Carol's Cooking

Not sure what I ever did to deserve someone that can cook up a storm like Carol.  Not only is her cooking incredible but its the heart that goes along with her cooking.  For example, if she finds out it's your birthday, she'll cake you.  Carrot cake, pineapple upside down cake, dump cake, angel food cake, etc.  Her recent trend is to brownie people.  See previous post.

Anyway, for my birthday she tiramisu'd me.  I know.  I'm butchering this whole grammar thing with my noun-verb usage.

Here's the last piece of my birthday tiramisu - better known as a small chunk of heavenly mascarpone, coffee and lady finger goodness.

I mean for real, who even knows how to make tiramisu?  I'm talking for real, not the urbanized recipe of:

1. Drive to Costco

2. Buy tiramisu

3. Remove lid without getting a paper cut

The other day, Carol busted out these Vietnamese style spring rolls.  They were amazing.  Peanut sauce and all.  She also cooks a couple of Mom's Filipino dishes like pancit, lumpia and caldareta.  Please don't pass this along to my Mom, but my nephew Brandon even said that Carol's beef and broccoli is better than Mom's.  Blasphemy!

The point of this blog entry wasn't to brag on Carol's cooking skills...well, actually it was.  I'm just so inspired by the heart that she puts into her cooking.  Whether it's making spaghetti for International Day at school, baked goods for the PTA fundraiser, mexican food for the Cinco de Mayo get together, cooking up a storm for the various church functions or just having some of the geo bachelors over the house, she's just so generous with her cooking.  When I was the Maintenance Officer at one of my old squadrons, Carol even cooked special meals for all of my troops - for no reason whatsoever.  The guys working the night shift really appreciated her kind gesture.  They sometimes feel like they're forgotten.  She would take turns taking requests from the various shops.  Whether it was pasta for the jet engine mechanics or pot roast for the electricians, they all seemed to like the home cooked meals.  

The other thing is this.  I've done the last minute dinner invitation thing for various Mr. Big Pants over the years.  Carol has always responded with grace in these types of situations.  She knows she can tell me to pack sand but she rarely does.  I know a lot of spouses wouldn't be so understanding about the last minute guest thing.

So the only negative to Carol's total kitchen domination is the extra poundage that girdles my loins.  Hey, I'll take it.  Thank you Carol for feeding us Cruz boys so well.  Little did I know that cute smile, curly locks and southern drawl that I married over 16 years ago would turn out to be such a maven in the kitchen.  Hate to think what you could do with a double oven.  Watch out!  Until next time -- C2

APEC Nurimaru & USNS Pomeroy Tour

More pics with Mom. I know some of these are redundant cause of the recent video I posted. I love redundancy though. BTW, you might've seen some of these on the recent video I posted.

This is at the APEC Nurimaru Park, a beautiful location in Dongbaek Park just a few minutes from our apartment. APEC stands for Asian Pacific Economic Conference. Nurimaru is a combination of two Korean words - nuri, meaning world and maru, meaning summit. In 2005, a huge world summit was held in the round building behind us and was attended by many Presidents and leaders of countries . This is also where Carol and her exercise group go to walk. It's one of my favorite places to run because of the air, scenery and soft track.

That's the Gwangan Bridge behind us.

Haeundae Beach in the background.

I don't remember any of my grandparents at all. I'm really glad that CJ and Jake know their grandparents well.

Mom got to see my workplace. Here we are outside my office.

In my office. Jake kept messing with my coins on the left.

Disregard the full in-box.

Carol was tempted to do a Jane Fonda type pose on top of the armored personnel carrier but opted against it.

On a separate visit, Mom joined some of the women of the Busan International Women's Association (BIWA) for a tour of the USNS Pomeroy at my workplace at Pier 8.

Lunch onboard the ship. Those were the best crabcakes I've ever eaten. I've got the recipe if you're interested. Seriously. The BIWA ladies are gonna print the recipe in their next magazine.

