Guenmai's GTG/Part 3
May 7th, 2007, 07:05 AM
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Guenmai's GTG/Part 3
For those of you who haven't read Guenmai's GTG Parts 1 and 2,then I'll briefly bring you up to speed on what's been happening.I have been planning a GTG over the past few months. The GTG was planned to be held in Pasadena,Ca...my city of 40-plus years.
The weekend-long GTG festivities were officially launched on Friday morning, May 04th,2007. Four Fodorites arrived into Pasadena early. They were Kuranosuke of Hawaii, Wintersm of Atlanta and Rhkkhm (Bob and Karen) of Boston area.
I met the group at 9:15AM in the lobby of the Pasadena Old Town Courtyard Marriott Hotel.It was great seeing everyone. Bob/Karen/Kuranosuke and I have known each other for some years. Wintersm was the new member of the group.
I presented each Fodorite with a little welcome gift...2 CDs. One CD was Bangkok Blue's Siamese Twins and the other was his Tribal Roots CD. The music is written by an African American jazz musician, from Pasadena, who mixes American jazz with Asian sounds. The Bangkok Blue Siamese Twins CD was nominated for the equivalent of the Thai Grammy Award and also served as the background music for the Thai TV documentary produced about the Siamese twins. It's very calming and relaxing music.
The purpose of the walking tour was to both point out historical places of interest and to familiarize the group with Old Town Pasadena. We walked, talked, and laughed for about an hour. We also dropped into Distant Lands Travel store which allowed us in before opening and also to Stats artifical floral and decorating shop.
After our walking tour had concluded, we piled into my rented, gray PT Cruiser and set out on a driving tour of Pasadena. We looked like sardines in a can. However, had I taken my car, we would have looked like sardines in a half can therefore I thought it necessary to rent a car.
I drove the group around Pasadena and pointed out more historical places along with houses of architectual interest as Pasadena is an architectual gem.
We drove around for about an hour and then concluded our driving tour at the legendary Pasadena Ritz Carlton Hotel where I treated the group to lunch. I had arranged for us to have lunch on the terrace. The chef and I had chatted on the phone prior to our luncheon date about what to prepare. I requested that he make a California-style salad Nicoise. He agreed. He and I also negotiated on the rest of the menu. There was a choice of either coffee, iced tea,or lemonade for each person and a large basket of assorted breads was provided us. He also prepared, for dessert, a strawberry and rhubarb tart accompanied by a small scoop of ice cream and juxtaposed with drops of choclate dotting the plate. We ate, relaxed, talked and took in the calming view of the pool and the surrounding beauty.
We were on a tight schedule which I had alerted the chef to when I spoke to him by phone. Therefore shortly after we had arrived, he came over to our table, chatted, and then disappeared into the kitchen. Our food arrived to our table shortly afterwards.
After lunch, we were off to our tour of the architectually beautiful Gamble House...former residence of the Gambles of the Proctor and Gamble fame. I had reserved, approximately 3 weeks in advance, for us to take the 2:00 tour which is the only tour that can be reserved. However, due to us arriving at 1:15PM, I was informed that they would take us at 1:30. There is a very limited number of people taken on each tour and the tours are run only between 12-3 and on certain days. A lot of effort is taken to preserve the house.
After the tour, I dropped the group back at the hotel as I needed to return home. Before leaving the hotel, Kuranosuke asked me to drop him off at Gelsons Market so that he could buy some wine because he was hosting Happy Hour in his room at 5:00PM. So, I dropped him off and he informed me that he could walk back to the hotel. The only Happy Hour that I had planned to attend was one "Happy Hour" of sleep at home before driving back into town to meet the rest of the out-of-staters who would be arriving for the special dinner that I was hosting in honor of them at Cafe Bizou Restaurant. That dinner was to start at 6:30PM.
To be continued....Happy Travels!
The weekend-long GTG festivities were officially launched on Friday morning, May 04th,2007. Four Fodorites arrived into Pasadena early. They were Kuranosuke of Hawaii, Wintersm of Atlanta and Rhkkhm (Bob and Karen) of Boston area.
I met the group at 9:15AM in the lobby of the Pasadena Old Town Courtyard Marriott Hotel.It was great seeing everyone. Bob/Karen/Kuranosuke and I have known each other for some years. Wintersm was the new member of the group.
