as good as gay paree

Admittedly, it has been difficult finding a good macaron. Rarely have I actually had a bad one but, well, after eating palm-sized macarons in Paris, it's hard to find some in San Francisco that can compare.

So let it be no surprise that I had to leave the city limits to find an equitable macaron! Masse's Bakery on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley is the place to go not just for perfectly textured macarons but also innovative flavors. You'll never find a mango-flavored macaron in Paris but here, it's just the flavor du jour.

Clockwise from top: Violet cassis, apricot, mango, and raspberry.

The extra nice touch is that when I asked for iced tea, the girl behind the counter actually brewed me some black tea - steeping loose leaf tea leaves for a proper amount of time - before adding ice. This is no ready-made iced tea, this is real refreshment and I could taste the difference. Perfect for a swelteringly sunny Saturday.

il divo

If you need to make your mother happy, treat her to  a show with the beautiful quartet Il Divo! We had to drive all the way down to San Jose to the Civic Auditorium since it's one freeway exit away from the hp pavilion, it's certainly not a journey we haven't taken before.

The staff at the Civic Auditorium appear to be considerably older than those at other venues and weren't as proactive when it came to playing usher. As a result, we and many other people played the seat shuffle as we struggled to find our real seats. But eventually everyone found their place and the Armani-clad heroes of popera entered.

Many a back of someone's head...
a clue to the median age of crowd at the concert.
What can I say, popera panders to a certain demographic.

Sing me "Passera" anytime!

Sebastien, Urs, Carlos, and David take a bow.

The greatest question of the night: Why did Urs wear driving gloves after the intermission? The second half is when the men shook hands with any woman who came to the front... is the Swissman a germophobe?

eat first, talk later

On a very sunny Saturday my lovely Tater Tot had a craving for Indian food. After showing off her new wheels (mobility is key!) we headed off to Vik's Chaat Corner/Chaat and Market on 4th Street and Channing in Berkeley. The Chaat part is a large cafeteria-style eatery with a pretty good selection of Indian street food and entrees, both vegetarian- and meat-friendly.

The dosa is a little crispy on one side and a little chewy on the other, and stuns with the length of the pastry sticking out past the plate. I liked it but Tater would've preferred it if the dosa was filled with potatoes instead of a cauliflower mix. What can I say, Tater knows her taters.

I only had a spoonful of the chicken biryani and didn't find it particularly flavorful, but judging by Tater's sigh of defeat, it must've been filling.

The potato and spice-filled samosa cholle plate was delicious, as expected. I don't think I've ever had a bad samosa, but I did like the garbanzo bean sauce thing on the side. Whaddya know, they found a way to make garbanzo beans taste good without turning it into hummus!

My absolute favorite was the lamb baida roti, or a very hearty bread pocket filled with very tasty ground lamb. I've never been a fan of the smell of lamb meat but that wasn't a problem with this good ol' (just a little) greasy dish. Yum, I would love to have another one of these right about now.

After lunch we peeked into the small market and found spices that Trader Joe's doesn't have (whole cloves, ground nutmeg, cardamom pods) at pretty good prices. Looking for whole star anise? You'll find it here, along with a pickled version of every fruit and vegetable imaginable sold in a can. Quite literally, you can bring a taste of Vik's Chaat Corner home.

her favorite place

After completing her first year of law school, Cabbage came up to unwind at her favorite place: Triple Rock Brewery on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley. The brew of choice? Thursday-only's Monkey Head Arboreal Ale. At just $9 per liter, they're prefect for sharing... because sharing is caring!

The potency of the super-beer and the petite glasses bring back memories of jungle beer in the Amazon... what can I say? I'm in a jungle mood.

A few fun sidenotes:

• Triple Rock was established in 1986. That makes the pub as old as Cabbage and I. (Unfortunately Super Mario Bros. precedes me by two years and The Legend of Zelda by one.)
• Both the Golden Gate Bridge and Krispy Kreme Donuts were "born" in 1937, so they too share a birth year. Happy 75th to both!

party of crazies

It finally happened.

Last Saturday, at the Fox Theater in Oakland... I finally got to see Calle 13 live!

photo taken by my guy... with his super smartphone!
Let's face it: I need a new camera.

