Saket Vora

Battle Booze was the third installment of the latest Iron Chef series, this time hosted at Sean’s place. The goal, as you can imagine, was to make a dish that featured alcohol as a central element. Sean made some pork with beer, and of course had some homebrew on hand. Brock and Heather came to this one, and Heather made this extremely intriguing grown-up jello shot of sorts. It featured tomato juice, vodka, and a bit of soy sauce. You could taste the tartness and acidity of it, and the heat of the liquor.

Simon and Jess were also there, and up Simon’s sleeve was a chili infused vodka that he served alongside some salmon ceviche in martini glasses. Later, he and I did a shot of the chili vodka and wow, you thought just the alcohol burned. Hehe. Chrissy brought along cupcakes done four ways: magarita with lime and tequila, mimosa with orange zest and champagne frosting, strawberry daquiri with strawberries and rum, and finally her standout Bailey’s and Guinness irish carbomb cupcakes. My idea was either overly ambitious or it was impossible to execute from the beginning (likely both). I was going to make a wine-infused ricotta filling and served them in manicotti shells placed upright, to be like shotglasses. Alas, the pasta didn’t really cook right, the stuffing oozed out the bottom, and it was a sad, sad mess. Paul did a much better job and brought some really good homemade vodka sauce.

This was a pretty challenging one, but still fun to see the dishes that people brought.

The Treasure Island Music Festival is a gem — a two-day experience set literally in the middle of the San Francisco Bay with carefully curated sets that feature one day of electronic music, one day of indie alternative music. I went with John and Chrissy for the indie day, and it ended up culminating in the best musical experience of the year.

We were practically front row for The Antlers, St. Vincent, and Beach House, then literally front-row for Explosions in the Sky and Death Cab for Cutie. I have always wanted to see Explosions in the Sky since I first listened to them more than six years ago (they are also from Austin, TX where I grew up). They came on stage to thunderous applause, the leader draped a small Texas flag over a speaker, and then started with the words “They call us Explosions in the Sky, and we’re from Texas.” Their sunset set was completely mesmerizing, and there was one magical moment in particular: night had fallen on a rather warm fall night, and on our left was the shimmering skyline of San Francisco. As the atmospheric music of Explosions filled the sky, we saw glowing shapes in the projected footage above the band. We turned, and saw a dozen glowing twenty-foot tall jellywish wisping their way through the crowd. The audience gasped and beamed with thousands of smiles.

One of the hobbies Chrissy picked up this past summer was paragliding. Not to be confused with hang-gliding or parasailing — paragliding is where you wear a modified parachute called a glider, throw it up into the wind and take a running leap off a mountain. The wind fills the glider and you soar through the air, catching thermal uplifts and coasting around. The instructor she, and later Jon, went to offers tandem flights and I decided to give it a go — after all, that’s how she got hooked into it. Note also that I have never been sky diving or bungee jumping before.

I went over to Ed Levin State Park on the western edge of Milipitas, just north of San Jose where the mountains rise up to meet the city border. Located at the very end of the Bay’s inlet, this is a favorite spot for paragliders and hang-gliders.

I catch Klaus at the end of the lesson and we pile into his truck, picking up Chrissy and Jon as they folded up their gliders and then making our way slowly up to the top of the 1700 ft. hill that overlooks Ed Levin. It really did look a lot higher up than I was expecting. Jon helped me get my harness on and Klaus arranged the glider behind him. He strapped on to my harness loosely, but it wasn’t a snug fit.

Here’s how it was going to work: we were situated about 30 yards up a gradual incline from the edge of the mountain.  Klaus would start standing behind me, facing backwards towards the glider. I would stand at the ready, knees slightly bent. Klaus would then pull the glider into the air, wait until it moved directly above us, then turn around and yell “run, run, RUN!” I would take off running, pulling both of us and if all went well, he would be airborne and pull me up to him by the time we got to the edge of the cliff. I didn’t think much about that failing to happen.

And you know, it worked! What an incredible feeling it was to just soar, soar, soar above the hills. Klaus twisted and turned us around, seeking and catching thermals. We’d look for the birds, because they were naturals at doing this. We must have been up in the air for 10 or 12 minutes, until we coasted down for an easy running landing near the parking lot, where Chrissy and Jon were waiting. It really made me think to start taking classes! HIghly recommended to everyone if they get the chance.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is a huge, multiday, music festival that takes place in Golden Gate Park in the beginning of October. The music draws from bluegrass, folk, alternative and often draws in some big name acts. And the crazy part? It’s completely free, with no restrictions. Want to bring a small tent, coolers, and a bottle of bourbon? Go for it.

