from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 24 hours

Last week was the busiest week I had in a long time. It started with my trip out to San Diego Monday-Wednesday. It was for business and my very first time in Cali (or past Denver, really). I'll skip the boring work details. One of my coworkers (DP) is staying out there for 1-2 months while we do business in SD. After a failed search for a private apt to sublet for a few weeks, he ended up subletting a room in an apt. His apt-mate is a 40-something lady, who is also a Buddhist. I don't say that in a bad way, just that I've never run into a practicing Buddhist before. Since I came out for a few days and then another coworker had to come out, we sort of turned her apt into a mini motel. I hope she didn't mind.

On to the highlights. Lots of good (occasionally expensive) food was had. DP had a list of restaurants he wanted to try while out in SD. The list was based on good reviews in Food & Wine Magazine and/or a food critic for the Washington Post (I think?). I didn't mind of course :) I also had a chance to read the Food & Wine special California wines issue as well as one issue of the Wine Spectator. It really made me with I knew more about wines. Ordering wine with dinner is really hit or miss if you don't know what you're doing. So my goal is to learn more about wines.

First night, we went to Zenbu (reviews). I had 2 Mai Tai's, a delicious salad with fresh tuna, and some sushi of course. Next evening we went to George's Ocean Terrace (review). Unfortunately, it was too overcast to see the great ocean view, but it was still very pleasant outside and the food was also delicious. I had a glass of sauvignon blanc (Isabella vineyard). My last evening in SD we went to Confidential (review). This is a tapas restaurant with ,appropriately, no sign out front. Everything was absolutely delicious, especially the portobello mushroom salad. I had a pinot blanc (I think) from Inez Valley. I wish I remembered more than that haha.

Comments on San Diego: it is probably the most colorful place I've been to. The buildings are various shades of pink, orange, coral, and yellow. It was almost too cliche. La Jolla is a very interesting/fancy/chic/beach town. Every other shop was an art gallery. The water was still too cold and the sky was overcast but we walked down to the beach anyway. There was a colony of seals hanging out on the sand which was very cool. Across the street from this bay was... a retirement home. That's right. My future retirement home. There were also people snorkeling over the ecological preserve next to the shore. (Crazy people who like to freeze!) There were huge mansions sitting on the hills overlooking the bay and the other neighboring hills. It must be a very expensive place to live, but I can see its attraction.

I flew out of SD at 10:45pm Wednesday and arrived in Pgh 6:15am Thursday. Same day, 6:45pm, Alex and I departed for Boston. We stayed at the John Jeffries House, and to save space, you can read my review of it here. Friday was the MIT graduation where Alex received his actual Masters diploma. The speaker was Dr. Bernanke, recently minted chairman of the FED. He was good, but unsurprisinglykind of dull. For the next 2.5 hours, ~2,000 names were called as actual diplomas were handed out. It's great that everyone gets the same kind of attention, and received their degree in front of all their classmates and the entire audience, but it was really mind numbing. Fortunately, it didn't rain.

In celebration of the event, we (with Alex's parents) went to Top of the Hub (review) for an early dinner. Another amazing meal with a bottle of Merlot (Benziger), followed by a plate of freshly baked cookies (hadn't seen that in a fancy restaurant before, but they were very delicious).

Saturday we took a commuter train out to Needham to visit Alex's cousin and her family. I haven't spent much time in real New England suburbs. They are so cute!!! That evening we met up with a college friend, J who was in Boston for a few days. We played a few games of pool at Felt (which is kind of snobby if you're not dressed to party) before we saw An Inconvenient Truth. I highly recommend everyone see it. The movie resulted in feelings of frustration and desperation about global warming, but at the same time it was inspiring. There is still hope, and we have it within our powers to alter the course of Earth's history (for the better this time).

Sunday afternoon we flew back to Pgh, but not without some minor drama. To get the pool balls at Felt, I surrendered by driver's licence to the front desk, which they forgot to give me when we left. I suppose its partly my fault for forgetting to ask for it. I didn't realize this until we were on the T heading to the airport (1pm). Felt doesn't open till 5, and no one answered the phone. So there I was, going to the airport without any official form of ID. The only card with my picture I had on me was my Sam's Club membership card. It was annoying and a bit nervewrecking but everything was fine. I had to submit to an "extra" security search and I was on my way.

The drama isn't over yet. I finally got someone live on the phone at Felt, and they put all the left IDs and credit cards in a safe every evening. They can't open it till tomorrow so I still have no idea whether they have my ID or if I managed to lose it somewhere else.

Whew! That was long.