Sam and I tried a new sushi place for dinner today. Sam found a place called Tengu Sushi by Northgate Mall that had great reviews. It wasn't great.
It is a conveyor belt sushi place, which I've always thought were kind of neat. I'd never been to one before. We ordered a hot item and grabbed some stuff of the conveyor belt. The sushi was okay. I've come to expect really good sushi from Seattle, and this didn't match up. It may have been good at some point and just went around the conveyor belt a few too many times. I'm not sure. Prices were good though, but their labeling system was a little strange. Different colored plates mean different prices, and that is easy enough to understand. However, instead of 5 different colors, they have "pastel green" (which is really sky blue) and regular green, orange, dark purple, and black. Really? All the plates have gold crack-looking designs on them, and they're a little difficult to tell apart at first. Why not make 5 different colors? Silly.
Our hot food (deep fried oysters) never came, and service was a little nil. After we'd finished all our conveyor sushi and sat for a little while, we finally got the attention of a server and cancelled the order. :/ Shame. That might have raised my opinion of their food. Instead, we ordered mochi. I got green tea and Samuel got red bean. Each order came with two balls. The menu says "Choose two" and lists the flavors, but you aren't actually allowed to do that. "Choose two" apparently means "you get two of one flavor". No worries, Sam and I just split ours. The mochi was delicious.
The place wasn't terrible, but it wasn't a new spot or anything. I probably won't return.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Skype
Quick post to say that I got to Skype with my parents and little sister today, and it was amazing. This move would have been so much harder without technology like cell phones and free long distance and the internet. Not to mention so much more expensive! I gave them a tour of my house and introduced them to some of my roommates. Totally made my day.
Uhuru
We were going to get sushi for lunch today, but then Samuel discovered Uhuru, a Kenyan restaurant, and that plan flew to the wind. You see, Samuel went to boarding school in Kenya until he was 15. His parents lived in Uganda. He hasn't been back since.
This place is down in Kent, so it was a good drive from Shoreline. Today being Sunday, it was a good day for it. If it is light outside, Seattle traffic is generally terrible, with Sundays being the one exception.
It wasn't really easy to find. It is in a big strip mall, and it doesn't have a sign on the main sign out front. Once we turned in, Samuel spotted the Kenyan flag on the sign, so it was easy for him. It would have taken me longer.
The place is really nice. There is a small bar at the back and several booths along the walls with table seating in the middle. Off to the right, they also have a raised dance floor. As Samuel informed me, Kenyans love to dance.
Our server was very nice, but seemed a little like he hadn't served much. That was okay because there were only two other tables in the place- the benefit of going to a late lunch/ early dinner at 4 in the afternoon! Samuel tried to order a Tusker, his favorite African beer, but they hadn't been able to get it in. We've run into that in other restaurants, so it wasn't anything new. We debated getting an appetizer of chips, sausage and egg, but decided just to stick with entrees. To clear up any possible confusion, Kenya was settled by the British, so chips are really french fries. Not that it makes that dish seem any less strange to me! I got a goat entree and Sam got beef stew. He was debating goat tripe, but didn't get it. Strange, because that is right up his alley!
The food was good. It seemed like something my mom might make, oddly enough, minus the ugali. My parents aren't very adventurous eaters, so eating foreign cuisines that they might like always trips my mind a bit. Ugali they might not like!
Ugali is cornmeal that is cooked with water to make an almost dough-like consistency. I've heard Samuel's dad mention that it wasn't very good, and I can see where he is coming from. By itself, it is boring. But it is good to dip into stews and picks up flavors well because it is so bland.
Cool sidenote: It turns out our waiter went to a high school that used to play rugby with Sam's high school! Small world, huh?
Good place. We'll probably go back, even though it is so far away. I'd like to try to get Samuel there for dancing.
This place is down in Kent, so it was a good drive from Shoreline. Today being Sunday, it was a good day for it. If it is light outside, Seattle traffic is generally terrible, with Sundays being the one exception.
It wasn't really easy to find. It is in a big strip mall, and it doesn't have a sign on the main sign out front. Once we turned in, Samuel spotted the Kenyan flag on the sign, so it was easy for him. It would have taken me longer.
The place is really nice. There is a small bar at the back and several booths along the walls with table seating in the middle. Off to the right, they also have a raised dance floor. As Samuel informed me, Kenyans love to dance.