The set drew mostly from their newest album Entren los que quieren (enter those who want to) but a few older songs slipped into the night. Hearing "No hay nadie como tú" (there is no one like you) straight from Residente's mouth was an otherworldy experience. The band was jammin' hard, Residente and PG-13 were jumping all over the stage, and Visitante kept whipping out psychedelic accordion after another. Residente and PG-13 have un montón of energy and put on a fantastic show of Spanish-language genre-melting fun.

Once the music started, there was no way I was leaving my perch... which meant that my very gracious Guy and his friend were getting me drinks from the bar. They knew how long I had been waiting for this show, but it never hurts to say it again, so Thank you D & G (not Dolce & Gabbana.)

And of course, big thanks to Calle 13 for returning to the Bay Area so I could have another chance at seeing them!

a little spicier than I remember

En route to our grand night of Maná, Tater and I stopped by Brasa on University Avenue in Berkeley to try out the new Peruvian place on the block...

With a name like Brasa (roughly "grill" in Spanish,) you know this place has got to serve pollo a la brasa. Tried it in a sandwich version and, well, it was very different.

The sandwich doesn't taste terribly Peruvian but that doesn't mean it wasn't good! The chicken has more of a fire-in-your-mouth spice than a flavorful, fragrant spiciness, and there's nary a hint of garlic or lime in the mix. So what if it doesn't taste like the chicken from Peru? It's still tender and tasty, and the extra spice shook me out of my expectations.

An unexpected plus was the bread... nice and crusty but not too hard (it won't stab your palate.) I think the bread actually reminded me of the little rolls we'd get from the supermarket in Lima, so that was authentic for me.

The chicken and bread were delicious in their own ways but I think the sandwich could benefit from an extra helping of ají sauce. The chicken wasn't dry, I think I prefer it saucy mostly because that's how I eat my Peruvian rotisserie chicken.

Despite the small size, there seemed to be a bit of trouble getting an order of sweet potato fries in a timely manner. Also, the waitress allowed Tater and I to wander around, debating whether or not to bus our own table for quite a while. That was weird.

But I'd like to end on a happy note. Besides offering delicious hot sandwiches at happy prices, Brasa has some very good chicha morada and is the only place I know that serves the juice of the maracuya, a fruit similar to mango but with a sour twist.

and now for a bit of self-promotion...

Hello!

After much contemplation, I've decided to try and make this lifestyle blog a little less crazy. The solution: a spin-off blog that catalogues my travels, both recent and not-so-recent. The blog will also announce travel deals when I or my friends see them and oh-so-handy tips for traveling abroad. Friends, Romans, countrymen, I give you I hella went there!

overlooking one of the Amazon's tributaries over Tarapoto

Get on over, fellow journeymen!

new game

So yes, it turns out that the family in Lima did some serious remodeling since March and now they have a great big office in their house. With a computer. Connected to the Internet. WAES HAIL!

So I´ve been thinking about the wondrous place that is Peru and all the patterns I saw in my first visit that are resurfacing this time. And you know, whenever you see a lot of patterns, somebody decides to go and make a drinking game out of it, though usually these games arise out of the necessity to make something atrocious or fringe-alicious a bit more bearable to normal people. Hey, sometimes even well-loved phenomena get turned into drinking games.

Since Peru is a lovely country with so much to see and respect, so many happy people to talk to, and so much damn good food, this drinking game is created out of sheer reverence for the country that has everything - except a president we can agree on (nobody´s perfect.) So let me strike first for the Peru Drinking Game!

Now I could just kill you all with one simple rule...

1. Take a drink everytime I say "sí" because I don´t know what else to say.

But in order for this to really work, we´d need a video of everything I do in Peru, and with my low-tech skills, that´s just not going to happen. But I can edit this to apply to almost anyone´s adventure in Peru.

