Size Me Up

Posted on 28 October, 2013 by Tina

Hoi An is famous for shoe makers and tailors. Although I was fully aware of this before the trip, the sheer amount one sees within a couple of blocks is overwhelming. Nevertheless, I made it a point to get up early on Monday morning to get started on the task at hand.

My first stop was at B’Lan, a tailor who had been mentioned several times on Trip Advisor. Since I showed up around 8:20 a.m. and there was only a single non-English speaking employee present, it was obviously too early. Yet the employee invited me in, gave me some bottled water and motioned for me to look around while she quickly made a few phone calls. About 10 minutes later, the owner and another employee showed up. They asked what I would like made. First, I showed them 2 dresses that a tailor in Bali had made that didn’t fit correctly (due to her finishing them about an hour before I had to leave for the airport, which didn’t leave lots of time for alterations). Then I asked if they could copy a dress from Macy’s and a dress shirt from Paris, both of which I’d brought with me. Lan inspected both items, took my measurements and asked me to pick out fabric. She was very nice and helpful when suggesting fabrics and color combinations; all of the fabric choices ended up being my original ones, though. With the 2 alterations, 1 dress and 2 dress shirts, my bill was slightly over $100. After paying a nominal deposit, she assured me that I could stop by the following afternoon for my first fitting.

Lan then asked if I was having shoes made. My response was that I was considering it. With that, she asked me to hop on the back of her bicycle and she took me to her sister’s shop. I wasn’t in the mood for a hard sell, but looked around. Her sister wanted to know what I was considering, so I showed her a picture of some flats from Anthropologie. The flats were two-toned, with a pointed toe and 2 small buckles around the ankle. She asked me to pick either leather or fabric. After picking black leather for the toe and caramel leather for the rest, she quoted me a reasonable price. Once again, she drew around my feet, took some measurements, I paid a very small deposit and she said they would be finished that afternoon!

My final stop for the morning was Kimmie Tailor, which had been recommended by Yum Yum. On my way into the shop, I ran into the 2 Aussies, J., and his mother, L., who I’d met at Halong Bay. They ended up going to another tailor across the street, but said they’d stop back by so we could have lunch together. At Kimmie, I was assisted by the adorable Thu. As usual, I showed her pictures of a dress and a blouse from Anthropologie, she took my measurements, I paid a deposit and was told that I could stop by for a fitting the following day.

My initial clothes from Lan turned out so well that I ordered another dress, 2 more shirts and a pair of pants. I had about 3 fittings and was very happy with everything. The dress and blouse from Kimmie also took 3 fittings and were just as nice. The only reason I didn’t order more is because they were more expensive than B’Lan.

The shoes were finished that same day and turned out wonderful. Later in the week I decided to have a pair of boots and a pair of flats made at a shoe maker, also recommended by Yum Yum. I was very skeptical because the boots were two-toned, zipped on the inside and had mock laces. The flats were of fabric with minute leather details. The shoe maker looked at my pictures (from Anthropologie again), measured me, took my deposit and said they’d both be ready for a fitting the next day. I didn’t go back for 2 days, though. When I did, the boots were fabulous and fit perfectly. The flats were adorable, but needed minor adjustments. At that point, she talked me into having another pair of flats made. Both pairs of flats fit perfectly when they were done as well.

All in all, I’m thrilled with my clothes, shoes and boots. I wanted more of everything, but had to conserve some money for my return trip to Hanoi. I was also concerned with the weight of my suitcase! We’ll see if the shoes and boots fall apart in 3 months, but I’m betting they won’t!

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The Entertainment Center, Ha Long Bay and Yum Yum

