http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/04/04/149978690/doctors-urge-their-colleagues-to-quit-doing-worthless-tests
First off, sorry for the lack of updating recently! It all started when my digital camera died and I never re-charged it :-/
That said, Ian has reminded me that despite working nights, I shouldn't let work consume me ... there's more time in a day than just my 8-hour work shift. On the days I do go out and do lots of things, I feel great - I get so much accomplished. I am trying to remind myself of this more and more often.
I was feeling a little creative and headed down to the amazing FLAX art supply on the historic F-line tram. I heard that they had a pretty awesome selection of handcrafted papers/stationary (my weakness) and wanted to see for myself. I was also looking for something to do with all of the vial caps I've been collecting.
(not my image: http://www.hayesvalleyshop.com/stores/flax.html)
This place is pretty incredible ... it's like a Safeway-sized warehouse of absolutely anything and everything! Their paper selection did match my dreams, and I ended up buying a couple pieces of varying textures. I also dug through their clearance bins and found some great bulk packs of mixed papers to use for various projects ... letters, origami, bookmaking(?). Ian got me a cute shirt from Flax which was designed by a Japanese artist ... I'll post a pic of it eventually (haha)
After the art shop, we walked over the hill to Hayes Valley to hang out for lunch. We came across a little area around Patricia's Green which was basically a dirt lot with shipping containers. Well, it turns out those shipping containers open up to reveal a beer garden, ice cream bar, food carts, and an espresso bar! Ian had heard about the ice cream place called "Smitten" from a friend, so we decided to check it out. At first, it seemed like your "normal" (well, normal for SF, since it's is a very foodie town with high standards) handcrafted ice cream stop, but it turns out it was so much more than that! Check out the video. Sorry it's sideways, I don't normally record video on my cell phone:
So it turns out this place throws fresh cream, eggs, and your main flavor ingredient (for me, chocolate) into the bowl ... pretty standard right? But then comes the fun part: liquid nitrogen is added to immediately chill the cream into ice cream. At - 320F, it is so cold that 60 seconds is all it takes to make the ice cream. But, since liquid nitrogen is used and the product is not "frozen" and then slightly melted and re-frozen again (like what happens when ice cream shops open/close their freezers), ice crystals never form in the ice cream and it's incredibly smooth and creamy.
My "Tcho" chocolate ice cream with soft lemon-cookie waffle cone
After wandering around a bit in the boutique shops of Hayes Valley, we stopped by another place I've been meaning to check out for a while ... Taste tea lounge. It opened last summer and specializes in Chinese/Taiwanese teas.
Comfy lounge corners in bright bay windows for people watching
We opted for gong-fu-cha preparation style of Da Hong Pao. I love gong-fu cha because the style of preparation forces me to really slow down and focus on what I'm doing ... there's a reason why it's tea "with effort". From the warming of cups, pitcher, and Yixing clay pot, to the rinse of the leaves and decanting of the water, to the quick brewing and pouring of water over the closed clay pot to keep it warm - there's no rushing in gong-fu cha. Plus, I love any opportunity to practice various tea preparation styles :-). It was so quiet here on that weekday afternoon ... for a while, we were the only people in the place. Definitely on my list of go-to places in the future, and a great spot to bring a book to relax. Prices were very reasonable, and the owner was a cool guy.The next day we also headed to another tea lounge for lunch, Samovar, which is right down the block from our apartment. I read online that they had a very limited supply of Hekisui ("blue-sapphire jade") ceremonial-grade matcha, and I was intent on trying it. From Uji on the southern outskirts of the ancient city of Kyoto - one of the oldest tea growing regions in Japan. Cultivation was encouraged by the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu from the mid 1300s, and the area has been known for superior green tea throughout the country since.
Ian relaxing on this sunny, warm day
My hekisui matcha, served in a summer-style bowl made by a local potter. Summer-style "chawan" (tea bowls) are shorter, thinner, and wider than winter bowls which are thick, narrower, and deeper. These differences allow the tea to cool (or remain hot) depending on the season. Such a high grade of green tea, however, cannot be brewed with water that is too hot (just about 150 degrees F) so I didn't have to wait very long to enjoy. Generally speaking, matcha can be quite bitter and intense which is why during traditional Japanese "Chado" (tea ceremony) guests eat small sweets while watching the host go through the effort of preparing the tea. However, high quality matcha should be less bitter. This Hekisui matcha was very smooth, creamy (notice the foam from hand-whisked preparation with a bamboo whisk), and not too bitter despite being very "intense".
