sybil's ramblings

hiking griffith park: an unrebellious cause

2010-02-24T19:20:00.000-08:00

it rained on friday and we thought that because saturday was relatively dry, it would have been very clear on sunday. little did we know that more rain was on the way. so, on sunday, instead of the clear blue skies i have come to expect after the rain, we got dramatic views of los angeles with storm clouds hovering over the megalopolis during our hike.

we didn't want to go too far so the default hiking spot was griffith park, and particularly the trail that started right off the observatory, called the charlie turner trailhead. the trail itself was short (probably less than two miles one way) but the trail was fairly steep. we definitely got a short but good workout.

the trail led up to mt. hollywood but not the hollywood sign itself. we had views of it along the trail though.

below is a picture of mt. hollywood peak:

from the trail, we were greeted by a beautiful view of the observatory with downtown los angeles in the background.

our hike, to and from the peak, lasted one hour. it included a few stops along the way and at the top.

i always look forward to a post hike meal. and the fact that this hike itself was not grueling did not change my routine. thus, we had brunch at the larchmont bungalow.

i had a fantastic meal, which was a bit pricey at around $24 with tip. it included a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and two mini slider omelets (basically half a regular size omelet) with fruit and toast. one omelet was called the meat sensation omelet stuffed with chicken sausage, bacon and tenderloin steak. the other omelet was the seafood lover's omelet stuffed with lobster, shrimp, blue crab and spinach. one can choose other types of omelets when ordering the mini slider omelet option.

this was the seafood omelet:

this was the meat omelet:

the food was not only fresh but also generous. i waddled out of larchmont bungalow.

i suppose it was just as well that i stocked up on calories. i needed it to insulate me from future cold weather. the rain clouds above los angeles made it seem like it was going to be a cold night. or at least i would like to think so to justify all the food i ate.

puerto rico: all good things must come to an end

2010-02-22T18:35:00.000-08:00

alas, the long weekend was over and it was time to head back home.

however, we had to have breakfast first. not far from our hotel was a diner and bakery called, la bombonera, that has been around for at least a hundred years. they served typical breakfast fare but i was there for the mallorcas.

a mallorca is basically a breakfast sandwich - i had the eggs, ham and cheese while az had he bacon and cheese - with powdered sugar sprinkled on top. who knew that sugar would work with savory food? but then again, i had to remind myself of that other favorite of mine: chicken and waffles.

because the above food was not enough (or rather, our eyes were bigger than our stomach), we also tried the below meat pie (more like pastry dough stuffed with ground beef). although it was good, the star of the show was the mallorca.

beware, la bombonera gets crowded fast. but if you get there at 7:30 am (when they open) or by 8 am, you should easily find a table.

after a heavy breakfast, we were off to the airport to head back home.

my last view of puerto rico

the puerto rico infomercials i watched in the wee hours of the night a few years back were spot on. i thoroughly enjoyed my visit. i only wished i had more time to enjoy the other parts of puerto rico.

puerto rico: the metropolis

2010-02-21T18:09:00.000-08:00

our last day in vieques was not terribly exciting. our landlord kicked us out early because he had new tenants coming in. that left us to ponder how we were going to get to the airport. but before we panicked, we had to have breakfast. our landlord dropped us back in isabel ii at a restaurant called mamasonga's and arranged for a cab to pick us up and drop us off at the airport.

at mamasonga's, my standard bacon and eggs were not spectacular although my home fries ought to have been crispier. same with my bacon. to be fair, az loved her french toast. it must be the bread. once they started serving lunch, i ordered a crab cake sandwich. a posting on the interwebs reviewed it as divine. it wasn't. the crab cake was mushy. Perhaps there's something wrong with the frying pan? the bread, however, was pretty darned good.

the bacon and eggs with anemic potatoes

the french toast

the crab cake sandwich

although i can't rave about the food at mamasonga's, i thought the service was most excellent. the employees, mostly expats from mid western to eastern states, i.e. where snow can shut down schools, were friendly and helpful. they called us a "publico," basically public transport, to take us to the airport after they found out that the taxi driver arranged by our landlord to pick us up couldn't pick us up. apparently, a gas shortage on the island (as in the only two gas stations on the island were closed because they ran out of gas) meant his vehicle was inoperable. i still don't understand how the gas shortage made his phone inoperable as to prevent him from letting us know that we were still waiting for him.

but i digress. mamasonga staff? great. food? not so much.

alas, our time in vieques was up. but we saw one last wildlife before we left. that lizard was HUGE!

after a twenty minute flight on another cessna, we were in san juan and jarred back into city life.

in san juan, life appeared to be like any other metropolis (complete with the traffic jam). we only had less than 24 hours to enjoy san juan so we were out and about immediately.

we stayed at a former convent converted into a funky hotel called da house in old san juan. it was close to the san cristobal fort, which was our first visit. the views were terrific.

i love these guard towers. the spanish pretty much knew how to defend its territories. i saw similar ones in the old city walls of cadiz.

old cannon balls

view of el morro and the coast from the san cristobal fort

next, we walked about a mile along the old city walls towards el morro, another fort. it was really cool at el morro. it was family day and the locals were out and about flying kites. it was a beautiful sight.

inside el morro

instead of a typical circular stairway, this was triangular

thereafter, we just walked around and saw random things:

the cathedral

the mini park in front of the cathedral

someone was getting married in front of this sculpture

sunset by el morro

san cristobal fort at night

for dinner, we went to el jibarito. it was crowded with tourists and locals alike. there was no ambiance to speak of but the food did not need any such mood enhancers. i had a special plate of roasted pork chunks and pork tamale (the orange stuff) with rice, plantains and some salad. i also had a side dish of mofongo de platano (a mashed mound of plantains).

az had some kind of pot roast and a mofongo de yucca (a mashed mound of yucca).

the food wasn't pretty. but the food was definitely tasty.

after such a filling meal, we walked around towards the pier where we found the locals just chillaxing. there was a night flea market where people sold tobacco, jewelry, crafts and food. it was such a lively scene. so az and i participated by enjoying dessert. i had a batida de papaya (papaya shake) and az had a mantecado con brownie (a brownie sundae).

we walked around some more and when we finally got our fill of the streets, we headed back to our hotel, which was right next to the nuyorican cafe. it was basically a bar with a live band playing latin jazz and salsa. it was a good band with great energy but it didn't start playing till midnight. i think i am getting too old because i was tempted to just go to sleep without seeing the band play.

i may have been too old to stay up till the wee hours but i was young enough to appreciate that i had an enjoyable day. puerto rico may have beautiful beaches but the culture, art, food and history were definitely engaging.

puerto rico: no beaches allowed

2010-02-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

after a heavy night of partying (*cough* *sarcasm* *cough*), az and i were set to explore the north side of vieques. avoiding barrio esperanza, we decided to find breakfast in barrio isabel ii, also known as the vieques capital. it was no bustling metropolis but it had more than one "main road."

have i already mentioned that the island has only two gas stations (a block from each other) and one supermarket - all in isabel segunda?

breakfast was at the la viequense panaderia whereby i demolished a pressed sandwich with ham and cheese. the bread was actually quite good. not very doughy with a crunchy crust. a little bit of sweetness too. i'm still kicking myself for not taking a picture.

once sated, we were ready to explore. we wanted to visit green beach on the western tip of the island on the atlantic side. while the main highways were paved, most of the roads headed for the beaches were not. getting to green beach was no exception. however, we were dismayed that somewhere along the way, the road was closed. the us navy used to do a lot of testing in vieques but now, a lot of the land is restricted as a wildlife refuge and managed by the fish and game department. which is just as well. the island is lush. however, we only wished fish and game warned us of such closure before we drove all the way there via rough roads.

not to be deterred from enjoying the atlantic side beaches, once back on the main highway (which meant paved but not necessarily always wide enough to comfortably fit two vehicles coming from opposite directions), we just stopped on some random beach. but before i show a picture of a random atlantic side beach, here's a picture of a typical paved road:

the water on the atlantic side was noticeably colder. we were told by expats that the atlantic side was also generally rougher. luckily, the day we went, it was not.

getting our feet wet in the atlantic was sufficient. we were soon back to the carribean side. our next stop was supposed to be red beach. however, the road was also closed. so we found a road headed generally towards the water and found pirate's cove.

clearly, it was not for laying out. it was still pretty though.

then, we tried to find secret beach. clearly, it was not a secret because it was on a tourist map. the road to get there was, however, closed. it would've been better if it remained a secret so i didn't have to harbor such disappointment.

next, we were off to blue beach or la chiva. i actually really enjoyed this beach (although media luna still topped my list). it was wide, warm, fine white sand, not crowded and just plain gorgeous.

here's the eastern view with a shot of "the crowds" (it was a saturday after all):

here's the western view:

we probably walked at least a mile and back along blue beach.

after staying for a few hours, we decided to check out playa grande and black beach, which were to the west of barrio esperanza. unlike the other beaches, playa grande and black beach were rockier, rougher and the sand was grainier and, er, black. definitely interesting but not good for swimming.

we only saw two couples on these beaches.

at that point, we decided that we were done with beaches. there were a lot of great things i could mention about the vieques beaches. but i cannot emphasize enough how the masses were not to be seen. although the beaches were clearly marked on every single tourist map of the island, it felt as if the beaches were empty enough that they were your own private strip of nirvana.

question: why did the horse cross the road?

answer: how would i know. i just take the pictures.

it was time to enjoy isabel segunda itself. one thing that was noticeable was their love of color. pastels, to be exact. our markers to get home were passing by the blue house and turning at the corner with the pink house. our apartment rental itself was painted bright green and yellow.

at the mar azul bar, we had a very nice view of the sunset from the atlantic side.

after walking around, we headed to cantina la reina, billed as a mexican restaurant. it was valentine's day weekend as well so they had a three-course prix fixe special for $35. what a value it was, too. the ingredients were fresh and tasty. particularly, all the seafood were locally caught.

my yellowfin tuna tostada:

az's pork tacos:

az's strip steak with relleno pepper stuffed with mashed potatoes (!) and manchego:

my lobster enchilada:

az's lime flan:

my flourless chocolate cake:

cantina la reina also had a bar/lounge upstairs with balconies where we watched cars drive by, people walk by, and horses trot by.

speaking of horses, it was interesting to note that young people got around town at night by riding horses. we saw women dressed in party gear (in jeans, not skirts) headed to parties on horseback with the bicycle red light thingies attached to the horse so they can be seen by motorists (street lamps were restricted to the main barrios and not necessarily on every street of that barrio). outside one bar/club, we saw a lot of those horses "parked", er, lined up and tied to the post. the clackity-clack of galloping horses on the pavement was a common sound.

anyhow, below are just scenes from the plaza in isabel segunda:

at this point in the trip, the mosquitoes were joined by bed bugs to feast on my blood. it was uncomfortable and i just wanted to be left alone in my scratching. so it was an early night. the next day, we were off to check out a city. san juan, that is.

puerto rico: life's a beach

2010-02-17T19:23:00.000-08:00

a few years back, puerto rico decided to spend a lot of money on infomercials enticing people to visit that island. the infomercial showed a lot of beaches. i was sold.

however, i only had one long weekend over the president's day weekend to see everything. clearly, that would not be possible. so, i focused on vieques.

vieques is a small island off the main island. it's definitely country. folks still get around on horseback, dogs run around unleashed, and most of the roads are unpaved. talk about heaven. see, when i went, there really wasn't any resort to speak of. except that the w hotel is slated to open next month. so i was happy to show up in vieques before everyone else did.

to get there, we flew to san juan then took a cessna to vieques. it was one of those experiences where i was glad to be short -- that meant i got to sit next to the pilot. i was careful not to touch any of those control panels though.

the vieques airport, located on the atlantic side of the island, was small. there's only one runway.

upon landing and checking in to our apartment rental, we headed to barrio esperanza on the carribean side, which was also where the tourists were. its main drag was less than half a mile long where, at night, the same cars drove round and round and round that same strip with their music blaring. it was their version of cruising.

this was esperanza beach:

but before we hit the beaches, we had to hit up the food. vieques excelled in that department. we went to a puerto rican restaurant called mucho gusto on the main strip. the food was simple but oh so fresh. it was basically just seasoned with salt and pepper but it was sublime.

az had the pork chop:

i had the sword fish:

after we had our fill, we were off to our first beach: sun bay. this was the beach closest to barrio esperanza. what's amazing about vieques was that even with the tourists, the beaches were not crowded. talk about virgin beaches. no vendors. no crowds. no anything. just water, sand and sun.

after sun bay, we drove our car rental over unpaved, rough, dirt roads to media luna (or half moon). this was my favorite beach of all. the beach was more enclosed so the water was very calm. the water also felt warmer and it was definitely shallower. one could wade in far and still be waist deep. again, hardly any people. it was great to just be lost in thought with the gentle breeze whispering in one's ear.

after laying out, we drove over more dirt, rough and unpaved roads over to navio beach. the waves were a lot more noticeable because it was more exposed to the open ocean, unlike media luna.