Posted on 20 October, 2013 by Tina

While out wandering on Friday, I passed a hotel spa and perused their services on offer. Their massages were decently priced and my body was crying out for a massage after about 20 hours of traveling, so I went in. I settled on an hour long aromatherapy massage and followed the young man upstairs. I wasn’t sure if he was just leading me to the massage room or if he was the actual masseuse. Turns out he was the actual masseuse. He instructed me to get undressed as he ran around preparing some things. “Everything?” I asked, as I was down to my Grrranimals. “Everything!” he assured me. Now I’ve been massaged by men before, both in the States and in Bali. In the States, there’s always a sheet for me to crawl under; in Bali, there’s always a sarong. For the male masseuses that have glimpsed me in the buff, it doesn’t phase me much. I’m certainly not in the shape I was a few years ago, but I’m still not that self conscious. Although there was neither a sheet or sarong to cover myself with, I took it all off and lay face down on the table. He was back in a few minutes and covered me with a towel. He started on my lower extremities. Rather than slide one leg out from the side while keeping the towel over me, he simply pushed the towel above my derrière to start on my legs. Ummm, ok. As he worked his way higher and higher up my first leg, I thought he was getting dangerously close to my… Never mind, I told myself; I must be over thinking this. The massage proceeded smoothly and he asked me to turn over. I did, he covered my eyes and pushed the towel up to my waist to start with my legs again. Obviously, he could see my entire entertainment center then! Not only that, but he bent my legs at the knee out to the side while massaging each one, which meant he could also see all the way to China!!! However, he was doing a bang-up job and it didn’t feel sexual or scary in any way. In fact, he asked me several times if I was ok. Thus, there was nothing untoward in that massage. It was just that “element of surprise.” I tipped him well and my body thanked him immensely.

Saturday morning was my day trip to Ha Long Bay. The tour guide picked me up promptly at 8:00 a.m. The group was composed of 4 guys from Singapore, a guy from Malaysia, a couple from Australia, a woman from Germany and 3 girls from Singapore. It was a 3 to 3 and a half hour drive to Ha Long Bay, with a half hour “happy room” (as they call it) break at some crafts center where you could also shop for overpriced goods. Once at the Bay, another group joined us and we boarded the boat. The cruise on the Bay was nice. We were served lunch shortly after the cruise started, though – tomato and cucumber salad, steamed rice, prawns, fish, calamari, Imperial rolls, a chicken dish, some type of greens, bananas and watermelon. The food was good and gave us a chance to acquaint ourselves with others at the table. After lunch, we stopped at some fishing village. Some stayed on the boat, some got off and took pictures and others went kayaking for 40 minutes. I was busy taking pictures. Then we cruised some more to see certain rock formations, went inside an amazing cave, then got back in the van and left. Most people fell asleep on the way back to Hanoi. Some of us exchanged info as we’ll all be in Hoi An at the same time. Ha Long Bay was a very nice way to spend the afternoon. It wasn’t spellbinding as some books and people would lead you to believe, but extremely pleasant.

Now I’m in Hoi An, in central Vietnam. Apparently, there was a typhoon here last week; so glad to have missed it! However, scattered showers are predicted for the entire week. I have a beautiful room in a new hotel about a 10 minute walk from the ancient center of the town. Hoi An is famous for tailors, shoemakers and purse makers. The amount of tailors within the rather small area of the ancient center is overwhelming, to say the least. You don’t even know where to begin. That’s why I’ll begin tomorrow. This afternoon I got my bearings, took a few photos and had a delightful lunch at Faifoo. Their Happy Hour is from 3 to 11 daily; 2 for 1 cocktails. Their 5-course set menus are only $4.50 to $6.50, give or take. Not only that, but it’s a relaxed cafe-style interior and the food is good! I wasn’t ready to tackle 5 courses this afternoon. Nor did I want to drink cocktails. The waitress suggested Biere LaRue. I’ve never heard of that beer before, but it’s my new favorite. My food choices were the white rose dumpling (filled with minced pork and shrimp) for which Hoi An is also known, plus papaya salad with shrimp. Both dishes were excellent; very fresh. My waitress was the “famous” Yum Yum, who everyone mentions on Trip Advisor. She’s as sweet and friendly as they say. She recommended tailors, shoemakers and other restaurants to me, plus showed me pictures of when Hoi An was flooded and people were boating around the streets. You know how your grandma used to say “cute as a button?” That describes Yum Yum perfectly! I’m sure her charm is responsible for many a repeat customer. I’ll be back several times this week!

