Russian River Weekend Day 3

The weekend has already started off with a lot of fun and its amazing that it could get even better. Saturday was our main day for wine tasting. We started our tour at De Loach. I knew that Sunce was a must go and since De Loach was right next door we thought it would be a good idea to start our tour off there. Our tour ended up looking like this: De Loach, Sunce, Le Crema, Martin Ray, Iron Horse and finally Korbel... 6 wineries, not bad.

The Girls at Sunce

From Russian River Wine Road

The Hawaiian Boys

From Russian River Wine Road

Michelle and Win.. They had Yummie Cheesy bread at Sunce

From Russian River Wine Road

Group Pic inside Sunce

From Russian River Wine Road

Yumm.. We took a Sandwich break a La Crema

From Russian River Wine Road

Check out that Beautiful View at Iron Horse

From Russian River Wine Road

Overall it was a good trip. There was a little blip at the end. We went to Korbel and they stopped serving us b/c we were Asian. Yes, we tested this theory w/ Mark who they continuously served till the end. If anyone decides to go there, make sure you don't go up to Gordon. He was Racist!

100 Things to do before I die..

Steve gave me this list of 100 things I should do before I die.. I'm going to try to do them... I'll keep it updated as much as possible. It is now a new goal of mine.

1. Roast chicken and bread salad at Zuni

2. Coffee-rubbed pork shoulder at Range

3. Carnitas taco at La Taqueria

4. Spicy crab and grits at the Front Porch

5. Chasu ramen at Katana-Ya

6. Burger with fries at Slow Club

7. Shaking beef at the Slanted Door

8. Morning bun at Tartine Bakery

9. Tofu soup with kimchi at My Tofu House

10. Baja-style fish tacos at Nick’s Crispy Tacos

11. Pork sugo with pappardelle at Delfina

12. Salt-and-pepper squid at Yuet Lee

13. Soup dumplings at Shanghai House

14. Beef brisket at Memphis Minnie’s

15. Oysters on the half shell at Swan Oyster Depot

16. Katsu curry from Muracci’s Japanese Curry & Grill

17. Tea-leaf salad at Burma Superstar

18. Salumi misti plate at Perbacco

19. Tuna tartare at Michael Mina

20. Chicken pot pie at Liberty Café

21. Pizza margherita at Pizzeria Delfina

22. Vietnamese roasted pork sandwich at Saigon Sandwich

23. Beer sausage with sauerkraut and grilled onions at Rosamunde Sausage Grill

24. Blue Bell Bitter from the cask at Magnolia Pub

25. Loaf of bread straight out of the oven at Tartine (bonus: sliced while still warm and slathered with Brillat- Savarin cheese from Bi-Rite, down the block)

