drueco.com Blog

One of the perks of living in FoHi is having an LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) stop for two reasons.

1. Options and convenience. We have the E, the F, some local services AND the LIRR. So we decided to jump on it and head down to Brooklyn and check out the Murakami exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum with Jennifer. Grubbed at Chavella’s , checked out the exhibition, met up with Mr Softie, and grubbed Columbian style in Queens.
2. I just think that it’s designed well from a graphical standpoint

Forest Hills LIRR @ Station Square.

Watching the LIRR pull up to the platform.

Transferring to platform 3 to Flatbush.

Eating at Chavella’s – my dish: bistic & onions, over easy egg, fresh fried tortilla chips, beans, cheese.

Exterior of Brooklyn Museum.

Look at ‘dem lips. Muah.

Now THIS is a transformer I’d like to see. (Anime girl > Jetplane)

Shrooms.

How to make Murakami shrooms.

“Queen & Princess in Flowers” Real life, Digital Ink on Canvas.

Tierras Colombianas

Pan-chan & Baba.

We are safely back in NYC. Our trip to Cali was great — friends, family, food, weather (sort of), places, etc. Some quick shout outs to:

Jerel, Ollie, and Paul — for making it out to Coronado for a wonderful yet wet round of golf. Damn those haters behind us.

Joe & Rona — for having us over at your new apt, and for the nice presents for the kids! Sophie and Baba miss jumping on your back and head, Joe! (also for the great laker gear! go lakers!)

Ron, Janelle, and Jaron — for meeting us at Gib’s to watch the Lakers beat the Spurs, having cupcakes and thai food, and for the thoughtful gifts for the kids as well. Keep us posted with Jaron’s progress!

Francis & Irwin — for the dope homecoming party at Casa Dulay. You know I would have never planned something like that, and definitely not as good as you guys. taco truck, drinks, more drinks, laker game, dj, poker, and for gathering all our friends, even people I haven’t seen in years. I can’t thank you enough for your hospitality and generosity.

Mom & Dad — for having us over for 3 days of fun. The kids miss your house and your company already! Thanks for the 2 rounds of golf, dinner in Chinatown, Filipino food, and your hospitality. I wish we could have stayed longer! I can’t thank you enough for taking care of us! (Mom, thanks for peeling 30+ loquats for the kids!)

Gibbie — for spending tons of quality time with my family and for letting us hang at your pad. The kids will definitely miss you.

Jun — for the generous gift for the kids. I’ll make sure to get them something nice from you.

And to everyone else — our trip wouldn’t have been as fun without your company. The one thing I miss most about LA/SD is the people: Family. I have my real family and my ‘friend’ family. Before this gets sappy, lets see some pix! (My first pass at pictures, I’ll add more later, enjoy!)

For the entire album click here.

Golf at Coronado Golf Course, San Diego

Oliver letting it rip!

Jerel, eying his next victim.

“This can’t be mine, I should be on the green!”

Me: Doing it lefty style, cranking it!

Ivy / Marvin Wedding, Chula Vista, San Diego


Group shot at the ugliest church I’ve been to

Posing

The family in front of Grandma Abby’s House

Natalia, Nori, and Joanne

The kids, after a bath at Pechanga Hotel, Temecula

Homecoming Party at Casa Dulay, Chino Hills, Los Angeles

Uncle Irwin holding Sophie (yes, she’s finally smiling with him!)

The kids giving Uncle Joe a deep tissue massage.



Sophie wondering what the hell Ninong Jerel is up to


Partyboy Jon is back with the 5 second Jack swig (Francis, what’s that on your shirt?)

Poker with the guys

Golfing with the family at Roosevelt Golf Course, Los Feliz & Eaton Canyon, Pasadena

The Americana at Brand, Glendale, California

Papa, Baba, Sam and Sophie at the water fountain




The remains of ice cream, mmmmmm


Sophie making a wish

The Drueco Residence, La Crescenta, California & Full House Restaurant, Chinatown

Thanks Ninong Joe and Ninang Rona!

