Friday night my friend Josh was planning on going to see Star Trek with his wife and another couple, but the husband wasn’t feeling well and Josh knew I was planning on going by myself and offered me the extra ticket. It was going to be my last night at home for a while, but Jill was wiped and told me to go, and I did. I got a hot dog at Cinema de Lux in Fairfax (hey, they carry Nathan’s dogs), then we waited for the flick in the director’s hall (assigned seats, and fewer of them). Great movie, a true reboot and offering action and plot in perfect proportion.
Saturday morning I took Illa for a walk, ran some errands and watched the season (series?) finale of Dollhouse (good, but not great like the week before). Then Jill took me to Dulles, and I stood in the longest security line I’ve been in for some time. But I still got to the gate with plenty of time, and got a Cobb salad, banana and chips from Green Leaf’s. It was a good idea, as I wasn’t hungry until later in the flight. When I landed at LAX, I caught the Fly Away bus to Union Station, then the Metro’s Purple Line to Wilshire and Normandie, where I’m staying across the street at the Wilshire Plaza (not bad, but there’s a whiff of smoke in the room and the street is noisy). I had considered going out to catch Keane at the Hollywood Paladium, but it was late and I was tired, I’ll be sure and catch them in DC next week (but I did manage to watch SNL).
Today I went to the first day of my conference at the LA Convention Center (quick subway ride away). The seminar I went to today was more basic than I thought, but I did learn some stuff about Windows Mobile I hadn’t known before, plus I won a Tilt. The presenter was going to give a phone to the person who asked the best question, and decided four of us were in the running and he couldn’t choose, so he just picked a number between 1-50 and we guessed what it was (I guessed 18 and it was 17). The conference will be providing breakfasts and lunch this week, but today’s box lunch doesn’t bode well – barely edible chicken club, plus the veggies were still frozen).
Dinner was much better – I’d decided to get something close to the hotel, and even though I’m in the heart of Koreatown, decided on Guelaguetza Restaurant, an Oaxacan place a couple blocks away. Based on the reviews I knew I wanted to try the mole sauces, so I ordered the Festival de Moles (all the sauces with shredded chicken and rice), as well as some Quesillo (Oaxacan string cheese). I also tried the Ensalada De Nopalitos (cactus salad), but that didn’t work so well (apparently I don’t like cactus). The rest of the salad mixed with the chicken, rice, cheese and moles was better, though. The red mole and its cousin the coloradito were ok, but I probably wouldn’t get them again. People seem fond of the negro mole and it was pretty good, but the real find for me was the estofado mole, very flavorful with peppers, olives and raisins. I enjoyed it all with some Corona in my room while I watched Simpsons.