Not that anyone needs to be told this, but Ticketmaster sucks.
Just ordered two tickets to the Jimmy Eat World concert in October. The face ticket price was $26.50 so two tickets would technically be $53. After Ticketmaster fees, what with order processing charges, "convenience fees", etc, it came out to $75.40.
Next time, I'm just going to take a bus up to the Fillmore and buy the tickets in person.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
All That Jazz
Apparently living in the city doesn't just mean we spontaneously go to events in the city, it also means we spontaneously go to events in Oakland.
Last night, two of my bf's coworkers, my bf, and I hopped BART to see James Carter, a saxophonist, and his "sax-tet" at Yoshi's in Oakland. I'm not really a jazz fan, don't really understand well enough to appreciate the music, but it was still an interesting night out. James Carter is apparently quite a famous saxophonist who seems to really like to explore every possible sound his instrument can make, from the sweetest, purest notes, to the loudest squawks and squeaks, to sustaining a note for long past when you think any human being could reasonably produce air and not need to breathe... His audience was highly appreciative, laughing at the expressive squawks and squeaks, cheering his super-fast, frenetic playing, and rocking their heads to the music. He was accompanied by a guy on the trumpet, an insane player on the piano, an awesome bassist (he played that bass like a piano, or something, every finger working away), a frenetic drummer (is there such a thing as a fat drummer? They get a full body workout!), and a musician who played a bit of everything - flute, a xylophone-looking instrument he was crazily good at, a number of percussive instruments... It's not really my style of music but it was neat to see. And it's interesting how each song is like 15 minutes long, so when they did their encore after an hour 15 minute long set, they basically extended their set by 20% (or whatever the math is). Pretty cool.
We had dinner at Everett & Jones BBQ, a couple blocks away. It was all right... Memphis Minnie's is better.
Last night, two of my bf's coworkers, my bf, and I hopped BART to see James Carter, a saxophonist, and his "sax-tet" at Yoshi's in Oakland. I'm not really a jazz fan, don't really understand well enough to appreciate the music, but it was still an interesting night out. James Carter is apparently quite a famous saxophonist who seems to really like to explore every possible sound his instrument can make, from the sweetest, purest notes, to the loudest squawks and squeaks, to sustaining a note for long past when you think any human being could reasonably produce air and not need to breathe... His audience was highly appreciative, laughing at the expressive squawks and squeaks, cheering his super-fast, frenetic playing, and rocking their heads to the music. He was accompanied by a guy on the trumpet, an insane player on the piano, an awesome bassist (he played that bass like a piano, or something, every finger working away), a frenetic drummer (is there such a thing as a fat drummer? They get a full body workout!), and a musician who played a bit of everything - flute, a xylophone-looking instrument he was crazily good at, a number of percussive instruments... It's not really my style of music but it was neat to see. And it's interesting how each song is like 15 minutes long, so when they did their encore after an hour 15 minute long set, they basically extended their set by 20% (or whatever the math is). Pretty cool.
We had dinner at Everett & Jones BBQ, a couple blocks away. It was all right... Memphis Minnie's is better.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
OSC
As an avid Orson Scott Card reader... tee hee!
Nighttime Stories
Also, as a geek/developer... tee hee hee!
Funny photo
While I'm at it, I love this one:
Sandwich
Nighttime Stories
Also, as a geek/developer... tee hee hee!
Funny photo
While I'm at it, I love this one:
Sandwich
Fuzzy strawberries
You know those horror movies where something causes time to speed up and you see stuff going bad and then decaying at an accelerated rate?
(Ok I have no idea if such a movie actually exists, but bear with me)
Well, I got a mini-experience of that with the batch of strawberries we bought at Costco on Saturday. When we bought the strawberries, they were mostly a lovely shade of red, with maybe a spot or two of squishedness where they were pressed against the plastic. That's normal, right? Within a day or two, I was already noticing that some of the strawberries were developing squishy splotches and probably were going bad. Fine, that's somewhat normal I guess...
Monday morning, I picked through the carton to bring some strawberries to work. I noted that they seemed to be going bad fairly rapidly, and told my bf we probably would have to throw out a lot of them soon. But by "going bad", I meant there were some black splotches on a lot of them and it was hard to find more than 8-10 mostly good ones.
Monday night, we get home and I discover to my shock that the entire carton is overgrown with mold spores, like it'd been sitting out for weeks and weeks. And then, when my bf went to pick up the carton and throw it out, a huge rush of strawberry juice came spilling out, puddling on the counter, dripping over the cabinets, and splashing on the floor. Somehow, in the course of one day, not only had mold grown all over the strawberries, but it'd eaten through the strawberries or something enough that they'd basically decayed in the case and turned to juice. I've never seen anything like it. Ugh.
Guess we're not keeping strawberries around our condo! So far the carton of Clementines that were sitting next to the strawberries seem fine... yay for self-contained fruit!
ETA: OK I've been googling and apparently we should have left the strawberries in the fridge, and even then they probably wouldn't last more than a couple days. Still, I didn't think it was *that* fast!
(Ok I have no idea if such a movie actually exists, but bear with me)
Well, I got a mini-experience of that with the batch of strawberries we bought at Costco on Saturday. When we bought the strawberries, they were mostly a lovely shade of red, with maybe a spot or two of squishedness where they were pressed against the plastic. That's normal, right? Within a day or two, I was already noticing that some of the strawberries were developing squishy splotches and probably were going bad. Fine, that's somewhat normal I guess...
Monday morning, I picked through the carton to bring some strawberries to work. I noted that they seemed to be going bad fairly rapidly, and told my bf we probably would have to throw out a lot of them soon. But by "going bad", I meant there were some black splotches on a lot of them and it was hard to find more than 8-10 mostly good ones.
Monday night, we get home and I discover to my shock that the entire carton is overgrown with mold spores, like it'd been sitting out for weeks and weeks. And then, when my bf went to pick up the carton and throw it out, a huge rush of strawberry juice came spilling out, puddling on the counter, dripping over the cabinets, and splashing on the floor. Somehow, in the course of one day, not only had mold grown all over the strawberries, but it'd eaten through the strawberries or something enough that they'd basically decayed in the case and turned to juice. I've never seen anything like it. Ugh.
Guess we're not keeping strawberries around our condo! So far the carton of Clementines that were sitting next to the strawberries seem fine... yay for self-contained fruit!
ETA: OK I've been googling and apparently we should have left the strawberries in the fridge, and even then they probably wouldn't last more than a couple days. Still, I didn't think it was *that* fast!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
One Night Only
This is one of those times when living and working in the city is really awesome. Yesterday, I found out quite randomly that the casts of Avenue Q and Jersey Boys were doing a "One Night Only Cabaret" benefiting a number of AIDS groups at the Post Street Theatre by Union Square that very night. Jersey Boys is one of my favorite shows I've seen in recent memory (saw it twice in SF - once with the original "Sherry" touring cast with Christopher Kale Jones as Frankie, and once with the new touring cast with Jarrod Spector as Frankie), and I loved Avenue Q when we saw it on Broadway last year. I immediately emailed my bf asking if he wanted to go, and was soon on the phone getting tickets.