26. A classic gin martini at Bourbon & Branch

27. Papaya salad with salty crab at Sai Jai Thai

28. A Gibraltar at Blue Bottle Café

29. Spaetzle at Suppenküche

30. Laughing Buddha cocktail at Cantina

31. Pan con chocolate with sea salt and olive oil at Laïola

32. Pupusas at Balompie Café #3

33. Prime rib at House of Prime Rib

34. Yellowtail collar at Oyaji

35. Salted-caramel ice cream at Bi-Rite Creamery

36. Dry-fried chicken wings at San Tung

37. Rotisserie chicken at Limón Rotisserie

38. French fries at Hayes Street Grill

39. Pierna Enchilada torta at La Torta Gorda

40. Cheeseburger at Taylor’s Automatic Refresher

41. Pho ga at Turtle Tower

42. Fried-shrimp po’boy at Brenda’s French Soul Food

43. Mint julep at Alembic

44. Cannelé at Boulangerie Bay Bread

45. Galapagos cocktail at Absinthe

46. Chips and salsa at Papalote

47. Ceviche at La Mar Cebichería Peruana

48. Angels on horseback at Anchor & Hope

49. Ginger snaps at Miette

50. Giant pretzel with mustard at The Monk’s Kettle

51. Maccaronara with ricotta salata at A16

52. Fried brussels sprouts at SPQR

53. Garlic soup at Piperade

54. Spiced-chocolate doughnut at Dynamo Donut with a Four Barrel coffee

55. Milk-roasted pork at L’Osteria del Forno

56. Caponatina with burrata at Beretta

57. Goat stew at Kokkari Estiatorio

58. Absinthe daiquiri at Jardinière

59. Huarache with cactus salad at El Huarache Loco

60. The Brass Monkey at Little Star Pizza

61. Crab soufflé at Café Jacqueline

62. Shrimp-and-chive dumplings at Ton Kiang

63. Meatballs with grapes at Aziza

64. Paper masala dosa at Dosa

65. Crispy eggplant at Jai Yun

66. Pig parts at Incanto

67. Sand dabs at Tadich Grill

68. Irish coffee at the Buena Vista Cafe

69. Licorice parfait at South

70. Omakase menu at Sebo

71. A Fernet at R Bar

72. Arancini at Ducca

73. Popovers with strawberry butterat the Rotunda

74. Corned-beef sandwich with Gruyère at the Sentinel

75. Fried green beans at Coco500

76. Chicken hash at Ella’s

77. Eggs benedict on the back patio at Zazie

78. Chilaquiles with a fried egg at Pastores

79. Onion strings at Alfred’s Steakhouse

80. Apple fritter at Bob’s Donuts

81. Chicken curry at Punjab Kabab House

82. Fried chickpeas at Piqueo’s

83. Sweet-potato fries with banana catsup at Poleng Lounge

84. A margarita at Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant

85. Pulled-pork sandwich at Roadside BBQ

86. A cheese slice at Arinell Pizza

87. Fresh spring rolls at Out the Door

88. Buckwheat crepe and a French cider at Ti Couz

89. Lamb schawerma at Truly Mediterranean

90. Slow-cooked egg at Coi

91. Albondigas soup at Mijita

92. Bacon-wrapped hot dog from a cart in the Mission (preferably when you’re drunk)

93. Seven courses of beef at Pagolac

94. Mango with chile, lemon and salt at Doña Tere’s cart

95. 3 a.m. bowl of caldo verde soup at Grubstake

96. Baby-coconut ice cream from Mitchell’s

97. Sesame balls at Yank Sing

98. Basil gimlet at Rye

99. Clam chowder at Hog Island Oyster Co.

100. Cheese course at Gary Danko

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Isn't this an Ugly Sweater Party???

Alicia Key's SURPISE!!!

Saturday Finally came and went! I bought Alicia Key's tickets for Darren and Michelle for their Birthday and wanted to surprise them with the tickets at dinner. So the surprise was only for Michelle b/c Darren was a brat about it. He asked me all kinds of questions like, "Do I need to pack a bag for the weekend?" " Will we be out late?" "How do I need to dress?" Then one day we got in a fight and he started complaining how he wanted to go to Vegas that weekend... So I just yelled at him," I GOT YOU DAMN ALICIA KEYS CONCERT TICKETS @()&*%($)&*@)&#*)" Anyhow, I pretty much blew up at him b/c I felt that he was being ungrateful! Well after the fight he claimed that he didnt remember me telling him what we were doing that weekend and that he totally forgot. I don't totally believe him but I decided not to mention it again. Then one day he goes, "Oh, so I was looking and the Alicia Key's Concert is that weekend. Is that what we're doing?" WHAT A BRAT!!! He probably looked on the internet for everything that was happening that weekend and found the concert. He claims he didn't, but I'm not sure if I believe him.

The concert started at 9 and so we decided to eat dinner at the Red Crane before hand. The Red Crane is in Cupertino and is owned by my cousin's really good friend Royce Mori. It is AWESOME!!! We had to figure out a way to give the tickets to Michelle and Lorin so they would be totally surprised. Erin put them in little gift card boxes and I stuck them to the waitress to bring out. It was so cute! She brought them all out on a plate with a little candle on it. Erin has the pictures. The girls opened the boxes and it took them a while to realize what it was. They were staring staring.. and were like "COOL" then Lorin goes, "When is it???" haha and then some more looking and finally Michelle goes, "IT'S TODAY!!!!!!" Hahaha it was classic!