Thanks Nana!

Baba with his new Speed Racer toy, from Joe/Rona.

Grubbing at Full House

The Drueco Clan is coming to Cali.  It’s been over a year since leaving California for NYC and I’m so anxious to visit.
Here’s what’s in store:
Thursday: Fly to San Diego, Get some mexican food, Visit Joanne’s Mom.
Friday: Golf at Coronado Golf Course with Jerel, Ollie & Paul, Drive to Pechanga and get my hold’em on, drink/chill with the guys.
Sat: Attend Ivy’s wedding and stay at the Marriot in Mission Valley.
Sun: Chill a lil more in SD before driving up to Chino for the homecoming partay at Casa Dulay: more poker, taco truck, drinks, friends, etc.
Monday: Golf at Roosevelt in Los Feliz, Hit up the beach (Zuma?), Dinner at Full House in Chinatown, Meet up with Joe/Rona.
Tuesday: Golf in Pasadena, Check out local stuff in Glendale/Burbank, Meet up with Janelle/Ron/Jaron.

Still have to squeeze in the following: more mexican food (sorry nyc peeps – ain’t got nothing on la mexican food), In-n-out, Tommy’s, Season Thai, Leo’s Taco Truck.

Westside!

Just a really quick update. Jenn, Wali, Joanne and I went to the Guggenheim on Friday to check out Cai Guo Qiang. After, we taxi’d back to Queens and ate at Sripraphai. Delish.

…I don’t really post about politics, but with the whole prostitution scandal, I caught this wonderful image of Spitzer on CNN.

Welcome to 2008! Our first holiday season in NYC was great. Celebrated Christmas at home with the family, Jenn, Wali, Carlo, and his wife. Grilled up some rib-eye’s and shrimp on the bar-bee. Lakers delivered our Christmas win! Among other things, the highlight of the break was our visitors. Joe, Rona, DJ, Kris, Ir, and Frank all came out from Cali to celebrate 2007 and kick off the new year. Felt like old times with them here. I’ll post more pix when I get them from Ir. Here’s a few to recap some of the events.

Our first day out – in front of the house

Ascan Ave, Forest Hills

Uncle Joe – On the F Train

“I have a good hair day” -Joe T.

Drinks @ The Millenium Hotel – Times Square

Frank and Kris on the F Train

New Years Eve – Greenway South, Forest Hills

Drink at Pipa – Union Square

And More Drinks at Pipa

Taking the Subway @ Prince Street, SOHO

Waiting for Rona at Rockefeller Plaza

42nd Street

ERNST, or Ernest, or Earnest?

Gotta have that solo shot of Ninang Rona and Ninong Joe – Times Sq.

Joe, Ir, Me, and Kris – Times Sq.

Walking in Times Sq.

More to come.

“Winter Medly”, what the hell is that? Well apparently it is a mix of rain, snow, and sleet (THIS is what sleet is for you Californians). We’ve already had a few snow storms and the kids love it.

and yes, there are real snow flakes:

Looking forward: Have a safe trip out to NYC: Joe, Rona, DJ, Irwin, Kris, and Frank! Can’t wait to see you all.
Merry Christmas to everyone reading this blog!!!! We love you all from NYC

…posted on this damn blog.
…hung out with family & friends from Cali.
…went to an Indian casino.

Well the month of October so far has been nice to me. First off, my family (minus Trina and family) came to NYC to visit for a week. Jammed packed with things to do, some of our outings included: Ray’s Pizza, 5th Avenue, MOMA, Pipa at Union Square, lunch in Kenilworth NJ, Flor De Mayo Peruvian, SOHO, Canal St, and Restaurant Row. Pictures to follow. Had a blast with my family. Miss them already.

The following week, Gibby Gibralter Gibson came to town. I’m glad he had the same agenda as me.