The show was so much fun. The two casts obviously worked hard on putting together a very entertaining evening of song and dance, linked by the overarching "storyline" that the Four Seasons were auditioning to cast their newest touring production (the Utica cast) of Jersey Boys. The funniest songs all had to do with sex, of course, from Jake? from the Jersey Boys cast singing a country song about how "you're not gay unless you take it, but if you take it then, *poof* you're gay" (singing to the repressed Rod puppet character from Avenue Q) to a really amusing dual guitar act where an obviously sexually sucky guy with a disinterested partner is singing about how Wednesday night is the night they make love, and narrating the whole (2 minute encounter) including how brushing their teeth was foreplay... The songs I enjoyed most, though, were the tweaks and takeoffs on actual Jersey Boys and Avenue Q songs or characters. The show opened with the Avenue Q cast (in character) singing "I Hope I Get It" from The Chorus Line, with lyrics substituted for puppets and Jersey Boys-related stuff. A couple swings from Jersey Boys (including the one playing Nick Massi last night, b/c Michael Ingersoll was busy, something they "mocked" him for a few times), the Frankie stand-in (2 shows a week), Joe Pesci actor, and the actress who played Francine sang a hilarious version of Avenue Q's "It Sucks To Be Me" about how it sucked for them in the cast of the Jersey Boys (with the guys finally deferring to the lone Jersey Girl as having the suckiest position). The four leads from Jersey Boys sang a hilarious medley of "guy flick" songs, integrating Jersey Boy choreography and going through songs like "Eye of the Tiger," "Highway to the Danger Zone," and a whole bunch of other recognizable, hilarious songs, culminating with "Walk Like a Man." Rod from Avenue Q also sang a jumbled medley of a whole lot of varied songs that was hilarious, but which I can't recall specifics of at the moment. Rod and Nicky also sang "You're a Top" to each other, specifically to reassure Rod of his manliness. The women of both casts sang "I'm a Woman" with great power and strength, the three black women from the Avenue Q sang about how white boys were so pretty... Seth and Jennie from the cast of Avenue Q sang a hilarious argument song about how "I'm not mad that you were mad that I thought that you thought that..." etc etc... Another woman from Avenue Q opened the second half of the show with "If I Had a month/week/day to live"... "Mary Delgado" seized her 3 minutes and 28 seconds in the sun to sing a solo (forgot what it was)... Some of the more random notes of the evening was one of the Jersey Boys cast members singing a Gnarls Barkley song, a Jersey Boys band? member singing a Little Richard medley, Jarrod Spector in character as Frankie singing a love song to Kate Monster that didn't quite work for me... The topper of the evening, though, which they obviously realized since they left it for almost last, was Trekkie Monster, auditioning for the role of Frankie Valli, singing "You boobs too good to be true" (ie "Can't Take My Eyes off of You") with lyrics that just got more and more hilarious, culminating in him pissing off Mary Delgado, who kneed him in the groin, leading to the falsetto of the last line. It was awesome.
Halfway through the show, they did a live auction with a number of donated items (a trip for 2 to Hawaii, two first class tickets anywhere from Canada to Central America that Continental Airlines flew). The most popular items were the two related to the shows, though. One package was to see Avenue Q, get a backstage tour with the chance to meet the cast, and dinner for two. Another was for two souvenir packs from Avenue Q (which originally were packaged with the show tickets) which Jeremy Kushnier (Tommy DeVito) actually ended up winning, b/c the bids weren't going high enough. The one that got the most active bidding, b/c the Jersey Boys (who were the auctioneers) obviously had pre-planned sweetening the pot, kept adding more and more to it. It was originally lunch for 4 with Jarrod Spector (Frankie) and Michael Ingersoll (Nick Massi), along with signed Jersey Boys gear, two tickets to the next "One Night Only Caberet" (with the cast of Mamma Mia), and two tickets to "Blues in the Night" (the usual show that plays at the Post Street Theatre). As the bidding went up, first Drew Gehling (Bob Gaudio) and then Jeremy Kushnier (Tommy DeVito) offered to come along to the lunch... then Jarrod threw in a special "Walk like a Man" T-shirt signed by the whole cast that was from the AIDS walk they did earlier this year, then more signed gear, and then offered to sing "Sherry" at lunch..and finally, when they had a bid for $1400, managed to get someone else to match the bid, getting a total of $2800 for 8 people now to come to lunch with all four Jersey Boys, plus get all the gear.
The show closed with the entire cast singing "Dreams", a song written by someone who'd passed away for his daughter's graduation. It was quite sweet and pretty.
Overally it was a really great show and I am *so* glad I discovered it was happening the day of instead of the day afterwards. In the above I know I've left out songs and gotten the order of stuff completely wrong, but what's important was, the two casts put together an excellent show, and we had a lot of fun watching it.
Oh, and on the note of restaurants, we went to Siam Thai at 167 Mason Street (between Ellis and Eddy). It was good - I had a BBQ pork wonton/egg noodle soup dish (not what I would usually get at Thai) and my bf had the BBQ pork fried rice and we both enjoyed our dishes. Also cheap. However, must take note - we went to the one in the Parc 55 Hotel. There's a Siam Thai Noodle directly across the street which is much more hole in the wall (though appears to have the same pricing/menu)... I think the Yelp reviews are for both. I went to the Siam Thai Noodle, not seeing the one in Parc 55...my bf went straight to the one on the hotel, having read that it was there..neither of us saw the other restaurant until the other one pointed it out. Something to keep in mind if you decide to check out this place right on the border of the Tenderloin....
The show was so much fun. The two casts obviously worked hard on putting together a very entertaining evening of song and dance, linked by the overarching "storyline" that the Four Seasons were auditioning to cast their newest touring production (the Utica cast) of Jersey Boys. The funniest songs all had to do with sex, of course, from Jake? from the Jersey Boys cast singing a country song about how "you're not gay unless you take it, but if you take it then, *poof* you're gay" (singing to the repressed Rod puppet character from Avenue Q) to a really amusing dual guitar act where an obviously sexually sucky guy with a disinterested partner is singing about how Wednesday night is the night they make love, and narrating the whole (2 minute encounter) including how brushing their teeth was foreplay... The songs I enjoyed most, though, were the tweaks and takeoffs on actual Jersey Boys and Avenue Q songs or characters. The show opened with the Avenue Q cast (in character) singing "I Hope I Get It" from The Chorus Line, with lyrics substituted for puppets and Jersey Boys-related stuff. A couple swings from Jersey Boys (including the one playing Nick Massi last night, b/c Michael Ingersoll was busy, something they "mocked" him for a few times), the Frankie stand-in (2 shows a week), Joe Pesci actor, and the actress who played Francine sang a hilarious version of Avenue Q's "It Sucks To Be Me" about how it sucked for them in the cast of the Jersey Boys (with the guys finally deferring to the lone Jersey Girl as having the suckiest position). The four leads from Jersey Boys sang a hilarious medley of "guy flick" songs, integrating Jersey Boy choreography and going through songs like "Eye of the Tiger," "Highway to the Danger Zone," and a whole bunch of other recognizable, hilarious songs, culminating with "Walk Like a Man." Rod from Avenue Q also sang a jumbled medley of a whole lot of varied songs that was hilarious, but which I can't recall specifics of at the moment. Rod and Nicky also sang "You're a Top" to each other, specifically to reassure Rod of his manliness. The women of both casts sang "I'm a Woman" with great power and strength, the three black women from the Avenue Q sang about how white boys were so pretty... Seth and Jennie from the cast of Avenue Q sang a hilarious argument song about how "I'm not mad that you were mad that I thought that you thought that..." etc etc... Another woman from Avenue Q opened the second half of the show with "If I Had a month/week/day to live"... "Mary Delgado" seized her 3 minutes and 28 seconds in the sun to sing a solo (forgot what it was)... Some of the more random notes of the evening was one of the Jersey Boys cast members singing a Gnarls Barkley song, a Jersey Boys band? member singing a Little Richard medley, Jarrod Spector in character as Frankie singing a love song to Kate Monster that didn't quite work for me... The topper of the evening, though, which they obviously realized since they left it for almost last, was Trekkie Monster, auditioning for the role of Frankie Valli, singing "You boobs too good to be true" (ie "Can't Take My Eyes off of You") with lyrics that just got more and more hilarious, culminating in him pissing off Mary Delgado, who kneed him in the groin, leading to the falsetto of the last line. It was awesome.
