Here's my second attmpt at blogging through Blackberry email, on the bus between Málaga and Granada. I'm not sure whether HTML flags will work here.
We've been in Málaga for a week, helping out at the Málaga Media Center. We had no idea what we would be doing before we left. We were in touch with the site director for some time. The problem was that he was actually the future site director, and had arrived less than a month before we did.
We ended up with two tasks, to implement a shared calendar and to do a survey of their current network to determine the needs. The first was completed rather quickly; we recommended that they try Google Calendar, since it hadf pretty much everything they needed. The second took a little longer. Mapping out the network was relatively straightforward, so I spent a lot of time interviewing individuals to gain an understanding of their needs. In the process I also gained a great deal of insight into the work done at the center. I just finished writing up a report last night.
The center is located in a neighbourhood called el Atabal, in Puerto del la Torres, a suburb of Málaga, about 20 minutes from the city core by bus. Most of the individuals working there live on the same hill, and the center owns a few apartments in the neighborhood as well. We were provided one of these guest apartments, which included a kitchen, for 11 euro per person a night. There's no internet access at the apartment. The DSL at the center is pretty speedy, but I haven't spent too much time on it. I did use it to upload my set of photos from Italy. While at the center I found much of my time was occupied, but we did finish most of the work by Thursday.
Friday was spent exploring the tourist attractions in Málaga. While it's not Barcelona, there's easily enough to entertain for a full day. We started out in the old city, of narrow winding pedestrian streets, small shops and sidewalk cafes and patios. Next was the Catedral (cathedral), which was quite grand and ornate, with numerous chapels/enclaves each decorated with its own art. From there we proceeded to the Alcazabar, a moorish palace with beautiful patterns of rainwater troughs running along the pathways, supplying numerous pools and fountains. Further (much further) up the hill was th Gibralfarro, a huge moorish fortress. The whole area was visible from the tops of its walls. The Mediterranean, hidden while in the city, could be seen all along the southern horizon.
We took the wrong road out of the Gibralfarro, and ended up taking a long walk around the mountain, through some unfamiliar but magnificently wealthy looking neighbourhoods. We ended up at the beach, which is empty at this time of the year. The wind was howling in from the sea, whipping the waves into roaring and crashing against the beach.
We made our way back to the city center for dinner. Jason needed to make a call to arrange his new business, so we headed back early.
So far this week we've been sampling the local foods and we've had a pretty good coverage of andalusian cuisine. On the most part english is not broadly spoken, on numerous occasion we've ordered random suggested items not knowing what they were.
Potatoes, olives, deep fried seafood, cold soups and salads with aioli are popular. Cured ham and cheeses appear a lot, and are more expensive. Meals have ranged from 5 to 10 euro per person, including a beer or wine. Sangria isn't popular here as it is in Barcelona. The equivalent drink is tinto verrano, sweetened red wine with tonic.
The tapas we've had include:
- meatballs, either deep fried, with gravy, or tomato sauce, served with fries
- pulpa fritos, deep fried morsels of octopus (much like the msg chicken at taiwanese bubble tea places, the fresh octopus is most excellent)
- boquaronnes fritos, deep fried small sardines
- calamaritos fritos, deep fried baby squid
- deep fried tiny fish (bak fan yu?)
- boiled scallop (on the shell)
- gambas fritos, deep fried shrimp
- pinchito de langostinos, prawn skewer
- stuffed baked potato, with corn, olives, beets, tuna, breadsticks and garlic aioli
- crespa con bacon, spicy sausage patty burger with ham
- giant clam, served raw with lemon wedges
- jamon iberico, a local cured ham, found all over, with varying quality
- queso manchego, a relatively hard aged cheese
- porra, a cold, thick tomato soup served with jamon serrano
- deep fried potatoes with cane syrup
- deep fried omlette with cod fish and cane syrup
- street vendor salted almonds
- salmon baked in shrimp chowder sauce
- pan seared snapped fillets
- tiny, flavourful clams
- blanco e negro, ice cream with coffee granita
- churros con chocolate, unsweetened fritters with a cup of dipping chocolate
- various salads, most with a creamy aioli dressing
Oct 28, 2006
Málaga, Spain
Oct 25, 2006
Italy Retrospective
Friday
So I managed to bide my time at Heathrow, and my baggage made it through the flight intact, albeit a bit less new looking than it started out. I felt like one of the youngest people on a flight of retirees; I managed to sit beside a chatty, retired British couple, which meant I didn't manage much sleep on this leg of the flight either. The conversation was notably less salacious then the two (rather unattractive) Vegas party girls I sat near on the previous flight.
The Napoli airport is a rather dingy affair; there wasn't much going on there. I spent about an hour and a half wandering around the airport, waiting for the other three people with whom I was sharing a cab. It only took about 10 minutes to see the airport, the rest of the time was spent wandering aimlessly. Eventually their flight arrived, but the driver that was supposed to meet us was nowhere to be found. We waited around for a bit, then called. He showed up sometime after, almost an hour late.
The drive from Napoli to Ravello wasn't too bad. It took about an hour and a half, some over the motorway, and the rest through narrow roads weaving up the mountain. The sunset over the Bay of Naples was visible through the tinted windows of the van; it was gorgeous. It was the only sunset I caught, as Ravello was on the other side of the mountain, and the weather was uncooperative for the next few days.
The cab dropped us off at the entrance of Ravello. The streets of the tiny hillside town are strictly pedestrian; cars can go as far as a tunnel just before the town square, at the bottom of the hill. The Villa Cimbrone (Villa Chim-bron-neh), the hotel for the wedding, and where most of the guests were staying, were on the far side of town. They send porters down for the luggage, but with no sign of the porter when we arrived, we decided to have dinner instead. There were a couple of restaurants there, we picked one at random, the Restaurant Garden.
The restaurant had a covered patio, overlooking the Bay of Sorrento, with gas heat lamps. There were two other couples when we arrived at 8pm or so. The sun had already set, so it felt considerably later than that. Eventually, the tables filled up, dining times are much later in Italy (and Spain) than California. The food was pretty decent, I was pleased with the pick. I ordered figs and prosciutto, and a pasta with clams. The prosciutto was only so so, the figs, which came peeled, were delicious, the clams were incredibly tasty. Others had ordered calamary (way overcooked), an aubergine gnocchi (incredibly fluffy), and a pasta with impressive shrimp.
It turns out that Hotel Graal, where I was staying, was just beside the restaurant (did I mention Ravello was tiny?). For 95 euro, I thought it was a pretty good deal. The extremely friendly receptionist identified me by name as I stepped through the door, took my passport, and sent the porter to my room with my luggage (I came back to retrieve my passport later). The room was small, but the view from the spacious balcony was exceptional. The unit had a Carrier aircon/heater. Although I was able to turn it on, I wasn't able to figure out how to get either the aircon or heat working. I eventually gave up on the unit halfway in the night when it kept triggering the circuit breaker and was constantly turning itself on and off.
Through most of the trip I found myself feeling dehydrated. By Friday night, I had been up at least 24 hours, and was starting to feel unwell. I suspect it was something in the typhoid/polio/tetanus/diptheria/percussis/flu shots on Wednesday. I managed a shower before I conked out completely.
Saturday
I had thought the blinds were rather thick, but a crack was enough for me to wake up to the blinding morning sun into the corner of the room.
After snapping a few shots of the view, I headed down to the restaurant, where two American families and an old Brit couple were already having breakfast. There were a selection of cereals, fruits, cold pastries, cheese and salami, and breads and local commercial marmalades (orange, lemon, grapfruit, and combined citrus). By 10am I was out of the hotel with my camera. I scouted out Ravello and made my way to the Villa Cimbrone. I wandered the villa and the grounds a bit, but not recognizing any of the tourists (the villa has an entrance fee, but I got in for free claiming that I was there for a wedding), I left and decided to head down the stairs to Amalfi, a bigger town on the coast, at the bottom of the hill.
While the walk looked far, it ended up being further than I had thought. The narrow stairs led to a path that went between small terraced plots of fruits and vegetables that lined the mountain, and little houses that were accessible only by foot. There were plenty of small yapping dogs as I passed through the trail; luckilly most stayed behind small fences. They had me worried since I hadn't had my rabies shot. The trail eventually hit the road (the narrow, curvy one), and I walked the rest of the way worrying about cars and busses rather than dogs. I had once thought I'd come to Europe when I'm old, but there's plenty of places to hike on the Amalfi coast.
Down by Amalfi, the water was a luxurious blue. I walked into the town square, lined with shops selling gelato and limoncello. I saw one of the groom's friends sitting on the patio of a gelateria, and joined him. He introduced me to a number of other people who were also there for the wedding. Amalfi's, although still being small, was considerably bigger and had many more tourists than Ravello. We spent a couple of hours walking around, which was enough to cover the area around the town square, although I probably could have sat around with a good book for the rest of the day. The rest of the group decided to break for lunch, but not being very hungry, I picked up some pastries (sfogliatelle with lemon cream and a fancy biscotti) and joined them.
One of them had rented a car, so I hitched a ride back up. It was around 2:30pm and I was already feeling pretty tired, which pretty much confirmed that I was down with something. Clouds were rolling in during the drive up the hill. I had time for a short break, just enough time to get all my camera gear together and dig out my raincoat before having to shower and change and walk over to the villa for the 4:30pm wedding. On the way up, it had started raining. I walked a brisk pace up the hill, and although I hadn't gotten too wet from the rain, I was starting to sweat under my jacket. The wedding was originally planned for the gardens, but given the inclement weather, it was moved to a location called the "crypt", a verandah of sorts underneath the villa, with vaulted ceilings, but also and open wall facing the bay.
The ceremony itself was rather short, but just long enough for the rain to stop so that the couple and guests could go back out to the garden for photos. Somehow the timing ended up just right; as the bride and groom finished with their photos and joined everyone else for cocktails inside, the rain started to pick up again. It rained throughout the dinner, and by the time people started to leave, it was a downpour. I was rather glad I had managed to bring my raincoat for the walk back out, although the villa did provide umbrellas for guests. It might have been a reason for staying at the villa itself, but probably not worth the 250 euro difference in price.
