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Uncle Markie out and about.

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Tue
23
Mar '10

Condo Cooking.

For me, today was about being lazy around the resort — I didn’t even get out into the sun much because of yesterday’s “pinkness”. Breakfast was a pork, potato (bothfrom last night’s dinner) and egg scramble with a croissant for Gnarlene. Mind you, breakfast was at about 11am after much scotch and tequila last night — I’d say there is 1/4 of a bottle left on the tequila, and I wasn’t drinking it. It’s harder to tell with the scotch since it’s in such a big bottle.

Got caught up on work before the mid-afternoon food break — pork sandwiches from last nights leftovers.

Didn’t even get a nap in while Gnarlene was off exploring Cabo San Lucas proper — I might have to actually go down there Thursday when Gnarl’s is planning on kayaking the bay. After so many visits I guess I should see what Cabo proper is like, though it being spring break that might not hold true (though Gnarl’s did see two cruise ships in port today).

So, today’s topic, cooking in condos has the following photo:

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How to steam vegetables with limited equipment — take their biggest pan, drop the colander on the top, put the lid back on. Steamed rather than boiled vegetables. The mini squashes were steamed and then tossed with butter, onion flakes and a little black pepper and smoked sea salt. Yum.

To this add a baked chicken lemon, some salad nicoise, the last croissant for Gnarlene, flour tortillas for me, and you have a damn fine meal while listening to the “Mexican Fiesta” going on below us — $35US seemed a bit steep for an all-you-can-eat buffet. Seems there was also a two hour floor show and fireworks (yes, plural, not like that other time where there was “firework”, precisely one).

The leftovers? Chicken was deboned, meat in a container in the fridge and bones instantly starting on stock with the leftover squash — the eventual dish… a tortilla soup once I skim the fat off and blend it all together before frying some of the tortillas and adding them as one might add noodles. Who knows what nights meal that will be.

Tomorrow night (speaking of nights) we are in the two-bedroom penthouse. Met a woman on the elevator staying in one and she was gushing about the roof-top deck. Maybe I can get Gnarlene to pick up the extra $70 for that night and the overlapping night at the end when we have to change rooms. Either way, not a big deal. Need to check it out for Rich’s 60th next year.

Other amusing thing tonight was a call from Monica who I visit when I’m in Juneau — they (husband, and I assume the kids) are in Seattle and wanted to have dinner with me tomorrow. I offered them a room in Cabo, but they declined. Guess I’ll be going back to Juneau.

Time to check how the stock is coming.

[? ? ?]

Tue
26
May '15

Trip Report: Birthday With The Girls In St. Martin (Sint Maarten)

Let me start by saying – this was a QUICK trip. Just two nights in the Caribbean, plus a day of travel on each end. But it is my friend Anne’s 45th birthday, and I could find some frequent flier mile flights…. Here is the itinerary:

That would be the Sunday night (after work) red-eye Seattle to Miami, then the morning flight to St. Martin – the return flight is an early morning (7:30am) from St. Martin to Miami, Miami to Tampa, Tampa to Dallas, and then Dallas to Seattle. The return routing was to maximize the number of First Class legs (two, rather than one). 47,500 miles and about $80 in fees using my Alaska Airlines miles to book all these American Airlines flights.

Flights down were good – I’d packed “refreshments” and had the middle seat open on both legs (a modern miracle these days!):

Yes, someone finally did show up for the window seat and then bitched about “so many rules” – she needed to put her bags up above since she was in the bulkhead – and she was the last person on the plane. Thank god she slept the entire flight. No food service, and only two drink runs – but I’d bulked up in the Alaska Board Room in Seattle that closed just about the time I needed to head to the gate.

And my three hour flight to St. Martin (French Side, Sint Maarteen – Dutch Side) after a most unsatisfactory quick Nathan’s Hot Dog with sauerkraut for breakfast (bottom of the bun was hard as a rock). Luckily, when I arrived in St. Martin this is what awaited me in the lobby…

Maybe I should have gone for the Subway that was next door…a quick small burger and time to grab a cab to the condo that the girls just checked into. Mindi (who flew in from Dublin, Ireland) doesn’t know I’m coming. Side note – Sint Maarten has that Caribbean/Mexico feel – but being a Dutch protectorate (the side I’m staying on) there is great signage, and even a taxi zone rate chart that the cab drivers association publishes.

Nothing like showing up at the door with a “booze delivery”. Here is the place we are staying:

Although, if you do a 180 degree shot behind you…you see this…

Yes, that would be the jet I arrived on headed back to Miami. The terminal is on the other side of the runway – but the place is really quite, with all the condos blocking the noise on the beach just outside the back door…

And the inside of the place is nice as well – and the couch look comfortable, which is good because that’s where I’m bunking for the next two nights:

Upstairs there are two bedrooms and two baths, with a half bath on the main level – sweet place.

And we have a fabulous deck with a BBQ! Hello cooking in!

But before we can BBQ, we have to hit the road (thanks Anne for renting a car!) to get the girls lunch (weirdly enough, at a different Burger King) and pick up groceries for the condo:

Several hundred dollars later we have food, mixers, rum, coconut syrup – all the things for a perfect vacation….but first, some ocean time – and the girls afterwards….

This is Anne’s 45th birthday ramble – having just finished 10 years at Amazon she has 2 months off to recharge – she bought my condo in Cabo San Lucas so she will have another week sometime before the end of the year. I like the condo, but it was too far from the grocery stores, and the kitchen too small to cook all the things I like on holiday. And it was a full floating week, Saturday to Saturday, which with my work schedule that would mean taking two weekends off (annoying my business partner).

Speaking of condo cooking…. Our dinner:

That would be a couple of racks of ribs off the grill – a nice salad, some asparagus, and, of course, mas vino tinto. Opps, that was Spanish, not Dutch.

Day Two on the island is a circular road trip of the island to Phillipsburg and around the island through Marigot and back home.