On the bridge of the Pomeroy with Captain Mike Finnigan. He's a great Captain with a fantastic crew. His father served with PFC Ralph Pomeroy during the Korean War, who the ship is named after. PFC Ralph Pomeroy was a medal of honor recipient.

Wish Mom could've stayed longer. She was probably worried that Dad was starving himself in the Philippines. I shouldn't talk. When Carol went to the US this summer, I ate nothing but vienna sausages and potato chips. Better go for now before I digress even further. Until next time -- C2

Video of Mom's Visit

Well Mom is back in the Philippines now. Deep sigh. Here's a nice reminder of her visit - minus the surgery and immigration complications. More on that stuff later. Might want to expand the video to a bigger size for easier viewing.

You'll see many of the good folks from the Filipino Community Group from our church in the video. I think Mom really enjoyed their company. We visited some nice parks, temples, the beach, ate some good food, did some shopping and got to tour my work place and the USNS Pomeroy. It was great having Mom here. Until next time -- C2

Follow on note: might be better to view the video straight from YouTube. Just click on the "YouTube" word near the bottom right of the video and it'll get you going. The video below seems to not work as well.

Mom's Visit - Kumgang Park

Had a great day yesterday sightseeing with Mom. We hung out with the Filipino group from church. The plan was to relax at the hot springs, ride the cable car up Kumjeong Mountain, hit a nearby amusement park and do some karaoke in the evening.

Mom's arrival at the airport.

One big glitch. CJ got sick the night Mom arrived.. This is the bucket we laid by his head just in case he needed to throw up. Unfortunately, he did throw up. It didn't end up in the bucket though. Our couch has seen better days.

Mom on the subway with some of our friends.

This is at the hot springs place. First off, I thought it would be an outdoor place. It was a lot different than what I had in mind. There was no co-ed hangout place like the advertisement showed. Instead, in order to enjoy any of the different relaxing water spa areas, you had to get butt ball naked and be separated into dudes and girls. Because I didn't want to intimidate the other members of the group with my naked manliness, we decided to forego the hot springs and move on to lunch.

Mom enjoyed her first Korean meal of kalbi and sumgyupsal - beef and pork barbecue with a bunch of sides. She really liked the food. Wasn't crazy about sitting on the floor though.

Although Mom's not much of a daredevil, she handled the cable car just fine. The views were fantastic. The cable car takes you up Kumjeong Mountain.

Alvin, Edwin, Charlie and Grace

Mom with Amy who is a missionary in Namhae.

This park was really something. Very relaxing and lots of great natural sites. That's one of the things I love about Busan. You've got the hustle and bustle of the city but you can also enjoy the natural beauty of the beach and mountains.

Mom got to see firsthand the picture taking craziness that ensues when we're around the Filipino group. Makes for good memories.

The mountain is a popular place to hike.

Within the mountain park are several amusement park rides. Our group hopped onto this crazy excuse for entertainment. It was insane! Amy was scared out of her gourd, Ludy didn't stop screaming for a milisecond, Edwin had the death grip on not only the oh sh__ handle in front of him but the oh sh__ handle in front of me too, and one person even barfed. Definitely worth the price of admission. I think some of the folks unintentionally crocheted permanent doilies into the fabric of their seats. The ride operator should be committed.

It was a really fun first day. I hate that Carol and the boys couldn't join us but CJ was miserably sick. He's doing a lot better today though. Until next time -- C2

Mom's Here!

We picked Mom up from the airport last night. We were concerned that the family might've been affected by the recent typhoon in the Philippines. Our family in Pampanga seems to be doing okay. Our prayers go out to those that have suffered through this typhoon. Looks like another one is on its way.

We're ready to show Mom Korea. Things got off to a rocky start though. CJ's not feeling so hot and actually threw up last night. Cleaning vomit late at night never gets old. I'm reminded again that Carol is an absolute Saint. I'm watching CJ sleep right now with a bucket next to him just in case. He's doing better.

