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Season 16 The Amazing Race: On Your Mark . . .

2010-02-07T14:46:00.003-05:00

Next Sunday marks the start of Season 16 of The Amazing Race. Will it be a love-fest or just another Valentine's Day?
Check out this season's racers now on cbs.com. How many cliches can you find in the cast of characters?
The producers have cast a team of lesbians, a team of cowboys, and a team of cops. Lesbians are the logical next step after last season's gay brothers. Any one hoping the cops will go rogue?
Several good candidates vie for the next Bickersons. My money is on the wife who said she will have a hard time not blaming her husband if they lose. However, the brother team who admit to infighting might get the nod. Last season's bickering brothers came in second, but I maintain that fighting is a team's biggest downfall (besides being completely unathletic).
This season brings a few recognizable names, but none who rank even as high as Kathy Griffin's D-list. Most notably, we have the unfortunate Miss Teen South Carolina who strung a bunch of words together in response to a question about finding America on a map. Hope she reads maps better than she explains them. Train wreck fans will be watching closely for her intellectual blunders. She, no doubt, is hoping for redemption.
The Miss Teen America contestant is the exaggerated version of last season's pretty blonde with the plastic swimming floaters on her arms. The couple that were former Big Brother Season 11 contestants is the latest iteration of Rob and Amber.
For baseball fans, we have a coach from the Cleveland Indians and his daughter.
Despite the cliches and the attempts to kick each season up a notch, I will be glued to the set next Sunday and every Sunday after, racing vicariously with teams and hitting the mat to face Phil.

Winter in Battery Park City, New York

2010-01-16T23:02:00.004-05:00

Down in Battery Park City, as in much of downtown Manhattan, the wind is on steroids. Strong, and stoked by tall buildings and narrow streets, the winter wind saves its best work for west of the big highway where the Hudson River adds its two bucks.
On any given day, the air feels at least ten degrees colder in Battery Park City, especially in seasons where you need every degree on the your side of the tote board.
The wind whistles through spaces in the windows of our 18th floor apartment; it pounds on our walls and makes us huddle close to the space heater and under a comforter on the couch.
This brutality is payment for the beautiful summers down here when Battery Park City is spared the sweltering stench of the rest of Manhattan, where the same tall buildings create oven walls to contain the heat.
The Hudson River relents, and the mad, mad space makes you close your eyes and spin around without knocking anyone over. Among the joys of summer: The Esplanade, Rockefeller Park, and the North Cove where the yachts are moored, the World Financial Center Plaza where PJ Clarke's and South West have hundreds of outside tables, the fountains, and the places where you can just sit outside, undisturbed.
I count the days until March when I get my annual reminder that March is still a winter month. Okay, I'll count til April then, which for some is the "cruelest month," but not for me!

New Year's Day: The Philadelphia Mummers

2010-01-01T16:31:00.008-05:00

photo by Max Lang

New Year's Day holds many traditions for those who wake up intact on the difficult first day of January. Besides football games and polar bear swims, there is a tradition that I have yet to witness, in the land of my in-laws, the Philadelphia Mummers Parade.
The Mummers have a rich and colorful history. The five divisions of the Mummers are: Comics, Wench Brigade, Fancies, String Bands and Fancy Brigades. I can divide my friends and acquaintances into similar divisions, but will never commit those assignments to paper.

Whatever you are doing this first day of the new decade: whether you're sleeping it off; inhaling fat, salt and grease at your local diner or four-star brunch restaurant; toweling off from a dip in Lake Michigan or partaking in other New Year's Day festivities, enjoy!

Travel 2009: A Year for the Home Fires

2009-12-31T19:10:00.005-05:00

Tonight, people will say goodbye to 2009. Don't let the door hit you in the ass.
A tough year in many respects, 2009 was a year to stay relatively close to home. Many of us, despite the wanderlust in our hearts, did just that.
The stay-cation became an accepted norm. In New York, the stay-cation is no raw deal. People pay good money to get here; we don't have to sink the airfare or hotel cost to see a Broadway show or visit the Met.
In more certain times, we take one big trip out of the country and several domestic trips every year. But we only left the borders of the city a couple of times, though we did reach the left coast once.
The moment my job was assured, we spent a week in California, driving down Highway 101 and spending some time in both endcaps, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
In August, we went to Milwaukee for a week, since we skipped it in 2008 in favor of Austin. Milwaukee is my adopted hometown and 2009 was a year for going home.
Not everyone confined themselves to the continental US. Good friends went to Turkey and Greece, another just headed to India.
Where, if anywhere, did you go in 2009?