1. Take a drink everytime a man at the airport approaches you asking "¿Taxi?"
2. Take a drink everytime a little kid yells ¡Mira! And then you had better look at whatever the kid is pointing at.
3. Take a drink everytime a nice old lady refuses your ayuda because she can handle it herself.
4. Take a drink everytime your food comes with potatoes.
5. Take a drink everytime you pass by a polleria, a restaurant that serves the famous pollo a la brasa. You should eat some, too.
6. Take a drink everytime somebody says the food is rico or riquissimo. No one says "delicioso" in Peru. NO ONE.
7. Take a drink everytime you see somebody drinking Inka Kola (it´s a yellow-colored bubblegum-flavored soda, hard to miss.) I´m guessing that it´s an acquired taste and I certainly haven´t acquired it. Feel free to wash it down with chicha morada.
8. Take a drink everytime you think your driver is going to get into a car accident. Don´t worry, he won´t.
9. Take a drink everytime you go over a speed bump.
10. Take a drink everytime you see someone wearing a plastic poncho at Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes, Ollantaytambo, or Cuzco.
11. Finish the drink if it is a poncho made of alpaca wool!
12. Take a drink everytime you see someone wearing a wool cap with earflaps. They´re quite common, also knit of alpaca wool, and usually come in awesome neon colors. They´re not a bad souvenir.
13. Finish your drink anytime you see someone collapse from altitude sickness (common at Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu.)
14. Take a drink everytime a strange man calls you amor preciosa or hits on you obvious enough that you know he´s hitting on you (sorry, this rule will almost always apply to ladies only.)
15. Finish your drink if, after saying you have a boyfriend in America, he asks if you would like a Peruvian boyfriend.
16. Take a drink everytime a taxi driver or taxibike honks at you, whether it´s to get out of the way (drivers are impatient here) or holler.
17. If you´re visiting the north of Peru (Trujillo and up) take a drink everytime someone says cheliamos. Appropriately enough, it means "we drink beer."
18. Take a drink anytime your tour guide says that the number one industry in the local area is now tourism, and feel guilty about it!
19. Take a drink everytime a couple ogles you at the Parque del Amor in Miraflores District, Lima.

Hmm, that´s it for now. I´ll have to add some rules for Trujillo and the Amazon later but it already looks like any willing player is going to end up one borracho loco.

and la chingra sets off again

Tomorrow's the big day when I board a plane for Lima once more. This trip is not to see Machu Picchu or Lake Titicaca (done!) This time, it's all about the beaches and seeing new cities and the Amazon.

Oh yeah, and the food.

Unfortunately I am not returning to Peru in the ideal state I wanted to. Exercise fell by the wayside and I'm a little jigglier. I haven't picked up my Spanish book in months and will only review whatever I can before I fall asleep. And I can't remember whether or not I needed an outlet adapter for South America.

But everything will turn out for the best, right? After all, that Peruvian food has a most wondrous and magical property: in Peru, the more you eat, the slimmer you get.

After much heaving and squishing, I was able to stuff almost everything in my Patagonia super-duffle. Why so much trouble? Because my dear friend Gambrinus sent two boxes of clothes to bring to her family. This was all on top of the small (and I mean small) gifts I had prepared for the kids there as well as the gear I'll need to travel chingra-style. Now that the hard part is over, I can fully appreciate how much crap this bag can hold. I am seriously impressed.

ready to burst!
This might be one of those times
when I return with lighter luggage!

As a tip for fellow travelers, when you stay in someone's home, it's nice to spend some of that money you saved on a hotel room for a little something for your host. I love bringing picture books of San Francisco because photos are appreciated in any language. I also like to share some San Francisco food specialties... it's not easy packing cans of Boudin's clam chowder, or getting fresh crab from Fisherman's Wharf past customs but Ghiradelli chocolate was well-received last time, so why not again!

I left my heart...

Tastes vary but most Latin Americans I know can't get enough of caramel flavors. Pack accordingly!

Another note about traveling in Latin America... it's common to not have daily access to the Internet. My e-mail use will be intermittent at best, which is fine since I will be out sun-worshiping and jungle-exploring. So adios until I return to the States!

great minds think alike

Time to get inspired! It's pretty standard for Anthropologie to shoot their poetic garments and picturesque wares in some far-flung location... Sri Lanka, Portugal... if Anthropologie has shot there, I want to visit.