Sunday
I had originally planned on returning to Napoli on Sunday with the same group I had came with, and then make my way to Pompei or otherwise entertain myself for the day before heading for Milan in the evening. As things happened to go, someone else had booked a car for Pompei, while his travelling companion actually preferred to head stright to Napoli. We easily swapped and I joined the car that went for the tour of Pompei. We took the scenic route along the coast to the Roman ruins, passing through Salerno and a few other small coastal towns along the way. As a kid, I had read the National Geographic articles featuring the mumified remains of the buried city, frozen in its dying throes. I didn't realize that was just one element, and the main draw was the city itself. Our driver arranged a tour for us (115 euro, not including the 11 euro per person entry fee). Divided 3 ways, it seemed like a lot to pay just to get an old guy to walk around for you for two hours and talk about how great the Romans were. He only covered the area close to the forum; afterwards we wandered the rest of the ruins ourselves. I couldn't help but get the feeling that this was one of those tourist towns where tourists get ripped off. From Pompei, we had to spend quite some time in traffic, as the main motorway to Napoli had been flooded from the rain the night before. When we arrived in Naples, we spent some time wandering around the city square. I didn't actually have time to check out the palace (will have to save that for next time).
The driver dropped the other two wedding guests off at their hotel in Naples, and took me to the airport. I spent some time wandering around, looking for a courier to send my formal attire back home, but came up empty, meaning I would have to check my backpack again, since EasyJet only allowed for 1 carry on item. I had my biscotti (which had sat in my bag till now), as well as a prosciutto and provolone panini purchased at the airport, for dinner. I couldn't help but notice that a lot of Italians were having Burger King instead. Many passengers however, were carrying little styrofoam boxes of mozzerella di bufula.
It was almost 11pm when I arrived in Milan via EasyJet. I had originally booked the flight to Milan, since the Milan-Malaga flight was only 30 euro with all the taxes included. What I figured afterwards was that the airport was actually quite far from the city core (70km). There's a reasonably priced train connecting the airport to the city, but it would not start early enough for us to catch our early flight to Malaga. I tried booking a hotel closer to the airport, the UNA Hotel Malpensa (Malpensa being the name of the airport). Arriving at Malpensa however, I realised that the cab fare was still 45 euro to the hotel. In retrospect it might have been more worthwhile just to stay in the city center, and live with the incrementally higher cab fare. It wasn't much of a loss though, since I was still feeling pretty sick, I didn't really have much desire to explore, just to go to bed. Luckily the hotel was quite nice, with modern decor in its oversized rooms and excellent beds.
Things to love about Napoli/Amalfi Coast:
- perfect temperatures (at least, in October)
- the amazing vista
- incredibly friendly people (it is tourist country, after all)
- seafood
- mozzerella di bufula
- tall skinny girls in tall skinny jeans tucked into tall skinny boots with tall skinny heels :)
So I managed to bide my time at Heathrow, and my baggage made it through the flight intact, albeit a bit less new looking than it started out. I felt like one of the youngest people on a flight of retirees; I managed to sit beside a chatty, retired British couple, which meant I didn't manage much sleep on this leg of the flight either. The conversation was notably less salacious then the two (rather unattractive) Vegas party girls I sat near on the previous flight.
The Napoli airport is a rather dingy affair; there wasn't much going on there. I spent about an hour and a half wandering around the airport, waiting for the other three people with whom I was sharing a cab. It only took about 10 minutes to see the airport, the rest of the time was spent wandering aimlessly. Eventually their flight arrived, but the driver that was supposed to meet us was nowhere to be found. We waited around for a bit, then called. He showed up sometime after, almost an hour late.
The drive from Napoli to Ravello wasn't too bad. It took about an hour and a half, some over the motorway, and the rest through narrow roads weaving up the mountain. The sunset over the Bay of Naples was visible through the tinted windows of the van; it was gorgeous. It was the only sunset I caught, as Ravello was on the other side of the mountain, and the weather was uncooperative for the next few days.
The cab dropped us off at the entrance of Ravello. The streets of the tiny hillside town are strictly pedestrian; cars can go as far as a tunnel just before the town square, at the bottom of the hill. The Villa Cimbrone (Villa Chim-bron-neh), the hotel for the wedding, and where most of the guests were staying, were on the far side of town. They send porters down for the luggage, but with no sign of the porter when we arrived, we decided to have dinner instead. There were a couple of restaurants there, we picked one at random, the Restaurant Garden.
The restaurant had a covered patio, overlooking the Bay of Sorrento, with gas heat lamps. There were two other couples when we arrived at 8pm or so. The sun had already set, so it felt considerably later than that. Eventually, the tables filled up, dining times are much later in Italy (and Spain) than California. The food was pretty decent, I was pleased with the pick. I ordered figs and prosciutto, and a pasta with clams. The prosciutto was only so so, the figs, which came peeled, were delicious, the clams were incredibly tasty. Others had ordered calamary (way overcooked), an aubergine gnocchi (incredibly fluffy), and a pasta with impressive shrimp.
It turns out that Hotel Graal, where I was staying, was just beside the restaurant (did I mention Ravello was tiny?). For 95 euro, I thought it was a pretty good deal. The extremely friendly receptionist identified me by name as I stepped through the door, took my passport, and sent the porter to my room with my luggage (I came back to retrieve my passport later). The room was small, but the view from the spacious balcony was exceptional. The unit had a Carrier aircon/heater. Although I was able to turn it on, I wasn't able to figure out how to get either the aircon or heat working. I eventually gave up on the unit halfway in the night when it kept triggering the circuit breaker and was constantly turning itself on and off.
Through most of the trip I found myself feeling dehydrated. By Friday night, I had been up at least 24 hours, and was starting to feel unwell. I suspect it was something in the typhoid/polio/tetanus/diptheria/percussis/flu shots on Wednesday. I managed a shower before I conked out completely.
Saturday
I had thought the blinds were rather thick, but a crack was enough for me to wake up to the blinding morning sun into the corner of the room.
After snapping a few shots of the view, I headed down to the restaurant, where two American families and an old Brit couple were already having breakfast. There were a selection of cereals, fruits, cold pastries, cheese and salami, and breads and local commercial marmalades (orange, lemon, grapfruit, and combined citrus). By 10am I was out of the hotel with my camera. I scouted out Ravello and made my way to the Villa Cimbrone. I wandered the villa and the grounds a bit, but not recognizing any of the tourists (the villa has an entrance fee, but I got in for free claiming that I was there for a wedding), I left and decided to head down the stairs to Amalfi, a bigger town on the coast, at the bottom of the hill.
While the walk looked far, it ended up being further than I had thought. The narrow stairs led to a path that went between small terraced plots of fruits and vegetables that lined the mountain, and little houses that were accessible only by foot. There were plenty of small yapping dogs as I passed through the trail; luckilly most stayed behind small fences. They had me worried since I hadn't had my rabies shot. The trail eventually hit the road (the narrow, curvy one), and I walked the rest of the way worrying about cars and busses rather than dogs. I had once thought I'd come to Europe when I'm old, but there's plenty of places to hike on the Amalfi coast.
Down by Amalfi, the water was a luxurious blue. I walked into the town square, lined with shops selling gelato and limoncello. I saw one of the groom's friends sitting on the patio of a gelateria, and joined him. He introduced me to a number of other people who were also there for the wedding. Amalfi's, although still being small, was considerably bigger and had many more tourists than Ravello. We spent a couple of hours walking around, which was enough to cover the area around the town square, although I probably could have sat around with a good book for the rest of the day. The rest of the group decided to break for lunch, but not being very hungry, I picked up some pastries (sfogliatelle with lemon cream and a fancy biscotti) and joined them.
One of them had rented a car, so I hitched a ride back up. It was around 2:30pm and I was already feeling pretty tired, which pretty much confirmed that I was down with something. Clouds were rolling in during the drive up the hill. I had time for a short break, just enough time to get all my camera gear together and dig out my raincoat before having to shower and change and walk over to the villa for the 4:30pm wedding. On the way up, it had started raining. I walked a brisk pace up the hill, and although I hadn't gotten too wet from the rain, I was starting to sweat under my jacket. The wedding was originally planned for the gardens, but given the inclement weather, it was moved to a location called the "crypt", a verandah of sorts underneath the villa, with vaulted ceilings, but also and open wall facing the bay.
The ceremony itself was rather short, but just long enough for the rain to stop so that the couple and guests could go back out to the garden for photos. Somehow the timing ended up just right; as the bride and groom finished with their photos and joined everyone else for cocktails inside, the rain started to pick up again. It rained throughout the dinner, and by the time people started to leave, it was a downpour. I was rather glad I had managed to bring my raincoat for the walk back out, although the villa did provide umbrellas for guests. It might have been a reason for staying at the villa itself, but probably not worth the 250 euro difference in price.
Sunday
I had originally planned on returning to Napoli on Sunday with the same group I had came with, and then make my way to Pompei or otherwise entertain myself for the day before heading for Milan in the evening. As things happened to go, someone else had booked a car for Pompei, while his travelling companion actually preferred to head stright to Napoli. We easily swapped and I joined the car that went for the tour of Pompei. We took the scenic route along the coast to the Roman ruins, passing through Salerno and a few other small coastal towns along the way. As a kid, I had read the National Geographic articles featuring the mumified remains of the buried city, frozen in its dying throes. I didn't realize that was just one element, and the main draw was the city itself. Our driver arranged a tour for us (115 euro, not including the 11 euro per person entry fee). Divided 3 ways, it seemed like a lot to pay just to get an old guy to walk around for you for two hours and talk about how great the Romans were. He only covered the area close to the forum; afterwards we wandered the rest of the ruins ourselves. I couldn't help but get the feeling that this was one of those tourist towns where tourists get ripped off. From Pompei, we had to spend quite some time in traffic, as the main motorway to Napoli had been flooded from the rain the night before. When we arrived in Naples, we spent some time wandering around the city square. I didn't actually have time to check out the palace (will have to save that for next time).
The driver dropped the other two wedding guests off at their hotel in Naples, and took me to the airport. I spent some time wandering around, looking for a courier to send my formal attire back home, but came up empty, meaning I would have to check my backpack again, since EasyJet only allowed for 1 carry on item. I had my biscotti (which had sat in my bag till now), as well as a prosciutto and provolone panini purchased at the airport, for dinner. I couldn't help but notice that a lot of Italians were having Burger King instead. Many passengers however, were carrying little styrofoam boxes of mozzerella di bufula.