Times Square Subway Art

2009-12-30T17:32:00.006-05:00

As New York City prepares for the ball-drop madness that is a Times Square New Year's Eve, I recall walking through the empty 1, 2, 3 train corridor in the near silence of a Saturday morning earlier this month.
Forget about tomorrow's crowd. With just the normal weekday throng of commuters hustling through the station, you can easily miss the art embedded in the station's walls.
I noticed the lit, metal-framed images one quiet Saturday morning, pre-coffee, on my way to a class. Get up close and you'll see the ceramic glazed iconic images that draw a parallel of New York revelry to Paris in the 1890s. The color and the party themes remind me of the surreal debauchery of the movie Moulin Rouge!
The artist is Toby Buonaguiro and you can check out all 35 of the ceramic New York images.
The New York City subway system is filled with art. You just need to take the time to notice it.

It's Christmas Eve in the City

2009-12-25T08:57:00.003-05:00

Well, ring-a-ling, it's Christmas Eve again.
Spend Christmas in New York, that magical city, with millions of others.
There's so much to see and so many ways to spend your money. And so darn many people.
To feel the real deal, spend a few minutes on the corner of 34th Street and 7th Avenue. The bells of the Salvation Army Santas ring louder than the sirens of impatient emergency vehicle. But we're all impatient, aren't we?
Try crossing that crowded intersection, especially from the northeast corner to the northwest corner. The people move in a lattice pattern with an enforced speed limit of a zombie-walk. But there are no rules of the road here in the wild, wild northeast; no alternate merge. The aggressive ones overpower the weak and the out-of-towners. Here, the best defense is a double-wide stroller.
What's not to love? Merry Christmas, everyone!
Get home safe, or at least in one piece.

Grand Central's Christmas Light Show

2009-12-06T16:48:00.004-05:00

A rainy Saturday last week, I took refuge in Grand Central Terminal.
Sitting on the perimeter of the main concourse, I saw this unexpected, yet delightful Christmas light show on the ceiling.
Grand Central Terminal is my favorite New York building. From the magnificent sculpture of Minerva, goddess of wisdom, to the Oyster Bar restaurant, to the building's brush with the wrecking ball, Grand Central is rich with history. The clock above the information booth in the center of the main concourse has probably appeared in more movies than Kevin Bacon.
Watch the video. It demonstrates the benefits of carrying a camera around and paying attention to what's around you, rather than allowing the hysteria of the unfocused mind to be in charge.

What Made Milwaukee Famous

2009-12-06T15:52:00.010-05:00

Gene and I took another trip to Milwaukee this summer, visiting some of our favorite places and some new places as well.
I took Gene to Miss Katie's Diner for some wet Milwaukee barbecue ribs and buttery hash browns. We celebrated my birthday in typical Milwaukee style with a vast intake of calories. We noted changes since our last visit two summers ago; Elliot's Bistro is gone and Von Trier's is just a shadow of its former self.
We got a kick out of the rumors of The Pfister Hotel's haunting. Hey, if it brings the room rates down, I'm all for it.
Check out my photos and journal of the first half of the week in Milwaukee.

How Travel Unclutters the Mind and Enriches the Spirit

2009-11-29T15:14:00.001-05:00

The rewards of travel are greater than simply seeing a new place.

For the duration of a vacation, your possessions are reduced to the contents of your suitcase.You don’t need all that crap in your basement, attic or storage space. You don't need shoes in every color and maybe, just maybe, you will feel the lightness that comes with owning less.

You may be carrying baggage in the physical sense on vacation, but your metaphysical baggage is lifted.

For the duration of a vacation, the nagging pressures of everyday life evaporate. You don't fret about house repairs, repainting, paying bills, or getting along with your boss. You don’t worry that you aren’t keeping up with life's demands and how the bathroom is never quite clean.

