Author: GOING NINETY MILES
Hola and welcome to GOING NINETY MILES. Enjoy learning about amazing places to visit, good restaurants, seeing cool photos and more awesomeness.
HNY!
Happy New Year YO!!
How did you celebrate ringing in the new year? Felix and I went to Tahini restaurant in Puerto Portals for a delish meal of sushi, dumplings and some kind of chicken thingy…. my new fav from there is Foie Gras sushi. O.M.G. If they had given me a plate of only that I would have been a very happy camper. But that’s pretty fattening? Right? Foie Gras. Must check on that.
And then we ended up at Ritzi’s Club. It was a last minute decision since there was only 10 min before the new year and I didn’t want to be in the car. Our friend’s boyfriend is the owner and we were treated to free everything there – so nice of them! Rosé champagne, scotch, dancing on the tables! Oh my. We ended up at home around SEVEN IN THE MORNING! Yes, I had a headache all day yesterday.
But here is to a new year! I say good riddance to 2011 – it really sucked.
Happy 2012 My Friends! Wishing you all peace, love, prosperity and just one hell of a good time. CHEERS!
TT ~ The Goose Is Getting Fat
As soon as I began to write I realized it was Tuesday! And this could be a Track Tuesday post. Music ROCKS.
Do you know this Christmas song? I remember learning it when I was a wee child at Sangre Ridge elementary school in Stillwater, Oklahoma. I start singing it around the first of December and randomly throughout the year. If you know me personally, you know that is completely normal for me.
It is usually sung as a round (and I LOVE singing in rounds!!! I don’t know why… is that a mental problem?) It is also I believe an English (meaning UK) Christmas song and maybe I am just getting back to my roots – my Grandpa on my father’s side was almost, if not, 100% English. So, listen up, have a spot of tea if you wish and sing along! And if you have some friends by you, then by George, strike up that round.
Oh, and if any of you can tell me what a ha’penny is, I would really ‘preciate it. Cheers!
Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat
Please put a penny in the old man’s hat
If you haven’t got a penny then a ha’penny will do
If you haven’t got a ha’penny then GOD BLESS YOU
And if I don’t make it back online before Sunday, a blessed Christmas to each and every one of you.
Dos Palillos
Dos Palillos is a restaurant in Barcelona where the concept is asian tapas. And it is DA BOMB, you must go! It was such a fun experience.
There is a long menu (for 70 € per person) or the short menu (55€ pp) to choose from. Naturally, my parents and I went for the long menu. You sit at the “asian bar” which is opposite the open kitchen and your chef is also your waiter. The chef explains each dish that is served and answers any and all questions you may have – my Mom had a lot. 🙂
To start us off we had a bright pink Japanese mojito. Here are some of the mouth-watering foods we were served. And I apologize for the pictures, I must work on my taking food pics skills….
Fresh Crispy Chicken Roll
Sunomono, with fresh seaweed and molluscs
Yummmmmy, Pasolasmonjas 2007 (Navarra, Spain)
One of my favorites – Tuna belly temaki
Roe
If you thought those looked delish, then just think of how much more deliciouser (yes, Kim word) they would be/look/smell/feel if I could take decent food pics! A few more mentions as to what else was on our menu: home-made shitake tsukudani, sardines with kombu, hot – raw fresh prawns, thai style laser clams, chawanmushi, free range chicken sasami, sea anemone tempura, steamed fresh prawn dumplings (another fav), japo burger, shao lom pao and to end it right – panda leaf ice cream. Have I said it was amazing?!
Just go already. Oh – and if you have the money stay at the Casa Camper hotel right next door.
Oh how I miss thee
How was your Thanksgiving? I hope it was delicious and spent with loved ones. Here in Spain, Felix and I went out to find a duck to make for the day. No way were we ever going to find a turkey, unless it was deli meat. But we couldn’t even find a duck! I was told they will be out for Christmas time.Whew! But we did find a nice piece of steak from Argentina that we made.
But I got to thinking all the other foods I miss by not being in the states.
