The Weekender

Sunday, July 30, 2006

WHATA BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!

Yes, i'm goin to be another year older in the next couple of days and lucky ol' me it lands on a weekday. So to celebrate, Awsome had a surprise for me this weekend. I love surprises!!!

We started the weekend off by going to a concert at Bimbo's Thursday night to see Corrine Bailey Rae!!! This was my first time at this venue and this one's pretty nice. I thought the Warfield was pretty close and intimate but this is even closer. We didn't get there early enough to grab a table but we ended up standing on the dance floor which was a way better view of this fabulous singer. The sound in this venue is really good too... You know how you sometimes go to these concerts and the music drowns out the singer...Not in this case. If you haven't heard this artists songs yet, and I know my better half keeps pluggin her like crazy...take a listen....

Saturday morning came, and i'm in suspense. I didn't show my excitement since of course I didn't wanna work up the surprise, only to find out it was to go to Marine World Africa U.S.A!!!! hahhahahah remember that?? j/k Awsome. No, if it was Marine World Six Flags, it would have been just a good of a surprise cause then I could have my FUNNEL CAKE!!!

As we left Crockett, yes that last exit before the Vallejo Bridge, we started to get hungry. So we decided to hit up Ling Nam in V-town, but low and behold it's been bought and given a new name... Waah Naan Noodle House. Still serving rice plates etc..but it's expanded it's menu. Don't worry folks who still love Ling Nam. The one on Gellert still exists....I think???? The food wasn't bad, although the steamed pork bun was oooooooooooooook.

We're off on our journey, on the 37 and we pass up Marine World. So I guess that wasn't my surprise.... We're headed towards Napa...THE OUTLET!!!! No that wasn't it either.... We keep headed North on the 29 and i'm thinking ...St. Helena??? Calistoga??? We finally hang a right in Yountville.... THE VILLAGIO???? No that wasn't a misspelling folks..there's such a place... We finally park the truck and we're at Petit Logis Inn. Oh man, this is such a cute place and there's HELLA ROOM! Take a look at the website and you can see a few pix of the rooms and bathrooms. I think the only thing that might have been missing is the usual wine and cheese from 4pm-6pm or something like that. This place doesn't have a communal lobby for everyone to gather. But we did have our own little patio in front which was really cute. We sat out last night, shooting the breeze before goin to bed.

It's only 12pm and usually check-in time is around 3pm, but luckily our room was ready for us and brought our bags in. We're in the middle of everything. Right next door was a restaurant and bakery that was recommended to me called Bouchon!!!!! OMG...this bakery is to DIE FOR!!! VOODOO...YOU MUST GO!!!! The madellines, ecclairs, brioche etc..the list goes on.... Once you taste their pastries, nothing compares!!! Hopefully next time we'll be able to try the restaurant.

We decided to walk down the road since their main street is really small. Well at least what I could make out of it. I would really recommend taking a stroll just cause you'll have little discoveries like French Laundry , which has its own little vegetable and herb garden across the street. We even ate a few of their plums. hee hee hee

We kept walking and finally ended up at Washington Square. As we were discovering all the little corners of this little plaza, Awsome led me up some stairs to a spa and here's my 2nd surprise!!!!! The Veranda Club Spa. I encouraged him to get a treatment himself. Lucky him, the owner called around and found him a therapist. Awsome treated me to a massage, jurlique facial and a scalp revitalizer. WHAT A SAMPLER! Although he didn't request a female for me, I assured him that I would be okay with it, and luckily I did get a female. I haven't had a deep tissue in a long time since I always get a stone massage so this was different. I still enjoyed the whole experience although the scalp revitalizer was interesting. I came out of there not needing to teese out or scrunch my hair. hee hee hee

Aw man..so after the spa, I didn't wanna move anymore or even walk back to our inn, but we had to get back somehow right? We rested some more and my last surprise was next....dinner at Bistro Jeanty!!! Oh man, this was a two hour dinner and it was sooooooooooo good. Our starters was a tomato soup served in a pastry and pike dumplings in a lobster sauce!!!! Both of these were AWSOME! The soup was like having a pizza soup ! hee hee hee After this, we were already full and we could have just gone to dessert. Our main course was Coq au Vin w/ buttery egg noodles and the braised short ribs. It was my first time having Coq au Vin so I thought it was okay. I'm not sure if that's how it was suppose to taste. We had to pepper and salt it. So I think I have to try it elsewhere to really give it an honest rating. But Awsome's braised short ribs were HELLA GOOD!!! Luckily, Awsome and I have this trademark when we go out and eat, it's either share a dish or we switch half way through. Lastly, for dessert we ordered the chocolate mousse creme brulee and a side of vanilla ice cream. This was HEAVEN!!!! This creme brulee tops the espresso creme brulee we had at NOLA's in New Orleans.

Awsome really outdid himself....THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! 143!!! =) I should also mention it was also our 3rd monthaversary!!! hee hee hee.. Yes we're cheese like that! But yes..if you're ever in Yountville or passing through I would definitely stop by for some desserts or breads at Bouchon and have dinner at Bistro Jeanty or having a spa treatment at Veranda!!! Hope you all had a great weekend!!

posted by The Weekender @ 6:57 PM 0 comments

Monday, July 24, 2006

So another siting! I swear West Oakland is never dull. A naked person riding his bike in the middle of the street. No this wasn't in the morning, but in the afternoon. At least it was warm right? You think he tried cooling off? And it wasn't even Bay to Breakers???