For the duration of a vacation, life is no longer about going to work, lunchtime errands, traffic jams, and second-shift chores once home.

When traveling, you fall into discovery mode. Your mind is free to focus on where you are. Live in real time where there is little stress. Soak in the joy of awe-inspiring scenery, the profundity of historical places, the flavors of new cuisines and okay, great new places to shop.
For the duration of a vacation, everything is here and now. You shift effortlessly into mindfulness.

My last vacation seems longer ago than it really was, and my next one seems far in the future. But I am planning . . . Italy? South Africa? London? Germany?

San Francisco Travel Journal

2009-11-27T13:00:00.006-05:00

In April, Gene and I took a trip down California's Highway 1. We started with 36 hours in San Francisco and packed as much as we could into that short span.
We climbed Telegraph Hill, traipsed up and down Columbus Avenue, shopped at City Lights Bookstore and hung out on Haight Street.
Read my account of that lightning trip to San Francisco.

Bolivia: Pizza in the Andes

2009-11-22T10:18:00.003-05:00

I am a fan of pizza: New York slices, cheesy Wisconsin thin crust, Chicago deep dish, you name it.
Would I go to the ends of the earth for it? My friend Bryan Myers, world traveler and news producer, did.
He and his crew sampled Bolivian spicy llama pizza high in the Bolivian Andes. I'll pass on the llama topping myself, but Bryan's experience at the highest pizza joint in the world proves the ubiquitous nature and infinite varieties of The Pizza.

Traveling in Italy: Do's and Don'ts

2009-11-13T23:06:00.004-05:00

I recently got this list of Do's and Don'ts for travel in Italy from my friend Bryan Myers who works for a news program broadcast on public television. Many of the people who work on his program are foreign nationals, and each were recently asked to prepare such a list for their home countries. The one written by a staff member from Italy was one of the best:

1. Italian families and friends usually kiss when they meet, irrespective of their sex. There are usually two kisses - first on the right cheek, then on the left. When greeting a person you don't know, stick to a firm handshake.

2. It is usually forbidden to enter a church if you don't have your upper arms and legs appropriately covered by clothes. Men should wear long pants; for women, a skirt within a couple of inches of the knee is acceptable. You may be asked to leave the church if you are wearing a sleeveless shirt or short pants. Locals often complain about tourists breaking this rule.

3. In a formal conversation, when talking to someone holding a university degree (any degree), you should address the person with the title of "Doctor," not "Mr." or "Ms."

4. Like in many languages, in Italian there are two distinct ways of addressing people; one familiar, used with friends and relatives ("tu"), and one formal used with strangers ("lei"). It's considered very impolite (even aggressive) to address people you jut met with the familiar "tu."

6. When eating, it's very rude to put a piece of bread on your plate. Leave it on the table beside the plate. Bread is not considered a part of the meal, but rather more like salt and pepper. This is why restaurants do not charge for bread. Also remember to break the bread with your hands and not with a knife.

7. When eating at a restaurant, asking for the check immediately after finishing a meal is generally seen as rude. Take the time to relax and exchange a few more words with the other people at the table.

8. After entering one's home, it's impolite to take your coat off is you're not invited to do so. Ask first.

9. Putting one's bag or purse on the floor is considered bad luck; you should hang it somewhere or put it on a chair.

10. Flowers should be offered in odd numbers only.

The Berlin Wall: A Reminder in Battery Park City

2009-11-09T20:55:00.006-05:00

This piece of the Berlin Wall sits outside my apartment building in Battery Park City in lower Manhattan.
The plaque reads:
"In November 2004, the 15th Anniversary of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the city of Berlin donated this piece of the Wall to Battery Park City. These segments were originally located in downtown Berlin in the area between Potsdamer Platz and Leipziger Platz. They were not exposed to the West ("Outer Wall"), but part of the Inner Wall that was designed to prevent East Germans from entering the heavily guarded death strip between the Inner and the Outer Wall."

