A Beary Happy New Year To You

I spent 3 nights in Big Bear over New Year’s Eve, continuing the tradition of leaving town for the changing of the year (which only started last year when I went to Vegas).  Originally, we were planning to go to Mammoth, but the somewhat last-minute nature of our planning, costs, and our sheer numbers (17 for the first two nights, 14 for the 3rd) forced a change to the more inexpensive Big Bear.  But that turned out for the better because Bear was the only place in California which had passably decent snow.

We couldn’t get a cabin which would house all of us under one roof, so we got two cabins a few doors down from each other, both walking distance to the lifts.

Must commend Jennifer for planning things.

A number of us arrived in the early evening on Friday, the 30th, so we headed into the village to grab dinner.

After that, we headed home to start the drinking.  I know this may look unimpressive, but most of the alcohol was either sitting out in the kitchen or out on the patio.  As you can see, we had our ‘pagne ready.

Night #1

Aaaand that’s it.

We ended the night relatively early with light drinking because everyone was intent on hitting the slopes the next day.

Day #2, Snow Summit

First time my new board is touching snow. Nidecker Megalight 2011, Camrock edition.  Carbon fiber all around.  My precious . . .

I know I brag about my board, but it’s like someone being proud of a new home – only I can’t afford a home, so I brag about my board.  And, I felt validated when a couple of the employees on the mountain stopped to ask me about it on two or three occasions. (“Is that carbon fiber? That’s sick man!”)

Don’t I look about 18 inches taller than her? Literally.

First ride up the lift!

I feel like I needed to be dressed in all black everything to make this picture look cool.

(And I dare anyone to comment that no matter what I’m wearing I couldn’t make this picture look cool. I know that’s an easy one.)

The snow wasn’t the best – it was really thin, and where it wasn’t, oftentimes it was icy.  But bad snow is still snow.  Which was more than you could say for Mammoth, Tahoe, Mountain High, etc . . .  What was even more annoying was the sheer number of people going down the slopes.  It felt like an obstacle course with human beings as pylons and cones.  That in itself degraded the entire experience way more than the conditions did.

Lunch break

I’m not sure what was wrong with everyone else, but a big part of going snowboarding is the hot tub treatment afterward.  We were the only one who were game.

The thing everyone kept remarking was how on these trips, it always feels earlier in the day than we think it is, mainly because snowboarding is over so early in the evening.  And you usually eat right afterward, so dinner is done by 6 or so.  In the case of New Year’s Eve, we left ourselves a good number of hours to kill before midnight.  Some people played poker and other card games while others watched TV.

Then you had people trying to sleep while others shoved their feet into the sleeping person’s face.

Eventually, the midnight countdown arrived.  10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 . . .

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I know it looks somewhat pitiful without NYE hats and those weird whistle blowers, but we put that money towards things that really matter – like alcohol.

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The next day, everyone woke up pretty late, just in time to get to this well-reviewed breakfast joint by noon.

Too bad we weren’t seated until 2 pm.

That’s what happens when there are a limited number of restaurants – small restaurants – in a town that’s temporarily populated by ten times the number of people who live there full-time.  But we had to wait – the first meal of the new year had to be a good one.

Our group of 14 had to split up, obviously.

Sadly, I neglected to take any pictures of the food, including their gigantic pancakes which are literally larger than a dinner plate.  I think I was too hungry to remember to do so.

After our 3 hour lunch (2 hour wait, 1 hour consumption time) and grabbing some Starbucks, we met back at the cabin to get changed to go sledding.  No one felt like snowboarding that day (except for me, I suppose), and we had all gotten to a late start, so we thought we’d do something lazy that would also include non-snowboarders.

However, the group that went to grab Starbucks (me + others below) showed up late to a rude surprise.

SNOWBALL FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT BATTERY AND ASSAUUUUUULT!!

They actually spared me the assault out of respect.

Ok, in reality, I might have taken the group by surprise when after exiting the car, I immediately booked it  right past them to the spot where I’m taking the pictures.  That’s because I was in a hurry to use the restroom in the other cabin.  It wasn’t until I heard ‘screams and the sound of multiple thuds that I turned around to capture these now iconic photographs.

After the snowball assault ended and everyone grabbed what they needed, we headed to this sledding site we’d seen when we first drove into Big Bear.

