San Antonio, Texas (Part 1) - Guest blogger Adrian

Note: The home front - phone is hooked up, so everything is back to normal now :)

I have heard a lot about San Antonio but never been there before. When my boss offered me a company sanctioned trip to San Antonio, I grabbed the opportunity right away. I was there from March 21-24. The event was held at JW Marriot San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa. The resort is less than three months old and very luxurious. Please see below :)

Entrance of the hotel

Interior Decor

Room -bathroom

Hotel room

Hotel outdoor at night

Since I don't usually have the chance of eating real Texas style steak, I took the opportunity to try out the Steak House at the hotel called 18 Oaks. For appetizer, I ordered Grilled Oyster with Garlic Butter and Nueske's Bacon. As for the entrée I had their signature steak Texas Wagyu 12 oz. accompanied with green beans with lemon zest. I asked the waiter what the heck is "wagyu" steak. He said it is a cross between Kobe and Angus cattle.

Grilled Oyster with Garlic Butter and Nueske's Bacon

Green bean with lemon zest

Since I ordered the signature steak of the house, I was given the choice of selecting my steak knife. This is something new to me. Has anyone eaten at a Texas steak house experience this extra-ordinary treatment?

A tray of steak knives for me to select from

Texas Wagyu 12 oz. steak

THE VERDICT: Excellent.

You should try it when you go to Texas assuming most steak houses offer "wagyu" beef. Stay tune for the next part of the trip. Hint: There is a surprise.

3 Months Old

Brandon is little more than 3 months old. Time flies as it was like yesterday he was born to the world. He is eating well, sleeping well and bossy (High Royal Highness King Brandon) as well. Don't be fooled by his cute face.

"Hi everyone" expression

Gu gu ga ga expression

I smile for you expression

Yes.....! Our phone line still down

Verizon's repair service is really something. I lost count how many technicians have come and go from our area and the phone line is still down. The customer service call centers are rude and do not care about the customers. One of them even said just be patient and keep calling as long as you phone line is down. Having a land line to him is not important and he would figure out a way to be online while the line is down. This is not the point. The point is for them to restore the service back and provide excellent service.

The technician came and closed the repair ticket as problem solved yesterday (March 25, 2010). He said the line is fixed and is working. The moment I came home from work I checked the line and it was still down with no dial tone (completely death). So I called it in for another technician to come out to repair today.

He came alright and said the phone cable is there but is not connected to the main substation. I am wondering what did the technician from previous day did. Closing the ticket as problem solved and line is working fine while the main cable is not even hooked up to the substation. Somebody must be smoking.....!

Don't you think this is really something....! I am telling folks avoid Verizon if possible.

*&^%$#! Verizon.....!

We are back home (Phone line still down)

As soon as we heard the news from our kind neighbor Gert that the power was restored (around 10am), we checked out from Holiday Inn and proceeded back home after 4 days of staying in hotel (s). Brandon is happy as well (see his expression below). He was cranky the day before probably his way of telling us he is tired of staying at the hotel. We don't blame him either as we are getting sick of the stay as well. Nothing beats "home sweet home" said Brandon.

Brandon right before we packed and checked out

Broken phone line in front of our house

Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.

Post-Storm Update (Power is still out)

Brandon is wondering why we (grandma, mommy and daddy) stayed in two different hotels within two days but no sightseeing. That is because this is not a vacation and we stayed in two hotels because we have no power at home.

Why two hotels you asked. The first hotel (Hilton Garden Inn) did not have vacancies for the second night so we have to switch to Holiday Inn to extend our stay. The power is still out as the Township of Teaneck could not keep up with clearing the trees that were uprooted. The high-school (Teaneck High School) located at our street was closed today and will be closed again tomorrow. Hint: Power is still out.

Since Brandon can't tell the difference between a hotel and his home, he cries whenever he wants and that makes us worried about our neighbor filing a complaint and get us kicked out from the hotel. Sleep Brandon or else we will be homeless and freezing....!

Brandon enjoying his formula at the hotel with grandma holding him

Storm March 13-14, 2010

For the last two days, it has been scary moment dealing with violent storm ripping through our area. Tree were uprooted, lines were down and many homes were left without power including ours. Our phone line is down as well which means no internet connection.

Fortunately, 98% of our house is still intact except minor gutter related damages. Since power is still down as of 6pm today, we decided to stay in hotel tonight for the heat. We are worried about the well being of Brandon as he is just a little two months old and we don't want him to be freezing.

Uprooted tree one door down

Tree uprooted near the school

Neighbor's house a few doors away (First casualty witnessed)

Another neighbor's house a few doors away (2nd casualty)

Our house with the noticeable minor gutter related damages

Phone cable split into two (in front of our house)

We hope our power line will be back soon so that we could go back to our house. Please pray for us.

Brandon little over 2 months old

Hi Everyone