Mary, Matt, Heather, and Brock were going there Saturday and I made the journey to catch the Broken Social Scene show with them. It took me forever to get there, as bus after bus after bus was packed with people. After seeing five buses go by, I caught a cab with some other festival goers. The ‘free’ aspect of the festival just makes it insanely packed….and it’s getting too much such that moving around is a huge pain. But once you find a spot with a blanket, it’s sublime.

The next day, I went for a longer stint with Chrissy. We braved our way through the crowds and caught some of the “Melody of Rhythm” group from the sidelines — this is a group consisting of Bela Fleck (one of the world’s best banjo players), Edgar Meyer (one of the world’s best upright bass players), and Zakir Hussain (one of the world’s best tabla — and indian drum — players). Pretty mellow sounding jam, but folks were digging it.

Next we fought our way through some crowds to say hi to Joseph and his family, and happened to also catch Bryson and his family just in time. They love this stuff. We made our way to the far left stage and listened to Fitz & the Tantrums, then followed by Gomez. It was warm, we had nice seats on the hill. Add in some surprisingly good festival fare food, and you have a nice day. We even got lucky on the way out of the park and snagged a bus that was already pretty full. Thank you, kind MUNI driver, thank you.

As many people know, the Bay Area is a haven for folks to appreciate the consumption and creation of food. The Eat Real Fest in Oakland’s Jack London Square is a celebration of this, drawing lots of great food trucks (!) but also a huge variety of locally produced food businesses and entrepreneurs. Brock and Heather were going, and I joined them for the afternoon too.

One cool thing was their friend Rachel Saunders, who started making homemade jam in her kitchen then started selling it at farmer’s markets (Brock and Heather would help man the booth). She soon turned it into a business — Blue Chair Fruit — and was able to move production into a commercial certified kitchen that helps small entrepreneurs get started selling their goods. Now, she is in over a hundred Williams-and-Sonoma stores, did a segment on jam making on the Martha Stewart show, and has released a couple of cookbooks. Pretty awesome.

We perused several food trucks, had bourbon popsicles, and tried some local brews. What a really pleasant way to spend a lazy weekend day!

The busy fall concert schedule doesn’t let up! Last night I saw the Irish rockers Two Door Cinema Club perform at the Warfield in San Francisco, marking the first show I’ve seen at the Warfield. Chrissy had an extra ticket and I was glad to go — I’ve enjoyed the energy of Two Door Cinema Club ever since Troy introduced them to me over a year ago. I saw the band play at Slim’s just under a year ago, and they have been touring heavily for a long time.

Now here they were headlining a much bigger venue. Bonus points for Grouplove being the opening act – a fun super energetic electro-pop band I first heard a month ago at Outside Lands. They sounded great again, and I think the band is really about to get way more popular. We had balcony seats for the main show which gave us great views down to the stage, but the downside was that we’d get blinded everytime the stage strobe lights would fire — which happened a lot. Something was definitely up with the sound setup too…i noticed the band making gestures throughout the first two songs. My guess was that the on-stage monitors weren’t working properly. Finally, the band actually stopped the show for about five minutes so the stage crew could sort out of the issues. Once they were back, it went really smoothly.

The self-titled sophomore album by Bon Iver will very likely be my favorite album of 2011. It is nuanced, layered, emotional, and I think I’ve listened to it more than anything new album this year. Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to see the band frontman Justin Vernon assembled for this latest incarnation of Bon Iver. It has come a long, long, way from a man recording songs by himself in a cabin in the woods in the middle of winter.

Last night, Bon Iver played the Greek Theater in Berkeley. As a bonus, Other Lives was opening for them, a band I had seen earlier this year. However, we didn’t realize that the time printed on the ticket was the show time (not doors), so we ended up arriving three quarters of the way through their set. John drove up a car with Sean, Jason, and myself. Traffic was utterly horrendous near campus so we ditched the car and walked the last mile in. Heather was able to get there early, and a fellow NC State alum Erin also made it inside. With some tips from me, the two linked up and reserved a large patch in the same spot that we saw the Fleet Foxes a couple weeks earlier. Brock joined us, as did John’s friend Rosie too.

photo by Isabel Golinn

The band took a few songs to gel, but the show was a great experience. The songs took on a more raw edge to them as the large band played them live, and we were treated to an especially muscular version of one of my favorite Bon Iver songs, Blood Bank. As the main set ended, a lone stage hand came out to set a beaten, well worn acoustic guitar next to a single chair – completely (but not surprisingly) betraying the inevitable encore song of Skinny Love. For anyone that doesn’t know what I’m talking about, just watch this. Vernon could have sat there and played by himself and the sell-out crowd of 8,000 would have watched captivated. But the rest of the band came and song along, clapping and stomping to give the song a new air.

As Vernon said after the first couple of songs, as he and the band looked out onto the packed outdoor amphitheatre on a beautiful Bay Area fall evening — wow, just wow.

