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I didn't think I was going to San Francisco last week after all because of moving and the hurricane. But MAGIC HAPPENED, and thanks to the talents and persistence of the hyounpark travel agency and our Bluepasses, my flight got booked Tuesday night, and 24 hours later I was ON A PLANE.

First stop: Udupi Palace for pineapple uttapam with high school friend Karen, my brother, and his college friend Ian.



We're talking cafeteria-size trays here. Enough that we all walked out with leftovers, and then a homeless guy asked us for spare change; we asked him if he was hungry, and he walked away with at least a day's worth of food for himself.

( Thursday, Bay Area: wherein I eat like a hobbit; what the ocean tastes like; a wide-eyed baby who likes watermelon sorbet. Korean barbecue. Sweets up the wazoo. )

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( Friday, San Francisco: the foodpocalypse continues. )

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( Repacked Saturday, and then skipped down to DC Sunday morning. Rockets, cupcakes, the meaty meat platter, the best burger Hyoun has ever had, and Vermont sugar on snow. )

So yeah, that's how I spent four days in a row in airports. ;) Thanks, Bluepass! Now to figure out where we're going this weekend ... we'd originally thought Pittsburgh, but that may get pushed back to next weekend, and we may do Chicago instead. We'll see!

... oops. I missed like, everyone's August birthdays; happy belated birthday to exor674, chipb0i, mortaine, fractalspackle, jennifer, richenza, khalidz0r, jennielynn1127, burrito19, shimonrura, and last but definitely not least, pukajen!

Things what have made me laugh so hard I fell out of my chair: "Stanford is a conservative school, that’s why they’re rivals with Cal - it has little to do with sports." HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Shyeah. Whatevs.

Things over which I am conflicted: Joba Chamberlain. Yes, I vacillated, then eventually picked him up off waivers about 30 seconds before someone else could. (Yes, I finally used my #1 waivers slot for this kid.) Yes, my fantasy team is reaping the benefits of quality innings. But dammit, two of those innings have come against the Sox. Who are still six games up, true, but that's not totally insurmountable given the month remaining before the postseason. And now he got his ass suspended for the weekend for throwing his balls at Youk's head. Sigh.

Things that make me wonder about who's calling the show: NESN's obsession with Josh Beckett's butt. Seriously, every time he stepped off the mound, a camera followed him from the rear about waist-height down in these long bouncy shots.

Things you should not mistake for the real thing: Trader Joe's "Bool Kogi." Don't waste your money - the spices are wrong and bland and it's sliced way too thick. Locals, go pick up real bulgogi at Han a Reum or Reliable; you cook it at home just like the "Bool Kogi," but with far better results. Or Kaya's is "acceptable," per hyounpark. (Koreana's "sucks, don't go there.") Or you could get Hyoun to make you some himself ... ;)

Things I am doing right now: recovering from Diva's "naanwich" while hyounpark plays FF7. Bugenhagen just suggested that Nanaki "show us your apparatus." The naanwich was amusing in concept, but sadly kinda dry in practice; better to get the meat dish separate with all the sauce, then dip the naan in the sauce. Also, babying my left knee, which has taken to bending backwards doing simple things like walking to Davis and back. Also, needing to go grocery shopping tomorrow but not wanting to do it at the same time all the crazy September 1 people are going to be doing it. Also, resetting my last.fm profile because I rarely listen to Tori Amos anymore, and her sitting atop my "most played artists" list on last.fm by a factor of three was annoying me.

10/30/2023: Heyyy, Eater SF got as annoyed by the 'bool kogi' as I was/am, 16 years later :D It's worth a read; the primary point of the piece is that Korean American restaurateurs of 2023 feel that calling their dishes by generic American descriptors is infantilizing, so why not use the actual names that will prompt curiosity and connection? Because there will always be narrow-minded people, so why give into them anymore ever. We've mainstreamed terms like quesadilla and sushi - with some ongoing misunderstanding along the way, sure - but they're terms as normalized as pizza and apple pie now in most American cities.

Also, I am mad at my past self for resetting my last.fm profile ;P

Also, Diva closed down for skeeeeetchiness towards the end of 2017, and Namaskar closed five years before that, so I'm not really sure where people get Indian food around Davis Square anymore. Martsa on Elm is still going on the Tibetan side of things, though House of Tibet closed even longer ago, but things have changed a lot over the years.