Visiting the Vanderbilts

Sunday, we drove two hours to Asheville to visit the largest private home in the United States - The Biltmore Estate. The estate was built by the Vanderbilts in 1895 and sits on 125,000 acres. We took a tour of the inside of the house which has 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. After we toured the house, we visited the Biltmore winery and did some wine tasting.

GI Jen and Viet-Mom

Need I say more ...

Five Guys

In-n-Out Burger look out .... you've got some competition on the East Coast. We took Mom and Auntie Jen to a burger joint called Five Guys. Here they make your burger anyway you want it with any toppings. The burgers were freshly made, and the toppings were freshly chopped. Auntie Jen called it, "the perfect burger". They have already had it twice in three days. Auntie Jen is already trying to figure out a way to bring it on the plane.

Filipino Yak Attack

Saturday, we went to the Lazy 5 Ranch (a Jurassic Park like adventure, where you take your own car through the grounds). We bought two buckets of animal feed, Auntie Jen had one bucket, and I had the other one. At first, Mom was scared to open her window to look at the animals. Every now and then, David would open the window up for her, scaring her until she got used to it. She even took my bucket and started feeding the animals herself until she encountered her first Yak. The Yak was too strong for Mom and took the entire bucket. All we heard was her screaming "aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh, dat yak took da pood". We saw zebras, giraffes, water buffalos, potbelly pigs, llamas, emus, just to name a few. Every potbelly pig Mom saw she licked her lips and said, "That would make good Lechon!"

First Filipinos in Charlotte

Friday, the city of Charlotte witnessed a major event .... the arrival of the city's first two Filipinos .... Auntie Jen and Mom!! They came to experience the Southern hospitality and visit us. After they arrived, famished from the plane ride, I took them to the Original Pancake House to eat breakfast/lunch. Auntie Jen and Mom tried their first sweet tea. Auntie Jen's reaction was a sour face and an "ooohh, that's too sweet." She didn't like it. For dinner, we took them to the Cajun Yard Dog for some real Southern food. We tried alligator, fried green tomatoes, fried okra, sweet potato fries, fried chicken, fried catfish ... yes everything was fried!!! I think when they go back to California they will be craving fried food.