Halfway through the show, they did a live auction with a number of donated items (a trip for 2 to Hawaii, two first class tickets anywhere from Canada to Central America that Continental Airlines flew). The most popular items were the two related to the shows, though. One package was to see Avenue Q, get a backstage tour with the chance to meet the cast, and dinner for two. Another was for two souvenir packs from Avenue Q (which originally were packaged with the show tickets) which Jeremy Kushnier (Tommy DeVito) actually ended up winning, b/c the bids weren't going high enough. The one that got the most active bidding, b/c the Jersey Boys (who were the auctioneers) obviously had pre-planned sweetening the pot, kept adding more and more to it. It was originally lunch for 4 with Jarrod Spector (Frankie) and Michael Ingersoll (Nick Massi), along with signed Jersey Boys gear, two tickets to the next "One Night Only Caberet" (with the cast of Mamma Mia), and two tickets to "Blues in the Night" (the usual show that plays at the Post Street Theatre). As the bidding went up, first Drew Gehling (Bob Gaudio) and then Jeremy Kushnier (Tommy DeVito) offered to come along to the lunch... then Jarrod threw in a special "Walk like a Man" T-shirt signed by the whole cast that was from the AIDS walk they did earlier this year, then more signed gear, and then offered to sing "Sherry" at lunch..and finally, when they had a bid for $1400, managed to get someone else to match the bid, getting a total of $2800 for 8 people now to come to lunch with all four Jersey Boys, plus get all the gear.
The show closed with the entire cast singing "Dreams", a song written by someone who'd passed away for his daughter's graduation. It was quite sweet and pretty.
Overally it was a really great show and I am *so* glad I discovered it was happening the day of instead of the day afterwards. In the above I know I've left out songs and gotten the order of stuff completely wrong, but what's important was, the two casts put together an excellent show, and we had a lot of fun watching it.
Oh, and on the note of restaurants, we went to Siam Thai at 167 Mason Street (between Ellis and Eddy). It was good - I had a BBQ pork wonton/egg noodle soup dish (not what I would usually get at Thai) and my bf had the BBQ pork fried rice and we both enjoyed our dishes. Also cheap. However, must take note - we went to the one in the Parc 55 Hotel. There's a Siam Thai Noodle directly across the street which is much more hole in the wall (though appears to have the same pricing/menu)... I think the Yelp reviews are for both. I went to the Siam Thai Noodle, not seeing the one in Parc 55...my bf went straight to the one on the hotel, having read that it was there..neither of us saw the other restaurant until the other one pointed it out. Something to keep in mind if you decide to check out this place right on the border of the Tenderloin....
Monday, August 20, 2007
Costco madness
Went to the Costco in SF (10th and Harrison?) for the first time on Saturday. I should remember that Saturday afternoon is *never* a good time to visit a Costco, but apparently the one in the city is particularly hectic. You know how people hover in busy parking lots, following people back to their cars or waiting forever just to get a parking spot? That was the first time I've ever had to hover to get a *shopping cart*. I felt a bit like a vulture.
It's fun to walk aisle by aisle through a Costco from time to time, though, just to see what random stuff they sell.
A few links, to make up for the lack of linkage in the last post...
Mifune - 1737 Post Street (in Japantown, near the Benihana).
The people on Yelp are trashing it. I have to say, and I may not have been looking, I've never seen mice or any other pests here. It's definitely not an upscale place, but I'm totally with the "comfort food" moniker. I love getting my nice warm bowl of udon here - I used to like the nabeyaki but then tried the tanin (beef & egg) and never went back. Nice, warm, yummy broth, and good tastes. My bf isn't as fond of Japanese noodles and has a harder time finding something he wants here.
Sophie's Crepes - 1581 Webster St (in Japantown, next to the stationary store, the book store, and Fuku Sushi)
My bf likes Belly Good Cafe & Crepes in the next building better, because they have a lot more original flavor combinations, but since they're never ever open after dinner (they close at 8pm on most nights, not sure about weekends) I can't even remember if I actually have ever had a crepe there. One of these days... At any rate, Sophie's crepes are good for a more standard combination of flavors, especially if you like your crepe in cone shape with a scoop of ice cream in the middle. Just be careful...it dribbles out of the bottom if you're not paying attention and if you eat as slow as I do!
Pork Store Cafe - 1451 Haight St
Like I said yesterday, diner food. Very popular diner food. We managed to get there when the line was fairly short but every time I looked out the window while we were sitting there, there was a long line of people waiting. It's not very big and if you're a party of two, don't expect to sit anywhere but the lunch counter. Like I said, though, we sat at the end of the lunch counter and thus had a perfect view of the cooks. Almost as fun as watching teppanaki ;).
Pagolac - 655 Larkin St (between Ellis and Willow in the Tenderloin)
As I said yesterday, Vietnamese, nothing remarkable but pretty good. Very slow, but it could be b/c we were in the front corner and they never seemed to get quite as far as us... lots of people waiting outside (we got lucky again and got there ahead of the crowd) and a very disorganized system of taking down who's waiting. Food was good - I got the dry vermicelli with bbq chicken (basically a Vietnamese salad, IMO) which tasted good (fairly standard), while my bf got the chicken pho, somehow not quite registering he was basically ordering chicken noodle soup ;). He said it was fine. Somehow despite going to places b/c of thinking he wants pho, we haven't yet gotten the standard beef pho anywhere. The menu keeps distracting us ;). This restaurant has a 7 courses of beef special that looked like it could be interesting, but we didn't have the time or the appetite to try it.
We actually cooked for ourselves 3 nights in a row this weekend (mmm tenderloin. mmmm cookies), so no further restaurant recommendations. Amazing.
It's fun to walk aisle by aisle through a Costco from time to time, though, just to see what random stuff they sell.
A few links, to make up for the lack of linkage in the last post...
Mifune - 1737 Post Street (in Japantown, near the Benihana).
The people on Yelp are trashing it. I have to say, and I may not have been looking, I've never seen mice or any other pests here. It's definitely not an upscale place, but I'm totally with the "comfort food" moniker. I love getting my nice warm bowl of udon here - I used to like the nabeyaki but then tried the tanin (beef & egg) and never went back. Nice, warm, yummy broth, and good tastes. My bf isn't as fond of Japanese noodles and has a harder time finding something he wants here.
Sophie's Crepes - 1581 Webster St (in Japantown, next to the stationary store, the book store, and Fuku Sushi)
My bf likes Belly Good Cafe & Crepes in the next building better, because they have a lot more original flavor combinations, but since they're never ever open after dinner (they close at 8pm on most nights, not sure about weekends) I can't even remember if I actually have ever had a crepe there. One of these days... At any rate, Sophie's crepes are good for a more standard combination of flavors, especially if you like your crepe in cone shape with a scoop of ice cream in the middle. Just be careful...it dribbles out of the bottom if you're not paying attention and if you eat as slow as I do!
Pork Store Cafe - 1451 Haight St
Like I said yesterday, diner food. Very popular diner food. We managed to get there when the line was fairly short but every time I looked out the window while we were sitting there, there was a long line of people waiting. It's not very big and if you're a party of two, don't expect to sit anywhere but the lunch counter. Like I said, though, we sat at the end of the lunch counter and thus had a perfect view of the cooks. Almost as fun as watching teppanaki ;).
Pagolac - 655 Larkin St (between Ellis and Willow in the Tenderloin)
As I said yesterday, Vietnamese, nothing remarkable but pretty good. Very slow, but it could be b/c we were in the front corner and they never seemed to get quite as far as us... lots of people waiting outside (we got lucky again and got there ahead of the crowd) and a very disorganized system of taking down who's waiting. Food was good - I got the dry vermicelli with bbq chicken (basically a Vietnamese salad, IMO) which tasted good (fairly standard), while my bf got the chicken pho, somehow not quite registering he was basically ordering chicken noodle soup ;). He said it was fine. Somehow despite going to places b/c of thinking he wants pho, we haven't yet gotten the standard beef pho anywhere. The menu keeps distracting us ;). This restaurant has a 7 courses of beef special that looked like it could be interesting, but we didn't have the time or the appetite to try it.