I presented each Fodorite with a little welcome gift...2 CDs. One CD was Bangkok Blue's Siamese Twins and the other was his Tribal Roots CD. The music is written by an African American jazz musician, from Pasadena, who mixes American jazz with Asian sounds. The Bangkok Blue Siamese Twins CD was nominated for the equivalent of the Thai Grammy Award and also served as the background music for the Thai TV documentary produced about the Siamese twins. It's very calming and relaxing music.
The purpose of the walking tour was to both point out historical places of interest and to familiarize the group with Old Town Pasadena. We walked, talked, and laughed for about an hour. We also dropped into Distant Lands Travel store which allowed us in before opening and also to Stats artifical floral and decorating shop.
After our walking tour had concluded, we piled into my rented, gray PT Cruiser and set out on a driving tour of Pasadena. We looked like sardines in a can. However, had I taken my car, we would have looked like sardines in a half can therefore I thought it necessary to rent a car.
I drove the group around Pasadena and pointed out more historical places along with houses of architectual interest as Pasadena is an architectual gem.
We drove around for about an hour and then concluded our driving tour at the legendary Pasadena Ritz Carlton Hotel where I treated the group to lunch. I had arranged for us to have lunch on the terrace. The chef and I had chatted on the phone prior to our luncheon date about what to prepare. I requested that he make a California-style salad Nicoise. He agreed. He and I also negotiated on the rest of the menu. There was a choice of either coffee, iced tea,or lemonade for each person and a large basket of assorted breads was provided us. He also prepared, for dessert, a strawberry and rhubarb tart accompanied by a small scoop of ice cream and juxtaposed with drops of choclate dotting the plate. We ate, relaxed, talked and took in the calming view of the pool and the surrounding beauty.
We were on a tight schedule which I had alerted the chef to when I spoke to him by phone. Therefore shortly after we had arrived, he came over to our table, chatted, and then disappeared into the kitchen. Our food arrived to our table shortly afterwards.
After lunch, we were off to our tour of the architectually beautiful Gamble House...former residence of the Gambles of the Proctor and Gamble fame. I had reserved, approximately 3 weeks in advance, for us to take the 2:00 tour which is the only tour that can be reserved. However, due to us arriving at 1:15PM, I was informed that they would take us at 1:30. There is a very limited number of people taken on each tour and the tours are run only between 12-3 and on certain days. A lot of effort is taken to preserve the house.
After the tour, I dropped the group back at the hotel as I needed to return home. Before leaving the hotel, Kuranosuke asked me to drop him off at Gelsons Market so that he could buy some wine because he was hosting Happy Hour in his room at 5:00PM. So, I dropped him off and he informed me that he could walk back to the hotel. The only Happy Hour that I had planned to attend was one "Happy Hour" of sleep at home before driving back into town to meet the rest of the out-of-staters who would be arriving for the special dinner that I was hosting in honor of them at Cafe Bizou Restaurant. That dinner was to start at 6:30PM.
To be continued....Happy Travels!
May 7th, 2007, 08:20 AM
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This is exactly what I wanted to know! You did such a fantastic job, I've decided to *try* and emulate you the next time I have guests.
Los Angeles has a lot offer visitors, more than even I, a resident, realized.
Thanks Guen!
Los Angeles has a lot offer visitors, more than even I, a resident, realized.
Thanks Guen!
May 7th, 2007, 12:09 PM
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GTG report continued....
I arrived at Cafe Bizou Restaurant about 45 miuntes prior to the 6:30 dinner time. I spent the extra time setting the tables and placing the gifts at each person's place. I also needed the extra time to check on the cake that I had ordered at a local bakery. I had the bakery deliver the cake directly to the restaurant as I'm deadly allergic to chocolate and thus couldn't transport it myself.
The cake was all chocolate and topped with real roses and a little white chocolate sign which read,"Welcome Fodorites to the City of Roses".
In addition to the cake, each person recieved two small gifts. The first was a copy of the book,"Hometown Pasadena-The Insider's Guide(2006). It's written by Pasadenean Colleen Bates. I had her sign each book and include a personal welcoming message to each Fodorite.
The local Fodorites received a journal as their gift.
The second gift was a black,canvas totebag. I did the art design of the bag. However, I'm far from being an artist. I sketched out the design and then hired a graphic artist.
The totebag company, artist, and I were on the phone to each other over several months.I first called them back in December and started negotiating with them then. I found the company through a Google search after having gone through a lot of companies and totebag styles. The company I chose is local.
I submitted my design to the graphic artist in order for him to both fine tune my elephant and get the design into the necessary computer format needed to transfer it onto the totebags. The finished design was almost the same as my original design. However, the graphic artist had added a tail and eyelashes to my original elephant design. I hadn't included those two items on the original design.
