So, March seemed like a good time to head down south for a weekend to avoid some wet and windy weather. I don't have too many pics to share, but check these ones out:
Nothing hits the spot after a long drive from Nor Cal like a great meal. It has been too long (a few years) since I last graced the Pampas Brazilian BBQ joint in the Original Farmers Market @ Fairfax & Third. Time to remedy that problem.
Oh glorious picanha, alcatra, etc. I forgot how much I missed eating this stuff (though I'm sure my waistline and overall health could excuse not eating this regularly). Just like old times...loading up with at least 75% meaty goodness! I recall that I used to be able to eat this size of a plate on my own, but alas I shared it this time around.
How else would we expect to also have room to ingest/digest this tasty nutella & banana crepe? Yummmy! Thank you Farmers Market; I hope it won't be too long before we see each other again!
After we got up for a morning run around the UCLA campus (yeah, that horrible place), why not indulge with a bit more food? Roaming around "Little Osaka" in West LA, we came upon this newly opened restaurant called Miyata Menji, which served only two items on the menu: tsukemen as seen above has the noodle & broth served separately. You dip the noodles bite by bite into the thick, gravy-like broth. Quite a new, tasty experience. I liked it, but not as much as I like my traditional favourite...
The good, old tonkotsu (i.e. pork broth) ramen. Very salty and tasty as a good ramen should be. I liked it and would eat again.
Sufficiently full of food, we decided why not spend the afternoon meandering through the LACMA. Unfortunately, the meandering turned into a little bit of a quicker than desired pace due to time constraints. Anyhow, one of the coolest things I saw that day: Metropolis II by Chris Burden. Quite a sight to see with 100,000 or so hot wheel cars zipping around a dense urban centre.
On this very same day, my weather app showed rain happening in Nor Cal. I don't like a lot about So Cal, but I do like this beautiful, warm weather. You can't read it, but the Hollywood sign was visible (it's at the very center of the image).
Me reflected in Jeff Koons' Cracked Egg.
Another Koons work: Caterpillar Ladder.
Inspired by Jumping in Art Museums, Mari and I do our jump in front of Koons' Balloon Dog.
Robert Therrien's Untitled (Snowman) has apparently grown an extra head.
In my continuing efforts to seek out and share art from Oceania, I wanted to post this image of a Maori wooden sculpture. Cool eh?
If you haven't heard about the upcoming installation Levitated Mass by Michael Heizer, basically they just moved a 340 ton boulder and will be building a 456 foot trench underneath it for viewers to walk under and experience. The effort to move the boulder alone generated a lot of interest and attention. You can find more information here. Do check out the video at the link of them moving the boulder through the streets of LA. Anyhow, they haven't finished the installation, but I caught a peak of the infamous boulder outside a window. I actually am very interested in seeing this when it finally opens for viewing.
I had the privilege of seeing a great many friends who I hadn't seen in a long time during this trip. Dinner with Traci, Erik, Ryan and Uzor at an old favorite, Shaab in Old Town Pasadena. Then, dessert with my old flatmate Jen (OTAGO!) in Sherman Oaks. I'm glad I got to see you all during this trip, even if we only got to catch up for a little bit.
Also part of the agenda was a detour to Orange County to hang out with Claudia. This included breakfast at Bruxie, known for their waffle sandwiches (this one had goat cheese, mushrooms, basil, arugula and a balsamic reduction). Thanks for taking a bit of time out of your trip prep to catch up Claudia!
Continuing south to San Diego, we met up with Brad and had "lunch" at Huapangos where I ordered the above Huevos a la Mexicana (Mexican eggs with carnitas). They served their tortilla chips with this warm white cheese dip that tasted pretty damn good. Apparently you can buy that sauce on its own by the pint (which Brad briefly considered).
We had a little wander through Balboa Park (including a visit to the San Diego Art Museum), which Greg joined us for. After parting company with Greg, we had some Pinkberry fro-yo as an afternoon snack before the rain came down (fiercely joining the wild wind which had been whipping around since that morning). With the foul weather, we decided to watch the new Muppets movie (excellent film if I may say so) before grabbing dinner from Lolita's and watching the old classic Super Troopers (meow). Dinner was the delicious San Diego special, California burrito (carne asada with French fries wrapped in a tortilla).
We left San Diego the next day, stopping in LA briefly to gas up (Costco gas w00t!) and have a nice lunch with Grant at Paul Martin's American Bistro. Salmon fish tacos for the win. Delish.
Finally, on the long drive back up to Nor Cal, the last of our fig bars (from Sigonas market...just as good as the Berkeley Bowl ones). A great snack for the road (or whenever).
So quite an exciting weekend filled with a lot of activity and a nice break away from the Bay Area. Thanks so much to Lauren (in LA) and Brad (in SD) for providing some shelter and to everyone else who came out. Always a lot of fun visiting you folks down south. Until next time...
Howdy all. Chugging right along, here are some pics from the previous month, March.
On a lazy Saturday, Nick, Jessie & I decided the gun range might be a really fun activity. Here you can see Nick firing the 9mm H&K USP that we rented. Bang bang.
I can't remember the last time I went to the gun range, but I had a very fun time. I hope we can continue to go shooting every now and then so I can keep practicing my marksmanship skills. Also, it'd be enjoyable to try some larger caliber rounds next time...
