toiletology

after taking apart and putting our toilet back together the other day, i'm proud to say that i've fixed the leak in our bathroom. all it took was a trip to home depot, a couple borrowed wrenches, and my trusty black & decker home repair book courtesy of sarah's brother paul. so i didn't do the whole wax ring removal thing, but hey - a leak's a leak, isn't it? feel free to call me for your next one. =)

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Wu

Congratulations again, Gordon & Yvonne !! It was a beeeea-utiful wedding.

Congrats, Jon!

Look out, Wash U... here he comes!

where the red fern grows

this past weekend a bunch of us drove a good 175 miles to central Missouri, home of the Lake of the Ozarks. thanks to Rudy and the generous chocolatier Mr. Nestle, we enjoyed our own private lakehouse complete with four bedrooms, full kitchen, indoor pool, sauna, and hot tub, and a huge deck overlooking the lake. this place was incredible. we couldn't have asked for anything more (except maybe more people to come share the experience with us). pictures don't do this place justice...maybe we'll post some video if we ever get around to doing it. thanks again rudy and thanks everyone who came out!!

check out the grill - big enough to fit burgers, brats, kebabs, and buns. needless to say, we ate well.

that's rudy on the left telling us how hot the hot tub was, and on the right the boys are sweating it out in the sauna. sexy!!!

photobucket!!

so we're trying a new way to upload pics since the free flickr account only gives you so much space. photobucket seem okay so far. kinda frustrating, but relatively easy. anyways, the long awaited pics from our trips to NY and DC:

in NY look for: walking the city, central park, 2 broadway shows, statue of liberty, the met, ground zero, the brooklyn bridge, good eats, and a naked man holding his breath in a glass ball.

in DC look for: our walk on the mall with mike and lydia, baby panda at the national zoo, huge crab cakes, josh's cousin andrew, sarah's friend sylvia, and the reappearance of the biggest cat you've ever seen. =)

back to reality

for some reason sarah and i have this tendency to stand under big tall monuments and take goofy photos of ourselves. i must admit that we're getting pretty good at it too. all it takes is a really long arm and good aim.

we got back thursday night after a long seven days of walking, sight-seeing, eating, walking more, watching broadway shows, shopping, visiting mike and lydia and my cousin andrew, and walking even more. who knew that a vacation would be so fun, but so tiring...

thanks to all of you who gave us such great recommendations - most of which we took extra effort to check out. more pics to come soon... check out our flickr!

and of course, happy mother's day, mom(s)!

baseball baseball baseball

Berkman, Astros jump out early, hand Cards third straight loss

okay, it wasn't a playoff game, but the win still was nice. besides, we're living in enemy territory and we're surrounded by st. louis fans. here's to a fun season ahead against the cards: go 'stros!!

tough choice

for you baseball fans out there:

mets vs. braves at shea or yankees vs. orioles at camden yards??

i've been to camden before but i heard shea is just one big ugly place. what say you?

NY & DC in seven days

Hey there!

we need some input. making plans for a trip to the east coast in early May (sarah's first time!) and we've gotta blow through two huge cities in a short amount of time - we definitely want to make the most of it. So... we need the scoop on the best places to spend our time, maybe 'off-the-path' sites to visit, or your favorite restaurants in the area?? here are some topics of interest...

restaurants & fooood
museums
parks
shopping (or best-deal shopping)
nightlife
shows

yeah... so if you've been to New York City (we'll be staying in Manhattan) or the D.C. area, or if you have some 'have-to-see' favorites, we'd love some advice. thanks!!

You did this to me!

haha. always amusing to see asians on the screen, right? i'm sure you've seen this already, but for those of you who haven't been watching TV, this one's for you. we don't even eat dq, but the ad's a keeper. anyone of you parents (or parents to be) identify with this? :)

click on the link if you want to watch the ad.
http://www.dairyqueen.com/en-US/DQ+Ads/default.htm

President Charles Logan.

Does he really look like an honest man to you??

i guess people do love us

ok. i gotta backtrack here. we had some visitors come in the last couple of weeks, made our usual rounds of the arch (yes, i went twice in the same weekend), soulard farmers market, university city, chocolate bar, forest park, city museum, lots of restaurants...

so here's our shout out to: sonya kooboo - good 'ole college friend who just matched in SanDiego for her residency! wooo!! mmm. fitz's...

rocky & laura tsang - cute couple from arkansas... they drove over 6 hours just to see us, so we let them steal our favorite spot under the arch. ever met a chinese guy with a southern accent?

paul & karen chong - awww... they would make a cute couple too, but they're my (sarah's) brother & sister. the one on the left is taken, the one on the right is available.