In honor of Mom's visit, here are a couple of shots from over the years:

I think this was from 1973. Mom had her hands full while Dad was out at sea or away for training.

And then Lee enters the picture. Here we are hanging out at the Botanical Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia. Plaid was awesome in the 70's.

Ah, the joy of living in Navy Housing. Bell bottoms with patches - only I could make that look good.

Me, Mom and my Dorothy Hamill haircut.

CJ and Mom - 10 years ago.

Jake and Mom - 2 years ago.

So now we've got a full plate scheduled for Mom. Lots of sightseeing, good food and good company. It's Chusok here in Korea, one of the biggest holidays of the year. For Chusok, many people travel to spend time with their families, so it's very appropriate that Mom is here with us now. More pictures to come. Until next time -- C2

More PI Pics

The last entry on the Philippines wore me out.  This one will be a lot quicker.  I appreciate all the conversations and emails regarding the trip to the PI.  Got a couple more pics to post from the trip.  Here we go:

We spent a day in San Fernando, the place where I was born.  The former Clark Air Force Base isn't too far away.

I feel a little silly holding up this sign.  There was a reason though.  Check out the words underneath the sign - "Sembrano Apartments."

This is Alan and Beanie in the Philippines as munchkins.  Check out the words to the left of Alan's head - "Sembrano Apartments."  I got to visit one of the very first places where we lived.  Now we understand why Beanie has girl troubles.  

  

We used to live on the second story at the front of this building in the apartment that faces the street.  Mom said they really fixed up the apartments.

Right next door to our old apartment is the school that Alan and Beanie attended.  You can see the school on the left side of this picture.  You can also see my kili kili.

Here's the school again.

And here's the school when Alan and Beanie attended.  Beanie is 4th from the left in the back row.  You can't really tell but he doesn't have any pants on in this picture either.

  

Here's the school again.  That's Auntie Memy on the left.  Not sure who that is on the right.

Beanie, center stage at the school.

We got to visit Auntie Pining at her house in San Fernando.  In true Cruz fashion, we didn't give her a heads up we were coming.  Growing up as kids in Norfolk, it was always the Cruz's, Simbulans and Punsalans hanging out.

Speaking of the Cruz's, Punsalans and Simbulans, here are the lovely matriarchs.  Notice the obligatory Last Supper behind Mom, Auntie Lita and Auntie Pining.

This is the hospital in San Fernando where I was born.  In other words, this is where the magic happened.  It used to be only a clinic back then.  Now it's a full blown hospital.  Notice the various forms of transportation in this picture - car, jeepney, wheeler and tricycle.  The horse drawn buggies are popular too.  They get great gas mileage.

This is Mom & Dad's church.  They were married here and the kids were baptized here also.

Just like old times.

Here are a couple of pictures of the surrounding area near Mom and Dad's house.

Neighborhood kids hanging out.

Animals are all over the place.  I thought it was funny that with the conditions out here, Dad's dog and cats are pretty picky eaters.

These monkeys were on the side of the road near the Subic Bay beach area.  In one area, there were about ten of them hanging out.  If you got too close, they'd bare their teeth and hiss at you.  Bunch of animals!

We spent an afternoon at Subic Bay.  It used to be a US Navy Base.

Jake practicing "the pose".  He's almost got it.

Oh the humanity!

Mom and Dad out cold in the cabana after feasting on pancit, barbecue, squid and lechon.

Here are a couple more pics of the house.  This bathroom was huge.

I guess we could've cleaned up the bedroom a little better prior to taking the picture.

The stained glass was a nice touch.

One small point about the house.  For some reason, Mom and Dad have like a gajillion keys to the house.  It takes them a good fifteen minutes to find the right key to open the front door.

Mom took Carol to the local market.  Yeah, she blended in.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.  That's all for now.  Until next time -- C2