Since I moved in a year after the donation, I had no idea where the cement slab came from. I walked by this piece of history a few times wondering if the painting depicted a chicken or a sexy snake. Eventually, I was curious enough to read the plaque. Sometimes a chunk of cement is more than just a chunk of cement.

Go To Arizona for Top Hotel Spas

2009-11-08T20:00:00.003-05:00

I found a list of Travel & Leisure's Top 25 Hotel Spas in the continental US and Canada, as I browsed their October issue--just noting what cool places I will not be going to in the foreseeable future. Why did they include Canada in the parameters when no Canadian hotel spa made the list? To rub it in? (a little spa joke)
Hard to miss that five of the 25 hotel spas are in Arizona--four in Scottsdale and one in Phoenix:

Fairmont Scottsdale
The Phoenician
Camelback Inn
Desert Ridge Resort & Spa
Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North

(Don't let the names fool you. the Phoenician is in Scottsdale and it's the Desert Ridge Resort that is in Phoenix.) Arizona has 20% of the best hotel spas on 3% of the United States land area. Why haven't I been there yet?!
The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin ranks #5. Wisconsin's pride and joy, you may only know the name Kohler because it is etched into your bathroom fixtures. I know Kohler because their Sunday brunch is etched in my brain.
Don't we all deserve a spa weekend?

Jane Goodall's Chimpanzees

2009-11-05T22:29:00.000-05:00

A Day in the Life: Chimpanzees at Tchimpounga Sanctuary from The Jane Goodall Institute on Vimeo.

Less-than-Grand Avenue Mall

2009-09-13T14:46:00.006-04:00

We stop at the downtown Grand Avenue Mall. The mall has become a tomb.

Built while I was in college, the mall received a lot of local media buzz. Connecting Boston Store and Gimbels under a single roof, the new mall would leave the historical architecture of the Plankinton Arcade intact. The developers wanted the new mall to evoke the days of Grand Avenue, before the street was renamed Wisconsin Avenue. Back in those days, women in bustles with umbrellas strolled with their beaus or husbands down Grand Avenue in their Sunday best.

The current Grand Avenue failed to achieve the planned grandeur. Despite a downtown nightlife resurgence in the late 1980s that continues today, the mall never drew large numbers of downtown shoppers. People go downtown for shows at the remodeled Riverside Theater, the historic Pabst Theater or the Performing Arts Center (now the Marcus center). People eat at Mo’s—A Place for Steaks, drink at Elsa’s on the Park and other watering holes along Water Street or Jefferson Street. But shop? Why shop downtown?

Grand Avenue Mall never housed great stores, not funky boutiques like on Brady Street or upscale shops like in Mequon. Grand Avenue could never compete with spacious suburban malls like Mayfair and Southridge.

A few years ago, large lower-end stores—TJ Maxx, Old Navy, Linens N Things-- moved in, encroaching on spaces designed as walkways. TJ Maxx and Linens were like open-air markets, in a bad sense.

So much of the mall is shuttered now. We walk through, horrified and sad. Stores that you never thought would go away like The Confectioner are gone. Many facades are covered with mirrors to disguise the abandonment.

Kunichika Silkscreen

2009-09-07T15:16:00.006-04:00

My friend Nigel Robson created this silkscreen by hand, a copy of an original woodblock print by the Japanese artist, Toyohara Kunichika, circa 1875. He portrays Kabuki actor Ichikawa Sadanji. In Nigel's own words:

The menacing mien is a standard feature of kabuki and the famous actors each had their trademark expressions. . . . this is the best print I ever did from a technical standpoint (and believe me, I did many) . The toothpick is the most intricate stencil cutting I ever executed as it involved cutting razor fine lines with a No. 11 surgical scalpel. I honestly have difficulty believing that I did it when I see them today.

The Ronin Gallery in midtown New York is exhibiting 36 Kunichika woodblock prints, all of famous Kabuki artists of his time.

Fat Abbey's Bier Cafe

2009-09-04T19:49:00.004-04:00

It is early Saturday evening in Milwaukee and we meet our friends L. and M. at the Fat Abbey Bier Café, 134 E Juneau, at Juneau and the river. Fat Abbey’s is a new Irish bar across from a triumvirate of Irish bars, both across from the Milwaukee landmark, The Harp.