The totebag is black, medium-weight canvas, with two long shoulder straps and a side pouch that can hold a water bottle. I wanted something practical, lightweight, and useable. On the front of the bag to the left is an elephant outlined in white. There's a purple and white blanket draped over it that with the word,"Sanuk" printed on the blanket.
To the right, above the elephant, is a purple sun and to the right of the elephant's trunk is a little box that says,"Guenmai" and with a happy face to the right of the "Guenmai". Above and below my name are the names of the Fodorites. Below the elephant is written...Guenmai's GTG
Asia Forum
fodors.com
The colors used were white and purple against the black canvas background.
To be continued....
Happy Travels!
I arrived at Cafe Bizou Restaurant about 45 miuntes prior to the 6:30 dinner time. I spent the extra time setting the tables and placing the gifts at each person's place. I also needed the extra time to check on the cake that I had ordered at a local bakery. I had the bakery deliver the cake directly to the restaurant as I'm deadly allergic to chocolate and thus couldn't transport it myself.
The cake was all chocolate and topped with real roses and a little white chocolate sign which read,"Welcome Fodorites to the City of Roses".
In addition to the cake, each person recieved two small gifts. The first was a copy of the book,"Hometown Pasadena-The Insider's Guide(2006). It's written by Pasadenean Colleen Bates. I had her sign each book and include a personal welcoming message to each Fodorite.
The local Fodorites received a journal as their gift.
The second gift was a black,canvas totebag. I did the art design of the bag. However, I'm far from being an artist. I sketched out the design and then hired a graphic artist.
The totebag company, artist, and I were on the phone to each other over several months.I first called them back in December and started negotiating with them then. I found the company through a Google search after having gone through a lot of companies and totebag styles. The company I chose is local.
I submitted my design to the graphic artist in order for him to both fine tune my elephant and get the design into the necessary computer format needed to transfer it onto the totebags. The finished design was almost the same as my original design. However, the graphic artist had added a tail and eyelashes to my original elephant design. I hadn't included those two items on the original design.
The totebag is black, medium-weight canvas, with two long shoulder straps and a side pouch that can hold a water bottle. I wanted something practical, lightweight, and useable. On the front of the bag to the left is an elephant outlined in white. There's a purple and white blanket draped over it that with the word,"Sanuk" printed on the blanket.
To the right, above the elephant, is a purple sun and to the right of the elephant's trunk is a little box that says,"Guenmai" and with a happy face to the right of the "Guenmai". Above and below my name are the names of the Fodorites. Below the elephant is written...Guenmai's GTG
Asia Forum
fodors.com
The colors used were white and purple against the black canvas background.
To be continued....
Happy Travels!
May 7th, 2007, 01:51 PM
#4
It sounds like it was wonderful. I really wish I could have come. Unfortunately, my budget for coming got eaten up right before I left for Japan--my cat needed dental work! After all the tests, the work her shots, etc, it ended up costing me a fortune. Hopefully I'll be able to come to the next one.
May 7th, 2007, 05:03 PM
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GTG Report...Continued
A little before 6:30PM, locals robbie green and her husband arrived. Shortly after their arrival, the stream of fodorites came pouring in and looking just as happy as a lark. I thought to myself...how can folks who've traveled so and and who have just arrived look so fresh and relaxed? Well, at that point I didn't realize that they had been at Kuranosuke's 5:00PM Happy Hour which he had held in his hotel room. Smiles.
The evening at Cafe Bizou restaurant started with lots of hugs,smiles, and laughter. It was a very gregarious group that clicked from the very start.
Everyone scurried around the table reading the names on the gift envelopes in order to find his/her seat. Crosscheck, a local, presented everyone with a classical music cassette and robbiegreen, another local, brought Tournament of Roses lapel pins for everyone.
Immediatedly after everyone was seated, the laughter and conversation resumed. There was all types of conversation. Some discussed travel as I had typed up a list of all of the countries each Fodorite has traveled to. The list was to be used for reference. If there was a Fodorite planning a trip to a new country and needed more information on the place, then he/she could look on the list, find someone who'd been there and then chat with that person.
Down at my end of the table, the conversation turned into Japanese toilet talk. Linda (Hawaiiantraveler)was into deep converation about how great Japanese toilets are and how water squirts up from them. I had just taken a bite of my black tagallini when this toilet topic came up. So, there I sat with a mouth full of black tagallini and a shocked look on my face. At that point my end of the table went into laughing hysteria.