It was almost 11pm when I arrived in Milan via EasyJet. I had originally booked the flight to Milan, since the Milan-Malaga flight was only 30 euro with all the taxes included. What I figured afterwards was that the airport was actually quite far from the city core (70km). There's a reasonably priced train connecting the airport to the city, but it would not start early enough for us to catch our early flight to Malaga. I tried booking a hotel closer to the airport, the UNA Hotel Malpensa (Malpensa being the name of the airport). Arriving at Malpensa however, I realised that the cab fare was still 45 euro to the hotel. In retrospect it might have been more worthwhile just to stay in the city center, and live with the incrementally higher cab fare. It wasn't much of a loss though, since I was still feeling pretty sick, I didn't really have much desire to explore, just to go to bed. Luckily the hotel was quite nice, with modern decor in its oversized rooms and excellent beds.
Things to love about Napoli/Amalfi Coast:
- perfect temperatures (at least, in October)
- the amazing vista
- incredibly friendly people (it is tourist country, after all)
- seafood
- mozzerella di bufula
- tall skinny girls in tall skinny jeans tucked into tall skinny boots with tall skinny heels :)
Oct 23, 2006
Heathrow
I've been to Heathrow a few times, but I've never left the airport. Today was no different. Had a four hour layover, which actually went by reasonably quickly, since some of it passed via having to clear customs and check-in again, and the rest due to the loaner Blackberry device I got from work.
First the Blackberry, which I'm actually reasonably enamoured with for the purposes of travel. It works reasonably well for checking work email; I was able to go through about 200 or so unread emails while waiting for flights in SFO and LHR, After that I tried using the limited web browser over the slow GPRS connection.
Gmail worked quite well, but I wasn't able to use Blogger. I need to set up Blogger for email blogging, then I should be able to send updates via the Blackberry.
Whatever phone plan the company is on seems pretty good. I was online pretty much as soon as the plane landed, and was receiving work mail in no time. Contrasting that is my personal T-mobile cell phone service, which rejected all the available carriers, so I can't even pay for roaming even if I wanted to.
I had considered getting a Sony mylo before leaving, but the device is very pricey for what it does. I would have been able to use it for blogging at the airport, since it comes with 1 year of T-mobile access, but that still wasn't quite compelling for spending $350.
As for the hassle at the airport, it's due to the fact that I'm going for a wedding and I want to travel light, and the synergy just doesn't work. Last week I got a 50L internal frame backpack, which isn't the best item to check in since it doesn't have much protection for the contents like real luggage would. It also doesn't offer much space, so I brought my suit along on a hanger in a suit bag, which isn't an ideal check-in vehicle either.
At SFO I carried both on the plane quite easily. I was originally worried that the backpack was big, but I had absolutely no problem fitting it into an overhead compartment on a 747, The suit I hung in the closet. Then in the early hours of Friday morning, the plane came into the UK, with masses of light underneath, like neurons and their dendrite connections snaking along the geography of the land. Soon after that, the lights disappeared under clouds as the sun rose, orange and pink on the cloud tops. It was light as we began descending, and the cheery sunrise deteriorated into gloomy fog as we passed below the cloud cover. The green fields were visible below, a muted and dreary green. When we landed, I found out, as I had feared, that flights originating from London only allow one carry-on, which required me to go to the Departures section to check in my bag. This involved going through immigration/customs first.
Anyways, all that's over with now. I'm just hoping that the lenses in my backpack survive their baggage handling trip. I'm carrying my camera by hand so I'm sure that'll survive. Since it was 8am GMT, and there wasn't much of a dinner served on the previous flight, my search for food brought me to Pret-a-Manger, which had the biggest line by far compared to any other place. I went for an iced tea with a croissant, but since I wasn't carrying British pounds, I had to get two croissants to meet the minimum required for a credit card payment. Incidentally, my Mastercard was rejected, probably for my protection. Nonetheless, it's annoying. Especially since I anticipated it and already talked to the credit card company about it.
The almond and chocolate croissants were surprisingly good for something purchased at an airport. They were buttery, crispy on the outside, and chewy on the inside, and just slightly warm. I think I'm going to get a heart attack from the two of them though. The bottled iced green tea, however, was horrid. It was sweetened with some type of fruit juice, which gave it a bit of sweetness and tartness, which just doesn't go well with green tea. Yuck.
Anyways, it's 3am in California, I'm pretty sure I'll be struggling to the hotel. I don't think I'll be up for much touristy stuff today.
Oct 22, 2006
Testing
Testing out blog access by email. I finally got a minute of internet access in Milan last night to set this up thanks to Jason.
I have something written up from when I first left, but its on my laptop and I haven't gotten an internet connection from there yet. I'll try to post that up first to keep everything in semi-chronological order.
Oct 15, 2006
W.T.F.
The Wolfmother/Silversun Pickups show went on sale at 10:00am. It was sold out at 10:00am. And I did not get any tickets.
ARGH!
ARGH!
Oct 3, 2006
Everything that is connected and beautiful
I'm used to a change of pace every so often. You get 6 years of elementary school, followed by another 6 of high school, and 5 years of university. Maybe that's why I get the phantom sensation of it being time to move on. This school analogy is a bit lacking; school ends with a clear cut graduation, followed generally by an equally obvious next step. Once you're working though, there's no real graduation, just regular bumps in compensation and perhaps leaps in responsibility. Any next steps seem just as nebulous.
Once upon a time I had thought that the future would be like fog in the distance; as you get closer, you'd be able see further beyond. Seems like the fog doesn't necessarily clear up sometimes though. I'm kinda hoping that if I take a bit of a break and hang out for a while, that it might clear out? Should I be skeptical?
If the break works out, it might looks something like:
Ravello
Napoli
Milano
Malaga
Granada
Casablanca
Fes
Erfoud
Sahara
Marrakech
London
If it works out. And in the meantime I'll need to figure out how to get enough storage space to carry 3 weeks worth of pictures (and batteries?). And travelling music.
I realize I'm old now that I pick up on "new" music from the radio. Only a few mere days after getting the Regina Spektor CD did I develop a massive obsession for Silversun Pickups. Haven't gotten the CD yet, but thanks to the Hype Machine you can easily find popular mp3s on blogs on line. And they even have a funky little Flash based player.
I recommend Fidelity and On the Radio from Regina Spektor, and Kissing Families, Lazy Eye, and Well Thought out Twinkles from SSP.
Let's hope it all works out.
Once upon a time I had thought that the future would be like fog in the distance; as you get closer, you'd be able see further beyond. Seems like the fog doesn't necessarily clear up sometimes though. I'm kinda hoping that if I take a bit of a break and hang out for a while, that it might clear out? Should I be skeptical?
If the break works out, it might looks something like:
Ravello
Napoli
Milano
Malaga
Granada
Casablanca
Fes
Erfoud
Sahara
Marrakech
London
If it works out. And in the meantime I'll need to figure out how to get enough storage space to carry 3 weeks worth of pictures (and batteries?). And travelling music.
I realize I'm old now that I pick up on "new" music from the radio. Only a few mere days after getting the Regina Spektor CD did I develop a massive obsession for Silversun Pickups. Haven't gotten the CD yet, but thanks to the Hype Machine you can easily find popular mp3s on blogs on line. And they even have a funky little Flash based player.
I recommend Fidelity and On the Radio from Regina Spektor, and Kissing Families, Lazy Eye, and Well Thought out Twinkles from SSP.
Let's hope it all works out.
Sep 10, 2006
Mellow Yellow
In celebration of a Costco shopping trip yesterday where I found a whole ounce of saffron for $23.99 (rather than the normal $10 for a few threads), I decided to try to whip me up some paella for dinner tonight. And as a celebration of me actually cooking, I'm blogging about it.
Following the 5 step recipe in my cookbook, I neglected to stir the rice. Actually, it said not to stir the rice, but the idea is to stir it in when you pour in the uncooked rice, but don't stir it once it starts cooking. So instead of having nice, crusty, caramalized rice at the bottom of the pan, I just had some caramelized onions and fish, and since onions and fish don't really caramelized, it just meant burnt. However, it still ended up tasting pretty good (it's hard to go wrong with saffron at your disposal!), just a bit more of a cleanup job.
I've been meaning to post of the various events and thoughts of the summer so far, but putting photos up on flickr seems to be all I've succeeded with. You'll have to surf over there and check out the sets. I think to blaze through it, I think it would go something like:
Vince and Shuk-ka came over to visit JayZ, which was the first indication to me that summer had even came. We drove them up to SF for the turbo tour, where we whipped through SF and ended the evening with an all-you-can-eat-and-drink shabu-shabu extravaganza at Cafe Mum's near Japantown (great fun for a large party of drinkers, and you're guaranteed to be full, 3.5/5).
Later in July, as our lease was ending, I decided to move on from pretty much 9 years of roomates (the last 4 with the same two other guys) to get my own place, which was pretty much the original idea, 4 years ago, except that I was too cheap for that. I had barely moved into my little studio when Al and Denise came down for a visit. We checked out Limon (disappointing Peruvian, nothing spectacular here, much like most other tapas places 2.5/5), Tartine (the most excellent croissants (4.5/5), and Kirala (some winners and losers, but overall good, the miso marinated black cod is a must 4/5) in SF. We also took a trip up to Napa (extremely disappointing due to the mass of summer tourists, I suspect Napa's time is up, it's just too touristy).
That overlapped slightly with Steph and I checking out Gary Danko's (can't find much to complain about this place, simply excellent food 4.5/5), and later that week we ended up going out for Amnon's birthday at Myth (huge restaurant, some good dishes, notably the pork chop, along with a number of poorly executed dishes, and a really poor job at desserts 2.5/5).
Soon after was our small group's third annual backpacking trip, this time to the Loch Leven lakes up near Tahoe. Being at the absolute end of the crew and falling far behind during the hike on this one convinced me that the past year has contained too much work, and too much eating out, and not barely enough exercise. The subsequent resolution worked for a few days as I went swimming in the morning, but that's faded off.
I ought to go swimming tomorrow morning. And bike to work.
Had a quick trip up to Redmond for work, and then the Labour Day weekend was a road trip to Lassen that included too many bags of chips and not enough miles of hiking.
Phew, these "what I did" blogs are long but seem kinda dull. I'm actually pretty happy with a weekend of hanging out at home. I still need to do vacation planning for October.
Time flies. Especially when you're old.
Following the 5 step recipe in my cookbook, I neglected to stir the rice. Actually, it said not to stir the rice, but the idea is to stir it in when you pour in the uncooked rice, but don't stir it once it starts cooking. So instead of having nice, crusty, caramalized rice at the bottom of the pan, I just had some caramelized onions and fish, and since onions and fish don't really caramelized, it just meant burnt. However, it still ended up tasting pretty good (it's hard to go wrong with saffron at your disposal!), just a bit more of a cleanup job.
