I-don't-know-where. And I didn't want to take the risk of sitting there all day. So I inched my way to the right and got off Montague Expressway.

From there, it was hit or miss for me. I have not driven in the area for more than 7 years, since I left Applied Material. The landscape had changed, and it threw me off a bit. Although the streets remained familiar, I was lost. Literally !!! At the back of my mind, I had to get on First Street, and from there, I could find myself to Bell. After a few tries and a handful of U-turns, I was on N First Street.

I headed south on N First Street, till I hit Hedding. From there, it was a mile or so to Bell. I was smiling. It was just past 5pm.

With the boys in tow, we headed off. As soon as we exited the freeway on Alamden Expressway, traffic was almost at a standstill. It wasn't looking good. I decided to take the back roads. Again, it took me a couple of U-turns before I finally got to where I needed to be. Driving on local streets can be a pain because of all the traffic lights. I said to myself that as long as I was moving, it should be OK, rather than inching my way on freeway traffic. I guess I should have just stayed on the freeway. My back road excursion seemed much (much) longer.

Taking the back roads didn't save me much time. That evening, I had to pick-up Jake's Bay to Bay jerseys in Sunnyvale, by 7pm. At the pace we were going, it was going to be close. Very close.

Somehow, I decided to get off of 237, and traffic on the carpool lane made our trip a little quicker, only to get stuck again as soon as we merged into 880. We stayed on and got off Fremont Blvd (South). By the time we dropped off Coby, it was 6:20pm. Then, it was Nick by 6:35pm. We got back on the 880 freeway to Sunnyvale by 6:50pm. Fortunately, traffic westbound on 237 was light. We got to our destination at The Kings Academy at 7:10pm, and was able to pick up the jerseys. Imagine if we weren't able to????

Driving back home on 237, we ran in a section with some build up. I didn't see any cause of the traffic as we drove through. It's as if there is this huge magnet on the road that pulls all the cars as they slowly drove by. And there was no accident either. Too strange.

We got home almost 8pm..... and dinner was calling. What a day !!!

An Afternoon of Pres Volleyball

Now that Jake is in high school and his former classmates are in different schools, he gets quite a number of invitations to watch games on Friday nights. And since some of them have also made it to various freshmen teams in their respective schools, there is always this standing invitation to watch their home games.

Last week, he, Coby, Devin, and some of their former classmates watched Moreau's varsity football home game. Today, Jake wanted to watch the freshman volleyball team of Presentation play at home against Harbor. Playing for Pres, as middle blocker, is Leah. She, nor her mom or sister, didn't know we were watching. It was more of a surprise and show of support, at the same time.

As soon as Jake arrived from school, he freshened up a bit, before we headed out. On the way, we stopped by McDonald's since he has not had lunch yet. From there, we went straight to Pres. Traffic was not bad, considering it was a Friday and rush hour was typically earlier than normal. We arrived at Pres quite early, and watched both teams warm up.

Harbor didn't put up much of a fight and the match was over in 2 sets. Leah played in the second set, and was credited with a couple of hits from the middle. Clearly, the Pres girls were the better team. We stayed on to watch the junior varsity team play. We saw Leah's mom and sister on the other side of the bleachers, but we decided to stay where we were seated.

The JV match was a little more exciting. However, they were just too strong for the visiting team from Harbor. The match also ended in 2 straight sets. By then we debated whether or not to stay on for the varsity match or head back and attend my ham radio club meeting. We chose the latter. Before leaving, Jake dropped by the other end of the bleachers to say HI to Leah's mom and sister. They were surprised to see us, too.

The drive back wasn't bad either. Along the way, we decided to have dinner at Kalesa on Milpitas Blvd since it was closer to my meeting venue off of Warm Springs. The food took a little longer than I had hoped, but we managed to get through it and be at the meeting on time.

This month's SBARA meeting was like any other. The presentation this evening was about fldigi, which was an application used in various digital ham radio modes. It was the first time I've seen this software, and I found it very interesting. I've used other variations, but this one pretty much has everything one would need to go digital on ham radio. The raffles prizes weren't too enticing so I skipped it.

Before heading home, Jake and I treated ourselves to some tapioca drinks at Automall Parkway. A nice ending to a busy Friday.

Note: Author wishes to acknowledge Wikipedia for the use of the illustration in this post.

I Need A (Tech) Refresh

Over the past couple of days, it was my schedule to pick up the boys at Bell. I stuck to my original schedule and that seemed to work pretty well. On Tuesday, I got there just after 4:30pm, but was caught off guard when one of the boys was at a freshman basketball conditioning session than ran till 5pm. So, I patiently waited till all 3 boys hopped in the car for the ride home. Other than that, it was an uneventful 2 days.

Yesterday, I finally got a response that I had been waiting for. Let me explain. I think my laptop is 3 years old or so, and it was time to change it. It's called Tech Refresh, and, today, the folks in IT had the unenviable task of transferring all my files from one laptop to another. For this process, they've sort of reduced the downtime of employees, like me, by performing the data transfers remotely. This meant I didn't have to go off lline and physically hand over my laptop before they can make any transfer. Well, that's good news for me because, in the past, down times normally go as long as 4-5 hours, and that's something I could not afford. About 95% of my work is on the computer. With a 4-5 hour downtime, I might as well go home.

