Vail, not Vale.

I've been spelling the name of this wonderful mountain town incorrectly for the past week. I fail. Wow. That's kind of embarrassing. But anyways, for those few of you who actually care, Vail is lovely. The air is fresh and crisp, the food tasty, the people rich and snooty, and the snow fluffy.

Here's how my day went...

This was my view for a good 2.5 hours. Notice the Sausage McGriddle stuffed into the pocket in front of me.


I arrived at the airport. This sign made me strongly aware of the fact that I was no longer in So Cal.


Heh. and there were these giant painted paper airplanes following me around. Pretty cool.


Picked up the rental car, and went off to meet my old Kumon teacher who moved out here a little while ago. I'm in Denver, and somehow I end up at a Korean place. Figures. But I did enjoy a nice lunch.

What do robots eat? Bibimbap. Har har har. Fob joke.


Drove off and arrived at the hotel called Austria Haus. It's so amazingly cozy! There's even a fireplace and some overstuffed chairs in the lobby :D


Now, Vail has a series of tiny little alpine-esque villages that I'm thoroughly enjoying exploring. One such gem was this restaurant called Lancelot, where we went for dinner.


Engorged myself on a 12 oz. cut of beautiful prime rib and a baked potato. The meat beat the shit out of that at Lawry's. Juicy, tender, well-seasoned, abounding in flavor. The potato was alright, too. Beautiful lighting courtesy of my lightscoop.


After waddling and rolling myself out of the restaurant, I split off from the parentals and went exploring. How wonderful it was, with covered wooden bridges, lit pine trees, and everything else symbolic of quiet little winter villages. How quaint.


Here's a burst of color from the leftover holiday lights, for your enjoyment.


:]

and this, love, is just for you.

Well now I'm off to rid myself of airplane stench and get ready for skiing tomorrow! Well actually, I'll probably end up exploring Denver or something or other. Looking forward to it.

looong day. but a good one.

Before I talk about this weekend, let's take it back to Thursday...pre-Lit project. Wow, we fail at being productive. Took the whole day to finish the damned thing. Instead of working, we watched "Whose Line is it Anyways?" on youtube for a good hour or so. Probably longer.


I'm the queen of France!


And on to Friday...Mikie pulled Saaya out of dance so we ate instead of her exercising. And what did we eat? Guess.


Raced off to drop Saaya at her studio, went back to Mikie's. I was supposed to go to Melting Pot, but I'm sheisty. So Mikie and I made fondue at her house. Mmmmmmmm :D


And that day ended with some other random stuff. Jeff, Jamie, Curstina came over. Talked. Acted lame. Left. And on to Saturday...

So Nikkie just happened to be in the area today. Using that fortuitous coincidence, she picked me up and we raced off to adventure in LA.


If there's one thing that captures Nikki's personality, it's her ipod. Observe.


On the aforementioned ipod, there was an Alice in Wonderland audiobook. Oh, the fun that ensued. The reader was superb, with a lovely accent and voice impressions of all the characters. Imagine the fun when several characters were rapidly exchanging dialogue XD

But then we had to change it back to music, for we were so distracted by the audiobook that we almost became lost.

We accidentally found Phillipe's (which I have actually stumbled upon by accident twice, now). I fell in love.

In case you don't know, Phillipe's is a cultural icon for LA foodies. It's 100 years old this year, and has stood the test of time with low prices, interesting people, and it just seems to bring all of LA together through food within the confines of its neon-sign adorned walls.

Phillipe's also just happens to have an impressive candy selection.


After waiting in a line that moved like molasses on a cold day, we ordered. I got a french dip (double-dipped, mind you), some 75 cent lemonade, and a pickled egg. All this came out to eight-something dollars. Glorious.

The bread was lightly dipped in the juice of the meat, while the meat was tender and flavorful. The swiss cheese, an add-on, didn't do much for the sandwich. I ended up eating it on the side. Lemonade was definitely homemade, but didn't live up to the standards of some other joints. But at 75 cents, I aint' complaining.

Now, the pickled egg was quite interesting. Hard-boiled and purple, I bought it out of curiosity more than anything. It tasted of vinegar and such, but not overly so. Did I mention that it was purple. Get some of these for class comp XD


Left this wonder of beef, bread, and funny Angelinos to explore Olvera Street.

