cindy's world

A catch-up by points:

* Mr. W’s birthday present last Thursday was tickets to the Pageant of the Masters at Laguna Beach. He’d never gone, had wanted to for years, and was very excited. We had dinner first at 230 Forest Avenue Restaurant & Martini Bar, I had great Chilean seabass and he had a giant cioppino, and then we walked through the art exhibits before entering for the 8:30pm show. No photography was allowed as with most art shows and exhibits, but Mr. W insisted on bringing his camera, sneaking it into the theatre, and embarrassing me by taking photos while ignoring all my protests. I kept picturing his flash accidentally going off and our having to be escorted out and having his memory card confiscated. I tried reasoning with him saying that his photos in the dark aren’t going to be better than whatever he will find online at the Pageant’s website; I tried coaxing him to stop taking photos; finally I got mad and demanded he put his camera away. He finally grouchily obliged. I’m gonna have to remember that he likes to break the rules, and take precautions next time, such as hiding his camera.

* Mr. W’s son was at our house when we returned from the Pageant on Thursday. The next morning, which I was able to get off work, the three of us went to pick up Mr. W’s daughter, and the four of us drove to Vegas for Mr. W’s family reunion. The four of us also stayed in a large hotel room, Son taking a pull-out sofabed while Daughter chose to take the sleeping bag over the floor cushions. I had a great time bonding with the kids.
* We had a few family gatherings throughout the weekend; Friday evening the four of us went with my parents-in-law to Rocker Bro’s house, where Chicago Bro and his wife, two kids, and Rocker Bro’s daughter visiting Vegas for the summer were in or around the pool. I finally met Mr. W’s Chicago-based family for the first time. First impressions when I saw them: Chicago bro looks remarkably like Mr. W especially in profile; Chicago wife is prettier than I’d expected — something about her features reminds me of Amanda Peet; they have two attractive boys, the older (13?) looks like and has Neil Patrick Harris expressions which kept throwing me, and the younger (11?) is less rambunctious than the older and has a charming shy smile.
* The next day, Saturday, was family paintball day. I was impressed that all the kids, even Daughter, “suited up” to play. I never lost a game except for the first one, which Son and I agreed was an unfair win for the other side, as Mr. W broke the rules and charged onto our side to shoot Daughter point-blank. It was unsettling to know we had a safe-zone on our side, and then to hear Daughter saying, “Dad! What’re YOU doing here?!” *POP!* While I ran up to argue with the ref that Mr. W was off-zone, I was shot out by Chicago Brother. Daughter refused to play another game after that. Mr. W now agrees in retrospect that he should’ve let her shoot him, instead of destroying her shaky paintball confidence like that.
* After paintball we all had an early dinner at Aurelio’s, the Chicago pizza joint that Mr. W HAS to eat at every time he’s in Vegas, then the whole family regathered at Rocker Bro’s adult daughter Jessica’s new house and played in the pool. It was like Parade of the Paintball Welts. Gamer Bro looked like a red-spotted leopard.
* The day after that, Sunday, was family photos day. Mr. W and his Gamer Bro came up with the idea of going to a playground with monkey bars and jungle gyms for endless photo posing opportunities. It was a brilliant call. You guys know me and how much I love goofy photos. I didn’t get as goofy as I would’ve wanted, but others got sillier than they’re used to being, so it came out a wash. Mr. W’s parents, for example, climbed up a spiral pole thing and posed half-hanging from it. I wanted the four brothers to climb on some netting and equipment reminiscent of when they were kids together, and they did that, Mr. W hanging UPSIDE-DOWN from his knees. Kids were on monkey bars, slides, rocker horses. This made the smiles very natural and announced to the viewer, “We’re a FUN family!” Plus it kept complaints of “I’m bored, how long is this gonna take?” down.

* Monday, we had our usual departing breakfast at Silverton Casino Lodge, Rocker Bro and his younger visiting daughter joined us, and the four of us left to return to California, musing about how cooperative the Vegas weather had been. Despite expectations of 110+ temperatures during paintball and photos, the skies were always overcast when we needed it to be, which made for cooler running around outdoors and no sun-cast shadows on faces during photos.
* We’d convinced Chicago Bro’s family to drive to California to visit us since they were on the Westside, so Mr. W’s parents drove Chicago Family plus Rocker Bro’s younger visiting daughter down to us on Wednesday. I called a favor and got half-price Knott’s Berry Farm tickets for them and they played at Knott’s all day Wednesday. They came by the house Wednesday night and since Mr. W is still off-work, he brought them all to the Lake yesterday to kayak, boat, swim, play on the beach. After I got home, we all went to an Italian place off the Lake for dinner, then after getting back to our house last nite, I stayed up and had an hours-long bonding session with my newly-met sister-in-law, a continuing-school teacher of high school students. Today, they leave for Vegas and will likely be gone by the time I get home from work, and soon the Chicago Family will be returning to the Windy City.

