Day 19: Waiting in Santa Barbara

January 19, 2015Ruel

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

January 18, 2015Ruel

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

January 17, 2015Ruel

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

Day 16: Good Day

January 16, 2015Ruel

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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.

Day 15: Two Things

January 15, 2015Ruel

My two favorite things right now: Peach Me Sweetea with honey boba at Tastea and the Serial podcast in my car. Life is good when I can enjoy both at the same time.

The tea drinks at Tastea are refreshing and although they tout their fresh and organic ingredients, something this delicious can’t be healthy. I’ve put off looking at the ingredients and the nutritional value list since I don’t want to be disappointed.

As for Serial: wow. It’s an incredible podcast detailing the real-life murder of a high school student by her ex-boyfriend. Things aren’t completely cut-and-dry, though, and Sarah Koenig does a fantastic job of telling the story over a dozen 30-minute-ish episodes. I was hooked within the first few minutes. Since my wife and I are all caught up with The Walking Dead, we’re now binge-listening Serial. I’d highly recommend listening to it, but if the subject matter is upsetting, then grab a drink at Tastea. Either way, you’ll be hooked.

Day 14: Bucket List

January 14, 2015Ruel

I don’t have an actual, physical Bucket List, but I do have one in my head that I like to update now and then. Last year I was able to scratch two things off at once: I saw the Big Rubber Duck and the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile.

My wife and I made our way down to the Port of Los Angeles. We’d scored free passes to the Tall Ships Festival from Yelp and we made the trek to see the ships, but mostly to see the Big Rubber Duck. It’s nothing but truth-in-advertising: it’s a big rubber duck. Everybody loved it and we were just two of the many people taking pictures with this large-size piece of silliness.

What we didn’t expect was the Weinermobile. I’d always hoped to see it on the freeway, but this was even better. After a few photos, we were satisfied with our two-for-one brush with over-sized novelty objects and called it a day.

Silly? Yes. Fun? Yes. Could I have lived a full life without ever seeing either? Of course. But it felt good to take two items off my Bucket List, nonetheless.

Not exactly the coolest pose, but I’m not sure how to look cool in front of a hot dog on wheels.

Day 13: Spare Change

January 13, 2015Ruel

That’s my spare change jar pictured above, which is actually a mug. I bought it years ago in a thrift store not because I was looking for a spare change jar, but because I enjoy San Miguel beer. I doubt it was ever used for a serving of San Miguel beer; it’s ugly, has a crack in the middle, and, seriously, could you imagine drinking out of that thing?

Over the years, though, it’s helped me do a lot of shopping.

At the end of every day, I empty my pockets and toss the loose change into my San Mig mug. When the mug is full, it’s off to my local Coinstar, where I pour the coins into the machine and a few minutes later an Amazon credit equal to my change is printed on a slip of paper. What’s great is that the normal Coinstar fee for counting coins is waived (usually around 9 percent), so I don’t lose anything for the service. Since I’m a regular Amazon shopper and a Prime member, I’m not paying for something I don’t normally use and shipping is free on most of my items.

The mug is usually good for about $60 in credit, so new books, Blu-rays, or whatever I need at the time are usually in hand a few days later. Perhaps one day I’ll replace my mug, but so far it’s treated me to quite a few mini-shopping-sprees. I can’t imagine getting rid of it … unless there’s a great deal on spare change mugs on Amazon.

Day 12: Cutting Cable

January 12, 2015Ruel

Image source: http://elbrooklyntaco.com/free-at-last/

My wife and I have saved thousands of dollars since we cut cable a few years ago. We love not paying for channels we never watch and since we’ve never made it a point to set a specific TV night, we can easily get by with a Netflix subscription and Youtube videos for our video entertainment. Actually, that’s not entirely true; we love watching Jeopardy during the week, so thankfully a cheap pair of rabbit ears brings in quality digital reception of Mr. Trebek. The antenna works for the major networks and lots of minor ones, too, so there’s always something available if the need arises.

The only thing I’ve missed are sports. ESPN, Fox, Time Warner, and other cable companies have most of the games now, with the major networks only showing weekly NFL and NBA games (and the playoffs). I could subscribe to league passes, but I don’t have enough time to watch anyways.

I thought losing out on sports after we cut cable would be tough, but my favorite teams (Lakers and Raiders) are mired in mediocrity (and worse) these days. And thankfully I like listening to the Dodgers on the radio; I’m one generation removed from when listening to baseball was the rule, not the exception. As thrilling as it is to see the web gems on ESPN, I’m perfectly content listening to Vin Scully make the call.

This link is to an easy-to-use calculator to find out exactly how much money you’ll save by cancelling your cable TV service and replacing it with Netflix or other services. With so many streaming options available, there’s been no better time to do so.

Day 11: Pictures for Soul Sunday

January 11, 2015Ruel

I’m feeling the effects of watching the NFL playoffs: my brain is mush and my body is antsy. I just can’t do these marathon sessions in front of the TV anymore. Unless it’s watching shows about zombies, of course.

So, today’s post will simply be three photos that make me feel good. I took each one during this past year using the camera on my Nexus 5 (thanks to HDR+ and Auto Awesome for making my photos look halfway decent).

Three pictures to rejuvenate myself; it’s good for my soul on this Sunday.

1. Latte art. Klatch Coffee, Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

2. Atrium in the Georgina Cole Library, Carlsbad, CA.

3. View from Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara, CA.

Day 10: Minor League, Major Fun

January 10, 2015Ruel

Since moving to the Inland Empire years ago, I’ve become a minor league sports fan, thanks to the close proximity of two excellent franchises: the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and the Ontario Fury. I’ll write about the Quakes as we get closer to baseball season. For now, I’ll focus on the Fury.

The Fury began playing in Ontario in 2013 as part of the Professional Arena Soccer League (re-branded as the Major Arena Soccer League for the 2014-15 season). My wife bought tickets for my birthday last year and I was instantly hooked: it was soccer on fast-forward, with lots of action and an unexpected dose of physical play. What I appreciated most was that the Fury might be a minor league team, but the experience was as good as any major league sport. They play home games at Citizens Bank Arena, which is a diminutive version of the modern sports arena, with all of the amenities of the big leagues, yet better sight lines due to its smaller size. Like other minor league teams, the Fury offer a family-friendly event; local businesses sponsor giveways and silly halftime contests.

Last night we had VIP seating, compliments of my wife’s win in a Fury social media contest. She thought we’d won general admission seating and as an usher showed us to our seats, we were pleasantly surprised when we were seated at front-row, glass-side tables and had access to the VIP bar area. I enjoyed my beverage as we rooted for the Fury as they held off the Harrisburg Heat, 10-9. My favorite moment? Former UCSB Gaucho Tino Nunez scoring on an awesome bicycle kick. It was a major league play, no matter what jersey you’re wearing.

Note: I’ve tried for years to like hockey, but it’s just not for me. However, I should note that the Ontario Reign, the local minor league hockey team is highly regarded as well. Since they’re affiliated with the Los Angeles Kings and I love all things L.A., I’ll eventually get around to seeing them.

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