Needless to say, this 16-day trip has done some damages to my bank account, what with stocking up my personal library, Christmas shopping and the 2-week car rental. Nonetheless I got a great deal, thanks go Christie, on the car. They gave me a PT Cruiser for less than half it would normally cost much to my surprise; AND much to THEIR surprise, I had said, "do you by any chance have a honda or a toyota instead?" ie. give me a economical, reliable, use-friendly Japanese car please. The guy looked at me as if I was crazy. They didn't have any. Fine.
Thanksgiving was a couple of days later. No turkey grilling on the PPH rooftop. Megan invited the whole gang to her parents'.
The very next morning, or should I say a couple of hours after we went to bed, Christie and I did the unthinkable. We went shopping. Yes, we did. It's the American Boxing Day so to speak. We were out at 530am and got to the outlets by 6. Every year, thousands of people camp overnight outside stores for bargains. It's like everyone's gone crazy and have loads of dough to throw away in just a few hours. The lines in the stores can rival those at Disneyland. AND if you're lucky, you might even get your 30-second of fame on national tv. ABC's Eyewitness News have been covering this once-a-year shop mob at Camarillo.
The next day, I popped by at the Learys and spent some time with them, the Nolens and the Gilmores. Stacie made this incredible raspberry cheesecake! Don't think the dessert plates needed any cleaning after we were done.
Couple of days later, it was time to visit the Pattersons in San Diego for a post Thanksgiving weekend. It's always so nice to see them, my adopted family really. Plus I had the pleasure of meeting George for the first time after all I've heard about him.
It's never really a San Diego trip until I see Lauren. For some reason, I keep reminiscing back to the days when we shared that lovely Malibu townhouse with Rachel, our third housemate. Making smores by the fire, knitting (like spinsters!) and having endless parties...which led to endless cleaning sessions.
Lauren suggested breakfast at Naked Cafe. Sorry folks, not even one single half naked guy was there to serve us. But I got to say the blueberry-banana pancakes I got made up for it.
I was flipping thru the menu while waiting for Lauren and couldn't help taking a second look at what I thought I had read wrong - something called Malaysian Mocha on the beverages page. What in the world is a MALAYSIAN MOCHA? The first thought that came to mind was MILO. Wait...are they selling a cup of RM1.20 (USD 0.35) milo for USD 4.5??? What a rip off!
When the waitress came to take our orders, I asked, "What is the Malaysian Mocha? I'm Malaysian and I have never come across something like that in my country." She was dumbfounded for about 5 seconds before she answered, "Well, it's a chocolatey drink, with an Asian flavour to it. It used to be called the Asian Mocha but Malaysian Mocha sounded better."
This, my MALAYSIAN friends, is the Malaysian Mocha. It has CINNAMON in it! When do Malaysians put Cinnamon in any drinks?
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