A Few Sadatays To Remember: October 3rd and 10th Combined For Your Pleasure!

We spent the last few weekends in San Francisco. Recently I've been spending the majority of my time in the East Bay and have actually come to appreciate it quite a bit. I guess you could say I used to be a bit of a snob who rarely ventured outside the city because everything I could possibly want was there. San Francisco still has my heart but I'm happy I've opened up a bit.

The first weekend George and I just hung out and enjoyed each other's company without any specific plans. We ventured to The Tonga Room and enjoyed their lovely happy hour. It was my first time there and I really loved it. I was happy because it got rid of my preconceived notions that it would be a tourist hell.

 

This weekend also saw the acquisition of a "Wacko Jacko" mask. Let me try to explain in a way that doesn't make us sound like horribly insensitive people. We were at Walgreens and this hideous mask caught our eyes. It was so absurd and grotesque that we simply had to buy it. The slew of (what we thought to be) hilarious ideas that came streaming out of our mouths made the retail price of $14.99 seem like a steal. Much to our surprise, and that of the cashiers, it was 50% off! "How could you not? It's Halloween!" chimed the nosy cashier. How could we not indeed, wouldn't you do the same? The mask was obviously created after he died, as evident by the name of the of the manufacturer, "Morbid Industries." We've somehow convinced ourselves that Michael, the King of Pop himself, would have found the humor in this. Well maybe not, but we do have to live with ourselves.

The following weekend was spent at Michelle's timeshare on Nob Hill. It was her birthday on Friday and she and Lina we're able to go to the Jason Mraz concert at the Greek Theater, courtesy of George and his remarkable ability to win tickets and contests. Afterwards Richard, Roxanne, George and I met up with them at Triple Rock in Berkeley to greet the birthday girl. We had a beer, some food and then Michelle, Lina, George and I headed to the city to kick off another Sadatay!

After waking up and getting ready for the day, we decided there was no better time than the present to take a few self-timed photographs. Afterall, we are naturals in front of the camera. See for yourself.

Then George got a craving for a Monte Cristo sandwich, which temporarily replaced his original craving for fried seafood. Since it was his birthday, no wait Michelle's, we decided to accomodate him. Michelle just happens to be a most adaptable and agreeable cousin. "Where can we get a good Monte Cristo?" I asked the iPhone. The answer: Mama's in North Beach. Oh yes, Mama's! I had been there before and remembered that they are known for their delicious breakfast and also their long, long lines. We decided we might as well and headed down that way. The line definitely lived up to it's reputation. Standing is hard so I decided to sit down on a nearby bench, Lina joined me and then some man with a blue beard sat with us as well. He said something about needing to "rest his little leg." Lina and I both found that suspect, for both of his legs looked to be the same size, but waited until later to discuss this. I guess we'll never know what he meant. After what felt like half a day of waiting, but am told was really only one hour and five minutes, we finally got inside only to wait in another line to order. Michelle decided on Eggs Benedict and the rest of us had what we came for, The Monte Cristo. Their version is kinda like a french toast sandwich with all the goodies inside. It was delicious but doesn't top the one that we love so much at the Blue Bayou restaurant in Disneyland. We all felt that it was worth the wait and were so busy devouring our food that we forgot to take pictures until all we had left were scraps.

It was around three o'clock with one meal under, or maybe over our belts and there would be plenty more eating to come. It would seem that Mama's didn't do the trick because we ended up at Rogue. http://www.rogue.com/ We're fans of Rogue's beer, especially the Chocolate Stout, so we figured since it was just right there we ought to go. I guess we were more taking advantage of the proximity to where we were because we were only able to stomach one beer each. Our intention was to find a cab so then we could go to happy hour at The Tonga Room again, but were unable to and ended up walking. It was an unexpected challenge but exactly what we needed after our substantial breakfast.

The Tonga Room was pleasant, if uneventful. We left after one drink and headed back to the room.

Fortunately, we were only three blocks away this time. It soon became time to eat again so we made our way to the Pier for some fried goodness. George insisted that we take a cable car since the three of us had never been on one and so that we could complete our outing in the city through a tourist's eyes. Only after reviewing the pictures did we realize that some poor man sitting near us had caught on fire. We would have helped, pero we did not know. Oh well.

So we had our fried basket of yum and then looked for another spot to celebrate the occasion.  We didn't have much luck until we came across Kennedy's, your typical Irish pub/Indian restaurant. Simply stated, Kennedy's is weird. There is old, dingy carpet, a strange setup and they are frequented by our favorite type of young man, "the bro." Take in to consideration that it was Fleet Week as well and you probably get the picture. A cart full of dirty dishes was our neighbor for the duration of our time there, only adding to the pleasant atmosphere. Really though none of this matters because we can enjoy ourselves just about anywhere. Kennedy's also has a menu and considering that it had been almost an entire hour since we had eaten, the majority of us decided to have a second dinner. Second dinner consisting of lamb vindaloo and chicken tikka masala, like all of our other food experiences for the day, was very well enjoyed.

As you can imagine, we were stuffed, tired and ready to get back to the room. Easier said then done. We attempted to get a cab for at least 45 minutes. It was not fun but was a major relief once we finally got one and headed back. We retired early as I had to work the next morning and we were all pretty exhausted. Just as we were winding down, we received a call from Richard and Roxanne who wanted to keep the party going. Sorry guys, we were done for the night. Besides, we all know that Reverends shouldn't be partying anyways.