The IT guy called on schedule, and asked me to send him a screenshot of my network drives, as well as printer network connections. Based on the schedule given to me, the transfer would be completed within a few hours, and that I would have a brand new laptop installed by 4pm. That didn't happen.

When I logged off for the day, I have not heard back from the IT guy. Since I was off the next day, I didn't know how my tech refresh would be completed. My guess is that the exchange will take place when I get back on Monday. I just hope the transfer went flawlessly, and that I wouldn't have any downtime or issues.

We shall see.....

See What We're Made Of

Jake had been waiting for this weekend to come since it was his practice weekend with his new volleyball club, Bay to Bay. And so was I. Since his practice wasn't till 5:30pm, there were a few things we needed to do. It was a Saturday after all.

First on the list was our hair appointment with our favorite lady haircutter, Wendy. After lunch, we drove to Milpitas to see Wendy. With enough time on our hands, we then headed back to Fremont to have my car washed, before going back home to prepare for practice. At 4:30pm, we left for San Jose.

Being his first practice with the 16-white team, Jake was excited. It would be the first time we would see who's in the team and their level of play. Being the third 16s team, it's probably not as good as the first two, but I was confident that it's better than his former club's 16s team this year.

As part of the club's regulation, parents would be allowed to watch the team practices for the first 2 weekends. They would be allowed to come into the gym and sit by the bleachers. After that, they could only watch from outside the door. Well, it's one way of saying, "just drop off your son and come back from them after 2 hours."

While we had the chance, the wife and I watched. From what I saw, the team was raw, but had potential. Some work would be required to make them competitive. From the 13 players, about 7-8 boys know what they were doing and have the skill. They just have to be refined. For the rest, more work was needed. And I don't know if 4 practices would be enough.

On the first practice day, the entire session was devoted to skills practice -- the basics. I think this was good on the coaches part to do so. From our experience last year (from a different club), I thought they lacked in the doing the basic stuff, and assumed that the players new what they were doing. Well, some didn't. And it showed during the 2-day league qualifiers in San Mateo.

Today's second practice day was not any different from yesterday's. There were more drills, and each focused on developing certain aspects of the game. Since the club's philosophy is in alignment with top collegiate programs, the approach and level of plays are much different from our experience from the previous club. And with experienced coaches, I am confident my son, and the rest of the team, will learn a lot and improve on their game.

Personally, I am excited about this year's team and the season, in general. I know that my son's level of play will be elevated and his skills will improve. And he knows that he needs to work hard and do his part to make that happen.

Here's to a promising club volleyball season.

(Bay on three. 1-2-3)...BAY !!!

My Turn To Pick Up

On this first week of September, my first couple of official carpool pick-ups have begun. I took yesterday off, so I was able to pick up the boys at Bell at 3pm. I actually had more time to kill than I had anticipated. I took a fairly late lunch, hoping that, once I was done, I would have just enough time to get to San Jose. I ended up leaving Fremont about 2:25pm.

Traffic was unexpectedly light on 880, and I arrived at Bell in less than 20 minutes. My driving was steady at the limit, at times doing 70. But there was hardly any traffic and I got there sooner than I had wanted to. It was all good. Better early than late, right?

The boys were quite surprised, too. They were expecting me to arrive past 3, so when I texted Jake that I was at the parking lot, he had to rush and inform the other boys it was time to go.

Going home was a breeze as well. Having more passengers allowed me to take the carpool lane, which, at times, wasn't really necessary. Cars were just moving along. Once we passed the 237 interchange, traffic slowed down a bit, and the carpool lane became very helpful. Being a Tuesday, I dropped off Nick at Club Sport, where he would be met by his parents later in the day. Then, I dropped off Coby. Jake and I proceeded to do a little grocery shopping, which we failed to do over the weekend.

Today was my second pick up day for the week. Since it was a work day and I was coming from Oakland, my pick up schedule was 5pm, plus minus. I didn't know how the traffic was so, I gave myself ample time to get to Bell. I left the office at 3, and was on the 3:15 BART train back to Fremont. By 4pm, I was rolling out of the station.

Now, I had a couple of options to get to the 880 freeway. It's either I took Mowry Avenue straight from BART till I hit 880, or I could snake my way locally up to Warm Springs via Mission Blvd, then on to 880. I chose the former. And it took me almost 15 minutes to get on the freeway.

Once on 880, traffic was surprisingly light and moving pretty fast, until I got past the Montague exit, as we neared the 101 interchange. I wasn't surprised that this interchange was causing the slow down. Since I was alone, I couldn't hop on the carpool lane, as cars zipped by with ease. I crawled for a while, but no more than 10 minutes (maybe less). As I neared 101, things just moved alone much faster.

From that point, it was just another 6-7 minutes to Bell. As I got off the Almaden Expressway exit, I texted Jake and informed him that I was less than 5 minutes away. As I neared, I got no reply. I called Coby and I learned they were out getting Jamba Juice.

