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Holidays/Special Events

It’s That Time of Year Again

Playboy Jazz Festival has come and gone once again.  My friends and I kind of made it an annual thing since 2015, though I seriously debated about skipping it this year.  The ambience is always so much fun, however, thus I decided to just go as usual.  Six of us attended together on Saturday, then … Continue reading »

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Festival of Lights

During my one night in Laos, I was lucky enough to catch the celebration of Diwali, the Festival of Lights.  In the evening I walked around to various temples that had been beautifully decorated with lights by the monks.  Most of the monks seemed reticent to have their photos taken, so I tried to focus … Continue reading »

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Sunny South Beach

The end of May marked my return to South Beach for a week.  My AirBnB rental was near Washington and 8th, not that far from last year’s rental.  On this trip, I made it to the beach every single morning or afternoon and it was so relaxing for me.  My daily routine was generally sunbathing … Continue reading »

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What Does One Do on President’s Day?

I started mine off by sleeping until 7:30 a.m., then several hours of social media.  By 10:30 I jumped in the shower to get ready for lunch at Barbacco.  I had a $50 dining certificate from Open Table that was burning a hole in my pocket.  I’d considered saving it to use in either Honolulu … Continue reading »

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Powwow on Super Sunday

I was up early again on Sunday morning for my breakfast date with B. and his son, C.  B. and I had met in New Orleans pre-Katrina, thanks to Virtual Tourist.  Back then, we’d met for drinks at The Kerry (an Irish pub next to the fire house on Decatur), had more drinks at Molly’s … Continue reading »

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Kiss Me, I’m Irish!

Saturday morning I had a reservation at Red Gravy for breakfast.  This restaurant is owned by an East Coast Italian woman, the red gravy refers to marinara sauce and it’s located just across Canal Street in the Central Business District.  On Yelp and Tripadvisor, there have been numerous complaints about the service, rudeness and the owner, … Continue reading »

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Do You Know What It Means…

to miss New Orleans?  I certainly do!  That must be why I’ve been there about 15 times.  My most recent trip began a week ago.  It started with a 7:20 p.m. flight from SFO to IAH.  Whenever one uses air miles for virtually free tickets (this only cost me $10 in taxes), the airlines tend to … Continue reading »

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Holidaze

The holidays are over, thankfully!  Honestly, my holiday spirit has been relatively low for several years now. Not being close (physically or otherwise) to my immediate family, I chose to spend Thanksgiving in the same place as a few years ago – Las Vegas.  Rather than staying at The Venetian this time, I upped the … Continue reading »

Categories: Drinking, Food/Restaurants, Friends, Holidays/Special Events, Los Angeles, Photos, San Francisco, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Biggest Dragon

N. showed up at my apartment on Friday morning bearing gifts.  The first surprise was that he’d made breakfast for me at his house, then brought it to my apartment.  He remembered my favorite things to eat and had made tod mun for me; the amount of garlic and pepper was perfect.  That first bite … Continue reading »

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They Say It’s My Birthday!

Yup, October 23rd was my birthday.  Other than a dinner reservation, nothing special was planned in advance. Breakfast was at Café Bali, a funky restaurant with a somewhat East Indian/French/Victorian-inspired décor, in my opinion.  My morning began with a cheese, tomato and mushroom omelette and an apple coriander fruit fizz.  With that day’s currency exchange rate, … Continue reading »

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