I've been meaning to post of the various events and thoughts of the summer so far, but putting photos up on flickr seems to be all I've succeeded with. You'll have to surf over there and check out the sets. I think to blaze through it, I think it would go something like:
Vince and Shuk-ka came over to visit JayZ, which was the first indication to me that summer had even came. We drove them up to SF for the turbo tour, where we whipped through SF and ended the evening with an all-you-can-eat-and-drink shabu-shabu extravaganza at Cafe Mum's near Japantown (great fun for a large party of drinkers, and you're guaranteed to be full, 3.5/5).
Later in July, as our lease was ending, I decided to move on from pretty much 9 years of roomates (the last 4 with the same two other guys) to get my own place, which was pretty much the original idea, 4 years ago, except that I was too cheap for that. I had barely moved into my little studio when Al and Denise came down for a visit. We checked out Limon (disappointing Peruvian, nothing spectacular here, much like most other tapas places 2.5/5), Tartine (the most excellent croissants (4.5/5), and Kirala (some winners and losers, but overall good, the miso marinated black cod is a must 4/5) in SF. We also took a trip up to Napa (extremely disappointing due to the mass of summer tourists, I suspect Napa's time is up, it's just too touristy).
That overlapped slightly with Steph and I checking out Gary Danko's (can't find much to complain about this place, simply excellent food 4.5/5), and later that week we ended up going out for Amnon's birthday at Myth (huge restaurant, some good dishes, notably the pork chop, along with a number of poorly executed dishes, and a really poor job at desserts 2.5/5).
Soon after was our small group's third annual backpacking trip, this time to the Loch Leven lakes up near Tahoe. Being at the absolute end of the crew and falling far behind during the hike on this one convinced me that the past year has contained too much work, and too much eating out, and not barely enough exercise. The subsequent resolution worked for a few days as I went swimming in the morning, but that's faded off.
I ought to go swimming tomorrow morning. And bike to work.
Had a quick trip up to Redmond for work, and then the Labour Day weekend was a road trip to Lassen that included too many bags of chips and not enough miles of hiking.
Phew, these "what I did" blogs are long but seem kinda dull. I'm actually pretty happy with a weekend of hanging out at home. I still need to do vacation planning for October.
Time flies. Especially when you're old.
Sep 9, 2006
Eggshells
I heard this artist (who sounds like a bit like Keane, with the Radiohead frontman's accent) on the radio a couple of days ago and surfed to look him up. Free streaming music is great. Anyways, this song seems to reflect my frame of mind for the last few months.
Dodging dried vomit on the sidewalk as I walk
I'm singing some stupid song I heard on the radio
Strolling down the most important street in Nashville.
Holding in my left hand the weak man's hammer
I always keep an extra set of nails in case I break one
But nothing ever seems to get broken in my world.
That's just the problem with me these days
I'm walking on eggshells
Nothing ever goes wrong and nothing ever goes right
I don't know how to get help
I'm walking on eggshells.
And I can't feel a thing
And nothing ever happens to me
Nothing in this world it seems can sweep me off my feet
Everything's amazing, but only in theory
Someone help me cause I'm losing it quietly.
That's just the problem with me these days
I'm walking on eggshells
Nothing ever goes wrong and nothing ever goes right
I don't know how to get help
And everything is perfect
But nothing ever moves me
Nothing ever goes wrong and nothing ever goes right
Give me feathers or give me nails
I'm walking on eggshells.
You might be the one for me but I will never know
I can't fall in love if I've fallen asleep
Will I ever wake up?
I'm walking on eggshells.
Nothing ever goes wrong and nothing ever goes right
I don't know how to get help
And everything is perfect
But nothing ever moves me
Nothing ever goes wrong and nothing ever goes right
Give me feathers or give me nails
I'm walking on eggshells.
Give me feathers or give me nails
I'm walking on eggshells.
Everything is perfect
I can't feel a thing
Everything is perfect.
- "Eggshells", Landon Pigg
I heard this artist (who sounds like a bit like Keane, with the Radiohead frontman's accent) on the radio a couple of days ago and surfed to look him up. Free streaming music is great. Anyways, this song seems to reflect my frame of mind for the last few months.
Dodging dried vomit on the sidewalk as I walk
I'm singing some stupid song I heard on the radio
Strolling down the most important street in Nashville.
Holding in my left hand the weak man's hammer
I always keep an extra set of nails in case I break one
But nothing ever seems to get broken in my world.
That's just the problem with me these days
I'm walking on eggshells
Nothing ever goes wrong and nothing ever goes right
I don't know how to get help
I'm walking on eggshells.
And I can't feel a thing
And nothing ever happens to me
Nothing in this world it seems can sweep me off my feet
Everything's amazing, but only in theory
Someone help me cause I'm losing it quietly.
That's just the problem with me these days
I'm walking on eggshells
Nothing ever goes wrong and nothing ever goes right
I don't know how to get help
And everything is perfect
But nothing ever moves me
Nothing ever goes wrong and nothing ever goes right
Give me feathers or give me nails
I'm walking on eggshells.
You might be the one for me but I will never know
I can't fall in love if I've fallen asleep
Will I ever wake up?
I'm walking on eggshells.
Nothing ever goes wrong and nothing ever goes right
I don't know how to get help
And everything is perfect
But nothing ever moves me
Nothing ever goes wrong and nothing ever goes right
Give me feathers or give me nails
I'm walking on eggshells.
Give me feathers or give me nails
I'm walking on eggshells.
Everything is perfect
I can't feel a thing
Everything is perfect.
- "Eggshells", Landon Pigg
Aug 17, 2006
Viral Marketting
I guess marketting these days is about making ads that people will spread around on the Internet. Here's an ad I actually like...
Aug 8, 2006
I took one of those quiz things
And I'm likely a theologian who rarely showered. Actually, I think I read some Anselm stuff in University. Don't recall how impressed I was though. I think I read some argument of his on the existence of God, yet it wasn't thoroughly convincing.
 | You scored as Anselm. Anselm is the outstanding theologian of the medieval period.He sees man's primary problem as having failed to render unto God what we owe him, so God becomes man in Christ and gives God what he is due. You should read 'Cur Deus Homo?'
Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com |
Aug 7, 2006
How to lose memories... forget them
So it turns out I was able to get rid of some of those souvenirs mentioned in the previous post. I had a number of postcards and photographs, collected over the past few years from various friends who were kind enough to send back a little from their travels, posted to the back of my bedroom door.
And I forgot to clean them off. So now, they're gone. Simple as that.
That should teach me to be as pansy as to paste postcards on my bedroom door.
And I forgot to clean them off. So now, they're gone. Simple as that.
That should teach me to be as pansy as to paste postcards on my bedroom door.
Jul 31, 2006
Purge
In the Waterloo days, I'd move every four months. I was pretty lucky my parents had a minivan; it wasn't too hard to fit everything, bed, desk and all, in one load. I don't know how guys managed to move with just a sedan or compact. After the furniture, I had a few valuables. Totoro, the computer, the NAD 314 integrated amp, the Mission 731 speakers, a couple of plastic boxes of clothes, and all the food my mom made me bring.
Now I have almost a truckful of crap. And this is after giving away a sofabed and an entertainment unit. I was surprised by the amount of stuff I had.
So moving is one of those times to just get rid of stuff. But it isn't as easy as it seems. There's all the useless junk in good condition. You just can't toss that out, can you? And what about that stuff that isn't in such good condition, but is fully functional? I mean, you can't treat it like any other piece of garbage, can you?
And then there's all those keepsakes and nostalgic items. Like really, what do I need a shoebox of old photos and birthday cards for? I don't know, but somehow it managed to stick around. I'm really not good at this purging thing.
So, hey, anyone want any 5+ year old engineering textbooks? They're like, in pristine condition!
Now I have almost a truckful of crap. And this is after giving away a sofabed and an entertainment unit. I was surprised by the amount of stuff I had.
So moving is one of those times to just get rid of stuff. But it isn't as easy as it seems. There's all the useless junk in good condition. You just can't toss that out, can you? And what about that stuff that isn't in such good condition, but is fully functional? I mean, you can't treat it like any other piece of garbage, can you?
And then there's all those keepsakes and nostalgic items. Like really, what do I need a shoebox of old photos and birthday cards for? I don't know, but somehow it managed to stick around. I'm really not good at this purging thing.
So, hey, anyone want any 5+ year old engineering textbooks? They're like, in pristine condition!
Jul 14, 2006
Jul 11, 2006
Jun 20, 2006
Where did the last month go?
Whenever someone asks "What's new?", it seems to me that my life has gotten pretty routine. But this past month and a half certainly seems quite full.
To start, Peachy left, to return to Toronto. The place certainly hasn't been the same without her. Next was Momo. Next to go is Greg. Living here has always seemed temporary; everyone leaving has just made it more so.
A month ago I was up in Seattle for a weekend, after that, Vancouver, then Toronto for a hectic week for my brother's wedding with relatives from all over. I think in moments passing in there I had thoughts to write down. By now they seem to have been forgotten. They seemed so important and full at the time, if it could have been captured; but too many are inconsequential in retrospect.
These are the days I'm glad for my camera. That I might be able to capture those happy moments; at least then they last longer than my memory.
To start, Peachy left, to return to Toronto. The place certainly hasn't been the same without her. Next was Momo. Next to go is Greg. Living here has always seemed temporary; everyone leaving has just made it more so.
A month ago I was up in Seattle for a weekend, after that, Vancouver, then Toronto for a hectic week for my brother's wedding with relatives from all over. I think in moments passing in there I had thoughts to write down. By now they seem to have been forgotten. They seemed so important and full at the time, if it could have been captured; but too many are inconsequential in retrospect.
These are the days I'm glad for my camera. That I might be able to capture those happy moments; at least then they last longer than my memory.
May 5, 2006
Closure
I'd like to think of myself as flexible. To be able to take things as they come and run with it. But in reality, I need to be psychologically prepared. When you see things coming, they can still hit you like a Mack truck but somehow it just feels better.
So of course, I must have been nuts not to see this coming. But I kept thinking that there would be a next time. And before you know it, it's May, and summer's here. And the ski resorts are closing.
So I've decided, I must make this pilgrimage of farewell. The end of winter. I just need to make that one last run.
So of course, I must have been nuts not to see this coming. But I kept thinking that there would be a next time. And before you know it, it's May, and summer's here. And the ski resorts are closing.