I’ve figured out that I wait to blog until I have photos ready to illustrate my stories, which may or may not ever happen. So here’s the blog first and photos may be to come. Unfortunately we have no paintball photos because Mr. W made us leave all our stuff in the car, so that means no cameraphone, and Daughter’s camera was left behind. We do have family photos from the playground, tho.

Mr. W and I got back from Vegas on Saturday just in time to meet up with Vanessa and Jay at our house and the four of us had a great time sipping beer (the guys) and sangria (the girls plus Mr. W) at the Lake while Johnny Lang conducted his concert there. I have no idea who Johnny Lang is, even now. I was too busy chatting with my friends! Since we weren’t around to reserve center-stage spots this time, we didn’t have a great view of the stage and I didn’t take photos. I probably should have. After the concert, Vanessa and Jay came back to our house and hung out in our backyard on our new round outdoor loungebed, and told us stories of their current house renovation projects. They bought a home for a great price, but the work they’re putting into it made me dizzy. Mr. W and I talked about it a bit afterwards, were impressed with and happy for the couple’s home progress, but we were thankful we didn’t have to go through that with our house a year ago. I’m just not that handy of a person, and Mr. W had other priorities at the time (such as moving us in and getting married). Vanessa took photos of our entertainment backyard for “inspiration” as they start to design theirs.

Now, on to yesterday, my first furlough day. In the current world-wide financial straits and the California budget crisis, the Courts are trying to stave off lay-offs by spreading around the dollar cuts earlier rather than later. In our county, the courts will shut down most of their functions the 3rd Wednesday of every month. The categories of employees who are not exempt from this budget cut (me) have that day off without pay. Of course there was audible dissent among people about this, but I’d personally rather do my part and lose a day of pay a month than have 1/4 of our workforce laid off next year. Plus I looked very forward to my free day. This first one, Mr. W (who still hasn’t returned to work yet after his mid-February heart episode) and I met up with Dwaine and a friend of his, Sophie, at Huntington Beach.

We were all off work for different reasons. Mr. W is on workman’s comp/IOD; I’m on furlough; Sophie played hookie by calling in sick; Dwaine lied and said he was out of the office in meetings all day with clients and pseudo-worked off his Blackberry phone. It was a blast! We met at Sharkeez Bar on Main Street, had a few drinks, Dwaine claimed he could pull off wearing my girlie sunglasses and still look cool and I said the only way he could look cool in those glasses would be if two girls were also in the photo looking interested in him, and I was WRONG. See for yourself.

Hi, here’s me with my sensitive friend, Dwaine. He was at the Pride Parade in San Francisco last month.
After I retrieved my sunglasses from Dwaine, we laid out on the beach for awhile.

See that red bikini behind Dwaine’s right shoulder? That’s the best photo of me you’re gonna see from the entire beach day.

Dwaine decided to come by us and do a fobby pose.

Friends don’t let friends be fobs alone.

I stayed out of the water as ankle-deep in I realized I did NOT want to freeze my goose bumps right off my body, but the three of them frolicked in the waves for a bit. Back on the sand, Dwaine waged war with a bee as Sophie and I prepared to run should the bee dig its way out of the giant sand pile Dwaine pushed on it.

Of course Dwaine kept digging the bee back out just to see where it was, but when it came out he’d freak out, pour more sand over it, and pound it with a fist or a towel. And then he’d dig it out again to see if it survived, and wig out when it did.

I innocently dug around for seashells that Dwaine could take back to his mom.

After a quick and very delicious dinner at Dukes off the pier, we went our separate ways.

It’s too bad not ALL my furlough days could be like this. I already know this, because I went ahead and scheduled two dental appointments on two upcoming furloughs. *sigh* It was fun while it lasted.

