Starry Wisdom

I saw Paprika with my brother, the other day. It’s quite an interesting movie. The music is very – infectious. Basically, it’s a movie that you can’t really think about, but just enjoy. It is about dreams, and is therefore dreamlike. I think it’s successful at what it is trying to do. 12 out of 13 rabbit turds. 3 of those turds are bonus turds for the music which is still running through my head.

To the thunderstorm I experienced after the movie, I give 1 out of 19 rabbit turds.

As requested by irc’s Grafumbly, I have reviewed a Falafel establishment:

Mediterranean Kabab – Fairly typical kebab, gyro, falafel type place. I had the falafel platter. I was a bit saddened that it didn’t come with rice, as the menu seemed to imply. However, it came with some excellent hummus, slightly salty but tasty baba ghanoush, and a large amount of tahini on the side. The falafel themselves were well crisped. They use lavash for their sandwiches (although they serve pita on the side of the platters). I’ll have to try it again and get a falafel sandwich next time.

Some of you might know that last month the “Congressional Hunger Caucus” did an experiment where they tried to live the life of an average food stamp recipient. Well, not really. But they tried to limit themselves to $21 a week for food, the amount the average food stamp recipient gets.

This is all well and good, and it does raise awareness in an important problem. However, I don’t think they went about it in a very ingenous way.

First of all, doing it for one week makes it harder than it should be. It makes more sense to do it over a month. There are lots of foods that cost too much to buy for one week, but ammortized over 4 can fit into an $84 budget. Suddenly you can buy a bottle of cooking oil, and a large bag of rice. Oh, meat is on sale one week:

<todd> Safeway has tri-tip for $3.49/lb this week, with a coupon for $5 off a minimum purchase of $20. That’s almost 6lbs of beef for $15.

Suddently your dinners get a lot more interesting. You can also buy the 18count package of eggs when they are on sale for really cheap:

<dpk2> yeah, safeway online has 60 eggs for $7.49. thatsalotta eggs.

Yes, I just would have spent over a weeks worth of food dollars. But I have protein to last me ALL MONTH. I also notice that sweetcorn is on sale, 10 ears for 2 bucks. You can freeze corn. This might even be cheaper than buying a bag of frozen niblets. Etc, I’m sure I can find lots more examples.

Here’s my point- living on $21 for food a week would suck. However, it’s not quite as dire as the politicians are making it out to be, for anyone with half a brain. It would be dull, and repetitive, but not necessarily completely devoid of nutrition.

For :

• Burlingame Pez Museum – the world’s only Pez museum, a scant few blocks from my apartment. I actually visited it back in Feb. It’s amusing, I’ll give it that. And the owner sure loves his Pez and related Kitsch.
• Burlingame Apple Store – It’s an apple store. Not a big gigantic one, but it is close. They sold me my Macbook Pro, which I love. And some speakers that look… well… interesting. And a bluetooth keyboard. A+!
• Burlingame Radioshack – Closest place to get AV cables. What else is ratshack really good for, anyway?

I highly doubt anyone will care much about it. But this is livejournal. No one should care about anything on here. Therefore, I’m going to post some mini-reviews about the downtown Burlingame eating establishments I’ve visited. The list is in no particular order, but vaguely East to West.

• Sam’s Italian Sandwich Company – Passable sandwich shop. I tried it once, and I will not return. It’s not bad, just not good. And you can do better in the environs.
• Christie’s – Breakfast restaurant. It is pretty greasy. If that is your thing, the prices are good. It’s a bit too much for me.
• Straits – Singaporean food. They have a full bar, so it can be pretty crowded and trendy on Friday nights. The food is decent. Not cheap, but not terribly expensive. They make a nice ginger soda.
• Stack’s – Breakfast food. I like it. It can be very busy on weekends (But all the breakfast places are). I went here at least once a week with my mom when she was here in March. We also went here for brunch the day before my surgery.
• Ramen Club – Nice ramen restaurant. I’ve been happy all three times I’ve been there. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Santa Ramen, so I cannot judge between the two, but this one is closer to my apartment, and it is good stuff.
• La Corneta – *Decent* taqueria. Proximity is key. Their enchiladas are nice and gooey. If you are nearby and crave mexican, not a bad deal. Cash Only.
• Tomakazu – Good bento. Middling sushi. Good price. Very very close to my apartment.
• House of Bagels – Bagel shop. Their bagels are fairly real (they bite back). They make delicious lox sandwiches. Recommended.
• Copenhagen Bakery and Restaurant – Danish Bakery and Scandinavian/American Restaurant. Good for breakfast and lunch. Their soups and sandwiches are pretty good. Their bakery has some phenomenal pastries. I usually hit this place up at least once a week.
• King Yuan – Typical Chinese food restaurant. The food has been conistantly “above edible”, and I’ve sampled a fair number of things off of their menu. Even if they weren’t about the closest Chinese place to me, I would consider going there.
• Cafe La Scala – Decent Italian food restaurant. And I’m pretty picky. While not the best Italian food in the bay area, this sure beats a lot of what I’ve had that passes for Italian food around here. This being said, I hear some of the other places nearby are better, so I will have to try them out.
• Crepevine – I like to call this place Crapvine. Not because it is bad, far from that, but because it’s nowhere near as good as Ti Couz in SF. They have a nice and varied menu, so just about anyone can find something. And their fresh squeezed orange and carrot juice combo is delicious.
• Sakae – A sushi bar. I ignored this place for a long time, because it was a dive. Boy was I wrong. My favorite sushi place, evar. Oh, it’s not at all cheap, but it is oh so delicious. It is also very cozy, about 8 tables and the sushi bar.
• Roti Indian Bistro – Dressed up restaurant with decent Indian food. You’re paying far too much for the location and decor. Not bad food, but I think you can probably do better for your Indian Food Dollar.
• Coconut Bay – Passable Thai. I’d like to find better in my area. Not much more to say.
• Barracuda – “Fusiony” sushi. Not really, but they do have a lot of rolls. It’s good quality, and fair priced. I went here for dinner the night before my surgery, with my folks. I made my mom eat a fried shrimp head. Of course, I didn’t know about Sakae then, but I do not regret the decision to go here. It also has a lot more room than Sakae.
• Mollie Stones – Not a bad place to pick up some soup, or a sandwich. Therefore I will include it as a restaurant on the list, even though it is a grocery store.