A short while later, Crosscheck found her way down to my end of the table and announced the wonders of Japanese toilets and how she's purchased one and has had it installed in her home and how it squirts water from, I think,from two different places. At that point, we all really lost it and I nearly choked on my tagallini.
The rest of the evening continued with a lot of commraderie and we continued to laugh ourselves into a tizzy. We didn't leave the restauarant until almost 10PM. I got up first and the first group of us left. Then group two followed. Group three was still sitting at the table...the group with the wine bottles.
About three-quarters of a block up the street, I turned and looked behind us and heard group three coming up the block. I laughed until my cheeks were sore. Thank goodness the restaurant was only a block from the hotel.
At dinner I was sitting at the head of the table and to my left were Cheryl, Carol(Simpson 510), robbiegreen and husband, Kathie, crosscheck, and Lcuy. To the right of me were Linda(Hawaiiantraveler), Peter(Hawaiiantraveler),Wintersm,Rhkkmk(Bob and Karen),Kuranosuke, and Craig.
The actual GTG was on Saturday morning at 10:45AM at Saladang Song Thai restaurant. All of the restaurants that I chose were within walking distance of the hotel.
I arrived to the restaurant around 9:15AM in order to set everything up. I put place cards on the table along with Nancy Chandler gift bags that I had sent from Bangkok. In each bag, I included a half pound box of See's candy. I wanted to give them all something that was truly Pasadenean. The three truly Pasadenean things that came to mind were See's candy, Trader Joe's markets, and Panda Express restaurants...all born in Pasadena.
In each gift bag, I also put a vintage-looking Jim Thompson postcard that I'd bought back in Bangkok in Dec/Jan when new items from the Lost in the City collection were launched.
I also hung a black totebag on the back of each chair for those who weren't present at the Friday dinner when I first put them out.
The first Fodorites to arrive were Kathie and Cheryl. I was just putting the finishing touches on the table. Shortly afterwards, the rest of the group flooded in. We were 25 people in all. In addition to those who had attended the Friday night dinner, there were 5 guests of mine...all Asia enthusiasts...,BillT and wife Olive from Houston,Filmwil and his guest whose name I can't remember...sorry...my brain is frazzled, Kristina and her husband, femi, and mrwunfl. Robbiegreen, her husband and crosscheck were not in attendance.
As the Fodorites and other guests were arriving, Linda(Hawaiiantraveler) and Peter(Hawaiiantraveler) were circleing around the tables and putting big boxes of chocolate covered macadamia nuts at each person's table. Lcuy, from Hawaii, also brought chocolate covered macadamia nuts for everyone and was placing them at each person's place.
The room was a buzz as folks checked out all of their goodies. I then rang my crystal bell to get their attention, but it didn't do the job. I should have brought my Thai temple bell. The group was a bit loud. Smiles.
I opened the occasion with a short speech and then introduced each person. Then I had a little raffle of 6 small Jim Thompson items from the Lost In Bangkok collection.
I seated twelve people each at two tables and I sat at the head of both tables...rotating from one to the other. After we had finished our meal, I asked the people sitting in the inner rows to exchange seats with those sitting at the inner row of the opposite table. That was they could meet and talk with someone new. A small ice cream dessert was being served at this point.
We all talked until around 2PM and then folks left and I thought that they had gone back to the hotel to take a nap. However, later I heard that they were hanging out up at Distant Lands Travel store...two blocks up the street from the restaurant.
To be continued....Happy Travels!
A little before 6:30PM, locals robbie green and her husband arrived. Shortly after their arrival, the stream of fodorites came pouring in and looking just as happy as a lark. I thought to myself...how can folks who've traveled so and and who have just arrived look so fresh and relaxed? Well, at that point I didn't realize that they had been at Kuranosuke's 5:00PM Happy Hour which he had held in his hotel room. Smiles.
The evening at Cafe Bizou restaurant started with lots of hugs,smiles, and laughter. It was a very gregarious group that clicked from the very start.
Everyone scurried around the table reading the names on the gift envelopes in order to find his/her seat. Crosscheck, a local, presented everyone with a classical music cassette and robbiegreen, another local, brought Tournament of Roses lapel pins for everyone.
Immediatedly after everyone was seated, the laughter and conversation resumed. There was all types of conversation. Some discussed travel as I had typed up a list of all of the countries each Fodorite has traveled to. The list was to be used for reference. If there was a Fodorite planning a trip to a new country and needed more information on the place, then he/she could look on the list, find someone who'd been there and then chat with that person.