So I've decided, I must make this pilgrimage of farewell. The end of winter. I just need to make that one last run.
Apr 17, 2006
Belated Blog
I must have hit "Save as Draft" instead of "Publish Post" on this:
Happy Easter All!
On a rainy Easter morning, after service at PBC with Jeff Ferrar speaking on Acts 3 (which I must admit, was much less repetitive than the oft used Resurection sermon). Steph and I shared our luncheon meal with some clearly pagan friends at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco.
I had baked eggs with cream and morels and pancetta, which were good, but lacking in comparison with our previous Sunday brunch at Foreign Cinema in the Mission. The much praised tall pile of shoestring potatoes failed to impress. It was pretty much In N Out fries, on crack, for $6. Frankly, my local favourite for overpriced fries is still Bistro Jeanty in Napa.
Our lunch at Foreign Cinema last weekend made me want to check out the dinner scene at the rather hip Mission spot. Zuni had a nice atmosphere, but the ambience was a bit on the yuppy side for me (although I probably fit right in the demographic).
After a rather relaxing afternoon (ignoring the mad rush of emails at work), I caught "A Love Song for Bobby Long", with the contstantly fetching Scarlett Johanssen, which works extremely well after a bottle of less than impressive Cigare Blanc. Please remind me that picking a bottle of wine based on the alien head icon on the cap is not a good idea.
I heard this song on the radio as we left church this morning. Somehow it seemed like a fitting Easter song, especially for those who don't find themselves at church on Easter morning.
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
I have climbed highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire
I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well yes I'm still running
You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Of my shame
You know I believed it
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...
Happy Easter All!
On a rainy Easter morning, after service at PBC with Jeff Ferrar speaking on Acts 3 (which I must admit, was much less repetitive than the oft used Resurection sermon). Steph and I shared our luncheon meal with some clearly pagan friends at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco.
I had baked eggs with cream and morels and pancetta, which were good, but lacking in comparison with our previous Sunday brunch at Foreign Cinema in the Mission. The much praised tall pile of shoestring potatoes failed to impress. It was pretty much In N Out fries, on crack, for $6. Frankly, my local favourite for overpriced fries is still Bistro Jeanty in Napa.
Our lunch at Foreign Cinema last weekend made me want to check out the dinner scene at the rather hip Mission spot. Zuni had a nice atmosphere, but the ambience was a bit on the yuppy side for me (although I probably fit right in the demographic).
After a rather relaxing afternoon (ignoring the mad rush of emails at work), I caught "A Love Song for Bobby Long", with the contstantly fetching Scarlett Johanssen, which works extremely well after a bottle of less than impressive Cigare Blanc. Please remind me that picking a bottle of wine based on the alien head icon on the cap is not a good idea.
I heard this song on the radio as we left church this morning. Somehow it seemed like a fitting Easter song, especially for those who don't find themselves at church on Easter morning.
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
I have climbed highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire
I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well yes I'm still running
You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Of my shame
You know I believed it
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...
Mar 11, 2006
California Skies
Have I mentione before, how the skies here are not like the skies where I grew up?
The sky here just seems so much bigger, even though it's limited by hills on each side.
It's absolutely beautiful right now. Gorgeous.
The sun's shining through the thick clouds in the west,
haloed through white wisps that rise high
like flowing veils or angels wings.
Full bodied clouds are hanging low through the valley.
Fluffy white yachts on a sky of blue.
Lazily billows thick with curves. Voluptuous.
In the east the dying light is grazing the tips of the mountains.
The snow capped peaks are winking pink above the dark shadows below.
The clouds that have moved beyond are bright yellow, fading in the horizon.
The moon shines brightly, low in the sky, not yet full.
So wanton and demure.
I'd paint you a picture if only I knew how.
A photograph can't capture this moment.
I wish you were here right now.
The sky here just seems so much bigger, even though it's limited by hills on each side.
It's absolutely beautiful right now. Gorgeous.
The sun's shining through the thick clouds in the west,
haloed through white wisps that rise high
like flowing veils or angels wings.
Full bodied clouds are hanging low through the valley.
Fluffy white yachts on a sky of blue.
Lazily billows thick with curves. Voluptuous.
In the east the dying light is grazing the tips of the mountains.
The snow capped peaks are winking pink above the dark shadows below.
The clouds that have moved beyond are bright yellow, fading in the horizon.
The moon shines brightly, low in the sky, not yet full.
So wanton and demure.
I'd paint you a picture if only I knew how.
A photograph can't capture this moment.
I wish you were here right now.
Mar 3, 2006
Schizophrenic
I walked outside and there were rainbows everywhere.
Well, 2 rainbows. And I'm not even in San Francisco.
Then it started hailing.
And 8 minutes later it was rainbows again.
Well, 2 rainbows. And I'm not even in San Francisco.
Then it started hailing.
And 8 minutes later it was rainbows again.
Feb 27, 2006
Procrastination Redux
I was just about to write an entry for this past weekend's tourist excursions, when I realized I need to write up the rest of February. Then it struck me that for the past while, a lot of things have gone by with little reflection. I think there have been moments in blogging, where the mere act of blogging forces some mental review of events.
Sometimes this brings out an appreciation that was initially missed, that only clicked in retrospect. Other times a lesson learned perhaps. Or maybe I'd simply reinforce my memory of a point in time by going over it again. Recently life's gone by without much reflection. I ought to set some time aside from doing stuff for thinking and reflecting. Later.
In February we began to expand our small group with new members from YAF. The YAF Snowtrip this year seemed almost like a reunion of older YAFers (myself being one). The face of the fellowship has changed drastically since it moved to Wednesday, with many of the older members gone, and all the new college grads in the mix. All the new guys that joined our group were at the lesser end of their twenties. It certainly reminds me of how long I've been here, and how "unstable" the dynamics of people are here, with a constant influx of new people trying to find their place, along with people leaving and moving on.
Although unintended, February did indeed end up being yet another food month. This started with Manresa in Los Gatos, a posh neighbourhood nestled in the hills southwest of San Jose. We drove down there on a cool spring evening with heightened expectations, wandering around the dark small side street of Los Gatos looking for the unassuming restaurant. The kitchen is visible through a small window by the entrance, buzzing with activity. The dining room looked clean but casual. No ties here, and you could probably would be comfortable even in a polo, but the conversations were quiet. Definitely not the Ritz Carlton, even though the crowd was a bit on the older side, which is pretty much expected for Los Gatos.
First disappointment hit when they said if we wanted the acclaimed chef's tasting menu, we both had to order it. I'm not a big fan of restaurants with prohibitive policies. We passed on the tasting menus and got a 3 course and 4 course meal. In my opinion, the highlights were the amuse bouches, and the fatty pork on risotto dishes. They were excellent, bordering on rave worthy. Unfortunately, the rest of the dishes were mostly unimpressive, and the sea urchin dish was particularly vile. All the details are in my flickr, complete with descriptions. The pictures themselves came out poorly in the low light though. Overall, the few hits were outweighed by the misses, which should not have existed at all given the bill. (2.5/5)
The other pictures in the set came on a trip up to SF, when Peachy's boy came to town for a visit. Lunch was at Koi Palace, which makes up for having long waits, being out-of-the-way, and being costly (but not unreasonable) by having the best dim sum without requiring a plane ticket. We spent the afternoon browsing the stalls at the Ferry Building (I think Acme Bread and Cowgirl Cheese will be regular stops in future visits to SF), and somehow Peachy managed to conjure up a reservation at this restaurant I'd never heard of before.
I must say, One Market certainly surprised me. Visually, it feels like a business lunch/dinner place, with a large dining room and an open concept kitchen. Although posh, it certainly didn't feel exclusive. It did, however, have what felt like the best New American I've had. That's to say, the best part of American food is bacon, and One Market certainly featured plenty of it. The majority of the dishes were accented with some sort of cured pork. Pretty much all were solid. Even the brussels sprouts (with bacon of course) was great, although the recommendations for sides were superfluous, since the portions themselves were a good size. Desserts were not outstanding, but decent, although the creme brulee came out a little too brulee. The only slight miss was the excellent bread, which simply didn't come often enough. (4/5)
Sometimes this brings out an appreciation that was initially missed, that only clicked in retrospect. Other times a lesson learned perhaps. Or maybe I'd simply reinforce my memory of a point in time by going over it again. Recently life's gone by without much reflection. I ought to set some time aside from doing stuff for thinking and reflecting. Later.
In February we began to expand our small group with new members from YAF. The YAF Snowtrip this year seemed almost like a reunion of older YAFers (myself being one). The face of the fellowship has changed drastically since it moved to Wednesday, with many of the older members gone, and all the new college grads in the mix. All the new guys that joined our group were at the lesser end of their twenties. It certainly reminds me of how long I've been here, and how "unstable" the dynamics of people are here, with a constant influx of new people trying to find their place, along with people leaving and moving on.
Although unintended, February did indeed end up being yet another food month. This started with Manresa in Los Gatos, a posh neighbourhood nestled in the hills southwest of San Jose. We drove down there on a cool spring evening with heightened expectations, wandering around the dark small side street of Los Gatos looking for the unassuming restaurant. The kitchen is visible through a small window by the entrance, buzzing with activity. The dining room looked clean but casual. No ties here, and you could probably would be comfortable even in a polo, but the conversations were quiet. Definitely not the Ritz Carlton, even though the crowd was a bit on the older side, which is pretty much expected for Los Gatos.
First disappointment hit when they said if we wanted the acclaimed chef's tasting menu, we both had to order it. I'm not a big fan of restaurants with prohibitive policies. We passed on the tasting menus and got a 3 course and 4 course meal. In my opinion, the highlights were the amuse bouches, and the fatty pork on risotto dishes. They were excellent, bordering on rave worthy. Unfortunately, the rest of the dishes were mostly unimpressive, and the sea urchin dish was particularly vile. All the details are in my flickr, complete with descriptions. The pictures themselves came out poorly in the low light though. Overall, the few hits were outweighed by the misses, which should not have existed at all given the bill. (2.5/5)
The other pictures in the set came on a trip up to SF, when Peachy's boy came to town for a visit. Lunch was at Koi Palace, which makes up for having long waits, being out-of-the-way, and being costly (but not unreasonable) by having the best dim sum without requiring a plane ticket. We spent the afternoon browsing the stalls at the Ferry Building (I think Acme Bread and Cowgirl Cheese will be regular stops in future visits to SF), and somehow Peachy managed to conjure up a reservation at this restaurant I'd never heard of before.
