Weekend Retreat

Out picturesque view

       The other weekend, my bible study went on a retreat about an hour-and-a-half from Geneva. We stayed at a house near Bulle, which is near the Gruyère region. For those who are not familiar with cheeses, Gruyère is famous for their cheese and you see it in every supermarket here. On one of my walks I saw a vending machine that even sold gruyère cheese! Our house faced the mountains and we saw para-gliders land not too far from us.
       We were asked to disconnect from our phones and watches, which was a nice freedom. My group spent the weekend in community, listening to two guest speakers, worshipping, and spending some good quality time with God. It was nice to get away for the weekend and enjoy the beautiful landscape of Switzerland.

The vending machine of cheese!

On a walk I discovered a cool looking cross

He is looking a you..

I enjoy encouragement

Cable car to the mountains

Proof I was there :)

Thai Food Experience

One of the Thai dansers

     This past weekend, Nuno, his brother Toni, Toni's girlfriend Luci, and I went out to dinner together to discover the local Thai cuisine. We went to a local place called Na Village, which was gorgeously decorated both inside and out. I did not take pictures of the picturesque environment in the front of the restaurant because it was at night, but I hope to visit again in the spring or summer by day. There were Thai dansers during the meal who changed outfits between each performance. My favorite food that I ate was part of our appetizers: curry-stuffed tofu. The dessert menu came in a wooden case and I ordered the mango sticky rice, which sadly I have had much better in the United States. Overall, however, the meal was delicious and the company was delightful.

At the entrance

Toni and Luci

The front door, fancy!

Our main course

Me and Nuno

Appetizers

Mango Sticky Rice

The dessert menu

Luci happy to read the dessert menu

Poker Dinner

Nuno and I in front of the restaurant

   To preface, Nuno and his friends play poker once a month. They have been playing as a group since 2007 and take it very serious, keeping track of each winner and then at the end of the year announcing the winner of the year, who then has to give a speech. Every week they put in money to bet on the game, but they have set the extra money aside in a back account. After five years of accumulation, they decided to invite the wives and significant others out to a fancy gourmet dinner at Châteauvieux, a very fancy well-known restaurant in Geneva. There was I think about nine courses, including two different desserts. We even got to meet the chef at the end of the night, as we were not only the first ones to arrive, but the last ones to leave. The thirteen of us had a great time, the only sad part was toward the end of the night, my tired brain makes it near impossible to speak French anymore. But that's okay because my tummy was happy!

Nuno and the president of the poker group David

Sole with a citrus emulsion

Me and Nuno's best friend Fred

Pidgeon cooked in two different ways (I did not eat it)

One of the desserts, mandarine meringue with praline pistachio

The group of us sitting at the massive table

The poker group

Holidays in the West

      I was able to go home for two weeks to visit family and friends for the holiday. Nuno came along for the festivities, but Ryder stayed behind. We got there a few days before Christmas, and then Kevyn followed coming from Japan, and then Jenny from Boston. The Chung family Christmas traditions continued including way too many presents as usual. A couple of days after Christmas, Nuno and I drove to Las Vegas. We stayed at the Luxor hotel and saw the magician Criss Angel's show Believe. We also saw the Bodies Exhibition and the Venetian's Madame Tussands wax museum.
     We then returned to good old Rancho Cucamonga for a dinner at Lucille's BBQ. Nuno and I then left the next day to go to Universal Studios where we took the VIP tour, which not only allowed us to go to the front of the lines, but we got a personal back stage lot tour where we got to see the set of the television show Parenthood, the prop storage with the original E.T, and we were able to take pictures in front of the clock tower from Back to the Future (sadly the clock was being repared). At night we met up with Jenny, Jenny's brother Chris, and Kevyn for dinner in Pasadena.
     The next day was New Year's Day and we went to Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard, where sadly the hand prints were closed off. We took a bus tour of Hollywood, which ended up being 90% a tour of celebrities houses: this is where Michael Jackson's came out in a body bag kind of thing. We then proceeded to head to San Diego to stay at Brady and Fred's house (who sadly were in Japan). We had a nice dinner at a place called Bali Hai on Shelter Island overlooking the harbor and downtown. I was able to see many friends, and I had dinner with some at my favorite restaurant in Oceanside, Hill Street Cafe. On the last day we hit up the San Diego Zoo with my ex-coworker and her baby before heading back to Rancho.

