Dinner & a Movie for the Month of March

Welcome to Dinner & a Movie for the Month of March. This month, I am excited to be featuring the cuisine of Cambodia, and not one but two excellent films: The Killing Fields, and Swimming to Cambodia.

Having spent the past two week on vacation, and the past two days writing film reviews for Cinequest 15, I am a little behind with wrapping up my Road Home Dinner & a Movie. So...without further ado, here are the links to all the Recipes and Photos, as well as my film review of The Road Home.

06:36 PM PST Permalink |

Almost Heaven...

We awoke to the most glorious spring morning that ever dawned in the town of Merced, just 70 miles from Yosemite Valley. I have oft marvelled at how I could have lived in California for more than 20 years, just four hours' drive away and had never visited it. But perhaps I was wise to wait for this very day.

A pastoral drive along Highway 140 took us up a gentle grade that leads straight to El Portal, a vertical granite rockface that rises nearly 2000 feet into the rarefied air above the Sierra Nevada. And from there on, around every curve, the geography and geology becomes more spectacular, magnificent, stunning, breathtaking, awesome... [I'm already running out of inadequate adjectives to describe it].

Yesterday's snowfall was still glistening pristine in the crisp mountain air, while the rays of the sun overhead warmed the snow-capped peaks to feed the cascading deluge of Bridal Veil and Yosemite Falls. We snapped untold quantities of digital photos and shot endless video footage of peak after lofty peak. And at every turn, I couldn't help thinking that Mother Nature wasn't fooling around when she wrought this piece of heaven on earth.

Toward the end of our tour of the valley, we discovered an alluring footpath, upon which a 15-minute walk through a lush and chilly Sequoia grove brought us right to the base of Yosemite Falls. In that moment, gazing up at all that water, plummeting down that sheer granite gorge, we filled our lungs with the ionized air, and renewed our spirits with the energy and the experience of standing on one of the most hallowed places on earth.

02:19 AM PST Permalink |

Leaving Las Vegas

After two jam-packed days of sightseeing, we checked out of the Imperial Palace and made one last stop before heading home: a visit to Sigfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage Hotel, where we saw their world renowned white tigers and white lions. They were absolutely magnificent. Regal and imposing doesn't even begin to describe these feline creatures. They live in the lap of luxury, in an impeccably designed and maintained natural habitat, with an army of park attendants to attend to their every whim. Spoiled rotten.

By about 3:30 in the afternoon, we were finally ready to bid farewell to Las Vegas and head for Merced, our last refuge on the long road home. It was a grueling and seemingly endless drive, with only a brief stop-off in Bakersfield for a bite to eat at Sizzler, where a large-screen television was tuned to the Academy Awards. We were there just long enough to see Virginia Madsen not win for her role in Sideways. Ah well, Virginia, we had our fingers crossed for ya'.

After dinner, the farther north we drove, the worse the weather became. And by the time we pulled into the Travel Lodge in Merced, it was raining buckets. But having been snowed in at the Grand Canyon, we were prepared for the worst and retired for the night with very low expectations for tomorrow's visit to Yosemite. I guess we will have to wait and see what the morning brings.

02:12 AM PST Permalink |

Saturday Night in the Neon Jungle

Upon awakening from a blissful sleep after last night's luxurious soak, we headed out onto Las Vegas Boulevard for another fun-filled day of sightseeing. We began with a stroll through the Venetian Hotel and Casino. For those who have never had the pleasure, it is an opulent replica of old Venice, replete with a ceiling that mimics floating clouds in an arching blue sky overhead, and singing gondoliers on a canal that runs the length of the promenade. We had a leisurely Latino lunch at the Taqueria Canonita, which included Warm Corn Chips and Chipotle Salsa, Shrimp Ceviche, Grilled Chicken and Avocado Salad, and Dungeoness Crab on Spring Greens with Creamy Jalapeno Dressing. To be finishing lunch at four in the afternoon was tres continental!

Afterwards, I went back to our hotel room at the Imperial Palace for a little siesta while Rene toured Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Later that evening, we continued our sightseeing venue with visits to the Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, the King Tut exhibit at the Luxor, a stroll through the Monte Carlo Casino where they film certain scenes in the TV series Las Vegas, a midnight laser show at Freemont Street, and finally, back to our hotel for a late supper at the Teahouse Restaurant.