I must say, One Market certainly surprised me. Visually, it feels like a business lunch/dinner place, with a large dining room and an open concept kitchen. Although posh, it certainly didn't feel exclusive. It did, however, have what felt like the best New American I've had. That's to say, the best part of American food is bacon, and One Market certainly featured plenty of it. The majority of the dishes were accented with some sort of cured pork. Pretty much all were solid. Even the brussels sprouts (with bacon of course) was great, although the recommendations for sides were superfluous, since the portions themselves were a good size. Desserts were not outstanding, but decent, although the creme brulee came out a little too brulee. The only slight miss was the excellent bread, which simply didn't come often enough. (4/5)
Feb 18, 2006
Month In Review
It actually started before Christmas. We tried to throw a surprise birthday dinner for Billy after a snowboarding trip to Tahoe. We had a reservation for a large reservation at Chapeau! that evening, but a combination of lifts closing early due to winds, and clean roads meant that we were back in San Francisco over an hour early for our reservation. Calling the restaurant to push our reservation earlier didn't work, so it seemed like we'd have to wait. However, things turned our rather miraculously when 1) they actually had our table ready, early 2) the guys driving up from the South Bay actually arrived early 3) Billy was in a good mood, as we were able to distract him for a while by hanging out in Japantown before dinner. Overally, it was a wonderful evening. The food was solid; flavours were rich, but perhaps a little over-salted. Service was excellent. There was no snobbishness from the waitstaff, and there was plenty of staff. The chef personally went through the tiny restaurant greeting guests (and again at the door when we left, also giving me the recipe to us banana butterscotch sauce). We also had enough people to order every dessert on the table, resulting in a veritable dessert buffet. I don't recall the exact price, but it was very reasonable for the food and service. (4.8/5)
Next was Christmas. If you missed that part of the story, scroll down and check the previous post. That was followed to my secret for a girlish figure. Yes, that's right, the flu. There went the first half of January, and all those Christmas pounds with it.
Not to fret. With San Francisco's Dine About Town (aka DAT) rolling into town (very similar to Toronto's Winterlicious), the usually economical Peachy transformed into a voracious restaurant prospector. I managed to recover in time to partake in three of these excursions.
Bacar restaurant and wine bar, situated in SOMA, with a large bar with live jazz, a rather spacious main dining room with a large ceiling, and a quieter mezzanine was a happening spot on a Saturday night. Busy enough that they actually weren't offering the DAT menu. We should have called ahead and asked first, but we weren't the only ones suckered in, as we heard the exact same inquiry from the table behind us. Since we were seated with water already, we decided to suck it in and enjoy dinner. The charcuterie plate was fairly simple, but house-made and delicious. The smokey pork chop also stood out as a winner. Of the desserts, the blood-orange panna cotta was quite memorable. The server was friendly, and the cheese bread both yummy and abundant, So overall, a DAT loser, but a good meal (although costing us quite a bit more than expected). (3.5/5)
We went up to SF on a weekday to pick up some cheap snowboarding tickets, and as an excuse to try Aziza, a nouveau Middle Eastern restaurant way out in the Richmond district. I had passed by this place before and wanted to try it; it's directly across from Ton Kiang, the dim-sum place. Alas, like Bacar, we were thwarted in our DAT attempt, since at this place the DAT menu was only available if everyone ordered it (and that would have been 5 of us). Although the drinks from the bar were quite interesting and packed plenty of punch, the above policy, plus the fact that the waiter wouldn't let us take photos, put a huge damper on things. The food overall was pretty good. Not bad, but not rave worthy. I had been looking forward to the basteeya, but it came out rather bland and disappointing. The better dishes were the couscous Aziza and wild mushrooms in phyllo. I'd come back if either the food or service shined, but the first was not outstanding, and the latter was sorely lacking (2.5/5)
The best service of the three was at Azie, which didn't have our table available when we arrived, post-snowboarding. Instead we got a free calamari appetizer from the hostess while we waited at the bar, under the stairs to the mezzanine. Shortly after (basically before we got to dig into the deep fried calamari with shavings of green onions and chili), we were lead to our booth, complete with curtains for added privacy. Unfortunately, the asian-fusion cuisine met my asian-fusion cuisine expectations, which is to say, not very fantastic. Like most asian inspired western cuisine, the asian elements stood out, but never really fuses. For example, the green onions in the dish looked asian, but didn't add to the blandness much. The deep fried calamari with salt and black pepper you'd get at a chinese restaurant would easily put this one to shame. On the service alone, I'd recommend this spot, but alas the lackluster food doesn't warrant a return trip. (3/5)
Next was Christmas. If you missed that part of the story, scroll down and check the previous post. That was followed to my secret for a girlish figure. Yes, that's right, the flu. There went the first half of January, and all those Christmas pounds with it.
Not to fret. With San Francisco's Dine About Town (aka DAT) rolling into town (very similar to Toronto's Winterlicious), the usually economical Peachy transformed into a voracious restaurant prospector. I managed to recover in time to partake in three of these excursions.
Bacar restaurant and wine bar, situated in SOMA, with a large bar with live jazz, a rather spacious main dining room with a large ceiling, and a quieter mezzanine was a happening spot on a Saturday night. Busy enough that they actually weren't offering the DAT menu. We should have called ahead and asked first, but we weren't the only ones suckered in, as we heard the exact same inquiry from the table behind us. Since we were seated with water already, we decided to suck it in and enjoy dinner. The charcuterie plate was fairly simple, but house-made and delicious. The smokey pork chop also stood out as a winner. Of the desserts, the blood-orange panna cotta was quite memorable. The server was friendly, and the cheese bread both yummy and abundant, So overall, a DAT loser, but a good meal (although costing us quite a bit more than expected). (3.5/5)
We went up to SF on a weekday to pick up some cheap snowboarding tickets, and as an excuse to try Aziza, a nouveau Middle Eastern restaurant way out in the Richmond district. I had passed by this place before and wanted to try it; it's directly across from Ton Kiang, the dim-sum place. Alas, like Bacar, we were thwarted in our DAT attempt, since at this place the DAT menu was only available if everyone ordered it (and that would have been 5 of us). Although the drinks from the bar were quite interesting and packed plenty of punch, the above policy, plus the fact that the waiter wouldn't let us take photos, put a huge damper on things. The food overall was pretty good. Not bad, but not rave worthy. I had been looking forward to the basteeya, but it came out rather bland and disappointing. The better dishes were the couscous Aziza and wild mushrooms in phyllo. I'd come back if either the food or service shined, but the first was not outstanding, and the latter was sorely lacking (2.5/5)
The best service of the three was at Azie, which didn't have our table available when we arrived, post-snowboarding. Instead we got a free calamari appetizer from the hostess while we waited at the bar, under the stairs to the mezzanine. Shortly after (basically before we got to dig into the deep fried calamari with shavings of green onions and chili), we were lead to our booth, complete with curtains for added privacy. Unfortunately, the asian-fusion cuisine met my asian-fusion cuisine expectations, which is to say, not very fantastic. Like most asian inspired western cuisine, the asian elements stood out, but never really fuses. For example, the green onions in the dish looked asian, but didn't add to the blandness much. The deep fried calamari with salt and black pepper you'd get at a chinese restaurant would easily put this one to shame. On the service alone, I'd recommend this spot, but alas the lackluster food doesn't warrant a return trip. (3/5)
Jan 10, 2006
Gluttony
Shortly before Christmas, I went snowboarding up in North Lake Tahoe with a couple of other guys, taking advantage of a $15 a night at the Fitzgerald's hotel in Reno (the deal is gone, but it's been replaced by another one). On the saturday evening we went to a casino buffet at the Atlantis, where Billy commented that the excess of food was a demonstration in gluttony. I actually didn't eat all that much, considering buffet food is rarely all that great, and casino buffets are no exception.
I present the following however, as an answer to the common question "How was Hong Kong?", and as an exhibit of true gluttony. It's a list of our meals in HK with some of the highlight menu items (unfortunately, I can't remember everything I ate):
Dec 25th
Lunch: Chesa (the Penninsula Hotel)
- waldorf salad with smoked duck breast and duck confit
- filet mignon with foie gras ravioli and salsify
- cheese fondue
- blackberry charlotte
When was the last time I had a 3 course lunch?
Dinner: Lei Yu Mun
This is an area in HK known for seafood. Generally you peruse one of many stalls that feature live seafood (fish, shrimp, bivalves, lobsters, cuttlefish etc.) in large tanks. Many stalls also have a large (huge!) specimens of fish or lobster that are not for sale, but mostly to attract visitors. You select your seafood and tell them to deliver it to one of a number of restaurants, that will then cook your meal for you. You then pay at the restaurant, a combination of the seafood price plus cooking and service charges.
- shrimp
- fish "so mei" (parrotfish?)
- deep fried "pissing shrimp"
local delicacy that looks something like this, about a foot long and light green in colour. Tastes something like shrimp or lobster
- steamed abalone
- steamed scallops
- shark's fin soup
Dec 26th
Breakfast: at home
- noodles with hairy crab meat
Hairy Crab is a seasonal Shanghainese delicacy. The crabs are small, maybe 3-4 inches wide with small legs. They're desired for the tasty eggs, which are in season in late November/early December. My grandmother usually freezes some of the crab meat for our visits. Yum.
Lunch: Cuisine Cuisine Dimsum (IFC Shopping Center)
- fancy cha siu bao (with a sweet crust)
It seems to be a new trend to have baked bbq pork buns with some sort of sweet crust (if you're familiar with chinese "pineapple buns", or "mexico buns", it's similar). The traditional steamed rice flour buns are of course, still available.
- stir fried rice cakes with roast duck
Dinner: Amigo
I think this place was one of my introductions to fine dining, decades ago. It comes complete with candlelight, flowers, attentive waiters in bow ties and white gloves, and a seranading mandolin and string trio that makes its way around the restaurant, from table to table.
- Escargots
- Caesar Salad
- Lobster and Rock Clam Linguine
27th:
Breakfast: at home
- stir fried rice cake
I was gonna skip breakfast this day, but when it came out, I couldn't resist!
Lunch: Sabatini (Royal Garden Hotel)
- antipasti buffet
- Ravioli Amatriciana
- Profiterole cake
Dinner: AMC
My aunt booked a karaoke suite for dinner. Half the suite included a long dining table for our family, and a small dance floor. The other half had a living room type setup with couches, a front projection screen and a karaoke setup. Family Karaoke night! There is a house in New Orleans...