Kimberly, Valentin, Katy, and I at Hill Street Cafe

In front of the Excalibur Hotel

At the San Diego Zoo with the pandas

E.T. is 30 years old!

Marilyn in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater

Ovlera Street churros stuffed with caramel!

     For the remainder of our trip we did some last minute shopping to take advantage of the cheap price, and on the final day took a trip around LA. We went to Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Olvera Street and finally got to see the hand prints in Hollywood before heading off to the airport. Au revoir lovely Cali!

Fête de l'Escalade

A chocolate cauldron is a symbol of this holiday

      La fête de l'Escalade is the oldest celebration in Geneva. It is the night of December 11th/12th in 1602 that the Duke of Savoy marched his army to Geneva. He intended to take the city by surprise and wipe out the heresy within, before making Geneva capital of his territories. When the soldiers began to attack, an alarm was sounded and the citizens of Geneva took up arms to attack the army. As the cannon roared, the Savoyard army was forced to retreat. The next day the citizens of Geneva went to the churches to thank God for saving them from grave danger. One of the myths that surroung the holiday is that a woman dumped a big cauldron of hot soup on the attackers, so the chocolate cauldron symbolizes that story. These marmittes are filled with marzipan vegetables.
     Nuno, Ryder, and I took a visit to the Old City of Geneva for the fesivities of the Escalade. Many people were dressed in traditional clothing at the time of the Escalade in the 1600's. There was also musicians marching through the streets playing specific songs to celebrate the holiday. Sadly, the drummers scared Ryder. We were also able to go through the Passage de Monetier that is only open for the Escalade. One of my favorite things about the celebration is the mulled wine, so good!

The typical regalia

Mulled Wine aka Vin Chaud

A group of the citizens of Geneva stand in front of the Palace of Justice

Nuno and I attack each other with traditional weapons at the time

Watch out I have a weapon I am not afraid to use!

Drummers marching through the street

Bern

Two Bear Cubs playing at Bear Park

     This weekend, I had the chance to visit the capital of Switzerland, Bern. It is about a two hour train ride away from Geneva. I met up with a friend, Sophie, who I met in San Diego, but she lives in Zurich. She was my tour guide for the afternoon, which was great because I do not speak Swiss-German. We spent our afternoon eating Italian food for lunch. Then walking around the center of the village. We wandered over to the Bear Park which was located next to the river Aare. The Bear is the iconography of Bern, also seen on the canton's flag. After checking out the bears, Sophie and I hiked up a hill to the Rose Gardens, which sadly at this time of year does not have many roses. We met up with one of her friends who lives near the city of Bern. I thought Bern was a charming city and it was a great opportunity to explore another part of Switzerland. Thanks Sophie!

Federal Palace of Switzerland

Cool statue on the street

Zytglogge Bernese German for "Time Bell"

Albert Einstein's house

Sophie and I on the bridge crossing the River Aare

View from the Rose Gardens

Chocolate Overload

Chocolate Version of the Flower Clock

     This past weekend, my friend Michelle and I went to a Chocolatier Exhibition in Geneva. There was about twenty-five chocolatiers from around Switzerland and some parts of France. Each chocolatier had a booth with their products, and the best part...samples! Michelle and I had to pace ourselves so we would not go overboard. My favorite chocolatier was Poyet, which is located in Vevey, Switzerland. I enjoyed how they had really different flavors and descriptions of each chocolate. My two favorite chocolates from them were one called Mumbai, which had the flavors of Indian masala tea and mango jelly; the other was called Kundun and it had an infusion of lotus flower and Himalaya salt. From another chocolatier, Honald from Zurich, I had a margarita chocolate that was strong, but interesting. There were also macaroons, but our focus was the chocolate of course!

The crowds of people trying to get their chocolate fix on

Chocolate machine...yum!

Chocolate sculptures, do not touch!