Here are some photos of our adventure:

And lunch at a fabulous outdoor café on the beach:

Guess we can’t do a Naked Lunch…but the lunch we did get was wonderful. Mindi has the goat cheese salad…

I went for the conch stew which came with some fried plantains, a little salad and some dirty rice….

Anne went for the half chicken, which also came with the plantains a little salad and a scalloped potato dish…

No cheap, but yummy. Iguana was on the menu as well – but I couldn’t help thinking about Josh’s Igauna. But they are plentiful on the island….

Marigot is famous for its traffic jams – at all times of the day, but today wasn’t too bad:

And yes, this is the main “highway” through town.

Back to the condo for our late afternoon lounging around in an out of the water. We came to the conclusion that we really needed a house boy to refill our drinks without having to get out of the ocean. Here is the cocktail view:

And some silly selfies….

Our place even comes with Beach Dogs…Dora and Bruno (Dora pictured):

On our circle tour we picked up some steaks for dinner – moved the BBQ around to get better lighting on it – yummy.

Great food, great company, but I have an early flight (7:30am) in the morning for my four leg flight home.

As for my airport breakfast – MUCH better than my Nathan’s Dog in Miami on the way down:

That’s a REAL breakfast, including salad and hot sauce.

Sint Maarteen to Miami on time, Maimi to Tampa on time, both in Coach. Starting with Tampa to Dallas I’m in First for the rest of the way home – as you can tell from this photo….

And a decent snack:

Got to Dallas for my long layover – the other ones were less than an hour and a half – which in Miami included time for me to get through customs. Thank goodness for Global Entry – a machine rather than a line. Easy Peasy. Luckily in Dallas I have access to the Delta Sky Club which is located in the same terminal as Alaska who I’m flying home.

And my office in the lounge:

Two different soups, salads, vegies/dips, free drinks, not bad.

Oddly, no pictures of my seat, the food, the drink on the last leg (Dallas to Seattle) – I think tiredness is catching up with me, but I did find a final silly selfie on my phone, from one of the legs of my trip:

Bathroom mirror shot.

Home before midnight….barely.

[225.0]

Mon
9
Sep '19

Trip Report: Waikiki With The In-Laws

It feels “odd” to call them “My In-laws”, but there is no blood connection with them, just very strong bonds. Jen is my dead brother Karl’s widow. Kennan is her husband. Jameson and Julian, who you’ve read about in this blog are Kennan’s nephews. In many ways, when they married, we became a three-family unit.

Jen and Kennan got to Hawaii a few days before me to check out the North Shore in a VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner). Sounds like they had a great time, but you’ll have to ask them about that.

Do you think I packed enough for four nights at the beach?

It’s the wine that adds a bit to the packing. Sadly, it being a box and a bag style that usually has tools – it was unloaded with the other boxes. You think I pack a lot? This is just about half of the crates from my flight:

The place wasn’t ready as I arrived at noon for a 4pm check-in –this particular Wyndham has a bad reputation for slow room turnover, even with a mandatory 10am check-out. I headed next door to Giovanni’s with a 10% off coupon from the activities desk:

Nice place, though it feels like it’s the end of its lifespan (as in, it’s ready for a refresh):

Here is a panoramic video from our massive deck:

Tuesday as our big day:

  • Kamaka Ukulele Factory Tour
  • Liliha Bakery Café
  • Salvation Army for Aloha Shirts
  • Waikiki Farmers Market
  • Dinner at the condo

I’ll save the Kamaka Ukulele Factory Tour since that one will have a lot of photos.

So, that takes us to the Liliha Bakery Café, where I really like the fried chicken, which seems to be battered in a fish and chips-style beer batter. We got there a little before noon, and still had to wait to even get a seat at the counter. I blame the table of 20 elderly islanders, probably on their once-a-month lunch outing.

And, in a shocking twist, they now serve wine and beer – though the staff has no idea what “brand” it is. I took a chance with the “red” – which apparently, they store in the refrigerator. Because of that, it wasn’t bad. I assume it was out of a box. Didn’t ask what beer, that, they might have had a clue about (certainly, not on tap).

My chicken. I paid an extra $1.25 for the fried rice, but it also came with corn and a potato/mac salad:

Jen and Kennan split the grilled Mahi Mahi, also with fried rice and corn, but with a green salad.

Next stop was the Salvation Army on Nimitz, which Tuesday is Senior Discount Day with a 25% discount. Trust me, we are all over 55!

Sadly, their selection of Aloha Shirts was a third of what I’ve seen in the past, but at least Kennan found one.

Uber makes it really easy to get around, but all the places we’ve visited are on bus routes for a $5.50-day pass. With three people, it was Uber.

Next was the Waikiki Farmers Market – we came home with cut fruit, chicken curry, jerky, salad stuff – add some leftover rice and corn.

Wednesday was Pearl Harbor for Jen and Kennan – my chore was to find a real grocery store since the one that I have relied on for a decade of visiting Waikiki has been torn down for a new condo. Contrary to the Front Desk, who said there was no grocery store left in Waikiki – the Food Pantry just moved!

Yep – it’s a decent sized grocery store that is MUCH cheaper than the ABC Store and Deli (LARGE for an ABC Store).

I had a late lunch at Tommy Bahama’s Bar (above their store which is a block from the condo):

Blue cheese stuffed olives for their $10 Grey Goose Happy Hour Martini:

And the $10 2 for $10 Mahi Mahi Tacos…

They even brought a breadbasket with cinnamon butter!

But what caught my eye was this promotion that they were running – add $5 to your tab and get a $20 gift card valid next month (when I happen to be returning). Sign me up! Great cause, feeding hungry kids.

But going back to the in-condo cooking, the Food Pantry has everything from rice (for our rice cooker):

To Spam, panko flakes (for our last night’s dinner), whiskey, wine, you name it.

