Monday, March 07, 2005

What's going on?

I had some delicious green curry tonight at a nearby Malaysian restaurant, Banana Leaf. When I ordered it, the waiter told me it was VERY spicy, and was I sure I could handle it? I confirmed that I liked spicy, knowing their regular red curry is fairly mild.

The green curry was the perfect amount of spiciness, with a hint of a smoky flavor and a lovely assortment of vegetables and tofu. But when the waiter came by to check on our meals, he made a face at me and asked if it was too spicy. I can't quite explain it, but he fully seemed to expect that it would be way too spicy for my delicate white-girl palate. I delighted in telling him it was not.

This weekend was interesting. On Saturday, I spent the first half of the day being pissed and depressed because I wanted to go spend time with Kevin in San Francisco and see my sister and stuff, but Kevin did not want to go. It was one in a long list of things I'd wanted to do with him, things I am under the impression he generally enjoys, which he has refused to do in favor of doing nothing. And then he complains about how much TV I watch? Yeah.

Fortunately, there was a great reversal of fortune in that his dad called to invite us to go hiking with them on Sunday at Pinnacles National Monument and we both wanted to go, and since he asked me to do something with his family, he felt he couldn't, in good conscience, turn down my request to do something with my sister. So we went to San Francisco.

It was pretty easy to park and ride via Bayfair, where BART does run late directly from the city, unlike certain stops closer to home. We ate dinner at Shalimar on Jones, then walked to Polk and passed the other Shalimar on our way to the Lumiere to see a bunch of animated shorts. Also, there were crepes somewhere in there. And prostitutes on the side of the road. And Kevin had bubble tea. Ew.

We didn't get home until 1 a.m., and I set my alarm for 6:45 so I'd have time to prepare some food and pack a bag before our 8 a.m. departure.

Both of us were exhausted in the morning, but we arrived at the park around 10:30 and almost immediately proceeded to begin the hike. First we walked through park of some caves, but somehow missed all the caves after we climbed above the waterfall. Then it was the High Peaks Trail, the "Steep and Narrow" route to the Condor Gulch trail, which winds around the dramatic peaks and heads back to the visitor center from which we came. It was a beautiful hike, and the weather was perfect: just warm and sunny enough that a t-shirt was just right, not so hot that it felt like burning. Despite my incessant 30 spf sunblock slathering, though, I managed to get a little color on my face and arms.

The hike also reinforced my need to do this kind of thing more often, as it remains about the only form of exercise I like that doesn't involve inconvenience for little reward. (I hate gyms. HATE.) Like I told Kevin, we need to do this every weekend--okay, maybe not exactly that, but even a couple hours in the open spaces in the Palo Alto Hills would do the trick--so I can get good enough that it doesn't kill me. And also, proper hiking footwear is desperately needed. An extra water bottle and a handy, balanced pack wouldn't hurt, either.

That night, tired and stinky, we went to the other Malaysian restaurant in town, Penang Garden, which has a nearly identical menu and similar quality of food. All I wanted, though, was a simple fried rice, which is what I got. Kevin got something with tofu and mango (in the mango skin, no less) slathered in a nice sweet and sour sauce. Yummy.

Apparently Graylan is swinging through town this week, so I hope I'll get to hang out with him. Yay for the people I know!

1 comment:

emily said...

it's a fluke, honest. and i'd be happy to help you off your ass sometime. ;)

yeah, i never got it in seattle, but here, all the time. it's hilarious. indian restaurants do it, too, but i am a little more ignorant about the variety of dishes they serve there than at a restaurant of, say, a country i've actually visited.