02:10 AM PST Permalink |

The Imperial Palace...Las Vegas Style

Friday afternoon we checked out of the Palace Station and into the Imperial Palace. Gosh, by their names, you'd think the hotel staff would be treating us like imperial royalty, when in fact, we're getting treated just like regular folk. Nevertheless, our continuing Las Vegas experience has been grand fun.

After an evening of hoofing it up and down the Las Vegas Strip for a sushi dinner at Todai in Aladdin's Desert Passage, a visit to the penguin and flamingo habitat at the Flamingo Hotel, and an elevator ride up the half-scale Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel and Casino that took my breath away, we retired to our room, where a huge tub awaited us right there in our bedroom. Exhausted and footsore, we filled it with steaming hot water and had a good soak while we watched the Oscar hopeful and much-ado film Sideways. By the end of the movie, all our knots had been dissolved and our blisters healed. It was the perfect end to a very long week.

02:06 AM PST Permalink |

The Grand Finale

The National Caricaturists Network ended with a bang last evening as more than two hundred caricature artists gathered in the ballroom of the Palace Station Las Vegas for the awards banquet. Trophies and certificates were awarded for speed drawing, best likeness, use of color, exaggeration, studio work, portfolio, best individual caricature and best artist. The Japanese envoys dominated the field with winners in several categories and eight out of 15 in the best individual caricature category.

Before the banquet, Rene and I spent the afternoon browsing the walls of the ballroom looking at all the caricatures, of which there were easily more than 2000 pieces. The representation of artistic talent was overwhelming to the point of bewilderment as I envisioned myself trying to vote for my favorites. Fortunately for me, as a mere guest, I wasn't permitted to vote. Thank heavens I didn't have to choose. It probably would have made my head explode. Anyone interested in learning more about the convention and the caricature network, the web address of the NCN is www.caricature.org.

02:03 AM PST Permalink |

Hack...Wheeze...Cough...Ahhhhh...

Last night around ten o'clock, with the best of intentions, I went down to the casino to have dinner and try my luck at the gaming tables. But when I arrived, the cigarette smoke was so thick I could barely breathe. I had wanted to have a seafood dinner at the Oyster Bar and maybe roll the dice a few times or play a few hands of blackjack. But the smoke was positively unbearable. So instead, I went back up to our non-smoking hotel room, ordered Shrimp Scampi with Linguine from room service and watched Girl Interrupted while I researched the Asian food scene in Las Vegas. Talk about multi-tasking! Tomorrow night, we will be moving to the Imperial Palace, an Asian themed hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.

12:10 PM PST Permalink |

Exaggerated Features

As a last tribute to a lost cause, I had one more look at the Grand Canyon webcam today, just to see what we're missing. As ironic as it sounds, I'm glad to say that the view from the South Rim was lukewarm at best; certainly nothing worth sticking around an extra day for. So, in retrospect, I guess I can file that hare-brained scheme under the heading: 'What was I thinking trying to visit the Grand Canyon in February?'

We've been in Las Vegas for three days now, attending the annual convention of the National Caricaturists Network, of which Rene is a member. I've just returned from the main ballroom of the Palace Station Hotel and Casino, where many of the NCN artists, including Rene, are pulling an 'all-nighter'. To get back to our room I had to walk through the casino, past roulette wheels, poker games, craps tables, blackjack dealers and row after row of slot machines. And although it's pretty quiet at this hour, the place reeks of cigarette smoke. As an ex-smoker, I never thought I would find myself saying this, but... I forget sometimes how lucky we are to live in California where all public buildings are completely smoke free.

Tomorrow is the last day of competition for the NCN artists and is therefore the day when they start feeling the pressure. They get totally obsessed and uber-competitive, so some of them stay up all night, working furiously into the wee hours of the morning, finishing up their most impressive caricatures, and putting the finishing touches on their wall displays. So, needless to say, Rene will be rapt in his world all day tomorrow, leaving me completely to my own devices. I've gotten a good bit of work done since we've been here, so tomorrow night, I think I'm going to give myself a little break and go out for a nice dinner by myself, and maybe a little gambling too [...that's IF I'm feeling LUCKY!].

