Archive for the ‘Seattle’ Category
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
My photo won the prize for “Most Unusual Object” in West Seattle Blog’s Garage Sale Contest. No, smart guy, the unusual object wasn’t ME, it was two huge bags of duck decoys.
Me: How many duck decoys does a person need?
Duck Decoy Guy: About a dozen.
Me: And how many do you have here?
DDG: Oh, about three dozen… do you want one? You can take one home…
Me: [Selecting a duck decoy]
DDG: Everyone knows the Mallard.
What did I win? A 20 dollar coffee card from Hotwire at the Junction. Mmmmm. Coffee. And a duck decoy!
Cap Hill Garage Sale Day is June 14th.
West Seattle neighbor and travel goddess Beth Whitman of Wanderlust and Lipstick has asked me to help judge her
travel photo contest. The fabulous prize? An
X-Shot Monopod. I’m not familiar with the gadget, but it looks like it could be a fun thing to have. You’ll need to register on Beth’s site, upload some pics, and send your absolute best to her. Details are
here.
Posted in Passport Travels, Pics, Seattle | No Comments »
Friday, May 9th, 2008
He arrived a bit travel worn, but he sat quietly until we could spend some time with him and the weather improved. He’s not really set up for rain, and we’ve had too much of it. Then, I was too busy to show him around, so he just hung out, not asking for much. I felt kind of guilty, I’d said I would host and then, the work I’d been waiting so long to get finally started, so there was little time. I took him with me to Ukulele Sunday and out to the software ranch, but I couldn’t really pay attention to him and do what I needed to get done at the same time.
Finally, we had a beautiful afternoon and I was able to clear my desk. We all got in the car and headed down to admire the view at the waterfront.
We check out the view from Alki Beach, West Seattle
We’re delighted to have the easiest house guest in the world hanging out with us, Flat Stanley. We know he was in Germany before he came here, though he had a stopover somewhere in Minnesota on his way to our house. He arrived with a short explanation from his home in Worthington, Ohio. It’s our job to show him around, take some pictures of him seeing the highlights of our city, and then, send him on to somewhere new. We’re hoping to get him off to Hawaii, of course.
I love the idea of this, it’s a little bit like the garden gnome in Amelie, though more educational. We’ll scribble a little writeup about Seattle, print our photos, maybe toss in some postcards, and send a trip report back to Flat Stanley’s host school. The kids learn about new places from the people that live there, which is a great idea because individuals see their homes so differently than encyclopedias do. It’s geography made real, what’s not to like about that?
Truth be told, I am outrageously envious of our 2D friend. Off he goes, on his cheap postal service fare, carrying nothing but his sleeping bag (a manila envelope) and his letter of introduction. He arrives at the welcoming home of strangers who show him around and then, whoosh, where he goes next is anyone’s guess! I find the whole idea so thrilling that I would like nothing more than to BE Flat Stanley. The human Flat Stanley, going to wherever my hosts deem is the next destination - what an awesome adventure that would be!
Posted in Passport Travels, Seattle | 2 Comments »
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
I went to college in San Jose, California and for a while, I lived just a few blocks from the San Jose State University campus. The neighborhood was a hodgepodge of working class Chinese and Mexican families and students. It wasn’t unusual to see a truck unloading big sides of pork - whole pigs split from snout to tail - outside the Asian market and it wasn’t unusual to stand in line 15 minutes just to order a burrito.
There were two places near campus - Super Taqueria - a counter service burrito joint that had great vats of beans always cooking for their righteous burritos - and Rincon Tarasco (I think that’s what it was called) that had home made tamales. Super Taq was a five minute walk from campus, tamales were a little too far away to walk, but someone often had a car. My fondness for Super Tac was such that it’s where we went right after graduation to get lunch, still in caps and gowns.
Since relocating to the Pacific Northwest, I’ve had to compromise on Mexican food. Sure, you can get a acceptable burrito at any one of the counter style places, Gorditos serves up some decent grub and I’ll put away a fish taco or two from Taco Del Mar. But let’s face it, it’s not the food I remembered from my California days. For the past - maybe it’s 14 years now - I’ve settled for less, save the rare trip out to Ooba’s in Redmond which probably serves the best Mexican food north of the 45th parallel. Or so I thought.
No one was speaking English at El Estacion, a good sign - it was Spanish, Spanish, and more Spanish. The big guy behind the counter has a friendly smile, though, so it’s not like you don’t feel welcome. There were two big families around raised grills with piles of onions and peppers and stuff for dipping, another family just past them. I wanted what they were having - the fajitas, it turned out - but I didn’t know what it was so I went for the old standbys.
