Pages, Pucks and Pantry

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The Academy and almost The Slanted Door

After spending Saturday traipsing all around the Winchester Mystery House and Santana Row with Mr. L's cousin and her husband we decided to just keep up the cultural experience and head up to San Francisco on Sunday for the last day of the Chihuly exhibit at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Chihulys work is gorgeous and it was fun seeing some of the different styles and themes that he's worked on all in one place. I had to laugh at myself though as several times during the exhibit I found myself thinking "wouldn't that piece of glass art make a wonderful fruit bowl" or "that platter would look great with a nice roast displayed on it". Obviously my mind was thinking about food.

After saying goodbye to the cousins, Mr. L and I decided to venture across the street to the new California Academy of Sciences. It was opening weekend and pretty crowded but since we were already there and had found parking (though I swear it was half the city away) we figured we'd give it a try. They have machines that dispense tickets (will call tickets too) out near the street which made it much quicker than standing in the regular line, so we paid our fee and went inside.

Though I admit I do miss the old Steinhart Aquarium (and for that matter the old de Young buildings), the new Academy was pretty cool. Mr. L and I walked around, saw the penguins, the albino alligator and even waited in line to see the cool four story rain forest (real live butterflies shouldn't be such a rare sight around here). We also went to the top of the building and stood outside checking out the living roof they have. We only had about three hours to explore the place before it closed so we did miss out on seeing the new planetarium.

As the building started to shut down, Mr. L and I realized we needed a cold drink before starting the long trek to the car. The new cafe which has been getting rave reviews was already closed so we decided to grab a drink from the vendor that had set up in the middle of the building. Looking like one of those places you find outside during food festivals, we weren't expecting much. A few tables set up with food and drinks for sale, some coffee tureens and what looked like a couple of large crock pots in the back. I heard someone ask for "chicken gumbo" and I saw that served over rice. Mr. L and I just wanted something cold to drink and I saw a packet of shortbread cookies to munch on so we turned down all offers of other foods they were selling. As we got closer to the register a young kid asked us if we wanted a steamed bun. Mr. L wanted to know if it was pork. Nope, the kid said, it's chicken. Mr. L passed as with him, it's pork steamed buns or no steamed buns at all. Then this nice gentleman in a white chefs jacket asked if we would like the pork meatballs since, of course, it was pork. I saw Mr. L hesitate. We had had a late lunch, we had dinner planned when we got home, we didn't NEED pork meatballs, but this nice man was saying they were very good. I saw the look in Mr. L's eyes, a look that said "I'm torn, help me wife", so of course I turned to the nice man in the white chefs coat and said "we'll take a bowl of the pork meatballs please". We then had a humorous moment when the chef tried adding up in his head the amount we owed. He had to run through the numbers several times before, with a smile, he figured it out. "Long day?" I asked? "Yes", he said with that nice smile. Then I looked at his chef whites. It said "Slanted Door". Then I bothered to look at the name. Yes, it said "Charles Phan". Wow. So we took our pork meatballs (which were served over rice and very good by the way) and sat down and realized that we just had a moment with a Chef whose restaurant I've been wanting to eat at for ages. Sometimes, it's just the little things in life that make my day.

Photo taken be me while enjoying the pork meatballs at the Academy of Science in San Francisco.

Disneyland - The Report - The Trip

Yes, for those of you that took a guess, Mr. L and I were in Disneyland this past weekend. My feet are still killing me.

Let me start out by saying do NOT attempt to walk around Disneyland for 15 hours on Friday and then get up bright and early the next day and walk around another solid 10 hours more. Your feet will be none too happy and no amount of pampering by the Mandara Spa will help. If any of you had seen Mr. L and I trying to walk around the John Wayne airport on Sunday as we waited for our flight home, you would have been in hysterics over our hobbling around....but it was worth it :)

Since I had spent my 21st birthday at Disneyland many years ago, Mr. L had promised me a trip to Disneyland for my (momentous) birthday last May. Unfortunately due to the crud, we had to reschedule for the weekend after Labor Day. Except for the fact that a few key rides or attractions were closed (Haunted Mansion due to Halloween preps and Small World) it was business as usual for Disneyland...except there were no crowds. How uncrowded was it? They said a five minute wait for Pirates of the Caribbean...but as we were getting off the ride, we noticed not a soul in line to get on so we just went around and got on again. The longest wait on Friday was about twenty minutes for one of the Fantasyland rides and maybe twenty or so minutes on Indiana Jones (and that was only because they shut down the ride while we were in line). Saturday we had to wait about 40 minutes for the new Toy Story ride. Though we got fast passes for most rides, I think we only used them once!

A few comments on the trip:

• We stayed at the Grand Californian. While I've heard lots of complaints that the rooms aren't anything special for the price the proximity to everything was worth it. Walk one way you're at Downtown Disney, walk another you're in California Adventure and Disneyland is right there too. Plus, just sitting in that lobby is pretty cool (and they put chocolates on the bed at night).
• The hotel ran out of postcard stamps and the machines at Disneyland weren't working so I'm sorry that all of you didn't get your usual vacation postcards!
• We enjoyed the redone Pirates. We did not enjoy the bozo behind us that had to have running commentary through the entire ride about things that were different. This is why we enjoyed being able to get off and go on the ride again without waiting.
• Though most kids seemed to be back in school, it seemed to be "stroller weekend". And seriously, on Friday we were wondering on some rides if we were scary giants or something as lots of screaming unhappy little preschoolers joined us on rides.
• If the CM says "do not stand until I say to so the boat won't tip over" please you intelligent adults you, listen to them (thankfully the CM kept her cool and the boat didn't tip).
• Mr. L and I had never been to Tom Sawyers Island so it was neat to experience a part of the park that neither of us had seen.
• Space Mountain still rocks
• Use separate seats when riding the Matterhorn unless you want seat belt marks around your boobs.
• We tried to find Hidden Mickeys on our own, but gave up. So we started asking CM's. I'd like to thank John the CM at the end of the Pinocchio ride, who not only put us back in our seats so we could go on the ride again to find the Hidden Mickeys, but who also told us about several that were not in the Hidden Mickey book (which I went and bought later that day). Most CM's were pretty knowledgeable and since the place wasn't that crowded, didn't mind stopping and letting us know where they were.
• I've done the "early entry" into Disneyland before but on this Saturday at 7 AM there were less than, maybe, 75 people going into the park at that time. 75 people. We really did have the park to ourselves for almost an hour. That was worth the whole trip.
• The new Nemo ride. Do not go if it is 100 degrees outside or if you are claustrophobic. Though it was a nice ride, it didn't thrill us enough to go again, even with short lines.
• Had no idea what the new Toy Story ride was. We went in clueless. I am not a video game or "shooter" by any means but Mr. L and I really liked it and would have gone again if we had time.
• It was HOT. And humid. I even turned to Mr. L at one time Friday and asked him if we had made a wrong turn and ended up in Disneyworld, Florida. Of course the heat made the water rides that much more fun.
• We had some portraits done in New Orleans Square (which you may see at some point). We had to sit for an hour right across from "Club 33". Interesting to watch who goes in and who tries to go in and get rejected or are made to wait. And those that have no clue who walk right on by. 
• I would like to thank the man in the wheelchair behind me while in line for the Buzz Astro Blasters attraction. He whispered to me some of the secrets on how to get more points so that "I could beat my husband at the game". Which I did, ...until I told said husband the secrets and then he beat me...but still...I beat him at least once at a shooting game, hahahahaha.
• Character Breakfasts...no I am not a child but yes, we did Minnie and Friends and Lilo and Stitch and had fun watching the kids and yes taking photos with the Characters (though the photo of Captain Hook with his hook precariously near certain parts of my anatomy will remain private...as will the photo of Stitch trying to stick his finger up Mr. L's nose!)
• In my wanting to go on every ride in Disneyland, I almost bypassed the fireworks show. I'm glad Mr. L made me take a few minutes to watch. Seeing Tink fly by and just the whole production was kinda cool.
• Please note...next time you go on the Indiana Ride and see the well and the sign that says do not pull on the rope? PULL ON THE ROPE! (brought to you by a family member of Mr. L who is an Imagineer)
• We did miss a section of California Adventure as seriously, by 5 on Saturday our feet were about ready to fall off. The only major attraction we really missed was California Screamin' which we had both already been on years ago. We had planned on going back after dinner but our feet could barely get us back to our hotel room let alone the trek through the park for the ride.
• We had dinners at Blue Bayou, Napa Rose and Yamabuki along with Mickey shaped ice cream, Mickey shaped pancakes, Mickey shaped waffles, Mickey shaped chocolate, Mickey shaped cookies, Mickey shaped ice cream and Mickey shaped rice crispy treats. I'll do a separate report on food (the photos from Guess. Where. I. Am? were from a previous trip).
• Only saw a few princesses but did see most major characters and of course, my favorite, Cruela!
• I need to thank Mr. L who was a trooper and went on the tea cups with me. Lets just say he was a little green after and leave it at that (actually I think it was going on the tea cups, both sides of the Matterhorn and Space Mountain within about twenty minutes that got to him).
• We met some really cool folks on our trip, from tourists from Australia, to CM's who were very helpful to folks at the hotel and spa who were very friendly. My favorite though, has to be the very tiny little boy in his snugsack on his Dad's chest totally enthralled with the Nemo ride one minute and then head bouncing completely asleep the next.

Are we Disney fanatics? Not by any means, but we still enjoy a good trip to the Happiest Place on Earth every now and then. Though we may not get to Disneyland again anytime in the near future, we are hoping to get to DisneyWorld sometime soon. Only we'll not try to do the entire park in 15 straight hours! (and I'll put my feet in training at least a month before!)

Above photo taken by me while me feet were still working....

Scrapping, Hockey and Food

Well, April sure has had an interesting start. Last week I went to the dentist (for a crown), a Sharks game (pizza we get), a trip to the doctor (for tendinitis in my finger), a trip to the specialist the doctor sent me to for a cortisone shot (which didn't work) a classic migraine (complete with me on the floor in the bathroom at work with nausea) and a three day scrapbooking adventure in Sonora. Did I mention my full time job squeezed in there somewhere?

My Sharks are in the playoffs. Tomorrow starts the real season. 16 wins. That's all it takes. 16. I will be there. Bleeding teal.

Scrapping in Sonora was a blast. I was able to complete quite a few layouts, have a great time with my friends, and even cook something. It made the pre time of page planning worth it. You just might see a layout or two posted one of these days. The photo above was taken outside Cover's Apple Ranch. Several of us took a bit of a photo excursion. The ranch had some awesome old trucks in the back pasture.

Haven't had time to do much cooking. Doesn't mean I haven't been eating. The girls on the scrap trip made some tasty dishes over the weekend. I'll have to post about our pizza excursion as it was quite interesting. But I'm happy to be back and happy to have time to start to cook again. I'm finding that now, when I don't cook, I miss it. I miss planning and shopping. Figuring out which cookbook I'll cook from next. Reading the next food blog that will have me drooling. Keeping up on all those National
Food Days.  Yep, I'm obsessed with food...and there is nothing wrong with that...