Chicken in a Biskit crackers. Who doesn’t love these? Even typing this my mouth is watering for a delicious C in a B cracker. I love anything with a layer of flavoring that you can’t really see but you can taste that chickeny goodness. Let’s check out those ingredients. Enriched flour, awesome. MSG, flavor enhancers, of course! Dehydrated cooked chicken? JUST GIVE ME MORE!!! It also has vitamin B1 and B2, so there. Whatever they do for you. If only my favorite salad dressing of all time – Seven Seas Creamy Italian (PLEASE BRING IT BACK!) – was still around I would just pour out the bright yellow liquid and dip those marvelous cx biskit crackers into it. I would have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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My mom loves to tell the story about my brother and I finishing a bottle and a half at a restaurant. We were around the ages of 7 and 9 and the bottle was almost full. We finished that bottle, the waitress brought us another one (apologizing for giving us an empty one, no comment) and we practically finished that one. Still, to this day, if there is steak or a hamburger at my family’s dinner table, the A1 sauce is not too far behind. It is only my brother and me who like it, Dad says we a ruining a great piece of meat. I say we are bettering it. A1 rules.
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O.M.G. The Reuben is the BEST sandwich ever. Corned beef with melted swiss cheese on Rye bread. Add some sauerkraut, a little mustard and mayo and you got yourself a damn good sandwich. Ask the Spanish (or any European for that matter) for almost any of those items listed above and you will get a blank stare. Corned beef? How do you even describe that? Swiss cheese, maybe if I go to Switzerland? And rye bread? Fuggetaboutit.
Now I am seriously hungry for all of the above. Too bad all I have out of them is A1. Going to drink some of that now. TTYL.
Thankful
I am thankful for a lot of things in my life. But this year, I am the most thankful for my nephews. Avery and Ayden – love you!
Movie Monday
Mooooooooviessssszzzz!! I heart movies. There, I’ve said it. When I REALLY like one, I buy it (if not bought already) and I watch it over and over and over and over. Kinda like when I find a song I like. I wonder if that is a Libra thing?
My movie reviews, get the popcorn ready. And get that flourescent orange salt too! MMmmmmmmm
1. Footloose! Cut loose! Kick off your Sunday shoes. Sing it! When I was in the states I saw Footloose (the remake) in the theatre. I give it a 6.5. Is that harsh? I liked the actors casted for the main roles of Ren (Kenny Wormald) and Ariel (Julianne Hough) but for the rest? NO. Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell as Ariel’s parents were AWFUL. Seriously, how long have they been acting? And the scene where Ren is in front of the city council he was so unenthusiastic! Remember when Kevin Bacon’s character was there? Awesome. This remake, not so much. Sorry! I really enjoyed the dancing …..
2. Lincoln Lawyer starring Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei and Ryan Phillippe. I give it a 7.5. Great cast! Mick Haller (MMc) is a smooth talking lawyer who pretty much works out of his Lincoln. It is the perfect mix of smart plot with intriguing twist, throw in a few good one-liners and you got yourself a great movie. Questions of innocence vs. guilt surround Louis (R. Phillippe) as Haller takes on his case. But as the case begins to collide with events from the past the twists begin. A great cast of characters, too bad William H. Macy is only in it for a short bit.
3. Drive Angry with Nicolas Cage. OMG, just return it now. We were seriously scraping for a movie to rent and I always love Nic but this was awful. John Milton (Nic Cage) is from hell and comes back to revenge his daughter’s death and to save his grand-daughter from a Santanic cult. If you like swear words, stupid girls, naked girls, and cars maybe this is right up your alley. The best character was William Fichtner (The Accountant) who is also from Hell and there to bring John Milton back with him. If it weren’t for Mr. Fichtner I would be rating this much lower than 5.0.
