Holi cow what a weekend.

Yeah, yeah, yeah I know, that was probably the worst pun you've heard in months and is borderline racially insensitive. What I can say? I can’t say no to a pun.

Inappropriate jokes asides, this really was a great weekend. I had been a little concerned that since becoming single again I was turning into a bit of a shut in. After this last weekend I am no long concerned J

Things kicked off Thursday night when my roommate and I met up with some friends for our weekly pizza night. Since we are all foodies to one degree or another we tend to try and mix things up between old favorites and new adventures. This weeks was a new adventure for me (though not for the rest of the group) when we went to the Lost Dog Café in East Falls Church.

 First off let talk about selection: The sheer number of pizza’s they had on the menu was almost overwhelming (something like 30 different named pizzas). This is often not a good thing as it means the restaurant tries to do too many things at one and does them all poorly instead of just focusing on a few things that they do extremely well. In this case they seemed to be able to do it all well.

After some pizza horse trading each of us got to try a piece of everyone else pizza. My roomy got the pit-bull which has Pastrami, ham, pepperoni, salami, red onions, jalapenos, basil, and oregano.  I will be ordering it next time we go as I love a good meat pizza and this was one of the better ones I have had.  I got the crab meat pizza (I was feeling adventurous) which consisted of Backfin crab-meat, onions, green peppers, and garlic butter with brie and mozzarella cheese. Paring the brie with the crab-meat was an excellent idea and the combo gave the pizza a unique east coast twist that I really enjoyed. Next time I’m going to ask if they can put a little old bay spice on the top. Unfortunately I can’t remember what our friend got, but it was good. 

What I liked the most about this place is the crust wasn't overly doughy (see my earlier post about how I loath thick crust pizza), though neither was it paper thin. Since I'm the only one in our little pizza group that likes paper thin crust this was a good compromise.  

Friday night rolled around and I had the opportunity to take a very nice girl I had recently met to the National Geographic Museum’s new pirate exhibit.

While I was waiting to meet her I saw this homeless guy going to town on homemade drums. Pretty cool way of earning a buck, props to him for being so creative (and yes, I did put some cash in his jar).

Having grown up on the stories about the fighting age of sail from Patrick O’Brian I have a deep love for ships, sailing, and pretty much anything quasi related to that period of history. The exhibit didn't let me down as it was filled will artifacts from the golden age of Privateering. There was even a part where you could practice knot tying!!!! Who knew being an eagle scout would come in handy on a date? I’m not so sure that my date is the museum going type but she humored my childlike enthusiasm (no small feet) so bonus points for her.  

Afterwards the plan was to go to Hanks Oyster Bar up by Dupont Circle to continue with the “ocean” theme of the date. Unfortunately when we got there the wait was an hour and a half long! (I should have known better). As both of us were starving and the thought of waiting another hour and a half for food was unpalatable (I tried to warn you guys), we opted to go next door to Trio. We ordered pretty much everything on the appetizer menu and while it was good, nothing was outstanding.

Saturday now: Up bright and early at 6:45 to go with my ward (local congregation) to the DC temple. While the trip was ridiculously early I was very glad I went and had a very good experience while serving there.

Changing (in my car) from my church clothes to a white shirt (bought that day) and shorts, I joined up with three friends to attend the DC Holi festival out in Potomac Maryland.  I had heard about Holi before but had never attended. Actually, I probably wouldn't have gone to this one except it was presented to me as a 5k run and seemed like a fun alternative to my normal Saturday 10 miler. There was no run but.....

IT WAS A BLAST!

I was covered head to toe in colored powder, it was in my ears (thanks Cat), in my hair, everywhere.

I learned quickly that the preferred method to applying color to someone else (you don’t do it to yourself) is rub it onto the other persons face or body (within reason) instead of throwing. This meant getting comfortable fast with having stranger touching you, but since I’ve spent a lot of time in China my personal space bubble is pretty non-existent anyways.

I got to bust out my DSLR for the first time in ages and even managed to get a couple of good shots! I think my personal favorite is when the whole mass tossed the colored powder up in the air all at once, so cool to see!

 People were running around laughing and tossing color, at one point I took a shot of blue right to the mouth, turning my teeth instantly blue.

After about two hours all of us needed to get back to real life and go be productive. So after ambushing another group of friends who had come late (we discovered the hugging is also an effective way to spread color) we went our separate ways.

After a long shower, there was so much color in my hair that my whole body was stained blue when I started to wash it out, I headed into work to grab my laptop and finishing a couple things. Afterwards I took a stroll through the capital mall to see the kite festival on my way over to Rita’s Italian Ice to get some frozen custard. I ended up getting their ice/custard mixed thingy, and while it was good I think in the future I will just stick with straight frozen custard.

