Text 14284, 95 rader
Skriven 2008-09-28 08:53:12 av Michael Loo (1:18/200.0)
Ärende: trip 980
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Next day. A couple hours' work at Commencement Bay coffee
(I had 3 pints of decaf, which probably means I had about
as much caf as a cup of the real). This worked up a
powerful hunger, so we found Uncle Thurm's ribs and
chicken in a somewhat "diverse" neighborhood in Tacoma.
Good smells and a jolly host. It's a joint for sure, but
some of the best food comes out of joints.

I got the soul food sampler, which comes in two sizes. I
asked the owner guy if he thought I could handle the large,
and after sizing me up he said that I looked as though I
could eat with the best of them. When the large came out,
it was large, but not overwhelming:

four chicken wing two-bone joints, salty, crispy, pretty good;

four cajun catfish filets (a couple ounces each), salty, crispy,
okay;

two big and two little ribs, smoked and then simmered in sauce
until very tender, decent, though not the way I like ribs, which
is dry-rubbed and saucefree;

greens, excellent, as they were cooked with pork shanks and
served with a bunch of the meat;

red beans and rice, mushy but well flavored;

cornbread, standard, not too sweet, okay;

sweet taters, very mushy, very sweet, very starchy, with too
much cinnamon and some nutmeg, which doesn't belong.

Besides, Hap had a pulled pork sandwich with fries (the
pork was fine though mild, but there wasn't a huge serving;
the sauce was fine though mild; the fries were industrial
but okay), which wasn't quite enough to eat, so he had a
few bites and a rib or two off my plate.

On to the ballpark, where Hap had to report to work so
steered me to the Pyramid Alehouse, where some beer was had.

I sat in Hap's section and watched history being made, as
the Mariners became the first $100M payrolled team to lose
100 games. They'd been ahead 5-2, and life looked rosy
enough, but they waited way too long to take Felix Hernandez
out (he wasn't getting his pitches down in the zone), and so
kaboom. By the time the last out was recorded, I'd be
surprised if there were more than a few hundred in the stands.
People don't have faith that the Ms can erase a 6-5 deficit
in the bottom of the ninth. Heads must roll in the offseason.

As Hap had to clear everyone out of the section, I had to
leave from the security gate, which was interesting as it
gave a glimpse of behind the scenes after the game.

Next day.

Back to Commencement Bay for the coffee, for Hap, and the
wireless, for me. Unfortunately, the wireless crapped out
on me, and it's not for sure certain to me yet whether it's
the network or my computer.

Lunch - we cruised about a bit. There was said to be a
German deli (mmm, pork products) up in Fife, so we took a
trip up there, but it seems to have been replaced by the
Sunny Deli (breakfast, sandwiches, oriental food), so we
decided no. Why, Hap mused, are all the places the Koreans
open up called Happy, Lucky, Sunny, Ichiban, and so on?
Thought of Porter's, up by La Quinta, but he said, well,
maybe for dinner. A burger? Chinese buffet? Mexican? There
are many possibilities. Not one of our favorites of years
past, East-West Cafe, as it's taken a bigtime nosedive of
late - change in management, apparently, from the old lady
with the old virtues to the MBA son with the new virtues.

We ended up at the Manila Center Diner, which is none of
the above but serves good homestyle Philippine food. We
started with fried lumpia, which were filled with something
that smelled and tasted like corned beef hash mixed with a
little vinegar. Better than it sounds. This came with a
sweet dipping sauce. For mains, Hap had the bistik, which is
thin beef strips marinated in soy and lemon and cooked almost
black. Pretty good. I had deep-fried lechon, pig side meat
with skin and fat, a generous serving. A shake or two of
chile vinegar made the dish sing.

The plan had been to go to the park and see the Mariners boot
another, but it was deemed preferable to spend the evening with
Annie, as I'd not spent any time with her this visit.

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