Nisei Ski Club

Hi, my name is Rick Dumlao. I joined the Nisei Ski Club in 2012. I was introduced to the club by Armand, our honorable club president. I started skiing at the late age of 25 then I took up snowboarding about 10 years ago. I would consider myself somewhere between an intermediate and an advanced rider. Attending the club’s week long ski trips for the last five years is always one of my highlights of the year for me. Previously I had been with another ski club called Crash and Burn until it was discontinued. I find the Nisei Ski Club much better suited to my liking with membership I can relate to. As I mentioned, Armand brought me into the club but we also had other things in common at the time. We used to work for the same company and we also share the skies flying hang gliders in the summer as well as enjoying the snow in the winter. I’m looking forward to contributing to the Nisei Ski Club as a new member of the board in any way I can.

We choose hope over fear. We see the future not as something out of our control, but as something we can shape for the better through concerted and collective effort.

Barack Obama

Hoyt Nelson

In the next few issues, I will talk about restaurants – mostly in the South Bay area. I’ve been “collecting” restaurants and sending short reviews to friends for over 50 years. My wife and I always have our antennae open for new, interesting places and when confronted with choices between an old favorite and a new place that looks interesting, we usually go to the new place. We usually like ethnic places and rarely pay more than $20 for a meal. It’s a moving target to find good places since new places are always popping up, old ones close and places frequently change. We usually get tips from friends and usually check out reviews from YELP and prefer places with at least 25 reviews.

Because we live in the South Bay, most places are within reach of our area, although we have a section of special places out of range of this area. You may not like all the same places as we do because of differences in your tastes, the particular dish, whether it’s lunch or dinner, the day of the week, etc. When in doubt, I suggest you learn more before choosing by reading YELP reviews. (The ratings are YELP’s ($ and *). Also, feel free to contact me for more details (and to tell us about your favorite places). Even we, sometimes find disappointments in places at which we have had good meals in the past.

Because my listing usually changes every month, I get sick of re-issuing issues all the time. So now, I am in the process of transferring my review to Google Drive. If you save the link to it, you will always be up to date. My drive location will also include notes on my travels, Bay Area hikes, my personal recipes, and a few of my favorite puzzles. I’m having a few problems since Google does things a little differently than Microsoft. By the next issue of our newsletter, I should have things straightened out. In the future, I hope to add more details on each restaurant, but until then, you will just have to ask me for more details. If there is enough interest in a particular restaurant, we might even organize a trip to it.

Here is this month’s restaurant:

Crepes Bistro

Enough with the preliminaries. One of our latest finds is Crepes Bistro (4.5 *. $$, Gluten-Free, Vegan, 57 Washington St., San Jose, where Washington changes to Bascom, 408-260-6885). It’s just off the Bascom exit from 880 going S. The crepes ($13 – $15.75) are more than large enough for 2 people so I suggest splitting a savory crepe for dinner and splitting a sweet crepe for desert. The crepes are true buckwheat, about 14X 16 and unusually thick at about ¼. Soups, salads, bagels, breakfast items, acai, deserts and drinks are also available. The place is fairly small and nicely decorated with tasteful photos. We enjoyed our first meal there and I look forward to the next.

Armand Gutierrez, President

It’s June and the start of the 2018-2019 NSC season. Our recent election resulted in three new members joining the board: Judy Bracken, Tina Woo, and Rick Dumlao. Thanks to all of you that took the time to vote, and you can see the full election results in Hoyt’s article.

Upcoming Events

NSC Annual Membership Meeting and Luau Picnic, June 10th
The NSC Annual Picnic on June 10th at Las Palmas park in Sunnyvale (same place as last year) is coming up soon. See the flyer in the newsletter and the Evite invitations have already been sent out. If you didn’t get an Evite in your email then please notify Karen Soo (tripdirector@niseiskiclub.org).

Mt. View Obon Festival is on July 21st and 22nd. This is an annual volunteer event that NSC participates in and is always fun. After all, there’s a variety of food, carnival-style games, cultural events, lots of people, and the famous Beer Booth. If you’re interested in volunteering contact the Mountain View Buddhist Temple at mvbt.575@gmail.com or phone (650) 964-9426.

Big Sky Ski Week 2019
Plans are moving smoothly for the Big Sky ski week trip for 2019, and the date is 19-26 January. There will be more details in the July newsletter.

For 2018-19 Big Sky will be on the Ikon Pass, and is also good for Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows. Here is what you need to know about the Ikon and Epic Passes for the Big Sky trip:

• Purchase the Ikon Pass (Big Sky, Squaw/Alpine) from Sports America and receive a discount on the Big Sky trip. Go to this link to purchase: Ikon Pass for Nisei Ski Club through Sports America
• Purchase the Epic Pass (Northstar, Heavenly, Kirkwood) and receive a discount on the Big Sky trip. The Epic Pass cannot be used at Big Sky, but if you go on the Big Sky trip you will receive a trip discount. Go to this link to purchase: Epic Pass for Nisei Ski Club through Sports America

Hoyt Nelson, Vice-President

The results are in and we have a new board of directors for NSC. They will be installed on June 1 for the coming fiscal year starting June 1. There are many of the same members and a few new members. The members of the board are:

We will soon be brainstorming for new events for the coming year and preparing for ways to add to our membership. If any member would like to be part of these activities, contact any board member or send email to president@niseiskiclub.org. We look forward to working with all of you this year.