- garlic prawns
- sharks fin soup
- steamed abalone
- baked tapioca pudding with lotus seed paste
28th:
Lunch: Dimsum
Had lunch at some fancy new Dimsum place in Wanchai. Miss CoolBeans came along, but even she didn't remember which restaurant it was.
- deep fried tofu excellently crispy on the outside, velvety on the inside.
- crab meat xiao long bao
- fancy cha siu bao
Same concept as the ones at Cuisine Cuisine, but better here.
- drunken chicken
Dinner: The Wai residence
Miss CoolBean's uncle invited me over for dinner at their home, catered by a vietnamese chef.
- deep fried spring rolls
- stuffed crab shell
- soft-shelled crab (an entire platter of it)
- curry beef brisket
29th:
Lunch: Hugo (Hyatt Regency)
The hotel was closing at the end of the year, and apparently the 30+ year old restaurant's reservation list was filling up with nostalgic customers. Luckily my Dad's uncle got a lunch spot before the place closed its doors.
- appetizer platter
They have an appetizer cart (essentially a buffet they cart to your spot at the table, you select items and they put it on the plate for you) which features enough delectable items that the cart would suffice for a meal. The mangoes are always popular. I haven't quite decided whether it's a good thing or bad that there's an excellent prime rib to follow. It just makes it hard to decide what to save room for.
- prime rib
- fresh berry bowl for dessert
Dinner: hotpot at Aunt Lily's
I'm not a big fan of hotpot, but this dinner was good. It qualified as the best hotpot, ever.
- kobe beef (5 lbs of it!)
- top sirloin
- fresh shrimp
- various fancy clams, including baby geoduck
- mussels
- gourmet fishballs
- a variety of mushrooms
- ... too much good stuff
30th:
Lunch: Sapporo Ramen
- ramen
- gyoza
- deep fried chicken
The chicken was well done in terms of crispyness, but too garlicky for my taste.
Dinner: Shanghai Fraternity Association
Private club requiring Shanghainese ancestry for membership. Good food though, probably the best xiao long baio I had on this trip to HK.
- jellied pork, preserved duck egg, other appetizers
- sauteed shrimp
- "dee pong" braised pork leg
- sharks fin
- deep fried duck
- sweet glutinous rice with red bean paste
- crabmeat xiao long baio featuring hairy crab meat... yum!!!
31st:
Lunch: Maxim's (Hong Kong International Airport)
Had dimsum with my grandmother and my parents before my parents left
- dim sum
Dinner: Four Seasons
My grandmother treated the whole clan (sans my parents, plus Miss CoolBeans) to a fancy dinner and countdown at the Four Season's Hotel (as opposed to the AMC party we went to in previous years). I was quite surprised when it turned out to be the Hong Kong Dental Association's Annual Ball. I got a bad vibe from the speeches (in which all the Hong Kong Dental Association Ball Committee organizers praised each other), and the well-dressed hag that gave me a dirty look for not contributing to their raffle. After that though, we ended up having fun with my family. The unlimited (bad) wine was enough to get the whole family in a conga line by the end of the night.
- cream of forest mushroom soup
- braised beef cheeks
- many other courses, spread out over hours
Afterparty: Chapter 3 (SoHo)
All the cousins went out for drinks after the countdown. I only stayed for two rounds before Miss CoolBeans had to be sent home to bed, but I think we need to do this again sometime. Too bad none of my cousins took me out for underaged drinking when I was 17!
1st:
Lunch: "Mak's noodle" (Central), "Law's Congee?"
- wonton noodles
- congee with salted pork and preserved egg
- deep fried fish balls
- fresh samosas
- fresh roti
- fresh squeezed grapefruit and starfruit juice
Miss CoolBeans declined lunch at the Peak's Cafe Deco for some more down to earth delights as we hit up the best wonton noodle place in HK, as well as a nearby congee spot and some street food stalls for lunch
Dinner: "So jeet"
I don't know what the English name for this restaurant is. I think it was "The X and Y Residents Association", where X and Y were some unpronounceable Chinese provinces or towns. Another member's only place, but supposedly the best Shanghainese food on the island. The xiao long baio were a close second to the Shanghai Fraternity Assocation (they had a thinner skin), but everything else was probably better here, especially the "dee pong".
- shaghainese pork and vegetable wonton
- sharks fin soup
- "dee pong" braised pork leg
- fish in wine sauce
- crabmeat xiao long baio
- "tai koo choy" with bamboo shoot shanghainese vegetable resembling a flattened baby "bok choy"
I present the following however, as an answer to the common question "How was Hong Kong?", and as an exhibit of true gluttony. It's a list of our meals in HK with some of the highlight menu items (unfortunately, I can't remember everything I ate):
Dec 25th
Lunch: Chesa (the Penninsula Hotel)
- waldorf salad with smoked duck breast and duck confit
- filet mignon with foie gras ravioli and salsify
- cheese fondue
- blackberry charlotte
When was the last time I had a 3 course lunch?
Dinner: Lei Yu Mun
This is an area in HK known for seafood. Generally you peruse one of many stalls that feature live seafood (fish, shrimp, bivalves, lobsters, cuttlefish etc.) in large tanks. Many stalls also have a large (huge!) specimens of fish or lobster that are not for sale, but mostly to attract visitors. You select your seafood and tell them to deliver it to one of a number of restaurants, that will then cook your meal for you. You then pay at the restaurant, a combination of the seafood price plus cooking and service charges.
- shrimp
- fish "so mei" (parrotfish?)
- deep fried "pissing shrimp"
local delicacy that looks something like this, about a foot long and light green in colour. Tastes something like shrimp or lobster
- steamed abalone
- steamed scallops
- shark's fin soup
Dec 26th
Breakfast: at home
- noodles with hairy crab meat
Hairy Crab is a seasonal Shanghainese delicacy. The crabs are small, maybe 3-4 inches wide with small legs. They're desired for the tasty eggs, which are in season in late November/early December. My grandmother usually freezes some of the crab meat for our visits. Yum.
Lunch: Cuisine Cuisine Dimsum (IFC Shopping Center)
- fancy cha siu bao (with a sweet crust)
It seems to be a new trend to have baked bbq pork buns with some sort of sweet crust (if you're familiar with chinese "pineapple buns", or "mexico buns", it's similar). The traditional steamed rice flour buns are of course, still available.
- stir fried rice cakes with roast duck
Dinner: Amigo
I think this place was one of my introductions to fine dining, decades ago. It comes complete with candlelight, flowers, attentive waiters in bow ties and white gloves, and a seranading mandolin and string trio that makes its way around the restaurant, from table to table.
- Escargots
- Caesar Salad
- Lobster and Rock Clam Linguine
27th:
Breakfast: at home
- stir fried rice cake
I was gonna skip breakfast this day, but when it came out, I couldn't resist!
Lunch: Sabatini (Royal Garden Hotel)
- antipasti buffet
- Ravioli Amatriciana
- Profiterole cake
Dinner: AMC
My aunt booked a karaoke suite for dinner. Half the suite included a long dining table for our family, and a small dance floor. The other half had a living room type setup with couches, a front projection screen and a karaoke setup. Family Karaoke night! There is a house in New Orleans...
- garlic prawns
- sharks fin soup
- steamed abalone
- baked tapioca pudding with lotus seed paste
28th:
Lunch: Dimsum
Had lunch at some fancy new Dimsum place in Wanchai. Miss CoolBeans came along, but even she didn't remember which restaurant it was.
- deep fried tofu excellently crispy on the outside, velvety on the inside.
- crab meat xiao long bao
- fancy cha siu bao
Same concept as the ones at Cuisine Cuisine, but better here.
- drunken chicken
Dinner: The Wai residence
Miss CoolBean's uncle invited me over for dinner at their home, catered by a vietnamese chef.
- deep fried spring rolls
- stuffed crab shell
- soft-shelled crab (an entire platter of it)
- curry beef brisket
29th:
Lunch: Hugo (Hyatt Regency)
The hotel was closing at the end of the year, and apparently the 30+ year old restaurant's reservation list was filling up with nostalgic customers. Luckily my Dad's uncle got a lunch spot before the place closed its doors.
- appetizer platter
They have an appetizer cart (essentially a buffet they cart to your spot at the table, you select items and they put it on the plate for you) which features enough delectable items that the cart would suffice for a meal. The mangoes are always popular. I haven't quite decided whether it's a good thing or bad that there's an excellent prime rib to follow. It just makes it hard to decide what to save room for.
- prime rib
- fresh berry bowl for dessert
Dinner: hotpot at Aunt Lily's
I'm not a big fan of hotpot, but this dinner was good. It qualified as the best hotpot, ever.
- kobe beef (5 lbs of it!)
- top sirloin
- fresh shrimp
- various fancy clams, including baby geoduck
- mussels
- gourmet fishballs
- a variety of mushrooms
- ... too much good stuff
30th:
Lunch: Sapporo Ramen
- ramen
- gyoza
- deep fried chicken
The chicken was well done in terms of crispyness, but too garlicky for my taste.
Dinner: Shanghai Fraternity Association
Private club requiring Shanghainese ancestry for membership. Good food though, probably the best xiao long baio I had on this trip to HK.
- jellied pork, preserved duck egg, other appetizers
- sauteed shrimp
- "dee pong" braised pork leg
- sharks fin
- deep fried duck
- sweet glutinous rice with red bean paste
- crabmeat xiao long baio featuring hairy crab meat... yum!!!
31st:
Lunch: Maxim's (Hong Kong International Airport)
Had dimsum with my grandmother and my parents before my parents left
- dim sum
Dinner: Four Seasons
My grandmother treated the whole clan (sans my parents, plus Miss CoolBeans) to a fancy dinner and countdown at the Four Season's Hotel (as opposed to the AMC party we went to in previous years). I was quite surprised when it turned out to be the Hong Kong Dental Association's Annual Ball. I got a bad vibe from the speeches (in which all the Hong Kong Dental Association Ball Committee organizers praised each other), and the well-dressed hag that gave me a dirty look for not contributing to their raffle. After that though, we ended up having fun with my family. The unlimited (bad) wine was enough to get the whole family in a conga line by the end of the night.
- cream of forest mushroom soup
- braised beef cheeks
- many other courses, spread out over hours
Afterparty: Chapter 3 (SoHo)
All the cousins went out for drinks after the countdown. I only stayed for two rounds before Miss CoolBeans had to be sent home to bed, but I think we need to do this again sometime. Too bad none of my cousins took me out for underaged drinking when I was 17!