We actually cooked for ourselves 3 nights in a row this weekend (mmm tenderloin. mmmm cookies), so no further restaurant recommendations. Amazing.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
GG Park
Golden Gate Park has a lot more to it than I ever realized. We went wandering into the park today, ran across some sort of Indian festival or something, discovered where the tennis courts, handball courts, and baseball fields were. Found the Shakespeare Garden and lay on our backs in the grass for a while, just watching the clouds drift by... Then we found the music concourse where some people were dancing, and then wandered around looking at some paintings. It was nice..beautiful day.
Blogger's dragging slowness with Firefox 1.5 is starting to drive me batty.
Quick list of places I've eaten at since my last list:
Pagolac - Vietnamese at 655 Larkin (Tenderloin). Went here b/c we were going to see a coworker's band at the Great American Music Hall. Was fine, nothing really stood out.
Ploy II - yup, went again b/c the Citrus Club down the street had a wait and we didn't feel like waiting. Praram gai (I think) beef was yummy, chicken chow mein (not my idea) kind of bland.
Mifune (Japantown) - I love this place. Yummy tanin udon.
Pork Store Cafe -1451 Haight Street. Yelpers love it for breakfast, had to try it out. Getting "Eggs in a Tasty Nest" first meal of the day may not have been a good idea - overly salty and greasy for my stomach. Sat at the lunch counter and had fun observing the cooks at work. Want to try again and order something else. As the bf observed, though, it's diner food - greasy, quick, not particularly healthy.
Enough. Slow typing is driving me crazy.
Blogger's dragging slowness with Firefox 1.5 is starting to drive me batty.
Quick list of places I've eaten at since my last list:
Pagolac - Vietnamese at 655 Larkin (Tenderloin). Went here b/c we were going to see a coworker's band at the Great American Music Hall. Was fine, nothing really stood out.
Ploy II - yup, went again b/c the Citrus Club down the street had a wait and we didn't feel like waiting. Praram gai (I think) beef was yummy, chicken chow mein (not my idea) kind of bland.
Mifune (Japantown) - I love this place. Yummy tanin udon.
Pork Store Cafe -1451 Haight Street. Yelpers love it for breakfast, had to try it out. Getting "Eggs in a Tasty Nest" first meal of the day may not have been a good idea - overly salty and greasy for my stomach. Sat at the lunch counter and had fun observing the cooks at work. Want to try again and order something else. As the bf observed, though, it's diner food - greasy, quick, not particularly healthy.
Enough. Slow typing is driving me crazy.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Stephen King
Stephen King is a horror novelist. That's what most people know about him, that's what he's famous for. And though I've read most of his horror novels (I once won an ebay lot of some 40 books of his for like $50 so I've got a lot of Stephen King), my favorite books of his, what keeps me reading him, are his non-horror stories.
What? You ask. Stephen King writes things other than horror?
Why, yes. Yes, he does.
Ever see The Shawshank Redemption, that great movie starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman?
Based on a Stephen King novella. Which happens to be one of my favorite pieces of writing that he's ever done. The movie actually stayed remarkably true to the novella, with Morgan Freeman's voice as the voice of the narrating character, Red (who was named that b/c he was a redhead in the novella), preserving the tone and sense of character and underlying heart of the story.
My absolute favorite Stephen King book is The Dead Zone, without a doubt. In this case, forget the movie, forget the TV show. The movie was faithful to the book, the TV show is decidedly not, but neither, IMO, captured the character of Johnny Smith. The regular, likable guy blessed..or cursed..by precognitive powers, who tries to just live his life and leave others alone but finds himself drawn by circumstance, or destiny, or something into unavoidable tragedy. I really like the character of Johnny Smith, and I find myself really feeling for him, and really hit poignantly by the last chapter of the book. The reason I dismiss the movie is Christopher Walken, no matter how hard he tries, is as far from my image of a normal, regular guy as can be, so I just can't believe him in the role. Anthony Michael Hall does the regular guy with the sense of humor better, but the show is completely divergent from the book and I watch it as a completely different story an set of characters.
In both stories, it's the simple language, the richly drawn characters, the *heart* that really draws me in. I care about these people. And it's Stephen King's writing that makes me care.
The thing is, the use of language, the characterization, the descriptions, the writing..it's all there in his other novels. I think it's why he's so popular over all those other horror writers out there. But I like it best when it's unadorned by the horror trappings, when he's just writing about ordinary life and people living their lives.
Though, Stephen King has also written a number of novels I'd label as more fantasy than horror, which I've also enjoyed (though he's more graphic and gross than any fantasy writer at times). Eyes of the Dragon, the whole Dark Tower series...The Talisman and its sequel Black House...
What? You ask. Stephen King writes things other than horror?
Why, yes. Yes, he does.
Ever see The Shawshank Redemption, that great movie starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman?
Based on a Stephen King novella. Which happens to be one of my favorite pieces of writing that he's ever done. The movie actually stayed remarkably true to the novella, with Morgan Freeman's voice as the voice of the narrating character, Red (who was named that b/c he was a redhead in the novella), preserving the tone and sense of character and underlying heart of the story.
My absolute favorite Stephen King book is The Dead Zone, without a doubt. In this case, forget the movie, forget the TV show. The movie was faithful to the book, the TV show is decidedly not, but neither, IMO, captured the character of Johnny Smith. The regular, likable guy blessed..or cursed..by precognitive powers, who tries to just live his life and leave others alone but finds himself drawn by circumstance, or destiny, or something into unavoidable tragedy. I really like the character of Johnny Smith, and I find myself really feeling for him, and really hit poignantly by the last chapter of the book. The reason I dismiss the movie is Christopher Walken, no matter how hard he tries, is as far from my image of a normal, regular guy as can be, so I just can't believe him in the role. Anthony Michael Hall does the regular guy with the sense of humor better, but the show is completely divergent from the book and I watch it as a completely different story an set of characters.
In both stories, it's the simple language, the richly drawn characters, the *heart* that really draws me in. I care about these people. And it's Stephen King's writing that makes me care.
The thing is, the use of language, the characterization, the descriptions, the writing..it's all there in his other novels. I think it's why he's so popular over all those other horror writers out there. But I like it best when it's unadorned by the horror trappings, when he's just writing about ordinary life and people living their lives.
Though, Stephen King has also written a number of novels I'd label as more fantasy than horror, which I've also enjoyed (though he's more graphic and gross than any fantasy writer at times). Eyes of the Dragon, the whole Dark Tower series...The Talisman and its sequel Black House...
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Sad, lonely thief
On Sunday night, I got a phone call from American Express' customer service department, questioning a suspicious charge on my credit card from Friday. When I denied having made that charge, they questioned me about another charge that also looked suspicious. At this point, I called up my online statement and discovered a third charge, 10 days earlier, that I knew I hadn't made either. AMEX was really good about it - they transferred me to customer service who issued me a new card, closed the old one, and took all three charges off of my bill. So, I'm AMEX-less for 7-10 days or whatever, but at least AMEX caught it and was totally cool about it.
The charges?
Zencon Dating
Match.com
Second Life
So my credit card info was stolen by a single geek who likes computer games?
Even funnier is, I googled zencondating and all that came up was a number of links reporting rip-offs or scams... but all the reports were of people who tried to sign up for zencon dating, paid them, and then couldn't access the account, get customer service, get their money back...
Does this mean my credit card thief stole my info so he could get ripped off?
The charges?
Zencon Dating
Match.com
Second Life
So my credit card info was stolen by a single geek who likes computer games?
Even funnier is, I googled zencondating and all that came up was a number of links reporting rip-offs or scams... but all the reports were of people who tried to sign up for zencon dating, paid them, and then couldn't access the account, get customer service, get their money back...
Does this mean my credit card thief stole my info so he could get ripped off?
More eats
Some more restaurants to add to the list.