one thing was clear though (aside from the water itself), the beaches were gorgeous! and the absence of the masses definitely made the experience even better.

we left the beaches before the sun set. did i mention there were no street lamps? yeah, it would not have been good to be stranded at any of those beaches should anything happen to your car.

we went back to barrio esperanza to watch the sunset.

one other thing vieques is known for is their bioluminescent bay. it was the perfect time for us to visit the island because there was no moon, which meant that you could see the glowing organisms better.

we ended up joining a group tour. the guide drove us to mosquito bay where we, again, drove over unpaved dirt roads. it was dark. very dark.

to experience the bio bay, one had to get on a kayak and paddle to the middle of the bay. once the paddles hit the water, the organisms in the water glowed a bright blue green.

did i mention that i have never kayaked before? did i also mention that our tour group mostly spoke spanish and neither az nor i spoke spanish?

so we were assigned a kayak and were told to just "follow the flashlight." we weren't told how to work the kayak though. needless to say, everyone in the group just left and az and i were left going around in circles. by the time we figured out how to maneuver the damned thing, our group was somewhere in the middle of the bay. did i mention it was dark?

after several rounds of marco polo, we found our guide and the rest of the group in the middle of the bay. at some point, our guide allowed us to jump in the water and "glow." az took that opportunity. i was lame and just played with the water from the confines of my kayak where i watched my hands and feet glow. surely, it was an interesting experience. and now, i can say that i can kayak.

after the guide dropped us back in esperanza, we dined at bili's for some paella. the seafood was definitely fresh. however, it was a shame that the lobster and some of the fish were overcooked.

our first day was about to end. but not before we sampled the local bar scene. well, it was really just a bunch of tourists sitting at a bar, drinking booze, and watching the same cars drive by over and over and over. a band started to play around 11 pm and this was what it sounded like:

vieques was definitely my kind of place. it was gorgeous, unspoilt, simple. however, everything was not peachy keen. mosquitoes abound. and i'm not talking about mosquito bay. i mean the blood sucking kind. i had a gazillion bites one could play connect the dots on my body and come up with the most interesting artwork. why i didn't bring insect repellent is beyond me. the store in barrio isabel segunda didn't even carry any. so heed my words of wisdom: vieques is gorgeous but don't forget the insect repellent.

san diego and my new hiking buddy

2010-02-02T20:28:00.000-08:00

i decided to visit friends in san diego last weekend. it really was a spur of the moment trip (as in planned in less than a week), which i really should do more often. anyway, i went on a hike with my friends in carmel valley. the hike was a bit weird in that the trail started behind this apartment complex:

the trail head goes up this ramp:

the initial part of the hike was fairly steep. the ascent came in about three stages. the entire elevation increase lasts for maybe a quarter of a mile. no biggie.

once you reach the top, it's all flat. like hiking on a mesa.

here's franklin, one of my hiking buddies. ain't he adorable?

on top of the mesa is what they call a vernal pool...

where you can see tadpoles.

here are some views of the urban sprawl.

the recent rain left weird black sand (or maybe it's something else?) on the trail.

this sign cracked me up. it just identified a civil code. that was it.

...and i killed another shoe.

this was the post-hike meal at nico's in carmel valley. i wish i could say great things about it. but i can't. i am a sweet lover but this taco was drenched in some sweet cream sauce. even the horchata was too sweet. after i diluted it in more water, it was still too sweet.

luckily, dinner at an izakaya place in kearny mesa, called oton, more than made up for the not-so-good lunch. this was fabulous. i highly recommend making reservations because this place is tiny.

we started off with tuna belly, which portion was generous for $14.

next, we had monkfish liver. it was prepared cold with a bit of vinegar, which was fine. although i prefer mine served warm.

this black cod was fresh, had natural sweetness and delicate.

the final meal was a hot pot cooked in front of us. it was a miso based soup with chicken, shrimp, finely sliced pork belly, pork dumplings and mushrooms.

i think the pot is ready.

the finished product.

dinner at oton was more than satisfactory. the ambience was nice. we were in a small private room (all of the booths were private) with a curtain to shield us from other prying diners. we happened to be sat in the elevated booths where one had to take off one's shoes and go up the private booth. they then arranged our shoes so that we didn't have to turn around to put them on after we descended the short stairs. the service was also top notch. very polite, very prompt with refilling our water and tea. and very talented in walking backwards without falling off the stairs.

the next day, i headed home. but not before breakfast. introducing, the bacon cheddar pancake.

my friend j really adores this. i found it more of a novelty more than anything. the bacon, because it was cooked in the batter, wasn't crisp as i like them to be. glad i tried it but i was not enamored by it.

but before i leave san diego, here's another picture of my buddy franklin.

with a hiking buddy like franklin, i'll probably go back to san diego and go on more hikes.

sandstone peak: the first hike of 2010

2010-01-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

it has been a while since i last posted primarily because of life. that being said, i haven't stopped hiking or traveling or caring about ucla (despite ucla's recent issues in BOTH football and basketball -- ugh!).

life has been manageable again so here goes....

this past week saw torrential downpour in southern california. while the rain is usually a welcome respite for drought plagued california, i hate it when it rains. there are many reasons to cite - from drivers who insist on driving fast so they can splash pedestrians and/or fellow motorists to looking like a wet dog.

however, i do like the day after. especially for angelenos, the day after means the smog has been washed away, albeit temporarily. it also means great views of the freshly snow-capped mountains. perfect time to hike.

this time, we chose sandstone peak near the border of los angeles and ventura counties off pacific coast highway.

to get there, from the pacific coast highway, turn onto yerba buena road (right next to neptune's restaurant) and follow it for a few miles. once you pass circle x ranch, go about maybe .2 miles more. you will then see this sign:

turn onto the dirt road, which will lead to a parking lot. the trailhead starts here:

when we got there, the trail was, remarkably, not as muddy as one would expect after a week-long continuous pounding rain.

at some point, the trail split. we chose to just go straight to sandstone peak.

the snow capped mountains in the distance were stunning.

the lushness was also remarkable. who knew urban sprawl was just around the corner?

finally, we were almost to the top. while 3111 feet may not be that high, put in perspective, the tallest peak in the entire united kingdom is only about 4000 something feet.

finally, at the top of mt. allen (aka sandstone peak). sure enough, the views were stunning and the air so crisp and clean.

the compass in the picture below was on top of the mt. allen sign i was hanging on to in the picture above. the compass points to the "true north," which i found interesting because, if i didn't know better, it looked like it was pointing northeast.

after a leisurely two hour hike (3 miles roundtrip), we were famished and below was my salmon and egg scramble at the 17th street cafe.

the weather man reports that los angeles is bracing for more rain during the week. perhaps it will be a good hiking weekend next week too. bring it on, rain.

street food in a pricey resto

2009-04-28T21:39:00.001-07:00

susan feniger's street resto has received a lot of buzz from the critics. i was intrigued because everyone was raving about it so i just had to try it myself. the idea was that the resto served "street food" from around the world.

first off, the valet (which you pretty much had to do because of the permit street parking around that area). it was strange yet fabulous that all the valet parkers were women. they made it a point to say that they do not discriminate. although they later said, if men applied, they send them off to another agency. uh-huh. but my main beef was that it cost $8.50(!!!!) to valet. what a ripoff.

next up was the decor. it was pretty cool. minimal but had character.

lots of drawings on the wall (as in graffiti-like) that would, presumably, reflect what streets looked like.

they also had this nifty fireplace thing (in addition to the heat lamps). and in case it got chilly, they offered blankets/wraps for patrons.

ok, on to the food. we decided to go for the "globe trot" route -- it was basically chef's choice for $35 per person. they started us off with the below bread and butter substitute. it was basically like rice balls with some anise and fennel and cumin. i personally did not like it. i didn't think that the flavors worked well. the rice balls were on the soft side too and not on the crunchy side. the texture was more like rice krispies completely drowned in marshmallows, i.e., no crispness.

next up was the new jerusalem bread salad made of cucumbers, feta, greens, croutons made of olive bread and topped with a hard boiled egg. this was an explosion of flavor that was refreshing. although, if i had a criticism, it would be that it was a bit too overdressed.

next up was this mung bean pancake made of mung beans, kimchi, scallions and pork belly. the mung bean pancake was crunchy, which i enjoyed. the pork belly was so subtle in flavor that it was completely overpowered by the kimchi. maybe a little less kimchi? otherwise, it would have been great.

next was the spicy peanut noodles with vegetables and tofu. this was my favorite. it was like a spicy pad thai with a sauce that was thicker in consistency. i thought the ingredients worked well together.

at this time, we were really full. but, we ate on. the below was the egyptian style baked fish with greens that i thought were too bitter and some macaroni and lentils mixture. i liked the fish, which was juicy and fresh but the sides, not so much.

finally, they served us with corn and pork belly. i did enjoy this dish. too bad, i was really really full to even truly appreciate it.

the food was good but i would not say it was exceptional. there were some hits and misses. one thing i know though, in my travels, no street food has been this expensive.

ucla football: not a pretty sight

2009-04-25T22:28:00.000-07:00

it is really quite telling when the highlight of the ucla scrimmage is the tailgate.

ucla's offense can be summed up in one word: suckage.

yeah, offense scored a couple of touchdowns. but the qb's would've been sacked -- multiple times -- before then but for the fact that there was a self-imposed rule of no hitting the qb's.

and oh, i was just informed that the touchdowns were against the second or third team defense.

great.

on the positive side, i love this guy:

"who does the taliban not want you to be? BRUINS!"

and another positive, i love the new grill for the tailgates. woohoo!

long beach grand prix

2009-04-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

i recently visited long beach during the long beach grand prix and had a primo spot watching this car racing thing. as i have previously mentioned, i really have no clue as to what was going on. and seeing it hasn't really changed that.

apparently, these drivers (who were both from irl and champ or lemans - whatever that meant) had to go around this track (or, as i say, in circles) 85 times or in 2 hours. strange sport.

franchitti (a.k.a. ashley judd's husband) -- the second red car in the video below -- won and danica patrick came in fourth. the video below was the last lap with a bonus view of a crash at 00:35.

so i thought the race was ok. but i really came for the food that included: lumpia, pansit palabok, chicken dijon pressed sandwhich and an assortment of goodies like pork crackling, nuts, chips, chocolates, and, oh yeah, some fruits and salads.

oakland: le cheval

2009-04-16T20:30:00.001-07:00

so i was in oakland the other other day and took the opportunity to hang out with some of my friends. g decided that since we were car-less, we had to go somewhere close to a bart station. so we were off to le cheval -- supposedly vietnamese food.

we had the snow pea shoots, which was fresh, crisp and good.

the singapore noodles with chicken and veggies was supposed to be spicy. it was not. it tasted like it was drenched in curry powder though.

the lemongrass pork chop was pretty tasty. it had a nice char taste and had some bit of sweetness. i enjoyed it very much.

i think le cheval was fine. we did end up paying about $30 a pop with a bottle of wine and 2 beers. i think it's a bit pricey for what it was. there were definitely hits and misses. but for options around the 12th street bart, it was just fine.

long beach grand prix: qualifiers

2009-04-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

i'm not into cars. or racing. or car racing. but, i had access to a condo with a view of the racetrack -- and particularly, of one of the turns. so, off i went to the LBC. it wasn't officially the grand prix yet but there were some drifting (i don't even know what that means) qualifiers this past saturday.

as much as i know nothing (zip, zilch, nada) about car racing, this i knew. the first video was not a good race while the second video was better.

ok, so i really wasn't in the LBC for the grand prix. i was really in the LBC to hang out with a family i met back in the czech republic in november 2006 who were in town for a visit. while those cars roared loudly below us, i had a great time reminiscing about the CR by chatting and reconnecting with them, and enjoying the company of their daughter, who is now a ripe old age of 5 and a half. wow. time flies.

either that, or, i'm just old. bah. those cars were loud. they needed to turn down that ruckus!

joking aside, the CR was a fantastic place to visit. if you don't believe me, just watch:
1. the illusionist - the backdrop for showing the main characters when they were young, was filmed in cesky krumlov. the backdrop for the rest of the movie was prague (doubling as vienna).
2. casino royale - the casino was the grand pupp in karlovy vary and some outdoor scenes also showed karlovy vary.

if the location does not convince you, then tasting fresh beer at the pilsner urquell brewery in plzen or budweiser brewery (the original, please) in ceske budejovice just might. sure beats cringing every time those cars loudly made a turn below us.

i'm no longer a seder virgin

2009-04-10T21:30:00.000-07:00

i can't believe it took me this long to experience the food fest that is seder. ok, i know that it is based on religion. but me, not of the jewish faith, wanted to experience this holy observance for the company, and for the food. so, i, along with other friends, finagled an invite to my friend's family's seder. good thing too because mary is a good cook.

mary's husband, seth, started off the reading and everyone took turns reading. mary and her sister sang some hymns in hebrew. yes, i got to read. something about the wicked sons. it was mary's idea. hmmmm..... what was she trying to say?

and before anyone asks, no, i did not find the afikomen - a piece of the matzah hidden away somewhere and the lucky kid who finds it gets some prize.