The tamales are moist and stuffed with chicken that’s stewed in spicy green sauce, the meat for the tacos is cooked in some kind of chili red sauce and the tortillas are those little thick round corn ones. The salsa is fire, fire, and more fire, in red, for blazing and green for oh my god, I don’t think I can feel my tongue any more. The quesadilla wasn’t too heavy on the cheese or hidden under piles of fake guacamole or sour cream to make up for tasteless filling - it was just right.
The food comes out hot and fresh from behind the little counter, a girl in big lacquered earrings brings it to your table and if you’re me, which I am, asks you in Spanish who gets the agua fresca, which, by the way, comes in guava (yum) or horchata (something I’ve never acquired a taste for). Everything we ate was exactly 16 times better than anything I remember eating in California (it’s been a long time) and about a million times better than the best Mexican food I’ve eaten in the Pacific Northwest.
I loved this place - from the welcoming smiley guy at the counter who seems genuinely happy to see you to the pile of leftover corn husk wrappers piled up in the red plastic fast food basket of tortilla chips. I loved this place so much that I am currently wondering if I should go back and delete the name so that you never find it and it stays mine mine mine. Or, perhaps I should take everyone I know down there with me so I can say to them this: SEE! THIS is what Mexican food is supposed to be like! Not this flaccid, pale, sorry ass mossy on the underside stuff that passes for Mexican in the Pacific Northwest! THIS! THIS IS WHAT IT’S ABOUT!
A-hem. What I meant to say is this: I know where you can get quite a decent taco, if you’re so inclined. And some other good stuff too. If you’re jonesing for real Mexican food, give me a call - I’ll join you. Hell, I’ll drive. I can’t wait to go back. They have tortas, I’ll bet they kick ass.
Taqueria La Estacion is at 14820 Ambaum Blvd SW in Burien. That’s right, Burien. If you don’t want to take my word for the awesomeness, you can read some more glowing reviews here.
Posted in Seattle | 1 Comment »
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
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Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
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Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
I can never get the greeting right. Is it once on each cheek or is it three times? And should I plant the actual smooch on the cheek or is it the disingenuous air kiss? Luckily, it’s always friends and family, so I’m okay with getting it wrong, business deals and lives are not in the balance.
Mark McCrum’s Going Dutch in Beijing: How to Behave Properly When Far Away from Home
is a thorough collection of behavior tips for travelers around the world. The book tells you where the “ok” sign and the thumbs up will work as positive reinforcement and where you’ll end up inadvertently making an insult. It tells you where you should arrive on time, where arrival time is a mere suggestion, and when it’s appropriate to go home. It tells you where a nice bottle of wine is just the thing to bring to dinner and where you should have chosen flowers instead - and what color those flowers should be, even. The book cracks some business mysteries too, like why that client always says yes when he means no or what all those extra people are doing in your meeting.
There’s no way McCrum could have addressed every possible situation - you’d have to have an international dictionary of etiquette - but he does a good job of addressing some of the top level scenarios. There are some anecdotes and more detailed explanations mixed in to each section. The book tries to follow a narrative format, starting with hello, ending with goodbye, with conversation, business, holidays, dating, and lots of other useful divisions in between. I found the format a bit forced, but even so, I read the book cover to cover over a weekend.
I wouldn’t take this book on my round the world trip, but it’s a good pre-trip read, if only to sensitize a traveler to the potential land mines of your behavior while you’re abroad, be it for business or pleasure. I thought the sections on business were especially enlightening - for the life of me, I can’t imagine a scenario in which it would be acceptable to nod off during a meeting but, hey, whaddaya know?
For a short while I worked at Sony in Salzburg, Austria. Austrians greet each other with “Mahlzeit!” at meal times. Roughly translated it means “Bon Appetit!” When walking from our building to the cafeteria, you’d hear “Mahlzeit!” dozens of times, with the appropriate response being “Mahlzeit!” right back. One of the project managers told me that they’d recently had a group of visitors from Sony, Japan. After the third day, one of the Japanese guests got up the nerve to ask about the greeting. “Why do you all greet each other with “Mozart” at lunch time? Is it because you’re in Salzburg?”
Want a copy of Going Dutch in Beijing? Post your favorite story about a cultural misunderstanding and leave a link in the comments. I’ll pick three winners at random. You’ve got until May 1st May 7th. Holding this for another week while hoping for a few more stories.
Thanks, all. Comments are now closed.
Posted in Seattle | 6 Comments »