We will run into two bachelorette parties on this warm August night.

The first batch of girls—a sedate, sober group with some moms along for the ride—are sitting at a long wooden picnic table on the patio. We sit outside under a Delirium Tremens umbrella at first, but the sun is still hot so we move inside.

We all drank beers, even me. Fat Abbey’s has a beer list to be proud of. Trocadero White, a local microbrew, is tasty—wheaty like I like. Gene, M and L tried several, one called Fat Tire and another, Maredsous.

Now the moms have left and the Fat Abbey girls move inside. They liven up a bit, but this party has little steam.

We cross the street to the trinity of Irish bars, inspecting them all before selecting Foy. We sit in a tall wooden booth and share corned beef nachos and a veggie-hummus platter. I remember this weekend is Irish Fest in Milwaukee, the largest and best Irish festival in the United States. I wonder why all these new Irish bars are opening in this very German town. Love of beer must be the unifying factor.

From the window of L and M’s car, we see the second bachelorette party. These girls know how to party. They traipse down the street, all wearing little black cocktail dresses. They have made several stops already tonight. Gene asks me if girls wear underwear in Milwaukee and I assure him that most of them do. What prompts the question, I ask.

We end the night at The Pfister’s top floor bar, Blu, on the 23^rd floor of the hotel. Stunning 360 views of the city, but we can’t find a seat around the perimeter of the room. We sit at the bar and listen to the jazz combo. I wonder about two women sitting at the bar, overdressed and bored.

Bronze Fonz Charms Milwaukee

2009-09-01T21:23:00.008-04:00

Erv, the bartender at Miss Katies, talks about when the cast of Happy Days dropped in on the diner. (Mrs C. has held up the best, said Erv.) The cast—minus Ron Howard—hit town for the dedication of the Bronze Fonz statue last August.

Milwaukee tried for years to play down its reputation as the fictional home of the Cunninghams and Laverne and Shirley. People resented the beer-town image of Milwaukee portrayed by the shows, particularly Laverne & Shirley. So no surprise that the proposed Bronze Fonz kicked up some local controversy--a couple of art galleries threatened to close if the statue was installed.

In the end, time and celebrity visitors turn the shame into pride. The unveiling as described by onmilwaukee.com:

They came to see the Fonz. They lined the Wells Street bridge. They lined the Riverwalk across the river and south of the ceremony on the river's left bank. They watched from windows, terraces and rooftops and they watched from pontoon boats on the river, itself.

Fans lined up along Wells Street to the east of the river, where they couldn't even get a glimpse as actor Henry Winkler and sculptor Gerald Sawyer unveiled the much-discussed Bronz Fonz Tuesday morning in Downtown Milwaukee.

The spokesman of Visit Milwaukee, the group raising the money for the installation defended the decision in a jsonline.com article:

"This isn't a statue of 'Laverne and Shirley,' " [the spokesman] said. "This is a statue of a TV icon who remains the epitome of cool."

Milwaukee = Happy Days

2009-08-31T20:54:00.005-04:00

To a drizzling rain, we arrive in Milwaukee and stop for lunch at Miss Katie’s Diner, 1900 W. Clybourn. A vintage Select-O-Matic jukebox in the center of the dining room plays only 45s and only one at a time. The 1950s-retro diner is right out of the opening sequence of Happy Days.

My old friend Sue waitresses at Miss Katie’s, I discover. She and I used to work together when I was in college.

Gene orders the barbecued ribs and hash browns at my urging; it wasn’t hard to convince him. I have a wonderfully greasy tuna melt with hash browns. The hash browns are shredded thick, fried crisp on the outside and served with butter.

No one makes hash browns like the Miss Katie’s Diner, one of several restaurants in Milwaukee owned the Pitch family. Pitch’s famous ribs and hash browns are served at all their restaurants.

Two of America’s most famous grease-lovers have given Miss Katie’s Diner their stamp of approval—Bill Clinton and Rachael Ray.

In 1996, the Clinton and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl ate at Miss Katie’s Diner during the “Sausage Summit.” Clinton’s security detail, including dogs, left an impression on Miss Katie’s staff. Hillary made a return trip during her campaign.

