Author: Ruel

Day 25: Happy Hour

image

Now this is my idea of a relaxing Sunday evening: a Stone IPA for me and a mojito for the missus. Happy Hour at Paul Martin’s runs every day, including weekends, from 3-8pm. After being cooped up in the house all day, this was a terrific night out.

This is the Fleming’s owner’s other restaurant, so our expectations were high. Thankfully, the experience was top-notch all around. The craft beer choices were solid and the food was tasty. Get the $13 Burger + Fries + Beer special and you’ll be happy any day of the week.

Day 24: Game On … Continued

Epidemic card from Pandemic. This is bad.

Epidemic card from Pandemic. This is bad.

As I wrote here, I received my copy of Pandemic last night and was excited to play. This weekend turned out to be busier than I thought, but I finally played a few solo games tonight. I love the game mechanics; the sequence of actions is pretty straightforward and there aren’t dice to roll or huge charts to consult during each turn. I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out as it was designed, as a 2-4 player cooperative game.

I’m enjoying Pandemic so much that I’m in full-on geek mode right now, shopping for appropriately themed accessories to hold the game pieces (great idea, Tabletop!) or “Zombie Outbreak Response Team” shirts to wear while playing. Currently, I have no plans to enroll in medical school to learn how to fight infectious diseases … yet.

Day 23: Game On

Pandemic Game Board

Pandemic Game Board

Two days ago I did something I hadn’t done in eons: I bought a board game. As my wife and I were about to finish the first half of season five of The Walking Dead, we wondered how we would get our zombie fix until the new episodes were released. Although I enjoyed Dead Trigger and hadn’t downloaded Dead Trigger 2 yet, they’re still first-person shooter games that don’t offer  multi-player modes. We had fun playing Zombie Dice with our niece and nephew, but were looking for something a bit more challenging. A quick Google search offered plenty of zombie-related fun and we settled on the board game Pandemic.

While not exactly a zombie game, Pandemic’s theme is pre-zombie apocalypse: you and your team are trying to prevent infectious diseases from spreading and killing off the Earth’s population. You travel around the world, treating diseases and trying to discover a cure before it’s too late. The diseases aren’t named, but in our games one of them is definitely a strain of Zombie-itis.

What interested me the most is Pandemic’s cooperative game-play: two to four players play together, trying to beat the game. You share resources and do what’s best for the team, instead of trying to out-maneuver or out-wit your opponents. There are no advantages to withholding resources or trying to sabotage a teammate. There are various ways to lose, but only one way to win: cure all the diseases. It’s only possible if your team works well together.

Last night I watched the Pandemic episode of Tabletop, Wil Wheaton’s Youtube gaming show, trying to get a feel for the game. I also watched the instructional video on the Pandemic website and with these two videos, I felt like I had a good grasp of the rules and game play.

During a meeting this afternoon, I received the Amazon notification that the game had arrived. Yes! When I got home, I tore open the package, checked to make sure the game was complete, reviewed the rules, and set up the board.

It’s time to save the world.

Day 22: Ice Cream on a Cold Night

Handel's $1.25 scoop

Handel’s $1.25 scoop

There’s nothing better than a scoop of ice cream on a cold night. Over at Handel’s they serve scrumptious ice cream every day of the week, but my favorite day to visit is Thursday, when all single scoops are $1.25 each (normally $3.70).

According to their website, Handel’s originated in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1945. Although most of their stores are in Ohio, they’ve slowly added locations in several states and they have three spots in California: Rancho Cucamonga, Redondo Beach, and Upland.

Handel’s was ranked No. 1 ice cream by National Geographic’s 10 Best of Everything guide and it’s easy to see why. Every flavor I’ve had is fresher and creamier than other ice creams. While I’ll always be a fan of Thrifty’s Chocolate Malted Crunch, it doesn’t compare to the heavenly flavors at Handel’s. My two personal favorites: Blueberry Cobbler and Spouse Like a House (pictured above, it is a satisfying vanilla malt ice cream with peanut butter ripple and chocolate covered pretzels filled with peanut butter).

