sack-attack

happy noodle house

yestereve, a. & i ventured afoot to a new dining establishment, the happy noodle house. with a screamingly clichéd name & a standard brick façade, our curious ogling was surprised to enter a hip domain of warm woods and ears entranced by gentle bass of eccentric fringe pop music echoing on the other side of the threshold.

the menu was sparse and eclectic. a tattering of asian genres spanning from japan through india. with fusioned flavors, like curried-udon, and semi-accurate staples, such as a version of bi-bim-bap, we enjoyed our noodle bowls in this fashionable den-haven that could have been found in a recently-turned-the-corner neighborhood in brooklyn.

all things considered, we determined that we'll be back, and armed en posse to share he experience. food: 7.5 of 10; experience: 8.5 of 10.

camping season

with the green season upon us, it is time to take inventory of the camping gear. rekindling with old friends: the self-inflatable air mat, stuff sacks of various sizes and colors, a cook kit with pans that conveniently fit inside one another like a russian doll, and then there are the remorseful woes that you suddenly recall and damn yourself for not remedying from the year before...


more specifically, i am now reminded of a camp stove problem that i was unable to fully troubleshoot late last fall. upon seeing the carbon-scored little widget with valves and hoses, i recollect a frustrated morning that camp coffee was unable to be made and a mere sputtering of fuel would intermittently cough out of the jets. obviously a clog in the fuel line or the like.

i monkeyed with the fuel line and disassembled the chassis of the stove to fully clean the gentle beast. reassembly happened, but fire did not.

now here it is spring camping season once again and i am going to give it another go on getting the stove up and running. let's see what happens...

month lapse

may 2009 will remain in history as an official month of blog silence. i wish that i could say that it was in protest for thus-and-such or in respect of this-and-that, but the first mute cycle of the moon since the inception of this vehicle for public display has no such attributes.

alas, summer is nearly here and time continues to fly. brief recap of the elapsed time: work, work, work, md & s in for visit, j rossi in for visit, ma & pa w. in for visit, jason & justin in for visit.

the coming weeks hold a few weekend get-aways with dave & jen--both camping trips: one to the south; one to the west, backcountry-style. should be a grand time on both respective trips. the trip south also holds a hot spring in the cards. giddyup.