The Great Chili Cook-off!

Last month, Z's mom helped organize a little event for their neighborhood with beer tasting and a chili cook-off competition for Oktoberfest.  Even though I am not sure how chili fits in with Oktoberfest, Z decided to enter the competition competing against some of his family's friends and even against Z's own father. Z basically threw everything but the kitchen sink into his chili and then fretted about it being too spicy for his audience, whose idea of a good bowl of chili comes from a can prepared via the microwave. (Just kidding, but sadly this might be the American standard) Tasters were able to vote for their favorite chili, but halfway through the competition Z ran out of food. Rookie status! Z received a couple of votes though during his short time serving, so all was not lost. While Z was busy serving chili, I was busy drinking free beer from Das Brew (a local microbrewery from the area) and making Finnegan take ridiculous photos with all the hay bales and scarecrows in the vicinity. This probably was not a good idea considering how I talked about giving my liver a vacation in my last post, but apparently I forgot about this. After Oktoberfest beer, Z and I later joined some friends in Oakland at our favorite Tiki Bar for more drinks. It was a great weekend overall! Below are photos of an apathetic pig dog and a day-drunk Z. Cheers!

Babies and Beer

Last weekend, I visited my cousin who just recently returned from a trip to Australia. I spent some time with his little baby--who is rapidly growing right before my eyes! His face gets more expressive each time I visit. My aunt was also visiting and she had made some Filipino food for dinner: pancit, lumpia, and beef kaldereta. I was in heaven!  It was great to catch up with everyone and I can't wait to see them for Thanksgiving later next month!

Next, Z and I went to a birthday party in San Jose at a German Restaurant and Beer Garden called, Teske's Germania.  Since it was the last week of Oktoberfest, there was live music in the beer garden and many lederhosen-clad lads. SO MUCH BEER SERVED IN LITERS THE SIZE OF MY HEAD.There were also sooo many bros (being that we were in San Jose), and I felt terribly out of place. Z and I shared some beer, schnapps, pretzels, and salmon topped-potato pancakes. Below are some horribly blurry photos from the evening (what happens when you drink beforehand):

Hope your weekend was great!