The Weekly J

So, time slipped away from me and I never wrote my Part 2 post.  I’ll never be a professional blogger!  I will go ahead and share these two great restaurants with you.  If you ever happen to be in San Pedro Sula, you will not be disappointed with either.

Enchante

This French-themed restaurant is quite tasty and has a lovely patio.  The restaurant owner plays guitar on Friday nights and I’ve heard it’s a good time.  I had the avocado salad both times I went and it was delicious!

Casa Tinto & Limon

This place was incredibly charming.  We sat in the bar area that only had 3 tables and it was extremely intimate.  I had bell peppers stuffed with a delicious cheese and a cheese cake for dessert.  You will definitely not be let-down by the food here.

I’ve just spent a week in Honduras and have to say it was quite a wonderful trip.  Prior to going we had been warned of possible security concerns and found out that San Pedro Sula (our destination city) was just named the more dangerous city in Latin America.  After taking some security precautions we figured it was safe to go and so the adventure began.

As usual I won’t talk about anything work related, but I assure you I’m not on secret assassin assignments…

We departed Memphis at 6:00 a.m. which meant my ride (and fellow coworker/traveler) was at my house at 3:45 to pick me up.  She arrived about 5 minutes early, but I was surprisingly ready for her arrival.  We parked at my favorite parking place in Memphis (Park it Here) and took the shuttle over to Memphis International.  I spend a lot of time at MEM.  Today FourSquare informed me that I’ve been there every week for a month.  It’s a second home and I get very defensive when people talk bad about it or call it a bus terminal with planes.  However, this trip I was forced to confront my subjective love and admit that my beloved airport is a bit dated and cramped.  We are out of step with the current trend of soaring ceilings and miles of moving sidewalk…but I’m okay with that.  Overall, I think we do a good job of staying modern and I think the smell of BBQ wafting through the concourse helps mask some of the other shortcomings.

Back to San Pedro Sula…we had to go through Atlanta (uneventful) and arrived around noon.  The immigration process wasn’t bad and I was able to practice my Spanish with the official at customs.  The airport itself is nothing special. It could use a bit of sprucing up, but was fine.  They have free wi-fi so I can’t complain too much.  One noteworthy thing was the stark contrast between the duty-free shop (bright lights, sleek display cases, modern shelving) and the rest of the airport.  It’s a pretty common occurrence, but still manages to jar my senses a bit every time I see it.

After meeting our coworkers we headed to the Princess Hilton San Pedro.  We were greeted by scaffolding as they were repainting the ceiling.  I think it’s supposed to be an old-world European (French?) themed hotel.  It’s cute and pretty nice, but nothing exceptional.  The pool is quite lovely, but I think if you’re looking for a hotel in San Pedro Sula I’d recommend the Intercontinental.

Sunday afternoon our hosts took us to the Fortaleza de San Fernando de Omoa which was pretty cool. From the top of one of the walls you could look directly down onto a soccer field where some local club teams were playing a match.

Beforehand we stopped by a little restaurant that had tables on a pier. I think it was called The Dolphin and it was on a public beach that is popular with the locals based on the amount of people we saw enjoying the water.

The rest of the week we worked and ate and worked some more.  I’ll talk about particular restaurants in Part 2.

I’m drawn to the narrative and tradition of Easter Sunday.  It’s a time to think about new life and renewal and overcoming systems of oppression and despair.  If you’re looking for a great read and unique perspective I sincerely recommend this post: http://poserorprophet.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/on-redundancy-as-gift-a-resurrection-sunday-meditation/.

We get wrapped up in the daily grind so easily and it’s a constant struggle to maintain perspective of what’s important and how to forge a meaningful life in the face of so much hopelessness.

—

This weekend was lovely and full of baking, sunshine, family, friends, and laughter.  I baked a pound cake (with help from friends) based on a recipe from my great-grandmother.  It was delicious and moist and I was quite proud of myself.

An “eh?” joke…who can resist?