3 weeks later...

wow...either we've had absolutely nothing to post or we've had too much to post. i think it's more of the latter. you know how once you get behind on something you're always too lazy to try and catch up? maybe that's just me...

anyways, we've had countless visitors here in st. louis and travelled a bit ourselves over the last three weeks. i've been working in the ER, and no, it's definitely not like the TV show. or like scrubs, or house, or grey's anatomy. please.

congrats to the lovely couples married this weekend: john and michelle mao (austin) and roger and karen lin (st. louis)!!!!!

try this

check this out! ... probably one of the coolest places we've been in st. louis. they took junk from all over the city and built a giant playground for adults, including lots of coils, caves, and caverns to contort your body through. a true test of agility & heights for the adventurous. not to mention the aquarium, two airplanes suspended outdoors, giant slides, and a bus overhanging the top of the building. bizarre, yes. but we had a blast. knee bruises, rope burns, and all...

showers galore

two showers in one weekend -- phew! things couldn't have been more exhausting! but it was so good to see old friends. a drive with carol up to austin, a lot of funny hats, tea bags, memory keepsakes & tears, quiche, a drive back to houston, a lot of hugs at church, mini tiramisus, a giant poster of gordon, and literally an overload of food. congrats, michelle & yvonne!

flowers, food, fun

here's an ode to gloria's post - our eventful week, mixing in a couple sleepless nights in the hospital:

a quiet dinner date at home on tuesday - yes, that is steak. my wife really is pretty amazing. did i say that on the last post?? but i lit the candles, thank you very much. and yes, i did get her something too.

and later during the week the guys cooked an awesome dinner for the ladies. in return, we got to sit on the floor. =) wayland and wendy got to show off some of their licorice-eating skills too. nothing like a friendly battle of the sexes!

ok, no pics from me during the weekend...i was alone in the hospital catching the flu from sick kids. i'm sure sarah will post the fun from her weekend in texas...

more fooood

man, i feel so spoiled. and full. tonight i went to a valentine's ball with my mom. she wanted me to come back for this weekend. she hadn't gone the last couple of years because my dad usually took her, but she may be retiring next year, so she wanted to attend. so gladly, i accepted the offer -- i was, of course, her "date" and got to enjoy all the schmoozing around (yes, i like that word) with doctors and hospital people... the high life, man, that's all i can say. carrying on conversation with strangers about random things for hours was tiring, but the food was worth it. i've never had such fancy hors de vors, including endless crab legs with the meat just hanging out! at the open bar, introduced my mom to the sour amaretto... which she loved (heh) and then when the plated entree comes out, of course it has a huge stuffed lobster tail & filet mignon. i only ate most of the filet and half of the tail. pity.

but nice way to start out valentines week, right? well... i have a feeling it will only get better. especially since i will get to see josh again tomorrow. :) i've got some planning going on, and josh has some planning going on, so this should be an eventful week. i think i'll be happy with a quiet evening with my hubby, i already can't wait to go back to st. louis and be with him. ok, it's late. signing off from chicago...

disappointing...

hello?? anyone else think last night's episode of 24 was disappointing? can you say 'predictable'? man...i guess after all the excitement of the first four hours there isn't much left for the writers to do. i hope it gets better from here...

mmmm...

try this - grilled pork tenderloin stuffed with spinach, roasted garlic, and italian sausage; served with pan-fried asparagus and creamy polenta. recommended wine - coppola merlot 2002.

sounds like a restaurant menu, doesn't it? well, if you were at our place the other night, you'd be eating it too. the wine was my only contribution, and sarah really outdid herself this time. she's pretty amazing, i must say. and i am one lucky guy, i must say.

those of you who haven't come over yet, you don't know what you're missing...

soon-to-be mr. & mrs. wu

had this cute couple come visit this weekend... they braved the cold air and we went out all day to spend some Q time together. soulard farmers market, mobot (those poor fish), forest park (where we saw 3 brides!), white hot chocolate (+ naps), setting up our dvd burner (woo hoo!), eleven eleven, chocolate bar...







good talks, good times. best birthday present ever! thanks guys.. we miss you already :)