The November 2011 catalogue arrived and guess what? This time they traveled to all the way to little old Peru for their winter campaign!

modeling in the Uros Islands, made entirely of totoro reeds.
Image courtesy of anthropologie.com

It's like all signs are pointing to Peru right now... don't get your panties in a bunch, universe! I'm already going!

seeing into the future

Snapshot showed me this deal and though it looks pricey at first, you travelers out there really just can't pass it up:

Pay $475 for $1000 worth of Intrepid itineraries to Latin America!

Even though I will not be using it this December-January when I return to Peru, I've already estimated how much vacation time I'll have by next fall and looked over all the itineraries that fit. Where will I go in 2012? Brazil? Bolivia? Belize? So many options, so little time... and money.

So jump on this deal from groupon... please note that all trips to the Galápagos Islands are excluded from this deal (boo.)

For a taste of what you may find in South America, enjoy these photos from Lake Titicaca (the only place to bring this traveler to her knees.)

Approaching the reed islands of Lake Titcaca

fancy boats for fancy sailing, made entirely out of totoro reeds!

these islands preserve a pre-Colombian way of life
but don't be fooled! There's a solar panel up there!

Homegirls

I obviously didn't go to the Stevie Nicks show, the Lindsey Buckingham concert, or the Treasure Island Music Festival. And it looks like I won't be going to see Calle 13 at The Fillmore this Saturday either. But securing this deal totally made up for the disappointment.

it's official

Bought my plane ticket to Peru last night and though the trip isn't until New Year's 2012, I have already stocked my reading list with everything Peru from Condé Nast Traveler... starting with the heavenly food!

Since I went to Machu Picchu last time, I'm going to try and visit parts of the country that I haven't yet seen... I'm looking at an Amazon adventure or a flyover of the Nazca lines. That is, besides celebrating New Year's with Gambrinus and her lovely family.

For now, I'll leave you with a memory of Peru:

just chillin' out in Machu Picchu...

eatin' my grass

 Go llama, go llama, go!

new things

Remember my first trip to Wal-Mart? Well a friend told me that he had never been to the wonderful world of IKEA! Can you say road trip!? It's off to IKEA in Palo Alto!

Hopping on the furniture was fun but I think the best part was noshing on a grand meatball-and-crepe lunch for about $13:

clockwise from the lower-left:
Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce,
fabulous almond-chocolate-butterscotch torte,
spinach & cheese crepes, and a cinnamon bun

I guess after that adventure it was only right we do something I don't really do: hiking in the woods. I mean, coming from San Francisco, where the hell are the woods? Do you mean Golden Gate Park!?

No, we went to Wunderlich County Park by Woodside. Saw a lot of redwoods...

... even a baby deer and her mom, but my old camera couldn't catch a clear picture of them. Drats!

Anyways, I think I did pretty well... hiking 2 miles uphill in sandals while avoiding horse poop is a great accomplishment for me!

road trip

Had to bake some chocolate chip cookies to sweeten the deal for Mumsy, who agreed to dog-sit Q-Tip for a night...

the foolproof bribe

Why? Because the girls went to Reno!

The drive up the mountains was quite enjoyable, though I am guilty of napping even though I was supposed to be co-pilot.

perhaps the home of Rainbow Brite?

driving along the Truckee River

just about 15 more minutes to Reno!

We felt the heat once we left the Bay Area but the desert-like terrain of Nevada only amplified the need to roll down the windows.

Pulled into the Grand Sierra Resort, which I found to have a good mix attractions and amenities:

cowboys and slot machines!

The view from our room was pretty nice...

the "beach."
Most of the area around the pool is covered in sand for a beachy effect.
Besides a pool with fun music you can hear through the windows on the 12th floor,
there's a sanded volleyball court, cabanas, and a hot tub.
Really? A hot tub in the summer?

On the right is a reservoir that offers driving ranges.
The parking lot behind the building is actually the resort's RV park!

There's also a small underground shopping area within the resort that offers outdated clothes, cheap sandwiches, a movie theatre, and a 50-lane bowling alley! Not bad!

