i left for the cafe by 10:10am, getting there at 10:30am. my parents were in the middle of making vegetarian buns, my mother just filled the drink fridge. while making sure all the drinks were pushed to the front of the display, i noticed there was a leak inside the fridge. it didn't take me long to discover one of the coca-cola cans had burst. that was the easy part. the hard part was cleaning up the mess it left as it dripped sugary soda all inside the display fridge. i had 20 minutes before we opened to clean it all up. my mother finally came to help.
we didn't know if it'd be busy with the forecast of rain for much of the day. but it stayed dry for most of the day, with a few sprinkles that barely wet the pavement. at first it felt like it'd be busy as we had a lot of customers for the first two hours. but after that, hardly anyone came to the cafe. not bento boxes today, but a lot of noodles: beef noodle soup, ramen, zhajiang. there were also 3 separate tea egg orders.
my parents went to go pick up the honda element today from the fresh pond honda dealership this morning. we've avoided having anything fixed at the dealership knowing it'd be expensive, but after taking the honda to our independent mechanic a few times already and the problems still persisting, we figured it was worth the extra cost just to get it fix correctly. the cost? $4396. they fixed 7 things total: replaced drive belt and alternator ($1198), replaced barking brake shoes ($407), replaced parking brake cable ($862), replaced rear brake rotors ($576), replaced front pads and rotors ($588), replace front stabilizer links ($239), replaced worn L/F blower ball joint ($324). essential what we got back was a brand new car - for the low price of $4400. $2800 of that was just labor cost, parts came out to around $1500.
my mother grilled some firm tofu for lunch. i added some hunan hot sauce combined with some taiwanese paocai for something close to a taiwanese stinky tofu experience - minus the fermented tofu stink. i feel like this is something we could sell at the cafe. my father made some mantou buns with leftover dough and i ate some with leftover red roasted beef my 2nd aunt had brought to the cafe.
i sorted the some seeds we had at the cafe: hyacinth beans (from the ones climbing the railing of the parking lot patio), buttercup squash (from squashes brought from belmont), and bitter melon (likewise). my 2nd aunt asked if she could have some squash seeds eventually to give to a gardening friend of hers.
i sorted 2 boxes of taiwanese noodles (150g exactly per bundle). i also installed another wire rack shelving in our sliding glass door commercial refrigerator. we'll have to wait and see if it's a good idea. it gives us another shelf of storage, but it's low height and dangerously close to the one of ventilation fans inside the fridge.
we closed close to 4pm so we could do a costco supply run, saving us a trip later this weekend. we took the newly refurbished honda element. gone were the weird squeaks and clinking sounds. the brakes stopped on a dime like they're practically brand new (actually they were brand new). the check engine light was also off. the interior of the vehicle did smell like mechanic grease, but that's just proof of the $2800 worth of manhours. the car radio was flashing though, had to be activated with a special code which my father later found sewn into the sun visor.
we went to the everett costco via the relatively straight path of davis square/tufts university/mystic river. approaching costco, we saw a long traffic jam going outbound, something we can look forward to when we leave.
even though costco closes at 6pm on saturdays, the place was packed more than the mornings or afternoons. combined that with the rain, which was now falling at a drizzle rate. all the shoppers were well-behaved, which was surprising, with so many people under one warehouse roof. a lot of asian college kids, who took ubers to get there and back (for those who don't own cars). they were selling pumpkins the size of beach balls for just $7.99. they also carried the beast blender ($150) which i'd never seen before; at first i thought they were fancy camping lights.
we left costco by 5:20pm but it took us about 45 minutes to get back to the cafe because of the traffic. that whole shopping plaza is serviced through a bottle neck. whenever there's traffic, congestion can build up quick, and the entire area grounds to a crawl. once again, surprisingly, not that much road rage, though occasionally i'd hear a car honking. i wouldn't want to come here during the christmas shopping season on a weekend.
we didn't get back to the cafe until after 6pm. we took 15 minutes to unload the supplies, before i drove the toyota back to belmont while my parents took the honda.
i was out in the backyard briefly. that's when i saw a large rabbit feeding on the lawn between RB1 and RB2. it hopped away in space between the two raised beds. later i saw it behind RB1, where i must've surprised it, and it tried to dart away, but unfortunately crashing into the newly built wire fencing for RB0, before running towards the long raised planters.
originally my mother wanted to order out (like cafe vanak), but afraid there might be a long wait for takeout, she ended up making some wonton soup for dinner, while my father had some leftover beef noodle soup. i added some sichuan peppercorn oil to my broth, made it taste so much better. peppercorn oil is due for a big moment, i predict it's going to be the next food condiment fad, like hot honey or kewpie doll mayo.
i drove the honda back to cambridge, saved my parents the trouble of having to come pick me up tomorrow morning in the rain (or me having to take a bus). i was afraid i wouldn't find any parking, but found one that didn't even need parallel parking.
saturday television programming is the worst this time of the year. seems like all the major networks are carrying college football, something i could care less about (i rarely watch any collegiate sports). i did notice that deion sanders' colorado buffaloes (PAC-12) lost their game today against the oregon ducks, 6-42, after having gone undefeated so far this season (3-0).