1st:
Lunch: "Mak's noodle" (Central), "Law's Congee?"
- wonton noodles
- congee with salted pork and preserved egg
- deep fried fish balls
- fresh samosas
- fresh roti
- fresh squeezed grapefruit and starfruit juice
Miss CoolBeans declined lunch at the Peak's Cafe Deco for some more down to earth delights as we hit up the best wonton noodle place in HK, as well as a nearby congee spot and some street food stalls for lunch
Dinner: "So jeet"
I don't know what the English name for this restaurant is. I think it was "The X and Y Residents Association", where X and Y were some unpronounceable Chinese provinces or towns. Another member's only place, but supposedly the best Shanghainese food on the island. The xiao long baio were a close second to the Shanghai Fraternity Assocation (they had a thinner skin), but everything else was probably better here, especially the "dee pong".
- shaghainese pork and vegetable wonton
- sharks fin soup
- "dee pong" braised pork leg
- fish in wine sauce
- crabmeat xiao long baio
- "tai koo choy" with bamboo shoot shanghainese vegetable resembling a flattened baby "bok choy"
Dec 28, 2005
Belated Christmas Blog
"This will be a sign to you:
You will find a baby wrapped in cloths
and lying in a manger."
I had my Christmas thought of the year, sitting in my American Airlines economy class seat on the way from San Jose to Narita. I suspect the lady sitting in front of me (although it could have been the guy on my left) was lactose intolerant, given the fact that she kept ordering milk when refreshments came along, and the continuous farting whenever she was sleeping. And by continuous, I actually mean regular, like every minute or so.
At one point I gave up trying to hold my breath and hung out at the back of the plane with Heller's Catch-22, and considered how the manger must have smelled, and how far off it was from the lights and glitz of today's commercial Christmas.
Christmas is interesting in Hong Kong, because despite the rampant consumerism, it's still a visibly religious holiday. The political correctness here doesn't prevent people from writing "Merry Christmas" on big signs, or playing Christmas hymns in shopping malls. In contrast, Christmas in the States is highly secularized. Our company pushed hard to remind employees of the Spirit of Christmas, which mostly involved giving or family. Christmas themed stories, such as the book "The Giving Chest" and "Polar Express" also push a secularized Christmas morality. While it's certainly "better" than "buy buy buy", it's ironic how all these tales of the meaning of Christmas miss the true meaning of Christmas.
"This will be a sign to you:
You will find a baby wrapped in cloths
and lying in a manger."
I had my Christmas thought of the year, sitting in my American Airlines economy class seat on the way from San Jose to Narita. I suspect the lady sitting in front of me (although it could have been the guy on my left) was lactose intolerant, given the fact that she kept ordering milk when refreshments came along, and the continuous farting whenever she was sleeping. And by continuous, I actually mean regular, like every minute or so.
At one point I gave up trying to hold my breath and hung out at the back of the plane with Heller's Catch-22, and considered how the manger must have smelled, and how far off it was from the lights and glitz of today's commercial Christmas.
Christmas is interesting in Hong Kong, because despite the rampant consumerism, it's still a visibly religious holiday. The political correctness here doesn't prevent people from writing "Merry Christmas" on big signs, or playing Christmas hymns in shopping malls. In contrast, Christmas in the States is highly secularized. Our company pushed hard to remind employees of the Spirit of Christmas, which mostly involved giving or family. Christmas themed stories, such as the book "The Giving Chest" and "Polar Express" also push a secularized Christmas morality. While it's certainly "better" than "buy buy buy", it's ironic how all these tales of the meaning of Christmas miss the true meaning of Christmas.
Dec 11, 2005
Whiners make for entertaining blogs.
It's true. The most entertaining blogs tend to be people who complain and whine a lot, especially if they do it with a flair. It doesn't have to be about anything significant, or even intelligent. It could be the most inane drivel, but I'll probably still read it for its entertainment value.
Frankly, I just haven't had much to complain about in the last while. I can recall one thing. It involved going to the mall in search of some costume for Halloween (I ended up spending a couple bucks on acrylic paint and brushes and making a papier mache mask, yes, my inert creativity was busting out). One of the stores (speaking of busting out, the very brand had a fashion show on TV recently) was playing Christmas music, at Halloween.
It doesn't really "feel" like Christmas right now here, given it's California, and either sunny or rainy. It certainly didn't feel like Christmas a month and a half ago, when every other store was decorated with pumpkins and skeletons. Corporate marketting does, in fact, amaze me every so often.
I haven't updated much lately, which most likely reflects the fact that I haven't been doing much reading, and thus haven't felt creative enough to write anything. I certainly don't have flair; when I'm lucky I can bite the style of some Pulitzer Prize winner that I have been reading. Hopefully, if you're interested, the photos on my Flickr (see the left sidebar) have been sufficiently entertaining. I can think of three updates worth mentioning.
First, I celebrated my birthday by being treated to the "best" restaurant in the United States, The French Laundry. Once upon a time, I was easily wow'd with food. In retrospect, it had a lot to do with novelty. The first time you experience a new food or preparation, you're blown away. It might still be good, but it certainly loses its ability to blow you away when you get accustomed to it. I still order foie gras and duck confit, and although it's often good at whatever new restaurant I try, it rarely has a wow to it.
French Laundry wow'd me at least four times. The cauliflower pasta was very good. Not "very good for cauliflower". Just very good. Wow. I think part of the trick here is, none of the portions are large enough for you to be satisfied. You want more of every dish that comes to you. This is a prime example. They did something to the apple served in one of the cheese courses. It was a brand new flavour, and that's not something I get often. Wow. The elements of the blue cheese course combined to form something entirely new. If you put the cheese in your mouth along with the watercress, candied walnuts, and grape jelly at in your mouth at the same time, it is a profoundly different experience than just savouring the cheese. Not something I had expected. Wow. Finally, I've had plenty of dried fruit, but I've never had compressed fruit. That's like, pineapple flavoured paper. Wait, it's real pineapple? Cool. Wow. The rest of the photos are here, if you haven't seen them already.
Speaking of which, at 27 you feel old. I think 25 sounds like you're still on the line. At 26, I was in denial. This year, I had to face the fact. I'm a quarter of a century old. Actually older than that. Can you imagine? Btw, thanks for all the birthday pics.
I don't feel like it. Except for my memory. Incidentally, I've had the word "biter" at the tip of my tongue all day, and it's just clicked minutes ago.
The second item is that I've realized I'm perfectly happy writing computer code for 80hrs a week. Really. However, tell me I'm in charge of people and my job is to go to meetings with higher ups and set schedules; I'm leaving work at 6 each day. Go figure.
Lastly, I've learned the joys of shooting my photos in RAW. You can recover a heck of a lot from a poorly exposed shot. It just takes a lot of time. I had a great time going to Death Valley over Thanksgiving. My highlight was definitely taking photos of the crazy landscape. The weekend up to this point has mostly been spent postprocessing and uploading the pics. There's definitely more there than you'd be interested to see.
Post-lastly, congrats to Toby and Clara, but you knew that already.
It's true. The most entertaining blogs tend to be people who complain and whine a lot, especially if they do it with a flair. It doesn't have to be about anything significant, or even intelligent. It could be the most inane drivel, but I'll probably still read it for its entertainment value.
Frankly, I just haven't had much to complain about in the last while. I can recall one thing. It involved going to the mall in search of some costume for Halloween (I ended up spending a couple bucks on acrylic paint and brushes and making a papier mache mask, yes, my inert creativity was busting out). One of the stores (speaking of busting out, the very brand had a fashion show on TV recently) was playing Christmas music, at Halloween.
It doesn't really "feel" like Christmas right now here, given it's California, and either sunny or rainy. It certainly didn't feel like Christmas a month and a half ago, when every other store was decorated with pumpkins and skeletons. Corporate marketting does, in fact, amaze me every so often.
I haven't updated much lately, which most likely reflects the fact that I haven't been doing much reading, and thus haven't felt creative enough to write anything. I certainly don't have flair; when I'm lucky I can bite the style of some Pulitzer Prize winner that I have been reading. Hopefully, if you're interested, the photos on my Flickr (see the left sidebar) have been sufficiently entertaining. I can think of three updates worth mentioning.
First, I celebrated my birthday by being treated to the "best" restaurant in the United States, The French Laundry. Once upon a time, I was easily wow'd with food. In retrospect, it had a lot to do with novelty. The first time you experience a new food or preparation, you're blown away. It might still be good, but it certainly loses its ability to blow you away when you get accustomed to it. I still order foie gras and duck confit, and although it's often good at whatever new restaurant I try, it rarely has a wow to it.
French Laundry wow'd me at least four times. The cauliflower pasta was very good. Not "very good for cauliflower". Just very good. Wow. I think part of the trick here is, none of the portions are large enough for you to be satisfied. You want more of every dish that comes to you. This is a prime example. They did something to the apple served in one of the cheese courses. It was a brand new flavour, and that's not something I get often. Wow. The elements of the blue cheese course combined to form something entirely new. If you put the cheese in your mouth along with the watercress, candied walnuts, and grape jelly at in your mouth at the same time, it is a profoundly different experience than just savouring the cheese. Not something I had expected. Wow. Finally, I've had plenty of dried fruit, but I've never had compressed fruit. That's like, pineapple flavoured paper. Wait, it's real pineapple? Cool. Wow. The rest of the photos are here, if you haven't seen them already.
Speaking of which, at 27 you feel old. I think 25 sounds like you're still on the line. At 26, I was in denial. This year, I had to face the fact. I'm a quarter of a century old. Actually older than that. Can you imagine? Btw, thanks for all the birthday pics.
I don't feel like it. Except for my memory. Incidentally, I've had the word "biter" at the tip of my tongue all day, and it's just clicked minutes ago.
The second item is that I've realized I'm perfectly happy writing computer code for 80hrs a week. Really. However, tell me I'm in charge of people and my job is to go to meetings with higher ups and set schedules; I'm leaving work at 6 each day. Go figure.
Lastly, I've learned the joys of shooting my photos in RAW. You can recover a heck of a lot from a poorly exposed shot. It just takes a lot of time. I had a great time going to Death Valley over Thanksgiving. My highlight was definitely taking photos of the crazy landscape. The weekend up to this point has mostly been spent postprocessing and uploading the pics. There's definitely more there than you'd be interested to see.
Post-lastly, congrats to Toby and Clara, but you knew that already.
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