Our server was very nice, but seemed a little like he hadn't served much. That was okay because there were only two other tables in the place- the benefit of going to a late lunch/ early dinner at 4 in the afternoon! Samuel tried to order a Tusker, his favorite African beer, but they hadn't been able to get it in. We've run into that in other restaurants, so it wasn't anything new. We debated getting an appetizer of chips, sausage and egg, but decided just to stick with entrees. To clear up any possible confusion, Kenya was settled by the British, so chips are really french fries. Not that it makes that dish seem any less strange to me! I got a goat entree and Sam got beef stew. He was debating goat tripe, but didn't get it. Strange, because that is right up his alley!
The food was good. It seemed like something my mom might make, oddly enough, minus the ugali. My parents aren't very adventurous eaters, so eating foreign cuisines that they might like always trips my mind a bit. Ugali they might not like!
Ugali is cornmeal that is cooked with water to make an almost dough-like consistency. I've heard Samuel's dad mention that it wasn't very good, and I can see where he is coming from. By itself, it is boring. But it is good to dip into stews and picks up flavors well because it is so bland.
Cool sidenote: It turns out our waiter went to a high school that used to play rugby with Sam's high school! Small world, huh?
Good place. We'll probably go back, even though it is so far away. I'd like to try to get Samuel there for dancing.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Not quite ready for moguls
Yesterday, I went skiing for the first time. To put it lightly, I am terrible.
But who expects to go skiing and be amazing, right? Sam, apparently.
Before I talk about all that other travel crap, let me touch on this man. Sam and I aren't the most active people in the world. We like to do things, yes, but we don't normally seek them out so much. That being said, anytime we do go do physical activities, I'm pretty terrible, and Sam's performance is of one who has done it a hundred times before. This was the same with ice skating (his second time, he started skating backwards) as well as skiing. For comparison's sake, I still skate very close to the wall while ice skating, and every time I tried to turn on skis, I fell over. Sigh.
Anyway, Snoqualmie Summit is just beautiful, and it was only something like 45 minutes away from Seattle- that is, if you don't leave and return during rush hour. Which we did. Anyway, it is right off interstate 90, which is a beautiful drive anyway.
Let me get something straight right now. I hate snow. I hate hate hate it. It snows every winter in Kentucky and it is awful and cold and sticks around way too long and turns gray and is ugly. Winter in Kentucky is bad enough anyway, since all the leaves fell off the trees in autumn and nothing has any color. Add a bunch of gray snow, and I'm ready to get the fuck out of there. The fact that it rarely snows in Seattle was a major part of me wanting to move here. Of course, I move here on the worst winter in 50 years (or best, according to all the winter sports fanatics), and it has snowed several times. Sigh again!
Now that I've clarified my hatred for snow, I feel free to declare how absolutely gorgeous snow on evergreen trees and mountains is. Holy shit. Especially since I got got ride by it in comfort and heat from the safety of Sam's car, I completely enjoyed seeing that sight.
We picked Snoqualmie mostly because my friend knew a really good deal. For $115 a person (including taxes and everything), we got three days of group lessons including lift tickets and rentals. I'm sure there are people who learn to ski without taking lessons, but like I said before, I am terrible at every sport. Lessons couldn't hurt, and this was a great deal. Plus, after taking the lessons, you can get a cheap season pass including rentals for a good deal.
We were going to try to take the 10 o'clock lesson, but due to leaving at rush hour (duh) we missed it, and arrived around 10:30. The next lesson didn't start until 1, so we had some time to fall over ourselves first. We played around on a "magic carpet" or a very slight hill with a people conveyor belt at the end to take you back up. (Think airports) Then Christie, the co-worker who started this whole thing in the first place, decided we needed to go down an actual slope. In retrospect, I think she was trying to kill me. But really, there's no point in trying to learn a skill if you're going to baby yourself through it the whole time, so off to the chair life we went. Slowly. Lesson 5 of the day: It is really hard to move across flat land on skis without ski poles. (Why didn't we have ski poles, you may wonder. Lesson 3: Beginners don't get ski poles because they stab themselves.)
I think it would be safe to say that I fell about 25 times on the way down that hill. Lesson 11: Getting back upright on skis on a hill is really difficult. I am now awesome at it. So we practiced and then it came time for the lesson. There were 4 people in the group, which was really nice. Everyone else had also never been skiing before, but they were awesome. I fell every time I tried to do anything. The entire lesson consisted of the instructor giving everyone else something to do, and then telling me what I was doing wrong so I could fix it. Sorry, everyone else in the lesson. :( Eventually, I got the hang of it, though my that point my upper body was so sore from picking myself back up that I just couldn't do it anymore.
