They couldn’t accommodate 20 people outside so we dined inside. There is another 12+ table in the same room – the restaurant is huge with many rooms and areas. There is only one serve, luckily she’s very good at what she does. The service is slow – not sure it’s due to the kitchen or one server: it takes an hour between sitting down to the food.
after ww ii, head SSU later became CIA, in Berlin, till 1960
took over family’s wine business … making Blue Nun the largest brand in the world
I drank a lot of Blue Nun in Hong Kong. There wasn’t much competition. I remembered a Chinese lady Sabrina was doing German wine biz in HK at time but it was a very small scale operation.
Tonight, our vds wine club wine-dinner invited his daughter Bettina Sichel to join us. Three of the four wines we tasted are from her Laurel Glen Vineyard in Sonoma, which she purchased in 2011.
2022 Laurel Glen Blanc Slate Sauv Blanc $40/$32 by join the club
2023 Laurel Glen Rosella Rose $40
2018 Laurel Glen Estate Cab Sauvignon $125/$100
Her vineyard is similar to the few we visited in 2015: small and exclusive, and you need to join their club. Distributor Tom who knows Jay. Her grapes are NE exposure (cooler side) that gives her crop extra power.
Why did her father sell his vineyard?
记得在香港时 Blue Nun 大概是最出名的白餐酒. 今晚的酒商就是他三个娃之一. 她说爸爸把生意卖了… 她最后自己买了一个加州的酒园. 今晚四个酒 三个是她的. 非常喜欢和.
A sold out concert. 7:05, ushers closed the doors. 7:08 Itzhak Perlman zooms onto the stage his motorized chair, followed by his longtime recital partner Rohan De Silva, and a female page tuner. They all dressed in black.
The recital has planned program, from works of three composers. It’s an hour long, plus a short intermission after the second composer.
Bach (16 minutes)
Strauss (29 min)
Schumann (17 min)
The playbill ran out before the concert start – first time ever, so I’ve to take a photo of my neighbor’s.
When he re-emerges after the intermission, a man yelled, “I love you Itzhak.”
White haired grandpa in PJ picks up the microphone, said, “thank you.”
Then goes on to say, while in the backstage, he called Mr Schumann, who said the next three pieces are short but hope he’ll play them without interruption – aka applause.
“I said to Mr Schumann that I don’t care but Mr Schumann insists.”
So there isn’t an applause. To be honest, I do feel bewildered when the inappropriate applauds occur. There is a teen boy sits to my right who knows exactly when to applause – a future classical musician or a violist? Among the mostly grey haired audience, there are a few teens, some are alone and some are with their parents. All look like political and educated. Hope the number will grow larger …
After the Schumann’s pieces, it’s free program.
“I’ve a computer printout that I played here since 1912 …” laughs. “If you were here in 1912, your hearing is probably not very good … “ more laughs
A L shaped restaurant, that serves Japanese sushi and SE Asian cuisine. Quiet on a Sunday evening. Two pleasant young women (both with long pony tails) work the room.
Service is so so: trying for good five minutes to tell the server (seeing her come and go) that the Pinot noir turned; my cab is ok.
“How old is this bottle?”
She said, “normally is less than a week.”
Oh well.
Their stems are not bad.
Two little kids, a boy and a girl are behind the bar counter. I’ve mixed feelings for kids in a work place …
Foods are fine:
Thai lettuce Wrap – minced pork on the sweet side; have to ask for spicy sauce
Sashimi style dinner – ok
Spicy tuna roll – something crunchy which makes the roll interesting
A Caucasian man comes and goes in the bar counter, sporting ‘vineyard vines’ t shirt . I’m between foods, so I googled it: not a vineyard but a clothing store. Oh well, just learnt one more thing today: thanks.
Many black and white photos on the walls are beautiful and interesting. Girls in the bathroom walls are provocatively enchanting. 1958 was the last year that the Cubans existed as a whole on the island. Since then, one million plus hit the roads around the world for a new home. This owner came to US.
The stems look nice but are rather thick. Good service with delicious food:
Empanada with spinach & cheese
Marquitas con Guacamole
Croquetas de la Casa Cod
sandwich Guajiro – pork
All three are great, except the sandwich is tasteless.
Using cigar box for bill is cool: The Library uses books.
No hooks under the bar counter. The only handicap is the regular high ceiling.
The two men band plays before we left for our opera. Next time
It’s a long production: 3:45 with 3 intermissions. The cast performed well. Michelle Johnson (the countess Almaviva) is wonderful, who reminds me of Denyce Graves (1964-) but perhaps a generation younger (1983?-).