drinking the manischewitz was a treat. it tasted just like the grape juice i've drank hundreds of times in my youth while taking communion. mmmmm.... yummy.

i was also pleased to have tasted the celery dipped in salt water.

seder wasn't all eating though. we also got to hit each other (and boy, some of those hits were vicious) with the green onions. mary explained that the hitting thing with the green onions was a persian jewish tradition. let me just say on the record that i hit my companions softly with the leaves part. some people, on the other hand, were hitting with the bulb part. my friends were vicious!

one thing that my jewish friends warned me about was the gefilte fish. better yet, the gefilte fish with the maror (sp?) (grated horseradish). they warned that it was not good, that one had to acquire the taste for it. i must have, in a previous life, acquired the taste for it because i loved it. in fact, i had two. it tasted just like softer fish balls with the spam gelee. oh yeah. and the maror? well, it was like wasabi. nothing strange there.

mary also made matzah ball soup, which was perfectly filling.

also served was the tzimmes below, which i did not try because it had some cow pieces.

friends also said the brisket below was delicious. i did not have a taste as it was the cow.

but, i can attest that the stuffed cabbage with ground turkey was filling, rich, sweet and perfectly delicious. i had two!

so, at the end of seder, i was definitely grateful that i was invited. although i have already been familiar with the story of passover from my youth and college course, it was something else to be actually celebrating it.

more importantly, it was good to learn more about the culture and food of my friends. i just hope they invite me for hannukkah. there are more food then, right?

berkeley: an ode to alice waters

2009-04-07T20:35:00.000-07:00

on a recent trip to the bay area, i had the occasion to finally (!) go to chez panisse. the fact that the obamas are now planning to have an organic garden in the white house after waters' lobbying efforts is testament to her influence in the culinary world. that being said, i went to cp with less than a week's notice and was only fortunate to get a table at the cafe upstairs. it didn't matter, i was going to go anyway.

the other problem about going to cp with a week's notice was that the table was only available at 5:30 pm or 9:15 pm. i went for the 9:15 reservations. but, because i tend to go hungry early, i had to eat well before then. the fix? pre-dinner dinner. where? cesar, which was next door to cp.

we started with a cheese plate: mahon, roncal and garrotxa. the cheeses were rich and flavorful and as i am currently in love with sheep's milk, the roncal was the clear favorite.

cesar also had these amazing fries. well, i like mine thin and crunchy and these were definitely thin and crunchy. it was perfectly seasoned and came with aioli.

after polishing off our plates, we were off next door.

this bottle from la rioja was very oaky but went well with my meal.

i had the pork shoulder with spinach and mashed potatoes. the swine practically tore itself away from itself. it was that tender.

my dessert of almond brittle ice cream with dark chocolate was divine. there were chunks of almonds in the ice cream. i was in love. if i could marry it, i would.

grace had the fixed menu that came with a salad, the pasta below with fava beans and an ice cream dessert full of fruit like tangerine and kumquats. at $26, it was definitely affordable. the ingredients were fresh and the dessert was refreshing.

now that i have finally been to cp, i understand why people rave about her food. i didn't think all the dishes were great (they were all good though) but i thought that when the ingredients and execution worked (think swine), they were right on.

cecconi: another trendy resto

2009-03-22T00:03:00.000-07:00

saturday was not a good day for the bruin faithful. but, i won't talk about it.

so, after indulging myself in the requisite grieving period, i was off to dinner. this time at cecconi's in west hollywood.

the space was nice - dim, airy, faux chandelier.

the server we had was actually pretty friendly, gregarious, funny and full of suggestions. it was refreshing not to get a stuck-up-not-acting-better-than-thou server in weho.

there was the almost-expected celebrity sighting: dana delaney was there.

the space was a bit loud (and i don't mean the color scheme). i don't know why restos in la seem to be all really loud or really quiet (valentino comes to mind where one is afraid to make any noise). happy medium, anyone?

on to the food.

we started off with the octopus salad. it seems a bit trendy these days to have octopus on the menu, which is nothing bad. here, though, it was fine. the octopus was tender, nicely flavored but it did not wow.

d had the the chicken, which she said was fine.

a had the papardelle with sausage. this was very tasty. the pasta was not al dente, which was actually fine by me. don't get me wrong, it wasn't soggy or anything. the sausafe was full of flavor.

i had the rack of lamb. it actually came out different than what i imagined. but, it was pretty good. not gamey.

another trendy thing on the menu these days is some kind of chocolate fondant with ice cream. but, i am a sucker for chocolate so we got it. i asked to substitute vanilla ice cream for the pistachio, which was fine. the chocolate was perfectly melty and not overwhelmingly sweet. of all the meals we ordered, this was polished off. i can't say it was the best i ever had but it was perfectly fine.

with two glasses of wine, my share came to about $73. kinda pricey especially with this recession going on.

march madness 2009: heart attack-ville

2009-03-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

take that, obama!

he may be the most powerful man in the free world, but he knows jack when it comes to basketball.

go bruins!

march madness 2009: my picks

2009-03-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

it pains me that ucla is not gonna make the final four, but it is what it is. if they do, great. if they don't.... well...

so here are my picks:

temescal canyon and anisette

2009-03-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

on my first hike since summiting kilimanjaro, i chose an easy hike -- max 1.5 hours. temescal canyon in the pacific palisades fit the bill. the entrance is on temescal canyon where it meets sunset boulevard. you can park inside for $5.00 or park on the street for free. methinks, free is always the best.

this trail was a loop. in my opinion, the best workout was to take the trail clockwise (to the left) as the trail went through more switchbacks and was steeper. the counter-clockwise (to the right) trail had gentler slopes and the downhill on the way back to the trailhead would have been steeper and thus, harder on the knees.

the trail was dotted with wildflowers that have started to bloom.

the funny thing about this hike was that ther was a "waterfall." the problem with it was that, for most of the year, the waterfall was dry. after a downpour, you might see a waterfall. let's put it this way: don't get your hopes up.

but waterfall or no waterwall, this trail has always been pretty, a good workout but would not take the whole day, and close to civilization. beware though that because of its closeness to civilization, weekend warriors love to frequent this place.

temescal canyon's close proximity to santa monica meant that the after-hike brunch had to be in santa monica. this time, we chose anisette.

i had the hot chocolate, which was ok. (my friend's coffee and soup apparently were not hot enough.)

i also had the croque madame. for whatever reason, i don't think the gruyere worked well.

my share came to about $24, which was a bit pricey for average food. it wasn't great but it definitely wasn't bad. oh well.

bakersfield and ice cream

2009-03-13T17:15:00.000-07:00

on my recent business trip to fresno, i didn't bring my camera because, c'mon, what is there to take pictures of in fresno?

well, luckily, i had my camera phone. on a stop in bakersfield, we stopped by a local ice cream shop called dewar's. it wasn't cheap but it sure was good.

dewar's even had the requisite local kitsch:

they sold chocolates -- not very cheap -- and i can't vouch for the goodness as i did not try them.

but we were there for the ice cream.

when we got there, we just avoided the rush but it got real crowded fast. classes must have just ended because there were lots of students from kindergarteners to high schoolers in this small establishment. and then, there were a few folks like me who were, shall we say, young at heart.

the bottom line though was that the malt was excellent. it was basically 2 1/2 scoops of ice cream of your choice with all the rich milk goodness. beware, they do not serve skim milk. the serving size was pretty large too. i opted for half vanilla and half maple nut. it was rich, creamy, sweet and absolutely delicious. it was so rich that the straw was useless. yeah, that thick. my friend had the coffee shake, which she claimed was excellent.

half way through my malt

if your stomach is not used to such heavy and rich sweetness, be aware that you might have digestion problems later. me? i had none. luckily, my stomach has high tolerance for fat. and that's a good thing.

ucla: we're number ... 2?

2009-03-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

so ucla beat oregon. but, washington beat wazzu.

which meant ucla finished the regular season at number 2. strange. the dark days of the lavin era feels so long ago that i can't seem to fathom supporting a schizophrenic-but-will-eventually-flame-out team anymore. i'm not saying that this team is like that. not at all. i 'm just saying that it's weird not being the top dog in the pac this year. ah well. there's still the pac-10 tournament and the ncaa tournament to look forward to.

manchego: the resto, not the cheese

2009-03-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

it seems like tapas is all the rage these days in the westside of la. first, there was bar pintxo. then, the bazaar. now, there's manchego on main in santa monica.

the space is cozy (read small) but significantly roomier than bar pintxo. i think that bar pintxo has more of an ambience because there's a jamon on the counter (which i think is always pretty to look at) and the tapas are on display in a case (reminds me of madrid).

so how does manchego's food compare? well, the only thing that i can say i tried that the resto prepared were: (1) the gazpacho; (2) the peppers with feta and pita bread (picture below); and the pureed tomato spread.

the rest were pretty much prepared elesewhere. we ordered the la mancha sampler, which included three types of cheeses (manchego, idiazabal & iberico), 2 types of jamon serrano, 2 types of chorizo, the aforementioned gazpacho, olives, and the pureed tomato.

the gazpacho had a nice garlicky kick. the pureed tomato, used as a spread, was ok - but i thought it needed more salt and olive oil. the peppers and feta just did nothing for me.

i don't know whether they cut their own jamon -- because everything came from the kitchen, which was hidden. but i distinctly remember thinking that one type of jamon serrano was just too salty, if that was even possible.

one thing i can say about manchego was that they knew how to store the cheese. they weren't stale. and normally, i would expect that of any restaurant but i recently had to turn down manchego because it was too dry.

so, if i were to rank the tapas place around, i'd rate the bazaar tops. i can't really decide on whether manchego is better than bar pintxo until i have had more of manchego's prepared food. i guess that means i will have to make another trek to santa monica.

how curious was my palate?

2009-03-06T14:22:00.001-08:00

one of the joys about living in los angeles is that it is more often than not that winters are beautiful. today was no exception. so, i took a very long walk in the westside and found myself at curious palate. i wish i could say that i just stumbled upon it. but, a friend had actually already clued me in to this place while i was gallivanting around in tanzania.

the place was quite quaint. curious palate appears to serve healthy fare and it had a selection of meats and cheeses on display. i was to walk some more after my stop so i didn't buy anything to take home. and i wasn't that hungry either (it was only 10:15 am).

so, i opted for a large bowl of mac 'n cheese. (you haven't seen me hungry.) it had the requisite crunch factor at the top and gooey cheese inside. it wasn't the best mac n' cheese i ever had. but it sure was good enough for me to come back at a later date so i can check out their other goodies.

i mean, after all, they do serve this pinot noir soda (which basically tasted like grape juice. at 130 calories, i don't think it was worth it for me to have it again but the novelty was sure worth it).

good luck aboya!

2009-03-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

this story about alfred aboya's family finally seeing him play "live" for the first time ever on senior day makes me very happy.

that being said, ncaa title hope is slim but still possible. ya never know.

kentuckian food

2009-01-23T05:01:00.000-08:00

i traveled to louisville, kentucky over the martin luther king, jr. weekend and was determined to eat classic kentuckian food.

so, here are my thoughts:

1. i had the dutch apple with caramel pie from the good people at homemade ice cream and pie kitchen. homemade claims that this was an original recipe. it was basically an apple pie with a caramel layering on top. what made this pie special (or fatty, if you are a half empty kind of person) was the caramel. it was like sweet on sweet. the caramel had a tad bit crispiness for texture. i enjoyed this pie, but then again, i have a sweet tooth.

2. i also tried this alleged kentuckian classic, hot brown, over at churchill downs (the place where the kentucky derby is held). it was basically a layer of many things: thinly sliced english muffin at the bottom, thinly sliced turkey, sliced tomatoes, mornay sauce, and topped with bacon and scallions. so here's the deal: i like english muffins. i like turkey. i like tomatoes. i like cheese. i adore bacon. and i like scallions. together though, it was a bit too much. yes, it was rich. too rich. and that was the problem.

3. finally, i had the mint julep. i tried two. one at some restaurant where it tasted like bourbon mojito with the grains of sugar noticeably grating on my tongue. the second one i tried, at churchill downs, was much better. i can't say that i am a bourbon person (or whiskey, for that matter) but the mixture of bourbon and sugar and mint was a lot smoother at churchill downs. nothing subtle about the mint julep though. this was still a very strong drink.

i am told that louisville has a lot more to offer. i can't say that i loved the food/drinks (at least, of what i have had so far). but i am not averse to checking out louisville's other offings.

packing for tanzania: hiking kili, safari-ing in the serengeti and beach bumming in zanzibar

2009-01-22T06:08:00.000-08:00

i will soon be headed to tanzania, which leads me to the topic of packing. i am averse to checking in luggage but i have no choice this time. i have too much gear to pack and i have too many climate zones to go through. in addition to tanzania, i am spending a few days in wintry london. so to recap: (1) kili means hiking gear from hot and humid to freezing; (2) safari means hot and humid to moderate temperatures; (3) zanzibar means beach wear and modest walking clothes due to the muslim population; and (4) london means urban winter wear. argh.

that being said, i would have been able to have gotten away with NOT checking in luggage but for the fact that i am bringing my own sleeping bag, walking sticks, and have to pack for london.

here are some tips:
1. for women, invest in a freshette. this will allow you to pee while standing up. this is especially helpful when it is freezing in kili and you don't want to, ahem, take off too much clothes to do your business.
here's a picture of a freshette:

2. don't bother bringing too much clothes for the hike. you won't be showering. you will be wearing the same clothes, for the most part. don't worry, everyone else around you will stink.

