Train To Richmond

As noted in my previous post for my Christmas vacation I am using many forms of transportation. The first one was a train ride into Richmond. This is a city across the bay from San Francisco, and is where I stayed the night at my friend's house. My dad dropped me off at the old station in Colfax, where we admired the scenery before I got on the train.

The train arrived and I was a little surprised at how big and hulk like it was. 

The train ride was pleasant and felt very nostalgic. It certainly beats driving to the bay area, or perhaps flying. You just sit back, relax and enjoy the scenery.

We left the foothills and made our way into the valley passing Sacramento and Davis.

As we got closer to the bay area, there was a coastal marsh area that made for some great reflections.

Then we crossed over the Martinez area and bridges.

 

Passing a sugar factory.

We got to the bay and my stop was coming up. I spent the night at my friend's house, but didn't sleep much as I was excited to reunite with JH the next morning at the airport. Stay tuned as I will try to bring up posts of our trip.

Hello

Just a little something before I have proper time to update~

It's been spectacular!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

This might seem a little obvious but...

• Planes: I arrived here by plane. JH is arriving by plane tomorrow.
• Trains: I am taking Amtrak to the Bay Area today. We will be taking the BART train to The City, tomorrow. 
• Automobiles: After our time in SF we will be renting a car to visit my father and this side of California.

;) Will update on our trip...if I don't get back in time...HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!

Miner's Foundry Craft Bazaar

What once was a building to serve the needs of miners has been, as long as I can remember, a place to see concerts and plays. The Miner's Foundry is an old building set alongside Nevada City and is a great part of my childhood. During the summers, when I was visiting my father, I would take part in helping out with plays. I made friends backstage and got to enjoy watching a play come together.

In high school our prom was held here; however, my memory is a little bitter due to that I did not have a prom date. Speed up to 2010, ten years since I graduated, and I there was a local festival called a kind of Craft Bazaar. There were people selling jewelry and other stuff, along with live music and even a taco truck outside. Here's what I caught:

 The following are pouches made from neckties, after I got home I realized if you make the same thing out of Korean neckties they would be a lot more snazzy.

Below you see someone was selling old copies of Playboy magazines, yes I was tempted to by one for JH.

Someone was selling geological gems...

We caught some of the live music, which was pretty nice and relaxing. Overall, I wish this would come back while JH is here, but looking at the calendar it won't. Ah well..I'm sure I will find something for him to take part in.

Made Tofu Jorim

Being home has many great benefits, one of which is being able to go out and get any western food and ingredients that I want. However, after living in Korea for 2.5 years I have grown accustom to their food and taste. I miss a great jjang soup or pajeon, and so have been having a craving lately for something Korean. Unfortunately, my Dad's small town only has Japanese, Chinese and Thai as their Asian choices. To get that "Korean taste" I would either need to drive an hour and a half to the nearest metropolitan town (Sacramento) or make it at home. I did just that and figured I would try a savory tofu dish that I enjoy quite often.

It is called "Tofu Jorim" and I found the recipe from "My Korean Diet." Finding the ingredients for this recipe wasn't too difficult. Most of the hard-to-find ones would be sesame oil and gochugaru. I thought about using cayenne powder as a substitute for Korean red pepper powder, but had a feeling it wouldn't come out right. Thankfully, as I was in one store today I found Annie Chun's Gochujang sauce. Sure it is a really commercial version of the real thing, but out here it was the best I could do.

First I made the sauce using the listed ingredients while adding several "squirts" of Annie's sauce. Then I sliced up the tofu and fried them till golden brown. After frying, you take them out of the pan and then pour in the sauce for it to heat up. Return the tofu to the pan and add sauce on top, while cooking more for a while. What you get is a great tasty-tofu dinner!

I complimented it with cooked rice and a packet of seaweed I found at a local health-foods store. Ta-da! Korean at home.

Crafty Time

I've had this Japanese craft kit for about a year now. I got it on my last trip to Japan at a Daiso. It's a felt key chain holder and I thought why not finally make it.

It's so awesome and cute!

 All right! Step one, cut the fabric, step two...sew on the little decorations.

Step 3: put on the sparklies...

It was so much fun...but making the faces was even better!

Now let's sew them up together!

ta-da!