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The Trail to Hanoi

Posted on 18 October, 2013 by Tina

Tuesday night couldn’t come soon enough. Even though my flight to Taipei was at 1:35 a.m. and they advise everyone to be there at 11:30 p.m., I was there about 9:55 p.m. Even so, there must have been at least 100 people already in line before me. It took me approximately an hour and 10 minutes to make it up to the counter. My window seat was duly noted, my seafood meal request had NOT been previously marked (but was flagged then and there) and my carry-on was slightly over the weight limit, but she let that slide. My seat mates were an elderly Chinese couple. China Airlines always serves a meal about half an hour after the flight takes off. Mine was fish with steamed rice, salmon with a green salad, a roll that was like sandpaper (with no butter), a tiramisu-like dessert and sour orange juice. I ate half of the salmon and salad, a third of the fish with rice and the dessert, then promptly passed out. I woke up about an hour and a half later to watch movies. “De Rouille et D’os) was a French love story starring Marion Cotillard. Next up was “The Hunger Games,” so I could see what all the talk was about. I actually enjoyed it and shed a few tears at the end thinking about who I would sacrifice for and vice versa. Miley’s ex, by the way, though handsome, is a terrible actor. I finished off with “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” That movie was like a strange dream sequence all the way through. By then, it was back to Never Never Land until breakfast. My seafood breakfast consisted of shrimp with veggies and noodles, a fruit cup, another roll WITH butter and yogurt. I ate 2/3 of the shrimp and stuff, half of the fruit cup and the roll (this one wasn’t like sandpaper). The yogurt was untouched. I then had time for another little snooze before landing. We even landed in Taipei at 5:35 a.m., 25 minutes early. The approach was pitch black. I wandered aimlessly through the airport. I frequently bulldoze my way through Duty Free, but this terminal didn’t have the Nars make-up that I like. So I watched the sun rise over Taipei, ate a chocolate bar that was in my bag and people watched.

The flight to Hanoi departed at 8:25 a.m. I got to fly First Class for the 3 hour flight. Some of my air miles were about to expire on China Airlines. Since I didn’t have enough for an actual free flight anywhere, they suggested I upgrade when booking my ticket. Obviously, I was one of the first to board. China Airlines probably has the nicest First Class that I’ve flown on thus far. There didn’t seem to be anyone on the flight other than us; that’s how quiet and separate our part of the plane was. My window seat was ROOMY! It had the usual whistles and bells – the footrest, seat that seriously reclines, coat hook and all. They served me 2 cups of tea, a Coke and some rice cracker mix before the plane even took off. Then they brought magazines to my seat. I immersed myself in the Lady Gaga article in Elle and the Paris Pops article in Conde Nast until – What? I get ANOTHER meal?! My meal was more salmon with a green salad, some type of white fish in a slightly sweet yet piquant sauce, green beans, carrots, potatoes and warm French bread with butter. The dessert was some gelatinous thing which looked like it had li hing mui and oysters encased inside. I didn’t dig far enough in to find out what it really was. I contented myself with the 3 slices of fruit – honeydew, pineapple and some white melon with little black seeds. Oh, and there were 3 glasses of real French champagne! I was pretty happy as I dozed off again.

I landed to rain in Hanoi. I paid my $45 for the Visa after showing my previously prepared papers and photo, went through the passport check and collected my luggage relatively quickly. My driver wasn’t there at first glance. I waited a few minutes and found him on a second swoop of the area. He didn’t speak much English, so it was a quiet ride into the city. I didn’t think to ask him if he spoke French.

My hotel is in the Old Quarter, also known as the Hoan Kiem area, near the lake of the same name. The manager was kind enough to upgrade my room. I have air con/heat, a flat screen TV with HBO, a Westernized bathroom, a safe, a mini fridge and a computer for what amounts to $21. Plus, breakfast is included. I was really tired yesterday and spent the afternoon asleep in my room. I finally wandered out around 4:00 p.m.

Hanoi is very congested with traffic, though less so than the main tourist area of Bali. Most of the sidewalks are filled with motorbikes, forcing pedestrians to walk in the street. There are lots of Vespas here! Traffic lights don’t seem to mean anything, so people are advised to go ahead and walk into oncoming traffic if they want to get anywhere in a timely manner. I just step off the curb, my heart sticks in my throat a bit, but everyone goes around me. Vietnamese people are friendly enough, though their English seems to be less than that of Indonesians, Thais and Malaysians. Buildings here are relatively narrow. Thus far, Vietnam doesn’t seem mystical or magical in the way that Bali does to me; it just feels decidedly different. There’s a completely different rhythm here, in my opinion. I’m not so interested in seeing the sights yet, merely observing my surroundings. I do, however, love the little old ladies who sell flowers off of their bikes! When I walk outside, the scent of garlic oil and banana pancakes are everywhere. Another observation is that it’s very noisy. People love to honk their horns here!

My next post should be about Halong Bay, as that’s where I’ll be going tomorrow. I might finally get some pictures taken, too. Hanoi does not seem to be overrun with hordes of camera-wielding tourists, so I’ve been a little self conscious about taking pictures of everything that moves, which is my usual modes operandus!