The one thing Food Pantry doesn’t have is Trump Memorabilia, which the ABC Store has a huge section:

We made some great meals in the condo!

On our last day, I got Kennan and Jen to come back to Tommy Bahama with me for an afternoon Happy Hour dessert….

As you can tell, I drank my dessert, just like my mother!

Friday, and we were all headed home, me a little later, and with time to grab breakfast in the combination AA/JAL lounge:

Yes, ramen and miso soup for breakfast.

I really like the Honolulu Airport because of the outdoor garden in the center of it (outside), but there are also the performances:

And next to the lounge, a public bathroom tucked away with bidet seats!

And a shot of the new ANA A380 that is dedicated to the Tokyo/Honolulu route (it’s a double decker):

Got upgraded to First Class (though via Portland) for the way home which meant a nice dinner on the plane.

It was a great trip with great company.

[224.0]

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Sat
27
Oct '07

Another Day.

Another WorldMark Condo.

Up surprisingly early for a holiday — 7am+. It’s time to move condos on the Hawaii Condo Hop. Two nights at Valley Isle in a 2-bedroom, one night in a 2-bedroom (less desirable location) in Kihei, one night in a one-bedroom (limited view), followed by Monday night at the Castle Honolulu Airport Hotel.

This is my third or fourth visit to Kihei — large complex which means lots of eye candy (and I’m not talking PPP — Pasty Plump Plainspeople, which there are many more of). I’ve done most of the tourist stuff on the island — still trying to figure out who I went on the Sugar Cane Train with… maybe I should look at some Twango photos from previous trips — or my own archives.

Scrambled eggs for breakfast, an hour in the sun reading, then packing to be out of the room by noon. Headed down the coast, found the WorldMark Kihei, pulled over, had lunch of all the leftover Ahi and Tako Poke while reading, then swung around an hit Safeway for the remaining food for this trip. More salad — more steaks — seems beef is the only decent deal in the protein department. Poor Me!

Tried to check in at 2pm — two hours early — no luck. Did get a key to the pool and hung out drinking pop, looking at boys, and catching up on reading. Probably the plan for tomorrow as well.

Tonight’s T-Bone will be done on the grill downstairs. Red wine to go with it. Still need to see if they will hold supplies for my trip here next week, that would be handy.

Here are the shots of this 2-bedroom WorldMark Kihei Condo….

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The difference between the condo of the last two nights and this one is that I have privacy — I can run around naked (but not down to the BBQ). The condo at Valley Isle had direct site lines from an exterior walkway. I like this MUCH better.

All the pictures at: http://www.twango.com/channel/markso.HawaiiFall2007

Thu
19
Nov '09

Quiet Night In The Condo.

A quite morning around the condo — a couple of over easy eggs before the one o’clock meet and greet with the Vancouver office.

Well, meet and greet was what I had planned — with no appointments scheduled for the sales staff it turned into more of a “bull-pen” session on how to get more people through the door. Two long trip reports later leaves me with just one more meeting tomorrow on my way out of town.

I was hoping that Hummingbird and BamBam would be coming back for dinner tonight — they were the major reason I came up for a couple of days. Alas, not to be. Hummingbird was in the hospital today to get his kidney stone laser blasted. It’s now smaller, but there are pieces that still need to work there way down Mr. Urethra. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

So, no dinner guests — surgery ran two hours longer than they thought it would. Hummingbird is on painkillers, and BamBam will swing by in the morning for the hoodie he left behind and the gift I forgot to give them last night.

For me, dinner tonight is the rest of the salad fixings from last night, a marinated steak from the IGA, this last bit of wine, the last bit of scotch.

And here is the nighttime view from the condo window. It really is a pretty view — though the video doesn’t show all the trees lit up across the street at the Sheraton Wall Centre.

 

Since it’s just me — used one of my (many) WorldMark Video Coupons to get unrated version of Role Models. Yes, my guilty pleasure — crappy teen movies and pulp fiction.

[? ? ?]

Sat
5
Apr '08

Busy Day Packing, Cooking, and Flying.

A very busy day for me today. There is work to do in the garage now that I have the drill (stereo equipment turntable and drop-it shelf), cooking for Randy-In-All-Worlds who is coming to look at DJ equipment, have dinner and take me to the airport so I can jet off to Tampa/St. Pete late tonight.

But first, we need to test our new version of WordPress with the plug-ins that I usually use. We had a little emergency last night — I got a message saying that the SOB Blog had been hacked and re-direct code inserted. At first I thought the email was a scam, but there was enough stuff into it for me to forward to Dan, whose comment was, “Shit, it has been hacked.” He upgraded the version of WordPress, and I cleaned up the entries that were altered. Not what I was expecting to do with the evening. What appears below SHOULD be the scrolling picture bar like lots of other posts I have.

But does it work? Sue from Blue Toad Design say it does.

Today’s mission includes a wine tasting at two at EVS on Capital Hill of the Super Tuscan’s from Itlay, then it’s back home to work on dinner for Randy-In-All-Worlds who is hopefully going to buy all my audio equipment. Now THAT would be a nice send off to Tampa/St. Pete at eight.

And speaking of flying? My yesterday post about the state of many airlines? Another one JUST bit the dust — it was on my list as “Bleeding and grabbing for bandages” — SkyBus just bit the dust this morning. Here is a link to the news release: http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/excite-com/news-story.asp?guid={A7CFE32B-59FC-40FC-B58E-54EE5979365F}

[226.8]

Tue
22
Dec '09

Do You Know The Way To Santa Fe.

Yes, The Long Way.

A fairly relaxing morning, up a little before eight, and by 9am I was at the airport. Shortly after — through security and looking for a way to get from one terminal to another without going back through security so I could use the Alaska Board Room for my every other week marketing call.

