San Diego: Balboa Park

After lunch at the Hash House A Go Go, we walked around San Diego’s Balboa Park looking for adventure. (I am amazed and grateful that I was still able to be move my legs after the half marathon). We found a map and wandered into the Botanical Building, also known as the lath palace. It is one of the largest wooden lath structures in the world, built in 1915 for the Panama-California Exposition. A lath is thin, narrow strip of some straight-grained wood or other material and a lattice is the criss-cross arrangements of these strips. Basically, this place looked like a big, beautiful wooden bird cage to me. In front of the building there are two reflecting ponds that contain exotic lilies and lotus, goldfish, and Japanese koi. During WW1, Balboa Park became a Naval Training Station, and the lagoons were converted into swimming pools so sailors could learn to swim. After the war, the swimming pools were reverted back into ponds. Again during WW2, the ponds were used as swimming pools, but this time they were being used by the Naval Hospital that had taken over the grounds. When the war ended, it reverted once again back to being ponds. People come from all over the world to take pictures of the ponds and the Building (note: the picture of people taking pictures).

Inside the building there is a seasonal floral display and more than 2,100 permanent plants such as cycads, ferns, orchids, other tropical plants, and palms. I am such a sucker for flowers and love taking pictures of them. I probably took upwards of one hundred pictures. I definitely looked like the dork in the group, but I am okay with that. I was impressed at their wide variety of flowers. I found the Botanical Building to have a wider variety flowers and plants than the Huntington Gardens in Los Angeles, but I could be wrong. I do know that I would recommend stopping by Balboa Park to take a peek at this place. Hopefully whenever I am in San Diego next I will have time to check out the many other gardens Balboa Park offers. I would love to see the 1935 (Old) Cactus Garden, Japanese Friendship Garden, Palm Canyon, and the Zoro Garden (which was once a nudist colony, but now is a butterfly garden).

After the plants, we walked around a little more and stumbled upon Spreckels Organ Pavilion. This organ is special because it is one of the world’s largest outdoor pipe organs. Since 1917, San Diego has had a civic organist, who performs free weekly Sunday concerts. We fortunately caught the end of one of these beautiful performances. The organ contains 4,530 pipes ranging in length from the size of a pencil to 32 feet; big! After the Organ Pavilion, my friend and I headed back to Los Angeles. All and all, the trip to San Diego was awesome. It is a friendly and beautiful city that I wish to return to again soon someday.

Frustration

U.S. Airways now forces all customers to pay extra to check-in luggage. People avoid this extra cost by over packing their carry-on luggage. The overhead compartments now become filled halfway through the boarding process, in which then U.S. Airways forces people to check their bags. Thus, wasting a lot of time and irritating a lot of people who did not plan on having to check their baggage. Also, U.S. Airways has stopped giving out complimentary water, soda, and juice.

Prediction: U.S. Airways will soon force customers to pay extra for each piece of carry-on luggage. AND. More people will be laid off.

San Diego: Hash House A Go Go / Twisted Farm Food

After running America’s Finest City half marathon, my friend and I checked out of the San Diego Sheraton and met up with her friend (yes, the one that works at the Shout! House) and his roommate at the popular restaurant in Balboa Park, Hash House A Go Go. The name probably comes from their list of House Hashes they offer on their menu: a protein (chicken, meatloaf, turkey, salmon, etc) + crispy potatoes, topped with two eggs, fruit and a biscuit. Like most great breakfast/lunch places on a Sunday, we had to wait an hour in the sun to be seated. It was clear they meant business about the wait because outside they had a table with complimentary water and coffee to drink while waiting; a great idea that saved me from dehydration. The atmosphere is chill (even though it was crowded) and the plates are large and filled to the brim. It is no surprise that they have won a long list of various awards, most of which are in recognition of them having the best breakfast.