Unfortunately, we got there late in the day so we couldn’t sled without paying $25 – the cost of a full day pass – for what would have been just one hour of action.  Instead, we opted to pay-per-ride for the upright/luging.  Too bad we had to wait an hour just to get to the front of the line to go up.  I felt like we were in line at Disneyland.  The place was seriously too crowded with people who probably didn’t want to pay $70 to snowboard on a crowded mountain with not-so-great snow.

There were two lines: a “you must go fast” line and a “you may go fast or slow” line.  We all opted for the former.

Result: Aaron and I scuffed our jeans against the concrete on the way down, and Stephen completely shredded up parts of his jacket.

After we were done with our one ride, which lasted all of 20 seconds, we headed to our super early dinner reservation at 5 pm.  That was the only time available for our large group at “Sweet Basil”, a highly yelp-rated Italian joint.

The food was okay – nothing special, but they certainly charged like it was.  Still, I felt we were fortunate just to have somewhere respectable to dine on the first day of the year.

That’s pretty much the rest of the restaurant with our other group in the far left corner.

Conveniently, there was a bowling alley right above the restaurant.  I guess there’s not much to do in Big Bear at night because the place was teaming with what seemed like the entire population of the town.  They also had karaoke and a sports bar.  We were fine with waiting for a lane because of the Lakers game on TV (and I particularly enjoyed it because the Lakers lost).

We played two games and both times, the team with the girls (and me and Steve) won and with that came drinks courtesy of the losing team.

Triple teaming a DDR machine to pass all the levels . . . still, barely.

After we got back to the cabin, we proceeded to play an assortment of games which would hasten our consumption of all the alcohol we had, eventually settling on what turned out to be the most enjoyable game of the evening – Apples to Apples.

It’s such a simple game, but with alcohol and some good humor, it becomes riveting, so much so  we spent a good 3 hours on it.

We made the rules so that the “losers” of each round or hand played had to do a “love shot” together, as you’ll see Steve demonstrate in the series of videos that follows.  He’s the real star of the show.

Steve #3

As far as losing hands went, it seemed like Aaron and Steve were battling it out to see who could do worse.

Aaron #1

Aaron #2

Aaron #3

Steve #7

Aaron #4

Aaron #5

Aaron #6

Aaron #7

Aaron #8

Steve #8

Halfway through, I stopped taking pictures.  You get the point: if you’re a gambling man and you had to wager on who would be forced to drink in the next round, you’d put your money on Steve or Aaron.  If I were to ballpark a figure for the final tally of love shots by the two, it would have been something like Steve 2458 to Aaron 1788.  You know, approximately.

We were all having so much fun that at one point, Steve and Ray were damn near apoplectic with laughter.  The following video only catches the last 10% of their reaction to a hilariously played hand.

Eventually, a few of us got tired and headed to bed while a few others continued for another hour or so.  We were leaving the next day, but I still wanted to get in half a day of snowboarding.  I thought it’d be a bit of a waste of a trip to only snowboard on one out of the three days we were there.  Plus, we’d only boarded on Snow Summit, and I had yet to try Bear Mountain.

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The next morning, only three of us woke up for the snow, but I’m definitely glad I did.  The experience on Bear Mountain was a lot better than the one we had at Snow Summit, partly because the runs were a lot longer, but mostly because there was only about 20% of the crowd from the previous day.  We figured it was because people had already left or were leaving.

We only ended up snowboarding for about 3 hours before hitting the road.  Tip: if you turn in your ski pass before 1pm, you get a $19 voucher to use within a year from that date.

The drive to Big Bear took us 2.5 hours through traffic on a Friday afternoon (the 30th), but the drive back clocked in under 2 hours.  That gave us plenty of time to get Chinese foot massages.

I had to change out of my grubby snowboarding gear in the car, but I’d say I was dressed fittingly and fashionably for a massage.  You know, Timberlands and all.

After getting a nice rubdown, we grabbed dinner at Din Tai Fung in Arcadia.  It’s like a must-eat for passerbys through that part of town.

We finished dinner relatively early, which meant Aaron had time to revisit the claw game/UFO catcher machines next door.  He has a “precious” he’s been trying to win for a while, having spent ~$35 and counting.

This time he had a partner in Stephen.  With their powers combined, they became Captain Planet they came a lot closer than I’d seen Aaron come previously.  Notice Aaron monitoring the depth for him. Teamwork.

Strategizing

Another $20 or so later, they gave up.

At least Gee-sun received a consolation prize from Aaron that he did manage to win.