The answer: take the shuttle to the American Eagle terminal (which required a boarding pass for them), then turn around and transfer to the Alaska terminal, which since you were already out there didn’t need a boarding pass, go up to the club, have a couple of drinks, read the newspaper, have a bagel, take the conference call, and then take the transfer back to the American Eagle terminal (out on the tarmac), which again needed an American Eagle boarding pass, which I had. Had I been totally on American flights, it wouldn’t have worked unless I told them I was meeting my “sister” at the American Eagle terminal — they might have let me do that.

No trouble with the flight — Kate and Eric were at the Santa Fe airport about 5 minutes after I landed — and off to check-in a day late to my condo in Santa Fe (which you can almost see teir condo from mine). Hung out there for a bit while I got settled and then headed off to see their condo and exchange Christmas and Birthday (Swandas0 presents.

We probably should have left one drink earlier, but off in the condo shuttle (a service their condo provides) to the square — originally to the Ore House, sat down, looked at the menu, left. Headed to the Blue Corn Cafe for a more relaxed dinner.

I was back at the condo by 8:30pm to settle in and watch “The Onion — The Movie” which was underwhelming.

Off to bed for a good nights sleep under the down comforter — a nice touch, as are the heated marble floors in the bathroom. Guess I should take a video.

[? ? ?]

Thu
20
Jan '11

Barely Left The Condo.

Cold And Damp In Victoria.

Slept in… so nice to be able to do. Didn’t even get breakfast in, just the standard holiday morning Bloody Mary. Just waited for Helene to show up at 12:30 for the first meal of the day. Went next door to the Blue Crab, and as usual had a wonderful meal. Helene had the small fish and chips order, I went for the crab cupcakes with whipped blue potato icing… which I had no idea what it would be… but this is it.

The layers are:

  • Tartar sauce
  • Crab cake
  • Whipped blue potato “icing”

A little top heavy, one had already fallen over by the time I got the camera out.

Back to the condo for a nap to get the energy to make dinner. And what a dinner it was. So much for seeing the Legends of Flight at the IMAX theatre down the road.

Slow cooked pork ribs and a little salad (and the last of the bread). Yum.

For tomorrow we head home.

[? ? ?]

Mon
17
Mar '08

What’s Uncle Markie Cooking Tonight?

Morning —- drop off car at Havlick’s to get it pretty again, and MoonSong running me to Home Depot for concrete and boards on the way home.

Must clean the office — company tonight with Jameson coming back from Costa Rica.

Unexpected visit by Mr. Weber of Sugar Run Clayworks to chat and ask my computer schedule — suddenly I have more of a schedule. This on top of a run to Wonderfuls (mail drop off and unexpected check), Graf (Popular Mechanics drop off), Swanda (dropping off food for tomorrows dinner), liquor store (12-year old Jameson for Jameson), and home.

Dinner date before the airport run — chicken breasts in Mole Verde, fresh baked bread (basic challah with garlic, fresh rosemary, and some graham flour), salad with arugula from Johnny’s garden, and strawberries marinated in balsamic and dusted with black pepper.

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And then the call from Jameson — pulled off the plane at SFO — and not because he looked like a terrorist — because Natalie’s father (girlfriend’s father) was murdered coming out of a casino and she is in the Bay Area to deal with stuff. WOW. Sounds (at the moment) like he’s coming back Wednesday afternoon.

Guess my Wednesday is now changed. Good thing I’m not pouring concrete at the church.

[231.7]

Tue
19
Jan '10

Meeting, Shopping, Napping, Cooking, Packing.

Meeting in the morning — running around before trying to get Cathy’s wedding invitations in the mail to her.

Next up was the UW Surplus Auction Store… only one item was tempting… a 2x2x6 bread cart… I resisted the temptation. Found cartridge for Wonderful, and sports uniforms for Fluffernutter — don’t know if either of them made it to the store before it closed at 6.

Just enough time before Rich arrives to sneek in a half hour nap — needed it.

Rich and more work in the afternoon. Did some more research on the Olympics trip to Whistler — things like medal ceremonies, public transit from Creekside to Whistler proper — looks like we’ll need a roll of Twonies (the Canadian 2 dollar coin)!

An early dinner at 6 so Rich can make it back to Olympia tonight for his early workday tomorrow… he was up for the interview to get his Nexus card — and he ran into one of his customers who is border patrol but lives in Olympia.

Steaks off the grill, baked potatoes out of the convection oven, and salad out of a bag.

After dinner it was time to finish packing for Boston. Flying to Portland on Thursday at 6am (ick) so I can catch the Portland-Boston flight. Why not fly direct? Guaranteed First Class seat at time of booking. Looks like I’ll be able to catch up on my recent movies with the Digi-Player. I’ve packed some goodies for Pucci – can’t show up empty handed!

[220.7]

Wed
21
Jul '10

Dinner With An Old Friend.

And I’m Not Cooking!

Up and out of the house early – off to the BMW dealer to see what the hell is up with the “Check Engine” light on the new toy. Decided to just drop in and see how quickly they could make me a satisfied customer. The answer is an hour and a half. For dropping in unannounced – stunning. And I got the car washed out of the deal as well! I spent the time having brunch and reading the paper at the apartment, which is a couple of blocks away.

Next up was Office Max for black toner for the color laser printer, and then to Dick’s Restaurant Supply for no particular reason other than to see what’s in their used section.

I’m going to try a run of challah as tiny little buns. The metal things are dangerous looking skewers for the grill, and the creamer go with a tea-pot that I got from the UW last year:

Moving onto dinner, I just heard this phrase, Tropical Depression – what, they ran out of coconut flavored rum?

But speaking of coconut, that was the theme for tonight’s dinner with Bliss. Pina Colada’s as cocktails, Coconut encrusted shrimps as an appetizer, and a Thai coconut chicken and vegetable stir-fry over a rice/grain medley, with some spicy green beans on the side.

It was good to see him again – with his teaching schedule during the year I don’t get to see too much of him. The after dinner conversation centered on a quickie road trip the second week of August, which is the only time we both have available.