Down at my end of the table, the conversation turned into Japanese toilet talk. Linda (Hawaiiantraveler)was into deep converation about how great Japanese toilets are and how water squirts up from them. I had just taken a bite of my black tagallini when this toilet topic came up. So, there I sat with a mouth full of black tagallini and a shocked look on my face. At that point my end of the table went into laughing hysteria.
A short while later, Crosscheck found her way down to my end of the table and announced the wonders of Japanese toilets and how she's purchased one and has had it installed in her home and how it squirts water from, I think,from two different places. At that point, we all really lost it and I nearly choked on my tagallini.
The rest of the evening continued with a lot of commraderie and we continued to laugh ourselves into a tizzy. We didn't leave the restauarant until almost 10PM. I got up first and the first group of us left. Then group two followed. Group three was still sitting at the table...the group with the wine bottles.
About three-quarters of a block up the street, I turned and looked behind us and heard group three coming up the block. I laughed until my cheeks were sore. Thank goodness the restaurant was only a block from the hotel.
At dinner I was sitting at the head of the table and to my left were Cheryl, Carol(Simpson 510), robbiegreen and husband, Kathie, crosscheck, and Lcuy. To the right of me were Linda(Hawaiiantraveler), Peter(Hawaiiantraveler),Wintersm,Rhkkmk(Bob and Karen),Kuranosuke, and Craig.
The actual GTG was on Saturday morning at 10:45AM at Saladang Song Thai restaurant. All of the restaurants that I chose were within walking distance of the hotel.
I arrived to the restaurant around 9:15AM in order to set everything up. I put place cards on the table along with Nancy Chandler gift bags that I had sent from Bangkok. In each bag, I included a half pound box of See's candy. I wanted to give them all something that was truly Pasadenean. The three truly Pasadenean things that came to mind were See's candy, Trader Joe's markets, and Panda Express restaurants...all born in Pasadena.
In each gift bag, I also put a vintage-looking Jim Thompson postcard that I'd bought back in Bangkok in Dec/Jan when new items from the Lost in the City collection were launched.
I also hung a black totebag on the back of each chair for those who weren't present at the Friday dinner when I first put them out.
The first Fodorites to arrive were Kathie and Cheryl. I was just putting the finishing touches on the table. Shortly afterwards, the rest of the group flooded in. We were 25 people in all. In addition to those who had attended the Friday night dinner, there were 5 guests of mine...all Asia enthusiasts...,BillT and wife Olive from Houston,Filmwil and his guest whose name I can't remember...sorry...my brain is frazzled, Kristina and her husband, femi, and mrwunfl. Robbiegreen, her husband and crosscheck were not in attendance.
As the Fodorites and other guests were arriving, Linda(Hawaiiantraveler) and Peter(Hawaiiantraveler) were circleing around the tables and putting big boxes of chocolate covered macadamia nuts at each person's table. Lcuy, from Hawaii, also brought chocolate covered macadamia nuts for everyone and was placing them at each person's place.
The room was a buzz as folks checked out all of their goodies. I then rang my crystal bell to get their attention, but it didn't do the job. I should have brought my Thai temple bell. The group was a bit loud. Smiles.
I opened the occasion with a short speech and then introduced each person. Then I had a little raffle of 6 small Jim Thompson items from the Lost In Bangkok collection.
I seated twelve people each at two tables and I sat at the head of both tables...rotating from one to the other. After we had finished our meal, I asked the people sitting in the inner rows to exchange seats with those sitting at the inner row of the opposite table. That was they could meet and talk with someone new. A small ice cream dessert was being served at this point.
We all talked until around 2PM and then folks left and I thought that they had gone back to the hotel to take a nap. However, later I heard that they were hanging out up at Distant Lands Travel store...two blocks up the street from the restaurant.
To be continued....Happy Travels!
May 7th, 2007, 07:17 PM
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GTG report continued....
On the same day of the GTG, Saturday,we also went to dinner in the evening. I selected La Luna Negra Spanish restaurant where there's entertainment...flamico dancing and Spanish guitarists. The same group that was present at the Friday evening dinner, minus Crosscheck, was present at the Saturday evening dinner. We were 14 in attendance.
The majority of the group decided to order tapas and the tapas flowed and flowed and flowed. I've never seen so much food on one table. I passed on the tapas and just had a simple fish entree.