I realize now how it reminds me little of modern Mexico, as little as a mock Western town would remind me of the U.S. It's just too forced. But hey, it's still fun to browse the shops and stalls. Colorful, lively, awake.

I spent my time on Olvera Street eating these cheap little fruit snack things. They're sticky, chewy, fruity-sweet, salty, and spicy all at once. It felt like my taste buds were being punched from all sides. And they cost $1 for two. It was like crack, only cheaper.


Moved on to Union Station, where I once picked up Andrea from San Diego, complete with 50 pound bag of college student laundry. The interior is beautiful. Light filters through the tall windows, bouncing off of the polished floor and dancing across the vaulted ceiling. The plush chairs and elaborate light fixtures draw me back to a time of opulence and elaborate design. Little birds fly through the open doors and dance through the train station. It's also a great place to just sit and peoplewatch.

One day, we're gonna just hop on a train and go somewhere.

We then moved on to a most peculiar post office. Definitely more interesting than the one in Torrance.


I mean, does this really look like somewhere you'd come by to drop off your mail?

Didn't think so. But I should mention that on the left wall, there are a set of large glass doors that open up into the blindingly white room that is actually the post office, with counters, PO boxes, etc. Definitely a contradiction...the aging interior of the building with an uber-modern brightly lit room within it. I'll have to go back to drop off a letter one day.

Keep in mind, everything that I've done in LA thus far was within walking distance of each other. There's just a concentration of awesomeness there.

We got on the wrong freeway to get home, missed the freeway we were supposed to merge onto, and somehow ended up seeing this sign before getting back onto the 91.

But we had to get home to support Chris at his Eagle Ceremony, so we didn't go. I was seriously THAT close to Disneyland, but didn't go. That is the definition of frustration.

So yes, we drove off to this little happenstance.

Just kidding. It's a pretty big deal. My sincerest congratulations to Chris on his wonderful accomplishment.

Some of the cool kids who came...


and the results of me awkwardly shoving my camera into peoples' faces and firing the shutter. laugh laugh.


We said our kind words, made fun of each other, talked up Voltron and Transformers, then I was off to see Ashley and Liuser :D My plot to kick Kevin failed, but at least we got to talk for a bit. Freaking frog-jumper who smiles while running. Good to hear that he stuck with track. but I really want a bit of the pizookie that they made. Meh >_<

Kevin had to leave, because he's a good kid and obeys the curfew. Ha. That's funny. So Ashley and I went to Barnes to read some really difficult books.

:]

Remember to never ever ever get stuck in the Waiting Place. It's just lame.

and that, my dears, concludes my weekend update. If you managed to make it through the whole thing, I applaud you. I have once again fallen in love with Larry's fisheye, which he has so graciously let me borrow for Vale and Class Comp. Hopefully I'll have some interesting pictures to show you guys on the slopes, in the village, and in the city. Lots of stuff to do and explore in Denver and the adjacent area...just gotta make sure that I hit all of it :D

See you guys Thursday. and I'll see you as soon as I get back :]

should be working.

I should be working on my Keynes essay right now, seeing as I won't be able to do it tomorrow. Oh well. It can wait.

The past few days have been fairly uneventful. Nothing all that epic to speak of. So here are a few random smatterings of fun things to kill time.

Like...Sabrina's new shoes :D One day, I'll take a not-so-shitty picture of them.


and Class Comp #2's coming up. You guys ready? Hell yeah...


and for those kids who have no friends, there's always this.


So I had mentioned eating barbecue for lunch the other day. I did. And I enjoyed it. Chicken stuffed with jalapeno and cheese, wrapped in bacon. Heavenly, much. The seemingly random tastes actually blended together quite well. The fattiness of the bacon complimented the lean chicken, while the spicy jalapeno balanced out the sweet barbecue sauce. It was a meal of contradictions that came out quite nicely in the end.


and...more rain boot pictures! I love those things.


ASB got together to eat Chipotle before the art show. Made my tummy happy.


and the Art Show...got my little award crap, got embarrassed by the presenters in ways that you wouldn't believe. Sarah's never gonna let me live that down. Ohhh jeez. But at least Ashley came to the show after all. That made me happy :]

lastly, we got together for the Lit project. This was my contribution.