Ploy II - 1770 Haight (between Cole & Shrader, on 2nd floor)
Great Thai food. A friend of a friend recommended this place, so we figured we'd try it out. I was really pleased! It's a cute little space on the 2nd floor (cute = crowded), basically someone's converted flat, with really yummy Thai food at quite reasonable prices. We had the pineapple fried rice (came with pork sung on top, which I've never seen before), Thai bbq chicken, and pan-fried combination in oyster sauce, and they were all quite yummy.
I think I've now got three favorite Thai restaurants for very different flavors. Ploy II is what I consider "standard" Thai - the same types of dishes as most other Thai restaurants I've been to, similar flavors, but done very well. Jitlada Thai was my favorite Thai restaurant for a while (it's only not quite that now because we went too many times and kind of burnt ourselves out) because it has extremely fresh-tasting food, and very different flavors than the "standard" Thai. The presentation there is also really nice, there are some quite different dishes, Chef Pai is a sweetie and started recognizing me after only my 2nd or 3rd time there and kept sending free salads to me when I went, and basically everyone I've taken there has loved it. The third Thai restaurant is Nipa-Pon on 25th Ave in San Mateo, which I like primarily for two dishes - the rama-I-forget-the-name-peanut sauce on chicken over a bed of spinach/mixed vegetables and the pineapple curry chicken. I'm a rather big fan of sweet food, both dishes are quite sweet, and I love them, as does my bf. The peanut sauce there is also my absolute favorite peanut sauce I've had so far. The rest of their food I've enjoyed as well, but it's those two dishes, which taste quite different than similar dishes at other restaurants, that keep me going back.
Espetus Churrascaria - 1686 Market St (at Haight & Gough)
Meat. Lots and lots and lots of meat. It's Brazilian BBQ, what do you expect? It's also not cheap - $45 for dinner. But it is quite good... I liked the space - it was bright and clean (helped that we were there at 6pm - lots of sun through the windows). I liked the service - very attentive but not intrusive. The garlic sirloin was delicious, as was the filet mignon. The pork loin was dry as hell and I didn't eat more than two bites. The top sirloin and other sirloines were quite good as well, flap steak was less impressive... chicken leg was ok... lamb was decent, very tender and not too lamby... um... the grilled pineapple was AWESOME - perfectly juicy with a smokey flavor that was just wonderful. The fried plantains were great but they didn't give us enough - it wasn't in their food bar, it was brought on a plate at the beginning of the meal and we had to ask for more... The hot food bar had a yummy chicken dish but I have absolutely no idea what it was... They had a pineapple mint drink that was interesting, and mango juice which was extraordinarily bland, and limeade that my bf liked. Overall it was a good experience though while I was waiting to use the bathroom, I could see into the kitchen and realized we'd missed out on several types of meat, including bacon-wrapped stuff. My sister likes the place we went to in San Diego more, one of my friends likes the place in Las Vegas more, and I'm not sure I disagree, but it was still good. Just don't eat much the day you go!
Sunflower Vietnamese Restaurant - 3111 16th St (at Valencia - there's also a Sunflower around the corner on Valencia)
Decent Vietnamese food. We came here b/c my sister was craving pho and somehow none of us ended up getting pho. The shaken beef didn't impress me much - I think I had really really good shaken beef at Tamarine Restaurant (in Palo Alto) and have been searching for it ever since. The crispy egg noodle with chicken/prawns/mixed veggies dish was pretty good, though. My bf and older sister got similar beef dishes in different form. They both seemed to enjoy their dishes though weren't sighing over them or anything..and they both ended up with stomach weirdness later that night. We're unclear if that was related to the food or the shaky camera work on the Bourne Ultimatum though...
Fuku Sushi - 1581 Webster St (between Post and Geary - in Japantown next to the stationary store and Sophie's Crepes)
My tummy came out very happy. My wallet less so. We just ordered a plethora of sushi - between my bf and I, we split an Alaska roll (smoked and fresh salmon, which blend to be an interesting combination of flavors), a Negi Toro (Toro and scallion roll - quite yummy but the Toro was probably a bit wasted b/c you can't really tell it's toro in there), a Kamikaze roll (tuna, tobiko, avocado...also yummy), and each got Shiro Maguro (aka Albacore) and Kanpachi (amberjack) nigiri. It was all really yummy. Not sure it was the best sushi ever, but it was good. Definitely expensive, though.
Squat & Gobble Cafe 2 - 1428 Haight St (between Masonic and Ashbury)
I figured it was a chain, and I remember reading reviews of a different location that weren't that good, so, how good can it be? But my bf's coworkers love this place so we went for brunch the other day. And I loved the options I saw on the menu. So many different combos of what I like with Nutella.. plus they had a banana-chocolate waffle that was nutella, banana and other yumminess. Ended up getting a fruity nutella - ie strawberries, blueberries, bananas, nutella, and whipped cream. Very yummy except I forgot how berries are tart and I've got enough of a sweet tooth to think they're too tart at times. My bf got the very berry nutella which was the same as mine without the bananas, and my sister got the apple pie one which she very much enjoyed. Very yummy and satisfying, and flavor combos I like more than the ones at Crepes on Cole.
Crepe O Chocolat - 75 O'Farrell St
This place gets rave reviews on Yelp so I had to go. Finally got there for lunch today. I want to rave but I'm not there yet. They have some very interesting stuff in the cases and in the drink case but I haven't tried any of them yet. All sorts of desserts and homemade truffles and stuff, along with drinks like Guava Lemonade, Watermelon Lemonade, Ginger Apple, etc etc... Many of the desserts are no sugar or no sugar/no flour or vegan, so I wonder how I'll like them. The brandy chicken club sandwich I had was a bit disappointing given that people were raving about it - chicken a bit dry and over-salty - but it was still pretty good. My bf I think liked his prosciutto/apple/gruyere cheese crepe, except he didn't like the buckwheat. His "melted chocolate" drink was rich chocolatey goodness, and my homemade chai with honey drink was quite good. I've never had chai before, it was interestingly like spiced apple cider, only heavy on the spices and light on the cider. I'd like to come back and try some other stuff sometime...
Ploy II - 1770 Haight (between Cole & Shrader, on 2nd floor)
Great Thai food. A friend of a friend recommended this place, so we figured we'd try it out. I was really pleased! It's a cute little space on the 2nd floor (cute = crowded), basically someone's converted flat, with really yummy Thai food at quite reasonable prices. We had the pineapple fried rice (came with pork sung on top, which I've never seen before), Thai bbq chicken, and pan-fried combination in oyster sauce, and they were all quite yummy.
I think I've now got three favorite Thai restaurants for very different flavors. Ploy II is what I consider "standard" Thai - the same types of dishes as most other Thai restaurants I've been to, similar flavors, but done very well. Jitlada Thai was my favorite Thai restaurant for a while (it's only not quite that now because we went too many times and kind of burnt ourselves out) because it has extremely fresh-tasting food, and very different flavors than the "standard" Thai. The presentation there is also really nice, there are some quite different dishes, Chef Pai is a sweetie and started recognizing me after only my 2nd or 3rd time there and kept sending free salads to me when I went, and basically everyone I've taken there has loved it. The third Thai restaurant is Nipa-Pon on 25th Ave in San Mateo, which I like primarily for two dishes - the rama-I-forget-the-name-peanut sauce on chicken over a bed of spinach/mixed vegetables and the pineapple curry chicken. I'm a rather big fan of sweet food, both dishes are quite sweet, and I love them, as does my bf. The peanut sauce there is also my absolute favorite peanut sauce I've had so far. The rest of their food I've enjoyed as well, but it's those two dishes, which taste quite different than similar dishes at other restaurants, that keep me going back.
