The Hoye Biscuit Times: All About (mostly about) Tito Nicko

This past week, my brother spent another 4 days with us before heading back to Taiwan. It was a rare and wonderful opportunity for him and Anna to hang out and hang out they did. For me, it lessened the blow around the fact that I really just can't take off from work these days (at least until the first week of March after which I will seriously be planning some much needed R&R).

Over the course of a couple of days, my brother and I were able to catch up on life. Namely, how married life is treating us, balancing work, our parents, cities we see ourselves settling in and reminiscing on crazy childhood stories. What's more, Nicko and Anna were able to bond even further on this trip. My favorite moment was when Anna sighed, held N's hand and said, "I love my Tito Nicko."

Their routine went something like this: Sleep in until about 9:00am, shower up and head out for brunch. Anna never failed to make her uncle proud as she ate every last morsel of her meals - very clearly an appreciation we gained from our Filipino parents who took pride in the fact that they stuffed us silly with food...for every freakin' meal. No wonder why we're such eaters!!

Nicko's favorite brunch place was Mama's. Read his 'review' (email he sent during the day after they got back) here:

Yo, we just had brunch at "Mama's"......I mean damn that was the shizzy. I don't understand why people just don't fight each other waiting in line for that stuff. It's like the crack of American breakfasts.

After brunch, they would come back to the apartment and grab Sasa Boy. It was a well deserved outing for the pup as he was rejected by Nicko at every occasion he offered to snuggle with him at night. He enjoyed success at sneaking into bed with him once, which quickly earned him the nickname, snugglepuss, from Nicko. The weather was awesome the week he was in town so their park visits with Sasa was extended to a couple of hours after which they'd head back to the apartment.

Nicko needed to practice and noted to me how impressed he was that Anna was happy to let him do so after their afternoons at the park. She would applaud his efforts at difficult passes when he was practicing and was filled with questions about his trombone. They played music games and we determined that indeed, Anna has the Javier music gene. She has an excellent ear and great rhythm - the fact that she hums for a great portion of the day is probably the biggest giveaway.

After practicing, they would both take naps...together, all lazy-like on the couch while Zane and I slave away at work. Hahaha. Zane would get home shortly after they woke up and I would scramble like a crazy person to get out of the office at a decent NORMAL hour to meet them for dinner. We had Filipino food at Max's in South SF, Japanese in Japan Town, and tapas at Iluna Basque here in North Beach. Then, Nicko and I typically stayed up late watching the Olympics or Spike TV's special on ALI!! Yea, that was sweet.

Quite a routine, eh?

It was particularly great for me to hear from my big bro how fun and easy it is to hang out with his little niece. His sentiment went something like, "dude, she's so down to do whatever! it's so fun to hang out with her."

In other news this week, I got my hair cut and went to AsiaSF with some friends from work last night! I'm writing you today hung over :) Here are some pics for your entertainment (some from last night, from last weekend at the Palace of Fine Arts and others that didn't make the cut in previous posts):