Bob had ordered steak and mashed potatoes and as he was cutting his steak, he broke the steak knife. We went off into laughing hysteria. Carol(Simpson 510) who's from a rural area in Illinois then commented," Well it's obvious that that beef wasn't corn fed". I cracked up laughing. Bob handed the waiter the pieces of what had originally been a steak knife. The waiter disappeared and then returned with a Freddy Kruger-sized, Nightmare on Elm Street, butcher knife with a very large, wooden handle.Scared of him! The waiter then said to Bob,"Sir, I bet you can't break this one!". We laughed until we cried. Bob then took his butcher knife and proceeded to cut his brontasaurus steak.
After we all had finished eating and drinking, the flaminco dancers and music went into full swing. Our table was right at the beginning of the stage. We clapped and shouted a lot of Oles!. When the dancers had finished, volunteers were sought out. Well, there was no problem getting robbiegreen's husband Fred up on the stage. He was Ready Freddy. He was up on the stage in a flash dancing his heart out.
The next person up was a woman, but not from our group. But, after she had finished,up went Linda(Hawaiiantraveler) dancing as if she had flaminco in her blood. We passionately cheered on our fellow Fodorites.
The evening went on until the first segment of entertainment had ended. We then left and walked the block to Twin Palms Restaurant which is built outside and under strips of a circus-style canvas tent. We went to check out what was going on there, but were about 45 minutes too early for the after dinner bands to start up. So, we stood out on the sidewalk and talked and laughed some more and then I said my goodbyes to everyone and wished them a safe flight home. I then went hone to rest.
The next morning, Sunday, I drove back to the hotel to pick up wintersm and kuranosuke at 9:00AM. They hadn't rented a car so I drove them around. I drove them to the Hollywood Bowl, showed them the Kodak Theater where the Oscars are held, Hollywood Blvd and Sunset Strip. Then we drove through Beverly Hills and out Wilshire to Westwood where I showed them where Marilyn Monroe's resting place is...in a very small private cemetary in back of a movie theater.
While in Westwood, I also drove them around UCLA and then off to the Getty Center Museum where we spent a good couple of hours and also had lunch.
After leaving the Getty I drove them to the fabric section of the garment district in downtown L.A. so that wintersm could look for some fabric. Then on to a scenic tour of Altadena and back down to Pasadena to drop them off at their hotel. It was then 5:00PM and the GTG weekend had officially ended. I then dropped by a friend's house for a short while and later ran some very necessary errands. I got home at 8PM.
I'd like to thank all of you fodorites who took the time and money to fly to my Pasadena GTG. And also to all of the locals who braved the freeway. I know several of you locals drove from far away.
I'd also like to thank Linda and Peter(Hawaiiantraveler) from Hawaii, Lcuy from Hawaii,robbiegreen and crosscheck...both locals for all of the gifts that they brought for the whole group. I'd also like to thank Kuranosuke, from Hawaii, for throwing a Happy Hour in his room for the group. And last, but definitely not least, I'd like to thank Bob for forwarding Fodorites' e-mail addresses over to me during my early GTG planning stages. I really hope I haven't forgotten anyone.
And thank you all for all of the wonderful gifts that I received. I have finally moved them out of my kitchen into another room. I love the three dozen, pink roses which have opened up now. They look beautiful in my kitchen and in that beautiful vase.
If you would like to read the comments by the fodorites' who attended the GTG, then go over to the Pasadena thread that Bob started up.You can probably just type in Pasadena in the SEARCH box.
Thanks again to all and hope to see you in Pasadena again in the future.
Guen...Happy Travels!
On the same day of the GTG, Saturday,we also went to dinner in the evening. I selected La Luna Negra Spanish restaurant where there's entertainment...flamico dancing and Spanish guitarists. The same group that was present at the Friday evening dinner, minus Crosscheck, was present at the Saturday evening dinner. We were 14 in attendance.
The majority of the group decided to order tapas and the tapas flowed and flowed and flowed. I've never seen so much food on one table. I passed on the tapas and just had a simple fish entree.
Bob had ordered steak and mashed potatoes and as he was cutting his steak, he broke the steak knife. We went off into laughing hysteria. Carol(Simpson 510) who's from a rural area in Illinois then commented," Well it's obvious that that beef wasn't corn fed". I cracked up laughing. Bob handed the waiter the pieces of what had originally been a steak knife. The waiter disappeared and then returned with a Freddy Kruger-sized, Nightmare on Elm Street, butcher knife with a very large, wooden handle.Scared of him! The waiter then said to Bob,"Sir, I bet you can't break this one!". We laughed until we cried. Bob then took his butcher knife and proceeded to cut his brontasaurus steak.
