Over a week of calm days with temperature inversion has made Salt Lake City a soup of smog to rival anything I’ve seen elsewhere. At least going up the mountain gets out of the murk. But also means clear warm weather up top. Considering it hasn’t snowed for over a week, the riding was not bad, we’ve been in much worse. We’ve only gone riding every other day though.
Monthly Archive for January, 2014
We had rumors of Salt Lake City, UT having good sushi. So far in the years we’ve been visiting, it has not been so. Today we found some, you have to go downtown. Takashi I can report was excellent. Yes there was a fairly long wait, but this was a good sign. Our waiter was good, friendly, knowledgable in the menu and specials. The sushi and nigiri was excellent, included a number of selections ive not usually seen. Honestly it rivaled some of the best I’ve had. Only criticism I’d have was the rice was a little too mushy. Not the perfect balance where the grains were individual yet sticked together.
Aside from that I’d say it was worth the $60 per head bill we racked up.
4 out 4 finally sushi satisfied monkeys.
We’ve arrived uneventfully. Security at hnl was fast, everything on time. Hispanic IHOP breakfast. Checked out a few shopping targets. Lunch at In N Out. Checked into hotel which looks pretty decent, although its right next to the train tracks.
Back in August I blogged about doing a job on Maui, what I neglected to write about was the wonder that is Stillwell’s cream horns. This past Thursday I found myself back in Kahului for work. I had enough time before my flight to take a quick drive toward Wailuku to Stillwell’s and pick up a dozen of their signature mini cream horns. 
These pastries are different from the cream horns I’d been used to from the Japanese style bakeries I’ve had before. Instead of a bready pan, it is a flaky pastry shell coiled into a horn shape. Then filled with a great custard filling, the ends sealed with chocolate, and finished with a generous dusting of powdered sugar. Continue reading ‘Horn of Wonder’
Pound beer, dang it notice too late they get Hoegarten, go to gate, no need wait, timed just right as end of line going in. See u at hnl.
Rental Altima, kinda annoying. Keyless entry w/push button start. How do you turn on car without starting it? Couldn’t adjust power mirrors without starting car, radio turns off as soon as u turn off engine. Brakes overboosted, seat reasonably supportive. No USB.
Blurb says something about dark Belgian sugar, so I approached with a little trepidation. pours a dark redish brown, small head that dissipates quickly but does leave some lacing on the glass. My sinuses are acting up so my taste is pretty muted. Roast comes through in aroma, but there isn’t a strong smokeyness. There’s a fair bitterness, but not a lot of floral. Guess it works with the sugar as the bitterness doesn’t linger as long as some other beers, and there isn’t the syrupiness that often turns me off, its nicely balanced here. Medium mouthfeel balanced with carbonation to keep it clean. A solid medium dark beer.
3 out 4 Belgian sugar monkeys.
OK, that forecast cold front has finally reached us. When we dropped Dave off in Kaneohe early evening the system was just reaching there. Its been a few hours since and Hawaii Kai was dry. Then about half an hour ago there was some thunder and lightning. I heard the rain starting, big fat drops. The temperature dropped noticeably. Then I heard the tone of some of the drops outside were different. Definitely more solid plinks on the roof and the cars in the driveway. Is that hail?! I went outside with a flashlight but I guess it was too small to survive long enough to find any bits of ice. Now I really want to go get some ice cream!
So it’s a superstition that your first dream of the New Year is a portent of your year to come. For some reason it’s auspicious if you dream of Mt. Fuji, a hawk, and/or eggplants. So what’s it mean if you dream that there’s an alien invasion and you’re running around trying to get stuff together for evacuation?
Woke up and got to Koko Head park with about 15 minutes to spare. Parking even more crowded this year, I got the last stall in the middle parking area! Winds died down and haze is hanging around, which made for a orange sunrise. For some reason as the light became full I found myself attacked by winged ants! Run away!