04:22 AM PST Permalink |

Above it All

As the caricature convention commenced this morning with a seminar and a buffet breakfast, I was still blissfully asleep, recuperating from several long days on the road. The weather is still rainy, and after a breakfast of fresh fruit, I spent the afternoon at a table by the window overlooking Sahara Boulevard, editing the photos and recipes from my 'Road Home' dim sum dinner. They turned out beautifully and will be available for viewing at the end of the month as usual, along with my review of 'The Road Home'.

12:43 AM PST Permalink |

Plan B...

Just to be sure that a trip into the Grand Canyon in February wouldn't be utter folly, for the past two weeks, I have been faithfully following the weather conditions at the Grand Canyon both on the Weather.com website, and a live webcam that shows the current view of the canyon from Yavapai Point. Each time I checked, the weather was ideal and the view expansive. So when we arrived in Barstow on Thursday evening, just for a lark, I clicked on the Grand Canyon webcam link and, as expected, got only a dark, blank screen. Jokingly, I said to Rene, 'Wanna see what the Grand Canyon looks like right now?' as I pulled the neck of his black t-shirt up over his eyes, and we both had a good laugh.

On Saturday morning, when we woke to find the world blanketed in snow, I clicked on the Grand Canyon webcam link once again, only to find the exact opposite of last evening's view: a pure white screen with no distinguishing geographic details whatsoever. Once again, I jokingly said to Rene, 'Wanna see what the Grand Canyon looks like right now?' as I pulled the neck of his white t-shirt up over his eyes... and once again, we both had a good laugh.

But upon waking in Flagstaff to pretty much to the same weather conditions as yesterday morning, and after much remorseful deliberation, we decided to scratch the Grand Canyon trip altogether and point the car toward Las Vegas, with a promise to make a separate trip to see it under more clement circumstances at some later time. Next October perhaps...

After a remarkably short and easy trip on Highway 93, which landed us at the Hoover Dam around 4 p.m. for a quick tour, we arrived in Las Vegas around 7:00 this evening. We attended the NCN mixer, where we met up with lots of familiar faces, and have now retired to our room on the 10th floor of the Palace Station Hotel and Casino overlooking Sahara Boulevard, with a stunning view of the Stratosphere Tower. Lots of neon, and city lights as far as the eye can see. Viva Las Vegas!

02:19 AM PST Permalink |

While we slept...

...Mother Nature dropped eight inches of snow on us and we awoke to find the world outside blanketed in white, wrapped in a misty cocoon. I was delighted at first, but upon further investigation, it became all too obvious that the window of visibility for the Grand Canyon had snapped shut sometime in the night. Once daylight came, all the Internet webcams showed the same shrouded view from Yavapai Point. And by all accounts, there's no end in sight... [sigh].

So we drove all this way, only to spend the day in our hotel room watching the Weather Channel and old movies on cable TV. It's a good thing that we enjoy each other's company, and that we both have a sense of humor, and the grace and humility to stay flexible and optimistic in the face of disappointment. But in the immortal words of Scarlett O'Hara..."Tomorrow is another day..."

11:29 PM PST Permalink |

On the Doorstep...

Another long day on the road has brought us at last to Flagstaff, Arizona, the doorstep of the Grand Canyon. We had all kinds of weather today except snow, which is expected tomorrow, if not overnight while we sleep. We even saw a spectacular rainbow arching radiantly over the high desert terrain outside Kingman, Arizona around four o'clock this afternoon. We took it as a good omen and were delighted by the play of light and color in the rain-washed clarity of the rarefied air.

Now more than 800 miles from home, after a simple supper, we retired to a remarkably economical, comfortable and compact hotel room for a restful and much deserved repose.

12:11 AM PST Permalink |

The Road Goes Ever On...And On...And On

So much for getting on the road by noon today. After all the last minute packing, and little details around the house, and stopping by the bank, and dropping off my bonsai tree and my Siamese fighting fish for Rene's mother to care for while we're gone, and buying tire chains in case we need them at the Grand Canyon, and stopping by for one more hug for my son Will since he stayed home sick from school today, it was almost 5:00 when we finally broke free of Napa's gravity.