Time will tell.

[228.0]

Sun
19
Dec '10

Packing, Laundry, Packing, Cooking, Packing.

Well, that’s my day in brief.

Bye.

Kidding. I’ve got a couple of pictures for today’s post:

Cleaning out the fridge and making breakfast. Looks better than Ronny Macs.

And look – the outfit matches the shoes!

Dinner tonight with Fluffernutter – stir-fry beef, onions, tomaltios, over a bed a rice with a side salad.

Off to the airport tomorrow.

[233.1]

Fri
1
Feb '13

Just Dinner With The Boys

And I’m Not Cooking!

Another day of conference calls and me sitting outside in the sun working on this lovely book:

The book is Chasing The White Dog by Max Watman. It’s an interesting mix of history, folklore, prosecution – and most interesting to me, how the quality of moonshine plummeted when prohibition kicked in – suddenly is was all about the money to be made. Click on the book and you will to taken to Amazon where you can buy new, used, or Kindle® editions.

Onyx was in charge of tonight’s dinner – chicken Cordon-Blu from scratch with a side of steamed broccoli – here’s do you George W. Bush – French food AND broccoli!

Just the three of us tonight. Too bad I forgot to take a picture of the sculptures that Onyx is working on… maybe tomorrow.

[? ? ?]

Sun
19
Jul '20

Home Report: Failed Cooking Experiments

I post all the pretty dinner pics on Facebook – but rarely the disasters.

My first attempt at making zucchini fries crusted with parmesan. Definitely, a fail. Maybe if I had cooked smaller batches with them spread out. Oh well.

Plus, I accidentally put in too much salt – and with the parmesan, definitely noticeable.

In an attempt to salvage something out of the recipe, diced up the rest of the zucchini, and three grilling onions…

Sautéed them up with some bacon…

And crumbled up the parmesan fries to use on top of the sautéed veg and bacon… to create a “hot dish” as they say in the Midwest, for reheating later.

In the end, just cooked up the rest of the bacon in the oven (I made a rack for my 8×8 Pyrex baking dish to keep the bacon out of most of the fat)…

Made some fries and called it a night.

Probably should have made a salad as well. Maybe tomorrow will be salad night.

[226.2]

For more blog posts, click here.

Mon
12
Nov '07

Hawaii Condo Business Masquerading As Hotels.

So — that real estate property I listed a couple of days ago is part of a wave of hotels turned condos run by hotel groups — called Condotels. Best I can tell, I’m staying in one — though I haven’t seen any of these units on the resale market. Basically you buy your hotel room for $150,000 to a million (assuming you want 2 bedrooms and 2.5 bathes). There was a great article in the paper here about it.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071111/BUSINESS04/711110340/1071

But the economics are dicey — most were bought to flip. There are many now many are selling for less than they were bought for. Makes me want to think of picking up something on the cheap.

But, the economics are not really good when you consider that in round numbers, you are out $200,000 for a studio, maybe a one-bedroom — and lacking a real kitchen, and your monthly maintenance is $450 a month, and your taxes of $150 — and you only get half (or 40% if there is a travel agent involved) at $100-$120 a night, and a 75% occupancy rate… a break even deal at best. Then of course there is your mortgage payment of $1000 a month — $1600 a month, at 75% rented, so a thousand a month in income… I’ll have to put that into a spreadsheet and see if those really are the numbers.

But that’s Waikiki and CondoHotels.

Sun
30
Sep '12

Condo Review.

So, from yesterday’s post, the announced good, bad, ugly of the resort at Cabo Villas.

Pluses:

  • Only swimmable beach on the coast
  • Walkable to downtown (expect to be sweaty)
  • Multiple restaurants on site if you don’t want to cook
  • Three different pools and one hot-tub
  • The nicest, most comfortable sleeper couch I (or CaddyDaddy) have ever seen
  • GREAT water pressure in the shower (not so much in the toilet, but who cares)
  • King size bed in the bedroom with enough pillows to kill a small child
  • Upscale room (at least ours)

Minuses:

  • Not enough kitchen equipment to easily cook
  • No spices, starter coffee, filters, sugar, etc.
  • Minimal convenience store on property
  • Long walk to grocery store (take $6 cab back)
  • Gauntlet of “time-share” avoidance checking in
  • If you’ve got bad knees, this place is all stairs to get to the elevators
  • Serious problems with the ice machines (I now go to the garage where the industrial one is kept under lock and key)
  • No end tables (inside or out) to put drinks on while hanging out

But I’ll let you make the choice, here are some pictures…

From the patio door down the entry hallway – the bedroom is past the chairs, not sure why you’d want a bar opening into your bedroom. The minimal kitchen is on the island.

Here is the view from the resort, some from our balcony, some from the rooftop restaurant…

CaddyDaddy and I walked down the hill, around the Luxury Mall and parking garage, and into town to find the grocery store for essentials. 800 pesos plus a $6 US car ride back, we has breakfast fixings and some pupu platter stuff, though I must say, the “market” was lame compared to the Mega Mart up the road from the WorldMark Coral Baja.

Tomorrow, the report from the “owner’s update”that is only yielding $40 US in restaurant credits – but at least I get to know how this timeshare works. Again, a GREAT THANKS to the Colonels for this timeshare.

[? ? ?] I can only imagine, luckily I’m walking and sweating.

Fri
16
Jan '15

Trip Report: Out Of BBQ Sauce – Off To Kansas City.

While not entirely the reason for the quick trip to Kansas City, it certainly is ONE of the reasons. The other was that it was on an Alaska Flash Sale a month ago and I picked it up for $156.20 – something on the order of half price. Alaska tends to do their Flash Sales every Wednesday from 11-1PM West Coast Time. This might be the one I bought while in Mexico while on a land excursion touring wineries. Thank goodness for T-Mobile and free data roaming in over 120 countries.