Returning home I changed into my suit and tie and headed over to the Washington Masonic Memorial for a Copland concert that a friend was playing in. Having never been inside the memorial I found the venue fascinating and it is now on my list of place I need to go back to and explore in more depth. I am no mason and so a lot of the symbols were lost on me, but I am an analytic fellow and it I love a good puzzle. 

The concert itself was…..er…well the string and woodwinds did a fantastic job. I think the brass section may have gotten into the wine….. still, there was free dessert , my favorite of which was a small mini-pie shell filled with caramel and what I believe was marshmallow covered in chocolate. If only I had been able to find the person that made them and gotten the recipe!!! Ah well, probably better for my waist line anyways.  

Sunday was pretty laid back as it was Easter and with my family being in Ohio I chose to just hang out with friends. I did make Pizza dumpling, which consist of filling a Pillsbury biscuit with cheese and pepperoni and then covering it with an egg wash, Italian seasoning, and Parmesan and baking it. SOOO good! 

Unfortunately I’m also pretty sure that it’s absolutely horrible for you. Also, a friend of a friend made Brazilian limeade. I’m not really sure how to describe it other than to imagine normal limeade but made with milk. It was VERY good and something I want to get the recipe for.  

So yeah, this weekend was amazing in pretty much every way it could be. Looking forward to having more such weekends in the near future!

Seeking Understanding

Losing someone close to you is never easy. It is worse when it happens suddenly and to someone who is far too young.  I lost my best friend growing up this week. He was my twin brother in every way but genetically. We could go years without seeing each other and get together and find out that our interests had developed exactly the same way. We had the same quarks and love for trying new things. He was the smarter/taller/moral/spiritual one and I was the shorter/hyper/creative/rebellious one. When I found out on Monday that he had passed I had no reaction, no because I didn’t care but because my mind could not comprehend it.

I flew out to Salt Lake City to attend the funeral and be with his family, I am after all the unofficial third son. I knew that there was going to be a lot of sadness, but what I found was a family that had been brought closer together by a tragedy.  Instead of asking “God, why on earth would you let this happen” they turned to their faith and sought comfort from their father in Heaven.  I understand that to many this may seem like a simple fantasy for people who can’t handle reality. That turning to a God that allows bad things to happen is the height of naiveté.  If I may get a little more religious for a moment

“ 7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the ^apit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the ^bdeep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to ^chedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of ^dhell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee^eexperience, and shall be for thy good.” D&C 122: 7

I know what you’re thinking “seems like a heck of a way to give someone experience” and “even if there is a God, why would we need to experience these types of things? To what purpose do they serve?” Frankly I had very similar questions until recently.  In the case of my friend, his death was not “caused” by God, there was no lightening or fire from heaven, but rather it was caused by his and other people’s decisions as well some the random happenings that are part of living in this world. But on the other hand Heavenly father did allow him to return home. I sincerely doubt it was simply because God wanted to teach his family a lesson, rather I think the Lord made use of this tragic occurrence to teach both my friend’s family and myself some important lessons about life and what is important. While sitting and talking with my friend’s mom and sisters they made it very, VERY clear to me that my friends passing had reinforced the importance of family in a way they could never forget.  The youngest talked about all the things that are going on at school (she is a high school sophomore) that she thought were important. She now realizes how truly unimportant they really are.

I learned as well.  I learned the importance of keeping in contact with those you are closes with (something I am not very good at), and the kind of family I want to have when I am a father someday. I am convinced that my friends family was able to pull together so well because they had already built strong family ties before. They had made God a priority in their family and when the hard times came each of them already knew they could rely on each other and the lord. I want that for my family someday. I want to have the comfort of knowing that no matter what happens, my family will be close enough to each other and the Lord so that they can pull through it together.

This all being said, I don’t any of us who wouldn’t trade these lessons in for having Mike back. While we learn for these experience, that does not lesson the pain of them.

I helped carry his casket from the hearse to the grave. As I placed my boutonniere on top of the casket reality began to sink in. there was comfort as well in knowing that he had fought the good fight, he had stayed the course, and now he has been received into the bosom of the Father. Relationships are eternal. We are brothers now and forever. 

Steam Bathes and Irish Soul Food

It’s been a while since I last posted so I figured it was about time I change that.  It also helped that with in the last week I have gotten to do some pretty cool things and to eat at some pretty cool places.

