Diane and Fernando » Blog

Houston is Hot

Fernando — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:13:12 +0000

Need I say more?

(Pardon the dusty dash, it has been cleaned since I took this pic.)

Cameroon

Fernando — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 22:42:41 +0000

Every now and then, I get sent off on an adventure to some far away land. Recently, my adventures took me to Cameroon–West Africa for those who don’t know where this is. I flew international business class–which I love–and took some pictures to show others how wonderful it is. Sure, you might think it’s silly of me to be so excited about traveling, but I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, so I still look forward to the perks of int’l business class.

Not a lay-flat seat, but I still managed to sleep well

(Frequent travel sometimes complain about the downward incline)

Built-in back massage was nice during the long flight

Air France’s smaller lounge, but it still had a shower

The accommodations in Douala were not as nice as Nigeria. It’s not that they were terrible, but I didn’t enjoy sharing an apartment with 3 random strangers. There was one communal shower, a kitchen, dining room, and living area. I was mostly displeased with the fact that there was no Internet (it was turned off for visitor apartments) and no phone. In Eket, Nigeria, I at least had WiFi (which I could use for Skype) and a private room.

I was a bit naive and didn’t realize I’d be sleeping in an apartment that required mosquito nets

View from COTCO HQ

My daily walk down the street to “home”

Lots of slums around town

African Market

Market when it wasn’t raining (as much)

Reasonably good traffic, but when it gets bad, people *create* lanes as needed

Wood carvings at a hotel in the countryside

I like my shrimp with Cajun seasoning…none to be found, though

The people of Cameroon are very nice and pleasant to be around. I enjoyed walking around the neighborhood and eating out at local restaurants (all pretty good). Across the street from the company apartments is a delicious bakery and small grocery store. I had my share of chocolate croissants and other goodies.

I spent the 2nd week on August in a small village called Dompta. Technically, I never saw was in the village from the ground–just from the air. I stayed at our pump station. It’s a relatively small processing area where crude flows through, gets sorted out into various products and then put back into the pipeline.

Me at one of the airstrips

Somewhere near Dompta

If you look closely, you’ll see some traditional African huts that people continue to live in

Sanaga River goes spans the whole country, all the way down to the hotel where I had shrimp

After about two weeks, I was ready to return home. However, I had one last stop in Charles De Gaulle where I enjoyed endless quantities of chocolate croissants and cookies among other things.

One of my staples

Cookies at 6:00 AM? Yes, please!

So good!

Sparkle’s…In search of Houston’s best milkshake…

Diane — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:43:22 +0000

My friend Kristen told me about this place called Sparkles in downtown Houston known for their burgers and shakes. It’s in a strange area of town, (1515 Dowling Street) which is a little more run down. We had already eaten lunch but it was a super hot day and wanted to get something cold, so Ferd and I split a vanilla shake. The choices are vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Mixed by hand with real ice cream. It was 15oz for $2.50. Pretty thick, but you can still suck it up through a straw, it just forces you to take your time. You know when you feel like you’ve been sucking forever and you open the lid to see how much you have left and you’ve hardly made a dent? Love that. Overall, we’d give the shake an 8 out of 10.

We’ll be coming back to explore the other items offered on the menu. Their breakfast menu looks super yummy. Chicken and waffles which are my new southern favorite. Breakfast tacos, and pork chop and waffles…never seen that combo before.

Blueberry Hill Breakfast

Diane — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 05:31:09 +0000

Last month while Fernando and I were visiting my family in Chelan, we wanted to go to Blueberry Hill for breakfast, but we never made it. This time around I’m happy to report its still as good as I remember.

What we go for: blintzes smothered with peach pie filling.

For those of you who haven’t had a blintze, they are crepes filled with a sweet ricotta cheese filling.

The view from our table

We decided to pick a few blueberries while we were there. They were huge!

