i went across the street to star market to look for shaved steak on sale, but they didn't have any. i returned home and got on my bike to go to the cafe. i texted jeff and michelle to wish them safe travels. jeff replied back a few minutes later with a cryptic message about 100 miles down, 3000 more to go. i didn't understand what he meant at the time, but later realized they'd already left before i did. that car outside the house that i thought was there's turned out to be a different car.
this new garden street one way is a real nuisance. i ended up going bond-concord-manassas to get onto huron avenue, which was a 2235ft distance compared to the 1900ft of the old garden-huron route to arrive at the same spot. the good thing about bond-concord-manassas is no traffic lights, while the way i went before had 2 lights, so this one-way detour actually revealed a traffic light free shortcut.
by the time i got the cafe by 10:40am, my sister was already there. while putting the seats out onto the patio, i saw my parents driving by, waiting for the light to change. my mother rolled down the window and said they were going to pick up my aunts. they showed up at the cafe a short time later. it got really busy between 12-2pm. my parents left afterwards with my taiwanese aunt to do some shopping. the cafe seemed pretty quiet for a bit, until it got busy again around 3pm. we ended up making more this saturday compared to last week.
my father showed up around 4pm, to give my 2nd aunt a ride to belmont. i rode back to my house to grab some jalapenos i bought yesterday, along with some sichuan paocai for my aunt in arlington. i then rode to belmont. i went up raymond street to get onto huron avenue, which seemed like the longer route, and i still had to stop for two traffic lights, so i won't be taking that route again. i still think it's a stupid thing they did turning that section of garden street into a one way, and i'm hoping they'll revert it back the way it was.
i brought the oranges i got from haymarket yesterday, i wasn't sure if they were any good, but they turned out to be sweet, so i didn't get a scolding from my mother like i normally would when i brought home sour fruits.
my father was waiting for me to deliver the jalapeno peppers so he could cook his salt & pepper shrimp. everyone went out to watch. he fried the shrimps first, but couldn't find his large skimmer, so the shrimps ended up overcooking while he resorted to a small skimmer. when he went to fry the shrimps a second time, i realized they weren't breaded, which meant they were going to be very crispy. the final result was a little disappointing, didn't look like the salt & pepper shrimp i had in mind.
we left for my aunt lili's place by 5:40pm. she'd invited us over for dinner in honor of my taiwanese aunt's boston visit. for appetizers there was some muhammara dip which went very well with some pita bread chips.
matthew was outside grilling some fish (arctic char from the salmon family). it was cold enough that i could see my breath. the main course was some mushu pork my father had made along with a stack of chunbing (spring pancakes). so used am i to eating chunbing for thanksgiving that it felt weird not to be eating it with the usual turkey.
for dessert my aunt lili made a coconut cake consisting of 7 different coconut elements (coconut cream, coconut milk, coconut liquor, coconut extract, coconut water, fresh coconut). i accidentally took a large piece, but to be honest, the cake was delicious enough and fluffy enough that i would've had no problem eating the whole thing.
we didn't leave until almost 9pm. for once my sister didn't leave early like she normally does. she ended up taking my aunts back home as i went with my parents back to belmont. i packed up my things and left soon afterwards. it seemed to be getting foggy, and condensation had formed all over my windshield, my mirrors, and my bike seat. like before, it was cold enough to see my breath, temperature in the upper 40's.
i turned on the heat this morning when i used the bathroom. i was going to use my space heater to warm myself up, but i decided not to suffer needlessly, and turned on thermostat. when i got back home, the nest sensed i was back, and began to turn up the heat (65 degrees).
because i wanted to give my fresh caulk more time to cure, i didn't dare take a shower tonight. instead i rolled up a towel and placed it against the new caulk, and washed myself directly from the tub faucet, being extra careful not to splash too much. as for the caulk, it seemed dry enough to touch, which i guess is a good sign. can't remember how long the last time i waited before getting the caulk wet, but i think it was just 4 hours, which wasn't enough time for old caulk to harden to the point that it resisted water, hence sections of it managed to wash away.