Much-delayed update

Wow it's been almost two weeks since I blogged last. Since this blog in some ways serves as a brain/memory replacement for me (otherwise I'd totally forget what I've seen, done, and eaten), a quick rundown of what I've been doing:

- Went to Phoenix for a day for a skating show. 95 degrees outside, with an ice rink inside produces a very disconcerting effect. Downtown Phoenix is odd - it seems like it's currently in the process of being constructed, with over half of the high-rises I saw mid-construction. However, the "Copper Square Ambassadors" are awesome. Before I went to the show, I emailed them to find out if it was safe to walk from the arena back to my hotel around midnight, and in return got an offer for someone to stay at their office (they close at 11) to walk me back. Then, when I was arriving at the show, I was trying to find the media entrance and one of the Ambassadors took me around until he could find where I should go, and told the arena people to let me in. That's just awesome service.

FYI, ate at Matt's Big Breakfast (long wait, small cute place, pretty good breakfast food, nice service) and Majerle's Sports Grill (super-nice and accommodating, let me occupy a booth and order nothing but a Coke for an hour before I finally ordered dinner, even as more and more parties showed up and I kept offering to move to a smaller table. Decent salad for dinner - was still full from Matt's). Stayed at the Holiday Inn Express downtown on N 6th St, which had free internet, free breakfast, and free parking, was within walking distance (sort of, if you don't mind walking in 95 degree weather) of downtown, and was nice and clean and comfortable.

- Went to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park sans lawn chairs (mistake, given how crappy my knees are). It was a pretty neat event, with a whole bunch of stages (like 5?) set up all around the park, featuring a whole range of bluegrass acts and a bunch of festival food. Had a very yummy Polish sausage and garlic fries, and then later had to snatch up some funnel cake (a bit disappointing) - hey it was splurge time. We caught about 3 or 4 acts, including Hot Buttered Rum (my favorite), the Songwriters' Circle, and some other groups I don't remember the name of. The Blue Angels were flying around the city that day for Fleet Week, so it was a bit disconcerting to sometimes have the music drowned out by the super-loud jets. We left a bit early after it got crowded enough that we couldn't find a place to stand within reasonable hearing distance of the stages.

- Flew into Buffalo to go to a skating show in Mississauga, ON. Nothing special to report about the cuisine since I ate at the hotel restaurant (Delta Meadowvale - everything was overpriced), Swiss Chalet (actually pretty good rotisserie chicken), and Tim Horton's. Then visited a friend in Rochester (best friend from high school) and her new absolutely adorable 8-month old baby. That was a really nice visit and I really like the little guy (and he seemed to like me, so yay). That was my day of overindulgence and trying to splurge on all the stuff I usually miss - my favorite apple cider, followed by ice cream at Abbott's Frozen Custard for lunch (love their Mexican sundaes), and Pizzeria Uno's for dinner. Again, it's all about chains, but hey, chains that I like!

- Went to the Jimmy Eat World concert at the Fillmore. My conclusion is I'm a REALLY crappy concertgoer b/c I could just think about how my knees hurt and I wish I could sit down. Plus, I HATE the sound balancing - all I could hear was the bass and drums, along with a really annoying bad distortion throughout. I like Jimmy Eat World's harmonies and melodies and I couldn't hear either almost at all. Didn't help that I actually only know one of their albums so for a while, I didn't know any of the songs! I still like the band, but the concert wasn't something I particularly enjoyed. Oh well.

New restaurants in SF I've tried:
Kushi Tsuru (1737 Post St - next door to Mifune in Japantown) Bf wanted to try something different b/c he's not the biggest fan of Mifune (can't find stuff he wants to eat there) and we were looking for a place to eat before the concert at the Fillmore. IMO, it was ok. I got the Nabeyaki Udon and it was...eh. Bland but fine. Not the best I'd had, nothing wrong with it. Bf got the Sukiyaki beef which was flavorful, just smaller than the ones I've gotten elsewhere. We also got an order of Shiro Maguro sashimi (of course) which was great texture (as usual for Shiro Maguro) but tasted the most like the tuna out of a can of any tuna sushi I've ever tried. It is albacore so that sort of makes sense, and it didn't taste strongly of it, but it was definitely somewhat tuna-in-a-can reminiscent. He liked it - says it has the type of dishes he'd like to order. I would rather go back to Mifune.

Suppenkuche (525 Laguna between Hayes and Fell). First German restaurant I've tried, gets great reviews on Yelp. I can't vouch for the beer since I don't drink beer (or at all) but the people there seemed happy. Shared seating (we shared the table with a party of 3, and then a party of 4) which I hear is fairly typical of Germany, small bar around which many people were gathered, a kind of rustic environment (or bare-bones, however you want to look at it). Food was very yummy, or at least the Jagerschnitzel I ordered. That was pork loin with mushroom sauce, spatzel, and a green salad. The meat texture was ok but the sauce was very yummy. Me like spatzel. My green salad was butter lettuce with dressing on it. My bf got the beef in red wine sauce, except he didn't realize it was in red wine sauce (which he doesn't like), so he didn't like his food nearly as much as me. I would recommend the place if you're not looking for good date atmosphere b/c as far as I can tell, the food is quite good. Not cheap, though.

Can not remember for the life of me if we ate anywhere else in the last two weeks. We *have* been eating at home a lot - Costco tenderloin is great meat, and my bf has a great technique for his filet and his roast (out of Best Recipe, I believe). So yummy. And I guess I was away for most of one week....