Amazingly, traffic wasn't too bad at that hour, and it wasn't long until we were southbound on I-5. But I had forgotten what a long, long trip it is from Napa to Barstow, the last outpost before the desolate trek across the Mojave Desert. Although I have crossed that forbidding terrain on many occasions, I still get a little edgy and anxious, and it always makes me so thirsty just looking at it through the car window.

We finally arrived in Barstow at 1:00 a.m. The whole trip took nearly eight hours, with only a couple of stops along the way to refuel.

Being that this is an Asian Food and Film weblog, I always feel obliged to mention one or the other in every entry. So...I was pleased this afternoon when I arrived to find Rene's mother enjoying the last few bites of dim sum left over from Monday evening's Dinner & a Movie. After we were done that evening, I fixed her a plate with a litttle taste of everything. And I had enough leftovers to treat Will to a little sampler the next day, and plenty more to keep me from having to cook for a two days while I prepared for my trip. What a tasty convenience.

02:40 AM PST Permalink |

'Sin City' Here I Come...With a Stop-Over at That Big Hole in the Ground

I've just finished [well, almost finished] a long day of packing and setting my house to rights before I head off on vacation. I still have a thousand little details to attend, but by noon tomorrow [if all goes off without a hitch] I'll be sailing down Interstate 5 toward Barstow, the 'Garden Spot' of California [NOT!], where we will lay our heads for the first night. Then two nights at Flagstaff Arizona, where it's an easy trek into the South Rim of the canyon from there. It's supposed to be snowing lightly both days [yippee!], something I rarely get to see in this pseudo-Mediterranean climate of ours.

After that, seven days in 'Sin City', not that I'm a big gambler or a party girl, mind you. I can walk through a Las Vegas casino, past banks of jingling slot machines, whirring roulette wheels, high-stakes black jack tables, and smokin' hot craps games completely unfazed. Actually, I've brought along a big satchel of work to do, should I feel thusly inclined while I'm there. I have several film reviews to write for San Jose's Cinequest Film Festival, some catch-up work to do on my weblog, the manuscript for my next book to finish and development for two more after that. And believe it or not, I'm looking forward to all of it. My local graphic art clients have been keeping me so busy recently that I've barely had time to write since last fall. And Rene will be spending most of his time with those of his kind, leaving me to my own devices for hours on end. Stuck all by myself in a hotel room high above the neon lights with nothing to do but write and order room service...sounds like absolute heaven to me.

12:30 PM PST Permalink |

The Countdown is On

Now that my 'Road Home' Dim Sum Dinner & a Movie is a fait accompli, it's time to turn my attention toward preparing for my trip to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and Yosemite. I will be taking my laptop along and will be composing a journal of my trip in lieu of my daily Adventures in Asian Food and Film. The Recipes & Photos, along with my film review of The Road Home, will appear at the end of the month as usual. Right now, I'm busy packing.

Why am I going to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon in the middle of winter?...you may ask.

Well...Rene is a caricature artist. He entertains at parties and other special events throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, and when it's open, he manages the caricature concession at Six Flags Marine World. He is a very talented artist and a wonderful entertainer. Every year, caricature artists from all over the country (and a few international ones too, especially from Japan), get together to share their craft. They set up their easels in a big hotel ballroom and draw like crazy for three straight days. They have competitions for speed, best likeness, use of color, best humor, etc. On the last day, they all vote, and the winners are announced at a formal dinner. It's kind of like the Academy Awards for caricaturing. This year, it's being held in Las Vegas [again].

It's great fun, and I always tag along. Over the past six years since we've been attending, it's been held in San Diego, Atlanta, Las Vegas (twice) and Orlando (twice). We always manage to fit in as much sightseeing as we can, especially this time with the detours to the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. I also take along my laptop and a writing project or two so I have something to do on my own while Rene immerses himself in the festivities. I'm somewhat of a recluse and can only handle that kind of intense social activity for a couple hours at a time. So I sleep in, read, write, browse the Internet, watch movies on TV, explore the hotel facilities and surroundings on my own, and then in the evening, I saunter down to the ballroom to bring Rene a snack and see what all those crazy caricaturists have been working on all day. Then when it's over, Rene and I spend a couple more days by ourselves, exploring the city and local environs before we head home.

12:21 AM PST Permalink |