Let’s start from last Saturday:

Both my Roommate and I have been going through rough patches in our lives as of late. For me it came in the form of a failed relationship and a rejection from the Navy’s Officer’s Candidate School mixed with paying 280 bucks to get my roommates car out of the impound lot. For my roommate it was in the form of being in a long distance relationship and the impending sequestration that will see him lose 20% of his salary.

So after agreeing that women are the root cause of all pain in the universe ( I kid I kid!) we decided we needed to have a “Man-date” and some decompression time. What did we decided to do on our man-date you ask? Well, we went to the spa.

“THE SPA????” 

Yeah I know how it sounds, but how about you let me explain before jumping to conclusions huh?  Anyways, let me explain that both my rommie and I and great lovers of Russian bathhouse (Banya). My roomie lived in Russia for about 2 years where public steam bathing is a way of life and I was exposed to it via the Schvitz in Cleveland (still the best Banya in the U.S.) Russian steam bathing (or Schvitzing for you Yiddish speakers) isn’t like the steam bath at your local gym or club. It’s about 50% hotter, though with less humidity that a normal steam room. There is also a cold pool (and it is COLD) that you take a dip in every once in a while to help tone and relax your body. Let me tell you, for a guy there is little else in this world that is as relaxing as going for a good hard schvitz.

Thinking that since we are in DC and there a TON of Russians here we figured it would be easy to find a Banya. Turns out there is only one place within 100 miles that comes even close to what we wanted. SpaWorld (see now why I said we went to the Spa) is a Korean bath house located out in Centerville. Having never been to a Korean Bath house I was a little hesitant, but it turned out that SpaWorld was just what we needed. At $40 bucks the entry fee is a bit high but I am told it’s pretty easy to get discount tickets. 

The first thing I noticed when we walked through the front doors was just how big and clean the place was. The Bath houses I have been in have generally been very small and utilitarian, But SpaWorld was large and pretty modern with free wifi and electronic keys that tracked all your purchases (for extra things like food or massages) so you don’t have to haul your wallet around.  Most of the staff’s English is only so so but they have plenty of people there that are native English speakers so it wasn’t intimidating at all. The first part (and probably the most important in my opinion) is the gender separated bathing rooms.  These are where the Saunas, steam rooms, hot tubs, Bade Pools (think GIANT Jacuzzi) and cold pools are. They’re gender separated because everyone is completely naked in these areas. Since this is pretty standard schvitzing/Banya procedure neither my roomie nor I were much phased by this.

Both the Sauna and the Steam room were near perfect, though they both could have been slightly hotter in my opinion, and I spent at least an hour and a half going from one to the cold pool (which at 60 degrees felt like ice, so in other words: perfect) to the other. I didn’t really get to try the hot tubs because they were full of bulky old Russian men who kept giving me hard stares if I ventured too close. Not saying that these dudes were Russian mafia or anything, but they definitely didn’t seem to want to share the hot tubs.  The Bade Pool (yep that is its actual name) was a pleasant surprise. As I said before, it’s like Jacuzzi that is the size of a large backyard pool. The jets are about 1000 times stronger than a Jacuzzi’s, so sitting at one of the many “stations” within the pool is like getting a full body massage for free. The water is only lukewarm which makes it perfect for the very end of your bathing when you’re trying to bring your body temperature back to something more normal.

Another part of the bathing area is the “scrub down” station. This is where workers use a VERY course towel to scrub off all the dead skin and dirt that you build up over time.  The processes feel like someone is using 4-0 steel wool to scrub your body and they scrub EVERYWERE. Being kinda of a wimp when it comes to pain it wasn't all that enjoyable, though my skin was certainly smoother than it has ever been. Probably not something I will do again, but it was worth the experience.

Beyond the bathing area is a co-ed communal area (clothes are provided for you to wear) with “poultice rooms” made out of different materials that are supposed to have medicinal qualities. In all honestly I found these to be little more that semi-hot saunas. I probably will not waste my time with them in the future. There is one room though that the floor is covered in a 2 inch deep layer of clay marbles which once you are laying on them feel pretty good. The room needed to be about 30 degrees hotter though.

Anyways, So once we had steamed ourselves into oblivion, my roomie and I decided that we needed grub. The first problem we ran into was that we were both so relaxed that even moving as far as to get to my jeep seemed to be an unnecessary burden.  Lucky for us there was a Korean restaurant right next door that seemed promising.