Espetus Churrascaria - 1686 Market St (at Haight & Gough)
Meat. Lots and lots and lots of meat. It's Brazilian BBQ, what do you expect? It's also not cheap - $45 for dinner. But it is quite good... I liked the space - it was bright and clean (helped that we were there at 6pm - lots of sun through the windows). I liked the service - very attentive but not intrusive. The garlic sirloin was delicious, as was the filet mignon. The pork loin was dry as hell and I didn't eat more than two bites. The top sirloin and other sirloines were quite good as well, flap steak was less impressive... chicken leg was ok... lamb was decent, very tender and not too lamby... um... the grilled pineapple was AWESOME - perfectly juicy with a smokey flavor that was just wonderful. The fried plantains were great but they didn't give us enough - it wasn't in their food bar, it was brought on a plate at the beginning of the meal and we had to ask for more... The hot food bar had a yummy chicken dish but I have absolutely no idea what it was... They had a pineapple mint drink that was interesting, and mango juice which was extraordinarily bland, and limeade that my bf liked. Overall it was a good experience though while I was waiting to use the bathroom, I could see into the kitchen and realized we'd missed out on several types of meat, including bacon-wrapped stuff. My sister likes the place we went to in San Diego more, one of my friends likes the place in Las Vegas more, and I'm not sure I disagree, but it was still good. Just don't eat much the day you go!
Sunflower Vietnamese Restaurant - 3111 16th St (at Valencia - there's also a Sunflower around the corner on Valencia)
Decent Vietnamese food. We came here b/c my sister was craving pho and somehow none of us ended up getting pho. The shaken beef didn't impress me much - I think I had really really good shaken beef at Tamarine Restaurant (in Palo Alto) and have been searching for it ever since. The crispy egg noodle with chicken/prawns/mixed veggies dish was pretty good, though. My bf and older sister got similar beef dishes in different form. They both seemed to enjoy their dishes though weren't sighing over them or anything..and they both ended up with stomach weirdness later that night. We're unclear if that was related to the food or the shaky camera work on the Bourne Ultimatum though...
Fuku Sushi - 1581 Webster St (between Post and Geary - in Japantown next to the stationary store and Sophie's Crepes)
My tummy came out very happy. My wallet less so. We just ordered a plethora of sushi - between my bf and I, we split an Alaska roll (smoked and fresh salmon, which blend to be an interesting combination of flavors), a Negi Toro (Toro and scallion roll - quite yummy but the Toro was probably a bit wasted b/c you can't really tell it's toro in there), a Kamikaze roll (tuna, tobiko, avocado...also yummy), and each got Shiro Maguro (aka Albacore) and Kanpachi (amberjack) nigiri. It was all really yummy. Not sure it was the best sushi ever, but it was good. Definitely expensive, though.
Squat & Gobble Cafe 2 - 1428 Haight St (between Masonic and Ashbury)
I figured it was a chain, and I remember reading reviews of a different location that weren't that good, so, how good can it be? But my bf's coworkers love this place so we went for brunch the other day. And I loved the options I saw on the menu. So many different combos of what I like with Nutella.. plus they had a banana-chocolate waffle that was nutella, banana and other yumminess. Ended up getting a fruity nutella - ie strawberries, blueberries, bananas, nutella, and whipped cream. Very yummy except I forgot how berries are tart and I've got enough of a sweet tooth to think they're too tart at times. My bf got the very berry nutella which was the same as mine without the bananas, and my sister got the apple pie one which she very much enjoyed. Very yummy and satisfying, and flavor combos I like more than the ones at Crepes on Cole.
Crepe O Chocolat - 75 O'Farrell St
This place gets rave reviews on Yelp so I had to go. Finally got there for lunch today. I want to rave but I'm not there yet. They have some very interesting stuff in the cases and in the drink case but I haven't tried any of them yet. All sorts of desserts and homemade truffles and stuff, along with drinks like Guava Lemonade, Watermelon Lemonade, Ginger Apple, etc etc... Many of the desserts are no sugar or no sugar/no flour or vegan, so I wonder how I'll like them. The brandy chicken club sandwich I had was a bit disappointing given that people were raving about it - chicken a bit dry and over-salty - but it was still pretty good. My bf I think liked his prosciutto/apple/gruyere cheese crepe, except he didn't like the buckwheat. His "melted chocolate" drink was rich chocolatey goodness, and my homemade chai with honey drink was quite good. I've never had chai before, it was interestingly like spiced apple cider, only heavy on the spices and light on the cider. I'd like to come back and try some other stuff sometime...
Blister packs/clamshells
I think blister pack (or, according to Wikipedia, clamshell) manufacturers are in collusion with scissor manufacturers. And bandaid manufacturers. Hrmph.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Bourne Ultimatum
Just got back from the Bourne Ultimatum...kickass awesome movie. Loved it. Love the Bourne series. Just nonstop action start to finish, but good, tense, fairly smart action. Good stuff.
Blogger is being a pain in the ass. So no more posting about how Ploy II is a yummy Thai place in the Haight until later...
Blogger is being a pain in the ass. So no more posting about how Ploy II is a yummy Thai place in the Haight until later...
Friday, August 10, 2007
Canadian parents
I wonder if Canadian parents have particularly high expectations for their kids or something. I'm listening to my iPod and Alanis Morissette's "Perfect" came on ("we'll love you..just the way you are..if you're perfect") which reminded me of Barenaked Ladies' "What a Good Boy" ("We've got these chains that hang around our necks. People want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath."). Parental pressure, eh?
Eating in SF
Been eating out a lot recently, but rapidly forgetting where. To keep track of where I've been so far for future reference...
Memphis Minnie's BBQ - 576 Haight St (between Fillmore and Steiner)
- Very yummy bbq. We got two 2-meat combos and tried the brisket, smoked pork, pork ribs, and beef ribs. My faves were the pork, his were the beef, it was all good. Sides were interesting - very vinegary greens that didn't taste like veggies, sweet & tart cole slaw, fairly standard potato salad, and well-spiced fries. Would definitely go again.
Sorabol Korean - in Westfield SF Shopping Center food court
- Not bad, especially for food court food. Flavors are good, though the meat is all rather gristly and chewy. Lots of tendons and fat and such still attached. But it's yummy and they give you a rather large portion of rice and cellophane/rice noodles. Also comes with kimchee except I'm not a kimchee eater so I left that behind.
Assab Eritrean Restaurant - 2845 Geary Blvd (between Collins & Wood - not far from Masonic)
- Not the biggest fan of Eritrean/Ethiopean food mostly b/c I'm slightly OCD about wiping my fingers while eating and eating with my hands is fun but kind of triggers that. Also, not a big fan of sharing food b/c I'm weird about that, and thus sharing food where everyone's licking their fingers and then digging back in...yeah, no. Also, the food is a bit spicy for my taste. But if you like the kind of food, this place does it well. Interesting experience.
Grandeho's Kamekyo (Cole Valley) - 943 Cole St (near N-Judah stop at Carl)
- Way too expensive for what it was. My bf's beef udon was $14, my beef sukiyaki & tempura (there was no sukiyaki-only option) was $20, the nigiri was $5 (or $4.50, don't quite remember) minimum... The food all tasted fine (though the tempura dipping sauce had ginger in it - ewwww) and my bf said the shiro maguro nigiri he got (shiro maguro rocks!) was good. But far too expensive, IMO.
Abacus - 2078 Hayes St (between Clayton and Cole)
- Gets great reviews on Yelp. IMO extremely unauthentic Chinese food, but on the other hand, I was with four white people who ordered the chicken w/ broccoli & walnuts, chicken kung pao, and chicken chow mein, which wouldn't exactly plumb the depths of authentic Chinese. It's got a nice feel to the place, it's a bit on the nice upscale side rather than a hole in the wall, it has some fusion-y-ish type dishes. I loved the dessert - we got a 4 ice cream sampler of coconut, lychee, banana walnut, and mango, and they were all delicious. I think I'll give it another try and try to order something different. The food was fine, it just wasn't particularly special IMO. Though points for not being particularly greasy.