Rachael Ray featured Miss Katie’s on a segment of her travel show, $40 A Day.

Eggs Benedict: What do the Birthers Believe?

2009-08-02T18:35:00.006-04:00

I stand corrected.
I have always believed Eggs Benedict, America's ubiquitous brunch dish, was invented at Brennan's, the famous New Orleans restaurant. I ate the best Eggs Benedict of my life there--two poached eggs as spherical as globes, the lava of its yellow yolks popping out and running thickly down the mountain sides, captured by the craters of its muffin base.
The meal was a beautiful, three-course breakfast accompanied by champagne, lots of champagne. Indeed, the best breakfast of my life.
The question of the dish's invention came up while G and I were scarfing yet another variation of standard Bennies at our local deli--salmon instead of Canadian Bacon and inventively, a potato pancake instead of the muffin. I stood by my belief in Brennan's but G was sure the dish was invented right here in New York.
Word around the internet is, that Eggs Benedict was birthed either at Delmonico's in New York's Financial District or the Waldorf-Astoria uptown. Delmonico's claim of credit for the invention of many dishes raises my suspicion (the hamburger? really?).
Even Brennan's own website does not take credit for the Sunday brunch staple. Their menu calls Eggs Benedict a"traditional dish", but does take credit for Eggs Hussarde.
The description from Brennan's online menu:

EGGS HUSSARDE
(A Brennan's Original)
One of the dishes that put
"Breakfast at Brennan's" on
the map. Poached eggs atop
Holland rusks, Canadian bacon
and Marchand de Vin sauce.
Topped with Hollandaise sauce.
Suggested Wine - Sauvignon Blanc

Surfing around Brennan's website, I realize what I really ate that day was their Eggs Ellen, a bennie variation with salmon.

Los Angeles: Return to New York

2009-06-14T09:39:00.004-04:00

Our flight home leaves at 12:40, so we have just enough time to pack and eat breakfast leisurely.

We decide to walk up the hill they call Palm Street to Sunset for breakfast. Once up the hill, we reject the counter-style coffee-and-pastry places and realize we don’t have time to wander far.

The walk downhill is much easier and I enjoy the palm trees and the simple red flowers I’ve seen all over Los Angeles. I’m not sure what they are called. Close up, they are simple, but clusters of them create a magnificent swath of color.

I will remember those flowers, manicured lawns and the landscaped yards as the classic Los Angeles image in my mind.

Burbank, California: Warner Brothers Studios

2009-06-13T15:38:00.003-04:00

Gene and I eat breakfast in the Le Petite Hotel’s roof garden. The dainty buffet counter offers lox, dill and capers on tiny bagels, scrambled frittata with mushroom and zucchini, muffins, and fruit.

A muffin made its way onto my plate—during the few seconds I blacked out—but it wasn’t the sweet, dessert kind. Vacations will do that to me—I wouldn’t touch a muffin with a ten-foot pole in real life.

Cousin Bill invites us to visit Warner Brothers Studios today where he is working. Our names are at the special visitor’s gate and we are instructed to park in special Parking Lot V. Having a Parking Lot V implies there are Parking Lots A thru U and underscores the vastness of Warner Brothers.

Bill and his colleagues are waiting for a revised version of the movie he is working on, so the version he received yesterday is useless. In his hurry-up-and-wait vocation, Bill has time to walk us around the lot. When we were in LA a few years ago, we took the official WB tour, but now we get a behind-the-scenes tour. We see the ER sets being torn down, since the final episode just aired.

Bill shows us the parking spaces belonging to the bigwigs. To a WB employee, this hierarchy is important to know. Bill points out the former offices of the Hollywood mogul and studio founder Jack Warner, and the bungalow where Clint Eastwood works, and of course, Clint’s parking spaces.

After Warner Brothers, we do some quick shopping at the Beverly Center, a huge mall just a mile from our hotel.

Bill recommended a Japanese restaurant to us, but we are tired and decide to go to the rooftop one more time for dinner. We have a cocktail shaker of Calamari with a sweet red sauce, and tomato-and-mozzarella skewers. I have Penne Pomodoro and Gene has a slab of Ahi Tuna with a sauce of avocado bits, olives and tomatoes in a vinaigrette sauce. This meal is worth replicating at home, if we can.