I arrived at Bell a little past 4:30pm, which I thought was a respectable time. But since the boys were out getting some refreshments, I waited. They got back and were in the car by 5pm. Well, so much for getting there early.

From Bell, I dropped off Coby at Santa Clara University for his tennis lessons. On 880, the carpool lane helped us get through from San Jose till things slow downed as we passed 237 (again). Even the carpool lane moved slowly, but wasn't crawling as everyone else was. I decided to take the Dixon Landing exit and went local. It was faster than I thought, except for the occasional traffic lights. Next was Nick at his house off Mission. Then, it was home for Jake and I.

If today's drive was any indication, leaving the office at that time would just be perfect. If I leave 15 minutes later, traffic conditions might be different. And I don't want to take my chances. I'll just have to see how the rest of the month goes.

A Quiet Labor Day Weekend

The last official holiday of summer is Labor Day, and this holiday weekend was quiet. Compared to past years, we didn't get any invite for any barbeque or end-of-summer get-together. I guess everyone has moved on from the days of kumbaya.

Catfish in Sweet Sour Broth

Weekends are always fun, to a certain degree, because it's an excuse to try out new eating places and to pig out. This past holiday weekend, it wasn't about exploring anything new, but merely to indulge in local favorites. And that's basically what we did.

Fried Shrimp Cupcakes

We visited our favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Newark, Vung Tau 3,
and satisfied out craving for a catfish dish cooked in sweet sour broth. Don't ask me what it's called because every time we order it, we either describe it or point to the menu. The usual fried spring roll or salt 'n pepper squid are good compliments to this fish dish. But this time we had fried shrimp cupcakes.

Morning-after Burger

The Vine, in the Niles district of Fremont, was another new-found favorite. I would describe this place as eclectic funk, popular for its Sunday brunch. There is always a line and the wait can be long. If you don't get there when they open, you'll have to be patient. We had to wait for almost an hour before we got seated. They don't take reservations nor take calls to have your name put on the list even if you are driving and minutes away. And the ladies manning the front aren't efficient either. Food is really not out-of-this-world fantastic, but it's quite different. I had their morning-after burger, with bacon over an english muffin (I think), and it was quite good. The corned beef is also popular, and so is the fried chicken and waffles. And the coffee? Don't bother. But they do have a Bloody Mary with bacon (yes, BACON!!!).

Aniki's OMG Sushi Roll

Over the past few months, we've been regular fixtures at Aniki's on Mowry Avenue in Fremont. This sushi and sake bar was introduced to us my a former St. Joe dad, Louie. They have a large selection of original sushi rolls, and their sashimi is super fresh. It's probably one of the freshest I've ever had. And their prices are quite reasonable, too. We used to drive all the way to Hayward for our sushi & sashimi fix, but not anymore. As in all good places, this one is always packed, and the wait is anywhere from 30-45 minutes. If you're undecided on what roll to get, ask restaurant manager, Carlos, and he'll guide you.

Dohatsuten Signature Ramen

For a quick, hot meal, there's always this ramen place we go to along Mission Blvd, across Ohlone College. It's called Dohatsuten. I've had ramen served many different ways, but I still find this one probably the best, or at least, my favorite. It's a small, simple ramen house, with enough variety to choose from. I always get their signature ramen (Dohatsuten) in miso broth. I can't describe what's in it, but it's good and filling. I suggest you check it out. They also have some appetizers and other dishes to choose from if ramen is not your fancy.

Gong Cha in Fremont

Adding to the already crowded milk tea beverage market is a new place caleld, Gong Cha, located in the commercial complex, comprised mostly of Asian stores and stalls, along Warm Springs Blvd (and Mission). Another former St. Joe parent, Jenny, introduced us to this place. This Taiwanese franchise is new, and is the only one in the US, for now. And for us Fremont residents, we're lucky to have its presence in our neck of the woods. The line was long when we tried it. I don't think the line was long because of the volume of people, but I think it was more about how fast (or slow) they can make the product and have the customer out the door.  For tea lovers in cold form, this is something you may want to try. Since I am not a tea aficionado, I opted for the non-caffeine lemon winter melon drink, mixed with some seeds and tapioca "pearls".. What's quite unique is that you can customize the sweetness of your drink (not my drink though) and how much ice you want in it.

42

The Butler

Aside from eating, we also watched a couple of movies. First, in the comfort of our family room, we watched "42". This Jackie Robinson story was quite entertaining. It gave us a glimpse of the racial issues of the past, and how that divide was overcome in sports, particularly in baseball. As a follow up to that, we also watched "The Butler" on the big screen. Similarly, it was a snapshot in the life of an African-American father, during the racially-filled years in American history, who managed to find work in the White House as a butler, and served 8 presidents over 34 years. As in a most Hollywood bio flicks, not everything in the movie was true. Check online and you'll find a number of articles that call out the inaccuracies. But then again, movies are there to entertain, and this one was quite alright.

It wasn't the Labor Day holiday I had in mind, but it wasn't bad. But what is an ideal Labor Day holiday anyway?

Note: Author wishes to acknowledge Yelp and IMDb for the photographs and illustrations used in the post.