And with that came the conclusion of our New Year’s Eve snowboarding trip to Big Bear.  2011 wasn’t the greatest of years for me on several different fronts, most of all the job situation, but I did have my fair share of great memories.  That said, I’m hoping 2012 will be a lot better.  I expect it to be.

Have a great year everyone.

NBA Basketball, Candy Cane Lane, Stuffing My Face, and Trumps National Golf, Y’all: Christmas 2012

Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space.

                                                                                                                                     — Dave Berry

This was one of the busiest Decembers I can remember having, excluding activities which involve me hunched over a legal book or my laptop.  And other than the costs of Christmas and NYE, the frenzy makes for a rather good time.

A few weeks ago, my friends from Georgetown and I decided to have a get-together dinner, and I’d suggested that we also throw in a White Elephant gift exchange.  Well, leave it to me to buy my present last minute.  It’s a good thing I showed up at the restaurant earlier than everyone else (which meant that I was right on time while everyone else was late) so I had time to ask the waitress for a paper bag to use to hide my gift.  We ended up going to Cook’s County, a new restaurant in West Hollywood, serving food made from organic ingredients taken from local farms.

The entirety of the restaurant

Eventually, everyone showed up and we got our grub on.

Scallops

Seafood soup

Ice cream sandwiched in donuts

You can read my yelp review for Cook’s County here.  In short, though, I’d say we got 1) great service, 2) good appetizers and entrees, and 3) delicious desserts, but 4) horribly small portions, which go hand in hand with the 5) high prices for what you get.  I’d consider coming back here if it weren’t for the fact that I was still kind of hungry after my meal.

I didn’t even get to eat the homemade cookies that Ji-in passed out to all of us because my friend, Tiffany (Charles please please please please I need to go to a White Elephant!), took mine.

At least I did get a somewhat decent White Elephant present this year.  Not like last year’s sushi erasers.

Karaoke. It’s what happens when people want to go out, but not “out out.”

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I’ve gotten a couple of very nice presents for Christmas so far, but the nicest thing I’ve received so far has been the return of the NBA.  The only thing that could possibly top this would be if I woke up tomorrow morning and somehow got a brand new luxury car with a gigantic red bow tied around it.  From what I see on TV, it seems like I’m the only one who’s not getting those.  Sucks.

On December 21st, I was lucky enough to be able to catch the second Clippers vs. Lakers preseason game, and thanks again to Poca, we received a little bit of VIP-treatment.

That’s  my “family” pass signed by Neil Olshey, new GM of the Clippers and frontrunner for Executive of the Year.

What you see here is the gate blocking the tunneled path leading into the bowels of Staples Center.  It’s where all the team buses and players’ cars go through.

After security checked our names off the list and our car for explosives, the gates to basketball Narnia opened and we headed in.

All the parked cars are either players’ cars or those of team executives.

We were wondering who drives the blue Prius in the picture above and this Lakers-themed Hyundai below.

Melissa:  Charles, do you know a Ronald Tess? I asked the security guy and he said that it’s driven by a Ronald Tess.

Me: Mmm…no, I don’t…hey, excuse me sir, can you tell me whose car this is?

Security Guy #2: It’s Metta’s car.

Me: HAHAHA OMG, You mean RON ARTEST.

After/while valeting our cars, we each went through a metal detector scan.  It really isn’t any different than what you’d go through if you enter through the regular entrance, but it just feels different because there’s no line behind you, and there’s no “walking through.”  Instead, you just get out of the car, and then the security asks to scan you.

The color of the tunnel walls clearly favor one LA team over the other.

As soon as we turned the corner, I recognized the guy in the suit.  The very Neil Olshey (new Clippers GM) whose signature our passes bore.  I wanted to talk to him, but he was in the middle of a one-on-one with a reporter.

The uniform room.

Self-explanatory

This was the friends and family room where there was a full spread, along with refreshments.

As the girls were using the restroom right across the friends and family room, I was watching the Lakers finish up some of their stretching.

And as much as I dislike the Lakers, pregame team huddles are one of my favorite things about sports.

Sadly, I neglected to capture video footage of the players running towards us and out of the tunnel (to the left), but we were given the same tunnel access, too.

