Week in Seattle with Paul and Hien Feb 15, 2010

I had a last minute trip to Seattle and got to stay with Paul and Hien. As usual the activities were fun and the food great.

• Feb 15: Went shopping with Paul at his local Madison Coop. He got fish and he and Hien made me dinner including crispy rice and seasoned tofu with a nice wine of course.
• Feb 16: The guys at work went to a nice Pho shop in the Great Wall Shopping Center. I got to buy some Chinese pastries to take home. Paul and I went to Tula's for a big appetizer taster while listening to local Big Band called Roadside Attraction. The bass player was great, had a nice pickup and works in product support at Microsoft during the day.
  
• Feb 17: Don Sung from Huntington Beach joined Paul and I at his 'real' pizza restaurant, Via Tribunali. It was worth the price. Paul got our waitresses name and history(she is from Italy) but not her phone number.
• Feb 18: Hien, Paul and I went to their favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Green Leaf, located in the International District. Great fresh food and although Paul tried to teach me some Vietnamese words, I forget them now.
• Feb 19: Met Paul and Hien at Pike Markert, shopped for food at DeLaurenti's and Don and Joe's meat market, hit ZigZag for happy hour (great cocktails) and then hit the Film Noir Film Festival at SIFF. it was opening night so it was packed (also Bon Jovi was playing down the street). Great movies Pitfall and Larceny.
• Feb 20: Hit Top Pot for coffee and doughnuts in the morning. Plan to cook the Rib Roast this evening. Rented a bike for the weekend at Recycled Bicycles who gave me a deal since it was off season. Took about 4 hours to loop northwest Seattle with a nice stop at a Puerto Rican restaurant called La Isla which we hit at Happy Hour. Nice EMPANADILLAS and Shrimp dishes with great sauces.
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Another Catchup...Feb 20, 2010

Well I have been busy with lots of other activities taking my time. I will work backwards since I am getting old and the mind forgets things real quickly...

• I am writing this in Top Pot on Capital Hill in Seattle with Paul working on his project and Hien studying her Materiels Science. See next post for more details.
• Pittsburgh got plenty of snow this year so I haven't been to the mountains at all this season. Sam and I trailblazed Saturday of the first snowfall (Feb 6) and visited the Evan's on Abbott St since the roads were not plowed. I did most of my skiing in the cemetery behind the house since I spent most of my outdoor time shoveling. Went skiing last Sunday, Valentine's Day, for a couple of hours down in the Frick Ravine.
  
• We have switched over to Netflix and have seen several weird movies.
  

1. 2012:Doomsday - Careful this is the Christian version
2. Bicycle Thief - Actually a very good old Italian film about post war II.
3. Love Songs - Some good looking actresses are the best feature of this cute story.
4. Avatar - I liked the 2 3-D versions I watched. Well crafted and exciting story.

• Took Sam to visit University of Rochester on Feb 1 - Looks like none of my kids will go there since he did get into Michigan.
• Some of the plays and shows Lisa and I have seen:

1. In the Heights - Road Show hit the Benedem on the first night of snow.
2. Pittsburgh Symphony - Some good concerts with Manfred Honeck conducting including Mahler's 4th
3. Room Service - Play with the same plot as the Marx Brother's movie. Good play but not well executed.