Magnolia Pub & Brewery - 1398 Haight St (and Masonic)
- Pretty good food. We got the gnocchi dish and the duck dish (though I dunno if the menu changes) as well as the home-brewed grape soda and root beer. The duck dish (my bf's) was quite yummy. The gnocchi was good, too. The grape soda kind of tasted like a grape popsicle, not what I'm looking for, while the root beer tasted oddly like one of the weaker sweet canned root beers. Not what I would expect from a home-brewed root beer - for some reason I think it should be stronger. However, this is a place my bf's coworkers love and I hear the burgers are good, so I'd like to try it again and keep exploring the menu. Minuses are that I hear you generally have to wait to be seated, and their seating arrangement is weird. You have to go to the back corner of the restaurant to the bar to put your name down, and then there really isn't anywhere to stand and wait.
Asqew Grill - 1607 Haight St (between Belvedere and Clayton)
- My sister loves this place but my bf and I were underwhelmed. Skewers of meat served with a side (salad or some type of starch). Seems like they don't marinate the meat so you get generic grilled chicken with some sauce (not enough) on top. I've tried both the Haight and the SF Shopping Center locations, and it's just not my thing. Kind of bland, to be honest...
Crepes on Cole - 100 Carl St (and Cole, near N-Judah)
- I've been here like 3 times. My like for the place varies each time. The first time, I got the special crepe and decided that havarti cheese was the bomb (it was something like a chicken, avocado, havarti cheese, mushroom, etc etc crepe) and it was super-yummy. My bf was less impressed with his crepe though I forget what he got. The second time we got sweet crepes and for once, I didn't get nutella and was super-happy with my brown sugar and banana (I think?) crepe while he had a quite good brown sugar and strawberry crepe (with chocolate). The third time I went back for lunch and I thought got the same crepe as the first time but it was bland bland bland. The potatoes and the salad on the side have also never tasted that great. I think maybe I'll stick to sweet crepes there. Also, we tried the Mexican hot chocolate there and it was nothing but fairly unchocolatey normal hot chocolate with a cinnamon stick stuck in it. What a let-down.
Zazie - 941 Cole St (right next to Grandeho)
- Everyone says this place is excellent for brunch. I wouldn't know, b/c the few time I've gone by at that time, the line went out the door and then some. We went here for dinner one night, and I thought it was really good. I don't actually remember what I ordered but I remember really liking it. Not sure the bf was quite as impressed but I think overall it's good. French restaurant, btw.
Tea Garden (515 Mission St near 1st)
- Doesn't exactly qualify as a new discovery since it's close to work and I've been going here for quite a while. But I wanted to add it anyway. They have limited food options but it's all your Taiwanese train food (according to a review they have posted in the restaurant). Beef noodles, pork chop noodles (or rice), minced pork noodles (or rice), etc. Comes with a tea egg (or you could buy the tea eggs yourself) and is all a nice, warm meal for your tummy at lunch. There's not much room to eat in the store but no worries, it's right next to the stairs for a really nice terrace with grass and terraces to sit and chairs and tables, which is a wonderful place to eat lunch on a nice day. They also have a display case of stuff like pork buns, coconut buns, fan twan (i can't do pingyin - rice rolls with stuff inside), etc etc. Some of these are good, from what I understand, but I wouldn't advise getting the sesame balls b/c they tend to be sitting there for a while and that type of thing needs to be fresh or it's pretty gross. The bubble drinks - the fruit ones in particular - are yummy. The milk tea itself not so much - every time I've tried it it tastes slightly off, like the milk is funny or something. But the strawberry banana drink is pure yumminess (and I think they use real strawberries and real bananas, not powders, though the strawberry drink is definitely powder). I also like the pina colada with coconut jelly drink, and the chocolate strawberry icy..and the mango one... Yum yum.
Memphis Minnie's BBQ - 576 Haight St (between Fillmore and Steiner)
- Very yummy bbq. We got two 2-meat combos and tried the brisket, smoked pork, pork ribs, and beef ribs. My faves were the pork, his were the beef, it was all good. Sides were interesting - very vinegary greens that didn't taste like veggies, sweet & tart cole slaw, fairly standard potato salad, and well-spiced fries. Would definitely go again.
Sorabol Korean - in Westfield SF Shopping Center food court
- Not bad, especially for food court food. Flavors are good, though the meat is all rather gristly and chewy. Lots of tendons and fat and such still attached. But it's yummy and they give you a rather large portion of rice and cellophane/rice noodles. Also comes with kimchee except I'm not a kimchee eater so I left that behind.
Assab Eritrean Restaurant - 2845 Geary Blvd (between Collins & Wood - not far from Masonic)
- Not the biggest fan of Eritrean/Ethiopean food mostly b/c I'm slightly OCD about wiping my fingers while eating and eating with my hands is fun but kind of triggers that. Also, not a big fan of sharing food b/c I'm weird about that, and thus sharing food where everyone's licking their fingers and then digging back in...yeah, no. Also, the food is a bit spicy for my taste. But if you like the kind of food, this place does it well. Interesting experience.
Grandeho's Kamekyo (Cole Valley) - 943 Cole St (near N-Judah stop at Carl)
- Way too expensive for what it was. My bf's beef udon was $14, my beef sukiyaki & tempura (there was no sukiyaki-only option) was $20, the nigiri was $5 (or $4.50, don't quite remember) minimum... The food all tasted fine (though the tempura dipping sauce had ginger in it - ewwww) and my bf said the shiro maguro nigiri he got (shiro maguro rocks!) was good. But far too expensive, IMO.
Abacus - 2078 Hayes St (between Clayton and Cole)
- Gets great reviews on Yelp. IMO extremely unauthentic Chinese food, but on the other hand, I was with four white people who ordered the chicken w/ broccoli & walnuts, chicken kung pao, and chicken chow mein, which wouldn't exactly plumb the depths of authentic Chinese. It's got a nice feel to the place, it's a bit on the nice upscale side rather than a hole in the wall, it has some fusion-y-ish type dishes. I loved the dessert - we got a 4 ice cream sampler of coconut, lychee, banana walnut, and mango, and they were all delicious. I think I'll give it another try and try to order something different. The food was fine, it just wasn't particularly special IMO. Though points for not being particularly greasy.
Magnolia Pub & Brewery - 1398 Haight St (and Masonic)
- Pretty good food. We got the gnocchi dish and the duck dish (though I dunno if the menu changes) as well as the home-brewed grape soda and root beer. The duck dish (my bf's) was quite yummy. The gnocchi was good, too. The grape soda kind of tasted like a grape popsicle, not what I'm looking for, while the root beer tasted oddly like one of the weaker sweet canned root beers. Not what I would expect from a home-brewed root beer - for some reason I think it should be stronger. However, this is a place my bf's coworkers love and I hear the burgers are good, so I'd like to try it again and keep exploring the menu. Minuses are that I hear you generally have to wait to be seated, and their seating arrangement is weird. You have to go to the back corner of the restaurant to the bar to put your name down, and then there really isn't anywhere to stand and wait.
Asqew Grill - 1607 Haight St (between Belvedere and Clayton)
- My sister loves this place but my bf and I were underwhelmed. Skewers of meat served with a side (salad or some type of starch). Seems like they don't marinate the meat so you get generic grilled chicken with some sauce (not enough) on top. I've tried both the Haight and the SF Shopping Center locations, and it's just not my thing. Kind of bland, to be honest...
Crepes on Cole - 100 Carl St (and Cole, near N-Judah)
- I've been here like 3 times. My like for the place varies each time. The first time, I got the special crepe and decided that havarti cheese was the bomb (it was something like a chicken, avocado, havarti cheese, mushroom, etc etc crepe) and it was super-yummy. My bf was less impressed with his crepe though I forget what he got. The second time we got sweet crepes and for once, I didn't get nutella and was super-happy with my brown sugar and banana (I think?) crepe while he had a quite good brown sugar and strawberry crepe (with chocolate). The third time I went back for lunch and I thought got the same crepe as the first time but it was bland bland bland. The potatoes and the salad on the side have also never tasted that great. I think maybe I'll stick to sweet crepes there. Also, we tried the Mexican hot chocolate there and it was nothing but fairly unchocolatey normal hot chocolate with a cinnamon stick stuck in it. What a let-down.