There are over 100 flavors that change daily and for regular readers of this blog: no, I will not be adding a Try Every Flavor at Handel’s to my 2015 goals. There aren’t enough cold nights in Southern California for that.

Day 21: Read, You Must

Read and the Force is with you

Read and the Force is with you

Is it really the 21st day of the year already? I’m in catch-up mode with a few of my goals for 2015. Today I finished the first of 26 books I’m trying to read in the next 12 months. Last year, I had the same goal and far exceeded it, reading 48 total. It’s the most I’d read since my college days and you can see the results of my 2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge here.

The last book I read was the terrific How Star Wars Conquered the Universe by Chris Taylor. It’s a Star Wars fan’s dream, a well-researched look at how Star Wars became an international phenomenon. For this year’s challenge, I decided to start with another Star Wars title. I began the final entry in The Thrawn Trilogy, but after a few chapters it sat on my shelf for two weeks; I just haven’t been in the mood, so I’ll pick it up again someday. In the meantime, I stopped by my local library and borrowed the graphic novel Star Wars: Rebel Heist. I didn’t really care for Rebel Heist (read my review here), but I’m glad I’ve got the first of 26 books read.

 

Day 20: Oink Oink

The Oinkster, Pho Ha

The Oinkster, Pho Ha

Just one of the many reasons why I love living in Southern California: dinner can be a pastrami burger one night and a bowl of pho the next. It’s exactly what my wife and I had yesterday and today, as seen above.

After sitting out traffic last night, we made it to The Oinkster for a late dinner. It’s one of our favorite spots in the area and even after being hyped on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives a few years ago, the restaurant consistently delivers amazing food. Kudos to Chef/Owner Andre Guerrero for maintaining such high standards. Last night I finally tried The Royale, which is a chili cheeseburger with bacon and several slices of The Oinkster’s famous house-cured pastrami. I typically get a pastrami sandwich, but after being in the car for much of the day, I was famished. The Royale was enormous and bursting with flavors and ingredients. Served with crispy Belgian fries, the burger nearly put me in a food coma before we could get back on the road.

Tonight, neither of us felt like cooking and the day turned out to be colder than we thought, so we decided to get a bowl of pho. It’s been great seeing so many pho joints open in the Inland Empire, since most are good and it saves us a trip to the San Gabriel Valley (my personal Mecca of Asian food in Southern California). Tonight we went to Pho Ha in Rancho Cucamonga. It’s always busy here and the service is meh, but the pho is always hot and delicious.

No plans yet for tomorrow’s dinner, but living in Southern California I know we’ll have plenty of options.

Day 19: Waiting in Santa Barbara

IMG_20150119_182523

Santa Barbara Roasting Company

Monday, 6:30pm: I’m at the Santa Barbara Roasting Company, waiting out traffic. It’s not a bad place to be stuck, actually: weekend destination for many, close to the wineries in the Santa Ynez Valley, and home to my alma mater.

I could write volumes on Santa Barbara: my love/hate relationship with the city, the good times, the bad times, and all of the friends I made over the years. Going to school and living here for years after graduating changed my life. I met a lot of wonderful people along the way, but when fate and circumstance convened years ago, I did not hesitate to move away.

Still, I’ll always consider Santa Barbara my home away from home. It’s changed a lot since I was a resident, but in many ways it’s the same. I still have friends here, but my closest friends are long gone. They were my last two roommates before I moved to the Inland Empire. We had a lot of fun together and whenever I visit this part of downtown, I think about them.

I remember one night we were downtown for dinner. Whether it was a pre-bar-hopping dinner or not, I don’t recall, but I’ll never forget what we had that night: pizza. Uncle Rocco’s was our spot then; we loved their big, thin New York pizzas. We each ordered a slice and I beat both of my buddies to the red pepper shaker, knowing that we all loved the added spiciness. I probably gloated a bit over my victory in the Great Red Pepper Race of 2006. No, I definitely gloated over getting the shaker first.

I then proceeded to dump the entire shaker’s contents onto my slice.

Thanks to some jokester who’d loosened the jar’s top, what was meant to be a few shakes to spice up my slice ended up being a single shake that unleashed an avalanche of red pepper onto my plate. My pizza was buried underneath, like a team of explorers meeting their destiny on Everest.