3. while #2 is true, bring enough underwear for everyday of the hike. no reason to be nasty.

4. while #2 is true, bring enough liner socks (coolmax) to change everyday. you want your feet to be as fresh as possible. what you could repeatedly wear without changing are the actual heavily cushioned smart wool hiking socks.

5. while #2 is true, make sure you have enough warm clothes (think layers) for the summit attempt, where it will be freezing.

6. make sure you have all the medications you need for the hike. consult with your doctor if you need any to prevent altitude mountain sickness (AMS), high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and/or high altitude cerebral edema (HACE). also get any vaccinations or meds for stuff that the CDC recommends (e.g., malaria, typhoid, hep a & b, etc.)

7. for the hike, there won't be any chargers. if you are bringing any electronic anything (camera, ipod, etc), make sure you have any extra batteries or some kind of solar charger. i wouldn't rely too much on the solar charger as it takes too long to charge and that could be a problem if you are bringing more than one electronic equipment (think camera and ipod).

8. for the safari, don't bring clothes with loud colors or patterns because you might scare off the animals.

9. for zanzibar, make sure you have modest clothing for touring around town. it is a muslim island so please, no tank tops or shorts. cover your shoulders and your knees.

while i have not done this trip before, i have previously hiked the inca trail, which meant 4 days of hiking with no showers and with a set amount of weight of stuff i could give to the porters. so i sort of know what i'm talking about, packing-wise.

will update this after i get back and see if i have any additional tips.

back at pauley: ucla v. arizona

2009-01-15T23:59:00.000-08:00

it has been awhile since the last time i was at pauley. ever since i decided to give up my tickets (around the same time bruin basketball got better... and the tickets got more expensive), i have been cherishing the rare moments i set foot at pauley.

so, i am pleased to say that my first time back in a year has been enjoyable. first off, coach john wooden is still around. he is being wheeled in a wheelchair these days but hey, he is 98 or so. pretty darned good, if you ask me. he still gives me the goosebumps everytime i see him sitting behind the bruin bench. what an awesome man.

second, ucla won 80-63. i was pleased that nikola dragovic has actually been productive this year (and even the leading scorer this game) as i had high hopes for him when he first came to the states from serbia about 3 years ago... and turned out to be a dud. not so much anymore.

third, i was pleased to see alfred aboya again. he has improved much in his free throw shooting as seen in the video below. it used to be that every time he went to the charity stripe, i had to cringe. it was almost an automatic turnover. but, he is much improved and am happy for him. plus, he has been very good about not fouling too much. this will probably be the last time i will see him in a bruin uniform as this is his last year (he is currently a grad student at ucla -- he graduated college in 3 years!). hopefully, i will see him soon as the president of cameroon, as he has dreamed to become.

fourth, i was pleased to see crazy alumni guy again. this guy cracks me up. wherever you may be sitting at pauley -- whether on the floor or in the nosebleeds, you can hear this guy screaming and hollering at the other team when they are attempting to make free throws. his shrill voice and spastic moves is classic. gotta love him.

last but not the least, i enjoyed watching the fab five freshmen - jrue holiday, drew gordon, malcolm lee, jerime anderson and j'mison morgan. ok, granted, they were not all in good playing form. e.g., morgan needs to get fitter to go up and down the court but he has lots of potential. otherwise, holiday rocked. and if memory serves, gordon made a couple of awesome blocks towards the end of the game.

overall, i still love my bruins. while they are not top ranked in the country, it is all good. i think they will make a deep run in the tournament.

a glimpse into a christmas family gathering redux

2008-12-26T17:26:00.000-08:00

another year, another christmas. if i was freezing in chicago last year, this year, i was in relatively warmer irvine to celebrate the holiday.

like my other side of the family, there were lots of food. for the gathering, i attempted to make nancy reagan's persimmon pudding cake, which turned out ok, not great. making it was an adventure in and of itself, which involved, on christmas eve, going to a regular supermarket and 2 asian markets before finally finding persimmons. then "puree-ing" the persimmons without a blender... yeah, that was definitely an adventure. but, the cake turned out fine and the brandy whipping cream (not pictured) to top the cake was great.

i also made these sugar cookies and had fun "decorating" trees.

my cousin made this pastry bread with brie and toasted walnuts (bottom right) and it was good i ate at least half of the loaf.

amanda made this seafood pajun, a korean dish that's basically a seafood pancake (but not breakfast pancake sweet). you dip it in a sauce made of soy sauce and white vinegar.

more dessert.

the ham, the quiche and chicken.

my cousin also made this crab meat (real crab, thank you very much) dish with cheese and eggs.

let's just say i was really full even before lunch started. but that did not stop me from eating all the way through dinner.

like my other side of the family, this gathering also involved a talent show, albeit on a smaller scale -- but that is more a function of size than quality. see, my granparents on my mother's side did not really have as many children as my grandparents on my father's side. as a consequence, there are fewer kids to show off their talents.

to start off, joey danced the tango with his mom.

then monica and loren showed off their musical abilities.

mark showed off his ice-skating chops (via video).

unlike my other side of the family, this side's gathering includes non-blood relatives, which makes for a more expansive story sharing. as always, there were lots of hooting and hollering, lots of teasing, lots of laughter and lots of bubbly and red wine.

it was definitely a fun celebration, as always.

hatfield's: good food but don't believe the hype

2008-12-22T20:41:00.000-08:00

i took a girlfriend out for a birthday dinner the other night and she chose hatfield's because she heard a lot of hype about the place. this being her birthday dinner and all, i acquiesced.

we started off with the following amuse: (left) a shot of cauliflower soup - served hot with an understated sweetness and (right) deviled quail egg with smoked trout - possibly my favorite of the night. the trout did not overpower the quail egg.

for my appetizer, i ordered the croque madame with prosciutto, quail egg and hamachi on brioche. i love quail eggs. i love prosciutto. i love hamachi. and i love brioche. unfortunately, the hamachi did not work. it had a weird taste. but then again, i kinda like my ham and cheese with egg just that, i.e., ham, cheese and egg on bread.

the birthday girl had the scallops on a bed of something that i do not remember right now. clearly, it was not memorable.

i had the roasted duck on a bed of quinoa and mushrooms, and butternut squash. i actually enjoyed the duck.

the birthday girl had the pork loin with chinese broccoli and yam puree. i thought it was ok.

i believe this dessert was a chocolate cake with peanut butter. again, it was just ok.

below were mini cupcakes with peanut butter. they were not too sweet.

the verdict? it was good but nothing to fawn over. the space was small and intimate and the service amiable. the price for two without drinks was about $120.

the bazaar: jose andres goes to la

2008-12-09T06:16:00.000-08:00

prior to my summer trip to spain, i started getting addicted to jose andres' tv show on pbs called "made in spain." never heard of him till then but once i did, i immensely enjoyed his show.

fast forward to the late fall and jose andres has opened a new restaurant in la. so, i just had to try it. the whole experience was fun. while there may have been a few misses, there were more hits. so this place is definitely a place i will want to go back to.

first off, we had the jamon iberico de bellota. these yummy slices of swine come from meat that has been fed acorn. it was good.... but for the fact that i had some really good ones in spain. i wish the slices had more fatty goodness. but this plate was better than i had anywhere in the us.

this canned sea urchin was quite a pleasant surprise. i have gotten over my uni phobia but to have this canned delicacy was a revelation. that is, not all canned foods are bad.

this simple plate of bread with tomato and olive oil was great. unlike your typical bruschetta, the tomato was pretty much mushed. but that's ok.

aaah cheese. ever since i visited andrew's cheese shop in santa monica, i have been a fan of idiazabal (left), made out of sheep's milk. and the sample below left did not disappoint. similarly, the murcia (goat cheese) (center) was a great departure from the goat cheese i have had in the past. this version did not suddenly make me a fan of goat cheese but i definitely won't be shunning this version. finally, good ol manchego (right). need i say more?

this simple salad of thinly sliced apples with leeks topped with grated manchego cheese was crisp and refreshing.

this wild mushroom risotto topped with melted idiazabal cheese would have been really really good but for the fact that it was a tad bit too salty.

the seared trout with jamon serrano was very good. the fish was far from dry and very juicy and the jamon on top gave the dish a great texture.

the pork sausage on a bed of white beans was also good. a friend said the sausage was too salty but i thought it was perfectly flavored.

this lamb loin with truffles was delicious. thin cuts of meat and the truffle was very rich and yet light at the same time.

the galician lobster with potatoes was good but nothing spectacular.

the sauteed shrimp with garlic was good. full of flavor. but i don't get the foam. but that's just me.

finally, this paella style pasta with monkfish and shrimp was really good. the angel hair had a nice crispness to it that was not overdone but still soft enough that did not make you miss the rice that usually goes with paella.

we enjoyed two bottles of wine. i preferred the crianza from rioja. it was not too full bodied like the other bottle and i thought it went better with the dishes we ordered.

finally, the flan. it was good but not spectacular. not too sweet.

the damage was about $112 per person with the tax and tip. not too bad considering the dishes were filling and very very good. the dishes we tried were primarily the traditional spanish tapas. the bazaar also had a selection of modern tapas, which we did not try.

i will definitely come back. after all, a lot more dishes await tasting.

the last game of the season: ucla v.u$c

2008-12-07T15:25:00.000-08:00

all i can say is that thank god it's over.

let the rebuilding begin and a new season unfold.

meantime, as far as i'm concerned, the score was:

a glimpse into a family thanksgiving

2008-11-29T15:37:00.000-08:00

this thanksgiving was the first time in the last three years that i was stateside. two years ago, i was eating solo at a fancy restaurant in prague celebrating thanksgiving with a nice juicy duck. last year, i was eating swine with a couple of brazilians, a couple of italians and a chilean who were strangers a week before in a beach restaurant in brazil. this year, i spent some time with my mom's side of the family. the location may not have been exotic and the food may have been conventional. but, that is what made it a good thanksgiving.

of course, the eating got started, not with eating, but with drinking. we had to have the bubbly. here's the appetizer table:

and oh yeah, lumpia. crispy fried pork lumpia to be exact. addictive. i think i ate half of this platter.

here's our thanksgiving table.

the stuffing.

my cousin joe's favorite: creamed corn. corn and lots of cream = corn heaven.

green beans with mushrooms. one needed to have fiber, after all.

yams.

and the bird:

juicy goodness.

and gravy.

here's my plate. yummy goodness.

oh of course we also had dessert. my auntie brought pinoy dessert. the top one was rice-based with lots of sugar. the bottom one was called turon - fried banana wrapped in a wonton-like paper with lots of sugar.

jello.

and yeah, the dessert i brought. i would like to say that i baked this cake. but that would make me a liar. so i won't. but this berry blossom cake from susina bakery was DA BOMB!

and finally, this was what we should be thankful for. at least, according to my cousin's kid:

personally, i was thankful to have a fun family who loves to eat, drink, and gossip (not necessarily in that order). like my cousin liza says, "that's our thing."

sybil and the new york times

2008-11-25T18:50:00.000-08:00

on the heels of my 2 second appearance (at 1:19) on friday on tv (cbs2/kcal9) extolling the nickel diner's bacon donut, i found myself today on the pages of the new york times.

to be exact, there was a picture of people stretching/jogging and some photographer shot a picture of me bending/stretching. no one can see my face but i know my pony tail and my outfit (second from left).

this is no admission of guilt. the law says no one can stretch on the median, i.e. the grassy strip. i was on the street. with no grassy strip in sight. so there.

that being said, here are my two cents:

my understanding is that the santa monica ordinance prohibits any activity on grassy strips in santa monica except for walking and jogging. that means that those doing ab exercises or stretching exercises on the grassy strip are violating the law.

is this ordinance constitutional given that the grassy strip is on public property?

well, methinks that the city can regulate the use of public property based on time, place and manner (TPM). so, for example, i would think that if the ban is enforced at noon or 1 pm when no one in the neighborhood is reasonably expected to be asleep and not be bothered by the exercisers, the ban is probably too restrictive. the idea is that while people have a first amendment right to associate whenever and wherever, the government can still restrict that right based on TPM regulations.

but hey, what do i know?

oh right, i guess i have 14 minutes and 50 seconds of fame left...

ucla athletes rock!