After we all had finished eating and drinking, the flaminco dancers and music went into full swing. Our table was right at the beginning of the stage. We clapped and shouted a lot of Oles!. When the dancers had finished, volunteers were sought out. Well, there was no problem getting robbiegreen's husband Fred up on the stage. He was Ready Freddy. He was up on the stage in a flash dancing his heart out.
The next person up was a woman, but not from our group. But, after she had finished,up went Linda(Hawaiiantraveler) dancing as if she had flaminco in her blood. We passionately cheered on our fellow Fodorites.
The evening went on until the first segment of entertainment had ended. We then left and walked the block to Twin Palms Restaurant which is built outside and under strips of a circus-style canvas tent. We went to check out what was going on there, but were about 45 minutes too early for the after dinner bands to start up. So, we stood out on the sidewalk and talked and laughed some more and then I said my goodbyes to everyone and wished them a safe flight home. I then went hone to rest.
The next morning, Sunday, I drove back to the hotel to pick up wintersm and kuranosuke at 9:00AM. They hadn't rented a car so I drove them around. I drove them to the Hollywood Bowl, showed them the Kodak Theater where the Oscars are held, Hollywood Blvd and Sunset Strip. Then we drove through Beverly Hills and out Wilshire to Westwood where I showed them where Marilyn Monroe's resting place is...in a very small private cemetary in back of a movie theater.
While in Westwood, I also drove them around UCLA and then off to the Getty Center Museum where we spent a good couple of hours and also had lunch.
After leaving the Getty I drove them to the fabric section of the garment district in downtown L.A. so that wintersm could look for some fabric. Then on to a scenic tour of Altadena and back down to Pasadena to drop them off at their hotel. It was then 5:00PM and the GTG weekend had officially ended. I then dropped by a friend's house for a short while and later ran some very necessary errands. I got home at 8PM.
I'd like to thank all of you fodorites who took the time and money to fly to my Pasadena GTG. And also to all of the locals who braved the freeway. I know several of you locals drove from far away.
I'd also like to thank Linda and Peter(Hawaiiantraveler) from Hawaii, Lcuy from Hawaii,robbiegreen and crosscheck...both locals for all of the gifts that they brought for the whole group. I'd also like to thank Kuranosuke, from Hawaii, for throwing a Happy Hour in his room for the group. And last, but definitely not least, I'd like to thank Bob for forwarding Fodorites' e-mail addresses over to me during my early GTG planning stages. I really hope I haven't forgotten anyone.
And thank you all for all of the wonderful gifts that I received. I have finally moved them out of my kitchen into another room. I love the three dozen, pink roses which have opened up now. They look beautiful in my kitchen and in that beautiful vase.
If you would like to read the comments by the fodorites' who attended the GTG, then go over to the Pasadena thread that Bob started up.You can probably just type in Pasadena in the SEARCH box.
Thanks again to all and hope to see you in Pasadena again in the future.
Guen...Happy Travels!
May 7th, 2007, 11:52 PM
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guen, just got back from a fabulous weekend, actually from thurs. i was there the longest, and enjoyed every minute. pasadena is a beautiful place to live.
ht and i were talking bout what we can do for the next gtg while we were in the rc room at lax. we were still in awe of your gtg.
ht and i were talking bout what we can do for the next gtg while we were in the rc room at lax. we were still in awe of your gtg.
May 8th, 2007, 05:55 AM
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I have just returned from Pasadena, staying a bit longer to visit with a niece.
I must repeat, everything you have already read and heard about the GTG is TRUE!! Guenmai hostessed the most amazing and memorable weekend! No detail escaped Guenmai's keen attention! The restaurant's were varied and excellent. The setting (Pasadena) was superb and Guenmai's incredible hostess' skills were present in every tiny detail (well, maybe the decadent chocolate cake was not tiny), even to the notes of welcome for every person. Guen, your love of and passion for Pasadena was catching.
Thanks!!
Polly
I must repeat, everything you have already read and heard about the GTG is TRUE!! Guenmai hostessed the most amazing and memorable weekend! No detail escaped Guenmai's keen attention! The restaurant's were varied and excellent. The setting (Pasadena) was superb and Guenmai's incredible hostess' skills were present in every tiny detail (well, maybe the decadent chocolate cake was not tiny), even to the notes of welcome for every person. Guen, your love of and passion for Pasadena was catching.
Thanks!!
Polly
May 8th, 2007, 12:39 PM
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Guen-we are so sorry we missed the GTG. You outdid any possible expectations. Even Bob won't have anything to complain about, I think. It's great to see someone who loves their place of residence so much.