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Ready for Take-Off

Posted on 14 October, 2013 by Tina

That will be more appropriate for tomorrow, but I’m not planning to do any posting then!  In reality, my clothes are packed.  I’m simply debating on whether to take a long dress, another pair of pants and 2 more tops.  The forecast is for at least 3 days of rain during my 7 in Hoi An.  I AM going to take my umbrella out of the suitcase, though, as the hotels supply them.  No need to take anything extra!  My toiletries are also packed, except for what I still need to use tomorrow.  My jewelry will be packed after this post; not taking much.  The only thing I can’t find is the last diary I was writing in.  Obviously, nothing exciting has been happening in my life since May, as that’s the last time I wrote in it!

Does the slight stress of a new place outweigh the fact that it should be, for the most part, a relaxing vacation? Tomorrow could entail getting on a plane and sleeping for 12 hours straight, though that rarely happens.  I’ll eat (yes, they always give us a meal at 2:00 a.m. on the flight to Taipei!), sleep a few hours, wake up and watch a few movies, then go back to sleep until breakfast time.  Approaching Taipei around 6:00 a.m. in the mist and fog will give me about 2 hours to make a maniacal dash through Duty Free with my calculator before the flight to Hanoi takes off.  The slight stress comes from flying somewhere for the first time when I don’t speak the language and am not sure what to expect going through customs at the airport.  My “Visa letter” was prepared months ago, yet don’t know if it will speed me through Customs or delay me at all.  The one saving grace is that a driver will be waiting.  I hate flights of more than 10 hours, only to land somewhere unfamiliar, fight for a cab, then worry that the cab driver will try to rip me off.

My mood is of excitement, tinged with apprehension.  Honestly, I’m missing Bali like mad.  This is the only time out of 8 trips that I’ve managed to stay away from Bali for a year.  This  trip to Vietnam will force me to expand my horizons.  The pros are that I’ll probably get more value for the same amount of money and that the food will be better and fresher (though I love Indonesian food).  The con is that I expect the Vietnamese people to be more brusque and maybe less friendly than the Balinese.

That being said, here’s my Musical Monday song posting (although I’m not flying TO someone this time).  This song makes me think of my neighborhood bar, Ports, back in West Hollywood.  This song was always playing in there when I was with Johnny.  With that, let me finish my little bit of packing and bid you “adieu” until my next post from Vietnam.

“Get Here” – Oleta Adams

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More Promotion

Posted on 8 October, 2013 by Tina

Back in early 2010, on my 4th trip to Bali, I met this guy.  We didn’t actually meet ON vacation, per se, but as we were both leaving Bali to go to our respective “homes.”  He was sitting in the seat next to me as our flight was scheduled to depart.  He was cute, he was Welsh and he was talkative.  He showed me the absolutely gorgeous silver bracelet that he’d bought for his mother.  As we were talking and the plane had started to taxi down the runway, there was a “bump.”  They announced that there were mechanical difficulties, the plane would return to the gate and all of us would be deplaning.  Initially, the flight was scheduled to be delayed for about an hour.  I went off by myself and wrote in my diary.  When I actually walked up to the counter at the gate again, I heard rumors that people who were flying to San Francisco and Los Angeles would leave that night (though much later) and people going to Taipei (as a final destination) would be flying out the following morning!  I ran into the Welsh guy again and we talked.  We were told to take our departure cards from the stack on the counter.  Beings I’m vertically challenged and didn’t want to deal with the mad rush, I sat down and planned to wait until the crowd dispersed a bit.  However, my Welsh friend asked my name, then proceeded to get my card for me.  China Airlines said that San Francisco and Los Angeles passengers would be re-routed on Japan Airlines, thus would have to recheck our luggage.  Wouldn’t you know it?  He was flying to Los Angeles; said that he lived in Santa Monica.  We re-checked our luggage, then were shown to the VIP Lounge where we spent many hours drinking and chatting before our flight to Tokyo departed.  He was/is a songwriter/musician/singer in a band called Troup.  During those many hours together, we exchanged information.  He was always such a gentleman, too – insisting on carrying my bags, letting me go first everywhere, getting my drinks for me, etc., etc.  When our flight boarded to Tokyo, we were not sitting next to or even close to each other, but he gave me his seat number in case I needed sleeping pills!  After the flight landed in Tokyo, we were once again herded into the VIP Lounge where we spent many, many hours.  A German man was busy telling me all about Thailand, in case I decided to go there in the future.  I spent the rest of my time eating, drinking, sleeping, attempting to use the Japanese keyboard for the internet and sleeping again.  Shortly before our flights were to depart, said Welsh guy woke me up.  We’d been given meal vouchers so that we could eat before our flights.  He and I decided to have our meal together.  Since my flight departed before his, I had to head towards my gate.  We did keep in touch for awhile; he’s still my friend on Facebook.  I saw him a couple of times when I was in L.A. – once for dinner together and another time he hung out at my hotel with a friend and me.  However, now his band is starting to take off.  Of their songs that they’ve released, there’s only one that’s not really to my liking.  They put this video out recently, so I wanted to share it.  I wish them huge success.