I had the chance to go to Vancouver for the first time a few weeks ago.  I had great expectations as it’s been high on my list for quite awhile; however, the expectations were only met when the sun decided to reluctantly peak its head out.  I’ve been to the Pacific Northwest in both the summer and winter and winter is bleak. That said, in July I can’t really imagine any place I’d rather be. I suppose memories of the summertime are what get the locals through the dreariness. As for me, as much as I love mountains and the temperature, I’m still not convinced it’s a place I could call home year-round.

But enough about the weather!  Let’s talk about lodging and food!  We stayed at the Hilton Metrotown which was quite decent but not really in the heart of the city.  In fact, it’s actually in the suburb of Burnaby.  The great thing was quick access to the Sky Train and a really big mall (Metrotown) that had a lot of shopping options.  I would not generally spend a ton of time in a mall, but it was cold and rainy the morning I was going out to explore.  Tim’s and Zara were calling my name so I headed over to kill some time.  They also had a Superstore, Zellers, and T&T Market.  It was a cultural experience…okay, not really, but it was still a nice way to kill some time before the sun came out and my friend arrived from Seattle.  Since sight-seeing time is always limited, one of the main things we do on these trips after work is eat!  Here is a run-down of the memorable places from the trip.

Cactus Club

This is a local chain that’s fairly upscale.  A lot of the wait staff are aspiring actors/actresses, so maybe you’ll be waited on by someone who will make it big!  They had a couple of vegetarian options and I was extremely satisfied with the portabella mushroom fajitas I ordered.  It was a TON of food.  As for drinks, I had the Brazilian, but it was a tad too sweet for my liking.  A coworker ordered one with less sugar and I will do the same if I’m there again.

Hapa Umi

I’m still trying to verify the name of the place; however, it was excellent!  I had some very interesting edamame ravioli, but the actual edamame appetizer was also noteworthy.  It was served cold and marinated in some kind of teriyaki-like sauce.  The polenta fries are also worth ordering.

Yakko Sushi

This was a spur of the moment decision based on Yelp, but it did NOT dissapoint.  They had a lot of vegetarian options and the yam (sweet potato) tempura roll was fantastic.  It’s a total hole-in-the wall, but quite delicious and apparently popular based on the number of people we saw getting to-go orders from the place.

Tim Horton’s

What do I need to say about it?  Get some TimBits and an Iced Cap and enjoy until you have a sugar crash.

Dairy Queen

We saw a DQ in Surrey and couldn’t resist.  I know it’s nobody’s definition of fine dining, but we couldn’t resist.  At first people made fun of the suggestion, but they all came around to it!

Brown’s Social House

All I can remember is how GREAT the nachos were as I had a craving for them the day we went.  Really, that’s all you need to know.

The Flying Beaver

For a vegetarian, the food was just okay.  However, if you are a meat eater and love a cool location, this is the place!  It’s adjacent to a seaport and you can see the seaplanes coming and going while you enjoy your meal.  While I didn’t like what I ate, my coworkers all enjoyed it and I give it a gold star for location.

As the title suggests I’m off to Canada soon!  This time I’ll be hitting up two cities I’ve never seen before.  I’ll start in Vancouver and end in Winnipeg.  Vancouver excites me tremendously because it’s supposed to be insanely beautiful.  I’m also going to be a giant nerd and scout out sites from my favorite tv shows that were filmed there.  Hopefully I’ll recognize some sites from BSG.

Tonight I balanced my checkbook.  This seems like a simple task, but sometimes it gets out of hand as I make a small error or duplicate a transaction in the spreadsheet and it turns into an hour long affair of rooting out the cause of the discrepancy.  Thankfully I was able to quickly identify the culprit tonight…an unrecorded trip to Target.

Lately I’ve been taking on the project of cleaning out my apartment.  I’m constantly amazed at the amount of junk in this house and I’m even more impressed by my unwillingness to part with stuff I’ve not seen or used in years.  WHY do I have a bumblebee finger puppet?  It’s not even really a puppet!  It’s just a little yarn bumble bee that you can wear on your finger.  Does anyone want him?

Why do I own this?