2008-11-24T23:06:00.000-08:00

we got rhodes scholars awarded to bruin football and rugby players. guess they're not wearing their IQ's on their jerseys.

go bruins!

just another friday night

2008-11-23T16:55:00.000-08:00

on friday night, i mourned the loss of ucla to michigan (michigan!!!) from the night before. yep, it's basketball season and i had such high hopes. ucla has got to have its best incoming freshmen in the howland era although i must admit that there are no real big men on this squad. with kevin love playing in the nba, the 5 is tasked to alfred aboya.... whom i absolutely think is a hustler and a team player. and this article about aboya just made me want to cry.

but more importantly, even with the highly touted freshmen and the senior leadership of darren collison and josh shipp, ucla's seeming inablity to break a zone is puzzling.

so what to do on a friday night.... i inwardly pondered on the future of bruin basketball as i waited for my friends to show up at this newish sushi/izakaya joint (go for the izakaya not the sushi) called bimi. then, i went to see that james bond flick, "quantum of solace" (crap!).

we started off with a white fish carpaccio in hot olive oil. let me just say that this dish was delish. i liked the raw fish with the flavors of the olive oil. simple. yummy.

similarly, this corn tempura was excellent. not corn on the cob tempura. just ears of the corn in tempura batter and deep fried. the corn was sweet and but had that crunch of the tempura.

the crab dynamite roll was bland and a waste of calories.

the crunchy rice with spicy tuna was very good.

the rainbow roll did not stand out. let me just point out now that i also had the sweet shrimp (no picture). it came at $12, which was market price. but, it was not worth the money. the fried heads came lukewarm to cold and the shrimp itself was not as sweet. the rice was also not warm (but then again, as a rule, i prefer warm rice with the fish/shrimp on top as opposed to the cold rice most sushi joints have).

the uni fried rice below was too salty. the uni was not fresh either.

the roast duck was tender.

the ethnic chicken (i swear, that's the name of the dish) was very good. it had a sweet aftertaste.

there were other dishes we tried, like the miso soup (can't screw that one up) and other cut rolls, which were nothing to write home about. we also had a bottle of wine and it came to about $31.50 per person. the price was definitely affordable. if i go back, i will definitely have to skip the sushi and just go izakaya.

as for quantum of solace? can someone tell me what the plot was? cuz i just don't get it.

sybil and the bacon donut

2008-11-22T00:57:00.000-08:00

my 2 seconds of fame (at 1:19). and, i didn't even get a minute, much less 15.

no worries, fame won't change me.

the goal: kilimanjaro

2008-11-19T00:02:00.000-08:00

i plan on going to summit kili soon so here are some things to look forward to. it seems ann curry took the machame route, the same one i plan on taking. eeks! must get my arse in gear for that daily "6 hours of stairmaster with a 20 pound backpack."

RIP coach newell

2008-11-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

a sad day in the college basketball world.

may you rest in peace, coach.

eating at aunt kizzy's

2008-11-17T18:17:00.000-08:00

after 24 hours in san francisco, i found myself back home in la la land. home and hungry.

i have heard much about aunt kizzy's back porch and how it was so good yadda yadda yadda. i have never eaten there primarily because i did not know where glencoe was. aunt kizzy's, however, moved from its former location on glencoe to washington boulevard where the killer shrimp used to be. so, because i knew exactly where the new location was, i went. finally.

let me begin with the corn bread. i really liked it. i don't know if it was the hunger (the last time i ate anything at that point was 16 hours before, i.e., dinner) or if it was truly good. but this i can tell you: it was warm, buttery, had a slight crunch on the outside and yummy soft goodness on the inside. i can also say that it was better than the corn bread at roscoe's chicken and waffles.

after consuming two cornbread, i ordered the 2 entrees, 2 sides of fried chicken and smothered pork chop, and sides of green beans and mac n cheese. perhaps i was satiated at this point but i found that the fried chicken at honey's kettle was juicier and crispier. aunt kizzy's chicken was crispy and juicy, just not as those from honey's kettle. the smothered pork chop was tender, although i have decided that i am not into anything smothered. that includes smothered potatoes or smothered me. the mac n cheese was also good but the green beans were a bit too buttery.

now d had the ribs. as i don't eat the cow, i didn't taste it. but d claims that it was really good. and i saw that the meat was falling off the bone. so it seemed good.

i was happy i went. but i probably won't be visiting aunt kizzy's anytime soon.

lesson learned? nothing smothered.

san francisco: a day in the life

2008-11-16T23:47:00.000-08:00

i was up in sf during an unusually warm mid-november day. literally, one day. 24 hours. so, what to do?

9 am: after landing and checking in at the hotel, we immediately went to the saturday farmers' market at the ferry building. it cracked me up that there was a veggie valet.

10 am: tasting wines at the wine merchant at the ferry building. jason was our new friend. he had to be. we were there doing flights from 10 am till 11:30 am, and then again after lunch.

11:30 am: lunch. finally. at hog oyster island. or is it hog island oyster? still at the ferry building. we sat outside to enjoy the warm day.

this was the market salad with anchovies (or boquerones, as our server liked to call it).

kumamoto oysters

and of course, the star of the day, grilled cheese: i order it every. single. time. the bread was crispy outside. the inside was soft and full of melted cheese goodness from cowgirl creamery (next door). don't know the proportions but the cheeses were: mazzo secco, cave aged gruyere and fromage blanc. ummm. ummm. ummmm.

we saw other people order the crab and we decided we had to have it. sadly, i was not that excited with it. and i love crab. this particular dish was not warm and all the gooey goodness underneath that shell were all scraped off. the shell was cleaned out! the horror! note to self: stick with the grilled cheese.

our server bringing our third bottle of wine.

j and the vouvray.

2 pm: back at the wine merchant... these were three kinds of chocolates. don't remember where they were from. good with 2 bottles of red wine though...

8:45 pm: dinner time. this time at circolo in portrero hill. we started off with this tuna tartare. it was served with stale tasting chips. shame. however, the chunky tuna was good and i liked the seaweed salad bit.

this foie gras was ok...

this spinach salad was served with bits of swine. yep, those were pork, not croutons. brilliant!

this was my chilean seabass (i know, i know). i liked it nicely seared.

i am in love with crustacean's (in beverly hills) garlic noodles. and i measure every single bowl of garlic noodles to crustacean's. i really shouldn't. i always end up disappointed. and this was no exception. it wasn't garlicky enough and the noodles a bit soggy. but, it did it's purpose of soaking up the alcohol from my daytime festivities.

we brought our own cupcakes to circolo. these were from a place called kara's cupcakes. a lot of people rave about it. i don't know why. they were good enough, but nothing special. i had a chocolate chocolate (middle bottom) and a vanilla chocolate (bottom left). the icing in both weren't as sweet as magnolia bakery's (in nyc) or as rich as that ganache on the cupcakes from the now-defunct dainties (in la). but the cake themselves were light, which i liked.

so that was the end of 14 hours in sf. the rest of the time was spent dancing and sleeping. then, back to reality. home. sweet. home.

it's a new york state of mind

2008-11-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

i recently went to nyc to celebrate my favorite holiday. no, not jrue holiday. halloween.

that being said, while nyc was supposed to be all fun, girl gotta eat. so here goes my gastronomic travel story.

ESCA

while i think pizzeria mozza in los angeles and b&b ristorante in las vegas are okay, i truly enjoy osteria mozza. but, more importantly, i love babbo in nyc. so, i thought, i love seafood and mario batali has been giving me some good eating, why not try esca? i did.... within three hours of landing in nyc.

i started off with their famed crudo. sashimi. the problem that i had with it was that all the fish tasted the same. i.e., all were dressed in sea salt, olive oil and lemon. what should have been a light, refreshing dish became a bit too much for me.

on the other hand, the crispy troutlings were good (that is, without having to drench it in the horseradish). i just liked how it was unapologetically fried without being greasy. if they served it the way it was, without any dressing, i would have been just as happy. i am happy to report that the poor fish was completely eaten - heads, tails and bones included.

i am a fan of octopus. and this grilled octopus with some really large white beans was no exception. i have found that batali's restaurants really do octopus well. i don't know why. but this was meaty and tender and served warm.

this blackfish, served with mushrooms and leeks, was bland. to be fair, my mom asked that it be "low sodium" to comply with her dietary restrictions. that being said, i did not enjoy this dish.

SPICE MARKET

after lunching with mom, the rest of my eats were with the gals. this jean-georges vongerichten joint in the meat packing district was bumping. it was crowded, and it took a while to get a seat even though we had reservations. as a consequence, the bar area was a popular spot. the drinks were nothing to write home about though. nonetheless, we met some interesting dudes who were bent on impressing us gals on how hip they were. really.

below was the seafood laksa with shrimp and scallop. as in one shrimp. and one scallop.

i have no memory of the name of this dish or how it tasted. that's sad.

this was the coconut sticky rice, which coconut flavor was subtle to none.

this was the chili garlic noodles with shrimp. i suppose it was tasty but for the fact that all garlic noodles have to be measured against crustacean's garlic noodles. with that in mind, this was average.

this dish was the snap peas. i don't really remember this dish either. how sad.

RESTO

prior to arriving to nyc, i heard much about this new-ish restaurant. it stood out because it was supposed to be swine heaven. which was always a plus for me. so off we were to lunch.

this was the belgian hangover pasta, which came with ham, gruyere and egg served sunny side up. i liked this dish. the ham was thick and the pasta was nice. just don't look at the bottom of the dish when you've scraped it off. yes, that's a lot of oil.

this was the grilled cheese with gruyere and pork belly. mmmm..... pork belly. the bread was soaked through with butter. but i was ok with that. definitely not for the diet conscious. unless, you are conscious that you are busting your diet. let's just say that those green things on the side of the plate were left untouched and the rest were cleaned off.

the fries below were average but what made it good was the sauce, which you can choose. ours was yogurt, cumin and garlic. those rich flavors went well with the fries.

the tete de cochon below was a special dish and was basically a spicy pulled pork. like the grilled cheese, the bread was soaked through with butter. i thought it was tasty although i enjoyed the grilled cheese better.

MAGNOLIA BAKERY

i like cupcakes. and i heard much about this cupcakery. but i don't get it. see, i am a big fan of dainties cupcakes in la. but alas, dainties is no longer. it disappeared. poof. gone. but i digress.

the cupcakes below from magnolia were of the chocolate variety, which i tried. the cupcake itself was light but i thought to be too grainy. the icing, on the other hand, was nice and creamy. don't get me wrong, it was good. still. i miss dainties.

BAR BOULUD

one of my girlfriends really wanted to try daniel boulud's restaurant. so off we went.

the cheese bread below was fluffy enough. but again, i saw and tasted it and i couldn't help but compare it to the bistro laurent tourondel empire's divine cheese puff heaven. my vote goes to blt. sorry boulud. for starters, i would serve it warm to piping hot. i would also make it fluffier.

ordering the pork belly below should not be a surprise to anyone who know me. that being said, this version was tasty and crunchy. but a bit too salty. i still enjoyed it though.

i ordered this special dish, which was basically baby sheep prepared as a sausage, grilled and skewered. i was assured by the server that it was fresh. i found it too gamey. and when i say gamey, i meant smelly. as an aside, i often wonder why sheep abroad is not gamey (i.e., smelly) but it almost always is in this country....

the chocolat noisette below might have been my favorite dish from bar boulud. the light chocolate sprinkled with hazelnuts had a perfect texture in the mouth. mmmmmm.... hazelnuts.

i ate more. as in at green bo in chinatown (very disappointing) and at miracle bar and grill in the village (good bar food). but i'm tired.

keep in mind though that although i may tire of writing, i can never tire of eating. if i ever do, pigs are flying.

what a historic moment

2008-11-04T20:24:00.000-08:00

i gained 10 pounds in the last 3 weeks eating with simon and eating in nyc.

oh right, there's that other historic moment.

i am pleased.

i forgot how my palate tastes

2008-11-04T15:37:00.000-08:00

on september 10, i went to a zocalo panel moderated by jonathan gold of la weekly. with him were several chefs, discussing, in effect, what is la food. octavio becerra was a panelist. he just opened palate food + wine in glendale. he predicted that glendale is the new culver city. hmmmm.....

so, on october 12, a few friends went to check it out. the staff was friendly. especially the french bartender who seemed to have a good time talking europe, cocktails, wine and politics with my british friend, simon.

we got started early. i remember thinking that the cheese plate was ok. nothing stood out.

i thought the butter, which was sprinkled with salt and thinly sliced beets (i think), was interesting and good but the bread... not so muc

one of the surprises i enjoyed at palate were the potted jars. i can't tell which is which now but one was pork and one was chicken. they were spiced perfectly and went well with the toasted bread.

being a swine lover, i was very excited to try the porkfolio, an assorted plate of cured meats. the problem with it was that it was just too dry.

like i said, i am a big fan of the swine. this was the pork belly, which was pretty good but did not have any crackling. but that's ok. belly fat is almost always a good thing.

the scallops were fine. i honestly don't remember it well so it must not have been that amazing. alternatively, it wasn't that horrid either.

this was the gnocchi. i remember that almost all my dining companions enjoyed this dish. it just didn't stand out for me.

the biggest disappointment was the special truffle dish. i can't even remember what was in the dish other than the truffle. it was memorable because the truffle was hard and tasteless.

i remember that this chocolate mousse was pretty good.

this pudding was also sweet and good.

ok, lesson: blog after eating.

but here are my immediate thoughts on whether glendale is the new culver city. ummmm.... no. it also doesn't help that there is nothing (other than a car dealership) within walking distance of palate. so while palate has some good food, and some not so good food, i doubt i will be trekking to glendale anytime soon.

finally, a win.