Honey Pig turned out to be a Korean BBQ joint that does table top preparation.  To put in terms that most people will understand think of it like Mongolian BBQ but done at your table instead of on a giant round metal griddle. We got the Bugogi and the Spicy Chicken and Oh.My.Gosh was it good! Per normal Korean BBQ there was a never ending supply of fresh lettuces leaves to rap the BBQ meat in and delicious pickled and spicy sides (their Kimchi was great) to put on top. I am fairly sure they mixed some crack in with the Bugogi seasoning, it was that good.  If the cooking plate hadn’t been scalding hot I’m sure we would have fought over who would get to lick it clean.

Once finished with our meal and resigned to the fate of having to return to the real world we made our way back to my jeep and forlornly drove home.

I will definitely be making a return visit to Spa world, though given the price it’ll probably have to be only a once a moth kinda of deal. And while I can’t complete attribute my change in attitude towards how things are going (Scripture study, faith, prayer, and plain old stubbornness have help me more than anything) I can say that it helped lighten my outlook for long enough for me to see how great the rest of my life is!

So will there be future visits to SpaWold? You better freaking believe it!

So that brings us to this Saturday.

First I spent the day at the Alexandria St. Patrick’s Day parade (not sure why they held it 2 weeks early). It was a lot of fun if cold, and I got a lot of good picture.

I also found this lady selling cupcakes on the sidewalk and figured I needed to try one for the sake of the blog. 

The cake itself was moist if a little on the overly dense side and had a good bitter chocolate flavor. The frosting was the winner though, not overly thick or sweet but with enough body and flavor as not to be over powered by the cake. I wish I had had the presences of mid to get the ladies business card…

Tonight a friend of both my roommate and I’s came into town. In keeping with the “Irish Heritage Month” theme we decided to hit up The Dubliner. This place has been a DC landmark for almost 40 years and puts on one of the best St. Paddy’s Day parties in the area. Back in the late 70’s and 80’s it was also rumored to be the hangout/meeting place for the IRA in the US (Irish Americans made up a major funding source for the IRA up until the mid to late 80’s), thought I’ve only hear that as rumor so it’s probably not true. Needless to say I've been wanting to try it out for a long time and I finally got my chance to go. 

Having been in my fair share of "Irish" pubs in my life time I had pretty low expectations in terms of atmosphere. Most "Irish" pubs here in the states are just college bars that put up a couple of Guinness signs  and possibly show a soccer match every once in a while. The menu tends to be limited to things like "Irish Stew" and "corn beef" both of which taste like they came out of a can. The first thing I noticed when walking into The Dubliner was that instead of blaring cheap pop music they had a live ban, and that ban was playing actually fiddle music. I love the fiddle and have been even known to tool about on one now and again, so finding real fiddle music with a Bodhran backing it up was a nice surprise. 

the next thing I noticed was the food selection. While not overwhelmingly large neither was it limited. It also covered the basics like corn beef and cabbage (a staple of Irish communities in the US until the mid 1900's) and Shepard's Pie, but expanded into uncharted territory with things like baked Brie and Mako Shark steaks. 

We ordered one of the baked Bries as an table appetizer. While portioned well for two it was clearly not enough for three people: 

We destroyed the cheese, bread, and fruit within five minutes, it was that good. Who's ever idea it was to pare the warm melted brie with the sweat tang of oranges and Pineapple is a genius. The almonds unfortunately didn't add to either the texture or flavor of the Cheese so I have to assume they were only meant as a garnish. In the end we all decided that we simply needed more, so we ordered another plate. 

While searching the menu I decided I really wanted to do something different. I skipped over both the stew and the Guinness burger and finally settled on the Beef O'Flaherty. The best way to describe the dish to say it was a kind of casserole with bread on the bottom with a layer of sliced roast beef, blue cheese, and home fries layered on top.

It was good, though a little on the dry side for me. Personally I would have added more of the melted blue cheese to add flavor and moisten the meat. The roast beef part was excellent though. 

My roommate got the Fish and Chips which he enjoyed thoroughly.

 I found myself singing along with the live band as they covered old favorites like "Whiskey in the Jar." This may have been a little embarrassing for my roommate and friend (I'm not a very talented singer) but I was having a grand old time. 

For dessert I went with the Bailey's Cheese Cake. 

 This was hands down one of the best cheesecakes I have ever had. Creamy and fluffy yet packed with flavor. Honestly I could have eaten the whole cake if they had let me. The one downside was that it did still have a slightly alcoholic taste to it, nothing overly offensive but noticeable to someone who doesn't drink like me. Nonetheless I will most definitively be ordering another slice next time I'm back there. 

So after about a month of hard times, Things are really starting to look up! Which means it's time to get back on the foodie trail and make some more restaurant discoveries......