Wine Tasting

Last night I went to a wine tasting at Vino's. It was what I would consider, a "crash course" in wine tasting. When I say "crash course" it was like tasting 7 wines and learning how to compare it to dishes in 45 minutes... literally. It was pretty cool though, I learned about how to pair wines with a shrimp dish and veal dish. I learned that acidity and lemony qualities are good, but bitterness is not-so-good. However, I don't think one needs a 45 minutes class to tell you that. Anyway, I learned that with shrimp, if a wine tastes "light" or "citrus-like" that it is good and that you do not want to drink a wine that overpowers the food.

Our second dish was a veal cheek, which was very tender and fatty but tasted really delicious. Some factoid, if the meat is soaked in wine overnight, the tannins breaks down the marbling of the meat, which makes it tender. For the pairing with the veal we had a bottle of Zinfandel, Pinot Noir and Riesling, my favorite. One would think that a red wine would compliment the veal the best, however, not so... my favorite, the Riesling stepped up to the plate and was by far the best pairing of the three wines. The wine was called CF, which was a Euro-Asian Riesling... delicious.

I learned with with a steak such as rib eye go with a red - Cabernet... with a less fattier meat such as a filet mignon, a lesser red such as a Zinfandel would work and finally, for pork and chicken a lighter white wine works best. A Riesling would work well with Asian cuisine such as kalbi.

It was very interesting as it was pointed out that in the beginning of the class, everyone was segmented into their own groups, but by the end of the class, we were all brought together... our commonality for the passion for the love of wine seemed to have brought everyone together. The class started at 6:00 and ended at 6:45, but we didn't leave there until 9... five of us sat there just talking about wine, traveling, life, etc... it was great.

SD part 2

Just got back from SD and it is great to be home. I was actually ready to leave once Isaac, Yasuko and Donn left, but I had to stay up a few more days for work. It was good though, I got to meet up with my friend Mia in Dana Point, which is in Orange County. Mia and I ate at Salt Creek Grill, which is right off of the Pacific Coast Highway. Mia had the grilled chicken penne and I had the stuffed Alaskan halibut. We also had the chocolate soufflé, which is similar to the one at Roy’s... my favorite. Yummy. We got to catch up over some glasses of wine and a great meal. We had a really good time.



Before I met up with Mia I went shopping in Carlsbad and went to the Carlsbad flower fields. Shopping was ok (I was all shopped out after Ikea and TJ's) but the flower garden was cool. The various colors of the flowers were really pretty and it reminded me of the tulip fields in Washington. After that I drove up to Laguna Beach while I waited to meet Mia for dinner. The beach looked like a mix between Alki beach (a beach in WA) and a Hawaiian beach - the sand had a brown/gray color like Alki, but the ocean/surf was similar to a beach in Hawaii... but it was nice nonetheless, especially at sunset.


On Monday I returned to Ikea and TJ's with my co-worker. I ended up buying more things, including this ceramic plate set that Isaac had successfully convinced me not to buy the day prior because 1) I had bought too much already and 2) it was heavy and fragile making it difficult to take back. However, because I was there again, I foolishly reasoned that I was destined to buy the plates... so I did, and then some... I also bought matching cereamic mugs. blah. Anyway, I had this grand plan that I would carefully hand-carry the plate set on the plane. The plan actually worked from the hotel to the rental car place... that was until the driver at Enterprise carelessly tried to load my bags on the mini-bus and DROPPED THEM. (instead of grabbing the handles on the bag like a normal person, he grabbed the bag by the hook that connected to my luggage.) Yeah, so now my plate set of 6 is now reduced to a set of 4. But I guess I can't complain all that much since Enterprise is going to reimburse me for the entire set... free plates.

So now I am home... going to unpack my things, wash some clothes, and go for a run... I ate too much in SD. Good to be home!

My Trip to San Diego

Hello from San Diego! I am in San Diego for work, but I met my friends Isaac, Donn and Yasuko here for the weekend. Donn was already here for work and Isaac and Yasuko flew in from San Francisco. I have only been here for about 30 hours but it feels like we have done so much!