It seems like lately, if I didn’t have photos of something I did or somewhere I went to post up, I just don’t have the time or spur to blog about it. I guess that means I’m not in need of writing therapy? There are a lot of things and people that excite me these days. (No, not like that.) Last week, I was “surprised” with a week off that I hadn’t planned for. I’d been on the wait list for the week after July 4, but due to my nonexistent seniority at work, didn’t expect to get it. I went into work on Monday and found a relief clerk sitting at my desk. Since I’d driven the 50 miles to work anyway, I stayed and took Tuesday through Friday off. Wednesday morning, Mr. W and I spontaneously drove to Las Vegas to visit his family. Entire new people have come into existence since we’d last been there, such as…

Lydia. She was born in the beginning of May to Mr. W’s Gamer Bro’s daughter, Jenni. On Friday, Jenni needed her mother Lisa to babysit Lydia, and Lydia showed up like this:

Say it with me! “Awwww!” =) On Friday night, Lisa and our other niece Jessica rescued me from a second night of watching Mr. W and Gamer Bro (Lisa’s hubby) play XBox games. The three of us chicks met up at a local night spot recommended by Dwaine, called The Blue Martini Lounge. I had not prepared going-out-clothes, so Lisa and I went shopping on the fly. I told her I didn’t want to outfit myself for any more than $10. She was a bit incredulous, but I pulled it off.

The outfit you see above cost me $8.50: $2.50 cami, $6 skirt. I also bought another sleeveless top that Lisa found for $2.50, so total expenditure on clothing that day was $12 with tax. Of course, in typical Cindy fashion, I find out AFTER I’ve fallen in love with the other sleeveless top that the logo written on the front of it, “World Famous Mustang Ranch,” is a well-known Nevada brothel. =P You know I bought the shirt anyway, but I wore the above outfit for going out that night and not the whorehouse shirt. This cami is safe, I thought, since it says “Miller High Life,” but just because it had the word “Miller” in it, I took the above photo with my cameraphone in the dressing room and texted it to Dwaine for approval. If I’m going to be sporting his last name, I reasoned, I needed his permission. He gave it with all his blessings.
Blue Martini was a swanky place, WAY overcrowded, so we walked around and checked out its happening 4 bars and curved right on back out. We decided to grab a few drinks at downstairs Yardhouse instead, and while the three of us milled around the front entrance, we were offered three complimentary tickets to a comedy improv show across the way from the restaurant. “This would’ve never happened to three guys,” Mr. W had grumbled when he found out. Look how close to the stage we sat!

^ Lisa and Jessica, the girls who rescued me.

Why is this post entitled “Vegas Trip #1 This Month?” Thanks for noticing! It’s because after we arrived in Vegas, we found out that Mr. W’s Chicago brother and their family, whom I’ve never met, were about to take a road trip to Vegas for the second half of the month. My parents-in-law want to take this rare opportunity for a family reunion photo, so we’re going BACK to Vegas for the last weekend of the month. Jessica and I planned for fun with a family paintball match on Saturday the 25th. Her friend had opened a paintball field and Jessica came through big time with free admission and free equipment rental for the family; we just have to buy their paintballs. I had been unsuccessful in getting Mr. W to play before, but this is for and with his FAMILY! He agreed to follow through. Imagine THOSE photos!

This is the Independence Day + Cindy’s Birthday celebration which took place on Friday, July 3, 2009.

The fun started at the Lake, where we hung out and had margaritas & beer. Once most people arrived, I shuttled 9 friends on the partyboat for an hour, chatting and enjoying the view. The three guys (Mr. W, Edgar and Eddie) decided to take out a sailboat. The three guys’ girls didn’t think it was the best idea, considering Mr. W had only sailed once before with the help of Mr. Englyng, and the other two had never set foot on a sailboat prior. “How hard could it be?” Eddie insisted in his USC tanktop which I would’ve thought he’d worn only to rub me the wrong way, if I didn’t already know that 90% of Eddie’s wardrobe and office supplies paid allegiance to the Trojans. On our way back in to dock, we saw this:

We pointed and laughed and took photos. This photo is courtesy Coworker Sandy, who was on my electric partyboat. Apparently the guys drifted into the fenced-off swim area so lifeguards had to go rescue them before they ran over little kids. I heard that a lifeguard teased Eddie, “That’s funny…I’ve never had to tow in a BRUIN before!” That’s RIGHT. Cuz we Bruins don’t get stuck. Edgar insisted what we witnessed was not an embarrassment; it was valet-service.

Around this time Vanessa had arrived, so she, along with Mr. W, Eddie (who probably wanted to redeem himself on water) and godson Evan hit the Lake in 4 kayaks. The rest of us stayed on land and chatted.

It was 12-yr-old Evan’s first time kayaking, and I hear he did very well. Now it was off to the house for the Cocktails & BBQ portion of the day.
While I tended bar…

…Mr. W tended to the food.