Nothing.
Lots of video gaming, hanging out, eating great food (Chilean Sea Bass, Black Cod, Lomo Saltado, NY Pizza, and spanish tapas), and a whole lot of nothing. We did however make our traditional trip to an Indian Casino : Foxwoods. Nice joint. They have 3 casinos there, and a WPT poker room. I would say its one of the biggest poker rooms. Win or lose we had a great time as the drive to Connect-ticutt was a pleasant one. Mobil/McDonalds drive-thrus ON the freeway? I mean lots of them. BTW, I did come up 7 bills !!

Outside of that, been spending time with the little ones. Sneaky lil brats!

Few updates in no particular order:
- joanne slices her thumb open while washing the dishes.
-few days later, busts her pointer finger open while we were carrying a credenza up stairs (sliding door decides to slide open and banged into her finger).  stitches might have been required, but we’re proceeding w/o.
-joanne also sprains her ankle at a filipino restaurant by not seeing a step on the floor. she also manages to fall down with sophie in her arms.  everyone is ok, minus joannes sprained ankle.
-90% of my office is complete.  will post pictures soon.
-went to ikea in paramus, nj.  nice 1hr drive plus tolls to this wide open part of town.  we like it there, but not sure if it is cost worthy, as the tolls added up to $15 back and forth from there.
-senator, “I’m not gay”….ahem…”bullshit!”
-watched “Chuck & Larry” – waste of time.  funny here and there, but overall, not impressive.
Looking forward:
Mom, Dad, Sam and Brian are coming at the end of September – looking forward to hanging out with them.  I miss my family!!!!  Also, Gib is coming to town the second week of October.  Looking forward to hanging out, wasting time, chilling, etc.

On the tube:
FIBA basketball, Flipping Out, NY1 – the local news station that plays all day long, and some of the usual suspects: simpsons, WSOP, High Stakes Pokers, Yo-Gabba-Gabba (with the kids).

On the iPhone:
Talib Kweli – Eardrum, Common Sense – Finding Forever

For those basketball junkies, here is the TV schedule for the FIBA Mens Basketball tourney starting next week. (yes, times are EST for you west coast readers)

Today we cruised down to the “LBC” to celebrate Joe T’s bday.  This is probably the last time we are going to see the group – how sad.  When we arrived we were warmly greeted by all our friends.  It was really nice to see them all.  We had some delicious BBQ and food and I did a round of shots with the guys.  Janelle and Ron looked so comfortable with Simeon.  I think he really likes them – esp. Ron.  For some reason, Baba always looks so comfortable in Ron’s arms, and tends to nod off.  Sophie was once again shy for the first 4/5 of the party.  Towards the end of the party, Joe was getting really drunk and started to play with Sophie.  She really like how funny he was (really how drunk he was!!).  All the aunties and uncles were playing with the kids.  Later in the night they busted out the smores, and Joanne and Sophie had a few.  The sugar high kicked in and Sophie was now talking out loud and interacting with everyone.

Some of the faces we saw: Janelle and Ron, Irwin, Gibbie, Oliver and Rhobyn, Joe and Rona, Phil Dawn & Aiden, Jun, and some other familiar faces.  Kris once again was MIA, and Frank was in Hawaii with Rochelle.

All in all, we had a great time.  Great way to start the weekend: our best friends, good food, drinks, bonfire, smores, and music.

—-
Earlier today we ordered breakfast from Coral Cafe, then made our way to the Topanga Canyon Mall.  Good looking mall with a good variety of shops.  Bought Joanne some clothes and took the kids on a Carousel ride in them mall.

Tomorrow we’ll try to make our way to Beverly Hills, hit up the Taschen book store, visit my parents, and do a few more errands before we get out of LA.

***Side note:  Our packers did such a great job of packing everything in the house that we didn’t have any toiletries or toilet paper in the house.  We went to CVS and bought some toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, q-tips, deoderant, and some other stuff.  You should have seen us in the parking lot.  We were all brushing our teeth in the car, using bottled water and spitting outside the car to rinse out our mouths.  Must have been a weird sight to see a family in a QX4, looking like we didn’t have a place to live, and having to clean ourselves in the CVS parking lot.