My 89 year old friend is in rehab after suffering a fall.  At the facility they have a happy hour every Friday.  I visited her at one and she was quite ecstatic to get her martini (a nightly treat she enjoys when at her own home).  Upon receiving the martini in an actual martini glass ( instead of the drinking glasses she uses at home) she stated “This is the second time I have had it in a proper glass.  I usually have it on the rocks…a jam it in the veins type of deal.”

Get well soon, Virginia.

Holocene – Bon Iver

This morning I found out that my coworker friend died.  It was completely unexpected.  We had observed she was not 100% on our last trip in November, but nobody (including her) thought it would be anything this serious.

I’m at a loss for words and the emotions are still raw and overwhelming.  Jane was one of the most caring people I’ve ever met and her passion and work ethic were unmatched.  She drove me crazy occasionally, but she was my friend and that’s what friends do from time to time.

I don’t know what to say, but I know that my pain is nothing compared to what her family and friends back home are going through.  She was devoted to her family and loved her nephews so much.  One of the best nights of 2011 was in a hotel lobby in Panama City listening to her tell a hilarious story of her escapades from the most recent visit to see them and her transition to an iPhone which also occurred the day her nephews got in their first fender bender (with her at the wheel).  We stayed up late that night laughing and it was such a joyful evening.

This week I was planning on having a call with her to wrap up our latest project and to see how she liked the cd I sent her for Christmas.  I now doubt the package was even received as I was late in mailing it.  I talked to her two weeks ago about upcoming trips and we looked forward to seeing each other again.  It’s inconceivable to me that I will never see her again.

Like our friend Jordan said, we will forever think of you everytime we have a glass of your beloved Malbec.  In fact, I bought a bottle this afternoon to have a toast in your honor tonight.  You will be missed more than you will ever know and it was an honor working with you.  I’m happy to call you a friend, even if our Facebook friendship is still pending because you never log-in to check it.

Jane pictured at right this past September

The main theme of this year has been travel.  It felt like I was gone all the time, but it only worked out to about 3 months for work trips and another month for vacations and extended weekend trips.  Below are all the places I traveled, though I probably forgot a couple.

• Montreal
• Greensboro
• Houston
• New Orleans (x2)
• Taiwan
• Toronto
• London (Ontario)
• Windsor
• San Juan (Puerto Rico)
• Iceland
• Nashville
• Dominican Republic
• Atlanta
• Costa Rica
• Panama
• San Francisco

I’ve got no clue what 2012 will hold, but I’m sure adventure awaits.

It’s that time of year when we reflect on all our failings throughout the previous 12 months and then draft a plan to repent, and sin no more.  I set resolutions every year and of course I find I’ve not made the progress I’ve wanted come every December 31st.  I could use this post to talk about the goals that have not been met; however, in order to create a more balanced recap  I’ll focus on both the good and bad from the past year.

The Good

• In July of 2011 I transitioned to the world of vegetarianism.  I’ve been happy with the transition and have not regretted it.  Of course, I do miss Chick-Fil-A from time to time, but overall I’ve been very dedicated to my new life and have eaten meat only a handful of times since July.  Going forward I want to continue diversifying my diet and cooking more at home. I’ve got a bunch of recipes to try and a vegetarian cookbook hiding somewhere in this condo.

• I work with a local non-profit, Operation Broken Silence, and this year we became a 501(c)(3) non-profit.  I spearheaded the effort and was ecstatic that everything went as smoothly as it did.  2012 is a big year for us and I want to dedicate a lot more time and resources to making it successful; however, I’m still proud of the progress we’ve made in such a short amount of time.

Areas of Opportunity (Polite Way of Saying “The Bad”)

• Fitness.  I’ve definitely fallen off the wagon.  After March of 2010 I really slacked at working out.  I’ve not gained weight or become completely out of shape, but I can do so much better.  I want to be leaner and stronger and maybe have some awesome pecs.  My nightmare is to wake up one morning with man boobs and a spare tire.
• Money.  I spend a lot of it.  My goal for 2012 is to hang onto more of it.  I need my back-up plan in the event of unemployment or illness to be more robust than just “move in with granny and grandpa.”

Part I of my 2011 recap is short and sweet.  Two strengths and two weaknesses.  I will address the latter in my 2012 resolutions and hope to report good progress has been made this time next year.