Sick on Christmas

Looks like my daughter has brought something from college. I went down on 22nd, my wife a day after. Very nasty virus. Starts as a cold, but gets worse. Sore throat, cough, general sluggishness, thermal control issues (patient feels cold under any blankets). But no reumatic pains commonly associated with flu.

Chopstick wrappers

The above one is from Sanppo, 1702 Post St., SF, the below one is from Kushi Tsuru, my favourite unpretentios joint inside the mall. Interestingly, Nami-nami does not offer tagged chopsticks. Our local in-town leader, Yoshi's, used to offer the same, but sometimes they lapse into the cheap bulk stuff. I'll check a set for collection if I get a chance.

Return to the Nami-nami

The Nami-nami is a restaurant at Castro in Mountain View, which I visited back in April. Its main attraction is the authenticity (it overflows with Japanese), followed by exotic "kappo" style of food (tonkatsu is not on the menu). The reviews at Yelp are punctuated by a string of dissenters who are unhappy with service and kappo. Some of it is pretty stupid, for example the complaint about several waiters serving the table. I heard that at least some Americans expect "personal" touch, so perhaps that's where this comes from. We had no complaints about the service.

As I mentioned before, Japanese are about half of the patrons, so I enjoyed myself eavesdropping. They get deeper bows and receive polls for tea more frequently, but it's not something overt and we weren't left hanging, so no problem. The check was processed promptly, which always pleases me.

Food selection is a bit of a challenge for anyone who is used to the regular run of the mill sushi+katsu kind of place. I settled for udon nabeyaki with duck, as the safest choice. My other half went for a salmon roll in cheese sauce. If you have trouble, opt for sushi. They are quite good, fresh, the Iroha level of preparation.

The "safest" choice above meant getting what is expected, but yes I did splash my udon a little bit while loading it. I did not realize that one end of a strand was stuck to the pan, and engaged into a power struggle with it. That's what I get for being too full of myself. I was entirely too happy with my ability to control the wiggling of udon when eating it and forgot about this vital detail. Boiling onto the surface of a nabe is something that never happens with cup udon. Fun times.

Anyway, a recommended experience, at least once or twice.

Tree Lighting Today!

Parade starts at 4 p.m., the tree lighting ceremony is at 5 p.m. in front of the City Hall. I suppose the parade will go up the Central and then turn right, but it's not written anywhere.

Poor Mr. Pickle

I saw the Mr. Pickle character dancing in the rain this morning on Grant Line near Kaiser. The mascot is not a bad idea, the store is located so it's hard to see from a passing car. But it looks like a poor job. And they cannot hire a teen, because classes are in the morning.

Fish and Chips

I finally found a place which serves them, a Red Robin at Hacienda in Pleasanton, near I-580, in the Wal-Mart plaza. The fish comes in deep-fry batter, sort of like tempura. It's pretty good, I had had cod.