Los Angeles: Babimbop in Koreatown

2009-06-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

Gene and I are meeting his cousin Bill and Bill’s girlfriend Aura in Koreatown for dinner. The restaurant is seven miles away and we decide to take a taxi so we can enjoy drinks with dinner.

The Beverly Hills Cab Co. taxi waits outside our hotel behind a long, gray limo intended for the couple we shared the elevator with. The blonde girl spoke of the scenes she has to shoot tomorrow and I wonder if she is a big actress. In Los Angeles, anyone or everyone may be an actor or star.

As we ride out to Koreatown, we pass “malls” look like office buildings, reminiscent of many buildings we saw in South Korea. Each mall level has signs all around the perimeter of the building, but no display windows.

We meet Bill and Aura at the Beverly Soon Tofu House, decorated in Korean-rustic. They are waiting for us with a spread of side dishes on the table. Aura offers us some of her jug of Barley Tea. I order two Sojus, but I forgot that Soju is the strong vodka-like drink and not the semi-sweet wine drink I thought it was. “(Bek se ju” is the Korean wine drink that I couldn’t think of.)

Aura asks me if I like Babimbop, and I think it is the dumplings we got at the little Korean storefront in Changwon. Turns out, Babimbop is a big bowl of salad fixings with a fried egg on top. I copy Aura as she adds a sweet red sauce, rice and soy sauce to the salad and tosses it up with her chopsticks. We also get a bubbling soup in which the waitress cracks a raw egg, one-handed. We ordered it medium-spicy, but it is still too spicy for our taste.

Gene and Bill spend the dinner riffing from topic to topic, making segues that only make sense to them, but they are having so much fun, it is great to watch.

Los Angeles: Burke Williams Spa

2009-06-11T00:00:00.000-04:00

I have waited five years to return to Burke Williams, the sumptuous California spa chain. Five years ago on my birthday, I scheduled a basic $99 facial at Burke Williams on Sunset.

The experience was finer than any facial I’ve had at Bliss or anywhere. On the bed with a cooling mask on my face and my parrafim-waxed hands inside terry oven mitts, I thought I must be getting the deluxe package. Whatever this cost, I would pay it. It was my birthday, after all. But the mind-blowing pampering was the $99 facial after all.

Today I make an appointment for a basic facial (now $105) and a half-hour Japanese Shiatzu massage. Only my second massage, I’m not sure the difference between Shiatzu and the massage I got at Milk and Honey in Austin.

I am led down the carpeted corridor and into the lush spa area. I am given a robe and slippers and I consider a dunk in the Jacuzzi, but a nude woman leans against the wall with her feet in the water. I can’t see what she is doing with her hands.

I opt for a few minutes in the Quiet Room instead. The long, narrow Quiet Room holds a row of pods with plush seats the size of a first-class airline seat with rounded seclusion barriers. I sink into the end pod and start writing in my journal. The stillness reminds me how infrequently I experience true quiet and I am able to write quickly. But too soon, it is time to go into the main lounge and meet my facial technician.

The main lounge is like a dark, cozy living room with plush couches and a fireplace. Melka, my technician, retrieves me after only a minute or two. She examines my skin and notices a little dryness, a few broken capillaries, a little sun damage on the sides, but overall I get a favorable review. She talks me into a peel ($20). Under the warm blanket and hearing her expert, soothing voice, she can talk me into anything at this moment.

She advises a separate moisturizer with an overlay of sunscreen no less than SPF 30. She also suggests a Vitamin C serum. After the pampering (I am blocking the few extractions she did), I go to my massage.

The masseuse, a small Japanese man gives me a choice of pressure. Like picking the heat of your salsa, medium always seems a safe choice. The Shiatsu feels good, a lot of pressing on a single point. After the service, I shower and step into one of the Jacuzzis since the busy nude woman and everyone else is gone.

After another great spa experience, the California sunshine feels like it is warming a worthy being. Leaving Bliss in New York and hitting the crowded noisy sidewalk, some of the newly purchased bliss gets left behind.