Since I was feeling no guilt for anything I was eating that day, I ordered the waiter’s recommend “Andy’s sage fried chicken w/ fresh spinach, hardwood smoked bacon, market tomato, griddled mozzarella, chipotle cream and scrambled eggs.” Also included in this meal, were 2 yummy biscuits, which you cannot see in the photo because they are being smothered beneath the mashed potatoes, underneath the creamy chipotle cream, scrambled eggs, and thick slices of bacon. It is a practically a recipe that cannot fail and it tasted amazing. Every individual component of the plate was unique in flavor but combined perfectly with the other ingredients on the plate making it as a whole one of the best breakfasts I have had in a long time. It was a little too early for me to drink in the day, but it certainly seemed like they had a pretty good cocktail/beer menu.

I think the owners should open up a Hash House in Los Angeles. It would be perfect for Silver Lake, but I would want it in Santa Monica. The good news is that they are also located in Las Vegas. So if you are ever in either San Diego or Las Vegas and have an empty stomach that needs to be filled to full capacity, this is the place for you!

Hash House A Go Go - San Diego

3628 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Get Directions(619) 298-4646

Hash House A Go Go - Las Vegas

6800 W Sahara Ave
Las Vegas, NV 89146

Get Directions(702) 804-4646

Frogo Before I Go

My roommate and I stopped at Frogo for a little treat today. Since it was in the afternoon and I am going to be on a red eye flight tonight, I was unable to try the coffee even though I heard it is good. I promise someday soon I will!

The flavors for the day were: Death By Chocolate, White Chocolate Mousse, Green Tea Froyo, and a Froyo (FrogoTart). I sampled both the White Chocolate Mousse and the Green Tea. I saw that they offered mochi (Japanese rice cake) as a topping, so I ordered a small Green Tea with mochi. My roommate ordered the White Chocolate Mousse with chocolate chips. The service was great, but that just might be because they recognized me from last time. Either way, the two people behind the register have always been pleasant and friendly. Both yogurt flavors were quite tasty. I still stand by my earlier review of the green tea; that it is smoother and sweeter than Pinkberry. I would like to add that the mochi was nice and soft, not too chewy. The White Chocolate Mousse is also soft and sweet, but with a more traditional yogurt taste than the tart Green Tea. I hope they rotate more flavors in soon, because it is always fun to sample new flavors.

Note: I interrupted my San Diego reviews with this Frogo review because a lot of people seemed interested in my first trip there (so I went back today to try more). Yum! Tomorrow I will resume with reviews of my San Diego trip!

Frogo

1300 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90403

Get Directions(310) 395-6794

San Diego: The Half Marathon

Sunday, August 17th, the race day had finally come. For months, I have been training for America’s Finest City Half Marathon. I had invested many hours, running upward of 25 miles a week. The training required a combination of physical discipline and social sacrifice to accomplish the long distance runs that prepared me for the race. Although I followed my training by the book, I was still nervous about the race.

I slept so lightly the night before the race that when 5am came along I practically jumped out of bed. I ate breakfast, put on my big dorky watch, pinned on my bib number, grabbed Shuffley (my iPod Shuffle) and headed out the door. I sat down on board the freezing shuttle bus, wishing I had stopped at the Starbucks for coffee. A woman in her 40’s sat down next to me and as if we had been awake for hours and known each other for years, we immediately started up a conversation. I found myself more outgoing and talkative than I usually am, especially towards a stranger, to distract my thoughts from the race. We were dropped off at the starting point, Cabrillo National Monument at around 6am. My new friend and I hung out for the hour that remained before the race started. At this point, it started to feel surreal to me; the many months of training alone had made running become a personal outlet for me, but now I was surrounded by hundreds of people, all in it together with the same purpose and goal.

At 7am, the runners began to slowly move forward meaning the race had begun. I said my final words to my new friend, put on my headphones, and went on my merry way. The merriness quickly came to a halt when I realized Shuffley would not turn on. Months of training and preparation to the sound of music, only to have the next 13.1 miles without a song or a beat. Within a few strides, I realized that being upset about it was useless and nothing could be done. I had no place to store the headphones, so I kept them on, secretly hoping that maybe Shuffley would start working throughout the race. In the meantime, I listened to sneakers hitting the pavement, conversations, and cheers from the sidelines. I was surprised by the number of people who stood outside their homes in their pajamas, with a cup of coffee in their hand, cheering everyone on with words of encouragement.

