Today, BF had kept his schedule clear of social obligations since it's my "last day of vacation," according to him. (Apparently, weekends don't count. :) However, two nights ago, our baking neighbor invited us out to dinner tonight so we kept our day relatively short of events.
Rewind: on Wednesday, on our way back from site-seeing along the coast, we drove through El Segundo and had dinner at Houston's (instead of Paco's Tacos) and passed by a Pacific Theater. BF said that if we were to watch a movie today, we should try that place out, so we ended up at the Pacific Theaters in El Segundo today to watch "Tropic Thunder." I'm not sure how much of a treat this was...We didn't think the movie was all that (although I liked Jack Black's character/acting...it was reminiscent of Nacho Libre, my all-time favorite movie). Perhaps the bigger treat was actually going to the theater with BF and eating all the yummy junk food (after I had just snarfed down Pringles and chocolate shortbread cookies for a fake lunch). We had a coca-cola icee, the most expensive nachos in the world, popcorn, and peanut M&Ms; needless to say, we ate ourselves silly. On top of that, the last movie I saw in the theater was "Transformers." Seriously, we are so not movie-goers; we are total "make it an On-Demand in my jammies night" people.
We leisurely drove back home and changed into dinner attire as we eagerly awaited for our neighbor to knock on our door. Our neighbor has been trying to take us out to dinner for over a month now, since she finished having beautiful, authentic hand-selected cherry wood installed onto her floors. During the installation process, we kept all of her most valuables at our place and kept an eye out on her place while she was away. We also helped her move and re-arrange her belongings and furniture when it was all done, so she insisted on taking us out to dinner to show her appreciation. Around 6:45, we heard the knock and she whisked us away.
We had no idea where she was taking us, but she's been saying that she knows BF will love this place and suggested we dress "dressy casual." We went all the way up Fairfax and hung a right on Sunset and ended up at Dar Maghreb, a spectacular Moroccan restaurant. We had a phenomenal 8-course meal! We started off by washing our hands at our table. Shortly after, our waiter offered us huge slices of bread and brought lentil soup and "salad" (marinated, cooked veggies served cold with our bread). (I didn't know that BF doesn't like lentils so I kept telling him the soup was really good. He only tasted it and when the waiter came to take our bowls away, he said in what I thought was a tacky but amusing way, "Hey! You didn't drink your soup!") Next, we had a chicken and almonds (and other unidentified ingredients) covered by a flaky pastry shell dusted with powdered sugar. Following, we had quail (my first time! Way for me to be adventurous!) and shrimp skewers. I was stuffed by then but out came two more courses -- a delicious lamb dish and couscous with more marinated and cooked veggies. I was almost delirious with food by then, when they brought out the final courses -- a fruit and nut tray, Moroccan cookies (a crispy pastry glazed with honey), and mint tea.
To add to the dining experience, there was a belly dancer too! Our neighbor had handed us a dollar bill each at the beginning and then said that we would have to tip the belly dancer when she came. I don't know who was more embarrassed, BF or me. (I knew BF would be super-embarrassed.) The dancer came out and when BF tried to tip her, she kept dancing and making it extra hard for him to slip the bill in her waistband. It was funny. :) When it was my turn, she took my wrists and tried to pull me up to dance with her. I was waaaaaay too shy and embarrassed, especially when I know I have no rhythm. For crying out loud, I can't even sing and clap at the same time. When I played the piano, I could never stick to the beats of the metronome. I'm a lot more confident nowadays, but I still prefer not to intentionally embarrass myself. I unintentionally embarrass myself all the time.
Before we knew it, it was 10 PM! We got home around 10:40 and have been kicking back with full tummies since then.
It's been a full week of adventures for this one who doesn't get out much, and I'm looking forward to a full day tmrw as I make my way to the I.E. to visit Gramma. (I have to make 5 - 6 stops before I reach Grammas.)
Can't fight food coma any more...must go to sleep...zzzzzzz
Friday, August 29, 2008
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2 comments:
Hey. Sounds like a fun and yummy day! Question about Tropic Thunder, I have read it is pretty offensive to those with disabilities. What did you think?
Prior to watching, all I knew was that 1) Jack Black and Ben Stiller were in it and 2) it was supposedly hailed as a hilarious comedy.
I am definitely more aware and sensitive to such issues now that I'm older...and more mature. I also consider myself an advocate on some level (how can I not be considering I chose this profession?). I do believe it was a very poor choice of "comedy" to target those with disabilities and to the extent that it did.
Thinking back, they must have had some inkling of an idea of the outcry it could/would cause...otherwise they would have included clips of those parts in the movie trailers/commercials, right?? Reading their defense...well, it was a poor one. They shouldn't have done it in the first place.
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