4. Bad Teacher was a hit! Cameron Diaz was freakin hilarious. I heard a lot of negativity regarding this movie but I think I figured out why when I saw the movie. This movie isn’t about learning a life lesson, finding some moral message on living your life in the right way. This is an adult movie – with crude sayings, some boob fondling and some marijuana smoking. Oh my! The basic plot of the movie is this – when Elizabeth Halsey’s (C Diaz) fiance breaks off their engagement she returns to her job as a middle school teacher. She is the worst teacher ever (hence the movie name) and she decides that her life will be better if she gets a boob job. I thought the movie was funnier than anything I’ve seen in a while. I give it 7.5.
And there you have it! My popcorn is done, fluorescent orange salt ready to be dumped (yes, poured for a good five minutes over it) and next up is the Woody Allen movie Midnight in Paris. Check out my next Movie Monday for some more reviews.
Hospital Daze
I apologize for not posting lately. I flew back to the States late September to be with my mom while she had a difficult surgery. I thought I would be able to send some posts out but it is amazing the amount of time spent when taking care of someone you love – plus watching my adorable two nephews! Ayden has learned how to climb up the stairs at an amazing rate but going back down, um, not so good. So I had to watch that cutie so he wouldn’t take a tumble and smash his cute noggin onto the floor.
The time in the hospital had its good moments with the doctors and nurse staff, and then it had some extremely frustrating moments. I was going to complain in a post about some of the healthcare my mom received but I have changed my mind. What I will say is, don’t be afraid to ask questions, to double check they are giving the right medication, the correct dose, if the doctor said he wants this done and they refuse or change his orders, request to see the manager and demand the doctors orders are followed. If you don’t feel you are getting good care, things answered, speak up!
But I still wanted to explain to y’all about the time spent – Mom had surgery on her kidney and ureter, she was in the hospital for five days and then was able to go home. All was going well! Every day she made improvements and soon she was requesting her five o’clock glass of wine. But then she began having back pain and then two days later started throwing up. Back to the hospital we went. She was upset, nervous and sad to be sick again. And one of the worst thing is we couldn’t get any answers as to what was going on.
For two days she was in the hospital, groaning from the sharp pain in her side and shaking from always being nauseous and vomiting. Was this from the surgery? Was this a new problem? A second CT Scan was ordered and she had to drink this awful mixture for them to see contrast with the scan. She came back from that exhausted and more nauseous. Poor mama!
The nurse gave her some new medicine to control the nausea and she drifted off to sleep for several hours. And when she awoke she was a new woman! The pain and nausea had subsided and she practically jumped out of the hospital bed and was ready to go for a walk around the nurses station. When only a few hours before that PT was sent away immediately because there was no way she could get out of bed without crying in pain and throwing up what little was in her stomach.
I cannot even begin to tell you what a relief it was to see her without pain. Without getting sick from sitting up in bed. I almost did a jig with her on my arm.
Later that night I came back to the hospital as I always did, every night, to stay til 12, 1 or sometimes 2 am. And she was up in bed watching Wheel of Fortune. We talked about things; the next steps (she had to swallow a camera tomorrow morning to look at the esophagus, stomach) but she also told me about this dream she had the first night she was readmitted to the hospital.
She was sitting in this large oak tree by a stream, and this tree and stream were so familiar. It was where she would go as a young girl living in Wisconsin to get away from her farm chores and her four brothers and sisters. She would hide away in the tree and read and watch and dream. And then the dream changed – it was me and her sitting under the tree with fruit and cheese and wine. We were smiling, happy and comfortable. But as dreams always do it morphed into me as a snowflake and she was a leaf on the tree. But she was connected tightly to the tree and I would cover her with snow to keep her warm.
Granted mom was on morphine and other medications but I had been by her side until about two in the morning that first night. She said she felt safe and warm and happy. I had tears in my eyes by the end of her telling the dream and I had to pretend to get something out of my bag to wipe them away.
I loved the thought of me wrapping her in my cloak of a snowy blanket to comfort her. I hope all of us have someone to take care of them and love them when they are scared and in pain. Someone that allows their mind to take them back to their dreams of childhood. The time when there was no fear. No sadness. No sickness. Only joy and clouds and giggles and most of all, dreams of living forever. I am and will always be, your snowflake.
GOING NINETY MILES 