1) the polar bear is classified as a marine mammal. its feet are partially webbed for swimming, and its fur is water-repellent. even though a polar bears fur looks white it is actually colorless and is made with hollow tubes that scatter light and give a white appearance. the hollow tubes help the bear to stay warm by channeling the sun's energy directly to the bear's skin. 2) ry and i went down to pebble beach for our first volunteer shift at the first annual food and wine event. given the fact that it was an inaugural event, there was serious chaos from the get go! when we arrived at the spanish inn, the volunteer coordinator did not have our assignments ready. after an hour or so of lingering, the staff at roy's assigned us our duties for the day. we got to sit in during a staff meeting before the lunch service and listened to some great chefs share the details of their amazing culinary masterpieces. elizabeth faulkner, charles phan and roy yamaguchi were among the distinguished gourmets.
3) we passed on the boxed lunches that were provided for the event volunteers and headed down to pacific grove for a bite. we went to the red house cafe for lunch. we both ordered the corn chowder soup. as usual, ry had a chicken breast sandwich and i had the warm tomato mozzarella sandwich.
4) ahh...oscar de la hoya. he is such a charismatic, alluring figure. back in college, i noticed that his fights were usually scheduled the saturday near my birthday. in fact, for my 21st birthday, we just so happened to be in vegas at the same time. definitely one of my most embarrassing moments involves this iconic boxer. james had told me that de la hoya was on the cover of a playgirl magazine. so we headed to the bookstore in the mall so i could purchase it. the salesperson didn't have any more copies, so she had to retrieve the issue they had on display on the wall. to add insult to injury, i was then asked to show some i.d. to prove i was over 18 years old in order to purchase it!
5) i ordered an apple juice with my lunch this afternoon. the juice that was served was a cloudier version. it tasted great but what i didn't realize was that the appearance of the juice was the result of a more natural form of the beverage, therefore not undergoing the additional processing that its "clearer" counterpart experiences. the final product generates a juice with more antioxidants.
6) three good rules to keep in mind to provide exceptional customer service are 1) listen to your customers, 2) deal with complaints, and 3) be helpful, even if there's no immediate profit in it. with the abundant amount of chaos at the food and wine lunch event, the staff at roy's definitely complied to these rules.
7) 1 in 4 children has a vision problem that can interfere with learning. there's this commercial that makes me laugh. check yearly see clearly is a campaign which promotes eye exams and vision care for children. there's this boy who has poor vision and exhibits this problem by throwing a basketball eight feet to the left of the basketball hoop. or mistakes a squirrel for a dog. reminds me of some of the crazy things i experience without my contacts or glasses!
8) i wish i had the desire to wear a fedora when i had long hair. it doesn't quite look right with my bob haircut. but the sight of one of these hats always seems to catch my eye!
9) ry and i had steak for dinner tonight - filipino style. soy sauce and a squeeze of lemon is the way i like to eat my steak.
10) march 28 celebrates something on a stick day...i experience a mix of happiness and childlike memories when i'm snacking on something on a stick - corndogs, popsicles, chicken skewers, shrimp kebabs.