The food was FABULOUS!! I love the Red Crane. If you're ever in the south bay you need to try it. It's Asian Fusion and everything was delicious. There was 7 of us and each of us got at choose a dish.. some two...

Red Crane Sashimi: Yummie! It was perfect b/c there were 7 of us and 7 pieces. It also comes with sauces (5 of them) each served in a soup spoon.

Shaking Beef: So everything is Yummie. This is pretty much marinated beef cubes. It was good!

Thai Clams and Roti Prada: It's like Thai curry with clams and it comes with this crispy flaky bread. Very BOM! We started pouring the sauce over our rice. You need to try it.

Cha-Shu Black Cod: I think this is pretty much everyone's favorite dish. It's really buttery. It's pretty much like candy fish.

DePesto Roll: No rice in this roll. Fish rolled in Cucumber and then placed in a bowl of Pesto. Very Yummie... Not the typical roll.

Toro Tataki: You look at the dish and you wonder where the fish is. It was cut into like 8 small pieces of toro with a slice of jalapino on it. It was BOM! It totally melts in your mouth!

Coffee glazed Short Ribs: I've been to this restaurant before and this is a new dish. OMG SO AMAZING!!! The meat is already pulled off the bones and it just like melts in your mouth. The flavor is also explosive!

Garlic Chow Mein: Always Yummie!!! haha.. It's garlicy and peppery... Very peppery but not to spicy b/c my mom can eat it. Very flavorful!

Finally to Dessert. We ordered a butt load of dessert!

3 Pana Cottas: Each comes with a trio of pana cottas: green tea, Manderine orange, and red bean And yes we got 3 of them!

Shaved ice with Ice Cream and red bean. Okay, they have every flavor imaginable. We got Palmogranite, Blood Orange, and one more I forgot.

Berry Crumble: It's a cobbler. It's a bomb cobler! It comes out hot with melted ice cream on top. SOoo Yummie!

Damn, I'm getting hungry just talking about this food. We finished really fast and everything came out SUPER FAST! So we had plenty of time to make it to the concert.

THE CONCERT!!

So we got there about 30min early and walked around got some drinks. Then made it up to our seats. We were in the second to last row. So the order of the show goes: Jordan Sparks, Neo, Alicia Keys. Half way though Jordan Sparks this women next to me goes, "Uhhhh I dont even want to sit there anymore" So i ask her, "What happened?" Then I look and the guy sitting a couple seats down on the top row is like hunched over and everyone in front of him has left. There was puke all on his pants and some on the seat in front of him. GROSS!!! SO HAPPY I WASN'T SITTING IN FRONT OF HIM!!! So half way though Neo two guys come up with a clearer and some like towels. One of the guys starts walking down the row looking for the "spill" It was weird b/c the people in the back row behind us didn't realize that the guy like 5 seats down from them was puking out his brains and was pretty much passed out. Once the cleaner dude reaches the guy he looks at him.. and then just walks away back to the stairs. He goes to his friend and you can tell he was like.. Okay, we need more help. So they leave. Then later some more like EMT people come up with red back packs. Two of them look at him and then use their radio and leave. THEN a total of 4 EMT people come up. They make everyone in our two rows clear out. (All during Neo's performance) So as we are walking down I notice 4 empty seats. I tell Darren and Michelle that we should just go and sit in those until we can go up or someone kicks us out. Here's a picture of the guy getting taken down the stairs in a chair (HE COULD NOT WALK)


Anyways, it sucks for that guy. Didn't get to see any of the concert. But it was great for us. We got WAY better seats. And nobody ended up coming. So we sat there the WHOLE TIME!!! Michelle took hella pictures. Uhhh.. I HAD SO MUCH FUN!!! Alicia keys was amazing. My favorite part was her playing the Piano upside down.


She's amazing and it was an amazing show. If you didn't get tickets and you didn't get to go.. I'm sorry that sucks. Because the concert rocked!!!!