Musings From New York

Trader Vic's

The dinner I had tonight has got to be the best one I've had in a YEAR. Also suffice it to say that I have had 2 very, VERY large, and VERY strong rum drinks in funny shaped glasses. You know that's dangerous, livin' on the edge shit y'all.

I had this barbequed duck dish ... I sincerely hope that the duck went to the big pond in the sky for bringing so much joy to the world. At the very least, I hope his wish to be reincarnated as a swan came true. An hour later, and I can still taste the .... oh, so heavenly taste of barbequed duck. This duck was like the Uncle Scrooge of duckydom - rich. This duck was definitely no quack.

Rob's Birthday

Had a bit of an office party yesterday, for Rob's 50th birthday party. We went to a bar immediately after work ... Somewhere on 47th, between Lexington & 3rd (I forget the name). Had a drink there, before moving down to a restaurant on 20th & Park - The Sushi Sambo (something like that). We popped open the champagne, and had a few bottle of sake too. The place was some sort of weird Sushi/Mexican fusion or something.

From R-L: Mike Long, Gavin Allen, Phil Brooks, Lynne Chippendale, Rob Chippendale, An Extremely Handsome Chap, Lisa (dunno the last name), and Blaine Pryce

Anyway, we let the waiter serving us custom-create a menu consisting of .. oh, a gajillion courses. I've learnt one thing - you know you're in an upper-class restaurant when the plate is roughly 10 to 15 times the size of the serving portion! That's why I treat in places like Chinese Mirch, where the whole plate is chock-full of steaming goodness - they measure satisfaction by the pound there! =p

After dinner we went to a bar just up the road ... I left kinda early. I wasn't feeling that good, and got rained on a bit as well. So now, I'm at home, trying to nuke a fever with multiple Tylenols!

Update: Just kidding about it being the 50th birthday! It was his 43rd or so.

Musings From Dallas

I flew into Dallas last night. I thought to myself, "Hey, Texas has to be better than snowy New York!" Was I ever disappointed. It's 50F here ... stormy, too!

I'm staying at the Westin Park Central ... and by my reckoning, it's been about 10 years since I stayed in a hotel better than Days Inn. Frankly, as long as I have a clean room, comfy bed, and a TV to doze to, I'm not really bothered about how many stars a hotel has :-) ... Nonetheless, I was tripping to the extreme to be staying in a hotel like this!

I also went to Benihana's for the first time last night. Unfortunately, we didn't get any entertainment out of our table's cook. He looked like he was auditioning for the part of Oscar on Sesame Street. The food was alright - I had the Marina dish, and suffered a fish-overdose. I should've taken the Shrimp/Chicken combo.

I'm meeting up with Sachin tonight. Marriage doesn't seem to have changed him much - he told me to come to Dallas in the summer to see the real sights. ;-)

Musings From San Diego Cont.

I've just returned from a night about town. Although San Diego's downtown is spread across a 4 block radius, it's got a lot of restaurants and bars crammed into a small space!

While we waited for Visa to show up (he drove in from Irvine), Divya baked a double layered cake (to which I applied generous quantities of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, and edible lettering to commemorate Roy's birthday & GMAT score). After Roy showed up, we did the usual birthday song, bumps, and cake stuffing.

The Birthday Boy

The night started at a Chinese fusion restaurant called Blue Ginger - be warned, even though they said they were open till 2am, they only meant the bar. The restaurant closed at 10:30. And we landed up at 10! So dinner was a bit rushed, but let me recommend the Red Dragon #3 cocktail (I didn't have it, but both Prashanth & Divya highly recommend it).

At The Blue Ginger (Why Do People Always Close Their Eyes??)

After a couple of hours of amusement from a very happy Divya, we moved down the street to a Latino bar called Sevilla. Expensive drinks, which never had much effect!

Anyway, we're back at the apartment, still awake, and probably going to start playing cards or something.

I'll be off to Old Town tomorrow morning before the game.

In Preparation of Next Week's Game

If anyone's enthu-ed enough to bake and make icing ... this should be a hit at any Superbowl party!

Wow!

Gowri sent me this absolutely massive birthday cake ... tiramisu, I believe.

I don't think I've had cake on my birthday since I was .... 17, I think! Mom always baked one.

Thanks a ton, Gowri!

Merry Christmas!

Ho ho ho!

In honor of the festive season, here's a recipie for Christmas Fruitcake that someone forwarded me (might be online at some site, I dunno!)

1 cup water
1 cup of sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups dried fruit
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
lemon juice
nuts
1 gallon whiskey

Sample the whiskey to check for quality.
Take a large bowl.
Check the whiskey again to be sure it is of the highest quality.
Pour one level cup and drink.
Repeat.
Turn on the electric mixer; beat 1 cup butter  in a large, fluffy bowl. Add 1 teaspoon sugar and beat again.
Make sure the whiskey is still OK.
Cry another tup. Turn off mixer. Break 2 legs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Mix on the turner.
If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers,  pry it loose with a drewscriver.
Sample the whiskey to check for tonsisticity.
Next, sift 2 cups of salt. Or something, Who cares.
Check the whiskey.
Now sift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.
Add one table. Spoon. Of sugar or something. Whatever you can find.
Grease the oven. Turn the cake tin to 350 degrees.
Don't forget to beat off the turner.
Throw the bowl out of the window.
Check the whiskey again.
Go to bed.
Who the hell likes fruitcake anyway?