I’m sure my mom has some delicious plans for these babies

The Search For The Best Texas BBQ Continues…

Diane — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:39:35 +0000

This past weekend, we checked out a new BBQ joint located in the Heights called Hickory Hollow.

It was a cute small town diner type atmosphere, with live music on the weekends. They are especially known for their chicken fried steak. We decided to get a sample platter with the chicken fried steak, ribs, sausage, and brisket with two sides. The coleslaw, brisket, and chicken fried steak were excellent, as was the hickory BBQ sauce. They had pretty good onion rings too. The ribs and sausage were sub par. My favorite part was drinking out of the mason jars. Overall we’d give it a 7/10. Compared to Rudy’s BBQ, the meat was more moist but you can’t beat the delicious sides at Rudy’s. And I would rate it slightly better than Goode Company BBQ, because I don’t think their sides are very good at all. The search continues…

Baby Girls

Diane — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:21:53 +0000

Little girls= fun.

oh, how I love having a serger!

Burp cloths and binkie clips with quilted notecard

Too bad this one’s blurry, I love it!

We babysat for our friends the Herbsts for their anniversary.

Fun times

Swaddle blankets and binky clips (hmm…maybe I should have ironed it)

Houston Symphony and Final Fantasy

Diane — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:00:26 +0000

Last weekend we went to the Houston Symphony Final Fantasy Concert. Fernando had been looking forward to this event for a while and considers the Final Fantasy series (there’s 14 games!) one of the best video games of all time. The soundtrack has also won numerous awards, so we decided to check it out. The attendees were quite the sight. Hundreds of pasty white gamers put down their controllers or brought their Sony PSP’s to the event. I don’t think the symphony has ever seen such a young crowd, or under dressed crowd for that matter. Come on people, shorts, flip flops, jeans and baggy t-shirts to the symphony?!

It was great fun though. The music was amazing (hard to believe it was for a video game), and they projected video from the games on a huge screen above the orchestra. While I fell in love with the Chocobo, why don’t they have cute Chocobo’s in Super Mario Bro.?, the best part of the night was when composer Nobuo Uematsu joined the choir.

When Life Gives You Basil…

Diane — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:48:08 +0000

…Make pesto!

My lovely sister in law told me about this super cool gift giving blog called Givers Log which is where I stole the idea from. She even has printable labels! And a recipe for deelish walnut pesto.

How Many Pies Did You Make Today?

Diane — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:59:11 +0000

Me? Oh just sixteen.

peach pie in a jar

I got the idea from Our Best Bites.

I found these cute little 4 ounce jars at H-E-B. Cook them fresh at 375 for 35-40 minutes and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Freeze them for a quick dessert

No need to thaw. Throw them into a preheated oven at 375 for 45-50 minutes

Meanwhile Back in Houston…

Diane — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:59:30 +0000

The little garden GROWS!

TOO MUCH BASIL! Please help!

As you can see, I have more than I can eat in a lifetime. That’s saying something because I eat a lot of basil. Please, all of you locals, I can pick it for you or you can hop my fence and take some (basil, that is :). I’m even considering setting up a free basil table outside of the Relief Society room on Sundays (is that allowed?)

The tomato however has seen better days…something has killed it :’(

Which reminds me…

Last night we took a bowl of cherries and little red wagon to the Miller Outdoor Theatre to see…

“Little Shop of Horrors tells the story of Seymour, a timid and nerdy sales clerk at the seedy Mushnik’s Skid Row Florists, barely in business in lower Manhattan. He achieves fame and fortune after he discovers an exotic plant named Audrey II, a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed. A Greek chorus of hip soul singers narrates the thriller with a score in the 1960s style of rock and roll, doo-wop, and Motown. Audrey’s appetite grows to gigantic proportions as the cast rapidly diminishes. This show promises to be an audience favorite!”

Produced by Theatre Under The Stars

Half of Houston was there

Eating cherries

The show was entertaining. The cast was great. However, the storyline?? A plant that eats people? CHEESY!