May 8th, 2007, 02:56 PM
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Guen,
Finally back at work and able to post. Wow what a weekend! I know all who attended did not want the festivities to end. We all could have easily spent a week in Pasadena but then you would probably have needed therapy for putting up with us all
Thanks again guen you sure know how to throw a party!!!
Aloha!
Finally back at work and able to post. Wow what a weekend! I know all who attended did not want the festivities to end. We all could have easily spent a week in Pasadena but then you would probably have needed therapy for putting up with us all
Thanks again guen you sure know how to throw a party!!!
Aloha!
May 8th, 2007, 05:54 PM
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Guenmai, thank you so much. And now to admit to what a newbie I am, I posted a reply earlier today, but hit "preview" rather than "post" (I guess). This is very embarrassing for a computer geek like me .
Everything was truly exquisite and amazingly planned. The food was wonderful. I loved meeting everyone, I feel as though I've made many new friends and can't wait for the next party, umm, I mean GTG.
Kuranosuke, I'm sure you didn't realize this, but the stuffed artichokes you ordered at the tapas restaurant is something I grew up eating at family gatherings. All this time I thought it was an Italian dish!
Ok, Portoportogee... (How badly did I slaughter that??) your turn!!
Cheryl
. Everything was truly exquisite and amazingly planned. The food was wonderful. I loved meeting everyone, I feel as though I've made many new friends and can't wait for the next party, umm, I mean GTG.
Kuranosuke, I'm sure you didn't realize this, but the stuffed artichokes you ordered at the tapas restaurant is something I grew up eating at family gatherings. All this time I thought it was an Italian dish!
Ok, Portoportogee... (How badly did I slaughter that??) your turn!!
Cheryl
May 8th, 2007, 06:09 PM
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I made it back to my little town in Illinois around 6:30pm today (Tuesday) after having a couple of extra days after the Pasadena GTG. I need to try to remember all the details to tell my DH and bradinbangkok (son) as they will want to know all about it.
Guenmai, thank you so much for all you did to make this GTG so unforgetable.
Carol
And to Cheryl, welcome to the Asia forum!
Guenmai, thank you so much for all you did to make this GTG so unforgetable.
Carol
And to Cheryl, welcome to the Asia forum!
May 8th, 2007, 07:07 PM
#17
Well, guenmai, has posted all the details, but what you can't get out of details is the incredible fun, the hilarity, and the tastes of all the fabulous foods!
It was just an awesome weekend, and Guenmai has set a party standard that I fear will never again be achieved! I even asked her to plan my daughters' weddings, and they aren't even engaged yet!!!
Thank you, Thank you Guenmai!!!
And thanks to all the partners in fun... So many "internet stranglers" in one spot! and all of them such interesting people.
I'm still up in Portland Oregon at the moment...left Pasadena at the ungodly hour of 4:30 AM on Sunday to fly out of LAX. I won't say I was hungover, but I did sleep the whole way up!
Got my daughter graduated and out of her apartment, and I'll be back in Hawaii on Friday.
It was just an awesome weekend, and Guenmai has set a party standard that I fear will never again be achieved! I even asked her to plan my daughters' weddings, and they aren't even engaged yet!!!
Thank you, Thank you Guenmai!!!
And thanks to all the partners in fun... So many "internet stranglers" in one spot! and all of them such interesting people.
I'm still up in Portland Oregon at the moment...left Pasadena at the ungodly hour of 4:30 AM on Sunday to fly out of LAX. I won't say I was hungover, but I did sleep the whole way up!
Got my daughter graduated and out of her apartment, and I'll be back in Hawaii on Friday.
May 8th, 2007, 08:02 PM
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lcuy, we wondered whether you got any sleep at all on Saturday night - or did you just stay up until it was time to go to the airport? You and the others were going stong when we retired for the night!
May 8th, 2007, 08:12 PM
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In Minneapolis on business right now, so haven't been able to catch up as much as I'd like to have.
But I did want to submit my official missive of thanks to Ms. Guenmai. Much of what I could say has been said already...but David and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for such a thoughtful and fantastic gathering.
Next time us in-towners will make sure to block more time for the out-of-towner events. We didn't get nearly enough time with our new friends.
Glad everyone made it home safe and sound!
But I did want to submit my official missive of thanks to Ms. Guenmai. Much of what I could say has been said already...but David and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for such a thoughtful and fantastic gathering.
Next time us in-towners will make sure to block more time for the out-of-towner events. We didn't get nearly enough time with our new friends.
Glad everyone made it home safe and sound!
