Why is Susie lagging at blog posts? - Part 2

Answer:  Because she was too busy enjoying food, drinks and friends.

Round these parts our better quality food choices that are not Mexican Food or Steak Houses are pretty much little to none.  You either gotta head outta town or make it yourself.  And if making food at home, you have to make sure you can find the right ingredients.  Which brings me to my first item to discuss: FOOD!

So off we went to Mitsuwa Marketplace to kill two birds with one stone: have lunch and collect ingredients I can't find at home.  Before we fell over of exhaustion and hunger we decided on the first place we saw Sanuki Seimen Mugimaru.  I had beef curry udon and some tempura.  They had a few tempura items that I had not tried before, like I said I live in a bubble far, far away.  The stuff I have tried that I got again was sweet potato and shrimp.  But I saw fish cake and hard boiled egg, so I grabbed up one of each.  Next time I make tempura at home I am going to give the new stuff a try again, I really liked it.  The fish cake one was sort of like a really good fishstick (not that kind!), if that's even a thing.  It wasn't like the batter for fish and chips, this was really good.  Then there was just a typical hard boiled egg in a shell of crispy tempura.  It wasn't anything spectacular but it was a neat idea and tasty. And the thick soup was perfect for my tempura dipping needs.

After our face stuffing extravaganza we stepped into the supermarket part of the store.  Here is where having a grocery list would have come in handy.  Did I have a shopping plan?  No.  Did I end up getting ingredients that are hard to find back home?  No.  I ended up walking out of there with beer, snacks, soju, snacks, soda, snacks and more snacks.  I meant to get other stuff, I really did but I found stuff I normally can't find back home AND stuff I don't feel like paying HUGE internet prices for.  So the impulsive shopper in me reared her ugly head.  I generally pride myself on not being 'that girl'. On our way out I stopped by J.sweets to get some mochi (MORE SNACKS!) to have as dessert when we got back to the hotel.  I got peach yogurt and the mister opted for raspberry mille-feuille.  I had only ever had green tea, mango and red bean kind before.  They were $2.50 a pop which is pretty steep but since I was there and had the cash I figured I would give my taste buds a little taste of heaven.

And then after a nice stroll and cool off at the hotel I trekked out in the afternoon to have some drinks at the Karl Strass Brewing Company.  I enjoy trying out what different brew companies have to offer and since we don't have one close to where I live, I figured why not.  I tried a few drinks and I will have to say my first choice is what I liked best.  The Wreck Alley Imperial Stout it was smooth and packed a stiffer punch than a typical stout, this imperial's ABV was 9.2%.  While the brews were good, the company was better.

Nothing else beats having a good brew other than having a good brew with great company.  I finally got to meet my very first fellow blogger.  Though I have met friends via the internet before and from the mc chris message board; I had yet to meet a blogger.  I am happy to announce that Tom, at Yashmat United is a a pretty rad guy that didn't abduct me and chop me up into pieces to sell to street vendors as 'taco meat'.  I got to ask him some questions about his photography techniques.  Now I really want to take my time and work on putting a wee bit more effort into my photography than just point-click.

Most of the interaction I get on my blog comes from people that are not as conveniently located as Tom.  Given the opportunity I would love to meet other fellow bloggers.  Some of the conversation Tom and I had involved, "What blogger would you like to meet?"  So if I ever blog about traveling near you and you are up for a quick meet up, I would love it!  You too can have an awesome commemorative photo of me making a silly face like this one:

My hair (face) is out of control!

Tom thanks for the lovely time, if you make plans to come up my way even if it's only Ventura/Goleta area let me know.  I would be more than happy to drive down to meet up for round two!

Logged Miles: 26