The Fleet Foxes had a great debut back in 2008, and yet I was slow to pick up on their 2011 followup Helplessness Blues. They played at the Greek Theater in Berkeley last night and I’m really glad I went! Brock and Heather snagged a spot early in line with burritos, and we got in right when the doors opened to snag a good spot. Chrissy joined us later on before the show, and some other friends joined us too.

Fleet Foxes are known for their harmonies, and they sounded great live. We were treated to a nice mix of their new album and old album, and they hit all my favorite songs over the course of their ~1.5 hour set. The weather was perfect, and the company wonderful.

I had heard a great deal about Hong Kong from my colleagues who had been through there on previous trips, and this was my chance to finally see it in person. The first thing that strike you is the jaw dropping natural beauty of the city. Hong Kong is built atop of extraordinarily rugged mountain islands — skyscrapers built right up against cliffs and hills, with water and small bays everywhere. On the drive in from Shenzhen, I stared dumbfounded at a skyscraper city sprawling along both sides of a harbor, only to be reminded that the city in question was just a suburb of Hong Kong.

The hotel Sean got us was right in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui, amidst the hustle and the bustle, below the Kowloon area. The city is divided into two parts, with a bay in the middle. Because of the British influence into Hong Kong, getting around is remarkably easy for someone who just knows English. Many of the major streets have retained their English names, and the Metro system is extensive and easy to navigate.

The first night we headed out to Lan Kwai Fong, the most happening place for bars and nightlife in the City. From there we explored the surrounding streets, following a series of escalators up and up and up into the hills. It’s just incredible, the charming small windy cobblestoned streets, interesting restaurants and bars and cafes of every possible cuisine tucked into every corner, all nestled into beautiful hills and buildings…like San Francisco on steroids.

The next day we took a long walk to the famous Ladies Market (cheap trinkets and knockoffs), swinging by a nice city park along the way that had an aviary with exotic birds. The other remarkable part of Hong Kong to me was how insanely clean the place was. Even side streets and alleys, the vast subway and Metro system, everything was scarily clean. Made me think of morlocks.

The next day, we took a bus down to the other end of the south island, to a resort town called Stanley. There is a ‘boardwalk’ there, and we had lunch at a German restaurant on the second floor of the former residence of some bigshot. Stunning views. We later walked (a lot of walking this trip) around part of the Island, making it to the beach on the other side before heading back.

That evening we took in the famous light show that the skyscrapers along the water take part in, and then headed out to one of the night markets for last minute souvenir shopping.

The next morning, it was just a short train ride over to the Hong Kong airport and we were off, homeward bound. What an incredible city. Can’t wait to go back!

So after Japan, I was in China for just under five days on business.

Went to eat at a great Italian restaurant, and surprisingly decent Indian food too. Caught up with a colleague I hadn’t seen in half a year at the penthouse bar in the hotel one evening.

Anyway, moving on. It was Labor Day weekend coming up and instead of rushing back home, we decided to spend an extra day in Hong Kong…

I went to the Orient (is that term not cool anymore?) for a two week stint, on business. But did get a bit of pleasure during the gaps between work weeks, which was quite nice for a change. I traveled with Joseph and Sean — when combined make a fun traveling party.

First we went to Japan near Tokyo and spent two days there on business, followed by Saturday and most of Sunday in Tokyo waiting for our flight to China. The night we got in we headed to the trendy Shibuya neighborhood and spent hours wandering the windy, narrow roads dropping in on bars and pubs. There were lots and lots of people around, the scene buzzing with energy. I learned here that Japan, for a foreigner who doesn’t know any Japanese, is a place where you can get within 10 yards of where you want to go, but that last 10 yards is often insurmountable.

Often times the three of us would be standing outside a stretch of storefronts, looking at the location-aware maps on our phones showing us that we were in the right location, but having no idea which of the dozen storefronts or signs is the place you want. Due to population density, places go vertical. Often you’ll see signs for different restaurants or stores on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th+ floors of a building — it’s not just commercial on the ground floor and residential on the rest.

We discovered that Tokyo’s premier underground / indie music venue was in Shibuya, and finally found it after walking up and down the street a few times. The top level was a bar with hundreds of pamphlets new and old of various artists’ shows. There was a TV showing the stage on the floor below, but after seeing that the band tonight was a retro hair band from the ’80s, we just had our drink and moved on. The places we hit up were so varied — an English ex-pat pub, a wonderfully lit and vibey wine bar, a chain noodle joint, and finally an old style sake bar where we sat low to the ground on pillows. I was feeling super tired by the end of the night, so I hopped in a cab while Joseph and Sean walked the two or three miles home.

The next day, we visited the famous Akihabara electronics mart and the neighborhood around it. The famous Tokyo subway system was efficient and always on-time. Again, if you knew where to go. For the newcomer, entering a central hub station is overwhelming — at least twenty different platforms with all sorts of lines going through. We stared at the maps (some have English, some don’t) and remembered the kanji to make sure we boarded the right train. After the first couple of trips though, it becomes a lot easier.