Sam went and grabbed some poles so he could go faster down the mountain (UPRIGHT! How does he do that??) while I worked on not falling. Eventually, I gave up- or the muscles in my chest gave up for me- and I went to hang out with another friend in the ski lounge. Sam skiied on. I wish I had his abilities!
My arms and chest muscles are so sore today that it hurts to lift my arms up. I really hurts to push myself. Humph. They better be better by tomorrow, because we are going for round two!
But who expects to go skiing and be amazing, right? Sam, apparently.
Before I talk about all that other travel crap, let me touch on this man. Sam and I aren't the most active people in the world. We like to do things, yes, but we don't normally seek them out so much. That being said, anytime we do go do physical activities, I'm pretty terrible, and Sam's performance is of one who has done it a hundred times before. This was the same with ice skating (his second time, he started skating backwards) as well as skiing. For comparison's sake, I still skate very close to the wall while ice skating, and every time I tried to turn on skis, I fell over. Sigh.
Anyway, Snoqualmie Summit is just beautiful, and it was only something like 45 minutes away from Seattle- that is, if you don't leave and return during rush hour. Which we did. Anyway, it is right off interstate 90, which is a beautiful drive anyway.
Let me get something straight right now. I hate snow. I hate hate hate it. It snows every winter in Kentucky and it is awful and cold and sticks around way too long and turns gray and is ugly. Winter in Kentucky is bad enough anyway, since all the leaves fell off the trees in autumn and nothing has any color. Add a bunch of gray snow, and I'm ready to get the fuck out of there. The fact that it rarely snows in Seattle was a major part of me wanting to move here. Of course, I move here on the worst winter in 50 years (or best, according to all the winter sports fanatics), and it has snowed several times. Sigh again!
Now that I've clarified my hatred for snow, I feel free to declare how absolutely gorgeous snow on evergreen trees and mountains is. Holy shit. Especially since I got got ride by it in comfort and heat from the safety of Sam's car, I completely enjoyed seeing that sight.
We picked Snoqualmie mostly because my friend knew a really good deal. For $115 a person (including taxes and everything), we got three days of group lessons including lift tickets and rentals. I'm sure there are people who learn to ski without taking lessons, but like I said before, I am terrible at every sport. Lessons couldn't hurt, and this was a great deal. Plus, after taking the lessons, you can get a cheap season pass including rentals for a good deal.
We were going to try to take the 10 o'clock lesson, but due to leaving at rush hour (duh) we missed it, and arrived around 10:30. The next lesson didn't start until 1, so we had some time to fall over ourselves first. We played around on a "magic carpet" or a very slight hill with a people conveyor belt at the end to take you back up. (Think airports) Then Christie, the co-worker who started this whole thing in the first place, decided we needed to go down an actual slope. In retrospect, I think she was trying to kill me. But really, there's no point in trying to learn a skill if you're going to baby yourself through it the whole time, so off to the chair life we went. Slowly. Lesson 5 of the day: It is really hard to move across flat land on skis without ski poles. (Why didn't we have ski poles, you may wonder. Lesson 3: Beginners don't get ski poles because they stab themselves.)
I think it would be safe to say that I fell about 25 times on the way down that hill. Lesson 11: Getting back upright on skis on a hill is really difficult. I am now awesome at it. So we practiced and then it came time for the lesson. There were 4 people in the group, which was really nice. Everyone else had also never been skiing before, but they were awesome. I fell every time I tried to do anything. The entire lesson consisted of the instructor giving everyone else something to do, and then telling me what I was doing wrong so I could fix it. Sorry, everyone else in the lesson. :( Eventually, I got the hang of it, though my that point my upper body was so sore from picking myself back up that I just couldn't do it anymore.
Sam went and grabbed some poles so he could go faster down the mountain (UPRIGHT! How does he do that??) while I worked on not falling. Eventually, I gave up- or the muscles in my chest gave up for me- and I went to hang out with another friend in the ski lounge. Sam skiied on. I wish I had his abilities!
My arms and chest muscles are so sore today that it hurts to lift my arms up. I really hurts to push myself. Humph. They better be better by tomorrow, because we are going for round two!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Ferries
On Sunday, I headed over to Poulsbo to go shoot guns with a friend of mine. I was on the ferry on the way there, and the thought struck me that I absolutely love living in a place where, sometimes, you just have to take a ferry. I love that I live next to Puget Sound and there are a bunch of little islands to go explore. These islands make me feel like I am going on an adventure while remaining really close to home.
Additionally, everyone who works on a ferry should dress like a fairy.
Additionally, everyone who works on a ferry should dress like a fairy.
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