To balance the intensity of the Hekisui matcha, I ordered my usual greek yogurt which includes strawberries, mint leaves, walnuts, and fresh medjool dates in a rose syrup. Yum!
From the garden, we finally picked our first yuzu fruit! It's been a year in the making and I'm quite surprised this little yuzu tree was able to make fruit on the balcony with the limited light!
Finally turned yellow ... there are a couple more on the tree for now, but they're still green. Incredibly aromatic, I'll be sure to find a good use for our very own fresh yuzu! The tree is already flushing with its fourth (?) set of flowers again ... it can feel the weather warming up, although temps at night still drop to about 40F.
I've been meaning to read more as well, so a month ago I picked up "The Tiger's Wife" by Téa Obreht. To much fanfare, this young author has stayed at the top of the New York Times book review, so I was curious. The story is generally about a young doctor in the former Yugoslavia just as the country is breaking up into its constituent parts (how it is today) and weaves in allegory and folk tales as she tries to understand the circumstances surrounding her grandfather's death in a mysterious out-of-the-way town. There were some really interesting parts (notably, the folk tales and allegory), but otherwise I felt like the super-saturated description throughout the book was a little much, and I was left disappointed at the lack of resolution at the end of the book. I know, I know, some will say that's part of the "art" of it, but honestly, I was underwhelmed and didn't think the book as a whole lived up to all of it's hype.
I'm now reading a book I'm really excited to start ... "The City & The City" by China Miéville. He is a British author associated somewhat with the steampunk movement, 'weird fiction', and fantasy. He's a member of the British Socialist Worker's Party and a lot of his left-leaning political attitudes are evident in his works. "The City & The City" is a story about the investigation of a murder between two cities. Not in the linear sense, as in between two neighboring towns, but between two "perceptive" realities. This really caught my interest because we really live in our own worlds/bubbles and ignore other ones. The citizens of one city in the book are trained to ignore the "other" city's citizens so much that they don't even notice them - save for a few weird instances - despite the "two" cities being the exact same geographic locale. I can already tell this book has some hints from George Orwell's 1984, so I'm excited to delve into this weird fiction based in very real contemporary political and social concerns.
We also saw a really great French film the other day called "The Man In My Life". It's about a gay man who moves into a little town in rural France and starts developing a relationship with his neighbor who has a wife and kids. It really delves into the essence of the family man's fight to understand his feelings towards this new neighbor, while struggling against his obligations as a husband to his understanding (at least, initially) wife and as a father to his kids. I really wish a lot of straight men would watch this film to understand that you don't have to be homosexual or identify as that in order to develop deep relationships with other men ... the film was funny, beautiful, and artistic (but not in an annoyingly hipster kind of way). Definitely one of my favorite films, and a great way to get some French practice into my daily routine.
And as a last thing, Ian submitted his application to Olympic College in Washington so we are expecting to hear from them within the next month or so. I really hope he is accepted this round, but if not, he will be accepted next year's round at the latest (thank god for a nursing school that actually takes into account merit and isn't just a random lottery like so many around the country). I've submitted my application for my pharmacy technician license up in Washington as well, so I'll be waiting on that. I'm planning to finish up my last medical school prerequisites in the next year or so. In the meantime, I've got a wedding to play violin at! Katie (one of Ian's sisters) has asked me to play some fun contemporary pop songs during the reception of her wedding on May 27th, so I've been putting together some instrumental tracks to play along with for some great songs by Jason Mraz, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, and others. It'll be really fun, and my first trip anywhere east of Austin, TX. We are also planning a cross-country roadtrip sometime this summer (hopefully!) and are hoping that Bryan will be able to come along as well :-)
Lots of stuff coming up - I'll be sure to remind myself to enjoy the "now", and not just the future.