Pregame lights

THE Jimmy Goldstein in the leather cowboy getup, aka the multimillionaire, “NBA superfan” who attends 100+ games each season, aka the guy who owns the house in Charlie’s Angels

What I, and most NBA fanatics, love about Jimmy is that no one really knows what he does.  As Myles Brown of Slam Magazine put it, he’s the rare person known for his interests (the NBA) rather than what he does for a living.  He’s at almost every Lakers and Clippers game, courtside, and flies to different cities for basketball on a regular basis. He’s done this for over five decades.  Fascinating man. Look him up, read some articles, and get enlightened.

One of my happiest moments of the night was when Jimmy Goldstein acknowledged my existence.  As we walked by, I immediately recognized the outlandish, flamboyant cowboy outfit and yelled “Hey Jimmy!!” and raised my hand in waive.   He then looked up at me and gave me a silent, upward nod.  I got the biggest kick out of it.

As exciting as the pomp and circumstance was, we had a game to watch, and I was just so happy.

And I was even happier watching Chris Paul break the ankles of everyone on the Lakers.

There’s also this dude named Blake Griffin.

Although it was just a preseason game, the Clippers blowing out the Lakers just topped off a great night.

After the game, we headed over to Silo vodka bar to meet up with others.  I’d heard about this place for a while, but had never managed to make it there.

While cool in concept, I thought the “vodka room” was a bit of a disappointment.

Yes, they pass out those hats for everyone.

Aaron, you look like a 45-year-old man.

I felt bad for the bartender lady who opened up the vodka room for us, when no one wanted to buy vodka tastings.  We just wanted to check it out.  Guilt took over so I got a tasting to share.

It was definitely an interesting experience.  Vodka is supposed to be a tasteless liquor, oftentimes used as the perfect mixer.  But by doing a tasting, you can really taste the subtle differences, even beyond whatever burning sensation your stomach may be experiencing.   I say give it a shot.  It ain’t cheap though – $25.

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On Christmas Eve, my sister whipped up a nice spread and invited several of her friends over.  My friend, Tiffany, the one who was desperate for a White Elephant party, was also desperate for a traditional Christmas dinner.  She wasn’t sure if her family was going to have one, so she begged, pleaded, cajoled, asked me if she could come over.  I’d told her yes, but joked with her that I wouldn’t tell my sister that I’d invited her.  “You’d better tell her! You’d better!” she threatened.  We all had a good laugh . . . but I would laugh last and the loudest.

The menu

See, of course, I’d told my sister.  But I’d also told her to pretend like I’d never told her.  She happily obliged.

So, when Tiffany showed up and called my phone, I purposely ignored it because I wanted to force her to ring the doorbell.  And when she did, my sister answered the door, and put on an Academy Award winning performance, acting confused but polite at the same time.

“Oh, hey…you’re Charles’ friend, right? Tiffany? Hey…yah, come on in.”

“Wait, what?? He didn’t tell you?? Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!”

“It’s ok, just come on in! Don’t worry!”

“Oh my god! I’m gonna kill him! I can’t believe this.”

After a few more seconds, I interrupted the hilarious scene with my cackling laughter.

My sister takes after my mom when it comes to making good food, and I’m always thankful for these meals.

The Master Chef

Tiffany’s interesting choice of wrapping paper.

We ate a lot of food, exchanged a couple of presents, and also played a strange, traditional British game and wore the accompanying crowns.  So, it was pretty much the perfect Christmas (Eve) dinner.  Again, many thanks to my sister for the food, and her husband for much of the preparation.

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CHRISTMAS DAY, and we finally have NBA BASKETBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!!!!!

Thanks again to Jen – and her parents for cancelling last minute on her – a lucky few of her friends were able to catch the first Lakers game of the season on the first day of the season.  The whole LA Live area across from Staples Center was buzzing in anticipation.  Nike even had a full street court set up in the middle of, well, the street.  As much as I wanted to jump in and play, I had a game to catch.

We got there right in time for the opening pyrotechnics and tip-off.

Bulls vs. Lakers!

The arena had a bit of a strange vibe – I think it’s the first time in a long time that the audience wasn’t really expecting the Lakers to come out as winners.  In fact, for some reason, everyone was expecting them to get blown out.  Yup, the Lakers have the best fans in the league (SARCASM).  Interestingly enough, the Lakers had a comfortable lead for the most of the second half, and as the game progressed, I could sense the people around me getting giddier and giddier, thinking “hey, we might just be alright, even without Lamar Odom!”  Which made Derrick Rose’s soul-crushing game winner at the end of the game so hilariously funny, you could hear my laughter among the sudden silence in the arena.