“Never Give Up On You” – Troup

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And the Stress Continues…

Posted on 7 October, 2013 by Tina

Forgot to mention that once my computer was moved last week, I was unable to log on.  That’s not a great way to start a Monday morning.  I reset my password via the telephone, then was unable to scan.  Naturally, my main boss had tons of things for me to scan.  I was unable to scan for 3 days, although I’d called the company “helpless” desk.  The guy there didn’t seem to have a clue, so someone in Atlanta ended up calling me.  We went over and over the details, but he was unable to solve my scanning problem, either.  Finally, I sent an E-mail to a guy in Ireland who used to work at the Help Desk, but mans some other important desk now.  We used to have great rapport, though, and he was the only one who was ever able to solve all of my computer/technology issues.  He answered my E-mail, called me and teamed up with the guy in Atlanta to fix my situation.  Of course, as soon as he was involved, he figured it out.

Although I’m all moved in to my new cubicle, it’s difficult to locate anything when boxes are piled all around you and you barely have time to go through a couple per day due to all of the other stuff that got backed up when you’re temporarily “relocated.”

Four of us were planning to do dinner tonight as well as a pre-birthday get-together before my vacation.  Well, one person got sick, one person had to work late and the other person doesn’t have any money.  Story of my life!  I’ll go to dinner by myself on Thursday, as I have a certificate from Benihana to use before the end of the month.  As for my actual birthday, I’ll be celebrating alone at a very nice restaurant in Hoi An.  Nearly every birthday in San Francisco turns out to be a disaster, whether it’s pre-birthday, on my actual birthday or post-birthday.  If I were able, I’d never spend a single birthday or holiday here.  They’re ALWAYS depressing.

That brings us to Musical Monday and what seems to be the theme of both last week and this week.  I saw this band in the ’90’s at some venue on Hollywood (?) Boulevard.  House of Pain opened for them.  Even though the band members were a little old by then, I’m still glad to have seen them, as a couple members have since passed away.  Oh, such memories.

“I Want to be Sedated” – The Ramones

 

 

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I’ve Come Undone

Posted on 5 October, 2013 by Tina

This has been the week from Hell – truly.

On Monday, my roommate, K., sent me a text to let me know that he’d be moving out by the end of October, as he’d found an apartment with his girlfriend.  Did I receive that text?  NO!  Why?  Because he sent it via his iPhone, which the media has documented as having problems as far as sending text messages!  I had no idea, until he knocked on my bedroom door on Tuesday to see if I’d received his text.  He’d also sent me a text earlier that day telling me that one of his friends was interested in moving in, which could possibly save me the monotony of yet another roommate search.  Of course, that text hadn’t come through, either.  I told him to CALL me rather than text me anything important.  He told me that his friend would be by the following evening to meet me, so that we could talk about his possibly taking the room.  On Wednesday I came home and waited (and waited) (and waited) to hear from or see either K. or his friend.  I sent K. a text, but didn’t hear back.  After more than an hour, I got frustrated and simply listed the room on Craig’s List.  Naturally, as soon as I’d done that, K. called to say that he’d TEXTED earlier (yet again) to say that his friend wouldn’t be able to take the room after all, but he’d told our other roommate, A., that he could have his room (since it’s bigger) and I could rent out the smaller room instead.  That’s all very nice, but…  K. doesn’t have any say as to who takes the larger room, or the smaller one, for that matter.  Besides, due to all the miscommunication because of those damned iPhone texts, I’d already advertised the large room.  I was in the midst of setting up appointments to show the room the following evening.  In the meantime, I sent the other roommate, A., a text to explain what had happened and let him know that potential new roommates would be coming by on Thursday evening to view the larger of the two bedrooms.  A. asked if I could change the ad the following day.  My response was that I detest searching for a roommate so very much that I was ONLY going to show the room on Thursday night and pick from whoever showed up for their appointment.  A. was disappointed, to say the least.