So did I catch your attention yet? Hee hee hee , so what did the Weekender and Awsome do this weekend? LOTS! But I won't bore you w/ all the little errands we did, but I will tell you one event that brought me back to my little hay days of running to all the Bay Area Events. We finally hit up the free outdoor concert in the park at Dolores Park in San Francisco. The music was provided by the San Francisco Symphony . I believe this was their 4 year doing this.

We had left Oakland kinda late since we had to have brunch at Buttercup which is located on Broadway, close to Jack London Square. It's pretty good actually. It doesn't look so hot from the outside, but so far they have some pretty good Belgian Waffles and Country Fried Steak and Eggs. Pretty friendly staff too. We've only been their twice and we were already getting grilled by the staff for not being around more often. Talk about remembering faces. hahahha Anyways, back to my travel plans, so since we left Oakland late, there was goin to be mad traffic tryin to get to the bridge, but luckily we just go through West Oakland and hop onto the Fast Trak Lane and we're on the bridge. So I had told Awsome, if we find parking, we're goin, but if I don't ..then we're outtie.... If you folks know this area, you know parking is a $%*@#! People end up parkin against the island only to find a ticket on their dash when they come back. Luckily, we found parking about 3 blocks away on our first try.

After walking in 85 degree heat, we finally got to the park. We could hear the symphony playing about a block away. What a wonderful sound it was? Now i've been to symphonies before, but it's totally different listening to classical music in the open and in street clothes. hahahha... Once we got to park, we were immediately trying to find shade and THE ICE CREAM MAN! These guys pushing their little white carts with stickers all over showing the different popsicles and ice cream bars, made a ton I think? $1.25 for a popsicle???? DANG!!! I remember when it was just 50 cents??? Welp we couldn't find any shade w/ a nice view of the orchestra so we just planted ourselves down 100 feet from them. It was nice to be out and about again and people watch. And of course what we saw were over burnt Caucasians, bare torsos w/ nipple rings, women in bikinis sunbathing themselves and people that just don't know how to dress for these kinds of events. You don't be wearing clunky high heels w/ a silk blouse and rayon skirt trying to hike up and down the park??? Some peeps still tryin to pimp???? I have to admit, Awsome and I were almost prepared, wearing summerwear and of course a hat, forgot the sunscreen( luckyily we didn't get burnt, well Awsome did a little) but we forgot the blanket to lay over the grass so your booty doesn't get wet or you don't get grass stains???? Luckily, where we sat was dry... Thank god!

Anyhow, the finale of the concert was Tchaikovsky's monumental 1812 Overture. It was BEAUTIFUL! It's a common piece that we must have heard in a Looney Tunes cartoon or in a movie. Sorry I don't have a link to it, but i'm sure you can find it on the net and take a listen. So what's your plans this weekend???

posted by The Weekender @ 9:02 PM 0 comments

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Oooooooooooooook what a way to wake up in the morning. Can I just tell you!!!

Since I live in Oakland now, i've had to change a couple of things. Not only have I had to change my license and contact a bunch of folks of my new name and address but I've had to change my work schedule. Yeah... 8am - 5pm is a pretty good schedule, but not when you're havin to cross that Bay Bridge. You would think leaving at 6:30 am would be a pretty good time for me to leave. An hour before I start right. Well only if' you'd like to creep into the Fast Trak lane and not cross that toll plaza for another 30 minutes and then once you get goin on that bridge, there's a car stalled due to they thought they could make it thru the bridge being on E ( no not the drug ) but E as being EMPTY gas tank.

So what have I done to make my new living and commute arrangements easier on The Weekender..... I've changed my schedule to 7am - 4pm. Even better!!! Well kinda... although I get a little more day light and maybe I can hit up the post office and banks before they close, it means i've gotta get up even earlier and go to bed early as well.... What time you may ask? 5 am folks!!! Well 5 am to alarm and 5:30 am to really get out of bed and be out the door or garage at least by 6am. And what time am I yawning, by 9pm. Yes..can't be hangin out too late anymore..

It's been nice so far, especially since it's summer break. I just noticed how much nicer the commute is. Well I've gotta tell you that just the other day, I was really sleepy still and I was driving my normal route to get to the toll plaza, which consists of city streets and driving thru West Oakland. So as I turned the corner, I noticed this lady or man or man lookin like a lady, whom i've seen before, weeks before but on another block. I was like...oh man..it's that Transexual Prostitute again.... What the hell??? yes 6am folks! They're still out there... Yes, for them longshoreman getting off of work. ( so i've been told by a pretty reliable souce ) Yes I guess they sometimes need a treat after a long nights work right??? hee hee hee Anyhow as I drove closer towards her or shim....WOH DANG!!! Shim BOOBS were hanging out of her scoop neck spandex shirt!!!!! WTH!!!!!! HILARIOUS!!! So yes...that confirms it....shim is a she...but a BIG SHE!!!! Let's just say this sighting totally woke me up.... I swear...never a dull moment out here in the East Bay....

posted by The Weekender @ 9:36 PM 0 comments

A report on the trends, the sights and weekend nights in San Francisco, now written from Oakland!

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