Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Back in the saddle...

Well, the year has turned another corner, and once again I find myself standing there not holding enough bus fare




Here I am, once again, at work. Still expected to... ...well, work. For some reason, I felt the New Year would hold something much more exciting for me. But now that's its here, I'm reminded its just like last last week, except I'm going to be scratching out an incorrect year on my checks for the next few months.

Some friends from college came out to visit for New Years, and among the many water-related activities that the Bay Area offered this weekend we chose the following:

We decided to spend Friday in Napa/Sonoma county, because we wanted to see what the "most rainfall the area has seen in hundreds of years" really looked like. And, to our surprise, it was a hell of a lot of rain. It had to have been one of my most miserable trips to Napa, and that's really hard to do at a place that revolves around drinking.

Then on Saturday, tired of all the rain, we decided to stay in and watch movies. It was sunny and clear all day Saturday.

Then Sunday, it was a Texans vs. 49er's game, which was also wet. And a trip down to Haight-Ashbury and dinner.

our seats were about here

Now last night was one of my favorites. After a damp day walking around Jack London square, (are you getting the theme here) we had dinner at Yoshi's sushi restaurant, in the same area.

Yoshi's was excellent. The layout of the restaurant was incredible. The seating area had to be my favorite. You walk up a small set of stairs to sit in a section that appears to have floor only seating, but under the table you have the option to put your feet into a hole, so you can sit up properly (american-ly anyway) while still looking like a sushi aficionado.

The service was excelled only by the food, which included a very nice selection of appetizers as well as entrees. The sashimi seemed especially fresh, lacking the overly fishy taste you will get with some sushi.

After dinner we opted to stay for a Jazz show in the lounge. It was David K. Matthews, (not THE David K. Matthews) and his band. The music was entertaining, though we enjoyed the antics of the sax player, who spent more time fiddling with his reed, and getting audience members to take pictures with his camera, than actually playing the sax, more than the rest of the music.

Granted, we aren't HUGE jazz fans, and I myself know little more about it than my "Best of" Miles Davis album, but it was fun. If you decide to go to Yoshi's for a show, I definitely recommend starting with dinner, reserving your table in the lounge before you eat, and buying a drink BEFORE you enter the show.

The only downfall to the evening was the horrible service in the lounge. There was a "One drink minimum" which is always more of a challenge than a threat, but we were barely able to make that.

We ordered our drinks as we sat down, around 8:00, and did not receive them until almost an hour later. At that point, the show was already winding down, as was our buzz. Even after asking the waitress what the delay was, we still had to wait 10 more minutes.

Overall, the evening was great success, and we got home early enough for me to make it into work on time today.

Here's hoping your New Years was swell, and 2006 will be one year higher than the last!

Posted by timothy :: Direct Link 1 comments

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