Zazie - 941 Cole St (right next to Grandeho)
- Everyone says this place is excellent for brunch. I wouldn't know, b/c the few time I've gone by at that time, the line went out the door and then some. We went here for dinner one night, and I thought it was really good. I don't actually remember what I ordered but I remember really liking it. Not sure the bf was quite as impressed but I think overall it's good. French restaurant, btw.
Tea Garden (515 Mission St near 1st)
- Doesn't exactly qualify as a new discovery since it's close to work and I've been going here for quite a while. But I wanted to add it anyway. They have limited food options but it's all your Taiwanese train food (according to a review they have posted in the restaurant). Beef noodles, pork chop noodles (or rice), minced pork noodles (or rice), etc. Comes with a tea egg (or you could buy the tea eggs yourself) and is all a nice, warm meal for your tummy at lunch. There's not much room to eat in the store but no worries, it's right next to the stairs for a really nice terrace with grass and terraces to sit and chairs and tables, which is a wonderful place to eat lunch on a nice day. They also have a display case of stuff like pork buns, coconut buns, fan twan (i can't do pingyin - rice rolls with stuff inside), etc etc. Some of these are good, from what I understand, but I wouldn't advise getting the sesame balls b/c they tend to be sitting there for a while and that type of thing needs to be fresh or it's pretty gross. The bubble drinks - the fruit ones in particular - are yummy. The milk tea itself not so much - every time I've tried it it tastes slightly off, like the milk is funny or something. But the strawberry banana drink is pure yumminess (and I think they use real strawberries and real bananas, not powders, though the strawberry drink is definitely powder). I also like the pina colada with coconut jelly drink, and the chocolate strawberry icy..and the mango one... Yum yum.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Wordiness
I've decided after scanning through some friends' blogs that I babble too much and use too many words in a given post. Who's going to want to read that?
And by creating a post just to say that, I'm only proving the point. Especially b/c there's something else I want to blog about in a bit...
And by creating a post just to say that, I'm only proving the point. Especially b/c there's something else I want to blog about in a bit...
City living
I just moved up to the city a week and a half ago. It's been interesting - there are definite pros and cons to city living. Though, I've found that I've adjusted really quickly and it feels like life as usual already...
Pros:
- No more worrying about Caltrain schedules. I still think Caltrain is the most comfortable mode of public transportation but with evening trains leaving at 7:20, 8:25, 10:00 and midnight, there weren't very many options for staying up in the city and getting home. The lack of dependence on Caltrain has also led to us getting up later and later and jumping on whatever bus comes by in the morning, as well. Yay more sleep!
- Convenience to stuff to do. In the last week we've been out practically every night, doing dinner in various places, caught some live music only 3 blocks from our house, went to a free advance screening of Rush Hour 3 (extremely formulaic), etc... We've been looking at the concerts at the Warfield or Fillmore, and I'm already debating getting a season subscription to the Best of Broadway series. I may end up spending a lot of money this way =).
- Walking to stuff + the bus system. We've got a supermarket a few blocks from our place, and restaurants also a few blocks away. We can hop on any bus with our MUNI monthly pass and go wherever.
- More flexible work hours - if I need to stay a bit later to get something done, I'm not committing to waiting an hour for the next train. (which goes back to pro #1)
- Actually I guess it just boils down to more flexibility!
Cons:
- People. Yes, I'm kind of anti-social and yes, I'm a bit of a freak for being rather suburb-oriented, but I'm not a fan of walking in crowds or standing in crowds. People are always just stopping or lagging right in my path, or pushing past, or yelling or whatever. I kind of would rather just be left alone and I wish they'd just get out of my way. And busses/light rail get so crowded sometimes.
- Smells. The city is smelly! The busses are teaching me the range of odors humans can possess. And I just looove walking through the smell of piss or worse. Plus the bus commute is really not as nice as Caltrain - I haven't quite got the hang of bracing against both the stops and the starts yet.
- Noise. I've been spoiled living in a standalone house for years. I'm relearning what it's like to have people above and below. Mostly ok except wow, they have a loud bathroom fan! Street noise hasn't been as troublesome as I had worried, though. Nothing like having planes fly super-low over your house every hour!
- Lack of exercise. It's funny that I should complain about my commute getting shorter, but I used to walk over a mile to work from Caltrain, so I was putting in a minimum of 2.5 miles of walking a day. Now the bus picks me up a few blocks from my flat and drops me off a few blocks from work. I'd better get to work on the elliptical or I'm going to go rapidly out of shape!
- Greater *inconvenience* for visiting my friends, who are largely on the peninsula or in south bay. Plus, SFO used to be a 15 minute drive away. Now it's a bus ride to BART and then BART to the airport... or driving, sure, but not as conveniently.
Overall, though, I'd say that city living has been working out quite nicely for us thus far. Most of my cons are just me being picky and whiny. I may get tired of going out every night though. I'm kind of a homebody at heart... would help if our living room was unpacked, though ;).
Pros:
- No more worrying about Caltrain schedules. I still think Caltrain is the most comfortable mode of public transportation but with evening trains leaving at 7:20, 8:25, 10:00 and midnight, there weren't very many options for staying up in the city and getting home. The lack of dependence on Caltrain has also led to us getting up later and later and jumping on whatever bus comes by in the morning, as well. Yay more sleep!
- Convenience to stuff to do. In the last week we've been out practically every night, doing dinner in various places, caught some live music only 3 blocks from our house, went to a free advance screening of Rush Hour 3 (extremely formulaic), etc... We've been looking at the concerts at the Warfield or Fillmore, and I'm already debating getting a season subscription to the Best of Broadway series. I may end up spending a lot of money this way =).
- Walking to stuff + the bus system. We've got a supermarket a few blocks from our place, and restaurants also a few blocks away. We can hop on any bus with our MUNI monthly pass and go wherever.
- More flexible work hours - if I need to stay a bit later to get something done, I'm not committing to waiting an hour for the next train. (which goes back to pro #1)
- Actually I guess it just boils down to more flexibility!
Cons:
- People. Yes, I'm kind of anti-social and yes, I'm a bit of a freak for being rather suburb-oriented, but I'm not a fan of walking in crowds or standing in crowds. People are always just stopping or lagging right in my path, or pushing past, or yelling or whatever. I kind of would rather just be left alone and I wish they'd just get out of my way. And busses/light rail get so crowded sometimes.
- Smells. The city is smelly! The busses are teaching me the range of odors humans can possess. And I just looove walking through the smell of piss or worse. Plus the bus commute is really not as nice as Caltrain - I haven't quite got the hang of bracing against both the stops and the starts yet.
- Noise. I've been spoiled living in a standalone house for years. I'm relearning what it's like to have people above and below. Mostly ok except wow, they have a loud bathroom fan! Street noise hasn't been as troublesome as I had worried, though. Nothing like having planes fly super-low over your house every hour!
- Lack of exercise. It's funny that I should complain about my commute getting shorter, but I used to walk over a mile to work from Caltrain, so I was putting in a minimum of 2.5 miles of walking a day. Now the bus picks me up a few blocks from my flat and drops me off a few blocks from work. I'd better get to work on the elliptical or I'm going to go rapidly out of shape!
- Greater *inconvenience* for visiting my friends, who are largely on the peninsula or in south bay. Plus, SFO used to be a 15 minute drive away. Now it's a bus ride to BART and then BART to the airport... or driving, sure, but not as conveniently.
Overall, though, I'd say that city living has been working out quite nicely for us thus far. Most of my cons are just me being picky and whiny. I may get tired of going out every night though. I'm kind of a homebody at heart... would help if our living room was unpacked, though ;).
Hello blogging world!
I'm a trend-follower! Just...way the hell late.
Been looking for a place to dump the random thoughts that come to mind, so I guess I'll give this a whirl.
Hello, blogging world!
Been looking for a place to dump the random thoughts that come to mind, so I guess I'll give this a whirl.
Hello, blogging world!
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