I ran across the finish line to Coldplay’s Viva La Vida playing on the speakers, a song I never thought would become so important to me. My finish time was 2:21:04, which means I was running at a 10:46mins/mile pace. My overall place was 4169 out of 6474. In comparison to all females, I was was placed at 1787 out of 3335. And finally in comparison to all females between the ages of 20-24, I placed 185 out of 303. As you can see with these results, I am not a very fast runner. However, the race for me was not about speed and competition, but instead more to do with finishing. Although very tempting, I never stopped and walked, but only pushed myself through to the finish line.

In the end, I enjoyed San Diego and it’s half marathon; it certainly is a fine city. I love running and I have come a long way with it, which makes me happy. I definitely plan on doing another half marathon again, along with hopefully someday completing a full marathon. However, I am in no immediate rush right now to start training again for long distances, but will continue running regularly.

Note: Shuffley started working again while driving to the hotel on the shuttle bus (!)

San Diego: The Shout! House

After eating at Ch1ve, we met up with my friend’s friend, who was working as a security bouncer inside the dueling piano bar, The Shout! House. A dueling piano bar typically consists of a stage with two grand pianos, each played by a charismatic and outgoing professional player who is able to both play music and somehow increase the energy of audience. The music that is played is usually popular classic rock and popular music of the time. Interestingly, this format of dueling piano bars originated in late 1986 in Dallas, Texas. The Shout! House is a specific type of dueling piano bar where audience make requests and audience participation, interaction, and sing-a-long are all encouraged. Fortunately, my friend’s friend was able to put us on a guest list and we did not have to pay the ten dollar cover charge. Upon entering, I was immediately reminded of the Los Angeles dueling piano bar, Howl at the Moon. The Shout! House definitely seems like the place to go with a large group to get really drunk and embarrass yourself and/or others. I was a little sad that I was unable to drink because of the race, but it was still amusing to watch other people drink and do crazy things that I hope I would never do when I am drunk! The pictures included are a part of the night where the pianists ask all the workers of the establishment to come up on the stage (bartenders get up on their bars) and lead everyone through the Time Warp.

We did not stay out too late because I was supposed to be up and moving at 5am so I could make it to the race before the start time of 7am. I fell asleep with practically one eye open at around 11:00pm. I was ¾ nervous and ¼ excited. I woke up repeatedly with different worries each time: going to be late, going to forget something, not going to finish, going to hurt myself, not going to finish, not going to finish, not going, not going to finish, going to be too tired to finish because I keep waking up, etc. Life seemed to be moving faster during these hours and there was no turning back or way to stop it.

The Shout! House

655 4th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101

Get Directions(619) 231-6700

Howl at the Moon

1000 Universal Center Dr # 216
Universal City, CA 91608

Get Directions(818) 755-9970

San Diego: Ch1ve

Saturday evening my friend and I ventured out into the Gaslamp District for dinner. We ended up eating at a restaurant called Ch1ve, which can easily be defined as Californian modern/contemporary cuisine. Their menu offers only appetizers and small plates. Although I was not drinking that night, I did notice they had a drink menu full of an eclectic array of cocktails, beers, and wines. The drop in prices of alcohol and food during their happy hour, which is 7 nights a week, makes me believe they are a popular place to visit between 5pm-7pm. I ordered one appetizer and one small plate. I chose a soup as my appetizer (I forgot to take a picture) that was so little in quantity, probably half a cup, that I would not recommend anyone order a soup there at all for the price. My small plate was a tuna dish. I apologize for not having any names for these meals, but I did not think to write them down and am not able to find them on their website menu. There were 5 of these “rolls” on a plate. They were quite tasty and I probably could have eaten a lot more of them. Not surprisingly, my friend and I were still hungry, but did not want to spend much more money for food so we went to get some gelato and frozen yogurt. (I justify my large frozen yogurt consumption as yogo-loading for the race.) Overall, I would probably return to this restaurant for a happy hour or if someone else was paying for the food.

Ch1ve

558 4th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101

Get Directions(619) 232-4483