Happy Holidays

12/22
I took the day off so that I can use up my floating holiday before the year is over. And, it was a good thing, too. It took almost the whole day to get ready for the party. About 22 people showed up - the most number of people we've had in our house. We made almost the same dishes as Thanksgiving, and all turned out well. But, the highlight of the night was the white elephant gift exchange game. Everyone liked the present they got and had a great time.

12/23
We woke up at 7am in the morning to go to Hang and Tsang's wedding in Carmel. (Photo Album) The scenery is lovely, and the couple is, of course, beautiful. The food at the banquet was great, but my stomach was hurting so bad that I couldn't eat very much... :( I attributed that to staying up too late the night before... so I didn't think much of that.

After hanging out in Carmel's downtown with some friends, we had a tasty dinner at the Pacific's Edge Restaurant. It was named one of the top twenty resaturants in the US by the Wine Spectator, but we didn't try any of its wine. The rack of lamb was definitely one of the best I've every had, but braised ribs was a bit of a disappointment. But, the restaurant redeemed itself with the warm chocolate cake.

12/24
The highlight of the day was a spectacular Christmas Eve service at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. It was the most "professional" service I've ever been to. The choir sang beautifully, the orchestra was perfect, the lighting highlighted the mood of the worship, and the message was short but powerful. I guess it should be bug-free, since it was their seventh and last "show". The only dark spot of the day was my abdominal pain...

12/25
The pain continued, so we stayed in bed till late... Then, we went yum char with my parents... shopped at Ranch 99... watched DVD at home... played MJ... ate noodle soup for dinner... and slept at a reasonable hour.

12/26
The symptoms got worse and woke me up with an acute pain. After struggling with the pain for about 2 hours, he drove me to the ER. The doctor at the Good Samaritan Hospital had me go through a blood test, urine test, and ultrasound to see what's wrong, but after 6 hours, he found no clear cause for my pain... This was my 3rd visit to the ER since I've met him (5th in my lifetime), and although these visits are never too serious, they are no fun... But, at least now we know where the closet hospital is...