Umpteen Portland Visits

Maine, not Oregon, and the original Portland, according to Mainers. I started coming to this well-kept secret over 3 years ago, and in the middle of the coldest winter I've ever experienced, I still love this city. Favorite Maine Eats Part 1 Too many places to recall. I asked my bf if we could try Taco Trio, to which he replied, "We've been there!" Then later that night, his dad described my reaction to their salsa. So, from my pathetically diminishing memory, some recommendations, beginning with bakeries: Scratch Baking Co. Their BAGELS! Get in line before it opens. They will be gone in 20 minutes. Having lived in California for most of my life, I had no idea how bagels were supposed to taste. Then I moved to New York City, and despite my bias towards California's cuisines, bagels is one thing NYC does far better. And then I tried Maine's Scratch Baking Co.'s bagels. Unlike any bagel you'll ever try. I think New Yorkers drive, no, take the train to Maine just to get their hands on these heavenly chewey O's of dough. Standard Baking Co. 2nd time back today, and I'm loving their pastries. Just found out that co-founder Alison Pray is a semifinalist for the 2015 James Beard Outstanding Baker award, and I am tasting why. I could eat pear frangipane tarts and almond croissants for days, but theirs I'll take for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'll try to post about dinner restaurants with pictures within 2 years...

TV Season/Series Finales

With school stress behind me, I've spent an embarrassing amount of time catching up on TV including a few finales. Reactions to finales?

24 - LOVED this last season! Gratifying ending to the series and an apt good-bye to the self-sacrificing-walking-down-that-lonesome-road-all-by-yourself Jack Bauer.

Castle - I love Beckett. Loved, rather, until she ended things with Demming for the possibility of Castle. I hate Castle. Wuss for not manning up and telling Beckett.

Grey's - Okay, a shooter? Seriously?

Lost - Satisfactory. I guess I don't really need answers to every single unresolved question and mystery. At least it beats the Alias finale.

Brothers & Sisters - Noooooooooo!!! :'(

Private Practice - Again, nooooooo!!! Why does TV kill off the good guys? What, only selfish heartless bastards win?

Chuck - Chuck is the exception. Nice Chuck lives, and it would be unthinkable for him to screw anyone over. Chuck's father looks like he's related to Dawson Leery. I guess it was inevitable that spying had to include the entire family.

More Miami Meals

La Moon - Cheap Columbian burger joint. Dericious!!! Never had anything like it anywhere before. I've gone 4X now and ordered the corn appetizer & a different burger each time. What is in the sauce?! Can't figure it out. Like the arepa! And according to yelp, I shall try the perro next.

Pasha - So popular here, but I think it's really mediocre Mediterranean.

Fratelli La Bufala - European Italian chain, and the only US location is on Miami Beach. Great pizza! Buffalo cheese!

Why Miami really tries my patience:
Vicious mosquitos
Horrendous traffic
Illogical city planning
Rude, aggressive & inconsiderate driving
Over air conditioning
No free parking. Gah!
Expensive produce. Expensive food overall. $9.99 lb for cherries?!

Last post was in August 09?! Well, got time now since school is out! But I begin summer class...tomorrow. :P

Never-ending search for decent eats in Miami.

Coffee - Pasion del Cielo. The only choice besides Starbucks & Cuban coffee. Kick Starbucks out!!!
Sushi - Avant-Garde. Not traditional Japanese sushi (which I really, REALLY miss), but creative, original and beautiful rolls. Favorite dish: the tofu pocket. Of course, no one wants to try it because white people don't like tofu and are scared by the name, but it's the best thing on the menu. Miami sucks because no one likes raw fish, so the downside is that the chef limited only 10% of the rolls to have raw fish. BOO.
Ceviche - Ceviche 105. OMG AMAZING. Each time I tried ceviche, I didn't really care for it...until this Peruvian restaurant. I am now a believer of ceviche. If you come to Miami, remind me to take you here.
Cuban - none. I've really given it a fair chance to prove itself, but alas, Cuban food kinda sucks.
Korean - Have to drive to Ft. Lauderdale. Miami has no clue.
Chinese - none. No such thing as good Chinese food in Miami.

I ate at RA Sushi today, this ultra trendy joint in sunset. Only went because they have a happy hour menu that includes nigiri. But their rolls are naaaasty. And their tofu dish? I wanted to throw up. This might explain why white people in Miami don't like tofu. Restaurants can't create a decent tofu dish, giving tofu a bad rep.

The last 2 days are not helping my efforts of giving Miami a second chance. Everything just makes me ANGRY. I didn't think that I got angered easily, but I guess I was wrong. The oriental market charges $1.39 for an old, dirty, wilted bunch of green onion. It also charges $1.59 for tofu. Might as well buy it at Whole Foods. They don't sell meat, so I went to Publix, which doesn't sell the right cut of short ribs and refused to cut it for me. I asked the butcher where else I could find meat, and he didn't know. Big surprise. Running errands just take forever because the city is so damned packed. I can barely get down the grocery aisle with a shopping cart. Restaurant service is snail-paced, and I'm lucky if I make it out of dinner in 3 hours. And the driving, ohhh the traffic. Found a market that specializes in meat, but of course, had to pay for parking. Went to JV callbacks and found out that they changed the JV1 schedule which now conflicts with mine, so no JV this year. ARGH. Not a happy day.

1st few days back

much better than i had expected. thanks & praises:
-coming back to a beautiful, warm and loving family. it really feels like a home, a home i never had.
-company and new friends. not so lonely the 2nd time around.
-classes to look forward to
-reuniting with melinda and amy, sharing, visioning

i still really, really, really hate miami driving. it's worse than i remember. us-1. busy 2 lane streets. schools on every busy main road that require us to drive 15 mph. congestion. running red lights. inconsiderate pedestrians that slow down traffic even more by crossing whenever they please. no free parking. 5-way intersections. roundabouts. lights without sensors. protected lefts that only allow 2 or 3 cars to go. lack of protected lefts where necessary. ROARRRRRR!!! me, angry lion.

yet another adventure with the nissan altima

I had parked my car in front of a faculty member's house all summer. With the lightening storms coming through, their car that was parked right next to mine got STRUCK BY LIGHTENING. I could see the hole it made in the driveway. It damaged their car, so the prof started my car to make sure that mine was fine. It was. But when I arrived in Miami and called to pick up my car, he couldn't find the key. Uh oh. We searched high and low in the house & cars but to no avail. The next day, they called the tow truck company that towed the struck-by-lightening vehicle, and they had my key! It was attached to the spare that was given to them. Ayayaye - RELIEVED. Thankful for the lost but found key. Thankful that my car didn't get struck by lightening!

Relieved and tired. Got up at 6:30am - which felt like 3:30 - for what turned out to be a very long day of meetings. But I must praise the Lord! The 1st full day back in Miami turned out to be a good day. Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, good God.