2008-10-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

yes, wazzu was (is) at the bottom of the pac-10 barrel. but hey, a win is a win.

so much confidence, indeed, that bruin fans were doing the wave.... a lot... during the bruins' commanding 28-3 win. i wanted the wave to stop.

kevin craft seemed more confident. that's good. but my euphoria was (still is) tempered by the fact that, again, wazzu was (and still is) at the bottom of the barrel. we shall see what happens next week when ucla travels to oregon (who just got embarrassed by $c last night).

to be continued...

ooops, sorry

2008-09-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

ok, i feel a bit remorseful for what i said after reading this.

good for coleman overcoming so much. and i am happy he is at ucla. i'd be happier though if he can hang on to the ball....

don't drop the damned ball!

2008-09-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

i think derrick coleman needs to run 5 miles (or even 10!) with the ball tomorrow so he gets used to NOT DROPPING THE BALL!!!

so much promise and energy at the beginning of the game coming out of the tunnel:

all wasted by coleman dropping the ball in the 4th with ucla only down 5 points. ugh.

let the bad times roll

2008-09-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

just like the roller coaster that was wall street this past week, so was ucla's football season. but at least wall street got bailed out. don't think ucla will get bailed out anytime soon.

i'm cheesey, yes i know

2008-09-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

andrew's cheese shop in santa monica opened fairly recently and they offer a basic cheese class. i like cheese. so, i went.

as much as i like cheese, i know some things about it but not so much. andrew talked while two employees passed around cheeses to try with bread and wine. for $25, it was well worth it.

so what did i glean from cheese 101?
1. i have a new favorite cheese. it is called zamorano. this is a hard cheese from the castile-leon region of spain. think manchengo. but better.
2. a good brie-like cheese is called fougerus. it's nice and creamy but it is not made in the brie region of france so it can't be called brie. but, it is still yummy.
3. gouda is pronounced "how-duh" not "goo-duh."
4. for the most part, soft cheeses are probably less fatty than hard cheeses. apparently, fat is measure in dry mass. a pound of soft cheese has lots of water and could be 50% butterfat. a pound of hard cheese doesn't have a lot of water and could be 30% butterfat. once one squeezes out all the water in the soft cheese, however, that cheese becomes say 1/10 of a pound. can't really squeeze any more water from hard cheese so it stays a pound in weight. thus, that 1/10 of a pound of cheese with 50% buterfat ends up being less fatty than a pound of cheese with 30% butterfat.
5. triple cream is not cheese. it is a cheese product. there is cheese in it but it is mostly buttermilk.
6. that white stuff on the rind of brie and brie like products is called "bloomy rind" because the mold is blooming. eiw!
7. blue cheese uses mold formed from rye bread. (at least the roquefort kind.)
8. the us imports and produces unpasteurized (raw) milk. the difference is that the cheese is aged. that way, the bad bacteria is killed.
9. the best way to store cheese is to tightly wrap the cut part of the cheese in plastic but leave part of the rind unwrapped so it can breath. put it in the cheese shelf of the fridge, or towards the bottom of the fridge assuming that the cool air comes from the top and not the bottom. also, one can store the cheese inside tupperware with a wet sponge near (but not touching) the cheese to keep it humid. then put the tupperware in the fridge.
10. andrew likes montgomery cheddar from england. he buys it from neal's yard. i thought it was just ok.

so that's what i remember from the class. i really want me some zamorano. mmmmmm.

lala land cuisine

2008-09-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

so i just got back from listening to a panel moderated by jonathan gold of la weekly and where the panel included michael cimarusti (co-owner and executive chef of providence restaurant), octavio becerra (chef and owner of palate food & wine), and evan kleiman (executive chef of angeli caffe and host of the good food show on KCRW). the topic was: "is there such a thing as la cuisine?"

interestingly, none of them really answered the question directly. all agreed that la cuisine is varied with all the ethnic restaurants dotting the city. all also agreed that la is fortunate to have fresh ingredients nearby. but none could really say, such and such is quintessentially la food.

i can't say that there is such a thing as la cuisine. la's cuisine is varied, is international, is transcendental of the region. no one can really pin point a type of cuisine and say, "yeah, that's la cuisine." and i am fine with that so long as the food i eat in la restaurants are fresh, flavorful and great.

ucla v. tennesee (27-24)

2008-09-02T18:39:00.000-07:00

it has been a long 5 months since college basketball ended. and finally, college football is here. i am still a bit tired from yesterday's activities and my throat is still a bit sore. but, can i just say that THAT was an amazing game.

i had very very low expectations coming in to the season. yes, rick neuheisel, norm chow and dewayne walker sounded like a very good solid coaching staff. but, ucla's starting quarterback, kevin craft, was a third stringer junior college transfer.

the first half was unbelievably depressing. craft threw 4 interceptions. and it wasn't like any bruin was in the vicinity of the ball. oh hell no... no bruin was even in the same zip code. yep, craft pretty much threw the ball to tennessee. the bright side was that defense was amazing. and, defense scored a touchdown for ucla.

if the first half drove me to prozac, i almost had a heart attack in the second half. i thought ucla was losing, then ucla started moving the ball. then ucla scored a touchdown with less than 2 minutes left in the game to be up by 3. it was pandemonium... until tennessee tied the game to put it into overtime. i was on pins and needles. it was, however, pure joy to see tennessee's kicker miss a field goal.

bottom line is, ucla suffered a whole bunch of injuries during the game (not counting the ones to cowan and olson). ucla had no business winning against then no. 18 tennessee. even if ucla loses most of its game this season, the future looks bright.

GO BRUINS!!!

bruins coming out of the tunnel

neuheisel's post-game speech

itinerary: czech republic - 9 days

2008-08-16T15:58:00.000-07:00

here is a tried and tested itinerary for a solo female traveler to the czech republic:

Day 1
leave usa

Day 2
arrive in prague -- DO NOT NAP

go to tesco to buy water and snackies
Tesco Department Store, Narodni 26, New Town; Metro: Narodni Trida (Line B)

pm:
Old Town Square:
* astronomical clock - go when the clock strikes to watch the mechanical statues
* monument to Jan Hus
* St James Church

pm: join an old town pub walk tour (includes dinner/drinks and clubbing) lots to choose from under the clock tower (i used praguer.com)

Day 3
am: brekky

am/pm: check out charles bridge, cross charles bridge to mala strana and explore prague castle
* go on the hour to watch the changing of the guard at prague castle

pm: dinner at kampa park
bar hop in mala strana/josefov

Day 4
am: brekky and head out to bus station for overnight trip to karlovy vary

here are some useful directions i found while trolling the net to get to the bus station called florenc to catch the bus to karlovy vary:

Getting on Bus – Florenc (Floor-rents)

Prague's main bus station, Central Bus Station -- Florenc, Krizíkova 5, Praha 8 (for bus connections information call tel. 12999), is above the Florenc metro stop (line C). Unfortunately, few employees speak English here, making it a bit tricky for non-Czech speakers to obtain schedule information. To find your bus, you can try the large boards just next to the office where all buses are listed. They're in alphabetical order, but sometimes it's tough to find your destination since it may lie in the middle of a route to another place. If you have some time before you depart Prague, your best bet for bus information and tickets is to visit Cedok, Na Príkope 18, Praha 1 (tel. 800-112-112 or 224-197-111; www.cedok.cz), open Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm.

From Prague you can reach to Karlovy Vray by bus. There are about 8 busses a day but not all of them are express and so the 2,5 hours ride can stretch to 5 hours. You can get the information about the bus times from the Prague bus station or Internet (don't know the link at the moment) or ask your hotel receptionist to give you a hand on this. The timetables on the wall are a bit of a hassle because these are written only in Czech and you should pay attention to the fact that timetables vary according to the weekdays and holidays etc. To be safe just ask from the information. In some cases the ticket can be bought beforehand and you can make a place reservation, on some cases the driver will sell the tickets on the bus (that info can also be obtained from the information desk). If I remember correctly I paid 130 CZK for one-way ticket (or was it return?)

Route to the Bus Station
As you exit the metro carriage you follow the signs for "bus". As you exit the metro station doors, turn right and take the sign for "Zizkov-Bus-Centrum". You go down into the underpass with a couple of bars and you come up onto the street. About 20 metres down the road there is an entry on the right. As you go in you'll find the ticket offices. There are about 6 or 7 different companies selling tickets for various routes. Apart from CSAD, the major CZ-UK carriers are Eurolines and Capital Express. The other main CZ carrier is Student Agency.

Once you have bought your ticket you keep going down the corridor and up the steps into the bus parking area. At this point, on your left will be a ATM (CSOB Bank) and a small shop. In front of you is the overhead walkway to the far stands (London-Prague routes). On your right is the Student Agency stop and at the far end is the open air Vietnamese market.

Outside the station
As you exit the metro station main door the first thing to see is the non-stop "Royal" bar. If you exit to the left you'll find a florist (Summer only), a supermarket (0700-1900) and an ATM to the left of the supermarket entry. The main trams passing the station during the day are 8 and 24. At night there are the 52 and 55. If you walk around the side to the left you find another ticket office buried in the corner opposite the clock (you can buy 3 and 7 day passes here. Opposite the main entry is a small beer garden. If you exited the main doors and turned right i.e. following the "Zizkov-bus-centrum" sign into the underpass, you'll find the supervised toilet facilities (0700-2100).

am: check in hotel at karlovy vary
walk around and explore all the different mineral springs and the hotel grand pupp

pm: SPA for at least 4 hours
i tried Spa - Zámecké lázně (Castle Spa) (http://english.edenhotels.cz/prices-castlespa.php)

pm: dinner anywhere (just not go to a thai restaurant, not very good)
drinks at hotel bar - karlovy vary is kinda boring at night

Day 5
am: brekky early to catch bus to plzen

pm: arrive plzen
cross town to go to the pilsner urquell brewery for lunch at the restaurant there (na spilce - good pork chops) and sign up for a brewery tour
*** you can walk or trolley or cab it from bus station across town to brewery/train station
*** store luggage at train station, which is 1/2 mile from the pilsner urquell brewery

late pm: catch train to ceske budejovice
see ceske budejovice's main square at night for sights and dinner/drinks

Day 6
am: brekky
am/pm: go to cesky krumlov and explore
pm: back to ceske budejovice and go on a budvar/budweiser (the czech, not american, kind) brewery tour
go on a side trip to hluboka
back to ceske budejovice for dinner/drinks

Day 7
am: early brekky and catch bus back to prague

pm: lunch
- Josefov (Jewish Ghetto)
- On the way to Wenceslas Square: The plaque is inside on the left and commemorates the Nov 17th demonstrations that eventually ended with the Velvet Revolution.
- Wenceslas Square (Václavské Námestí)
- Communist Museum on Na Prikope
- Zizkov TV Tower (Panoramic views of Prague) [Nearest Train Station Jiriho Z Podebrad (Line A)]
- explore zizkov

dinner/drinks in josefov (now a hip part of town)

also, check out Zhlato Tygra, Husova 17, a tiny bar where vaclav havel took bill clinton for a beer when billy jeff was in town

Day 8
am: brekky

am/pm: cross charles bridge to go up petrin hill (you can take the furnicular or walk up the steps)
kampa island
frank gehry's dancing house a.k.a. fred and ginger house
municipal house
powder tower
namesti republicky

pm: shopping for glassware - go to kotva department store on namesti republiky

pm: early dinner/drinks for flight back home

Day 9
fly back home

bon voyage!!!

an olympic sized blunder

2008-08-13T19:44:00.000-07:00

so the guardian broke the news that the spanish basketball teams took group pictures with each player appearing to make slit-eye gestures and had this picture run daily in a newspaper ad sanctioned by spain's basketball association. apparently, laker pau gasol, a member of this olympic squad, the coach and everybody else do not find anything offensive with the picture.

to be fair, pau gasol purportedly said, "If anyone feels offended by it, we totally apologise for it." but, he doesn't really apologise for doing it. he just apologised if anyone found it offensive. i guess he doesn't get it either.

jose calderon blogged the following about the event:

I would like to share a story with you about something that happened with the Spanish National Team that someone interpreted incorrectly. It happened in the photo session where the Spanish National Team was introduced; one of our sponsors asked us to pose with a “wink” to our participation in Beijing, we made an oriental expression with our eyes. We thought it was something appropriate and that it would always be interpreted as somewhat loving. Never the less some of the European media did not see it this way.