Now we all know that the casinos along the Strip offer celebrity-chef restaurants but I think this humble watering hole in Reno can be proud of its Italian eatery, Briscola.

the pasta special of the night... artichokes, haricots verts, pine nuts, pesto,
and a few heirloom tomatoes tossed with flat pasta.
Sausage added because this pasta special is vegetarian.

But by far we got the most pleasure from people-watching at the lounge/club with a live band... some of the resort's guests were characters all their own!

On the left we have Spazzy from Minnesota. He was a mashup of the dance from
"Walk Like An Egyptian" and my old chihuahua having a seizure,
all without spilling a drop of his beer.
On the right is a solo dancer, an nice old man who was having the time of his life.
And in the center is Stripey, a 62 year-old grandma who alternated between dancing a mean jive
and taking dips in the "beach" pool in her bikini.
She is very proud of her bikini. You can see it through her cover-up.

The only thing that could have made our stay better would be seeing the fictional cops of Reno 911! in action. That and winning a hefty jackpot at the slots.

now the world will know

As a 16 year-old girl watching Jackie live her life according to Cosmo on That 70's Show, I helped out my little sister with those magazine drives by subscribing to CosmoGirl! Over the years I've bounced from one free trial year to another - all some incarnation of that fashion/beauty/shopping blend so prevalent in popular periodicals - but I've never really felt the need to renew.

So I'm so glad that when Hawaiian Airlines prompted me to use my points towards yet another subscription, I chose Condé Nast Traveler instead of another Vogue wannabe. And yes, I have since renewed my subscription!

Just got the July 2011 issue in the mail and had to tear it open right away... this issue has been declared "the Food issue" and Peru has a front cover storyline!

Peruvian produce, from Condé Nast Traveler

Absolutely love the photos, love that I've eaten some of the dishes in the narrative - seen my post on papa huancaína lately? - and love they give a brief but colorful history of the development of Peruvian cuisine. Most importantly, I love that Peru is getting this great culinary and travel exposure because let me tell you, I am sooooo sorry I did not visit Peru sooner than I did. At the rate at which I eat potatoes, I've got to be some sort of Peruvian at heart.

My only critique? Patrick Symmes focused on the seafood of Peru, which is unarguably wonderful. Pollo a la brasa - that favorite meal of families throughout Peru and the absolute best chicken you will ever have - is divine in its own right but was ignored in the main article... it was published that Limon Rotisserie is the SF place to get Peruvian food, including pollo a la brasa... I'm just not sure how you can leave something like that out when there are as many pollerias in Lima as there are Starbucks in Seattle. Maybe this is the gap between the highbrow travel featured in Condé Nast Traveler and the low-to-mid-priced-budget travel upon which I embark.

things to sea...

Gambrinus cooked another Peruvian favorite for us: lomo saltado!

I cook beef and potatoes all the time but I can never get it to taste like this!

Off to a bit of sightseeing before Gambrinus's graduation!

passing by Safeco Field... but didn't go inside. We've got other things to do (like eat!)

Also did not drop by the Space Needle but I remember visiting it as a child, so not really necessary. More importantly, we found the food mecca:

Pike Place Market!

cheese-making! 

the first Starbucks, ever

I only took a picture of this because I thought it said "pimp door."

a shop specializing in Latino foods

inside the public market

our pick for brunch!

it's quite famous... I think Anthony Bourdain is on one of these reviews

beef & cheese piroshky

some sort of choco cream pastry

We had plenty of time to prep for the ceremony... even time to grab a quick snack!

gelato... really rich hazelnut and straciatella

For the most part, the graduation ceremony was surprisingly short and entertaining... until the three recipients of the doctoral degrees arrived. I know you've worked years for this but if you're droning for 30 minutes about putting children into jars, you've gone too far!

For our last day, we strolled a portion of Greenlake... this lake is huge and it takes Gambrinus an hour to run the perimeter. For comparison, Lake Merritt in Oakland is one hour, walking.

a quacky visitor... sorry, no breadcrumbs here

Lunched at a nearby cafe, Amante...

can't go wrong with a meatball sub!

ooey, gooey, and cheesy!

Seattle... not too shabby. Not much going on except the public market, but not too bad... it's just not San Francisco.