Oh, I'm such a hard worker. Not. and now back to the essay. Damn you, Keynes.

Study fail and barbecue.

We tried to get together for the Lit Project on Sunday...failed miserably. Half of us hadn't even read the book. Lame. So while others read the book, what did I do? Guess. Seriously. Just guess. It's not that hard.

Can't think of a witty caption.


Har har. Sabby's facial expressions make me raff.


In the face.


Ray was there too, but I cannot find a suitable picture. So none for him!

Then we ate, attempted to "study" for "bio." Failed again.

Annnddd on to Monday. Cleaned up some stuff, did some other equally vague stuff, then went out to eat dinner. I was craving barbecue again, so I looked up a couple of places and ended up at this one by Union Station.


Total laid back, no-frills barbecue goodness. I dislike using the abbreviation/acronym/whatever "bbq." It's the kind of place where they keep a roll of paper towels on the table and have a bagged loaf of white bread just sitting there to enjoy. The kind of place where college kids go in, grab a good beer, and talk about random crap. Yeah, my kind of place.

I had a pound of hickory-smoked pulled brisket. Pulled brisket? That was interesting. I prefer mine thinly sliced, but to each his own. The sauce was kinda tangy, almost vinegarish, but watery and weak. Meat was dry. But I got one of the ends with the crispy fat bits and HOLY CRAP it just melted in my mouth. Orgasmic.

I love the glisten of barbecue sauce on meat. Heavenly.

And the sides were whatever. Nothing to rave about. Mac and cheese with fries in the foreground.


Mi madre got a sampler platter. Hot link, spare ribs, brisket, and chicken. The hot link was decent, the rest I'm eating for lunch tomorrow. I'm excited.


And there was some cornbread with green beans or something or other baked into it. I personally enjoy my cornbread sweet; this one was a bit savory, salty, yeah.

Washed the whole thing down with some iced tea. Because iced tea and some derivative of lemonade are the only acceptable drinks to enjoy with barbecue in these here parts. Or a mint julep. Or something else with inebriating capabilities.

And the table across from mine was having a very heated discussion about the use of animatronics in feature rides at Disneyland. Definitely my kind of place, but can't say the same for the food.

Hmm...I should really study for Bio. Or not.

Hearts and Hearts

So last night, the guys at church had to serve the girls. Cook, serve, entertain, the works. In between my serving and bossing around of the middle schoolers, I lurked. I am continually amazed by the lightscoop. Mind you, there was almost NO light in the room when I took this.


We were all tired as hell afterwards, so Pastor Lee, the guys (plus Sarah) went out to Denny's. Blech. Got the BBQ sliders.


Anddd now on to Valentine's Day. Was running late so I didn't quite make it in time for lunch at Emilaaaay's. Her mom, however, was nice enough to make more :D And John brought his oh-so-manly guitar picks.


I had the lovely surprise of being greeted by these colorful bundles of color :]


And now I shall post the pictures of the couples, because I know that they'll want them for whatever reason. Bear with me here, people. John and Emily:


Vine and Tree.


and we half-knocked out. Not sure who took this or when. Reveal yourself!


Ashley and I went on a grocery adventure for cupcake mix and dinner ingredients. Afterwards, Vine had to assert his manliness by furiously mixing the cupcake batter. Heh. Alright.


And then the two little fatties emptied out the bowl. There's a cute little girl hidden behind that bowl, somewhere.


And of course, the usual food picture. Because how can I write about food without showing pictures..?


Watched a bit of Tarzan, then went our separate ways.

Ashley and I made our Valentine's Dinner of Montecristos, Brocolli, Chocolate Mousse (fail), and Sparkling Cider. Quite tasty, really.

Now, half the fun of the montecristo is the messiness involved with making it. And then dropping into a vat of bubbling oil. Mmmmm.


The finished product, with the yummy broccoli that I actually didn't mind eating ;]


And cider. Not just any cider. It was special.


So we enjoyed our attempt at recreating The Blue Bayou and watched Ratatouille in the spirit of cooking and stuff.

What a lovely weekend. Good food's always more fun when it's with someone special, yeah? Good food, good music, good company.