Marriage of Figaro (1786) by Mozart was based on the same characters as Barber of Seville. Both are comedy.
Unaware they open at 5, when the door is locked, we decided to go to the Cantonese restaurant a few doors to the left. Unfortunately it closes on Tuesdays. So we turned around, heading to the Beijing House, which is to Red Bowl’s right. As we’re passing by RB, a couple goes in. Guess were we a few seconds early or late, would have missed their grand entrance, and our opportunity. A few seconds make a difference.
Good service and delicious food. We’ve mapo tofu and Dan Dan noodle.
One young girl is serving, who suggested to me to order mild for my noodles, even I told her that I enjoy jalapeño and wanted the medium. As it turned out, ‘mild’ degree tastes like no spicy at all; so the server brought me a little chilly powder.
The Dandan noodle, is delicious but it’s not authentic one I remembered. To be fair, theirs is like nearly all other restaurants, with soup, veggies … I thought it should be dry like Alfredo. Maybe what I remembered wasn’t the right way to do it due to lack of ingredients in Beijing at the time.
A Chinese lady (owner? Chef?) came out to social. She hugged the woman who came in first. Then came to our table, said “I heard your noodle isn’t spicy enough.” I told her that the powder works fine and thank her for taking the time to check on us. She then moves to the table behind us and chats in Mandarin with the young couple.
By the time we left, one more young Chinese couple came.
Mr. Ford is here to take about his book/novel, The Many Daughters of Afong Moy (2022).
Afong Moy (1815/20-?) was from Guangzhou, the first Chinese woman to immigrate to US, in 1834. She became a prop, an curiosity, being exhibited across the U.S., especially her bounded feet. She was ‘famous’ and was even summoned to White House to meet President Andrew Jackson (in office 1829-37). However, by 1850, news about her was all vanished. Rumor had it that she died on the street in Guangzhou (?).
This, perhaps is my first author meet. There are about 40 or so people attending, mostly women and mostly white. Three Chinese, two are, perhaps ABCs.
Ford is a very engaging presenter, precise and clear. He first talks about himself (4 daughters, etc.), his books (him in Henry… aims to entertain and educate), and this book (all about inherit traumas; Dorothy 2043 is the main character ), read a paragraph of this book (perhaps readers want to listen how the author read with own work, as concert goers would love to listen to composer plays their own work – how to interpret …), then Q&A.
being banned: collateral damage – from 2010 to 2017 his book was banned in Arizona due to ban on ethnic study – not to incite resentment. He said “meaning make white people uncomfortable.”
Norway 100% literacy
Sparknote – summer reading.
this book translated into 35 languages
China Shanghai publisher gave him a great deal that he wondered if it’s a typo; but took 18 months to go through sensor. It’s a best seller in Taiwan and HK, in traditional characters. 中国 以繁体字出版 是台湾和香港的畅销书. 上海一出版社给了他很棒的合同, 好到他怀疑人生 – 是不是打错字; 但花了18 个月才通过了审查. 可能马上会出版 说是又在/还在 嚼文咽字ing.
Gulfport is a popular name: there is one in Mississippi, and one in Illinois. Any more?
This Florida one is in Pinellas County, incorporated in 1910. Current population is 11,783 (2020 census), with a mayor (Samuel Henderson) and a city manager (James E. O’Reilly).
Beach Blvd South is their Art District. From the Public Library down south to the shore, the few blocks are filled shops, cafes, restaurants, Pia Trattoria, bars, and arty vendors filled either sides of the sidewalks.
Loofahs 丝瓜 are selling at $14 at one vendor on the western side of the street. I remembered using it at bath in Beijing. Out of curiosity, I googled loofah:
Is Your Loofah Full of Bacteria? by Cleveland Clinic showed on top:
“This puffy shower accessory can become lodged with skin cells (and other gross things), so make sure you dry it daily and clean it once a week”
My cousin told me that loofah 丝瓜很好种,好吃,产量高 Luffa is easy to grow, delicious, and has a high yield.
The casino @ 5500 Shore Blvd S, Gulfport, FL 33707 was built in 1934. But looks like been an event venue for some time and is closed current, probably due to the storm too.
, which is better than average. The tater tots is crisply delicious.
和
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。7:05，引座员关上了门。7:08 帕伯上舞。计划的节目为一小时，外加短暂的中场休息。
声音圆润饱满洪亮. 听说他去了百老汇.
