BAZAARMAZINGNESS

i love family.
i love good food.
what do you get when you combine the two?


BAZAARMAZINGNESS

as a christmas gift, my brother and sis-in-law took me out to The Bazaar, a fine dining restaurant that serves traditional and modern Spanish tapas. inside the place, there are four different rooms, i believe: Rojo (red room) y Blanca (white room), Patisserie (dessert room), and Bar Centro. we were seated at the red room and later finished off with desserts at the patisserie.

i know i'm no professional food critic, but i've always wanted to do a food review. so here it goes!

Ambience: clean, fresh, modern look. each room had its own personality to it. the bazaar is so roomy and spacious; even though there were a lot of people, i didn't feel claustrophobic or crowded. the lighting is pretty cool inside. since we were inside the red room, we were seated with red lighting. the rest of the room had black and white furniture: B&W checkered flooring, blacks tables & chairs. in the dessert room, there was cute and quaint furniture with pastel colored decorations. i loved the mismatched chairs and the glass candy jars/cake domes.

Food: it was my first time ever having Spanish tapas, but i'm so glad that my first experience with tapas was at the Bazaar. tapas are a wide assortment of spanish appetizers. here at the Bazaar, the menu had both traditional and modern tapas. my family & i tried getting a mix of the two. kind of like its ambience, the Bazaar's food was clean and fresh. i loved the fact that they were just bite-sized appetizers; i never felt like a certain dish was too overwhelming. since we ordered about 12-14 different things, i'm not going to talk about each one. but my favorite tapas would probably have to be the Braise Wagyu Beef Cheeks with clementines. DROOL... seriously, i don't think i've ever had such tender, moist, and flavorful protein than the beef cheeks. i'm actually currently vegan, and i usually never crave meat. but this is one animal protein that makes me go goo-goo ga-ga over. here are some snapshots of the tapas/desserts we had!












thank you again, oppa & julie for such an amazing dining experience!

home couldn't be any sweeter

snapshots from the past two months:


















thanksgiving.blu jam cafe.kate's 4th birthday.prep kitchen.christmas at the park.finals week goodies.santana row.date w/suz & meg.christmas service at vbc

a gleeful donkey

got back from our semi-class trip to san jose.
though i still think socal is MUCH better than norcal, i really enjoyed the time spent up there. the picturesque scenery with colorful leaves (my favorite!), the quietness of the city, the feeling of winter (even though the weather was a little too cold for me)... it was quite a peaceful and pleasant three days.

so why the word, "donkey" as part of my title? to nobody's surprise, i got sick again during the trip. my nasty cold turned my voice into that of a donkey...how pleasant.

nonetheless, the short time we had in san jose was another great time of bonding w/my classmates. there were a lot of things to be thankful for during the trip: God's creation, my illness, and the fellowship with my class.

as if God didn't put enough things to surround me w/His work as Creator, i was in more awe when we went up Hunter's Point, a small hiking trail. Hunter's Point reminded me of the scene at the end of Sound of Music when the Von Trapp family is walking over the hills. the trail was a little muddy, but the vastness and lush greenery of the hills were gorgeous. at the top of the hill, we could see pretty much all of the city. it was quite breathtaking. perhaps these snapshots could better describe how beautiful Hunter's Point is.





ain't it pretty? =)

now, it isn't easy to say this, because i absolutely hate it whenever i get sick, but... i honestly was really thankful that God, in His perfect timing, got me sick during the trip. praise God that He preserved me throughout the entire quarter from getting sick. usually, i catch a cold/flu at least twice a quarter, but He's been gracious enough to wait until after finals. even though my illness ruined our plans to go to san francisco, i was able to stay inside the house for most of the day and just read. while the others were getting a tour of cupertino, i was able to get a lot done w/Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot. ribby recommended it to me, so i thought it'd be a good book to bring to the trip. i finished most of it that day, and boy...Elisabeth sure knows how to write! she's one of those to the point, not going to sugar-coat anything kind of gals. i loved her honesty and frankness. if you're having an issue, she wouldn't say to perhaps consider the advice that she gives...it would be more like, "you have a problem. now you need to go, and fix it". one general thing that stood out to me in the book is how often we think our will to be that of God. when we really want something, we could easily turn our desire into thinking that this is what God desires for us, too. she warns us how we're quick to fall into the thinking that Christ is not sufficient.

Christ HAS to suffice for a Christian. there is a need to commit to Him daily if we ever even think about human companionship. if we truly believe He is enough, then we would have no trouble trusting in the will of God and His plan for our future...whether it's to remain single or move onto marriage. man...so much to think about and work on, but i'm excited to see the faithfulness of God as He further molds me into His likeness. i love this hymn that she quoted from:

Have I an object, Lord, below,
which would divide my heart with Thee?

lastly, and i saved the best for last, i'm beyond grateful for my class. this is the first year where i personally feel our class has been able to experience true fellowship within our group. we've always had fun together, and i definitely don't disregard the moments where i've been encouraged by the talks we've had and growth i've seen from my classmates in the past two years. but ever since we began our junior year, i could see the hunger and eagerness for Christ centered relationships from my entire class. whether it was starting up a class prayer meeting, going on a beginning-of-the-year camping trip, campus EVing together (pretty much as a class, haha), or having several/random opportunities to hang out at costa verde...the Lord has provided with me a class that desires to love God and His people. and this san jose trip was a perfect way to end the year with a sweet time of fellowship. thanks, fellow juniors, for continuing to encourage me =)