Oh, what a difference a week makes in flying. You can’t even see the North Concourse (or the end of the C Concourse) the fog is so soupy.

Luckily all Alaska Airlines planes are equipped with Required Navigation Performance (which I talked about in my last post) which means all the flights out of Sea-Tac on Alaska are on-time:

Got an upgrade on the way out to Seat 1D, across the aisle from my favorite seat on the plane, 1C. Reason? You are the second person to get your cocktail and there is no one in front of you to put their seat down, and since it’s an aisle, it’s easy to make a bathroom run.

A nice little sandwich on the way to Kansas City – along with a Digi-Player, which I wasn’t expecting:

Got into KC, and Gail was there to pick me and all my bags up.

  • Porter case filled with clothes, bourbon and wine.
  • Wine shipper filled with Adams All-Natural Peanut Butter which they can’t get in Kansas City.
  • My backpack with electronics

A lot of junk for a two-night trip.

Paul has a conference tonight so Gail and I head over to the Kansas side of the border to check out RJ’s BBQ as seen on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (not sure which category it falls into). We just hit the end of Happy Hour so drinks were $3 and appetizers $3.95 – Where can you get a Kettle One martini for $3 or was it $5, either way, when he couldn’t find any olives (or a martini glass, or vermouth), he just brought me a double Ketel on the rocks:

And he did find some olives – the previous shift hadn’t restocked. Onion rings in the background (so-so).

Started with onion rings (so-so, not house-dipped), corn fritters (really good – chunks of corn inside, definitely house-made), and the Bison empanadas (tasty, which a zingy dipping sauce), and then I moved onto a real meal:

Ribs with a side of slaw. They serve their ribs dry, but have several different sauces (3?). That was enough food for the evening (and for lunch the next day). You can find the whole menu HERE. There are other things on the menu I’d like to try, like the Jalapeno Sausage (ground pork butt mixed with diced jalapenos, rolled up in corn husks & smoked. Served with flour tortillas, Dijon mustard & barbecue sauce – 5.95) and the Gumbo of the Day (A Cajun-spiced soup made with rice, okra and our smoked sausage. Ask your server for the variation of the day Cup – 4.45 Bowl – 6.45).

After that meal I took a several hour nap when I got back to the condo – also feeling under the weather with a sort of cold, and then with their cat, waking up at midnight for night-caps with Paul after his conference. Reminded me of when I got off work on Sunday night I came home and went straight to bed, postponing dinner until later.

Slept until noon which is when Gail showed up with the car for me to borrow so I could go off and run some errands and get some culture after polishing off the ribs and slaw:

Stop number one – Gates and Sons sauce factory, across the street from one of their restaurants.

I finally got to meet Tina Starr who I’ve chatted with and emailed over the years. Sweet woman:

Not only did she ship my last case which Nita didn’t have time to pick up – FOR FREE, she gave me all sorts of sample bottles:

18oz. standard-size bottle on the left, a 3.1oz. bottle labeled “Fly With Me” and then the tiny 2oz. size. She gave me 5 of the “Fly With Me” and 24 of the sampler size. Maybe these should go in the wine club shipments!

Next up was Arthur Bryants for another case of sauce – I had Paul ship me one in November, but I’m out at home so when in Rome (or Kansas City, which is number two in the world behind Rome for public fountains) grab it while you can.

Errands done, time for a little culture in the form of the Liberty Memorial – apparently the only World War One museum in the US. It’s kind of funny that the park grounds surrounding the museum were the notorious gay cruising grounds in the 70s and 80s.

While you can’t see it too well, under the glass floored walkway is a field of poppies –not unlike the field of poppies that has been making the news in London.

My one-word comment about the museum: Sobering. Great exhibits including an amazing multimedia rendition of life in the trenches when you feared mud as much as bullets.

I happened to show up on World War Wednesday, each Wednesday all tickets are just $7.00 no matter normal, senior, child. My lucky day, though it’s certainly worth the $14 retail price. Other parts of the museum include being able to go up in the tower (elevator, then 45 steps):

And if you are looking at the first picture of the museum, this is the building to the right of the tower:

After the museum I went off in search of mixers for the bourbon I brought and ended up at Berbiglia, a chain of liquor stores in Kansas City. One of the Berbilia boys actually owns Arthur Bryants (and is seriously cranky, and demands wholesale orders start at 10 cases). Didn’t find what I was looking for, but was seriously tempted to put this in the back of the car. Had I been in Seattle, it would have been gone, gone, gone:

Paul was done with his conference at 7:30 and off to Boling’s Chinese we went – conveniently located about two blocks from the condo. I had the Hui Style Lamb with Spices (had a coating like that of salt/pepper squid) with enough left over for tomorrow and we all shared some tofu fresh rolls (I would have gone for shrimp, but oh well). After getting back to the condo, Paul suggested a night cap at Harry’s Country Club:

One nightcap turned into 4. Various Chocolate Martinis for Paul, various Manhattans for me. Yet another late night. Luckily, Harry’s is only ½ a block from the condo.

Afternoon came early (slept in again trying to kick the cold/allergies), got packed (pulled the bottle dividers out of the wine shipper and slid the two cases of BBQ sauce in their place), and we were out the door for a lunch north of town on the way to the airport. Trezo Mare would be the name of the place. Paul had a lunch combo of the Pasta Alfredo with a side of Grilled asparagus ($11). I love that they can out with the Pasta and said that the asparagus would be coming in a minute, that the first set was on the grill too long – and the Alfredo had these wonderful looking with roasted tomatoes, broccolini, roasted garlic, etc. I had the condo of Fish Tacos (yes, in an Italian Restaurant) which was marinated tilapia, soft shell tacos, spicy aioli, marinated vegetables, Trezo hot sauce with a side of the Italian Slaw. Also good.