As soon as I got off the plane on Friday, Donn and I ate at In and Out Burger while we waited for Isaac and Yasuko to fly in from San Francisco. After we picked up Isaac and Yasuko at the airport we met up with Cherise and her husband at Coyote Cafe in Old Town. Since it was still relatively early, after Coyote Cafe we drove out to Viejas casino, which is on an Indian reservation approximately 30 minutes away from downtown San Diego. I regret to report that Isaac, Donn and I each made a deposit in the Viejas Retirement/Scholarship Fund. We returned from Viejas at about 4:00 a.m. to discover that we were homeless... the hotel did not have our reservation... So at 4:00 in the morning we were in search of a place to sleep for the night. Fortunately it worked out, we eventually found a hotel closer to Donn's hotel.

On Saturday we went to eat ramen. Yasuko's brother recommended that we eat ramen at a place called Tajima. The ramen was delicious. Outside of the restaurant I stumbled across this gumball-like machine with "I Love Egg" trinkets. check it out - www.iloveegg.co.uk I got the the bunny egg... it was not Hello Kitty, but I still thought it was pretty cool.

After eating ramen, we went to the San Diego Zoo where we saw lots of animals, including panda bears, tigers, lions, koala bears, polar bears, monkeys, clawless otters, meerkats, pigs, takins, zebras, flamingos, etc... My favorite was the koala bear exhibit. Overall I thought it was pretty cool and I took lots of pictures. I took a picture of Donn, Isaac and Yasuko at the camel exhibit because unlike the other animals, this camel was awake and almost close enough where we could pet it... so funny though as I was taking the picture Donn was stressing out rushing me to take the picture saying "the camels spit, the camels spit!" haha. As you can see, I got the picture. By the way, the camel didn't spit.


After the zoo, we went to Ikea. I wanted to go to Ikea to get a comforter cover for my bed. One hour and $$ later, I ended up with two large bags with place mats, garment bags, an ice cream scooper, a serving plate, a candle plate, straws, etc... Yeah, I know straws... but they were really cool - blue and green ones... Oh yeah, we also ate the famous Ikea meatballs.

Next stop, Trader Joe's. At Trader Joe's I bought omiyage for friends and family back home. I wish they had one in Hawaii. One thing I miss from living Seattle is being able to go to Trader Joe's.

Tonight we went back to Old Town for Cinco De Mayo. It was pretty happening there, lots of music, people walking in the streets, and every Mexican restaurant was packed, people practically overflowing to the streets. It was a fiesta. Some of the restaurants, including the one we ate at, were making their tortillas right there in the restaurant. As we were waiting for our food we all agreed that this was the closest we were going to get to authentic Mexican food without crossing the border... Pretty crazy though, we ate at 11:00 p.m. and by the time we left the restaurant at 1230 a.m. everything had shut down... it was dark and empty, like a ghost town. After dinner, we went back to our hotel and walked to the Gas Lamp District, which is approximately 2 blocks away from our hotel. We had a couple of drinks and as we were leaving at about 2:00 a.m. it was still pretty happening. Lots of people still soliciting the streets and lining up to get into the bars.

So tomorrow everyone is returning home. It was a fun trip! Till next time!

Brothers Cazimero Concert

Tonight I went to the 30th Annual May Day Concert with the Brothers Cazimero at the Waikiki Shell. I went with my friend Lisa and her friends. The last concert I went to on the lawn at the Shell was the Birthday Bash during undergrad. I remember having a blast at those concerts! It is a much different experience now 10 years later and sober. I will actually remember the concert itself for once. haha.

Anyway, because it was May Day today, a lot of people were wearing leis. The smell of the various scents of leis reminded me of graduation. In sticking with the Hawaiian theme, Lisa's friend James brought Hawaiian food, which consisted of kalua pig, lau lau, lomi salmon, poi, chicken long rice, and haupia. Some other friends brought poke, sushi, and fruits. The food was ono. Shortly after we ate Hawaiian food, Lisa and I decided we were still hungry, so we ended up buying nachos, stew, chili and M&M's.

The concert was great, it was a full moon and besides the brief rain shower the weather was great, breezy and cool. I enjoyed the entertainment as well, the music was good and I enjoyed watching the hula dancers, most of which were winners from this past Merrie Monarch. I have to admit that watching them dance made me want to start dancing hula again. (I danced hula for 8 years.) Even Don Ho's wife, Haumea Ho came on stage to dance a song written by Don Ho. I think everyone there will agree that it was a concert we will remember for a very long time. Thanks Lisa!