From here I would like to declare that we have a huge respect for the East and their people, some of my best friends in Toronto are from China and one of our Spanish National Team sponsors is the Chinese brand Li Ning. Anyone who would like to interpret this differently is absolutely confused.

ummmm... calderon definitely doesn't get it. "orientals?" let me be clear, asians are not furniture. and what is the deal with "i have asian friends"? that doesn't mean anything!!! strom thurmond fathered a child with an african american woman yet he was an advocate for segregation of the races. so calderon having asian friends does not translate to having "huge respect" for asian peoples.

so, let me say why i find their conduct offensive:

first, it makes fun of an immutable physical feature.

second, it emphasizes differences in people that has been the basis for treating people unfavorably in education, employment, public accommodations, etc.

third, it is neither funny nor endearing. so why do it?

while the spanish might not find it offensive, other people might (and do). what were they thinking?

the ad showcases a team competing in an international event. their players play internationally -- particularly pau gasol for the lakers (california having a large asian american population) and jose calderon for the raptors (toronto also having a large asian american population). thus, while the ad was intended to appear only locally, the team has an international profile and each has a responsibility to promote tolerance of all cultures -- whether they are at home or abroad.

what is even more disturbing is that it appears that the international olympic committee, the nba, or the lakers/raptors will do nothing about this atrocity.

itinerary: mexico city 3-day weekend

2008-08-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

i am still itching to travel. but can't right now.

so, i am posting my old travel itineraries in the hopes that it might help someone. particularly, this is a tried and tested itinerary for someone who wants to see some diego, frida and aztec ruins. oh, and eat.

the directions are stuff i found while trolling the net but, unfortunately, no longer have the web address.

FRIDAY
pm: arrive in MEX
stay in condessa or polanco
dinner/drinks

SATURDAY
am/pm: teotihuacan - go as early as possible. it is far and you want to avoid the crowds

directions to get to teotihuacan from mexico city (cheap and easy):

Take the yellow metro line in Mexico City to Autobuses del Norte. Once inside the station walk towards Gate 8. There is a ticket booth almost at the end of the concourse. A one way ticket will run you 27 pesos (October 2006). Autobuses Teotihuacán leave the North bus station every half an hour or so. Check that your bus goes to the site entrance of Teotihuacan ruinas and not just to the town of San Juan Teotihuacán nearby. It will take around an hour, and the buses run until about 6pm - check the last departure before you leave. There are no signs indicating where the return buses from Teotihuacan ruinas to Mexico City stop, but they pick up passengers at the roundabout at entrance 1 and stop at the Indios Verdes and Autobuses del Norte metro stops.

****ALTERNATIVE: There are buses leaving almost every 15 minutes from Terminal del Norte in Mexico City. You can also take the metro (line 3) to Indios Verdes and a bus from here.

pm: casa azul (the one-time home of diego rivera and frida kahlo in coyoacan)
dinner at azul y oro in UNAM (order the cochinita pibil and/or the mole negro)

here are the directions to UNAM and to azul y oro:
Centro Cultural Universtario
Circuito Exterior sin/nombre
Tel. (55) 5622-7135
Sunday through Tuesday 10:00am – 6:00pm
Wednesday through Saturday 10:00am – 8:00 pm
to get there: take the line 3 metro to "universidad." when you exit the metro station, turn right, and go down the stairs and enter the campus. then, take the ruta 3 campus shuttle (towards centro cultural) and stop at the "sala nezahualcoyotl"

nap
bar hop in condessa

SUNDAY
am: eat brekky at la fonda in condessa
am/pm: Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño in xochimilico (former diego mistress, has an incredible amount of diego art work and some frida, too. plus, the grounds are amazing.)
[this museum is located at the end of the blue metro line to taxquena, and then another long train ride to the la noria stop. the trip was about 1 or so hour.]

pm: dinner/drinks in polanco

MONDAY
am: eat brekky at neighborhood cafe or restaurant
zocalo, cathedral, templo mayor, palacio nacional

pm: eat lunch at taco stand near zocalo
fly back home

bon voyage!

olympics: "redeem team"

2008-08-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

so it is really quite annoying that the media keeps on calling the american men's basketball team as the "redeem team."

yeah, us men's basketball lost in 2004. yeah, they should have won. and yeah, it was embarrassing.

but what is this team redeeming itself from? clearly, from a team that was not a dream team.

in 2004, the us decided to field a team with mostly young players. yeah, they had some all stars like tim duncan but they also had allen "it's only practice" iverson. the big players around that time, shaq, kobe, jason kidd, kg, t mac weren't even there.

the 2004 roster had 2 (two!!!) all stars:
stephon marbury
dwyane wade
allen iverson*
carmelo anthony
richard jefferson
lebron james
lamar odom
shawn marion
amare stoudemire
tim duncan*
carlos boozer
emeka okafor

d wade, boozer, lebron and melo were just babies.

in comparison, this 2008 men's basketball team is a very good team. this team has mvp kobe bryant, a much matured and improved lebron james, dwayne wade and carmelo anthony, a proven point in jason kidd, and a decent supporting cast.

indeed, in this 2008 roster, 3 out of 9 are not all stars:
carmelo anthony*
carlos boozer*
chris bosh*
kobe bryant*
dwight howard*
lebron james*
jason kidd*
chris paul*
tayshaun prince
michael redd
dwyane wade*
deron williams

(one would even argue this 2008 team has a better coach in coach k than larry brown, who seems to have a problem getting along with players -- i disagree of course, as yes, i am an admitted dookie hater.)

point being is that the us did not field a "dream team" worthy team in 2004 and the media had no business calling that team a "dream team."

this 2008 team, on the other hand, is a dream team. (ok, maybe not like the original dream team with magic, jordan, bird... but waaaaaaaaaay closer than the 2004 team ever will be.) this 2008 should be given its due title as a dream team because that is what it is. it is not this 2008 team's fault that the media mistakenly named the 2004 team a dream team.

perhaps this bunch of media pundits should call itself the "redeem team" from screwing it up last go around. but, let us not call this team that title.

hell, if the media really wants to name someone a "redeem team," they should have named the 1992 team as such. after all, before that, the us was dominating in the sport (the us boycotted the 1980 game) until it suffered its first lost (to the soviet union, its then political arch-enemy.

so please. stop calling the 2008 team a "redeem team" already.

itchy feet and responsible travel

2008-08-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

so i've been itching to travel again.

i have been looking at the UNESCO world heritage list, i.e., those protected sites, to see which places i would love to see next.

in the meantime, here are some pictures from some of those places on the list that i have been to.

BRAZIL

historic centre of salvador de bahia

CZECH REPUBLIC

historic centre of prague

historic centre of cesky krumlov

FRANCE

banks of the seine

MEXICO

historic centre of mexico city

pre-hispanic city of teotihuacan

PERU

historic sanctuary of machu picchu

city of cuzco

SPAIN

alcazar in sevilla

USA

grand canyon national park

yosemite national park

so while i try to be a responsible traveler, i know that trying to see all these endangered sites is not very environmentally friendly. when i camp/hike, i try not to leave any trash and not take anything out (soil, rocks, plants, etc.) but i know that i am probably still leaving a horrid carbon footprint. so it is a bit of a conundrum. i want to see, hear, feel.

for instance, i plan to hike kilimanjaro, go on a safari and beach bum in zanzibar. all of the places i plan on visiting are on the UNESCO world heritage list (kilimanjaro national park, serengeti national park, ngorongoro conservation area, selous game preserve, stone town). in particular, going to hike kili to see its famed glacier before it is gone forever is probably hastening the melting process. so should i not go?

how does one still experience the place without helping in the destruction of the place i so want to see?

earthquake 2008

2008-07-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

so yelp had this thread asking what one eats after an earthquake.

i guess, i should start at the very beginning. i was in my office this morning when, around 11:30-ish am, i felt a jolt. and i thought, "huh, is that an earthquake?" once my mind processed that it was, i thought, "should i go under the table or should i go under the doorway; should i go under the table or should i go under the doorway; should i go under the table or should i go under the doorway; should i go under the table or should i go under the doorway." once i finally decided that i would stand under the doorway, the earthquake was over. it probably lasted about 30 seconds.

all buildings in downtown la are equipped with rollers so we were swaying for a while, which only made me dizzy. so a few of my co-workers and i went downstairs (taking the stairs, of course; who wants to be trapped in an elevator in case of an aftershock????) "to be safe." of course, i felt no aftershocks other than my nerves. although i am sure there have been many earthquakes i have felt prior to today, none has been as memorable as the northridge earthquake in 1994... which i felt all the way from san diego.

so what to do? well, since it was close to lunch, i went to lunch. and the question was, at the beginning of the post, what does one eat after an earthquake?

in my case, i had 2 carnitas tacos and an horchata at the grand central station. i was bummed i did not have my camera. there is a new vendor there that served their carnitas by taking the meat from the bone. most other vendors have the meat already all chopped up. the meat was definitely fresher and more tender. they were good. and they only cost $6 ($2 for each carnitas and $2 for the horchata).

what does have one for dinner after an earthquake?

i had a house salad, mac and cheese, lobster ravioli with gruyere cheese and a glass of manzanilla.

then, for dessert, we had a generous pour of port with a chocolate mousse. not bad, eh.

falling out of my mind

2008-07-17T22:39:00.000-07:00

it is that time of the year when the santa monica concert series is back in full swing. normally, the bands that play are those that figure prominently in world music or were famous back when i was wrinkle-free.

tonight was a bit different. the fallout boys played. the sad part is, apparently, this band is hip and popular... now. the even sadder part is -- i have never heard of them or their music.

a friend claims the video below showcases one of their more popular songs... which i have never ever heard.

and this is them doing a cover of michael jackson's beat it -- now him i have heard of...

i suppose i am aging.... but then again, they say with age comes wisdom. so if that makes me an old genius, then so be it.

the rock and i

2008-07-10T06:51:00.000-07:00

no, not dwayne johnson although i think that man is hot.

i mean the rock of gibraltar. fascinating place. british territory - they use the pound instead of the euro - between spain and the mediterranean. they fly the british flag, everyone speaks english, the police wear those funny british hats, restaurants serve fish and chips.

simon said that gib (as everyone calls gibraltar) reminded him of a small town touristy place in england. honestly, i think he enjoyed a bit of the historical landmarks like the trafalgar cemetery where a few folks who died in that battle were buried.

i just wanted to go see the rock. truthfully, it wasn't a pretty rock. i thought half dome in yosemite was a pretty rock. but this rock had a nice view of africa.

this was a video i took from the south terrace. the wind kinda took away my narration: the camera started with a view of the rock, then panned towards the marina (the land mass behind it was algeciras, a spanish town), then the mountain range was africa. so close and yet so far.

this rock also had monkeys. lots of them.

reflections on my recent trip to spain

2008-07-09T06:33:00.000-07:00

last time i was in spain (barcelona) was in 1999. since then, spain has joined the eu and adopted the euro, and the dollar's value has plummeted. so what the heck, perfect time to go back to espana!

i was fortunate enough that my trip was timed with spain battling germany for the euro cup. and, like many spanish, i watched the game rooting for spain. below are some video highlights of the celebration in sevilla.

another reason i visited spain was the food. currently, the us does not import the high grade jamon iberico (the us started importing the lower grade only recently). so, i was very pleased to enjoy jamon iberico de bellota. a lot. below is actually a video of a cool old school dude cutting a jamon serrano at his bar, antiguo cafe mundial, in cadiz. my picture and video taking prompted him to ask, do they not have ham in the philippines?

before going to spain, i have been enamored with wines from the rioja region. while i never went to rioja, i did try their varied selection. i also tried cava and sherry, both of which i enjoyed. i am currently enamored with pedro ximenez -- although i can only take it in small doses.

below is some cool stuff that servers do with the wine cork. pretty neat.

i had a fantastic time in espana. much thanks to simon, who was taking a break from writing his book, EAT MY GLOBE, for showing me around and making sure i ate lots and drank lots.

and the drama begins...

2008-06-24T07:23:00.000-07:00

i knew the lakers would have drama in the off-season as a result of them losing the championship... i just didn't realize it would involve former laker, shaquille o'neal, taunting kobe bryant in a very awful rap as obtained by tmz.com and which i got from youtube below.

while shaq apparently issued a statement to espn saying that there was "no issue at all" and that he was just being a "funny freestyler," the rap was neither funny nor artistically good (um, just listen to it).

i am a laker fan but not necessarily a kobe fan. but, come on now. yeah it is true that kobe didn't win the championship for the lakers. after all, the lakers had 1 all star v. the celtics' 3. the lakers weren't even a contender for the championship until after the all star break and the lakers acquired pau gasol. so while it is true that kobe has yet to win a championship without shaq, it is more a function of kobe's supporting cast. shaq, on the other hand, has been fortunate to have won his championship rings with, first, kobe, and second, dwayne wade.

so to me, the freestyle sounded more like spite for the lakers' decision to trade shaq.

let the drama continue...

lakers shocker

2008-06-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

no, really.

after bombing the nba finals, kobe bryant said:

"I'm comfortable with what we have," he said. "Whatever Mitch decides to do, he decides to do. It's more of a relaxing summer for me because I know we have an opportunity to win. It's exciting.

"We know we got close and came up a little bit short. I'm excited about the opportunity to get back next year if we're fortunate enough and have a different result."