I saw this recipe for a spinach and pumpkin lasagna online. Instead of using pasta sheets, the recipe called for layering of the pumpkin slices in between the typical lasagna filler of sauce and cheese. Quite tasty, though I think next time it would be even better with some meat (ground turkey would be a very nice match).
Along with a significant number of friends, I began to play "Draw Something" (thanks Deryck for introducing me). In fact, I still do. To date, I think the above represents my most elaborate (maybe best?) drawing. Try and tell me you wouldn't have guessed that correctly from the brilliant drawing!
Beef stew ala Mum's recipe. Used some really tasty grass-fed beef from the local market in addition to some of the veggies that I got in my monthly delivery. Yum!
Went to see a screening of the amazing movie "Boy" by the Oscar Nominated Taika Waititi. Small crowd, but after the excellent film, Taika himself conducted a brief Q&A that offered some insight into his filmmaking choices. Very likable and witty person. Hope to see more from him in the not too distant future! Go see the movie in cinemas near you!!!
After a failed attempt to Go-Kart (we didn't want to wait 3.5 hours for the next available time) or play laser tag (fully booked out for the day), a group of us ended up at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. We got to see some really cool things in this neat museum tucked away not too far from many of the famous companies of Silicon Valley (literally a few blocks away from Google). One of the cool things I saw: an Enigma machine from WWII.
And, an awesome display of almost every video game console imaginable. Quite a neat slice of history for sure.
Hope you enjoyed the pics. Until next time...
As promised, though a little later than even I expected, I present to you the Yosemite Blog. After seeing a number of beautiful, wintry Ansel Adams photos, this trip to Yosemite presented quite a different, but in no way any less beautiful, vision than anticipated. The drier and warmer than usual winter led to moderate temperatures and a landscape dominated more by stone and trees than snow and ice. Check out the pictures of our (large) group trip to our country's first national park.
We, all 16 members of the group, met up in the park on Friday night where we moved into our heated (what a blessing) tent cabins. The next day, we strolled out for a nice early morning trailblaze hike up the Sierra Point abandoned trail. While many of us remained skeptical as we scrambled up a rock pile, we need only to turn around to be reminded of the beauty of the valley. The pic shows just a glimpse of what we saw, with Upper Yosemite falls to the left and North Dome on the right.
After a couple hours meandering up the mountain and much questioning of whether we had been following the right "trail", we finally made it to Sierra Point. Our reward for our journey: a breathtaking view of Liberty Cap, Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls. Wow.
The first of a number of group pics we took.
After scrambling down the "trail", and determining that we took a wrong turn when we started the hike that led to a much more difficult start than necessary, we snapped a triumphant group pic.
Outside the communal lodge, you could see the little patch of snow (practically the only shred of evidence of the "winter"). We spent the nights in that lodge mooching free wi-fi and playing board games.
Half Dome sans cables (though you wouldn't be able to see them in this view regardless). Pretty magnificent no matter what time/season.
Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. A significantly greater amount of water pouring down than the last time I visited.
Feeling slightly more emboldened by our morning adventures, we climbed over some more rocks and got up close and personal with Lower Yosemite Falls (PARKOUR!).
The group and Lower Yosemite Falls.
A pinecone during golden hour. Taking pictures before sundown really does make them prettier.
Prior to this trip, we had heard about this phenomenon of Horsetail Falls at sunset during a weekend or two in February lighting up like a "firefall". The park rangers coned off an area where many, many cars parked and a horde of people gathered to watch this event happen. Unfortunately, due to the dearth of water for the water fall (and some minor cloud cover on the horizon), the view didn't really get any better than you can see above. DISAPPOINTED!!!
After a lot of walking around, it made us all very hungry. Well, it certainly made me hungry enough to order and eat all of this food: beef brisket, mashed potatoes, broccoli and a hearty black bean soup.
And for some evening refreshments, we tried this pouched wine purchased from the Yosemite general store. Named Climber, it comes from the vineyard of the family that owns and produces Clif Bars.
Day two began with a group hike up to Mirror Lake. Since we didn't get much direct sunlight on this particular trail, it felt extremely frigid. It still looked pretty though and once we got to the lake, we could look up at Half Dome.
The group pic in the shadows of Half Dome.
Why do they call it Mirror Lake? See above. Mount Watkins to the center left and Cloud's Rest hiding to the right. It doesn't get much prettier than this.
A bit more scrambling up boulders to setup this complex group pic. Trust me, it took a while...
Worth it? Well, I'll let you be the judge of that. I'm the one at the back right (outstretched arms).
On the way out of Yosemite Valley on the last day, we stopped at Tuolumne Grove. Being at a higher elevation, the signs of winter could be seen more prominently (as evidenced here in this pic at the parking lot). They even have to plow!
The roots of one of the fallen sequoias. You can crawl through the opening there at the center too.
Out you pop at the other end, where we took this group shot.
And last but not least, our final group shot at Tunnel Tree before climbing into the cars and beginning the drive home.
Thanks go out to everyone in the group who made for an enjoyable and exciting trip. Despite having so many people, we all got along pretty well and, as you can tell, did a lot together. Until next time...
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