Diehard Lakers fans (the few hundred that exist) probably chalked up the loss as a fluke and the casual Lakers fans (most people in LA) were just happy to have something else to do.  Regardless of the outcome, I think most people were just happy to have NBA basketball back in their lives.  I know I was.

Team store

Ice skating at LA live after the game

After the game, my friends all headed home for dinner with their families.  After all, it was Christmas day.  Unfortunately, my family had our dinner on Christmas Eve, and “home” for me was in Orange County one hour away.  I also had plans later on that night, so I had a couple of hours to kill, which was fine with me because there were still two more basketball games on TV.  Yardhouse and the ESPN Zone were packed, so I went over to my go-to LA Live spot, the Mixing Room in the lobby of the JW Marriott.

Unfortunately, I’d left my wallet, including my ID and credit cards at home – something I’ve only done once previously in my entire life.  Fortunately, I had some cash in my pockets.  That just meant that I couldn’t drink alcohol for the duration of my wait while watching the game.  My waitress even felt bad for me, “you don’t even have a credit card? Or anything else?”

Christmas day dinner – buffalo wings and a diet coke

After a couple hours, my ride came by to pick me up, and we were off to CANDY CANE LAAAAAANE!

I’d gotten curious about these types of neighborhoods because of the recent Christmas episode of New Girl.  So, I googled “Candy Cane Lane Los Angeles” and the most prominent, decorated neighborhood appeared to be within the Woodland Hills area, about 25 miles north of downtown.  According to a few articles I pulled up, it’s been in existence since 1952.  During peak hours (8pm-10pm) in the month of December, almost the entire neighborhood will be lit, and nearby residents and outside visitors will stream through at a snail’s pace to enjoy the spectacle.

I should have crossed the street and re-taken this picture because the gigantic tree in front of you is actually cut in the shape of the decrepit Charlie Brown Christmas tree with the singular ornament hanging on the right branch.  It must have been at least 30 feet tall.

These enterprising high school kids had set up a hot chocolate and freshly-baked cookie stand.  I enjoyed that very much – the fact that they did this and that they didn’t gouge people ($1/hot chocolate).

And from Yelp, they also have a funnel cake truck that goes around the neighborhood, but I guess we missed it.

I think what I’d have liked to have seen the most was the fake snowball fight that one house held in front of their lawn last year.

Andrew and Asako standing by their dream car.

I don’t know who the home owners are, but they have wicked good tastes in television.

As you can see, this homeowner really likes penguins.

REALLY likes penguins – those are reindeer penguins!

It’s a Small World-themed house

I loved the fact that Santa outweighs three reindeer.

There are a bunch of other pictures I didn’t put up.  If you didn’t know about this place, you should definitely stop by next year.  Maybe you’ll be underwhelmed, maybe you’ll enjoy the hell out of it.  I just know that it made me feel a lot more Christmasy than I had been feeling, so, mission accomplished.

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The day after Christmas, eight of us played in two foursomes at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes.  Thanks to Jen and her workplace’s loose relationship with the golf club, we were all able to play a ~ $300 round of golf for free.

We got off to a late 1 pm start, the only tee time which would accommodate our two foursomes back to back on a last minute change.

Sister and her husband at the front entrance to the lobby

Lobby of Trumps – looks more like a hotel than a clubhouse

Practice putting greens with the ocean view in the backdrop

Me and Ed, ready to get our Tiger Woods (pre-breakup) on.

Andrew and Asako showed up an hour-and-a-half before tee time to practice on the range.

Ready to roll

First hole? Second hole?

Asako, perfect form.

Jen played the round of her life – she was -1 through the first four holes.  It’d be the equivalent of me playing against the Lakers and dropping 15 points in the first quarter.

On second thought, it’d be quite possible with Derek Fisher guarding me. Real talk.

Brewskies, of course.

There was a lot of natural wildlife.

This picture seems overly dramatic, like he’s ready to tee off on the 18th hole for the Masters.

I am not so good at golf.  That’s what happens when you play on average once every 2.5 years.  Also, I consider myself fairly good at most sports, but golf is not a sport.

This pictures are all postcard shots, if I do say so myself.

The good thing about starting as late as we did is that we were able to see the sun set to dusk.

The bad thing is that we only got through 14 holes.  I think I was on pace for a 130.

