Tag: Denise

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How To Cook A Wolf

As I mentioned previously, Denise had came up for a workshop in Seattle for her graduate program. She was free on Saturday, so VonLobster and I hung out with her. I was glad Saturday turned out to be such a nice day.

We took her to the Seattle Center and checked out the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum. It was VonLobster’s and my first time there too. It was interesting. It was fun to see Denise and VonLobster jamming on a real guitar.

Afterwards, we headed down to Olympic Sculpture Park. Part of the park was closed because a wedding was going on. The ceremony was held in the Gates Amphitheater:

Gates Amphitheater
(Source)

It was so BEAUTIFUL! Chairs were placed along the stairs. The building (completely in glass) you see in the back was where the reception was being held. What you can’t see from the picture is immediately to the right is the lake. The scenery was just breathtaking. Did I mention it was so beautiful?

We walked around downtown a bit more and the topic of dessert came up. Denise decided that she wanted cupcakes and apparently the best cupcakes in the Seattle area is Trophy Cupcakes. We dropped by the one in Wallingford. Denise got the Chocolate Hazelnut Peanut Butter Chocolate, VonLobster picked the Carrot Walnut, and I chose the Vanilla Chocolate. We decided to save these till after dinner, so not to spoil our appetite.

trophy cupcakes

VonLobster introduced us to the restaurant called How To Cook A Wolf. The name of the restaurant was so cool, that I decided to use that as the title of this blog post. Their menu was also very unique and apparently it changes often. Everything on it just sounds so good!

Here’s what we ordered and shared:

  • Treviso (Cauliflower, Orange, Pine Nut, Anchovy Dressing)
  • Quail (Garbanzo Bean, Asparagus, Saffron Aioli)
  • Skate (Brown Butter, Caper, Lemon)
  • Rigatoni (Spicy Sausage, Tomato, Marjoram)
  • Casarecce (Bacon, Onion, Black Pepper)

It was so delicious and now has become one of my favorite restaurants in the Seattle area.

VonLobster had mistaken me for becoming a wine-enthusiast due to my recent Facebook status update of being carded for buying wine. Unfortunately I had to disappoint him. Some time later, the discussion of getting a girl’s number a bar came up, and the fact was, I had previously gotten a number from a girl at a bar. I then realized I never told anyone of what happened in Texas. For those that recall my tweets:

Got either drunk /typsy for the first time in my life. Must’ve drank 5x tonight more than I’ve ever drank ever. Dunno how my brother does it. That’s 3x Long Islands + 3x Starf*ckers + 1 shot of Pitron Tequila + 1 shot of hypnotic. Surprised I can still type.

(Source, Source)

And there’s a good reason why the story is still under wraps, but we were in good company, and I told them what happened. No, I will not discuss what happened on this blog as it was rather embarrassing and a night I would very much want to forget. I must not have been drunk enough as I remember pretty much every detail. VonLobster was jealous. Throughout college, many have tried to get me drunk and never quite succeeded. One night in Texas and everything just goes out the window. I guess my brother has something to be proud of.

Kickin' it at how to cook a wolf

After dinner, we hopped across the street into the game store and we learnt to play Piece ‘o Cake. It was actually very interesting and fun, but since it was our first time playing, no one really figured out the strategies until later in the game. Our scores ended being pretty close, but VonLobster was ultimately the winner.

We went back to VonLobster’s place and played South Park – Let’s Go Tower Defense Play. The game is REALLY fun in co-op mode. I had purchased the game several weeks ago, but since I’ve been really busy, I haven’t gotten a chance to play yet. It’s funny how both VonLobster and I have unopened Xbox 360 games just sitting around. Before we knew it, it was past midnight already. We enjoyed our cupcakes. I would have to say VonLobster’s choice of Carrot Walnut was excellent. We decided to call it a night after those Jackovasaurs kept dominating us.

Due to complications with her hotel, Denise decided to stay over at my place for the night. Before calling it a night, I introduced her to “How I Met Your Mother” and she enjoyed it. I dropped her at the airport earlier today. All in all I had a great time. I presume the others did too. 🙂

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Trip to Atlanta, GA

So this labor day weekend, I finally went to visit Liam and Denise in Atlanta, GA. I’ve been meaning to visit them for years, but just never really got my act together. However, I decided I really needed a break from work and labor day turned out to be a good weekend to visit them.

My flight was at 7am, which meant I had to leave for the airport at 5am, my usual bed time. The trip was pretty smooth, but I had a hard time falling asleep. The ATL airport was HUGE. It literally took 30 minutes after landing to get to the gate. Even on the way back, it took about the same time after departing the gate to lift off. Compare this to the 5 minute from landing to gate in SEATAC. I don’t even remember LAX being that long. I later found out that ATL airport is one of the largest if not the largest airport in the United States. According to Wikipedia, it was ranked the busiest airport in the world.

After exiting the security gates, I finally met Liam and Denise. First day in Atlanta was pretty much settling down and checking out the city. They have this really neat condo with a rather great view. They took me to an awesome dessert place called Chocolate Pink which had awesome cakes and pastries. Apparently the chocolate is the awesome part, not so much the pink. ;p

Saturday, we want to check out the Georgia Aquarium, known as the largest aquarium in the world. It was pretty awesome. One of their tanks is as long as a football field (from end zone to end zone). They had some giant whale sharks which were really cool. I love sitting in the dimly light room in front of the giant glass display. It’s just so calm and soothing.

I didn’t really plan my trip to coincide with Dragon*Con 2009, but it just happened that way, and it was something else we checked out. We decided Sunday would be the best day to go. On previous nights, we worked on our costumes. Denise came up with the idea of dressing as MNU (Multi-National United) employees from District 9. I personally haven’t seen the movie yet, but was planning on it. I think our costumes turned out great in the end:

dragon-con 2009 - district 9 - mnu cosplay 1dragon-con 2009 - district 9 - mnu cosplay 2dragon-con 2009 - district 9 - mnu cosplay 3
(Photos courtesy of Denise)

At Dragon*Con, I got to hear Leonard Nimoy speak. Bill Shatner even showed up at the latter half of the panel. Later, there was a Q&A with Patrick Stewart. Hearing that guy speak is always a treat. It was very similar to An Evening with Kevin Smith, but way too short. Then I got to check out some really cool cosplays and ended my night at the Mad Scientist party where they were playing music via Tesla coils, while having someone stuck inside a Faraday cage. It was really neat!

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[Please visit blog post to view streaming video]

I apologize as I didn’t take that many photos, but whatever I took can be found at my Dragon*Con 2009 PhotoSleeve album.

On my last day, we had lunch at Chick-fil-A. Apparently Chick-fil-A is pronounced with a long A instead of a short A. I’ve heard of Chick-fil-(long A) before and always thought it was spelled Chick-Fillet and was different from Chick-Fila. Then they took me to Stone Mountain where we checked out some plantation, hung out on the top of the mountain, and played some mini golf. Before my flight, they took me to a barbecue joint, which is a must to complete my Georgia experience. I’ve got to say, the barbecue was excellent.

I got to try grits for the first time, and it was pretty good. I also learnt 2 new veggies on my trip: okras and collared greens.

The flight home was pretty uneventful. Wasn’t sleepy, so I caught up on some anime. Though when the flight attendant was going over the safety instructions, I heard, “No smacking is allowed on this flight. … Tampering with the smoke detector in the lavatory is a federal offense…” I’m not sure if I misheard or if that was a Southern accent, but I found it amusing.