Got to the airport in PLENTY of time – it is me, after all. Kanas City suffers from an airport that was being built just as hijackers were starting to lift airplanes at gun point, and was designed for you to be about to park about 50 years from your gate. Here is a great Wikipedia reflecting on TWA’s Flawed Design. Funny that they had a major role in the design and then when times changes they wanted the city to rebuilt it (to which the city said no, and TWA moved its hub to Saint Louis.

No upgrade on the way home – I was number one on the list until about 15 minutes before the flight, then I was suddenly number two. Considering how I felt at the moment, sleeping in seat 6D (bulkhead) is fine for me.

Came home, had a nap (just like Sunday), then got up and cooked dinner.

Home again, home again, at least for a bit. Next week brings company to town.

[228.6] OUCH.

Sun
8
Oct '17

Trip Report: Post Birthday Kansas City

Without fail, the weeks around my birthday always involve travel. Not that it’s much different from the rest of the year. This week is a couple of nights in Kansas City.

It ain’t first, but it comes with sugar coated Smurfs!

And free booze…

Didn’t get into KC until almost 6pm. Drop my bags and head for BBQ!

Yes, you can get a Manhattan in a BBQ Joint (Q39). We got the onion straws (above), and split a Triple Threat (sausage, pulled pork, pork belly, apple coleslaw, zesty BBQ sauce, toasted bun).

It was the perfect amount of food (for once!) You can’t see from the photos, but you couldn’t swing a rib without hitting a manbun in this place.

Back to the condo for a little work (for Paul) before heading out for the 10:40pm show (yes, me) at the Green Lady Lounge…via Kansas City’s FREE Light Rail (the residents within half a mile of the track pay for it to the tune of $200 a year).

And hot guys doing tricks on the car:


Into the lounge we go!

Chocolate Martini and Manhattan!

Here is a clip from the first night….

It was 1:30AM when we took Uber back to the condo, luckily $6.35 down the same road:

After a late night, it WAS NOT an early morning. Paul rousted me at 11:30 so that we could leave for Lawrence (Kansas) at noon (which turned out to be 12:30) for lunch with Wendy.

We are at Genovese, which is an Italian place. With a full bar!

The food was good, too!

I napped in the car while Paul drove us back to Kansas City for drinks and dinner with Gail – starting at a distillery.

Next up is dinner at the Grand Street– which sounds sidewalk, but is definitely upscale:

And really great food…my pork chop:

Gail’s pasta:

Paul’s salmon:

And the schedule repeats itself after Gail heads back to their country place to take care of the cat they removed from the condo for my visit. I “sort” of feel sorry, but it’s nice to not have to huff pink pills to breath.

Back to the condo so Paul can work a bit, before we hit the jazz club again – this time Ubering since it’s raining.

Different B-3 Organ Trio tonight…

And a shot of the club itself:

And a little clip from tonight:

Another night up until close to 2AM – at least tonight we got the bed made (last night I just slept in my clothes on the couch):

The morning, shall I say afternoon, found us headed to Gates & Sons for BBQ sauce for the shop (I hit Bryants yesterday):

Sadly, my usual contact, Tina Starr, was still on vacation, but still managed to grab my case.

Luckily, my flight is early evening, so we have enough time to pop by the Nelson-Atkins to see a little Thomas Hart Benton. Thanks to Ace at the front desk, I discover works I’ve never seen before that were hidden in the Atkins Auditorium:

And here is some detail:

And then onto the Benson’s in the rest of the gallery, the most famous:

And my personal favorite:

A wing by the condo to finish packing, and a swing by The Savoy Hotel, being renovated by 21st Century Hotels. I grew up having my birthday dinners in The Savoy Grill, and when I used to come to KC on business, I’d stay at a B&B that was renovating the Savoy Hotel room-by-room with a STUNNING breakfast menu from the Grill. They are doing a complete restoration:

Yes, that says 1888.

Got to the airport, had some sliders at the Boulevard Brewing outlet in the airport….

Endured a non-TSAPre line…

And hopped into my overcrowded “Premium” class seat for the return home:

Thank you, Alaska, for the free DigiPlayer when I told them this was my final flight to make MVP Gold 75K!

And the free cocktails help too.

[225.0]

Thu
20
Sep '18

Trip Report: The Big Easy

Months ago, Rache was visiting, and NCIS: New Orleans came on, and by the end of the show we’d booked a room and flights. Same thing happens occasionally when I watch Hawaii 5 0. The shows remind me of how much I like a particular city. At the time I even had enough Alaska Gold MVP Guest Upgrades that we travelled in style both ways after a stop for a Caesar (Bloody Mary made with Clamato) in the Alaska Lounge:

They do make a good one! Almost like breakfast in a glass. Got to the airport ridiculously early so we could get a free ride from Jonathan before he went to work. It also allowed me a have a nice little nap in the room, which was good because I didn’t get very much sleep the night before.

Settled in, and lunch is on the way!

During the trip, I noticed this sign in the bathroom.

So – how I read this is: Return To Your Seat, or Ring For A Cocktail. I’ll take option B.

For some reason, the nuts come near the end of the flight…

And once again, heavy on the almonds, which aren’t my favorites. I passed the pecans to Rache, who isn’t an almond fan either.

The original plan was that “The Colonels” would pick us up and we’d go out to dinner and then they’d drop us off. Plans changed last week as the weather changed – so Uber us into the city!

Got settled into our one-bedroom condo, with Rache graciously taking the fold out couch, leaving the bedroom for me. We did get a great view of the city from our rooms:

Basically, we dumped our bags and headed down the street to Houston’s, which is my standard first night dinner and music to get me into the New Orleans mood:

This might very well be the best French Dip that I’ve ever had in my life!

And the fried oysters looked pretty good, too!

And then there is the sign on the way to the bathroom that I loved:

Per the way we usually travel together, Rache is up and out and exploring during the morning hours while I lollygag in bed – getting together late morning for our lunch stop of the day. A place that neither of us has been before – Central City BBQ:

Got some cocktails ordered…

And some BBQ! I went with the pulled pork sandwich, potato salad, which came with these house-pickled pickles and onions — yum

Rache went for a single rib, sweet corn spoon bread, and roast Brussel sprouts.