The course was as hard as hell and most everyone played poorly, but I think everyone had a blast.   Even though I lost about 35 golf balls – no exaggeration – I enjoyed myself.  The setting against the ocean is just really tranquil, and you really must have anger management issues if you can’t find some peace of mind out there on the course.  Thanks again, Jen.  It was really the perfect way to top off a Christmas weekend.

To everyone reading this, I hope you had as merry a Christmas as I did.  I can’t remember one I enjoyed as much as this one in my adult life.

Veni, Vidi, Comedi – Seattle

Two of my high school friends, Kenny and Amy, moved away from LA almost two years ago.  They are probably the only people I know who after having moved to LA, chose to move away.  They kind of just decided they wanted a change of scenery, scouted out a few major cities, and fell in love with Seattle.  Since then, they’ve been trying to guilt me into a visit.  So, two weeks ago, I finally fulfilled my promise to them that I’d go see them before the end of the year.  No, I didn’t cut it close at all.

To summarize: (1) this was my first visit to Seattle since I was 10 years old; (2) there isn’t much to do in Seattle (2) except eat, and (3) I had a blast.

Besides the fact that I got to hang out with my friends, I think a big reason why I enjoyed my visit was because of where they live, right in the heart of downtown, three blocks from Pike’s Place.

I caught an early flight out of Orange County and got in an hour before noon on Friday.  The first thing on our itinerary was Pike’s Place which was literally a two-minute walk.

I wasn’t being inappropriate at all.

We basically just ate food from a bunch of different places.  No lie: this joint here served up the best barbecue pork bun I’d ever had. Ever.

So, I saw the huge vat of cheese behind me…

And went inside to order the mac & cheese.

Then we hopped over to this French bakery.

And sat down to enjoy our food.

And just when I thought we were done, Kenny and Amy insisted on stopping by this Russian pastry joint.  I think we only ate half of what we bought.

After stuffing our faces, we dropped by the original Starbucks for a drink.

After grabbing our drinks, while walking off some of the calories consumed, I checked my Facebook on my phone and saw that my friend Jessica had posted, unsolicited, a whole bunch of things I should do in Seattle.  I guess she likes the city.

Among the things she listed was the gum wall.

“Hey, my friend said to check out the gum wall. What’s that?”

“It’s a wall, filled with gum.”

One thing I did intend to check out was the final resting place of my mentor.

Not surprisingly, there were a ton of flowers and presents littered all over the graves.  What’s sad is you had nobodys buried right next to them (as you can see to the left of Bruce Lee’s grave) who probably get trampled when there’s a crowd.

There were a ton of crows in the cemetery.  Kenny pointed out that it was probably because Brandon Lee was here in spirit.

After paying our respects, we walked over to a small park outside a nearby museum.

Yup, that’s the space needle in the background. It’s as ubiquitous as the Washington monument in DC and the . . . smog in LA.

There was also a pretty tall watchtower we climbed up to.

By the time we were done, it was getting dark and we decided to head back to rest up a bit.  But, right before we headed up to their place, I stopped to take a picture with the awesome backdrop.

After recharging a bit, we stopped by a restaurant/bar to meet up with Amy’s co-workers and friends for a quick happy hour drink.

Then we moved on to Amy’s favorite Chinese joint in the Chinatown part of downtown Seattle.  I guess she gets a kick out of the crab.

After stuffing our faces, we grabbed some boba and cabbed it home.  Oh we could have easily walked, but we’re the type of people who don’t enjoy frostbite.  Once we got home, we just vegged out and then passed out.

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The next morning, we tried to get up by 8, but I didn’t wake up until 9.  Poor Amy and Kenny were left to twiddle their thumbs while watching me lay there passed out like a beached whale in the living room.  Once I was up and ready though (5 minutes tops), we were out the door and headed to Portage Bay Cafe, one of Kenny and Amy’s favorite brunch joints.

Notice that the pancake size to human face ratio is quite big.

After brunch, we had no set idea where to go because, well, there’s not much to do in Seattle but eat.  Kenny then made the executive decision to rent a car and drive around.

I don’t remember where we are, but it’s in a nice part of town with a great view.

We also headed out to Freemont to look at the troll under the bridge.  I don’t know why it’s there, but I love it.

