earthquake 2008

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

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

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

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.