. . .

"You're all trying to see if I'm going to do Mitch's job for him this summer," Bryant said, smiling. "I'm not. I leave it up to him. He's done a great job of building this team."

let's see how long that lasts given that trade talk rumblings have begun.

to be continued...

lakers' implosion

2008-06-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

i didn't watch the game. i knew lakers would lose.

pretty embarrassing.

i'm fairly certain there will be another drama in the off-season about who needs to be traded or wants to be traded, etc., etc. question appears to be more about when will the drama start?

seems to me, someone got contained really well during the entire series....

tim russert

2008-06-17T05:41:00.000-07:00

my condolences go out to tim russert's family.

on friday, he died of a heart attack.

his death has caused me to do a bit of reflection on my own life. according to the buffalo news:

Russert, the renowned NBC newsman and one-man Chamber of Commerce for his native Buffalo, was sitting at his desk Friday, recording voice-overs for the Sunday edition of “Meet the Press,” when he suddenly collapsed and died.

by all accounts, he seems to have loved his job.

and that is great.

but for me, if i had a choice, i do not want to die at work. the preference, of course, is to die peacefully and painlessly after a long, full life and after many many years of enjoying retirement. but, if that was not possible, then i would rather die while exploring the world and/or experiencing the many pleasures of life (my kind of pleasure, that is).

but alas, i have no vote in such things.

if you are reading this: go. do. life is short.

luc, what were you thinking?

2008-06-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

today, per the la times, ucla forward luc richard mbah a moute (loooook ree-shard um-bah ah moo-tay) decided to keep his name in the nba draft. um, why?

i don't doubt that he will be a good player (not a superstar, but a good solid role player off the bench) in the nba. but, he could do so much more to develop his game. his injuries have prevented him from being the stand out that he was his freshman year. and he still has not improved his shot. yes, he is good on defense. but his sophomore and junior season showed he needs lotsa work on offense.

ah well. good luck, prince. hope you get drafted higher in the second round or better yet, towards the end of the first round.

lakers: a monumental collapse (or the big choke)

2008-06-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

after sleeping on it, i still don't understand how the celtics could come back from being down 24 and never leading the game until the last few minutes of the 4th quarter to beating the lakers. so here are my theories:

1. kobe bryant couldn't score on his life. even when the lakers were up by a gazillion points, he only scored 3 points or some ridiculous number in the first half. he was just not having a good series. or perhaps, the trio of kg, paul pierce and ray allen just was no match for the trio of kobe, pau gasol and er, ooops, there's no one else...

2. my friend, b, says it's because phil jackson took a timeout in the 2nd quarter while they were on a run. b claims the lakers' shooting suffered shortly thereafter. i think it actually started suffering after the halftime break. don't know if the players got cold, got too confident or got too something... whatever it was, it definitely did them in.

3. i think it was b's fault cuz he kept on telling me in the first half that the lakers got it in the bag and he got overconfident. thus, jinxing the game. but then again, he could say that i did not believe by doubting that the lakers would win (with good reason!) and thus, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

4. or, it could be that i started detoxing on monday and was completely sober while watching the game in a bar and was surrounded by drunk people.

whatever it was, lakers had a monumental collapse. ugh!

more lists

2008-06-09T23:18:00.000-07:00

saw the below on youtube via travbuddy.

i have a list of sorts -- but it was more like 10 things to do before i turn 40. i think i need to update it though. half are travel related and i am already halfway through my list. i am just hoping that i can step on african, australian and antarctican soil (or ice) before then. perhaps my #1 on that list is to make lots of money to finance my to do list....

it's a small world

2008-06-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

this writer was talking about how his trip to myanmar made him more empathic to the cyclone victims. i agree. i felt the same way about the victims of the recent earthquake in peru.

i think that travel is definitely an addiction that can broaden the mind, the heart and the soul. i know that seeing/experiencing a different culture, way of doing things, religion, etc. helps me see things in my daily life in a different light.

ugh

2008-06-05T23:22:00.000-07:00

lakers lost game 1 against the celtics in the best of 7.

that said, it is not good for any betting man. thank god i could care less about the la avengers or i'd be really really nervous right now. thanks, mayor villaraigosa!

spain driving rant

2008-06-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

apparently, i am supposed to get an international driver's license to drive in spain. aaaaaaaaaargh! you think dmv will process it in time???

spain bus rant

2008-06-02T20:36:00.000-07:00

so i am trying to book a bus from cadiz to fuengirola. i have the site. but i can't seem to book. ugh! it keeps on saying this:

"Lamentamos informarle que las fechas que ha seleccionado para el viaje salen del plazo temporal admitido por la empresa que ofrece los trayectos.
Por favor, intente nuevamente con fechas de viaje más próximas."

i can understand it. but, the website keeps on saying that no matter what date i plug in. argh! anyone out there who can help?!?!?!

genes and discrimination part trois - it's official, we have a new law!

2008-05-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

finally, on may 21, 2008, w signed the genetic information nondiscrimination act! i can't believe it didn't receive any fanfare and i just heard about it this morning. this is the first civil rights legislation since the new millenium and no hoopla?

a quick search this morning on the la times and new york times did not show any news of the president making GINA the newest federal civil rights legislation.

and, a quick google search revealed that even other smaller news outlets did not report on it till, at the earliest, 4 days after the event.

at least the washington post, through reuters, reported it on the day bush signed it. but no one else outside the beltway picked up on the news?

shouldn't this be newsworthy? heck, accidents on the freeway get reported sooner.

well, i am glad it passed, lack of news coverage notwithstanding. now i hope employers and insurance companies heard the news too and will comply.

but more importantly, i hope americans who want and choose to be genetically tested for various diseases take advantage of this new law without fear of termination or higher insurance premiums or no insurance coverage. or at least, if those things happen, the courts can protect their rights.

lakers are back in the nba finals, woohoo!

2008-05-29T22:42:00.000-07:00

i haven't been this excited about the lakers since, let me see, 2000. i guess it is because it has been a while since the lakers have been to the championship game. now if only i could score me some tickets to the first game of the nba finals... then it'll be just like 2000.

spam

2008-05-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

no, not that annoying email. but, you know, that canned meat of questionable origin.

i have fond memories of eating a lot of spam when i was a little one (probably that is why i am no longer little).

spam burgers. spam sandwich. spam fried rice. spam musubi. fried spam. heck, even just eating spam out of the can -- as gelatinous as it could be. yep, spam.

why blog about spam? because it is making a serious comeback. primarily, because of the rising costs of food, gas, and pretty much everything else.

so let this be a lesson. eat spam so one can afford to drive those gas guzzling monsters on the road.

lakers won, quit whining

2008-05-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

i didn't see the game last night (for reasons beyond my control). but people need to stop whining about how derek fisher didn't get called for a foul during the lakers' 93-91 win over the spurs and insinuating that david stern is behind a massive conspiracy to get the lakers and the celtics into the finals.

1. spurs knew they had to win the game
2. spurs were playing on their home court
3. spurs were down 2 points during the winding seconds
4. spurs didn't get it done

spurs lost.

even if fisher got called for a foul, it was no guarantee that spurs would have scored a point, much less two to tie or three to win.

get over it.

what about 2008?

2008-05-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

having a new QB for 2009 is nice and all but what about fall of 2008????

to detox or not to detox

2008-05-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

i did that once. from january 1 (not new year's eve) to january 31, 2007. during that time, i still went out to bars to hang out with people. i learned a few things.

i had "resolve." that is to say, i was not tempted to drink... even when there were college bowl games to watch, happy hours to attend and birthdays to celebrate.

drunk people were not as amusing as they previously (and subsequently) have been. seriously.

i saved lots of cash. well, maybe not "lots."

so, the dilemma is, i am going wine tasting in a couple of weeks in napa and then off to spain shortly thereafter. so as much as i would like to detox, i can't possibly detox any time soon. i don't think it is fun wine tasting without tasting wine or going tapa-hopping without drinking spanish wines. i also don't think detoxing for a week would do much help since i do that anyway.... until the weekend, that is.

the real dilemma is that by the time i get back from spain, there is a big possibility that i may change my mind about detoxing altogether... even though i know that detox is probably good for my liver.

maybe i am over thinking this.

genes and discrimination part deux

2008-05-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

the house and senate already passed the "Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act." why hasn't bush signed it into law yet when he claims he's all for it?

sign it already!

food and basketball

2008-05-14T00:08:00.000-07:00

so i am about to dine at bouchon (because i can't get a table at french laundry) and ran across this video of charlie rose interviewing chef/owner thomas keller (of bouchon and french laundry fame). i certainly perked up when i heard rose compare keller's legacy with that of john wooden starting at around 7:37 of the video. don't think it is apropos but when one compares two of my faves - coach wooden and food - then i pay lots of attention.

new love

2008-05-13T22:54:00.000-07:00

ok, so j'mison morgan is not like kevin love. but morgan is a big man who will be good down low and should be a great addition to the incoming fab four -- which could be fab five. well, i am hoping that he will commit to ucla soon.

book review: a thousand splendid suns

2008-04-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

i recently finished reading khaled hosseini's second published book, "a thousand splendid suns."

hosseini wove a tragic tale of two afghani women who went from living in a free afghanistan to living through the soviet invasion, the mujahadeen rule and finally, taliban rule.

hosseini's words provided colorful descriptions of rural life in herat and modern life in kabul pre-soviet invasions. he then provided powerful (albeit depressing) imagery of what the mujahideen and later the taliban did to afghanistan.

hosseini also did a good job of creating strong female characters who may have come from different backgrounds and generations, but were both depicted as three dimensional: they had fears, they had strength and resolve, they felt jealousy, they had self-doubt, they had courage, they engaged in acts of stupidity, they loved (or not). clearly, these women were not perfect. they were flawed. but, hosseini successfully created complex women whom you want to embrace and nurse their wounds, and at the same time, scream at them because of their seeming inability to escape from their oppressive lives.

the book is definitely not a happy read. but, just like the kite runner, i felt that i learned a little bit about afghanistan and was able to enjoy (in a depressing way) a story about finding a little bit of happiness amidst a world full of tragedy, sadness and repression.

great news

2008-04-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

college basketball

the la times reports that darren collison is staying for his senior year. this is great news.

jrue holiday, jerime anderson and malcolm lee will be great with collison in the backcourt. and if russell westbrook stays, ucla will arguably have the 1st and 2nd best backcourts in the country. and to have such an excess of excellent players at the point... wow!

by the way, holiday and lee will fit right in with ben howland's defensive mindset. looking forward to next season.

now, if love would just stay...

as for josh shipp "considering his options" to jump to the nba -- it really doesn't make sense. he definitely needs to stay. he has not shown to anyone how he can get out of his shooting slump, which plagued him the second half of the season and into the post-season. bad move, shipp. you best stay.

nba

the la lakers are up 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs series against the denver nuggets. woohoo!

i never liked kenyon martin -- even when he was at cinci. him going to the nba hasn't really changed my opinion of him. but then again, i just never liked that cincinnati team under bob huggins.

on the other hand, i did enjoy carmelo anthony -- especially when he led syracuse to the national championship. too bad he is a nugget.

bad news

2008-04-25T18:37:00.000-07:00

it happened last season when both the top 2 quarterbacks went out injured, which led that bethel-thompson kid to play QB.... which led to disastrous results.

now comes news that patrick cowan and ben olson got injured yesterday during practice within minutes of each other.

oh good grief! at least one good thing that could happen is that the reserves (apparently, ucla has 2 or 3) get some practice time and attention in case it happens again (which it could very well do) during the season. (think westbrook getting PT when collison went down; or keefe getting PT when mbah a moute and roll went down.)

get well, kids. otherwise, it will be a looooooooooooooong season.

genes and discrimination

2008-04-24T21:12:00.000-07:00

i am so happy that there might soon be a law prohibiting genetic discrimination in employment and/or in accessing health insurance. with medical advances - such as genetic testing for breast cancer, lou gehrig's disease, etc. - empowering people to take precautions to avoid/minimize the inevitable (which end result is sure to be mentally, financially and emotionally taxing), these same people should not also have to worry about losing their jobs or losing health coverage for something they have no control over.

so house of representatives, pass this same law that the senate already passed. and whoever the POTUS will be when the law passes both houses of congress, sign it!

friday ramblings

2008-04-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

kevin love bolting for the nba

uh. no surprise there. neither is it surprising that westbrook will bolt too. collison will likely follow.

mbah a moute should not.

a friend was wondering why ben howland said it was a blessing to have a one-and-done player. uh. recruiting. good to have that resume for recruits. "ucla players develop to become nba players."

and yeah, i'm over it. bring on jrue holiday, malcolm lee, jerime anderson and drew gordon.

time to be indignant

the economy is definitely in the crapper. the litmus test? beer.

oh brother, big brother

ugh. to quote whitney houston, "oh hell to the no!"

nostradamus, i am not

2008-04-11T08:03:00.000-07:00

clearly, i suck at predicting anything.

and clearly, i am still not completely over it. (soon, soon.)