I didn’t voice this because they’d have looked at me like I was crazy, but some part of me was really hoping that the troll would move.  I wasn’t demanding he talk to me in a low, gruff voice like one would expect to hear from watching so many fantasy movies.  I was  just hoping for an eye wink or even a slow yawn, moan or groan from his lips, like he’d just woken up from a century-long slumber.  Perfectly rational thoughts of a sane person.

It was barely an hour past our brunch when Kenny got the bright idea to go to Dick’s, apparently, the In & Out of Seattle.  He was absolutely adamant that I have it, even though I was full.  It was first-world, pointless eating, and it pretty much sums up why the terrorists hate us.

I really just sat there for a few minutes before making a move towards the burger.  And in the end, I only ate 70% of it.

Verdict? In & Out still wins as far as fast food burgers go.

After Dick’s, we were grasping at straws trying to figure out what to do, so we took about a 45 minute drive to get to Snoqualmie, a large waterfall southeast of Seattle.  We literally stayed out in the cold for about 6 minutes to take a few pictures, and quickly jumped back into the car.

Then, Kenny got an even better idea to take me wine tasting, about 30 minutes away.  At that point, I was up for anything that didn’t involve eating.

We went to Domaine Ste. Michelle, a popular winery northeast of downtown Seattle.

I can’t say that I liked all of their wines, but their sparkling wine was really good.  So good that I thought I’d pick up a bottle for my friend, Mary, the biggest wine fan(atic) I know.  And I don’t think I have that great of a palette or anything, but my taste buds were right on the money because when the staff went to go look for the bottle, they said there were only three left for sale.

The tasting room was really cute (and I say that in as manly a way as possible) with cool decorations, like this tree.  It made for a lovely portrait.

And not so lovely portraits.

After wine tasting, I had my first “beer tasting” experience at Redhook.  It basically looked like a sports bar, but it was set up for tastings.

I don’t think we finished every single beer because we didn’t want to fill ourselves up for dinner.  We just slowly sipped on each one while watching college basketball on the TVs  (it was right when Indiana hit that crazy shot to beat Kentucky at the buzzer). If we had been drinking our beers with reckless abandon, we would have had to cancel our dinner reservations at Sky City in the Space Needle.

Then, we headed back home to change, digest, and relax a little bit.  And after that, we walked next door – almost literally next door - to hop onto the monorail which goes directly to the Space Needle!

Monorail! Monorail! Monorail!

Every time I see a monorail (not often), I think of that Simpsons episode when Springfield gets a monorail and the entire community becomes enthralled with it.  And of course, who can forgot Homer as the conductor.

You can’t really see it well in this picture, but there are seats for two right next to the conductor which everyone rushes for as soon as the doors to the monorail open.  Sadly, we missed out on the way there.

To tell you the truth, standing under the Space Needle, the structure didn’t look that tall.  But once I started going up the elevator, it seemed plenty high enough.

When we got to the top, the place seemed bustling.  I’m sure it’s a popular destination for dinner around the holidays, never mind for tourists in general.

We were really happy that we somehow got seated at a table that could fit six, and the seats were couches and soft, cushy chairs.  Not all the tables were like that.

Before coming to Seattle, I’d read the reviews for the restaurant warning visitors that it was a tourist trap – crappy food for high prices and a view you can get just by paying for the regular pass to the observatory one floor up.

Well, the part about high prices was right on the money.

But the whole experience was definitely worth it.  You want the same view in the observatory? Sure – go stand outside in 35 degree weather with the cold wind blowing into your face.  I’d rather relax in a comfy seat while feeding myself and enjoying a nice cocktail.  Oh yes, they had fake snow falling, too, right outside the windows.

We shared a basket of clams for our appetizer and it was delicious.  Really really good.  The server totally understood when we asked for more bread – “to sop up the broth?? I got it.”  They gave us a lot of clams and I wouldn’t have minded at all if we’d gotten another order.

Kenny’s braised short rib.

I usually never order braised short rib because it, more often than not, comes out tasting like a mass-produced, under-flavored dish.  But they actually did a good job, especially with the sauce.

Unfortunately, my pork chops were kind of dry.  The seasoning on it was great, but man, it was dry.

So, overall, I’ll have to give the food a 3 out of 5 stars – maybe even 2 out of 5 stars for the prices – but once you factor in the ambiance and the entire experience, it’s easily a 5 out of 5 stars.

On the observation deck, after dinner.

After hanging out for a while on the deck, we decided to head back home, which meant another ride on the monorail.  And, another chance to rush for the front seats.