When Thursday arrived, 8 men came by in half hour increments to view the room.  Of the 3 women I’d contacted, none of them ever got back to me at all.  Since A. was home, I mentioned to everyone that the smaller room was available if they’d prefer to move into that one and pay less rent.  About half of the guys seemed amenable to that.  I was amazed at what some of them told me.  Two or three of them currently live in the inner or outer Richmond and can’t wait to get out of there.  It’s even colder and more foggy than this part of town, plus there’s not much nightlife within walking distance of their apartments.  They hate riding the 38 Geary bus, too, which seems to be the most hated bus line in all of San Francisco.  One guy told me that he had 3 roommates, but two of them had significant others that were ALWAYS there, so, in reality, he lived with 5 other people and 2 dogs.  He can’t take it any more.  Another guy said that he shares a 6 bedroom house in the Mission with 5 other roommates and pays $1800, plus utilities, for a room half the size of our larger bedroom!  I was shocked.  Who in their right mind would pay $1800 for a room in the Mission?!  The Mission is old and all of the buildings are run down and falling apart, everything smells like urine, people sell used goods all over the sidewalks, there’s no parking, there are gangs on the outskirts…  yet it’s considered “hipster.”  When I gave him a tour of the laundry room, yet another guy said that he pays $4.00 to $4.50 per washer when he goes to the laundromat in the “outer” parts of San Francisco!  And to think, I complain about the $2.00 per washer and $1.50 per dryer that we pay in our building!

I narrowed it down to 3 candidates.  My third choice was an Irish guy who works for Abercrombie and Fitch.  He’d lived in Boston for awhile, too, but is currently staying with friends.  I’m not even sure what it was that I liked about him, yet I could have sat and talked with him for hours.  My second choice was a Croatian guy that is a graphics designer.  The personality was there, plus he was really honest about why he wanted to move in (he was the one with 5 housemates and 2 dogs).  The other roomie, A., was enamored of him as well.  My first choice, however, was an Asian guy who does data analytics for Thred Up.  He’s from North Carolina and has only been out here for 7 months.  When I asked him about Thred Up, he gave us quite a spiel.  You could see what a salesman he is!  He doesn’t cook (i.e. no mess in the kitchen), he’s not in a relationship (i.e. no significant other always in the apartment) and he was the only one to show up with his credit report.  Not only that, but I remembered his E-mail.  It said that he came “smoke-free, drug-free and pet-free, but not sarcasm-free.”  Corny, I know, but it made me laugh.  I made him an offer today and he accepted.  Even better, he’s happy to take the smaller room and offer the larger room up to A.

All in all, the roomie thing, which caused me stress the moment I found out, ended well and quickly.  Hopefully, there won’t be any drama before November 1st gets here.

At work, two of the admins for another division were unexpectedly fired.  One had been in the office for 7 years, while the other had been there for about 5 years.  We were taken aback.  Rumor has it that their “skill set” wasn’t up to par, but come on.  It took 5 to 7 years to figure that out?!  Meanwhile, some of the other admins are watching their back ’cause they’re getting a little nervous.

Speaking of work, I managed to move all of the legal working files (25 drawers full), move my main boss’ office, move the other new attorney’s office (but she only had a few things, as she just transferred here) and my mess of a temporary cubicle over to our brand, spanking new, newly carpeted and newly cubicled/newly conference roomed original side.  It wasn’t fun.  I took my time, as in all week, since my back still hurts a bit.  I seriously need a deep massage on my lower back.  The stress of moving things was still there, though, particularly since it was also in the midst of my PMS.

To top off my week, I had decided to dash down to the Tenderloin on my Friday lunch break to pick up banh mi for my two attorneys and my other favorite person in the office, an analyst named A.  As I stepped off the bus over in the Tenderloin, the Muni police were there and asked to check my Fast Pass.  I gave it to them and they ran it through their scanner thing-a-majig about 3 times.  They told me that there was NO cash value on it at all, so they’d have to give me a ticket for $106!!!  WTF?!?!  WTH?!?!  I explained that my company pays for my Fast Pass and they send me an E-mail every month when the cash value has been loaded on to it.  They’d sent me an E-mail on September 23rd saying that my cash value for October had been loaded.  The Muni police were slightly sympathetic, but said that I have 21 days to fight/dispute it.  Well, guess what? I’m leaving the country in 10 days!!!  Oh, my blood pressure was rising.  I went back to the office and handed out the banh mi first.  All 3 of them had gotten the roast pork banh mi; I’d gone with the pork meatball.  A. was skeptical of the meatball one, for some reason, so I offered him a taste of mine.  After one huge bite, he was impressed and said that he might just order that one next time.  Ok, back to our regularly scheduled bitching…  I then called the company to query them as to what was up with my commuter benefits.  They said they’d have to “research” it, which would take 48 business hours.  Later that afternoon, I took my card down to the BART station to have them run it through to detect whether it was damaged or defective.  They said it was fine, that the October cash value was on there, but it had just been loaded THAT DAY!  I should have asked them exactly what time it had been loaded, so I’d know if it was before or after the Muni police ticketed me.  (I also suspect that the scanner thing of the Muni police could have been off kilter.)  All I know is that I am going to be WAY PISSED OFF if I have to pay $106 out of my pocket.

