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Sunday, March 8, 2009

Good fun.

Friday, another one of those "good food, good music, good company" days. After utterly failing at taking Varsity Softball pictures, I headed out to Long Beach with Sarah and Kyle to check out Johnny Reb's on Sarah's recommendation. I guess calling her by only her first name is significant somehow. So here, Sarah. You are on a first name basis with my blog. And since Kyle's going to be reading this too, hello Mr. Sophomore President.

Moving on.

Johnny Reb's is located in sort of a seedy area of Long Beach, but that did little to stop us. The interior is amusingly decorated with license plates, college pennants, and other knickknacks. On each table is a bucket of peanuts that you are free to eat at your pleasure.

We started with some Fried Okra with Ranch, which was the first time I'd had the dish. Fried vegetables are instantly more palatable than raw veggies.
Johnny Reb's

Johnny Reb's has possibly the best brisket that I've had in California. Really. Many places cook it on the dry side, but Reb's kept it nice and moist. Their sauce was also interesting. Instead of a vinegar or smoky flavor being the focus of the sauce, the tomato flavor really shone through. Not a huge fan of that, but it was still great, nonetheless. The mac and cheese was solid. Hearty, with generous amounts of melted cheese that carried decent heft as I lifted it with my fork. The mashed potatoes were typical, but the chicken gravy was heavy on the black pepper and delicious. Sadly, the dish couldn't pull it's way all the way through. It failed on the cornbread, which was tasteless. But corn bread aside, I was delighted by the meal as a whole.
Johnny Reb's

Finished off dinner with a shared peach cobbler a la mode. It was normal. Nothing spectacular. Good, but not great.
Johnny Reb's

Service was friendly but slow-as-molasses. But the sound of clucking chickens in the bathroom made up for it.

The three of us then wandered along streets and freeways, ending up in Artesia, then Cerritos. Turns out that Little India is a block or two away from Guppy's. Then we wandered around the hills of PV, enjoying a view or two and running through open fields in the dark of night. Sarah then lost her car keys in the grass for a moment. Fail.

Sarah then dropped me off at In-and-Out, where I was supposed to meet this kid. Picture by Min.
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He's back from college for Spring Break! Cool. So we hung out, like we always do.

And somewhere in between, I met all the Torrance and West High Boys' State delegates. We caught up, which was definitely nice.

Played Monopoly at my place in an effort to revert back to a childlike state.
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The girls left, Scott slept over, life went on.

Saturday: I missed the CIF Finals for Girls' Soccer. And to top it off, we won. And even worse: Sarah and Kyle went to Five Guys. Damn.

But instead, I went out to Pasadena to meet one of my favorite cousins who's a physical therapist out there. Turns out the gym where he works gets people like Eminem and Monica Lewinski. Ha. Random.

Oh! And meet my nephew. He's gonna be awesome. And I'm gonna be an awesome uncle.
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Well we went out for a family lunch at The Boiling Crab, which is a Southern-styled seafood place. It's great, besides the long wait.

Because you see, you order your choice of seafood by the pound, select your seasoning, and level of spiciness. You are then served a clear plastic bag filled with aforementioned seafood, boiled and ready to go. You get corn on the cob if you ask nicely. I had been craving a good crawfish boil since Friday, so we got that. Plus some shrimp. Succulent, spicy, delicious. And a terrible amount of fun to break open and eat.
The Boiling Crab
I loved how the corn soaked up all the juices :D

Also got some fried catfish, which was moist, flaky, and had a light fried outside. Definitely made up for the sorry excuse for fish that I ate at Lucille's last weekend.
The Boiling Crab

And here is the aftermath of my seafood massacre. Oh baby.
The Boiling Crab

Said our goodbyes, then I came home. Took care of some business, then went to a special someone's house for a dinner of short ribs, green beans with bacon, and mashed potatoes. I swear, her dad is an amazing cook. Gah!! Also makes for some fun dinner conversations.

Went to watch Watchmen (haha redundant), and got a ticket for way later thinking that there would be a line. There wasn't, so we went to Koraku to get some dessert to top off the lovely dinner we had before.
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Yum yum custard.

Went back to the theater, got carded several times to prove that we weren't little kids, then watched the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Quite good, if not a bit on the long side. Thankfully, I was so engaged by the movie that I didn't even notice.

And now, I'm here at home, finishing off the last of my Girl Scout Cookies. Must buy more.

That is all.

10 comments:

  1. D: i wanted to go to the soccer game too but i didn't really know anyone who was going.

    what happens now? does it just end?

    ReplyDelete
  2. D: i wanted to go to the soccer game too but i didn't really know anyone who was going.

    what happens now? does it just end?

    ReplyDelete
  3. My mom laughed at me so much when I told her I got carded three times xD

    ReplyDelete
  4. My mom laughed at me so much when I told her I got carded three times xD

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jeff: now they go to state. I think.

    Ashley: haha just wait tip you get old enough that you want to be carded XD

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jeff: now they go to state. I think.

    Ashley: haha just wait tip you get old enough that you want to be carded XD

    ReplyDelete
  7. YOUR NEPHEW!

    he's so cute! ^^ look at his hair! it's like.. poof! *gestures wildly*

    i love babies... =]

    ReplyDelete
  8. YOUR NEPHEW!

    he's so cute! ^^ look at his hair! it's like.. poof! *gestures wildly*

    i love babies... =]

    ReplyDelete
  9. buy girl scout cookies from Dani Chang!

    ReplyDelete
  10. buy girl scout cookies from Dani Chang!

    ReplyDelete