Monday, September 06, 2004

never betray the way you've always known it is

I'm so happy that it is a three-day weekend, since I definitely could use another day of relaxation. The past few days have been v. nice--Walter's going-away party on Friday, buying a bed (!) on Saturday, and dim sum and wandering in the city with Claudia and Emily today, followed by dinner and a screening of 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' with Claudia, Walter, and Walter's brother George. That was hysterical.

So I'm quite exceedingly happy that I bought a bed, even though it was a shudderingly large amount of money to spend on something that I will hopefully be mostly oblivious to. However, it is lovely--it's big, and comfy, and not a mat on the floor, and so I am very happy. I picked it out yesterday afternoon and they delivered it yesterday afternoon at five! I went bedding shopping immediately afterwards, but I am very finicky about such things and could not find anything that I liked :( So I came home and read a book in bed until midnight, and then slept the glorious sleep of someone in a real bed. Ah, joy.

Today was very very fun as well. Claudia and Emily came over this morning, and then we drove to Millbrae for lunch at the remaining Hong Kong Flower Lounge. Very tasty, although slightly different because they bring everything around on carts instead of letting you order everything precisely as you want it. It's okay, though, since they can get away with it as long as they never leave me again. I am sad that they apparently don't serve the scallops with spicy sea salt or the tasty shrimp egg rolls, since we couldn't find them on the menu, but I was happy to see that they seemed to have imported all of the waiters and waitresses from the Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Palo Alto. It was funny to go into a restaurant and recognize all the staff from a different restauran.

After that, we drove into the city and parked near 16th and Valencia, and wandered around some of the shops in that area. Then we went to 18th and Sanchez, home of 'Samovar', this awesome tea house. they had all sorts of different tea types, all in their own individual pots, with lovely service. Claudia got an iced tea concoction, which made us very jealous because it was brutally hot, but I quite enjoyed my 'Ceylon Golden Tips' with milk and sugar. We stayed for a couple of hours--my tea pot had about six cups of tea in it, which was a little ridiculous. Claudia ordered a hot tea as well, and Emily got an iced chai, and then we all got food too--tea sandwiches for Emily, wild salmon tea toasts for me, and delectable-looking chocolate truffles for Claudia. Overall, I recommend the place very very highly--it was very relaxed, the decor was perfect, the teas were fantastic, and the service was unhurried so you didn't feel like they were trying to rush you out. I would like to go back sometime when the weather is a little colder and more conducive to hot tea :)

So, between the four cups of tea I had at brunch and the six cups that I had at Samovar, I was pretty full of tea by the time we got in the car to come home. It was a lovely day, though.

And now I am in my new bed, and all is right with the world. And I have tomorrow off! That means that I can sleep in and be happy :)

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