Judy Hom

NSC bocce ball players

A dozen NSC’ers attended the NSC bocce ball event on May 12th at Lake Almaden. NSC came early and was able to secure 3 of the 4 courts. It was a beautiful day for a bocce ball outing. Within two hours, we were able to play two games.

As Hoyt mentioned in his post Bocce Ball at Lake Almaden, you can learn bocce ball quickly. No prior experience or special skills are needed. It is a fun game and anybody can play. I have played bocce ball a few times. I loved the experience so much that I bought a set of regulation bocce balls. It is amazing to me how competitive this simple game can be.

Game 1 – Judy and Winston versus Morgan and Greg

In game #1, Winston and I played against Morgan and Greg. Morgan and Greg are experienced bocce ball players. We scored a four pointer and were comfortably ahead. In a reversal of fortunes, Morgan and Greg scored a four pointer! The score was tied at 14-14. We didn’t have our rules with us and decided that we needed to win by two just like in volleyball. It was a scrappy battle but Morgan and Greg won.

Greg, Winston, and Morgan

Tied up! 14-14

Games 2 – Judy and Winston versus Jackie and Celeste

Jackie and Celeste were bocce ball newbies but it was still an engaging game. As Hoyt said, all you need is on the job training and there’s no telling what will happen during the game. In this game, Winston helped the opposing team by knocking one of Jackie and Celeste’s balls into the pallino. Take a look at these amazing pictures. You can’t get closer to the pallino than this!

Eventually Winston and I won this game. However, I sincerely believe that Celeste threw the game because it was nearly noon and she wanted to eat.

Ball is knocked next to the pallino

Celeste is the lucky recipient of Winston’s mistake

Lunch at Back A Yard in San Jose

Hoyt loves to eat. You can’t go wrong following Hoyt. This time was no exception. We went to Back A Yard in San Jose for Jamaican food. We were not disappointed. The lunch was delicious and a perfect way to end a pleasant afternoon of bocce ball. Check out the pictures of the tasty food at this link:  Back A Yard – San Jose .

Thanks to Hoyt Nelson for putting this event together.

May is Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. AAPI Heritage Month honors the rich history and accomplishments of AAPIs throughout the history of the United States. AAPI Heritage Month was created by Congress in 1997. The first 10 days in May are designated as AAPI Heritage Month and May 7-10 (inclusive) is designated as AAPI Heritage Week. According to Wikipedia,

The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869

Many organizations like PBS and AARP have celebrated AAPI Heritage month with articles. Check out this AARP article that lists influential Asian American movies and documentaries and this PBS article that lists PBS episodes that celebrates AAPI month. How many have you seen from this list?

Feature Films

• Joy Luck Club (1993)
• Enter the Dragon (1973)
• The Crimson Kimono (1959)
• Flower Drum Song (1961)
• Mississippi Masala (1992)
• Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
• Chan is Missing (1982)
• Mulan (1998)
• Picture Bride (1995)
• All Saints (2017)

Documentaries

• Linsanity (2013)
• The Search for General Tso (2014)
• Tyrus (2015)
• Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2017)
• Hollywood Chinese (2007)

PBS Episodes

• The Chinese Exclusion Act
• Resistance at Tule Lake
• Being Bruno Banani

Judy Hom

Have you used your Instant Pot yet? Here’s another recipe for you to try.

I read that the Instant Pot makes wonderful curries in a fraction of the time that it takes traditional methods. For my first Indian curry, I decided to make Butter Chicken or murgh makhani. Butter chicken is an easy curry to love. It’s flavorful but not too spicy. It’s a great main dish for non-Indians who may not be accustomed to fiery Indian curries.

I used Urvashi Pitre’s Instant Pot butter chicken recipe. She is known as “The Butter Chicken Lady”. You can find her recipe online: The Butter Chicken Lady who made Indian cooks love the Instant Pot. or in the Indian Instant Pot cookbook. My Indian co-worker gave me this book so Urvashi Pitre is the real deal.

The ingredients are readily available at your local supermarket. I bought my garam masala or Indian spice at the Indian market but I discovered that you buy it most anywhere — Safeway, Food Maxx, Walmart, and even Target! If you don’t want to buy garam masala, then no problem because the Indian Instant Pot cookbook even has a recipe for making it. It’s a combination of coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom seeds, bay leaves, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon stick. Most likely, many of you already have the spices needed to make it.

My butter chicken was tasty and quite respectable for a first attempt. Warning – please use an immersion blender and not a regular blender. I didn’t have an immersion blender so I tried blending the sauce in a regular blender. The sauce belched out of the blender and spattered my husband Winston. Bad idea. Oops.

As advertised, the recipe makes lots of extra sauce. We used the extra sauce with fish and shrimp. Yum. Yum.

It was a fun experience. Give it a try. I now know why butter chicken is called butter chicken — the recipe uses an entire stick of butter!