My buddies couldn’t stop laughing for what seemed like hours. I cleaned up my dinner and our table, laughing along with them. It’s nearly ten years later and I’m still laughing.

Day 18: Rest and Relaxation

IMG_20141012_082154-EFFECTS

San Bernardino Golf Club

 

After a long day yesterday, I caught up on my rest and relaxation today. I had lunch with the family at the local Indian buffet, watched the Seahawks-Packers game (incredible!) and the Pats-Colts game (boo!), then started to catch up on The Walking Dead. Season 5 got off to a bang and I’m looking forward to being up-to-date with the series.

I’m still a bit worn out, though, so today’s blog will be short and sweet. Pictured above is a scene that always helps me relax: an afternoon at the golf course. The photo is from the San Bernardino Golf Club, a course that is one of the easier ones in the Inland Empire. If I’m going to reach my goal of breaking 100 this year, the SBGC will probably be the place I do it. At the very least, it’ll be a relaxing place to try.

Note: My photo was all tricked out by the geniuses at Google’s Auto Awesome.

Day 17: Asian American Expo

Alex Goh's Dragon Whiskers

Alex Goh’s Dragon Whiskers

I took my family to the 34th Asian American Expo in Pomona, California, today. We arrived at the Fairplex around 11am and I was suddenly reminded why I haven’t been to the L.A. County Fair in 25+ years. I enjoy events like these, but the enormity of this trade show, with the amount of people and the high levels of volume, was some serious sensory overload.

Still, it was great to see so many Asian and Asian American businesses and organizations at the fairgrounds today (day one of the two-day event). I would’ve loved to have seen the Filipino American community represented here, though; Jolibee would’ve been a perfect addition to the festivities. There were also lots of cultural activities and we were able to take in a martial arts demonstration and a hula performance.

Like the thousands of our fellow AsianAmExpo attendees, our first stop was the food hall. There was booth after booth of food exhibitors and we sampled until we were full. From curry to sriracha, cookies to juices, there was something for everyone.

What made my day, though, was seeing Alex Goh make his Dragon Whiskers candy. That’s him pictured above, after taking a single strand of honey and water in cornstarch, and transforming it into thousands of whisker-like strands. He then wraps a mixture of peanuts and sesame in the whiskers, for a light, semi-sweet treat that’s unique and melt-in-your-mouth good. My family and I have had Goh’s candy before, but we’ve never seen him make them in person, so this was a real treat.

Even after noshing on ramen, barbecued squid, boba drinks, and my first ramenburger (pictured below; it was good, but didn’t live up to the hype) at the outdoor food festival, the Dragon Whiskers were the highlight. It’s not every day that you get to see how the magic happens.

Ramenburger

Ramenburger

Day 16: Good Day

10933978_10204632195398743_6435675650711386542_n

Pupusas y curtido.

As the song goes, today was a good day: I saw the critically acclaimed Selma and ate pupusas for dinner.

Selma lived up to the hype and it’s a shame that it was only nominated for two Academy Awards. David Oyelowo was mesmerizing as Martin Luther King, Jr. I came into the film thinking it would be more of a biographical movie, but as its title suggests, it focused on the Selma-to-Montgomery march for voting rights. It’s a more expansive look at the event and there were several characters involved, but it was Oyelowo’s King that tied everything together. Regardless of the snub by the Academy, it’s a worthwhile and important film.

Speaking of Oscar-worthy films, I’m falling behind in my quest to watch all 100 AFI Greatest American Films of All Time: only one seen and it’s almost three weeks into January. I wanted to pace myself with two films each week, so it looks like I’ve got some catching up to do before the end of the month.

Finally, pictured above was our dinner after the movie, from the terrific Pupuseria Dona Maria in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. It’s a humble, family-run Salvadoran restaurant that serves delicious pupusas, which are thick corn tortillas that contain various fillings. Our favorite is the pupusa revuelta; it’s filled with a tasty mixture of chicharrones and cheese. Topped with the house-made salsa and curtido (a cabbage relish), the pupusa is the perfect way to end any Friday night.