Success!  And I’m pressing the horn to make the monorail go “HOOOOOT HOOOOOOT!!!”

That was pretty much all the excitement we had for the night because Amy is an old fart, so we decided to just have some wine by the fireplace in the building lobby.

Sadly, it was only right after I purchased the bottle did I realize that I’d have to check it in on the airplane instead of being able to carry it on.  As such, my gift to Mary became a casualty of our consumption.

It was really nice to just wind down and reminisce on old times over some champagne and a warm fire.  All we were missing was a bit of snow.

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The next morning, we went to grab some doughnuts at supposedly the best doughnut shop in Seattle.  It too was only 2 blocks from Amy and Kenny’s place.

From the outside, it really looked like it’d be a hole-in-the-wall establishment.

But the interior couldn’t have been more different.  It was brightly lit, clean and modern, and people were studying on the second floor.

Apparently President Obama loves the place, too.  They had several pictures of him picking up donuts there.

I think the donuts were pretty good – really good, actually, but I’ve definitely had better.  Still, it’s so close that if I lived where my friends live, I’d definitely be a regular (fatass).

Our healthy breakfast consumed, we basically just sat around for another hour or so before having lunch at Serious Pie.

My brother-in-law is the one who told me about this place, and  before going to Seattle, when I texted Amy about it, she replied “oh yah, it’s right across the street from our building.”  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to use up one of my meals in Seattle on pizza when I could be having seafood, but according to my brother-in-law, it was “the best pizza [he'd] ever had” and “it brought tears to your sister’s eyes.”

Kenny and Amy actually hadn’t been there because the place doesn’t accept reservations, and there was always a line outside.  Thankfully, whether because of perfect timing or just pure luck, we only endured a 10 minute wait.

Anyone can see why there’s always a wait – this is all there is to the restaurant.

The open kitchen is actually what you see first as soon as you walk through the front door.

The first thing I noticed about the menu was that it was really limited.  Then, the pizza prices were kind of surprisingly high.  That only raised my expectations even higher.

We started off with the dungeness crab salad because it sounded so refreshing – chilled dungeness, satsumas, and cranberry citron relish.

Delicious.

Then, we ordered two pizzas, a sweet fennel sausage with roasted pepper pizza without cheese because cheese does bad things to Amy, and also a buffalo mozzarella pizza.

Sweet fennel sausage with roasted pepper pizza

I’ll say it in bold and italics so whoever is reading this blog will hopefully remember: best pizza I’ve ever had.

Kenny and I basically agreed when after simultaneously taking our first bites, we just looked up at each other and exchanged a wordless, wide-eyed stare.  I can only imagine how much better it’d be with the provolone cheese.  I know that’s saying a lot about how good the pizza is, but I’ll say it again and again.

The buffalo mozzarella cheese was also very very delicious, but not quite as good as the sausage pizza.

I did get all the cheese I needed from it, though.

With our faces stuffed, we decided to stretch out our stomachs even more at Molly Moon’s, a popular Seattle ice-cream joint famous for their unique flavors.

I tasted a few flavors, including the salty caramel (too salty), but eventually settled on the unappetizing-sounding flavor of balsamic strawberry.  It was, however, delicious.

By the time we finished our ice cream, we only had a few hours before my 6pm flight back to California.

That just meant that we had to hurry to Elliot’s Oyster House on the pier.

Nice view out onto the water.

You  know, I was expecting Seattle seafood to be extra cheap, but it wasn’t.  I’d say that it’s just more prevalent everywhere you go, but prices aren’t any different compared to what you’d pay in LA.

They definitely had their variety down at Elliot’s.

We really didn’t have much time, and we were still full from lunch and ice cream, so we just had an oyster sampler with some drinks.

Amy actually doesn’t regularly eat raw foods, but she makes occasional – very occasional – exceptions for oysters, provided they’re not too briny.

I guess she thought these were.

I could have easily sat there and had a few (dozen) more oysters by myself, but I just didn’t have enough time.  So, we had to head back.

We did stop by this famous chocolate shop on the way back.  Apparently, our President also gets chocolates shipped from here.

The place looks more like a damn high end duty free shop instead of a chocolate shop.

And sadly, all too shortly, that was my trip.

Amy and Kenny, thanks for the hospitality and using up one of your precious weekends to take me around and show me the sights.  I’ll definitely be back again sooner rather than later.  After all, you helped make Seattle my second-favorite city in the U.S.