In the afternoon, we took a long walk to the old Imperial Palace. It was a lot less grand and opulent than I expected, but then again I didn’t have time to do any real research on Tokyo before arriving.

I really should have done my research on the weather too — it was extremely hot and humid. After half an hour outside your clothes are just drenched with sweat. That evening, we made our way to Popeye’s, which is apparently the #1 beer lover’s bar in the city. We parked ourselves at a small table on the narrow patio, and literally just passed the next three hours there. They had a great thing going — excellent beer menu, and if you got a certain beer, you also got a small tapas-like plate with it. So it’s wonderful to go with a bunch of friends, order some drinks and nibble on some food. That evening was also a large firework show, to mark a cultural event. This event got delayed due to the tsunami. All along the subway cars and streets, men and women in traditional kimonos and attire were streaming towards the riverfront for the event. Pretty cool to see. At Popeyes, the waiter was taking a liking to us for being such good patrons. We spotted a sweet poster inside titled “Refermenting Japan” and asked about it — he went over, took it down, and rolled it up for us to take. And then as we we finally left, he handed us special Popeye club membership cards. What a trip.

On Sunday, we had a leisurely brunch and headed off back to Shibuya to a popular shopping street where I wanted to get some things for folks back home. The shopping was a total disappointment (a lot of crap and awful attire), the people watching so-so, but we stumbled onto the main promenade we discovered they were having a parade that day. And the timing of it was to work in our favor. We snagged a streetside spot amid the crowds and enjoyed the parade. It featured troupes of dancers in different garbs and styles, usually with a banner leading them. I’m still not entirely sure what the purpose was, but what an nice unexpected surprise!

Hit the hotel, took a shower, checked out, and pretty soon we were back in the Narita airport headed down to China….

Next up on the music festival circuit? Outside Lands in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, coming just the week after Lollapalooza! Here too I just got a single day ticket, but it was too good to pass up. I knew several folks who were going to be there, but it was just a matter of meeting up with them. I rendezvoused with Chad and Chrissy and the three of us headed up to the park. We were fortunate to catch the Muni farther east in the City, because all the buses were getting full by Divisadero.  Once again, the no-DSLR rule was blatantly and openly violated. Oh well, the weight would be annoying anyway.

Lots to like from all of us with the day’s lineup. Started off with Diego’s Umbrella, then moved to a small stage (apparently solar powered) rather awkwardly placed close to a row of merchandise and food booths. Grouplove was getting the crowd bumping early in the day with their impossibly energetic sound and stage presence. Giant (~5 diameter) balloons slightly weighted with water were bouncing all over the place, and two in rapid succession collided with the lead singer’s mic stand causing them them to pop and shower him. After Grouplove, Lord Huron took the stage (which readers of this blog have heard of), and played their short but good set. One of their new songs is rather good, first time I heard it. Jose Gonzalez’s new project, Junip, played a great set, with a perfectly set bass line and rhythmic groove. Chad and I were really digging it.

As the early evening set in, we wandered around to the main stages, taking in the hipsters (lots of them), the various food stalls (surprisingly decent, you can count on SF for that), and the gorgeous weather. One great thing that today’s festivals do is produce smartphone apps with the concert schedule, map, info, etc. Very very handy throughout. Randomly ran into Joey and Christophe too! They were going to see Beirut as their headliner, then catch the tailend of Deadmau5; Chad broke off to join them, but Chrissy and I stayed at the main stage for the double headliner of The Decemberists opening for Arcade Fire. Yeah, you heard that right. :) The Decemberists sounded great, playing a healthy mix of songs from The King is Dead, Hazard’s of Love, The Crane Wife, and even some oldies. The finished off with the crowd favorite Mariner’s Revenge. Things got packed for Arcade Fire. Their stage setup was a reduced version of the Suburbs theme I saw at their full concert at the Greek Theater back last year, but they really know how to put on a solid show. We were able to get closer to the front (one beef with Outside Lands: the sound tents for main stages are unnecessarily large both in area and height, resulting in a large amount of prime real estate having zero views of the stage or the jumbotrons). The chick in front of me kept her big backpack on the whole show and would thrash around, so that was kinda annoying. But still, terrific show and it’s always magic whenever you get to sing along to ‘Wake Up’ along with ten thousand other people.

We were able to meet up with Chad after the headliners ended and decided to take our chances north of the park. Getting home from Golden Gate Park festivals is always an enormous endeavor. Another concern: hunger. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant with a long wait (due other festival goers), but we stuck it out and had some grub. Apparently this place was known for its magaritas, so naturally we got a round for the table. Chrissy knew of a bar nearby with some neat drinks, so we hit that up before finally catching the bus home.

What a day!