Don’t say we didn’t have pretty edibles.

Didja get a load of the jello shots? Peach: 25% vodka; lime: 33% vodka; strawberry: 50% vodka.
I had a blast making cocktails! People were very good about ordering experimentally off my prepared menu, which had 40+ cocktails and 10+ shots on it. My guests were VERY generous. I had so many Costco-sized bottles of alcohol that the best way I could pour was carefully tipping it into a shotglass while it sat on the counter.

Here the guys are holding B52 shots.

Vicky was very happy with her liquor intake. Here she’s holding up an Amarita. She already had jello shots, a double purple hooter, and some other stuff.

A few people (Dwaine, James, childhood friend Sandy and her date Michael) stayed into the night and we shared great conversations and laughter, although largely the topic seemed to revolve around Dwaine’s theories about single women. THAT was entertaining.

Most of the above photos are from Vanessa’s and James’ cameras. I think Coworker Sandy’s hubby has photos of the other 80% of the guests. 🙂

I was looking through my old emails to find a contact regarding the Orange County criminal case we did, and stumbled upon a whole gob of emails I hadn’t opened because I was away on vacation going nuts with Jordan and James in Florida. Among those were some photos taken by the secretary at the Service Awards Ceremony. Here’s me trying not to cry outwardly at having been here 10 years…

In the audience of my courtroom with another clerk, Star. Star was honored, too, but had quite a bit more over me in seniority.

Here I’m being roasted by the boss.

The big wigs (courthouse administrator, presiding judge of the district aka my Family Law Resource Judge, district court administrator) and li’l ol’ me.

These are the honorees who DIDN’T ditch the ceremony.

…and now I’m officially 33.

This has been a great weekend so far. Saturday we did a four-way celebration at Ruth’s Chris for an early dinner: Mr. W’s daughter’s high school graduation, Mr. W’s son’s 20th birthday, my 33rd birthday, and his belated father’s day. After dinner, Mr. W and I walked to the Lake and watched the free Chris Botti concert. It was uh-MAIZE-ing. Click his link and have a window open with your speakers on as you read this to get a taste of my experience. Our lake association has magical powers. Not only did we get Chris Botti to come give a great concert, but he brought along top-notch musicans to play piano/keyboard, electric guitar, drums and bass guitar. These are Grammy winning musicians. The sun set over the lake as the jazzy bluesy notes seemed to make the very water ripples dance in syncopation, and my husband and I lounged on our reclining beach chairs before settling down on our backs on the blanket to watch the stars. Mr. Botti, you have a new fan. And I love your personality and stories.

Today, Mr. W and I got out of the house early to meet Brad L. for breakfast at an authentic German restaurant in Anaheim, Jaegerhaus (correct name has an umlaut over the “a”). Brad’s in SoCal with his family for a wedding. We had a great time chatting about geoducks and cell phones over breakfast, and remarked how the last time we saw each other, we were all single. Then we came home and I made a batch of lime jello shots (whew, mental note to lighten up on vodka for the party batch!) as testers before heading off with Mr. W to meet my parents, grandma, and grandma’s youngest sister visiting from Taiwan, for dinner. Afterwards we brought a little artsy green tea cake to Grandma’s to hang out and chat.

They talked about wishing they had a camera to document the day, and then everyone realized they had cameraphones, so out those came.

You have to imagine me with MY cameraphone behind my parents doing the same thing.

I’m optimistic about the coming years. Brad gave us a great lead for an all-inclusive guided tour trip through Japan, and we’re looking into it. For more immediate things to anticipate, we’ve spent hundreds in preparation for my upcoming bday shindig, and I’m surprised and flattered at how many people are planning to attend. And soon, I have the jujitsu campout trip in mid-August to look forward to. Between then and now, many bike rides on my new hybrid bicycle (birthday present from Mr. W), and many kayaking outings at our lake.

This is Yosemite National Park, California. Mr. W and I drove there last Thursday, checked into our hotel, then went to explore the Park and scope out potential activities to plan our visit. These are all photos taken with my cameraphone.

Famous landmarks: the steep cliff on the left is El Capitan; the waterfall to the right is Bridalveil Fall; behind the Fall toward the center of the photo is the silhouette of Half Dome. In between the mountains, the trees permeate Yosemite Valley.
A closeup of Upper Yosemite Falls from the Valley floor:

Here’s another angle looking up at Upper Yosemite Falls.