Now it’s nearly 9:00 p.m. on Saturday night.  Maybe if I stay inside, nothing more in the way of bad luck can happen to me.  But I need a Coke!  Should I order delivery?!

Categories: Food/Restaurants, iPhone 5, Roommates, San Francisco | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Musical Tuesday

Posted on 1 October, 2013 by Tina

Since it’s about 12:45 a.m., that means it’s Musical Tuesday.  We skipped Musical Monday because my Brazilian friend and I decided to stop in at Ideale for a drink (and a bite to eat for her), then were heavily engaged in a “bitch” session about jobs (or lack thereof), having to live with roommates, men, etc., etc.  My PMS doesn’t help matters.

On that note, let’s do a bit of this for Musical Tuesday…  (apparently, I’m still in “thugette” mode)

“That’s My Bitch” – Jay Z & Kanye West

 

Categories: Food/Restaurants, Music, Roommates, San Francisco, Video | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Return to the Mission

Posted on 28 September, 2013 by Tina

We’ve already established that the Mission is not one of my favorite areas of town.  It’s grungy, the smell of urine is everywhere, people sit on the sidewalks selling all kinds of miscellaneous crap, many of the stores sell used crap, everything looks old and falling apart, there’s no parking and that’s just for starters.  Even so, I thought maybe it was the place to work on my photography assignment for today.  That assignment consisted of concentrating on my photographic obsession, lines and shapes.  I’ve already taken many photos of obvious lines at both the Embarcadero and at Opera Plaza.  I wanted to see if there was something more in the Mission.  When I take pictures, I TAKE PICTURES!!!  I had my Samsung Galaxy S4 camera phone, my iPad Mini, my Canon Elph point-and-shoot and my Canon Rebel T3i!  My pictorial journey began with murals down various alleys, led to the Women’s Building, then simply wandered up and down streets.

When my hunger kicked in, I was planning on grabbing a couple of slices at Nizario’s Pizza.  Alas, they were closed!  Maybe they only open in the evening; I’m not enough of a Mission regular to know.  Instead, I happened upon Mau, a rather modern, slightly up-scale Vietnamese restaurant.  Not only did they have the usual spring rolls, imperial rolls, beef pho and Vietnamese coffee, they also had banh xeo, bun bo and bun cha.  My choices ended up being the Hue rolls ($8), the Hu Tieu noodles in broth ($9) and a bottle of Dang Butterscotch Root Beer ($3).  The food was amazing and so was the drink.  The Hue rolls were grilled lemongrass pork, shiso, and mint in a steamed rice roll topped with fried shallots and with a scallion oil for dipping. The two rolls were cut into 6 pieces. Although they were slightly sticky, they were a bit hard to grasp with chopsticks due to their size. The pork, though very tasty, wasn’t cut small enough for me, making it difficult to take delicate bites without stuffing 3/4 of a piece into your mouth at once. I ate a few with chopsticks, then gave up and used my hands. I’d made it through 4 pieces when the Hu Tieu was served. This was a soup consisting of vermicelli noodles, xa-xiu pork, chicken, shrimp and ground pork in a garlic chicken broth ($9). To be honest, though, I only noticed one huge shrimp. The broth seemed to taste saltier the more I ate, but not overly so. I didn’t finish that soup, either. I made it halfway through, then asked them to wrap up my final two pieces of the Hue rolls, as well as the remaining soup. My chopstick skills were much better with the noodles and soup than the rolls, though!  There’s still hope!