We were debating a second round of cocktails when the skies opened up and started dumping rain. Decision made.

After the rain cleared, we headed back in the direction of the condo, but stopped by Dryade’s Market to check out what had changed. When I was there earlier this year, the bar was closed – but today, were fortunate to find it open, and my favorite bartender Kevin, manning the bar.

Found this display at the end of the bar – guessing this can’t be very good wine, though it does come in its own glass:

Headed to our next stop, I spotted some lovely graffiti:

How sweet is, “Tell My Mother I Love Her”.

Before long we were off to celebrate Happy Hour (like we haven’t all day) at Samuel’s Blind Pelican – home of the 25-cent oyster.

A dozen charbroiled oysters ($10).

A dozen raw ($3)

Fried Green Tomatoes.

And dessert – another two dozen on the half shell!

In our quest to try new places – the next lunch was at Bacchanal:

It’s deceiving because from the fence to the right, all the way behind the trees on the left is the wine shop/restaurant.

There is an outside eating/drinking/entertainment area:

We opted for inside, upstairs in the bar as it was over 90 degrees outside:

Where they were also having a wine tasting! Coals to New Castle.

Three UNIQUE wines open – my kinda place!

  1. 2016 Envinate Taganan Vinos Atlanticos Tino
  2. 2015 Bodegas Ordonez Tineta DO Ribera del Duero Tinto
  3. 2009 Forster Jesuitengarten Riesling Spatlese

Plus, we’d ordered a glass of rosé to go with our lunch:

And then topped it off with cocktails!

Great staff! Including the bartender who isn’t present in the photo:

And they had one of the more amusing restroom signs that I’ve seen:

More running (well, streetcarring) around the city until the heat got to us – headed back to the condo for naps, and eventually some take out dinner – Rache went for the Brother’s Fried Chicken on the corner, I went for the Thai-ish food next door to the chicken convenience store:

It was an early night for both of us.

Our last full day in town is devoted to one of Rache’s favorites, The Dry Dock over in Algiers – which requires a couple of street cars and a ferry:

And, The Dry Dock and their wonderful food. Gator sausage and shrimp bisque for me:

Garlic shrimp for Rache:

Home for a little nap, then it’s off to The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, where we are members – for a concert in the atrium, with the galleries open (though our cocktails were banned). OK music, great, thought provoking art:

And decent views of the National WWII Museum from the rooftop deck:

And even of the formerly known as “Lee Circle“:

Took the St. Charles streetcar line towards the condo and hopped off at the St. Charles Tavern, recommended by one of my wine shop customers. Seems we were there on cheap 14oz. ribeye night!

We took the leftovers home with us – and promptly dropped into a food coma.

For our final lunch, we went to Toups South, which is in the Southern Food and Beverage Museum (and it has a GREAT used book section). Rache had the cracklings, followed by the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich (which is a TON of food – I helped with the fries)

I opted for something lighter – the Fried Green Tomato Salad, I think, or something delicious.

Bought a couple of books before we headed back to the condo to hang out in the owners lounge since we’d checked out before lunch. We hung out for a couple of hours, both of us napping at points on the comfy leather couches before Ubering to the airport…we were early, but still had to battle Friday “get out of town” traffic.

Back in our First Class seats, too tired to even take pictures of the evening meal.

[228.2]

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Sat
27
Mar '10

Wild Saturday Night.

Not.

Gnarlene was on a mission this morning… breakfast out. Coupon in hand (1/2 off second dish) we head to Sardina Cantina Seafood Bar and Grille, whose motto is: On The Four Lane In Front Of Carol Baja Resort. Let me tell you, yes, it is on the four lane — less than 20 feet from speeding traffic. That and they have a great logo:

Mind you those two fish look a little phallic when you reduce the logo. Not only was the Eggs Benedict stunning (fresh, with real Canadian style ham), the hash browns were stunning for Mexico. The only downside? Cash only. But it’s worth paying the ATM fee. I’m see another meal (or two) there in the future. Almost makes me wonder why I’ve been cooking in the condo.

Finished book two of three (all the magazines are gone through), and at 2 we were off on our missions. Mine: Tequila and Red Wine at the Mega, Gnarlene: further exploration of San Jose del Cabo.

My attempt at trying the McTrio dela Dio was thwarted by service soooooo slow I left. Thank you McDonalds. Came back to the condo complex and ordered a burger here… almost as long, but a litte fresher, though the oil for the fries might be from several years ago.

A nap was in order next… somehow, the last book I brought, “A Bar In Brooklyn — Novella & Stories 1970-1978” by Andrei Codrescu — who when I was in the zine business years ago we were on each others exchange list, just couldn’t make me stay awake. Mind you — I was in the zine business from 1980 or so until the mid 90’s. The collection (shameless self promotion) is the anthology edition of “Sign of the Times — A Chronicle of Decadence in the Atomic Age”. Of course this made me look for the Amazon link only to realize that I didn’t put it on their site and I still have two boxes left — I’ve taken to giving them out as birthday presents. Contact me if you want one. $10 and I’ll pay the shipping.

Dinner was pretty much a disaster — bad timing, under-cooked, then re-cooked Chicken Mole Verde, the corn was shot, had to do the beans as an afterthought, and generally the Sardina Cantina was looking good. OK — the bread and the salad were great.

Speaking of good, the Flaminco BBQ evening — the music was great, checked out the grill (after dinner) and it looked like they were pulling good things off it… oh well, next time.

Gnarlene is trying to hook up with “gordo”, a largest artist guy hawking his wares by the pool, I might just move to the over condo we have for the night, a studio for when we move tomorrow — got it a day early so we wouldn’t have to put everything (including groceries) in storage for four hours.

[? ? ?]