I looked up in the sky at one point and realized that the moisture in the air from the nearby waterfalls caused a rainbow halo to form around the sun. I tried to capture it with the cameraphone, but I didn’t do it justice. Here’s the gist anyhow:

This is Bridalveil Falls, from across the Merced River. Gorgeous Thursday.

We did a low-key hike to Lower Yosemite Falls, then made our way to the Visitor Center and spoke to some rangers there. They recommended that to avoid the crowd, we hit the popular long hikes early in the morning on a weekday, i.e. the next day, Friday morning. We decided to take the scenic 7.2-mile round trip hike up to Upper Yosemite Falls (2425 feet above the Valley floor; hiking this requires a 2700ft elevation gain). This is the highest waterfall in in North America. Yeah, you know the waterfall in the pictures? Yup, right to the top.

This is classified as an advanced, strenuous hike 6 to 8 hours in duration, with lots of switchbacks. It wasn’t very crowded, especially as we passed the halfway point and saw others turn around. The view along the way couldn’t be beat.

This is the half-way marker: the first glimpse of Upper Yosemite Falls from the hike path:

Curving around another bend approximately an hour later, tenacious hikers are rewarded with this moist angle:

“Don’t slip, don’t slip, don’t slip…”

Some more uphills and rocky switchbacks…

…and we’re finally there.

Walking to the Overlook…

It’s a scary thing when you realize you’re looking DOWN at the source of a waterfall:

At this point, I’m still higher than the Overlook. But I’m making my way down.

Let’s lean over and see where the waterfall goes, shall we?

I realized that day, as I laid belly-down over an unrailed cliff so that I could get a better look at nature with my binoculars, that I’m not scared of heights as I’d previously thought.

Looking down through binoculars, I was actually able to see our car parked below.

See the circular road below? The car’s at the bottom of the circle. I made a mental note to take a photo from the car pointing up to where I was now looking down. And here is that photo.

See the rock above and to the left of the waterfall? That’s where I was hanging down.

The next day, Saturday, our calves were so sore we could hardly walk (plus I think I tweaked my right knee a little since my hiking shoes were so old that I spent parts of the descent stepping awkwardly sideways so I didn’t slip more than I had to to my death), so we flip-flopped a shorter, flatter hike in the Mariposa Grove, where the tallest Sequoia trees live.

I love my $5 Hawaii flip flops; if I ever find my way there again I’m gonna buy 10 pairs. They were more comfortable to hike in than my worn hiking boots that gave me bruises under my toenails and blisters. They greatly eased my painful limping during this hike.

This is a taaaall tree. And I thought I felt short standing next to DWAINE…

Doe! A deer! A female dear! And her buck and fawn.

I thought this cabin in the clearing looked so quaint, I half-expected dwarves to run out as a black-haired cartoon girl chased after them with their suppers.

I saw these triplets, and I looked up…

…and up.

We soaked our sore legs in the hotel’s jacuzzi Friday night after the hike, then hung out at a nearby Starbucks for a nightcap. Saturday, we discovered an outdoor shopping and entertainment center close to our hotel and had the best Italian food we’d had in awhile. We also caught a movie. Guess which one:

Great movie, BTW. We saw it in 3-D. We drove back on Sunday and stopped by a great shopping outlet on the way, where I spent hundreds of dollars I didn’t expect to. Oh well. We also pulled over TWICE to catch the beginning and then later the end of the Lakers vs. Magic Finals Game 5, which turned out to be the series-winning game. Marie Callender’s bars: great place to watch games. Who knew?

Mr. W enjoyed the trip because this was his first time in Yosemite, where he’d always wanted to go, and he said he’d never seen so much natural beauty in one place. I enjoyed it cuz I actually had someone to hang out with at night; he didn’t hit the hay at his usual 9pm bedtime every night. Plus, the last time I was in Yosemite, I was a cranky 14-year-old on a family trip with my parents’ friends. I wasn’t terribly excited about it. Mr. W and I bought the annual pass which gets us into all federal parks around the country, so I’m going to invest in some hiking shoes and toss my 15-year-old slip-n-slide Nikes. This makes Mr. W happy, as I’m now intent on DOING stuff. Today, in fact, I helped organize an upcoming biking and camping trip with my jujitsu friends whom I hadn’t seen in a long time. I think I’ll be investing in a good bicycle, too, in anticipation of this trip.

Where’ve I been, you wonder? Well I’m so glad you asked! I’ve been here:

Anyone recognize the famous landmarks here? More to come!