Dia de Los Muertos Grate

Dia de Los Muertos Grate

Bicycle Basket and Wheels

Bicycle Basket and Wheels

Plate, Napkin and Chopsticks

Plate, Napkin and Chopsticks

Dang Butterscotch Root Beer

Dang Butterscotch Root Beer

Hue Rolls

Hue Rolls

Hu Thieu (slightly out of focus)

Hu Thieu (slightly out of focus)

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: Food/Restaurants, iPad Mini, Photos, San Francisco | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Good Friday

Posted on 28 September, 2013 by Tina

Our office is in the midst of this ridunculous renovation, which caused us to vacate half of the office and be stuffed into smaller quarters on the other side of the office until the original side is finished.  We were ousted at the end of June, but were scheduled to be returned to our original side which would be brand, spanking new by the end of July/beginning of August.  Now you KNOW that didn’t happen.  Rumor has it that we can begin moving our stuff back to our original side on Monday, which will be SEPTEMBER 30TH!!!  Construction was a little behind schedule, wouldn’t you say?!  In the meantime, my boss has been cranky because our legal files are spread out over about 4 different locations, some in file cabinets and some in boxes.  It’s difficult to find anything, so he’s really looking forward to this being over with.  On Friday, my boss was in L.A. for business.  Since I’d been told that our cubicle spaces would be finished on Monday, I had to ask him a question.  I was slated to be sitting in the cubicle between the admin that talks to herself (AND shooshes herself) all the time, as well as the other admin that spends 98% of her day talking/arguing with her husband over the phone.  Now if that isn’t enough to break someone’s concentration, I don’t know what is!  Granted, it would be right outside my main boss’ office, but I really don’t want to deal with it if I don’t have to.  Meanwhile, the analysts will be moved into new, bigger cubicles.  There are 6 of them right next to each other, 3 on each side.  Three of those cubicles are accounted for right now and one will be in the supposedly-near future.  That leaves 2 empty ones.  I was told that I could sit in one of the two empty cubicles by the analysts if my main boss didn’t care.  So I shot off an E-mail to him on Friday, a little tentatively, as there will be a few office politics involved.  He answered within half an hour, though, and said that it was fine with him.  Later that day I was informed that my closing documents, which had been squished into two file cabinets, would have to be moved so that the construction workers could change the carpet beneath them.  What?!  They’d first told me that there was NO WAY those file cabinets or their contents would have to be moved during the construction.  Misinformation, as usual.  I was not looking forward to moving those files, especially because I’d hurt my back at the gym a week ago, but would also have to stand on a foot stool to empty some hefty binders from the top of the cabinets.  Luckily for me, I was then told that the construction workers could move the files and replace them by Monday.  Oh happy day!  But there’s MORE!  Since nothing else could be done on Friday with construction kicking into high gear to finish over the weekend, most of us left early.  I, myself, took off at 3:45 p.m.

There was a concert at Pa’ina Lounge on Friday evening featuring Siaosi, Kivini Vaitai, Jay Keyz and Pieter T.  Now I have no idea who Kivini Vaitai or Jay Keyz are, but I like Siaosi and Pieter T.  That concert was supposed to run from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., at which point, a birthday party for J. Boog would be held.  I like J. Boog, too, so was looking forward to the music last night.  I was at Pa’ina Lounge at 5:15 p.m. for Happy Hour.  While sitting at the bar, a guy who’s often there struck up a conversation with me.  As time progressed, he was ON me (i.e. he seemed to think he might get lucky last night).  He bought some of my drinks, then insisted on paying the cover for the first concert.  Based on his conversation and behavior, I consider him a “thug.”  What makes it funnier is that he kept calling ME “thugette.”  He said the fact that I was drinking beer without a glass, that I don’t drink foo-foo cocktails (only things like rum & Coke, or 7 & 7), that I wear heavy duty jewelry and that I like to watch boxing/Muay Thai/MMA makes me a thugette.  Hey, that’s cool by me.  As the place became more and more packed, he kept taking phone calls and disappearing for long periods of time, assuring me that he’d be back.  Honestly, I was hoping he would NOT come back, but he always did.  In my opinion, it seemed that he was setting up a drug deal, so I hoped he’d get caught up in that and not be able to make it back.  Unfortunately, that never seemed to be the case.  Finally, when he’d disappeared for awhile, I dashed to the ladies’ room, made a call, went up front to watch the performers, then went back to the ladies’ room.  At that point, the first concert ended and they kicked everyone out.  They said those with the correct color armband to attend BOTH concerts would be let back in within about 20 minutes.  My armband wasn’t the right color, though, so I simply headed home via the back door, with nary a glance in search of the thug.  Now THAT’S thugette behavior.  Am I right?!

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