I also realized while “doing” stuff this past weekend that I’d inadvertently left out a few things from my List, namely:
* swimming offshore in Barbados
* reliving the 19th Century on Prince Edward Island
* white-water rafting down the American River, camping downstream along the way (I want to do this REALLY soon, anyone wanna join?)

I had an epiphany in my car on the drive to work today. Relive it with me. Play this below as you read.

Okay. You’re flying low, 90 mph with 306 horses purring underneath the control of your right foot, leather steering wheel of your luxury sports sedan smoothly steady in your hands, this song pumping in Mark Levinson premium surround sound.
As your right hand involuntarily lifts off the wheel to mark each pulsating rhythmic beat, you find your body swaying ever so slightly left and right, and then more defiantly now, until you are dancing in your seat. The music matches your elevating mood, draws it farther upward, triggering your body to release adrenaline and endorphins. “Let it rock, let it rock!”
I’m sick of being stressed. I’m sick of feeling immobile. I choose, right now and here, to be AWESOME instead. Thank you, Barney Stinson.

I refuse to be powerless. I will not spend my youth watching things pass by. Screw the walls I keep turning into. I can’t wait to start doing, effective immediately.

The stress has done its thing in the recent past days. The below photo is from Tuesday, when I was so not-feeling-it that I called in sick to work. Some hours went by when I moped in bed for awhile, but then I forced my body into submission (so to speak) by making it trek the 2 hilly miles to the Lake, kayaking for an hour, and then of course returning on foot.

The result was kind of funny. During the hike there and back, I was in a tanktop, which resulted in a deep bronze tan on my arms and outer shoulders. Kayaking was done in the outfit above, and I got sunburned with the reflection off the water, so my upper shoulders are pink. Of course the parts the straps covered, which also re-covered the Dominican Republic’s bikini tan, is soft white. My shoulders now look like Neopolitan ice cream. I am now Awesome Neopolitan Ice Cream.

(I can’t wait for “How I Met Your Mother” to return.)

While I was on vacation, Dodo got the best kittysitter ever: Vanessa!

Vanessa is the natural choice, because she and I were briefly roommates so she and Dodo were already familiar; she and I met in jujitsu so I know if/when shit hits the fan, she can defend Dodo with killer debilitating moves on any would-be (c)a(t)ssassin, she works very close to our house, she’s highly dependable, AND she’s easily bribeable with Yama Sushi (yes, that is the lakeside sushi joint I’m always blogging about). =D She came over the Friday evening before I left for Florida. Can you believe this is how Vanessa looks after a long day of work?! So unfair.

We had our sushi chef prepare an omakase premium sashimi platter — basically, whatever is the fresh recommended fish of the day, price is no object!

Here is the completed masterpiece, for about $100:

Ama-ebi (sweet shrimp), hamachi toro (yellowtail belly, the “filet mignon” of yellowtail cuts), ahi (yellowfin tuna, also in the “filet mignon” quality of cut), Tobiko red roe (flying fish caviar), black roe (can’t recall what fish these are from), hotate-gai (fresh scallops from Japan), ono (wahoo — the fish, not the involuntary scream of excitement nearly impossible to contain when one observes such a platter of delectations), hirame (halibut, which I understand is really “ohyo” in Japanese so I don’t know why every sushi restaurant I’ve been to says “hirame” [flounder] is “halibut”), and some other stuff I no longer remember and can’t identify from my cameraphone photo alone. Vanessa called this “some damn good sushi” in her post.

We asked the chef to pick a roll for us, something different, so he came up with this flash-fried rice-based roll with spicy sauce, avocado, fresh tomatoes, some spicy fish that I can’t even remember now.

It was my first time trying an oshi sushi roll (sushi made from rice pressed in a box or mold), and I just remember it was delicious.
Having seen photos of the quail egg sushi on my blog from my outing with Diana, Vanessa wanted to try quail egg for her first time, so we had this: salmon with masago (smelt caviar), topped with some chopped scallions and a quail egg. Plus special sauce.

Vanessa was very pleased, and showed her gratitude for dinner with excellent Dodo-sitting service. (I’m just kidding, Vanessa, I know you would’ve done it anyway, but the dinner was a thank-you.)

And that, ladies and gentleman, was the last good sushi meal I had before the absolute worse sushi meal I’ve ever, EVER had in my life, which horrible meal happened in Florida. (That’s called foreshadowing.) And unfortunately, I dragged a victim into the pits of raw fish sewage hell with me. Coming up soon.